New Year's Eve

My husband and daughter are in the kitchen prepping diner. We are eating spaghetti tonight. No black eyed peas for us on New Year's Eve. Lola is chattering away about anything and everything while the two of them are rolling meat balls. I sit in the living room trying to type with a cat on my lap.

After diner we're having a party. We will be dressing up, playing games, and blowing our party horns, picked up at the Dollar store for the occasion. We still need to make party hats. Lola is very excited about the party and plans to stay up until midnight, although she doesn't really expect to make it that long.

This will be our second New Year's Eve in this town. If I remember correctly, it will be a nice and quiet affair for most of the night. Perhaps one or two firecrackers will be set off. I am used to so much more noise. Where I come from, this night is the big fireworks night.

When I was complaining earlier about the lack of noise on New Year's Eve, Lola sighed: "Oh mother, why can't you just enjoy your new life?" (I don't know where she gets this stuff, I very seldom complain for the record.) I tried to find some live streaming of the Dutch fireworks but no such luck. I'll just have to take her home some day for the real thing.

Well, I am off to get dressed for the party. Happy New Year, everyone! May 2013 be a peaceful and blessed year for us all.

One Wish Granted

As I type this, my mother’s plane is taking off. In just a few short hours she’ll be here. I can hardly wait. I’ve got to finish up one work project, scrub a few toilets, and throw a vacuum cleaner around the house. And then I can enjoy the rest of the week off.

My mom ordered snow. Not so much that it hinders traffic. Just enough to makes things pretty. Here you go, mom! Just for you.

Patching It Up

We traveled down state on Saturday to celebrate Halloween and my birthday with Ryan’s brother and his family. Their neighborhood blocks off a few streets every year to ensure safe nighttime trick or treating for kids. Roaming the streets in the dark does All Hallows Eve more justice than walking around in broad daylight, don’t you think?

On the way back up, we stopped at the pumpkin patch in Allenton where we petted and admired alpaca’s, goats, emus, and turkeys, and picked out a nice big pumpkin to carve.

Tales From The Patch

The very first time we started a vegetable garden, we made a few mistakes. We picked a partially shaded spot, for one. We did not thin out our sprouts enough. We were not on top of weeding. And we did not realize just how much room a pumpkin plant takes up.

Despite overtaking half of the garden, the harvest was pitiful. Only one measly pumpkin made it, which we did not find until we cleaned the garden up. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant surprise. The next time we wised up and planted the pumpkin seeds in a sunnier spot which they had all to themselves. A whopping two pumpkins we grew that year. Still not very impressive but a hundred percent improvement.

This year was our third attempt. And keeping with tradition, we harvested three pumpkins! Including the biggest one yet! Next year I want the kind you can eat. And maybe little gourds. Perhaps they'll do better.

Big pumpkins get big smiles

Summer Tidbits

I dipped my foot outside this morning and discovered it was nice out. A balmy 86F (28C). Much better than earlier this week. Finally I can sit in the garden again, and watch my vegetables grow. I feel bad about staying indoors when the sun is shining, but really, it was just too warm to be outside. It was 99F degrees (38C) yesterday. That's hot. Sweltering hot in fact.

Speaking of my garden, it is looking wonderful. The tomatoes are out of control, as are the weeds, the corn is growing well (the second round of planting yielded a much higher germination rate), and the peas and beans all need trellises now. I picked up an old metal chair at a garage sale which I placed just outside the garden, in the shade. It's my new favorite spot.

We harvested our first peppers on Wednesday, and a bunch of basil. I made fresh pesto last night to go on a homemade chicken, sausage, and artichoke pizza. How's that for summer fare? Goes nicely with the watermelon pops, too. And the red clover lemonade, a very interesting drink. I am still tweaking the recipe, but as soon as it's to my liking, I'll share that one with you.

We had a very relaxing Fourth, not doing much of anything. A little bit of fishing, a little bit of grilling, a little bit of hanging out. As summer days should be.

Mother's Day Surprise

When I was in grade school, we memorized poems for Mother's and Father's Day. And I also remember doing special crafts like making a hyacinth by taking a toilet paper tube, painting it, and gluing scrunched up pieces of tissue paper onto it. Come Sunday morning my sister and I would run into my parents' bedroom and recite our poetry and give our gifts.

When Lola returned from school this afternoon, she gave me my Mother's Day gift right away. It was a baby zinnia which she planted herself a few weeks ago at school. Naturally, we could not let the little plant sit in a brown paper bag for three days. While she was at it, she also gave me this:

Happy Mother's Day! I'll be relaxing with my blanket and some tea.

