Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas: Schwartz Style

"Ess tooo heeavy!"

Sophia playing with Mads new maple race cars from Little Sapling Toys.

Yummy cheddar spinach fritatas.

(8 eggs, 1/2 c. whole milk, 1 c cheese, 1.5 c. chopped spinach.
Wisk, scoop into mini muffin cups. 8-10 min at 350. ! Sooo easy)
The newest Schwartz.
A huge Jade plant from Ms. Ann. This piece fell off of a larger jade this summer. She planted it and...BOOM....like magic it took.
I love.love.love.love jade plants.
I have been drooling over her big babes for a long time!!!!


The Dadder sporting his newest pj's.


Sophia enjoying the Melissa and Doug treehouse that George spent the better part of Christmas Eve (evening) assembling.

The Water Colors Wooden family from Purple Lizard. We got each of the girls a set. They came in a great travel pouch with pockets.
I pack small toys and a teeny container of play clay for restless periods when we're out (restaurants especially). I'm hoping to add these travel families to our pack.

Foamy blocks for Mads. There are already baby teeth marks in the corners of the animals!


Kitty fun.

Sophia's infectious laughter and a face smattered with yogurt. She wrapped in Sarah's silk which, before the yogurt snack, was being used as a sling for Puppy and George (one on front and one on back....I'm so proud!)

We had a beautiful holiday. Filled with family and demands from our 2 year old.
"Open this! Gimme that!"
"NO, this one is next!"
"THIS IS MINE. MINE. MINE!"

I'm sure that my mother is laughing. She knows all too well what it is like to raise a daughter like Sophia. I'm afraid that she gets it naturally. My nickname was Queeny.




Friday, December 11, 2009

Holiday Cheer

My mother hates Christmas. Hates isn't even strong enough to describe the depths of her feelings towards the end of the year madness. It, no doubt, has to do with the fact that my father worked for the railroad and lived in a hotel more than our house, four crazy kids that required a crap-load of work and the Scrooge that lived downstairs.

September brought anniversaries and a break from kids as we marched single-file back to school, October birthdays, November gluttony and then the dread of holiday lunacy set in.......

I inherited this feeling but I'm working very hard to change it. Nurture over nature here.

Working.hard.on.it. Working very hard.

Step one: Acknowledge that the month of December will indeed come.
I did this last week. After 25% of the month had already slid by without me noticing.

Step two: Erect a tree.
Before getting married I had a beautiful tree. It was cheap and easy...just the way I liked it :) I took it out of the box and there it was. Done. My loving husband nearly spit his coffee through his nose when he first saw my "twig." He hated it. He gleefully unpacked his tree and I felt equal disdain for it's multi-colored LED lighty things. (UGH!) So....this year we bought a new tree. Fuller than my first and less colorful than Geo's. It was even prelit :) Bonus!

Step three: Decorate
The girls and I make a double batch of salt dough and cut out trees, reindeer and stars. Baked. Bought washable paint (brilliant invention. Who knew they had such a thing?) and brushes.
This was the most awesome holiday fun of my entire life. Honestly...things are looking up!

Sophia had so much fun painting. She's been begging to paint ever since she and Kristen mixed their first batch of homemade watercolors on the back porch back on The Farm. Step four: Light it up
I have been saving this step. I the tree only once to get this shot. Geo has been in Mississippi since we put the tree up and the girls barely noticed it in the morning. I wanted to keep it that way until I had another set of eyes home to help watch out for the falling tree.

Step five: Feel the warmth.

Maybe I'll enjoy this stuff afterall....

Saturday, December 5, 2009

I am Somebody



A friend watched this and said "There was a time when SS was really for the kids who needed it - the disenfranchised, not the kids preparing to own their own Elmo franchise." I think that sums up my feelings perfectly.