Christmas, Finally

I finally got the pictures from Christmas transferred to my computer. The gold-star-gift of the year was from Grandma & Papa for the boys--a roller coaster! All three kids have been having such a good time on this (huge) thing... It's hard getting them to take turns! A close second was the box the coaster came in... hours of fun! Ben & Sam also liked their fishing game. Sofia also got to make her first Gingerbread House with Grandma--although I think she ate more candy than she decorated with! And don't let her grumpy-picture-face fool you--she had a great time.

Creating Traditions

This is the first Christmas I will have ever had without my parents. Strange. While it will feel like something's missing, I'm excited to start creating our own family traditions when it comes to Christmas. In my family, we would wake up, beg our parents to wake up (even in the teenage years!), wait a couple of hours while dad "disappeared," then go open our stockings. After that we would have breakfast, usually omelets made by dad. When our appetites were sufficiently sated, we could return to the living room for the main event: presents.

Now, to make sure you understand, my mom, especially in the later years, went a little overboard with presents. She liked to shop early, throughout the year. Which is good. Except she likes last-minute shopping, too. And she was really good at hiding the presents from us.... and usually herself too. So we ended up getting a lot more than even she realized she was giving. The end result was that the presents were not neatly stacked under the tree. Oh, no. The presents were amassed under the tree, but oozed out from under every branch, until there was about a 4-foot radius of brightly wrapped gifts.

These gifts would show up under the tree over a period of time, starting soon after the tree was decorated the first Saturday night in December. Any time the present count changed, my brother and sister and I would immediately have to do a comparison--who has the most, who has the largest, who has the tallest tower when stacked, whose presents make the longest line. It's a wonder my mom even bothered to put anything in the packages. This game entertained us for hours (even in the teenage years!). Although there were many many gifts by Christmas Eve, there were always twice as many that showed up over night. Crazy Santa.

So we have these piles of gifts, and you would think that it would create pandemonium. But, no. In our family, it was a tradition to open one gift at a time, one person at a time. This way everyone could appreciate the special gift. Combine that with the number of presents, and you can see how Christmas became an all-day event in our house.

But now I have my own family. While that sense of nostalgia entices me to extend the traditions of my childhood to my own children, I am only one half of the equation. My husband also has traditions, some of which he wants to pass on, too. And we also want to create our own, so this is what we're trying to do.

Tonight we started a tradition that he had in his family: Christmas Eve dinner. Since Thanksgiving is obviously not celebrated in Brazil, Christmas Eve is the stuff-yourself-with-turkey equivalent. So today we made dinner, and even showered & dressed nicely and ate in the dining room. I was skeptical at first, but it was actually kind of fun! Then we took some pictures of the kids while they looked half-decent, since it doesn't happen often. So here's a peek into the first Fernandes Family tradition of this Christmas. Hope you're enjoying your families as much as I'm enjoying mine!

Happy Birthday, Me!

Well, today I turn the big 2-7. Filipe got up with the kids so I could sleep in a little. Then around nine (miracles!) they brought me a beautiful basket of flowers, a delicious breakfast in bed, and lots of Lindor Truffles (my favorite!). The boys really were interested in helping me eat my breakfast, while Sofia was particularly insistent I open my presents right away.

After a lovely shower all by myself, I went to a surprise appointment Filipe had made for me. He had arranged for me to have a minor cosmetic procedure done, something I've been thinking about for a while, but would never do for myself. He's such a thoughtful (and creative!) man, I love him so much! And besides almost fainting in the middle of it, it was quick and painless.

We also enjoyed lunch at the Pizza Hut buffet. We thought the kids would like that, but turns out they don't like pizza anymore. They stuck with the fruit cocktail, cottage cheese, and chocolate pudding. Go figure.

So thanks to everyone sending their birthday love, the day is going great!!

Sleeping Beauty

At Sofia's last dentist appointment, Dr. Aranda made a point to tell Sofia she needed to stop sucking her thumb. Sofia was heartbroken, because she loved to suck her thumb. But she obeyed the Dr., and she stopped cold turkey. We were so proud of her! And so glad to not have to buy a torturous apparatus or poisonous nail polish. Well, that was about 5 months ago, and she's fallen off of the wagon only a couple of times, always in periods of deep distress--like when she gets into trouble for hitting her brothers. But as she took an unusual day-nap yesterday, I sneaked in to give her a kiss, and found she's been cheating this whole time---unconsciously! Ah, well. I'm actually glad to see a little more of my little baby at a time when she's losing so many of her baby-habits. She turns four on the 30th, you know.

Crazy Texas weather, part II

Yesterday, a balmy 80 degrees. Today, ice on the roof.

I told Filipe yesterday that it was supposed to have snow showers over night, and he scoffed at me. And he scoffed again this morning when the ground was try. Scoff no more, my love. Gotta love Texas!

