Family Gratitude List for 2010

At breakfast this morning the four of us put our heads together to create an alphabet gratitude list of all the things we could think of that we were grateful for in 2010. This is our collaborative effort!

A - All go to the same school, Anna, Anders

B - Being together, Bella, Becky, Beth, blessing on the meal, butterflies

C - Chickens, Cathy Hunter, chicken timer, Cape Cod, computer games

D - Dragon roller coaster at the fair, Denise, design

E - Egg slicer

F - Fish Tank, the fair, friends

G - Goodbye to the honda!, gymnastics, grandma & grandpa, granola

H - Hazel, Hike up to Sterling Pond, our Home

I - Imaginary friends (Bingo, Eli, & Eggy), Italy

J - Judy

K - Klingers cookies, Kuba

L - Lea, love

M - Mor Mor & Mor Far, maple syrup, Maximo, Marc & Cheryl, mudroom, mastermind

N - New couch, NO more diapers!

O - Owen, Oscar, orange porch

P - Presents from Christmas, Puffy Head, pantry

Q - Queer weddings

R - Remote control car, Miss Radley, riding a bike without training wheels

S - Safal, sledding, Aunt Sandy, stories, seals, scooters

T - Taiko drumming, tops, playing "trap me"

U - Uncle Claes

V - Playing Veterinarian

W - Whale watching

X - eXperimenting

Y - Yogurt ---especially banilla

Z - Bronx Zoo

May 2011 be full of happiness, health, passion, creativity and...
big love. It's an amazing life!

Anders Friend from the Bhutan

We had a friend from Anders kindergarten's class over for dinner tonight. He and his family have been in the United States for less than 6 months and know very little English. The parents are from Bhutan, but have spent the past 20 years in Nepal. They immigrated just recently. Luckily, a local high school student came with them as the interpreter - even though she herself has only been in the states for the past three years. It was an amazing experience to have them as dinner guests. Anders was bedside himself with joy, and the family was so deeply grateful to be invited. Safal and Anders spent nearly the entire time playing with remote vehicles and trying hard to converse. It is so cool to watch your 5 year old trying to communicate with another 5 year old who is non-English speaking, but quick to learn!

It was a wonderful night.

We're Riding in a Wonderland of Snow!

We had a lovely sleigh ride through the woods today with Mor Mor and 2 fabulously beautiful chestnut colored horses, laden with jingle bells.

And Then Our very own Traditions....

Under, on, and around the Tree -

Tops....a basket full of a variety of tops to spin
Wind up toys...a basket full of assorted wind ups to play with
Christmas books...a basket full of children's christmas books to read
Birds nests...a bunch of birds nests collected over the years that fill our tree
Birds...a collection of feathered birds to adorn our tree branches
Christmas card...the best we can come up with of the boys each year
Finding and cutting our own Christmas tree

Julafton

Swedish Christmas Eve

Anna's family is Swedish American - both of her parents were born and raised in Sweden, and all of their relatives are still there. Her parents met here in the United States about 45 years ago and raised their family here. You can imagine the amount of influence and pride there is for everything to do with Sweden and Swedish traditions in our family.

Julafton (Christmas Eve) is the biggest.

If you read my blog, you will know that my family is Polish and I wrote about our Polish Christmas traditions last year. Anna and I have alternated celebrating Christmas with our families year after year. This year it is our Swedish celebration.

Like my parents, Anna's parents have celebrated the holiday the exact same way every single year of their lives, and so did their grandparents, and their great-grandparents, etc. We are passing these traditions on to Anders and Jakob and I am so happy that both of our families are so rich with ethnic customs.

Christmas actually begins on December 13 in Sweden, with Santa Lucia. Usually, the eldest girl in the family portrays St. Lucia, puts on a white robe in the morning and is allowed to wear a crown full of candles. She serves her parents Lucia buns and coffee. We haven't yet made this a big part of our celebration (we have 2 boys!) but we have attended some Santa Lucia parties in Vermont.

Also, it's typical to decorate the trees and homes in seasonal Swedish spirit with gingerbread cookies (otherwise known as pepparkakor), straw Christmas decorations, and flowers such as the Julstjärna (Poinsettia), red tulips, and red or white Amaryllis. Our tree and house have many Swedish ornaments sent to us from family in Sweden - but we've made it our own style by adding birds nests, birds, and little Polish ornaments as well. This year we also hung pepparkakor heart cookies at every window. Decorating is nearly as fun as the entire celebration for me!

The traditional Swedish Christmas Eve dinner is a smörgåsbord, and includes a variety of foods. Preparation takes all day, includes nearly everyone, and begins with Anna's father carefully removing all the bones from a tin of Swedish anchovies for a particular recipe. The dinner always includes Julskinka (Christmas ham,) köttbullar(Swedish meatballs,) inlagd sill(pickled herring,) strömming (more herring,) Jansson's Tempation (shredded and baked potatoes with anchovies and heavy cream,) rödkalssallad (red cabbage salad,) potatis (boiled, dilled potatoes,) Rökt korv (smoked sausage,) prinskorv (fried sausage,) knäckebröd, a variety of cheeses - gouda, edam, jarlsburg, Vört Limpa (a rye based bread,) and sweets - finska pinnar, pepparkakor, havrekakor, kingla, and saffron bullar. Oh, and during the first course, which is the breads, crackers, cheeses and pickled fish, there is a toast with Aquavit and traditional Swedish drinking songs are sung. (I'll try to post a video of this!)

