12.29.07
On the Fourth Day of Christmas. . .
Ah! I’ve found a moment to blog. So I uploaded my pictures like crazy. Too many to share, but picked out a few from Christmas eve (eh, more than a few, ha!) Basically, it has become a tradition for our family to celebrate Christmas eve at my parents’ house. We all go over to my parents for a large dinner, and then hang out until midnight when we open our Christmas gifts. Then we all sleep over and continuing eating on Christmas, ha ha! I didn’t realize it until just this Christmas that that is a Catholic tradition, yikes! Anyway, the dinner was all organic again, heheh. Brian and I are usually in charge of that because my family knows that we are picky that way. Good of them to oblige us! This year’s dinner consisted of tea smoked duck, steeped chicken, paella, baked root veggies, mashed potatoes, bread and cheese. This year, after stuffing myself silly with Brian’s pumpkin pies(he’s honestly the better cook between the two of us. He cooks “specialty” stuff, while I cook every day meals), I decided to buy some ready made desserts from Real Food Daily, my local organic restaurant. Wow, and am I glad I did! It dawned on me that I had not had “cake” since 1999! My kids have, but not often, so this was going to be a treat for them. As it was for me because it was heavenly! Ha! Here’s a shot of our dessert table with homemade oatmeal cookies topped with pecans, chocolate swirl cake and ginger cupcakes from Real Foods (yum!), and another chocolate cake my sister picked up from a Japanese bakery in downtown. It was so cute with lots of animated toppings.
And here’s what the first slices looked like before we demolished the desserts. . .
Oye, it was weird eating cake again after 8 years! New Years is coming up, and we’re to cook again, so I just might pick up another cake, heheheh. . . As you might expect, there’s no more left, and even this poor deer tried to plead with us not to be eaten.
Ah, but his pleas were not heeded, and he’s history, ha!
After dinner we hung out and socialized for a while. It’s always a good time! We got to watch some movies on my parents’ new HDTV, which my oldest sister bought for them this year. My dad is so funny. He loves war movies, I think because of his experience during WWII. So when we set up the TV we teased how soon we might see him sneaking around in army fatigues, peeking around corners, etc. ha! Now he can watch his movies and you’ll even hear the shells falling to the ground in stereo, ha ha ha! My dad. . .
The kids amused themselves with various things. Lately they’ve gotten into drawing, and Matthew drew up a bunch of face “parts” that could be re-arranged. Here they are with them.
And here’s some of the combinations that we came up with.
And here:
And here:
Ha! Well there were quite a bit more combinations, but I think you get the drift.
Midnight approached in no time. Since we all stay up until midnight, Christmas eve at our place is usually casual. This year I knit up presents for everyone, so I manned the camera. But I misjudged my knitting abilities and was not able to finish all the projects I wanted to even when I only made ankle socks for my sisters, ha! I only got to finish “one” side of my brother-in-law’s socks, and the reaction was so funny that I have to share the pictures. . .
Okay, so what was so funny? Well, my sister and her hubby were planning a trip to Machu Picchu. They were leaving on the 26th of December for a week. When my brother-in-law saw only “one” side of a sock, he yelled out, “Is this supposed to be a harbinger of the future? I’m going on a plane ride for goodness sakes! Am I only gonna need a sock for “one” foot soon?” LOLOLOL I tried to explain to him that I was knitting as fast as I could, but couldn’t finish it, ha! But I’m finishing the other side, so don’t worry, “He’ll get “two” socks, ha!” But, as you can see from the picture, he didn’t want to hear it, ha ha ha!
My sister convinced him that I was going to finish his other sock, so he could rest assured that his “feet” (plural) would be safe on their trip. Here they are modeling their sock/s.
Here’s my other sister when she unwrapped her socks. Her feet are so tiny that when I showed my boys the completed socks they exclaimed, “Wow, auntie has small feet!”
And here are my two sisters modeling their new handmade socks. By the way, they were both knit using hand-dyed wool from Hissy Knits.