Crazy Texas weather

This is a crazy place to live. Here it is, half way between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm listening to "Let It Snow!" on the radio, and my kids are outside with no pants. It's a balmy 80 degrees here in the Hill Country. The sky is blue, with beautiful white, fluffy clouds, and all my windows are open. I gave up waiting for winter weather after the first year we lived here. But do I need to give up waiting for fall weather, too??

Mom's Choice Award

This week's Mom's Choice Award goes to the book grump, by Janet S. Wong.

It's a great story of a "Smart, good Baby" who happens to have a very grumpy mommy (which might have something to do with all the messes that Smart, good Baby is making). It's a great tale of the love/annoyed relationship I have with my own little munchkins--how in the end, no matter what the frustration, they really are too darn cute to stay grumpy at.

I believe in miracles!

As I turn in for the night, I look at my kitchen and sigh. It truly is a miracle. The counters are cleaned of most clutter. I don't think there are any sneaky crumbs hiding on those tricky mottled-stone surfaces. The table doesn't have any smears of mayo or ketchup. The trashcan is empty. The dishwasher is processing a full load. The smooth top stove is free of (most) spills. It is a beautiful sight. A sight I know will disappear with the morning fog as soon as my three little elves wake up and want their milk. I sigh again. If only for one night.....

The beginnings of Christmas

After we kicked all of the extended family out of our house, we put up our little fake tree that's older than any of our kids. The boys had a lot of fun putting up the "kiky balls." The love to see the lights come on at night. I'm not feeling blog-spired today, so I'm not even going to try a clever story or pithy saying. Maybe next time. Enjoy the picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Short post, sorry, so busy, no time to talk, will try later. Peace!

Are you in "The Spirit?"

Turned on the radio today. Yes, it's true. Christmas music is already playing. If you live in the San Antonio area and want to start your holiday spirit early (way, way too early) tune your box to 101.9FM. Santa Claus is comin' to town!

Comfort Food

So my family has been taking turns with various illnesses, and yesterday it was my turn to experience flu-like symptoms. So today my body is a bit worn out. I haven't been eating too well, so this afternoon, I really wanted something substantive and maybe semi-healthy. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, which is one of my go-to sites for new recipes. I think it turned out pretty good. And it was easy, which today is a prerequisite. It says it makes 5 servings, but I think I'll double it next time. Pretty skimpy servings. If you're interested in trying it, here goes:

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
2 cups chicken broth (I made mine out of McKay's Chicken Style Seasoning, but regular vegetable broth would work too)
2 1/2 cups fresh broccoli
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Bring broth to a boil. Add broccoli and onion. Cook for five minutes, or until broccoli is tender.
In a separate bowl, slowly add milk to flour, and mix until well blended.
Stir flour mixture into broth mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until soup is thick and bubbly. Add cheese if desired; stir until melted. Add seasonings and serve.

The Honeymoon is over!

My boys have always been very good at sharing toys. I found it pretty remarkable that two babies, even if they are twins, can get along together so well. A couple of months ago, our friend Kim gave us a sit-n-spin, and they boys loved it! They would each get on one side and push the buttons and listen to the music, and have grand ol' time.

That was then.





This is now:

I guess they got over that whole "getting along" thing.

Duck? Duck? Goose!

I was cleaning out the refrigerator this morning, and ran across a half-loaf of homemade bread that had somehow gotten a hole in the bag. The result was a pretty heavy loaf of bread the like of which my kids would never touch. But I certainly can't throw out such a beautiful creation.... who would appreciate my bread? Ah! The ducks!

So I found a nice little duck pond about a half hour from our house, and away we went! I think the kids liked it, and I don't the the ducks were disappointed, either!

Fernandes Photo Shoot

So my MIL's bday is this Saturday, and behold, I had no gift! So I thought and thought, and finally thought, what does a gmother love more than her gchildren!! So we (I) decided to make a calendar. I was about to go through the last year of pictures to try to find season-appropriate pictures to insert, when I thought--why not have current pictures for the seasons! So we had an impromptu photo shoot in Sofia's bedroom. The kids cooperated, mostly because it was naptime, and they would do virtually anything to avoid that. So here are a few seasonal highlights, in no particular order:

Oh, the joy of jammies!

Thanks to the recent "cold" weather at night (hey, we almost got a frost!) our behind-the-times mommy realized that the kiddos had no winter pjs. So, what a fun day! Everyone got new jammies. Nothing beats a brand new pair of warm cuddly footie jams. Sweet dreams!

Blessed are the children

I love children. I love all children, although mine are more precious & clever than any other child. But I love children because of their innocence complemented by their natural curiosity. My daughter Sofia (who will be four years old in December) asked me the other day why her tongue wasn't wrinkly. Why would your tongue be wrinkly? I asked her. She noted that when she sucked her thumb for too long (a habit we are in the proccess of breaking!) it came out wrinkly. So wouldn't it make sense that her tongue, which sits in her mouth all day, would also be wrinkly?

