Favorites List 2009

I thought it would be fun to wrap up 2009 with a "Favorite Things" list (think Oprah's favorites) from the past year. Maybe it will be something I'll continue each year at the end of December. Should be fun to see how the list changes as our lives are constantly changing!

1. The Gap Maternity Cami: And not just because I started out 2009 by being 8 months pregnant. They are super soft, really well made and long, which is fabulous if you're 5'9" or taller. I purchased two, one black and one white, at the end of last year and they are still in good shape. Plus, at $19.50 (or you can find them on sale for two for $15) they are a steal.

2. The Ergo baby carrier: Granted we just got the Ergo a few weeks ago, but already I love it. Easy to use (once you get the hang of it) and it seems to be comfortable for Mason. I never quite got the hang of the ModMum sling and while the Snugli worked well, he has outgrown it. Thanks to Jaime for the recommendation! We found our Organic Cranberry Carrier on Craigslist for $50 and saved $85 as opposed to purchasing it new. I heart Craigslist. Which leads me to number 3...

3. Craigslist: Is there no end to the deals that can be found there? I can't even count the number of Craigslist transactions we were responsible for this year. Our Danish rocking chair, many Miele appliances, our Danish design bedroom set, a fabulous renter for our house (and one not-so-fabulous renter), not to mention the sale of a LOT of extra stuff when we downsized from 3200 square feet to 1600 square feet (and then again from 1600 square feed to 900 just 3 months later) all thanks to Craigs.

4. Blogger: Well, blogging in general. It has been such an effective way to keep friends and family (both near and far) included in our daily lives and a fun way to document and share Mason's first year. Not to mention it is like therapy for me! (Thank you to my employer for not blocking the site... I swear, I am being productive... most of the time...)

5. Trader Joes: Not that that is something new, but I appreciate them so much more now that I am conscious of what we consume in our household (rather, what Mason consumes.) Specifically their organic canned pumpkin, sweet potato spears, frozen avocado halves, raw almonds and 100% blueberry juice. Nothing compares to their frozen lemonade either, which they only sell for like 2 weeks in the summer (okay maybe it's more like 2 months but I'm serious, the stuff is like crack and believe me when I say it is limited time only.) And then there is the wine selection. Any place that carries a large selection of afforable wine is my kind of place. Now please open a TJ's in Spokane before we move back there.

So there you go, a few of my favorite things from the past year.

Your turn! What are some of your favorite things from this 2009?

Maybe they'll end up on my Favorites List 2010. :)

Happy New Year!

Before and After: TV

Before: Criminal Minds
After: Charlie Rose

Before: Not missing NCIS
After: Not knowing what night NCIS is on

Before: Dexter
After: Glee

Before: Wine Wednesdays
After: Pizza Fridays

Before: The Simpsons on Sunday nights
After: The last half of the Simpsons (after Tage reminds me it's on)

I write these "Before and After" posts thinking about what life used to be like prepartum (is that a word?) I came to a realization a few weeks ago after the season finale of Dexter in which the last scene (actually, the last scene I watched) included the disturbing image of a baby sitting in a pool of his mother's blood (I told you it was disturbing.) I have realized that I can't watch TV the same anymore. Later on in the week we were watching an episode of Criminal Minds where a mother and her two boys were kidnapped and held hostage. I had to STOP watching until the end where the family was rescued. It literally hurts my heart to see things like that now-- even though I know it is not real.

The problem is, I know it could be real. For some families it is real.

So much changes when you become a parent, that's obvious. What isn't so obvious is how much you change as a person when you become a parent. Things affect me so differently now. Before I had Mason, reading this horrible story about a boy in Shasta County who was horrifically abused would have broken my heart. Reading that story in the newspaper while at work caused me to burst into tears. It hurt my soul.

Is is almost as if when you become a mother, you become the mother of every child out there. Your heart aches when you see Amber Alerts. You shed tears for the mistreatment of any child. You feel pain for every mother who experiences loss. Even if you did these things and felt this way before you became a parent, it is still just different.

The way I respond is different.
The way I feel is different.

And now, even the way I watch television is different.

