Christmas 2009

It's been soo long since I've updated that I don't even know where to start......

Here is Selah at the Nutcracker-her sister Linnea was a Drosselmeier mouse this year and so when she had her makeup done, Selah also got a mouse face.

And this is Maggie making *snow* with a piece of styrofoam. She made lots and lots of *snow* but when the foam was all gone......

She wasn't very happy!!!

She kinda wasn't loving Santa this year either! Isn't that an awesome looking Santa? But imagine being a little kid and being expected to sit in this strange stranger's lap!?!

And here we have the whole family on Christmas Eve opening gifts!


Caleb and Alec (im)patiently waiting for their turn to open a gift. Luke was Santa this year and I had all the gift tags coded to make it more fun. I used initials or birth dates instead of names on most of the gifts. I'm such a clever, tricky grandma,,,heh heh!

This picture actually looks like it should come before the last two...oh well!

Here is Selah opening something.....

Here are Caleb, Selah and Olivia playing with some of their new toys.....Playdoh and a paint set (which is why Selah has her dress off!)


This is my mom & dad - they wanted to have a picture in front of the tree to use on their Christmas card for next year! Notice all the red tinsel on the tree??? Some one thought it would be fun to use that instead of tissue in her gifts and so the three little girls had it spread pretty much all over the house and I do mean ALL OVER! I'm not exactly sure whose idea it was to have them put it on the tree after they'd picked it all up?!? It came off the tree real easy with the shop vac just in case you wondered!

And that pretty much sums up the last few weeks at our house! I am always happy once Christmas is over and we can get back to a more normal routine here......well, normal for us!

Swedish Breakfast

Okay so if you've known me for more than five minutes, you most likely know that my family is Swedish. Came through Ellis Island. Right off the boat. My parents are first generation Americans. They were fairly fluent in the language.....enough that they and the grandparents could communicate without any of us kids having a clue!

All the grandparents are gone now and also the rest of their generation and so, unfortunately, have a lot (alright, most) of the cultural / family traditions. There is, however, one tradition that remains and that is the Swedish Lucia breakfast.
My mom & I attended it again last weekend. I really don't know what the history is for the event other than food and a girl - supposedly the oldest daughter - wearing a wreath of lit (yikes!) candles on her head and the littlest kids in costume dancing and singing and stuff. So at this particular breakfast there is all of that and a modest assortment of foods and other Swedish things for sale.
This is a photo of a Lucia celebration - not the one we went to though.

Attending any event with your 80 year old mother can be an *exciting* thing and this was no exception! She talks a little too loud. She comments on everything and everyone.....whether appropriate or not. She tells everyone at the table (all strangers) that the food is not as good as her grandmother's recipe but can't tell you what it was that made grandma's food so much better. She tells everyone, including the servers "god dog" which she thinks is Swedish for good day. I don't know...maybe it is but if someone kept saying "god dog" to you.........hey, I'm just saying......
So I got my annual cultural experience and spent a pleasant morning doing so!
"God dog", to all! Heh heh!