Christmas Day

I know some of these blogs are a little out of order, but when you might have 20 minutes or you might have an hour to post, you take what you can get. Santa was very good to Baby this year. He got a lot of presents and I have the feeling this year the givers of the presents were more excited than the recipient. (I know that will change next year.) He was very happy to have so many new things to taste and eat. I had never realized that parents get a totally different experience than the kids. The kids get to open and play with all the new toys, but the parents spend most of their time prying the new toys out of the ridiculously difficult packaging. Who comes up with the way they package toys? I don't really think the toy truck needs 10 twist ties on it, but hey what do I know. Then after you have pried all the buggers out of their respective packages, then the clean up begins. I swear I am still finding bits of cardboard lying around. Amazing. It was a great time for all and we received some wonderful gifts.Even Thing 2 was excited...or maybe he just wanted me to leave him alone with the entire box of dog biscuits. But I can see why it only comes around once a year, it took us two days to recover and we are definitely broke now! Ahhh, the holidays are almost finished and on to the gloomiest part of the year, January. Sorry January, you just can't compete with December.

Christmas is over.

This morning I was greeted in the hallway by the decapitated remains of one of the dogs' Christmas presents. It was ironically a reindeer. So I guess they are done celebrating the holiday too. Thing One
Thing Two

Garden D'Lights

Last weekend we got a night out as a family to dinner and a short walk around the Bellevue Botanical Gardens and the Garden D'Light. We started at dinner at the Pomegranate. I love this bistro and Soder had never eaten there. It was so good. Unfortunately, Baby didn't get the memo that we would be eating at a nice, little, trendy place. This was the first meal where he didn't perform up to the bar that he has set for himself. He is usually wonderful and sits and keeps himself entertained. I know that that is not normal for a baby to act so great, but trust me when I say that he is past that. He was just like any other 7 month old that was squirmy and noisy and not happy to be strapped into a wooden high chair. So we ate in shifts and had dessert in the car on the way to the Botanical Gardens. At the Gardens, it was beautiful to see all the lights and was amazing they could create all those displays with just lights. They had all kinds of different flowers, trees and animals created from lights. It was a great time and we can't wait to take him next year when he can really enjoy them.

Merry Friggin' Christmas

This week we had to have a few repairs done on our car, to the tune of over a grand. That is right, our Christmas has a great big new present parked outside our little home, in the form of the intake manifold. It is even wrapped in a big red package. Yeah for us! I feel like the Grinch after he has ruined Christmas. I am hoping to hear the Who's down in Whoville start their carols so that the spirit can return.

FINALLY......

Took me 3 months to complete and now it is ready for Santa to fill it with goodies. Now that that is finished I can relax for the rest of the holiday. (I haven't even started to work on Travis' one, but that might just be saved for either child number 2 or when I have time in the middle of summer to work on it.)

Ho, Ho, Ho?

So hopefully he feels different about Santa after he get all his presents. My sister said that a picture of him crying would be much cuter than a picture of him smiling. (we didn't really have a choice because all he did was cry.) She was right.

Progress

I have read somewhere that people who use social networks when dieting are more likely to succeed. I have two very complicated stockings (a lot more complicated than I thought they were going to be) that need to be finished by December 24. I am hoping that I can use the same motivation for, not losing weight, but completing these projects. Let's get cracking!

Am I crazy?

During Christmas every year growing up, my two older sisters had beautiful, intricate fleece stockings covered with sparkly yarn and sequins. I had a sheepy looking stocking with my name in cut out letters glued onto it. I always gave my mother a hard time that she didn't love me as much because all I got was a half-assed stocking. She would kid and joke about it as well and this continued on as the running joke well into my 20's. Then one day I was informed that she had got me a stocking and was working on it for me, then I would never be able to give her a hard time ever again.It is the little things like that that make me appreciate my mother and all the little things she has done for me. After seeing how much work she went through, it is humorous to think I am going to put myself through the same thing. I realized one day a few weeks ago that Baby won't have a stocking. So I took it upon myself to make sure he has the best one my money can buy and I can make. I found this kit online to make for the baby. Then I decided, that like my sister's family who have coordinated stockings, I wanted a similar situation for mine, so I found one for Soder too. I am excited to get going on the project and hopefully I won't be deterred, but I am not going to lie to you, my heart did sink a little when I saw the back with all the little pieces and bits. (it is a good 3 inches thick!) This very well may be the reason we only have one child.

A little late, but better than never!

I hope everyone has a great and safe Christmas!