I also knitted up two pairs of socks for my dad and a felted purse for my mom. After all, what do you give people who don’t really need anything? We bought stuff for the kids, so I didn’t have to knit up anything for them, ha! But it’s okay because I’ve been knitting stuff up for them before Christmas.
I got an email from my sister the other day from Urubamba, Peru. They’re having a great time, and guess who still has two feet? Ha ha ha! I’ll let them know it’s because I’m pretty much finished with his second sock. Here it is, and just needs to come off of the needles. Hopefully, I’ll finished them off today. He’ll have them when they return.
And finally before I end this. . . the little bears I’ve been crocheting up have unexpectedly been a hit! Ha! I’m almost embarrassed to say how many I’ve made! Yikes! But I’ll say one thing, no two are exactly alike, and I’ve been getting more ideas along the way. After I finished these bears, I tied on pens to each one. They were received pretty well that way. Here’s a shot of a few of them before going off to their new homes.
Whew, is anyone still with me this far? Ha! Blogging is fun, but it’s hard to keep up with all else going on. I’ll try to be better this year, but my new year’s resolution list looks like it’s gonna keep me pretty busy! So in case I don’t get back on until the New Years, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!
Toodles!
Marlakins 
patti said,
December 29, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Marla,
Your family get together looks so fun!! Wow! I come from a very large family so our “small” family get togethers were 30 people. Haven’t had one of those in a very long time. But sure do miss them at the holidays! Are your parents catholic? I know the Philippines has lots of catholics and muslims. Are you the only saved ones in your family? You are lucky (blessed!) that your family lets you do the food! Mine would die first. ha! Even my healthiest affair isn’t as healthy as yours. Oy, what does that say about my family? eeeks.
Matthew is VERY talented! Has he taken any drawing classes? Have any plans to work with it as he gets older?
I almost laughed looking at your BIL. He looks so much like a good friend of mine I had to do a double take. You can tell him his twin lives in Florida! Wow.
Oh, the bears. They’re adorable. I might have to commission you to make a set for Marie’s 50th birthday this year. She has been ooggling over the girl’s bunnies and bears. If I’d done something like that for Christmas she would have been mad/embarrassed. But now that the girls have them she’d love them. Weird, huh? Anyways, maybe if you have time???????
So glad you had a good Christmas! Sounds fun with family.
Happy New Year!
patti
Administrator said,
December 30, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Hi Patti!
Yes, I do find our get-togethers fun, so I always look forward to them even if it’s just going out to a restaurant. Always so much to talk about and laugh about (and be thankful for!) But like you, our gatherings are much smaller than in times past. Friends and relatives have grown up and moved and have extended families now (and their own kids), that it’s hard for every one to be together during the holidays. Even one of my aunt’s and uncles who is usually with us every Christmas eve is in the Philippines right now and were not able to join us. But we still manage to make enough commotion, ha ha!
No, Matthew has never taken drawing classes. Unfortunately, he’s not very patient with it! It’s still a struggle between us that he should “listen” and “observe” others as well. I try to tell him that there’s a lot to learn from other people, so try to pay attention. But he’s very opinionated. . . hmmm. wonder where he gets that from? Ha ha ha! I guess between Brian and me, Matthew had no chance, ha ha ha! Right now Matthew is interested in computer programming. When he was little he used to make comic books. He started out with a character he called, “Chilly.” And from there he made a bunch of stories, which he still has. When he got into computers, he started to make video games which featured his Chilly character. He actually has some operating games which he and his brothers and dad play. More recently he has been designing his own “paint” program because he wanted to make some features more to his liking. It’s got some glitches, but he’s able to do some things with it.
Aaron has started drawing, and seems to have all of a sudden blossomed with it. He’s more open to instruction, so as Matthew sees Aaron improve, I “think” Matty seems to be more willing now to pick up some tips from others, ha! Whew, the personality stuff we have to get around, huh?
Oh, my BIL. . . you’d laugh if you ever me him. He can be a riot.
