Pinching Myself

I have to say, and not to gloat or anything, but I am amazingly well prepared for Christmas this year. I always try to be on top of things, but I usually never fail to have stuff to take care of at the last minute. But, this year I may have actually done it.

I must confess that 50% of my current condition is related to the fact that I determined to give up in November on any gifts that involved sewing or creation on my part. (See, I did learn something from last December.) I determined that the hand knit scarves or embroidered pillows or photo albums or fabric tepees or fabric playhouse front that I REALLY want to make for my girls would make EXCELLENT gifts for Valentine's Day, or even Independence Day. This year I was putting sanity over sentimentality.

And, it is paying off.

Last week was a bit crazy after returning for a whirlwind trip to Utah over Thanksgiving I had to do a bunch of wash, unpack, clean house, grocery shop, and decorate for Christmas. But, now, on the first full week of December I am pleased to report that I have:
Finished all decorating,
Finished all shopping for Christmas,
Sent out Christmas cards and letters,
Mailed all packages,
Stuffed the advent calendars,
Made my first batch of Christmas cookies -- ginger snaps, yum,
Commenced reading Christmas stories with the girls (halfway through A Christmas Carol already-- we may actually finish it this year!),
Wrapped all my gifts,
Watched my first Christmas movie,
and compiled a list of holiday activities to try out in Boise.

(This weekend we went to "Claus and Paws" at the zoo. The kids had fun seeing animals and riding the carousel; the weather was not too bad, and we got in for free. But, since we refused to stand in line and pay $3 to see Santa, Mia did observe on the way out that she was "Not sure what the trip to the zoo had to do with Christmas."

We also attended the BSU Music Department Christmas Concert. It was a fun event, with a great performance by my second-cousin-in-law, who is the Department Chair, on the piano. Mark was amazing. The girls did quite well sitting through it, and we really enjoyed the evening, which, of course, included the BSU marching band earning the biggest applause. This one is worth doing again.

I am looking forward to the Nutcracker this weekend with the girls and our community Christmas Party.)

All in all, given how behind I feel in life, I am amazed at how prepared I am this year. My hope is to have more time for the fun things I always want to do with the kids and the simple things that really let me pause and soak in the season. I'll see if that works out.

In the meantime, I thought I would provide a sneak peak of Christmas at our house (although the pics aren't the best since I took them with my phone). As usual, I love using natural and simple elements in my decorating. It is always fun to figure out how it will all work in a new house. We have a lot less space here and I had to really strategize on how to fit the trees. But, it the end it feels so warm and inviting. I am loving all the festivity of Christmas here. It helps it feel more like home.

In Print

Jeffrey and I went out to dinner for his birthday at an Italian Restaurant in town. It is a nice establishment. But, it took only a few minutes to realize we have a lot to learn about life in Boise.

As I have written before, supporting the Boise State Broncos is the highest value held by the community.

At Bella Aquila, I discovered that appropriate attire for a nice restaurant in Boise is slacks, a skirt, a dress shirt, or a BSU t-shirt.

But, even more, I learned that a BSU game is akin to major holiday. Seriously. This about summarizes it.

Thanksgiving. Christmas. The BSU-TCU Game.

Wow.

I have a lot to learn.

My other birthday girl...

Mia turned nine this year. Wow! Double digits next year is rather daunting to mom.

We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa, made a poster (which I forgot to take a picture of) for Mia to take to school since she was the "special person" of the week, made a large batch of popcorn balls for her class, fixed her bacon (her absolute favorite) for breakfast, went to the movies (Lion King in 3D) with friends after school, and had a special family dinner -- which was especially quiet since Elsie Jane fell asleep on the way home from the movie -- of french onion soup, cobb salad, and lemon bundt cake, all Mia's choices.

This was our first time getting Mia an electronic gadget as a gift. A bit of a sad transition really. But, she loved her own i-pod, which we loaded full of music, including all the fun tunes she was learning for her school program, and i-home.

Mia is just such a wonderful girl. I feel so grateful to have such a daughter. She is:
1- kind,
2- creative,
3- imaginative and playful,
4- thoughtful,
5- sensitive to the spirit,
6- a great reader,
7- a lover of horses, and all animals,
8- helpful -- when she wants to be --,
and
9- a good example to her little sisters.

Happy Birthday, Mia!

Happy Birthday Dear Elsie Jane...

We celebrated Elsie Jane's birthday early this year when Grandma and Grandpa came up to visit. She has been very excited for her third birthday, although pretty much all the excitement has been about the cake. We have been talking about the type of birthday cake or cupcakes that she wanted for her special day for months. Since Elsie Jane is a total Mickey Mouse affectionado I knew what theme we would have for her party.