11 Months: A Day in the Life

 

(You know it's a Daddy day when Mase is still in pj's after noon... :)

 

Happy 11 months Mase! We can't believe in less than a month you are going to be ONE!

A very merry Christmas

Christmas 2009

Photo taken by Grandma Soni-- of whom I have no good pictures (and she doesn't appreciate when I post the imperfect ones.) Thank you Mom! 

 We spent Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family. Mason's cousin Lauren read books to him and he hung out with Uncle Jeff.

Presents! It is totally true that at this age he was more interested in the packaging than the gifts.

Aunt Stacey set Mase inside of one of the boxes and he played Hide-and-Seek. It was SO funny!

Mason got his first bicycle from Great Grandpa Saner and Great Grandma Barbara!

Christmas Day we went over to my Grandma Pete's to spend time with my dad's side of the family. I LOVE that in California we can play Frisbee in the front yard on Christmas Day and it looks like this. What a gorgeous day!

Mason and Great Grandpa Carroll watch the disc fly by.

Three generations: Grandpa Flint, Great Grandma Pete and Mase

Are you wondering about the lei's? Grandma Pete's birthday is on Christmas Day so in honor of her 70th this year, we "skipped" Christmas and had a luau birthday party instead! (You can see more pics on the Pear Tree Events blog later on this week.)

Cousin Chase and Mason take advantage of the photo op.

Lauren, Grandma Pete and Me

By the looks on their faces you'd think the Frisbee is headed straight for them!

Sibling love.

The youngest child (who can read) in our family has always had to play Santa and pass out everyone else's gifts. This year was Chase (again). He is looking forward to the day when he can pass that on to Mason! You can imagine with all those people it gets a little crazy.

Not only was Mason put in a box, but Uncle Jared set him inside of a paper bag and "delivered" him to Grandma for her birthday. He is such an easy going kid! He loved every minute of it!

Despite barely napping over the Christmas holiday, Mason was so happy and good-natured the entire time. He is so loved and brings so much joy to our lives and the lives of our families. To say he is the best gift we have ever received would be an understatement. Having Mason gave this Christmas an entirely new meaning for me and makes me more thankful than ever for the sacrifice Christ made for us.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well. Here's to looking ahead to a fabulous New Year!

In loving memory

Grandpa Frank

12.12.29-12.15.09

Grandpa Frank and Grandma Pete at the ranch where they spent weekends

Showing off his Christmas pj's

Camping at Sand Mountain

Summer swim parties in the back yard

Grandpa Frank loved Ronald Regan, Frank Sinatra and time spent at his ranch. He was hard working, quick-witted and was proud of his Portuguese heritage. Christmases won't be the same without him playing Santa (suit and all).

We love you Grandpa.

Weekend Fun

Family Holiday Party

Teaching the grandparents what "childproofing" means

Hamming it up with Aunt Chris and Uncle Shawn

Goofing around with (Great) Grandpa Carroll

Easiest (and cheapest) Christmas cards ever

Christmas cards went out last week. It was the first year in a long time that I haven't spent hours and hours trimming cardstock, printing envelopes, tying ribbons and embellishing dozens of cards. With a little person to chase after this year,  "free time" isn't what it used to be. That being said, I didn't want to break down and go the Costco or Walgreens photo card route either (NOT that there's anything wrong with that!)

The compromise? Attempt my own.

I would have loved to have ordered one of MKL Designs' cute holiday cards but doing it myself actually saved money too. Here's how...

1. Dress your baby in a festive holiday onesie and stand him up in a corn field in Iowa to take a few shapshots. Cross your fingers for a good one where he's smiling (a pool of drool on his shirt is okay, that's real life!)

2. Upload your picture to Picnic so you can crop it, add some cute graphics or effects and include your "Happy Holidays" message.

3. Sign up for a Shutterfly account and you'll get 50 free 4x6 prints with your first order. Upload your Picnic'd creation and $3.08 in shipping charges later you'll have 50 ready to mail Christmas cards.

(We decided on the blue and green card with Mason in the corn but I thought the red one was fun.)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Homemade Kahlua

Every year for the past several Christmases I've intended to make kahlua using my great grandma's recipe. This year I finally did it in time! Homemade kahlua takes a month to "season" in order to get the richest vanilla flavor, so if you want the drink to be ready for consumption when you give the gift, you've got to prepare ahead of time.