You know, it wasn’t until more recently (after I got AA) that my parents started to go to church regularly. They started to go to a church that my cousins attend, and yes, it appears to be Catholic. It’s not like our family was ever extremely religious, but when we were kids we did go to Catholic church regularly and even went to Catholic Sunday school. I went through that catechism stuff, too, but funny how even with all that I knew very little about catholicism. My mom grew up Protestant, but when she married my dad, his family was Catholic, and so they leaned to Catholic churches when we were kids. As we got older, we rarely went to church and only went on Christmas eve at the midnight mass! Ha ha ha! We jokingly said that we were Christmas eve catholics, ha ha ha! Like a lot of people, we didn’t grow up having a very strong understanding or faith to any religion. Even when I became a Christian when I was around 18, there was still a lot to learn, and still more. I would say that when I first became a Christian I “thought” I learned a lot, then for a long time my learning curve stagnated. Then after I got AA, I picked up the Bible again, and finally read it from cover to cover. I sure learned a lot more.
When’s Marie’s 50th birthday? I’d love to make a set for her. And I still haven’t forgotten Grace’s legs. How long does the weather stay cold there? Yikes.
Okay, nice of you to drop by, and hope you have a wonderful New Years! You’ve got lots of planting space at your new place! Lucky you! I have a lemon tree in our backyard as well as an apple tree (very small one), an avocado tree which refuses to give us any more avocados (may have to nix it and replace it, or find a good graft and graft it), an orange tree, a nectarine tree, and a mandarin orange tree. In the front we have a sapodilla tree, which still has yet to give us any fruits! We have a small plot, so these trees are small, but still give good fruit. We also have a couple grape vines, but the grapes get eaten by the birds long before they’re ready. So I do use the grape leaves to make some of those stuffed grape leaves. Then we do have a variety of herbs. You have much more room at your place! I know you’re planning on having some ducks. I’d love to know how that comes along! I wish we could have ducks!
Okay! Toodles for now!
Marla
patti said,
January 1, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Hi Marla,
Hey, thanks for sharing a little bit of your testimony! I always love hearing about people’s backgrounds, etc. Does your family give you a hard time about being a christian and no longer catholic? Mine had a hard time with that.
Marie’s 50th is April 30th. She told me the other day she would like one of the pennsylvania dutch dolls that my girl’s got for christmas from my mom and dad. I’m thinking we’re going to give her one of those and then if you’ll make one of the cats like mine in pinks I’ll give that to her when she moves into her new room. Today she told me she wants to paint her room pale pink. So a pink kittie will be good decorating. Also, this spring we are getting two new kittens. One for her and one for our crew so that will be perfect timing. I think her room will be done in March or so. I will definately be sending you pictures of the house when it’s done!! Even inside pictures. So anyway, if you’ll do me up a pink cat and let me know what I owe you that would be great.
Ya know, I’m not sure lemons will grow here. I think it gets too cold in the winter and would kill the trees. Anything citrus doesn’t grow here well at all. Oh! I forgot to tell you Grace had a greenhouse last year and grew me all sorts of herbs for cooking! We’re going to give her a corner of the garden and let her have her own little herb garden. Fun, huh? She cuts them, I either use them fresh or dry them and store them for later use. Neat, huh? And she LOVES it! She’s quite the little bug and plant person. Oh, bugs. Yuck. She’ll pick them up and observe them up close, pin them to boards and disect them. Yuck, yuck, yuck!! Anyways, we’re excited about planting this year. I imagine we won’t see much fruit for a year or more. Maybe the grapes and blackberries will produce though. My biggest problem is using them all up fast enough. If I freeze them I tend to “forget” they’re there. I think we’re going to can the ducks. I found duck eggs at the co-op (HFS) for $5 a dozen. I’m not sure it’s worth having ducks since I can get them here. I’d almost rather raise chickens for the fresh meat. I’m not sure. One thing is for sure, we won’t be doing any animals for at least a year or more. Our first priority is getting the garden in to provide food for our family. We would like to become as self-sustaining as we can. Obviously, unless we get a cow we won’t be able to do much meat, but otherwise, if we can do most of our fruits and veggies that would be good. We have room for a cow but Ron said no way. He does not want to deal with cow poo. Although I told him it’d be great fertilizer for the garden! Ha ha.
Okay – better jet. Happy New Year!!
patti