A Week Of Festivities - Part I

It's nasty outside. Rain, wind, dark skies, even a little snow is predicted. The kind of weather that makes you happy you don't have to go out today. Unfortunately I do. There's mail to pick up, groceries to shop, and library books to return. I am waiting until Lola comes home from school. She loves going to the library.

In the meantime I have downloaded a few dozen pictures from my camera. We have just ended a week filled with festivities. Easter on Sunday, Lola's fifth birthday on Tuesday, her first ballet recital on Friday, and finally her friends birthday party on Saturday.

Easter morning was lovely. The Easter Bunny surprised Lola with a beautiful dress, a handmade basket, a blue play silk, and fifteen colorful eggs scattered about in the yard. (I am fairly certain I supplied the Easter Bunny with sixteen eggs though. I wonder when we will find the last one...)

While Lola played with her new treasures, Ryan painted the first of our living room walls and I worked on opening my Etsy shop Dutch Girl Originals. It was important to me to open it on Easter and even though I had only one finished product to sell, I made my deadline. Every now and then I interrupted my work to search for eggs that Lola had hidden for me or hide some for her.

Lola's fifth birthday started early. Very early. Ryan had to leave for work no later than 5:30 AM and we didn't want to tantalize Lola with a big pile of gifts that she couldn't open until he came home again. When I was setting up the breakfast table the night before, hanging streamers, and arranging presents, I felt a little sad. The nearly five feet tall pile of boxes that had come in the mail for her was awesome of course, but there would be no people to celebrate with her. Just her parents.

I never had a stack of presents like hers but every single birthday my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and local friends would be there. That is not possible for Lola, simply because of distance. I know Lola doesn't know any different and was mighty pleased with her gifts, but I remember from my past the visitors, and not the gifts (with exception of the red bicycle I received for my sixth birthday). I wonder what Lola will remember about her birthdays forty years from now.

Lola had no school on her birthday so we played with her presents all day long. She was happiest with the horses my dad and his wife sent her and the little toy broom she got from us. The internet was down which made for a very peaceful Tuesday once I got passed the initial withdrawal symptoms. Lola requested pizza for dinner and a strawberry birthday cake for dessert. She got both. Happy Birthday, my lovely Lola! I am more in love with you every day.

A Girl And Her Tree

After days of begging us to trim the tree, Lola was finally allowed to decorate her heart out today. She so loves puttering about with ornaments, lights, and garlands. She got her hands on my stack of felt hearts earlier this week and hung every last one of them in the tree several times over while she waited for the official go ahead.

She took care of the bottom half while Ryan and I decorated the top. I only had to move one or two ornaments Lola hung because they were too heavy for the branch she picked. She has a good eye for composition and color. When she was done she told me to turn off the lights, blow out the candles, and simply enjoy the light of the tree.

We had originally planned to set the tree in the entryway but changed our minds this morning. I am glad we did. It looks so much better in the living room. Afterwards we drank hot chocolate with marshmallows and watched Christmas movies together. We watched Home Alone and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Perfect, just perfect.

Musical Profiling

According to my self imposed rules, I can listen to Christmas music again. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and now it is allowed. When I am upstairs in my craft room, or working on my computer, I listen to Pandora Radio online. Pandora offers you the chance to like or dislike a song they picked out for you. And, since they don't like to play for an empty room, you have to let them know you're still listening from time to time. By liking a song for instance.

Christmas music is the perfect background for me when I am in full nesting mode. In the pre-Thanksgiving days I listen to artists that conjure up the Christmas music feeling but without the yuletide lyrics. Harry Connick Jr, Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra, etc. Since Pandora is free of charge, they play commercials every now and then, and show ads in the sidebar. Those ads change depending on your musical preferences.

If you like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, or Ray Charles, Pandora assumes you're a single black woman looking to meet black men. Michael Bublé listeners are singles over the age of 50, even though he is only 36 years old. Harry Connick Jr's songs go hand in hand with doing laundry. But if you like Norah Jones, you're in trouble. Pandora recommends an anti-depressant.

Halloween Rookies

To my surprise, I found out last Thursday that trick or treating in our town was not planned for the day itself, but rather Saturday afternoon from 1 to 5 pm. After recovering from the shock I realized it wasn't too big of a deal. I had already done my candy shopping, most of last year's decorations were still in tact, and Lola's princess costume was good to go. All we had to do was carve a pumpkin for Lola to bring to school on Friday. No problem.

The pumpkin turned out lovely. The Halloween parade at school where all the elementary school kids dress up and parents, teachers, and high school students come to watch, was the cutest thing you have ever seen. The decorations went up in time on Saturday. All but the black umbrella with the witch's tights. We'll save that one for next year.