Feeling guilty that I forced her to be a munchkin for Halloween so that she could coordinate with the rest of the family, I made her the costume she requested, "Minnie Mouse Princess" for her birthday. She loved it!

We made a banner, hung up pictures of Elsie Jane, used red and white and black and white polka dot material for the tablecloth, and found darling dishes at target for serving the salad and cake -- check out the Mickey ear bowl and the Mickey glove plates!

For dinner we served spaghetti and 3 meatballs, placed strategically to make what Mia referred to as a "hidden Mickey." We had Mickey shaped garlic cheese bread, salad, and fruit kabobs. All Elsie Jane's favorite.
But, beyond the gifts, which were all Mickey Mouse related (including a four foot tall Minne Mouse that Mia just had to buy for Elsie Jane), the dinner, or fun family activities, Elsie Jane loved her cake!


And, wouldn't you? And, it tasted good too.

I have never seen someone so excited to blow out her candles. Elsie Jane stood up tall on her chair, she spread her arms wide and in her loudest voice, with her arms waving to direct the rest of us, she led the singing, "Happy Birthday to me..." When the song drew to a close she threw her arms high in the air and blew out her candles.




Happiest Birthday Wishes to my sweet, three year old, Elsie Jane.

Here are three things to remember about Elsie Jane at this age:

1- She has a great imagination. She is always pretending things. She believes she has magical hands. If I need something, like a battery or a piece of tape, she will put her hand in her "pocket" pull out thin air and say, "Don't worry mommy, I have it!"

She is regularly worried about dinosaurs coming to get her. I told her the other day that I could not leave her alone in the car while I ran into the store, which is what she wanted me to do. "Why not?" she asked. "Because," I said, "What if someone took you while I was gone?" Elsie put her little hand up to her eyes, looked to the right and the left and then said, "I'm okay mommy. I don't see any dinosaurs or tigers around." Ahh... innocent girl, if only mommy only had to worry about dinosaurs and tigers on the loose.

2- She LOVES Mickey Mouse. She told me the other day, "Mickey Mouse is my best friend." (with her cute little lisp so that "best" came out "Bethest") My goal for Elsie Jane's fourth year of life is to help her to make real friends -- I think only having an animated character as your entire social life is rather sad, but it does explain why she becomes so angry when I turn off the TV and take her friend away. The other day when I said she had had enough and turned off the TV, she put her little hand on her hip, shook her finger at me sternly and said, "You no touch my TV!!!"

It has also gotten to a point that she believes that she has access to Mickey's special tools. The other day when I was working on a project she came up and observed, "It looks like you need some handy helpers!" "Yes," I said, "I could use a few extra, magical hands around the house." Of course, she responded by putting her hand in her pocket, pulling out some "assistance" for me, and handing it over.

She also has started to talk on a regular basis like she is a character in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The other day we were taking a walk when she came upon a rock and proceeded to have the following conversation with herself: "Hey, what's that? It's a rock. What should we do with it? Let's pick it up. Oh, good thinking everybody!"

3- She is developing such a spunky little personality of her own. She loves her sisters and mimics them often, but she takes her own twists on things too. Recently, she learned a new negotiating tactic from them. Now, when she wants to prove that she is really serious about something she says, "Stick a noodle in my eye!" This is her abbreviation for the odd and ever effective childhood saying, "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye!" Having heard her sister's employ this phrase, Elsie Jane took to the idea that by telling me that I could "stick a noodle in (her) eye" she could get anything she wants. It doesn't work, but it is adorable.

One other spunky moment was the other day at the store when we were buying bandaids, which she really wanted. "Ow!" Elsie Jane exclaimed. "What's wrong?" I asked looking down to ensure she was alright, just to observe her sticking her finger into her mouth and biting down hard. "I hurt my finger. I think I need a bandaid. Ow!!!" she said, giving her finger one more bite for good measure.

Cousins

One thing that is exciting about living in Boise is the chance for my kids to spend more time with their cousins. Here are all seven little monkeys in the tree.
After our recent Halloween reunion Jeffrey (who has not spent much time around the kids together with their cousins) remarked that just watching Annie and Maggie run around and giggle would make it worth living even closer to family. They are truly two peas in a pod. In Maggie's dream world she lives in a house with Annie on one side of her and her friend Kendall on the other. She regularly plans a future scenario when we can go on a vacation or do some amazing activity with both Annie and Kendall and "then they can meet each other!!!" I think she just gets along so well with both of them that she is convinced that it would be best friends at first sight should they ever interacted.
Mia and Jackson just love to play and explore. At least they don't get into all the trouble they used to together when they were younger, like smearing ashes from Nama's fireplace all over the house. Although, it was playing with Jackson that brought about Mia's only stitches. Mia loved getting to spend the night at Jackson's house this summer.