Santa was very good to me. He brought me 311 tickets to a concert in March (I will be like 7 months pregnant, that won't be weird to have a seriously pregnant woman jamming out to 311, right?!) He also brought me a hair dryer, which may not sound exciting to you, but if you have a crappy hair dryer then you know how great it is to get a new one. I also received Big Bang Theory Season 2! I love that show. It is so funny especially since I am married to a total Geek, whose Christmas highlights included, action figures, comic books, a new Batman tshirt, and a nerf gun. I am so excited to watch it.
Mostly I am excited for what will happen the day after Christmas. My parents and my inlaws will be flying on tomorrow morning. I can't wait. It has only been a few months, but it is always great to see people in person instead than over ichat. Can't wait!

Gram's Christmas Dinner

Dinner Table before we ate

Grams and Shawnee

On Saturday, Grams had her annual Christmas dinner.  (Due to the snow storm on Christmas, it was moved to Saturday.) Grams specialty is Roast. It was so tender and delicious. Great job, Char.  It was perfect! 

Christmas 2008

Christmas this year was a little less hectic.  Christmas Eve starts off with dinner at Yia Yia's and Papou.  As always, it was delicious and fun.  Great to see everyone. For Christmas morning, we opened presents at Jim and Angie's.  Travis got from Santa a portable drawing desk. I got a lovely new set of knives.  After presents, we went back to Yia Yias and had breakfast.  She makes the best sticky buns for breakfast.  They are my all time favorites.  After breakfast, Trav, Kimi and I loaded into the car again and headed up to my parents house.  My mother had made a delicious ham and turkey for our Christmas dinner.  My Aunt Mari and David came over along with my sister Megan and her family.  It was nice to just relax the rest of the afternoon.  After it is all said and done, it feels like you need a vacation from your holiday.  Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts.  :) It was a really fun time to see and visit with everyone.  

Stocking story

The greatest part about Christmas at the Tsukamoto's house was the stockings.  I always loved what Santa would bring me, like lip gloss, lotions, jewelry, and candy.  It was definetly the greatest moment on Christmas morning  and the part I still look forward to the most.  When I was young, and was the "mistake" of the family, I was always teasing my mom because she made "Wonder Woman" and "the Hulk" these beautiful stockings with all sorts sequins and bead work.  They were always so pretty to pull out of the ZCMI box they were stored in. Then mine would be pulled out. It was a wooly stocking with the letters of my name glued on it.  In the way of the Tsukamoto's we always gave my mom a hard time about it. The story was always the same about how my mom worked so hard and long on those stupid stockings that when I was born she couldn't do it again.  Finally, when I was about 20 or so, I recieved a wonderful present.... 

I loved it. It was great, all that I ever dreamed of. One thing, I love, I mean, LOVE my little wooly one.   I still put up both of them because they both have a special place in my heart! Thanks Mom! :) 

     

So to keep with the tradition of having great stockings for our family, I made Travis one a few years back.  It has on it a happy little penguin, a Spiderman charm, and of course his beloved Nintendo controller.  Happy Christmas! 

Annual Christmas Cookie Day!

Cookie Day!!!

Travis making his meltaways

He even does the frosting. :) 

This is about Half of the  sugar cookies I made. 

Every year, I make a butt load of cookies for all my local friends and family. I make the sugar cookies and I am teaching Travis to make meltaways. I went through 3 pounds of butter, 2 and a half bags of  powdered sugar,  and 5 pounds of flour to make 2 batches of sugar cookies, 4 batches of meltaways and 4 batches of frosting for them all. I totally love to do it, but it gets harder to do every year because it seems like it is a bigger deal.   It makes me feel like Christmas is really here!  

Ring Christmas Bells

Last night, my parents and us went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. It was the first time we have ever gone to this event. It was amazing. The concert included Brian Stokes Mitchell, who is a broadway singer. He has a beautiful voice. There was also another guy Edward K. Herrmann (who does a lot of voice over) who told stories toward the end of the program. It was a great experience.

The one thing that got me was before the show. Church President Thomas S. Monson was in attendance and came in with his family. When he walked in the entire 21,000 people in attendance when dead silent. I am not talking about polite quietness, like at a golf game, but like not a word, not a movement, not a cough in the entire house. It seemed surreal almost. That kind of respect is not shown very often. It was very impressive.

It was fun night. I love to go to events that none of us have ever been to. Inside the conference center was gorgeous. Very impressive!

O Christmas Tree....

Our Christmas Decor....

So like many people we have a Nativity scene as part of our Christmas decor.  I have married a man that loves everything comicbook-geeky stuff.  After visiting Smiths Marketplace last weekend, Travis wanted to add to our Christmas decor.  :)