While rummaging through the box, Lola found last year's witch costume and decided on a last minute costume change. Dressed as Winnie the Witch as she called herself, she and I set out on a gorgeous, sunny, and warm afternoon to join the kids already trick or treating in the neighborhood. We left Ryan to man the front door and dole out the candy.

This is the first time we celebrated Halloween at our own house. I had no idea what to expect as far as the number of trick or treaters we would see or how much candy I should buy. We live in a small town, 575 people including the three of us. How many kids could there be?

HUNDREDS!!!

I don't know where they all came from but they came to the house in droves. And we had nowhere near enough candy. Midway through I jumped in the car and raced to the store, dodging ghosts, ghouls, vampires, witches, and the occasional Green Bay Packer on the way. With arms full of toffee, chocolate, and lollipops, I returned.

After replenishing the bowl, Lola and I set off to scare the neighbors and local shop owners into giving her some more candy. We came back to find the front door locked, the lights turned off, and Ryan hiding out upstairs. We had run out of candy again. Instead of going out to buy yet more candy, we decided to join Ryan in his hideout.

Next year we'll do better. Happy Halloween!

Lazy Days Of Summer

Happy Independence Day!

Religious Education

Don't laugh, but I have started to work on my big Christmas project for the year. Last year I made an advent calender in the shape of a Christmas tree. I did not want to fill it with gifts or candy, I wanted to make it about the meaning of Christmas. The plan was to make a twenty four piece nativity set. However, after submitting my plan to a reality check, I went for little ornaments instead, and store bought at that.

So this year I am making a nativity set. Little wooden figurines and needle felted animals. I have needle felted once before, many years ago, under the careful guidance of my sister, needle felter extraordinaire. This time I am on my own. I went online and found a step-by-step tutorial on how to needle felt a sheep. I started two weeks ago. Let's just say it's a good thing the first of December is still more than six months away. My sheep does not resemble a sheep in the slightest.

I mentioned my project to a co-worker in the break room the other day. I don't know if she misunderstood me or has very little faith in my needle felting skills, but she walked in last week with a gift for me. She was at a garage sale where she found a nativity set and bought it for me. I was touched by her thoughtfulness.

When I went to pick up Lola that day, she asked me if I had a surprise for her. I told her I did, as a matter of fact, and showed her the nativity set. Ryan and I are not very church going and Lola's knowledge of religion is basically non-existent. I introduced all the characters of the nativity set to her and then tried to put it away to buckle her in her car seat.

"But mama," she cried, "I want to play with Jesus!"

How Sweet It Is

Easter Sunday brought us eggs, treats, and sunshine. Glorious, beautiful, warm sunshine. For a moment there, it seemed spring had sprung.

In the spirit of Easter and resurrection, the flowers I have been staring out of the ground for the last few weeks have finally surfaced. Tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and crocuses are peaking from the dirt. Like us, they must be pleased to feel the warmth of the sun after all that snow. I haven’t had the heart to tell them more snow showers are predicted for the middle of the coming week. I too, am in denial.

After we returned from a few hours in Rhinelander to pack up more boxes, the three of us dug a few lawn chairs out of the basement and carried them around to the sunniest spot in the garden, just off the garage. Ryan and I basked in the sun, sipped from our cocktails, and watched Lola ride around on her bicycle all afternoon.

We ended the day down by the lake. Warming up by the side of the impromptu bonfire Ryan and Lola built, we watched the sun set on the lake and the stars come out. A little James Taylor in the background topped it off. Several geese joined us while dozens more flew in overhead, loudly announcing their return to Lake Lucerne.

It was an absolutely perfect day.

Sweets For My Sweet

Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey... I was singing this song all weekend long while Lola and I made Valentine's Day cards and decorated shipping tags with potato stamped hearts and red and purple glitter. She is not willing to part with the cards she made so there is no point in running to your mailbox in anticipation. Nothing from Lola this year, sorry.

The shipping tags were for the little bags of sweets she was giving out to her friends and teachers at school. Twenty in all. Centering the potato on the tags was a bit tricky and she gladly handed that task off to her mother, as well as adding the little drops of glue. But the glitter job is all hers. She was not going to let me have any fun with that. Her forehead crinkled in concentration, she very carefully tapped the glitter from the shakers over a big plate and then shook off the excess.

The tags turned out beautifully. She was so proud of her work, we made a few extra for her to keep. As for the content, I missed the memo requesting parents not to hand out any candy and filled them with just that. Luckily Ryan caught it in time and I was able to correct my rookie mistake. First thing Monday morning, I was back at the kitchen table, emptying out the artificially sugared chocolate and gummy hearts into a large jar and replacing them with naturally sugared blueberries, strawberries, and clementines.

Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey... I cannot get it out of my head!

Happy 2011!

I started this post on New Year's Day, hence the title. I could have sworn there was a picture of an eagle here before. You see, as I was sipping my coffee outside on that crisp January 1 morning, there was an eagle soaring overhead. I watched that eagle for a good ten minutes, marveling at its beautiful and graceful movements. What a wonderful sight to start the new year with.

I went back inside to share it with you, only to find the router had crashed, bringing my resolution of posting twice a week to a screeching halt. The problem has long since been fixed but life happened and blogging did not. To bring you up to speed on our adventures, here are the cliff notes.

* The casino's Marketing Director left and I am now pulling double duty. It's been hectic to put it mildly.

* I have taken up belly dancing classes. Every Thursday evening, I shake my pelvis for an hour with four other middle-aged women. We look silly, we feel silly, but our pelvises love it.

* Lola has entered the Princess Phase. In addition to a tiny Cinderella doll with rubber dresses (that I have to dress and undress), she is now the proud owner of pink and silver princess sneakers that light up when she walks. While we were making our way to the cashier after picking them out, she told every single person in the store she had new shoes.

* Ryan and I went on a date this week. Nothing spectacular, just drinks and dinner. We are going to do this every month. I just hope our next dates go better than this one did. We must be out of practice. Come to think of it, we never dated. We pretty much met and got married. We obviously need to do it more often. Practice makes perfect.

* The whole family received ice skates from Santa Claus. We tied them under last week and went skating in the park. It was after dark and we had the rink to ourselves. We didn't skate very long but we had fun. It was Lola's very first time on skates. In two weeks, we are taking her skiing.

* While we were skating in circles, there were two cars parked outside the rink, one with its door wide open. We looked around but didn't see or hear anyone. Very strange. As we were getting ready to leave, a woman came out of one car and got into the other one with the open door. I have a sneaking suspicion we stumbled onto Rhinelander's red light district. Ryan isn't sure.

* There are four business trips in my immediate future. I am flying to Palm Springs at the end of this month, to the Wisconsin Dells in March, and Phoenix and Las Vegas in April. I could get used to this.

* And last, but certainly not least, I have one more trip planned. On March 17, Lola and I are flying to Holland for eight days. Finally I will be able to introduce my daughter to her aunt and her cousins. We cannot wait. It has been four and a half years since I have seen most of my family and friends. Ryan is not coming, he cannot take that much time off work yet.

You're all caught up again. As for the present, I am tending to a sick child. She has a cold, a sore throat, and a bark like cough. Poor girl. I hope she feels better in the morning. We are going to make cupcakes together.

I wish you all a (very belated) Happy New Year!

A Family Tree

We finally finished trimming the Christmas tree last weekend. With the sounds of the season setting the mood, Ryan, Lola, and I hung every last ornament found in the Christmas boxes that have been packed away for so long.

We have an eclectic mix of old and new going on. Mickey, my very first ornament from my grandfather's store, handmade felt and woolen ornaments made by Ryan's grandmother, Dora the Explorer ornaments picked out by Lola, and quite a few Santa Clauses from my ever growing collection.

I love our tree. It is past and present blending together in the most colorful way, to become part of our young family history.

Our family tree

Mickey, who is as old as I am



Made by Ryan's grandmother

Dora, Lola's pick for the season

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas


I am linking up to Cheri's ornament party at Its So Very Cheri.

Santa's Workshop

Earlier this year, in the summer to be precise, I made Christmas ornaments for all of my staff at the casino. In the spirit of Christmas, I whipped up another batch this weekend for the entire Marketing department. And made my own gift wrap, too. It's my new thing.

While the snowstorm was raging outside, I was sewing up a storm of my own inside, making little red felt gift bags. It's like Santa's workshop in here! Now I know what elves feel like...

The World's Largest Christmas Tree

When I was growing up, we lived in IJsselstein, a small historic town about an hour away from The Hague, the city where I was born. Whenever we drove to The Hague to visit family, my sister and I would be on the lookout for the red brick chimney stacks of the Nutricia factory, a sign that we were almost there. On the way back our focus point was the tall broadcast tower of Lopik, a little neighboring town just a few miles from IJsselstein.

The chimney stacks are long gone but the broadcast tower is still there. In December of 1990 someone thought of the brilliant idea to put lights on the cables that hold the tower upright, turning it into the world's largest Christmas tree.

I read on the Dutch news the lights came on again today. Little children driving home with their parents can marvel at the sight of the beautiful 'tree' lighting up the nighttime sky and start singing "We're almost there...," just like my sister and I once did.