Little G is Three

I've taken the year off for birthdays. Last year M had a birthday party with 30+ people. This year I didn't even wrap G's presents. On the day of her birthday she was sick and spent most of the day sleeping on my lap. I think that was a present for me.

But now that she's better she wants to know why daddy got a cake and she didn't. I guess I'll bake her a little cake. It's not every day you turn 3. She woke up in the middle of the night and said "is it still my birthday? I'm still three, right?" And then promptly fell back asleep.

Little G is sunshine in the morning. She adores her older sister. She's not Cute, she's not Pretty, she's not Smart... She's Ginuf (of course she's the other three, but if you ask her, that's what she'll say). I luff you little G.

Oshogatsu

Happy New Year! As we were leaving the house on Jan 1, Jesse told me that we were supposed to send New Year's cards to everyone. The Post office holds them until Jan 1st and then delivers them on New Year's Day. So who got cards? Miss M got 3 from her schoolmates and 1 from the school itself. The rest of us... ZERO!

We spent the day with Yuki's family. Including her super cool grandma and grandma's super cool Rodeo Boy. I bet your grandma doesn't have one! She bought it because she thought it looked fun. Yuki and Ben got a cake for Jesse, which I appreciated since I got him Nothing (except a coupon for an apple pie).

The food was amazing. Beautiful. And I got full on crab claws and sashimi. Can you say you've ever done that? We spent this morning cleaning our house, a New Year's tradition in many parts of the world. What that meant was that I mopped the floor for the first time in months. It was surprisingly clean. How did you you spend the first day of the 2008?

I Heart Jesse

Happy Birthday Jesse!
My bestest friend in the whole wide world.
The dad who takes us exploring.
M likes when he takes her surfing.
I love hiking, swimming, kayaking, hot springing, and just being with J.
Have a great day and welcome to your thirties.

Ginger Castle and Men

Last year the kids and I spent an early morning making the Palmer Gingerbread Castle. And for the first time ever, the entire castle was eaten because it actually tasted good!
E was really into patterns. And G was really into eating those patterns (even though it was 8am).
This year, alack, I have no pictures, but we made gingerbread men at our friend's house in Takao. I used buttercream frosting instead of royal. When powdered sugar is so hard to come by, it's best to use it wisely. The recipe came through again, even though I forgot the ginger and had to use a mixture of nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. I might just make it again since I love ginger cookies.
5 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 T ginger
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t allspice
1 t salt
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 c butter, softened
3/4 c dark corn syrup
2 eggs

1-combine flour, ginger, baking soda, allspice, and salt in med bowl

2-beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl at med speed of electric mixer until fluffy. beat in corn syrup and eggs. gradually add flour mixture. beat at low speed until well blended. cover; refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. bake 375 degree oven 10-12 min or until done.

Sopa

When Amy was here she mentioned that she LOVED leek soup. I've never bought leeks, though I may have inadvertently tasted them at some point. I bought some last Co-op order and stuck them on the back porch since there was no room in the fridge.

I went to my trusty cookbook...I mean website, and found this recipe for Curried Leek Soup. I doubled the recipe and had it for lunch and dinner today. YUM! Even Jesse liked it. (He doesn't usually like soup.)

I made turkey noodle soup with homemade egg noodles the other day. The kids we were watching liked them, miraculous!

When I was on my mission, our mission president's wife taught us how to make homemade noodles. I had just gotten back from Cabo Verde and was so excited to have lunch with Sister Brinkerhoff and all the other sister missionaries. She usually made quiche or lasagna or meat. And then dessert was always chocolatey yumminess. We got to the house and she gave us the noodles tutorial and then served us turkey noodle soup with a fruit cup for dessert. Sister Bagley and I felt completely robbed.

Turned out that all the sisters in Portugal had been snacking on the bolos de belem, a creme doughnut. They'd gotten what we call fofinha (fluffy). Meanwhile, Sister Bagley and I had been in Cabo Verde with intestinal worms. I'd lost about 15 pounds (this was when I didn't have 15 pounds to lose, unlike today) and was constantly hungry and Bagley was in the same boat.

I'm pretty sure we stopped at McD's on the way home. But I did learn how to make noodles.

1 Cup flour
1 egg
1/2 eggshell milk

Make indentation in flour. Fill with egg and milk. Stir until combined. Roll out on floured surface as thin as possible. Cut with sharp knife or pizza cutter. Drop into boiling broth a little at a time, making sure to stir so noodles don't stick. Cook for 20 minutes.

Christmas Morning

With the cousins. So much fun, so many new toys. No guilt, since our kiddies have close to nothing to play with. Jesse made them a castle out of a cardboard box. Of course it's their favorite present.

And this is what I wanted, but he's already taken. Maybe next year.

I Found It

Handel's Messiah by the Philadelphia Orchestra on NPR. Learn a little about the history and enjoy two hours celebrating our Savior in song.