Caleb's First Christmas

Sarah is not in the picture because she is quite sick and did not feel up to having her picture taken.  Poor little girl.  :(  No fun being sick for Christmas.  We have a tradition of having sickness in our house at Christmastime.  I hope we break it one of these years.  Well, our Christmas day is over now and we're heading to bed, just as yours is starting now in America.  We hope you have a wonderful day!  Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Caleb John - 2 Days Old

Still Waiting . . .

My due date has come and gone and still no baby.  This is the first time I have carried to full term.  I guess I'll just keep knitting . . .  Sarah and her little brother are going to have a lot of hats.

Fifth Grade Choir & Beginning Band Concert

Last week, Savannah had her choir & beginning band Christmas concert.  I had thought the baby would come before then and that I would have to miss it.  So I was very happy to be able to attend.  Joel & I were quite surprised by how well these 10 & 11 year old kids could play their instruments, after only three months of instruction.  Very impressive!  And how neat that she has the opportunity to both sing in a choir and participate in a band when she is only in fifth grade.  We love the music programs at our kids' school.  Savannah has really enjoyed learning the trombone this fall.  And it has been helpful that her daddy knows how to play it and was able to help her when she practiced at home.  Great job, Savannah!  Enjoy the short video clips!

Little Pumpkin Hat

I started this hat at the beginning of October, hoping to finish it by Halloween.  But a few days before Halloween, I made a mistake in the knitting and did not know how to fix it.  Discouraged, I set it aside for a few weeks.  Halloween and Thanksgiving came and went.  The little hat was missing its season to shine.  :(

Then, a few nights ago, I picked it up again, determined to figure out how to fix it.  Happily, I figured it out and was able to continue knitting up the last bit until I finished it tonight.  Hooray!  It is big enough that Sarah will be able to wear it next fall.  And then our baby boy can wear it the following two autumns.  So thankfully, it will still get plenty of wear.  I just love the little stem & leaf on top.  Such a fun little hat!

Holiday Sugar Cookies Recipe

As promised, here is the amazing sugar cookie recipe I boasted of in the last post.  The combination of the cream cheese frosting with the cinnamon, nutmeg & allspice in the cookies makes these soft cut-outs unique & delicious with a taste of holiday spice.  Enjoy!

Cream together:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar

Add:

2 eggs
1 T. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk*

Sift together, then add to creamed mixture:

5 cups flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1-2 t. nutmeg
1 t. allspice

Mix until completely incorporated.  Add more flour as needed if dough is too sticky.  Roll dough onto a well floured surface.  Keep dough thick, about 1/2 inch.  Cut out with well floured cookie cutters, then bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350 F (175 C) for 10-12 minutes per batch.

*1 cup of milk mixed with 1 t. vinegar can be substituted for buttermilk

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
2 t. vanilla

Cream together butter, vanilla & cream cheese until mixture is smoother and no lumps remain.  Slowly add powdered sugar until thoroughly incorporated.  If color is desired, add food coloring  & mix until uniformly colored throughout.  Spread over cooled cookies.  Top with sprinkles, if desired.  Enjoy!

Thank you to my friend, Amanda Sawatka, for sharing this recipe with me!

Christmas Cookies

This weekend we put up our Christmas decorations.  And tonight for family night we made Christmas sugar cookies.  I helped the kids while Joel chased Sarah.  I think I got the better end of the deal.  Now the kids are in bed and the kitchen is a total mess.  :)  And I'd rather sit and blog than clean it all up.  We usually only make sugar cookies once a year for this very reason.  Mmmmmm. . . . but we used the best recipe ever this year!  I'll post it for you soon.  Right now the recipe is sitting in the other room and I'm too tired & immobile to get up and get it and type it for you. So you'll just have to be kept in suspense . . .  But, oh, it will be worth the wait.  I promise.

Baby Blanket

The longer this baby stays inside, the more projects I complete.  I just finished my first ever crocheting project:  a baby blanket that I had started when I was pregnant with Sarah.  I finally picked it up again this week and am happy to finally have it done and ready for a new baby.

Purple Sweet Potatoes

Ever seen a purple sweet potato?  Yes, they do exist.  And here in Korea, they are a popular main ingredient in this lovely sweet potato porridge.  A friend of ours gave us a bag of them last week.  So we looked up a recipe online and made this beautiful, tasty porridge.  Isn't it pretty?

Dissection

As most of you know, Andrew loves science.  Any field of science.  But he especially loves learning about sea creatures.  Last week he went to the grocery store with Joel.  He fell in love with the seafood section and begged for Joel to buy him a squid and a mantis shrimp so he could dissect them.  Joel promised him they would buy some over the weekend.

For the rest of the week, Andrew talked of little else.  He just couldn't wait to go buy his sea creatures and get started on dissection.  Friday night just before bedtime, Joel took him to the grocery store and they bought his squid and shrimp.  That night when Andrew said his bedtime prayers, he prayed that Heavenly Father would help him to wake up super early.

Saturday morning, Joel and I woke to the lovely smell of raw seafood wafting in from the kitchen.  Andrew was already up and at it, dissecting with great concentration and joy.  Savannah was trying to enjoy her breakfast, despite the smell.  She put up a cereal box barricade to shelter herself from the sight.  She then ate as quickly as possible and cleared out.

Joel and I are continually amazed with Andrew's patience and focus and attention to detail.  He seems quite cut out to become a surgeon some day.  While the rest of us shied away from the sight and smell, he spent over an hour delighted by every detail he discovered in these animals.

Thanksgiving

Thursday morning, Savannah made Sarah a turkey costume.  Sarah was not quite sure what to think of it.

We spent that evening enjoying a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with some good friends of ours.  Joel & I were glad that the baby hadn't come yet so that we wouldn't miss out on this great feast with our wonderful friends.

Stripey Stocking Cap

I finally finished knitting our baby's newborn hat.  I made Stripey Stocking Cap from Susan B. Anderson's book, Itty Bitty Hats.  It was my first time doing stripes, knitting in seed stitch, and making a pom-pom.  It was fun to learn a few more knitting skills.

Mr. Potato Head kindly modeled for me.

Alright, little boy!  Your hat is finished and I am more than 38 weeks along.  You can come now!  :)

Thanksgiving Parties & The Turkey Tango

I love it when the kids have Thanksgiving parties at school.  Each class has their own potluck Thanksgiving feast in their classroom at lunchtime.  This year, Savannah's, Andrew's, & Lizzie's were all on the same day.  So Sarah and I went from class to class, sampling delicious Thanksgiving foods, watching their class performances, and helping with their class service projects.  It was a fun day.  Here is Lizzie's class performing The Turkey Tango.

Enjoying the feast in Andrew's class.  Sarah LOVED the rolls, pumpkin pie, and mandu (Korean dumplings).

After their feast, Savannah's class tied the edges of fleece blankets to give to children at a nearby orphanage.  Here she is with Sarah and our neighbor, Darren, who is in her class this year.