Best Holiday Ideas

I have seen so many good Christmas ideas, crafts, recipes this year but am feeling, as usual, like there's not enough time in the day to do half of what I'd like to do.

Here is a list of the things I'd like to make for the holidays, and I've still got a good week to get going!

Chai Syrup

Ginger Cookies

Agua de Sevilla

Travel Coasters

Foot Warmers

Corn Side Dish

Eggs for Christmas Breakfast

Sparkling Cranberries

Red Carnation Wreaths

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red seems to be a theme this year. And of course I have to make a Kings Cake. But at least I have until the 6th to make that!

Off to work! Enjoy your holidays!

The Boy Who Speaks in Color

Mister Three really likes color. He likes it so much that he distinguishes between levels of color already, like magenta vs. purple, or lemon yellow vs. lime green.

He actually converses with us based on his knowledge of colors. When he doesn't know a noun, he just refers to the object by its color. And since he is only 3, there are a lot of nouns that he doesn't know yet. There must be an official linguistic term for this sort of analogy, but I've yet to come across it.

For example, our Disneyland hotel room was decorated with orange, green, and purple. Since he doesn't know the noun "hotel", he tells me that he wants to go back to the orange, green, and purple place.

He likes yogurt, and his favorite brand is from Trader Joe's, so instead of telling me that he wants the Trader Joe's-brand yogurt instead of the Safeway brand, he says that he wants to eat some yellow, not some red.

His stroller is green, but since he's a big boy he doesn't want to use it so much anymore. Now whenever we park the car he says, "Not green, Papa. Hold my hand."

You can see the potential here. When he becomes a baseball fan, he can say, "Not blue. Black and orange!" And when he needs to choose a university, he can say, "Not red and white, red and gold!" Later, when he goes to a bar with his uncle, he can say, "Black and tan." Or, "Brown, straight up."

This kid is going to go places. I just wish I could figure out what it is he's talking about.

A Star is Born

After Rafa was chosen for Jedi training, Louis was singled out from the crowd to dance with the High School Musical kids. My kids are stars!

A Disney Birthday

So a couple of days after Mister Three turned 3, we all headed down to Disneyland for Mister Seven's 7th birthday, and we had the most wonderful time.

Mister Seven was chosen for the Jedi Training Academy, and he fought Darth Vader himself!









What an exciting birthday! We spent the week there -- and there are more photos to come!

Mister Three

Today Mister Three is 3 years old.



Three years ago he tried to come out in Auntie Mickey's car.





I can't imagine life without Mister Three. He makes us laugh all the time.










Sometimes he makes us mad, it's true. But mostly we make him mad. That happens a lot, in fact.



He loves his brother like crazy.






He is a very sweet, smart, wonderful boy. Happy Birthday, Mister Three!

Grieving

What happens to love that is directed toward someone who can no longer receive it? What if that love comes back to us with the full force with which we sent it? Does it cause pain that way? Is that the pain of grieving?

We are grieving the loss of a dear, dear friend this weekend. He was a figure of generosity and caring, of deep connections and of irreverence, part of the history of who I am and of who my children are. His absence will be remarkable for a very long time.

I've Turned Into a Morning Girl

I've never been a morning person. I have always been one to hit snooze ten times, to stay under the warm covers as long as possible, to hold in a sneeze so as not to open my eyes and look for the kleenex.

But I have learned, at the late age of 39, that no one else is around in the mornings. It's really quiet. Everybody is hibernating in their snuggly beds. It's cold. And it's really quiet. Did I say quiet? Mornings are quiet. I don't get to do quiet much anymore. Quiet. Quiet and lovely. We've been having such pretty skies in the early mornings of this fall.







The oatmeal is warm, the coffee is milky, and the light is rose-lavender-periwinkle. Sometimes I can see the fishing boats coming in from the night's work.

And it's quiet. Did I mention that part?

Where Does Patience Come From?

I think it comes from moments like this.








This has been a week of short-tempers on the part of everyone, big and small. It helps to be able to have happy, relaxed moments like this one for the well of patience to refill. We're lucky to have these times, and I have to remind myself of that.

Take a Little Rest, Mama

It being Friday evening, the end of a busy work-filled week, I was feeling a little tired around 6 pm. I'm sure this never happens to anyone else. Dinner was ready and the boys sitting at the table eating nicely, so I said I was going to sit on the sofa while they finished their dinner.

But when I got to the sofa, the two pillows were already propped up against the arm inviting me to lie down for a minute.

I gave in to the temptation. For 7 seconds. Then somebody asked for a second glass of milk.

Up I got, back to the kitchen, fixed 2 more glasses of milk, 1 requested and 1 preventative, and went back to the sofa. It was 11 seconds this time, before somebody needed another napkin but the napkin holder was empty so would I reach up to the high cabinet and get down some more napkins. "Okay, hold on," I said.

Up I got again, refilled the napkin holder, placed a clean napkin next to each person's place, again preventative measure, and went back to the sofa.

It took a minute and a half for the next necessity. "Mama, booger." This was from the little one. He still skips over the verbs in his sentences most of the time. "Come here," I said. "Give it to me." I put out my hand without opening my eyes and he hands me the booger. I don't even know if it really was a booger. It wasn't very big or sticky if it was.

"Night-night, mama," he says and goes back to the dinner table.

Up next: pit stop. "Mama, I have to go to the bathroom." This from the big one again. "Okay, honey," I say, eyes still closed going on 4 minutes at this point. "Don't forget to wash your hands before you come back to the table." Up he gets, stopping by to look at me lying on the sofa before he goes down the hall. "Are you having a nice rest, mama?"

"Yes, love, I am having a nice little rest."

While he is away from the table, the little one calls over to me, "Mama, on a floor. Dirty, mama." "Okay, honey, bring it to me," I say, putting out the booger hand again to get whatever offering he is bringing now. It turns out to be a little piece of mushroom that had fallen off of his plate onto the floor. "Night-night, mama." He says it again as he goes back to the table.

But as soon as he gets back there he says, "Oh no, mama. Here, mama." Not even bothering to tell me that the next thing has fallen to the floor and waiting for my instruction to bring it to me, he comes. "Here, mama," he says again. Out I reach the booger-mushroom hand, and in he plops a whole, wet, cold, oily tomato slice.

"Aaah!" I jump up to see what the hell he put in my hand. "Floor, mama," he says, smiling softly at me.

"No more night-night, mama?"

And that was the extent of my nap. I poured myself a glass of wine instead. Right, preventative measure.

New Best Cake

Since there are so many peaches lying around (and by the way, they come from my cousin's garden, not mine), I needed to something quick to cut up and use the ripe ones. I started a bowl full of sugar and peaches for jam last night, and I also made this cake. It was delicious. I used the base from a recipe that I've made many times which came from The Wednesday Chef last year some time, but I added pureed peaches to it. Since it has relatively little butter and sugar, plus whole wheat flour, I don't mind letting the boys eat it for breakfast.




5 peaches, peeled, roughly chopped, and pureed in blender
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the baking dish. I used a 9 inch Pyrex dish.

Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, yogurt, egg and vanilla together.

Scrape down the sides of the butter bowl and alternately add the dry and wet ingredients; do not overmix. Gently fold in the pureed peaches.

Pour/spread into the baking dish and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.