After dinner, a visit from the jultomten is expected - the Christmas gnome who comes bearing gifts with the Christmas goat. We exchange most presents this night (except a few from Santa in the morning) This is our way of merging the traditions in both of our families which celebrate on the eve of Christmas, so that the boys can still feel excited about a visit from Santa Claus.



For fun here are some Swedish words you just might like to know:
In Swedish you pronounce the J as a Y. Such as...GodYul...Yulafton, etc.
god jul - Merry Christmas!
julafton – Christmas eve, Dec 24.
julbock – traditional Christmas goat (made out of straw)
julbord – Christmas buffet
juldag – Christmas day
julgran – Christmas tree
julgransbelysning – Christmas tree lights
julklapp – Christmas present
julkort – Christmas card
jullov – Christmas (school) break
jultomte – Santa Claus
jultid – Christmas time

God Jul!

12 Christmas Moments

1 Swedish Flag


2 Boys unwrapping


3 Russian Stacking Dolls


4 Happy Children


5 Plates of Dessert


6 Chandelier Candles


7 Cookie Cutters


8 Clue Players


one 9 year old


10 pancakes frying


11 Family members


12 People dining

Happy Holidays and so much love to all of our friends and family!

Anders

Sometimes my boys just crack me up!
Plus, this outfit is to die for!

Anna's Cookies

Every year Anna bakes dozens and dozens of Swedish Pepparkakor - a very thin, very crispy gingerbread cookie. They are amazing to taste, but what is even more amazing to me is the process. Anna rolls the dough so thin you can see the wood grain of the table. The baking time is minuscule because of their thinness. The boys love them, both raw and baked. Ancient Swedish family secret!

Cookie Time!!

Love Letter to a Dog

Like I said in an earlier post, Anders fell in love with a little dog named Bella over Thanksgiving break. He got a sample of dog food from the feed store and sent it to his dog friend with the message - "I love Bella" inside.

Never Enough Sugar

Given a variety of decorating options, more is clearly better! Anders and Kuba were invited to a gingerbread house making party but Kuba was sick and couldn't make it. Anders made a house for Kuba as well, and he used the same decorating style with everything - Roccoco, don't you think?

Not One Egg Yet!

Here are our three hens, fully grown now, but not one egg yet!
We lost puffy head to a raccoon, gave the rooster away, and here are the remaining three ladies - Scaredy Cat, Freckles, and Eagle. Let's go ladies!

Themes or Series

Anders has been very excited about writing and drawing since he began kindergarten.
He seems to like to work in a series.
First it was houses,
then it was pumpkins;
his latest passion is hearts and all four of our names.
All I want for christmas this year is a framed piece of Anders handwriting...I have to say it really makes me happy!

Tree Creatures

Snow, but not much of it.
Well, if there's not enough for a snowman, how about a tree creature??

Recuperating

Kuba was home sick for two days, and this is what I saw after Anders got home and joined him on the couch.

'Tis the Season!

Yup, we've done it again folks! Another great hunt for the perfect tree has ended. We successfully and cooperatively chose the one on the car. Trust me, it's a good one! It's somewhere between beautiful and Charlie Brownish...just the way we like 'em!

Thanksgiving in New York

We have just returned from our trip to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday. We spent it at Anna's mom's and had Thanksgiving dinner with family friends, Fran and Dierdre. We went last year, and had a wonderful time again this year. The dinner was simply delicious and it was divine to be a guest at their home - it's a flat in an enormous and beautiful old home in Katonah, and I simply love it there. I think in another life time I grew up in an old and beautiful home just because of the way it affects me. The food was amazing, the guests were fun, (we got to meet Anna's brother Peter's new girlfriend!) and I had the best walnut cookies I have ever eaten in my life. The boys played with electric trains, a gentle snake (really!) and their playful and spunky dog, Bella. To end the night, Fran's nephew, brother, and Anna all played and sang to us on guitar. The music was almost the best part of all.

The next day we took the train into New York City with the kids and had a (busy) day of shopping and sight seeing. We went to Bryant Park to watch the skating, saw an enormous holiday tree at Rockefeller Center, looked at the window displays at Saks Fifth Avenue, and had a Swedish lunch at the Church of Sweden...I know...we didn't really go into the church, but ate at their little cafe and shop where it seems only Swedish is spoken. Luckily, I was with Barbro who did all the talking. We also went into a mobbed Lego Store where Anders was blown away by an enormous Lego dragon that wound its way around the ceiling of the store. We bought a tub of bulk, mix-n-match Lego's (who knew they came in bulk?!) So fun, but a somewhat insane thing to do the day after Thanksgiving!