Anticipation, or An Apple a Day

I was in HEB the other day, doing some shopping in the produce department, when I saw them. Piled in a big crate, set in the middle of the floor, so as not to miss them. HUGE, beautiful, shiny green and red apples. I picked one up. I gave it a couple of nice hefts in the palm of my hand, awed by the weight/volume ratio. That extra poundage, of course, means that the water content is high. High water content = juicy apple. Yum.The sign above them said "Honeycrisp" in a way that made me absolutely sure they would be sold out within a few minutes, so I had to get one while they were there. Of course, the sign also said "$2.99/lb" in a way that made me absolutely sure that they would completely blow my budget for the week. So I only bought one.

This beautiful specimen of an early fall apple was just shy of an entire pound. It cost me $2.63. I took it home and gave it a quick polish before giving it the place of honor in the fruit basket. It made the Jonagold apples there seem puny by comparison. I thought about eating it right away, but knew that anticipation is half the enjoyment. So I just admired. And waited.

I was right about the anticipation. I was enjoying it, perhaps too much. Last night, I had a nightmare in which someone mistakenly ate my Honeycrisp beauty. I felt bereft when I woke up. I was only pacified when I went downstairs to ensure that it was, indeed, a terrible, terrible dream.

This afternoon as the boys napped, I decided that the time was ripe. I sharpened my knife. I gave the apple one last scrub. I set it on the cutting board and took a deep breath. As the knife sliced through the skin, I could hear the pop! as the juice squirted out. My water/volume ratio theory was confirmed. This was a succulent one. The anticipation was climaxing. I just knew that this was going to be the kind of apple that caused the fall of mankind. I couldn't wait.

I cut it into manageable pieces and took a final look. Mouth watering, I took my first bite. Yes! It was juicy! As those apple juices reached the various tastebud locations in my mouth, I felt...........

Disappointment.

For all the good looks & hefty weight (and hefty price), this apple rated a 4.5 on the sweetness scale. Rats. What a waste of anticipation. I guess that taught me it's best not to expect the best. No matter how good something looks, it probably isn't.

Filipe says I'm a pessimist. I think I'm a realist. Either way, the apple was mediocre. Better to expect mediocre and be pleasantly surprised than to anticipate greatness and be disappointed.

Oh, and by the way, those "puny" Jonagolds were about the sweetest, juciest apples I've had in a long time. And they were on sale.

Daddy Day Care

Daddy took the crew to get the mail... I never realized how much it looks like a day care when travelling with all three kiddos!

When good news goes bad

Why can't good news ever come without bad news? We have a condo that we have been trying to rent out since June. It has been sitting vacant, and doing its best to make our bank account vacant as well. Well, good news: we heard from our property manager, and we got a year lease on it! Yay! Now we can buy groceries! But my relief was tempered when they told me the maintenance coordinator needed to talk to me. Oh crap.

Turns out the tenant was complaining that the air conditioner was spitting out only warm air. What does he want, we're in Texas!! Anyways, turns out the heat pump is broken, coils leaking. Don't really know what all that means, but I did understand what $2500+ means. Good times.

But hey, silver lining (however thin) is that we don't have to worry about getting another renter for at least 12 months! Just got to keep telling myself that.

From where I sit

I grabbed the camera last night (or was it this morning? We were up until after 1am) as Filipe was packing for his annual sales meeting in Montreal. This is what I saw.

Filipe's still-unpacked suitcase....
Still unpacked hanging bag....

Sewing machine covered by still unfinished Christmas gifts....

So I'm realizing that I have a lot of unfinished business in my life. When do I get to finish something? Take it from inception to completion? See it through to the end, where I can shelve it and say, "I did great. That was fun." or feel that sense of accomplishement? I look around my house right now, and the dishes from lunch are still on the table, I have a load of laundry sitting in a basket from when I took it out of the dryer two days ago, the desk is covered by this-and-that from who the heck knows when.

This doesn't just apply to my housekeeping issues (and I have plenty!). I have a couple of boxes of craft supplies I got to do projects with Sofia (and I'm not a crafty person), I have school books to do with her that I haven't gotten around to, I have all sorts of ideas for community service projects & church projects, even an idea to start a business. But do I finish any of it? Do I follow through? No. It's just more clutter in my head.

I just want to finish something. Anything.

International Patriot

We got roped into manning a table at our church school's International Food Fair this Sunday. We only had one day's notice, so it wasn't as cool as it could have been, but we did okay! Yummy yummy Brazilian food! Too bad you missed it.

Enchanted Rock

Filipe had an "office day" today, so we took a last minute trip up to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. We figured it was about time we put our annual State Park Pass to good use.

So here we are eating lunch:

And here we are ready to hit the trail:

And here we are at the top of Enchanted Rock:

Okay, well, maybe not. This is really us, on the, umm.... trail? Okay, not really, but actually a sandy dry creekbed. We're not too good at maps:


Sam and Sofia getting a great ride:

Little Explorer Sofia
And one of a couple of fawns we startled from the brushGood times! Filipe found a nice spot for camping sometime, but I think for a day hike we'll go somewhere that has water next time! Maybe Guadalupe River or McKinney Falls. Stay tuned!