Want to make your own? Here is Grandma Ina's recipe!

4 c. beet sugar

4 c. + 1/2 c. water

3 c. decaf instant coffee crystals

1/5 of your choice of liquor (gin, whiskey, bourbon, vodka or brandy)

1 whole vanilla bean

Step 1: Bring the sugar and 4 c. of water to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Step 2: Combine the 3 cups of instant coffee crystals to the 1/2 cup of water.

Step 3: Break the vanilla bean into 1/2 inch pieces and add to the sugar water.

Step 4: Combine the coffee with the water/sugar/vanilla bean mixture and let it cool.

Step 5: Add the 1/5 of whatever liquor you chose.

Step 6: Pour into bottles or jars (make sure to include a couple of pieces of vanilla bean in each container) and sit in a cool, dark place. *Note: You can purchase mason jars or glass bottles, but we try to reuse as much as possible-- so you're looking at an assortment of re-purposed wine bottles and various glass jars (like from the Pizza Friday marinara sauce) in the photo above.  

Shake the containers a little each day for at least a month.

Add a cute fabric top and a fun holiday label. Enjoy!

Weekend Fun

Work, work, work...

...at least for mom.

It was a Daddy and Mason weekend. The boys hung out, visited family and took lots of naps.

Between jobs I finished a few Christmas gifts, and finally made curtains for the kitchen.

(Okay, so Tage forbade me to sew another stitch on any other project until I did them, but it is so nice to have them done!)

 Tomorrow: Homemade Kahlua!

Pizza Friday (for $12.55)

For a while now Friday nights in our house have been designated Pizza Fridays. It is Tage's favorite food and an easy weeknight meal to plan for. Up until recently we would just pick up a Safeway or Freshetta boxed pizza-- which we know isn't the healthiest meal.

When we were in Iowa we watched an episode of Man vs. Food where they were in New York and visited a Sicilian pizza parlor. They made this AMAZING looking pizza that Tage was pretty sure he could duplicate (he is definitely the cook in the family, not me.) We tried it out a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious! Not only that but we had left overs for daaays. A small piece was enough to satisfy both of us for dinner and I'm pretty sure we had pizza for breakfast and dinner the rest of the weekend.

Here is how you can make your own Sicilian pizza (thank you to my own personal Sicilian chef for obliging me and taking pictures while cooking.)

(All of our ingredients were purchased at Trader Joe's)

You'll need:

2 packages of pizza dough ($1.29 each)

(we use the garlic and herb for extra YUM)

1 jar of marinara sauce ($2.29)

(my favorite is the no salt, organic kind)

8 oz. mozzarella ball ($2.99)

shredded romano and parmesan or, in this case, TJ's Quattro Formaggio cheese ($4.69)

Step 1: Follow the directions on the pizza dough package to prepare. You have to let TJ's pizza dough "rest" before you roll it out. If you use a canned pizza dough like Pillsbury you can just open it up and unroll it in the pan.

Step 2: Roll out your dough and place in a 13 x 9 pan. If you don't have stonewear, I highly recommend it. It is extremely durable, easy to clean, and food doesn't get stuck to it. Plus we just put the entire pan in the refrigerator and keep the leftovers in it.

Step 3: Slice the mozzarella ball into about 12 slices and spread them out evenly on top of the dough. Trust me, we didn't skip a step. The sauce goes on AFTER the cheese! At this point take a moment to sip your Blue Moon (top left of the photo.)

Step 4: Now pour the marinara on top of the mozzarella and dough. We use about 2/3 of the jar.

Step 5: Sprinkle your shredded cheese on top of the marinara.

Step 6: Drizzle the pie with extra virgin olive oil.

Step 7: Bake in a 450 degree oven for at least 25 minutes. You can follow the instructions on the pizza dough package, just know it's going to take a bit longer because of how thick the crust is.

The mozzarella melts and covers the crust and it makes this unbelievable cheesy layer beneath the sauce that is even better the next day when you're eating it cold. (Don't act like you don't do that.)

Enjoy!