Elsie Jane loves Rae. They have not yet figured out quite how to play together -- Rae is barely two. But, they talk about each other all the time. As we were preparing for everyone to arrive I mentioned to Elsie Jane that all the family was going to be to our house soon to which she replied, "I don't need evybody, I just want RAE."

This Fall

I have not taken many pictures, but I did snap a few cute ones. These are three of the things the girls have enjoyed this fall.

Mia- Playing Soccer. She has loved to have an extra hour of practice after her regular practice with Jeffrey. She had a great coach and played well. She is already looking forward to playing in the spring.
Maggie- Monkey Bars. Since starting school Maggie has mastered the monkey bars. She periodically has to take a break because she has such big blisters on her hands. She has gotten very brave and proficient.

Elsie Jane- Playgrounds. Elsie continues to love playgrounds, climbing and sliding. She wants to stop whenever we walk past one and begs to have time on the school playground whenever we walk the girls to school.

We have also kept busy with Mia in weekly horseback riding lessons and Maggie taking tap and ballet. We tabled any other activities until January as it is such a crazy time of the year, and we were just trying to get settled. When the holidays wind down we are looking forward to getting Mia back in piano lessons, Maggie back in violin, and Elsie Jane is begging me to teach a dance class again for her -- I am still trying to decide on that one.

Macdonald Family Annual Halloween Extravaganza

This year Jeffrey and I hosted my family's annual Halloween party at our home.

To be honest, my family throws an awesome Halloween party. We eat soup and cider that bubbles over with dry ice. We all wear costumes. And, we have one serious pumpkin carving contest, which Jeffrey judges. He is a stickler of a judge, with score cards and criteria, oral presentations, and categories like "cleanliness" and "precision of cuts." This year he even awarded cash prizes for the winners.

This party has been the most missed by us during our six years living on the East coast. Not that Halloween was the holiday when we missed being near family the most, there were Christmases and Thanksgivings and Easters that were lonely at times. But, the Halloween party with my family was always the one single event that we most regretted missing.

So, when we relocated to the West this summer, we decided to snatch up the opportunity to host the Halloween party at our home in Boise.

I was so glad that everyone could make it. Events included an adults-only dinner out, a golfing outing -- on an absolutely gorgeous fall morning, walks and playing in the neighborhood for the kids, a costume show, and, of course, some stiff competition in the pumpkin carving arena. We ate delicious food, enjoyed each others' company, and had a really fun weekend.

We also did a costumed photo shoot at the Community Barn in our neighborhood. Check out the awesome pictures of my awesome family.

So glad you all could make it! Can't wait for next year.

[BTW- for all the Macdonalds who read my blog- I am open to ideas and suggestions -- such as adding another day of activities (starting Thurs night instead) and separating the costume party from the carving party so we can play games and have more time for other activities. Send your feedback and ideas my way.]

The Whole Gang
We're off to see the Wizard... My crew dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz. We tried to solicit broader participation from the rest of the family, but this is all we got. The Wicked Witch is my fourth daughter / sister Ellie, who after living with us for four months really is just part of our little family.
Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Maggie as Dorothy. Too dang cute!

Elsie Jane was NOT excited about being commanded by her sisters to be a munchkin -- I could barely bribe her to wear her costume. She wanted to be a "Minnie Mouse Princess" for Halloween. My guilt over forcing her to go along with the family theme was too much, and I obliged with a costume for her birthday instead, which she loved. Pictures are forthcoming.

Mia as the cowardly lion. Did you notice she was in character, leaping out of the other group pictures? She had to pose for this one "in the wild." Must say, I was pleased with how her costume turned out.

Mom and Dad reliving their youth!



My sister, Erin, and Jer and their family: Annie, Will and Jackson.

My brother, Robert. Makes a great surprised face, huh?

Bobby and Dan, the artist. Dan said his costume was very "functional" this year. I said it was a little lame. Nothing like when he was in high school and painted himself to look like a frozen zombie.

My brother, Daniel, Julia, and Rae.



Rae is one cute pumpkin. This summer Elsie Jane found a picture and came running over to show me "Rae, Rae." I was shocked when I looked down and it was a picture of me at age two. Rae looks just like me at that age, unlike my kids who really have no resemblance to their mother. So for those of you who know my girls and have wondered if my genes played any role in their appearance besides lightening their skin and hair, the answer is no. They do not look like me as a child at all. It is all their daddy that you see. But, Rae, Rae looks like she should be mine.