Anders fell in love with Bella (he cried enormous tears just leaving her) so we managed to get in a play date on Sunday for the boys and Bella. Clearly he is a candidate for getting his own puppy "some day."

New Kuba-isms....

Kuba at dinner the other night...

"Tell me which of these is true....noses fly? ... or noses put out buggers?"


Kuba at dinner the night before...

"Everyone, everyone, I want to tell you something...everyone, listen,
I want to tell you something....Everyone (with big sweeping arm gestures) everyone in this village - you are the best!"

Kuba's New Mama

My camera broke again, which is bad timing with Halloween and Kuba's birthday happening simultaneously...though I was able to get a cell phone photo of Kuba on his birthday posing with this big giant furry bear. My sister gave it to him, and it was the most exciting gift he received...he immediately named it "mama."

Whale of a Good Costume

Due to a broken camera I had no pictures of my own to post from Halloween!
A friend just sent some to me and now I can post the kids out trick-or-treating in their costumes. I have to admit, Anders costume looks fabulous considering I was certain it was going to be a fiasco. Anna ambitiously worked for weeks with Anders and the costume morphed a few times into this final and lovely great blue whale. They even worked it out so that candy could be easily dropped into the mouth of the whale. Kuba, as you can see, is dressed in a really simple monkey costume that I made out of a brown fleece pant and jacket set with cute monkey ears and a long monkey tail...it was simple and sort of looks that way in these photos. But...the good part was that it was really easy for him to walk around in...Anders had a bit of a hard time making his way onto porches, etc.
But who cares about that if you look that good as a whale?

My almost Three Year Old

Kuba will be three soon and as happy as I am about him growing up, I am also a little bitter sweet about how quickly he seems to be growing. He really is growing in leaps and bounds.

I find Kuba to be a remarkable child. I am fascinated by how his mind moves at the speed of light, and at times how his little body does too. I love how language is so much a part of his experience; exploring things verbally and right out loud is so necessary for him. He is one bright boy. He has a lot to say and anyone who doesn't take the time to listen to him is really missing something. This boy is one fun little ball of light.

I love how much passion he feels- about a bug, a leaf, a book, a particular food, and even about NOT DOING something.

I love how capable he is with his body, and simultaneously how hard it is for him to manage his impulses - especially when he is all worked up about something.

I love the sound of his voice and his beautiful singing. I love his brilliant imagination as well. You should hear him tell a story, make up a song, or create an imaginary scenario with his toy animals.
He is extroverted, hysterical, and charming...and at times uncompromising.
Kuba is not easy to distract or divert. When he says no, he means no. This is a bit of a parenting challenge to say the least. He's sharp and demanding and he keeps me on my parenting toes. For sure this little boy is my teacher.

And of course, I think he is absolutely beautiful. I mean, just take one look at him. I feel an insane amount of love for him.

Here's to a very happy year three my little boy!

Puffy Head....M.I.A.

We lost one of our chickens this weekend....a mystery for sure.
She was the Polish chicken, tan and beautiful with a big plume of feathers bursting from the top of her head. She's the chicken on the left in the photo. She was also the chicken the other chickens like to peck, the one at the bottom of the pecking order. I felt a little protective of her. And then she vanished.

Clues:
A bunch of tan and white feathers found by the chicken coop.
A very big, round raccoon on our barn roof.
Two children convinced that "she either ran away or the raccoon ate her up, either one..."ran away or eaten up...eaten up or ran away" This was a big part of the weekend conversation.

I was really looking forward to seeing her green eggs. Supposedly, the shell of the eggs she laid was going to be the same color as her feet. She had beautiful green feet.

So long sweet Puffy Head - R.I.P.

Nothing at all to do with my life with boys....

But everything to do with what I find beautiful! I have to say that this photo is so stunning I just have to post it! Check out this link for more photos!
www.theadventurelife.org/2010/09/the-mad-crazy-badass-delivery-bikes-of-china/

Kid Song

Anna took Kuba to Shelburne Farms today and at one point they were sitting on the south side of the farm barn; it was sunny but cold. All the chickens were congregating near the rock foundation to stay warm. Kuba was watching the chickens, and spotted a barred chicken walking in a ray of sun. He started singing "You're a freckly chicken, you're a freckly chicken and you're shining brightly..." in a lovely little tune, with his lovely little 2 year old voice, with an emphasis on the word SHIIIINING. From Anna's retelling this to me, it sounded so sweet.

Taiko, Butterflies, and Story Telling

We had quite the weekend.

It started on Friday night when the boys celebrated their 2 week residency at school with the Taiko Drummers. A whole school evening concert was rainy, but fanatastic!
See the link below for detailed photo's of the eveing event.
http://samsimonimaging.zenfolio.com/p985638542


The next event was the bursting chrysalis and the emerging monarch butterfly! It has been so much fun watching and waiting for the butterfly! Happy trails little fella!

And the grand finale was a neighborhood story telling in our barn. It's something we'd like to do on a regular basis, and tonights kick off was a real blast!

Training Wheels...Be Gone!

The Boys Got Into My Jewelrybox