New Years Part 2: Zoo Lights and the Party

Why do my kids kick and scream and protest so loudly when we tell them that we are taking them somewhere and we don't tell them where that place is?  After all, a few years ago we didn't tell them we were going to Disneyland until a day or two before we left, and only then did we tell them because they pestered it out of us.  Then there was the whole Great Wolf Lodge thing.  Last year we took them to school, then pulled them out an hour later and started driving north.  Isaac argued.  Avery cried.  Isaac argued some more.  Brady stuck out his neck and pouted.  Nathan got mad.  And Isaac continued to argue.   We still didn't tell them.  But we did assure them that they would LOVE where we were going, and that they better stop having bad attitudes RIGHT NOW!!!!  Two hours later, they saw the water slides emerging out of the side of the lodge, and decided that, okay, Mom and Dad are cool after all. 

New Years Eve was more of the same.  Fun day fully planned (by Dad, I might add), and executed right on schedule (I did say it was planned by Dad, right?).  They enjoyed Margie's.  After we filled up on ice cream, we headed toward Lincoln Park Zoo.  They complained, and moaned.  But John and I both love to try and surprise them, even if it isn't something big like Disneyland. 

Forget about the lights and the animals.  Nathan was most excited about the indoor "climbing thing" that he played on forever last time we were there. 




You can't really see it, but the kids are staring at the crocodile.
It sat perfectly motionless at the edge of the pool.
Nathan asked me "Mom, why does the crocodile keep staring at me?"



After church on New Years day, we went to Karen's parents' home for their 30 something annual New Years day open house.   The adults sat around sharing stories and eating things like baked bologna with apricot mustard glaze (delish! I know it may sound weird if your not from around these parts, but trust me, yum!), stuffed grape leaves, asparagus salad, and sugared cranberries (which I probably ate an entire dish of).  The kids spent their time spying on the adults and stealing more deserts.  We ate, talked, ate some more, laughed, commented on how every one's children had grown so much since last year, and for a time I felt like I had a big family right here in Chicago. 

Here's to a happy, safe, inspired, blessed, hopefully slightly less stressful than 2011, new year!

New Years Eve Part 1: a.k.a. Al Capone's Bathroom

One of the great things about living in Chicago is that it is full to the brim of fascinating places to see and fun things to do.  Like Al Capone's bathroom. 

After I paid our bill, I had a dollar left, so I decided to splurge
and try out one of their pecan turtles (my favorite!) 
I did not intend to share. 
However, our very kind waitress, thinking that I was going to
try and split one turtle between our entire brood, slipped an extra one in the bag,
free of charge.

This was actually a quaint ice cream parlor called Margie's Candies, near downtown Chicago.  The place has been there since 1921 and is overflowing with nostalgia.  We ordered only two ice cream dishes to share between us, and it was plenty: a Turtle Sundae and a Coconut Banana Split (the coconut ice cream rivals Dave's in Hawaii).  YUM!  And since the place was frequented by the likes of Al Capone back in the day, we are certain that he used that very bathroom, or bath closet would be a more correct term.

So here's to Margie's, Mom and Pop.  So sorry we didn't get you there when you were here!  But we sure enjoyed it for you!   It was both delicious and delightful!

Tutorial: How to breathe through your eyeballs

There are two times each year when I really wish that homeschooling would work for our family:  about three days after school starts in the fall, and about three days after the kids go back to school after Christmas break.  I miss them.  The first day is okay, and so is the second.  But by the third day, my house is clean.  My laundry is caught up.  I have been grocery shopping, alone, and filled up the cupboards and the refrigerator.  Last week, I even took a nap and read two books.  And I missed my kids.  Even the fighting and the messes and the hectic schedule.  I love that I get to be their mom.

But now they are back in school.  And it is a wonderful school, I might add.  On Thursday I had to drop off Isaac's violin at school because he had forgotten it and it was his day for lessons.  When I went into the office, the secretary just smiled and said to me "Did you know Brady can breathe through his eyeballs?"

Well, I knew Brady was extraordinarily tallented, but this?  Who knew?

Here is the rest of the story.  Brady had gone into the nurses office earlier that morning for a bloody nose.  Apparently he had been hit in the face with a ball during P.E.  After he got cleaned up, instead of heading out into the hallway and back to class, he detoured into the secretary's office. 

Brady:  Did you know I can breathe through my eyeballs?

Secretary:  Really?

Brady:  Yeah, wanna see? 

(He then pinches his nose, and closes his lips and blows as hard as he can.  According to the secretary, his face turned bright red, and his eyes were bugging out).

Brady:  Did you see that?

Secretary:  Wow!

Brady:  Yeah, pretty cool, huh?  (Then turns and proudly struts back to class).

Farewell to Christmas

This is the house just down the street and around the corner from us.  I used it as motivation for the kids to get things done many times over this last month.  (Mom:  "If you hurry and get your pajamas on and brush your teeth, I will drive you to the dancing light house before you go to bed!"  It worked every time).

I always meant to go fully equiped with my video camera or at least my good camera.  No.  Instead we took pictures and movies from John's phone, which ran out of batteries in the middle of a song.

Christmas Day

There is something special about Christmas Day landing on a Sunday.  It keeps everything in perspective and wraps up the day with a beautiful bow on top.

Here is what we looked like on Christmas morning.  We let Yummy go down first just to tease the big kids.  He rode around on his little bike from Santa, and had a mouthful of candy before the protests from the top of the stairs got too loud to be ignored.  After examining what Santa brought, we opened presents, then ate our yummy Christmas morning omelet.  Later that afternoon, we had a house full of other MBA students and their families for Christmas dinner.  Christmas is always better with a full house.

Awesome Uncle Garrett came through again this year with crazy fun laser guns!

Caroling and Christmas Eve

On December 23rd our countdown calendar included the rest of our caroling to friends and neighbors, so even though it was FREEZING and sleeting (not snowing, boooo), we bundled up to deliver our goods.  We stole a tradition and recipe from some dear friends back in Dallas and presented Tosca Kaka (fancy name for Swedish almond cake, a Christmas staple at our house!), accompanied by Avery and Isaac on their violins.  The best part of the evening was caroling to two families, both with children who are friends of our children, that had never received carolers before.  One cried, which made me choke up.  Darn my easy flowing water works.  The other was our wonderful neighbors, who clapped and cheered and requested an encore.  The children treated them to "We Wish You a Happy Hanukkah."

Christmas Eve we watched "The Polar Express" and decorated our gingerbread house.

The remainder of the day was taken up by John making thousands of wontons to add to our traditional Hawaiian Christmas Eve celebration.  Yes, I know wontons are not Hawaiian, but they eat enough of them in Hawaii, and the kids love them so much, we decided to bend the rules a bit.  We got to share our celebration with some very sweet, gracious Young Women from our ward.

No Christmas Eve would be complete without reading the account of Christ's birth from the bible, which we did, each child or guest adding a piece to the nativity when their turn came.  It was beautiful.  Then we opened our pajamas, with an added gift this year of Christmas Eve pillows, which she made completely on her own for the boys out of leftover pajama fabric.  Then it was off to bed for the little ones, for sugarplum visions that didn't come until much later in the evening when their fatigue finally overpowered their anticipation!