Day of Independence

 

This year the 4th of July hits differently. I've been frustrated by the recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It actually makes me quite upset. That doesn't mean that I will not celebrate those who, like Ben, give so much for the freedoms we do enjoy. It will also not stop me from celebrating that I am able to vote, and will continue to vote in every election I can. I might not be able to control who is appointed to the Supreme Court, but I can control how I show up and vote. Today I celebrate knowing that there are many people like me, many people who will continue the fight. 

On a lighter more positive note, this outfit might go down as one of my favorites of all time. 

Christmas Eve.

I love Christmas Eve.  

I think it is my favorite- the kids behave really well, since the anticipation of Santa coming creates angelic behavior in almost every child. 

We played with legos and made dinner- tacos! Complete with beef from Australia. 

We read the bible story of the birth of Jesus, in Luke 2.

Complete with pictures.

And proof that Jack picks his nose and checks out what came out. 

You're welcome.

Then we opened the traditional pajamas and took the obligatory picture in front of the Christmas tree.

Then we scattered magic reindeer food in the backyard (thanks Grandpa and Lani).

All ready for Santa.

And now for tomorrow.  

Ben and I have a bet on which child is going to cry first, most likely from disappointment, since each child has changed their "lists" at least five times in the last week. (And if you are lucky, we will photo-document that moment.)  

But let's not focus on the negative.  

Let's focus on the fact that this evening was perfect.

How we celebrate around here.

It's the New Year here. As in Sri Lankan/Tamil New Year.

It is a pretty big deal, and we have joined in the festivities. When I say we, I really mean Jack and myself.  We really know how to celebrate.

Jack's school had an awesome assembly that included dancing and audience participation, and man, we both KILLED it.

Here I am participating in the traditional bun eating contest:

I had some fantastic pictures of him dancing, but unfortunately there were too many other children in the picture for me to post. 

(You know, not having permission from parents, and not sure how comfortable people are with their children's pictures on the interwebz.)

Jack getting ready to perform.  

 Jack smashing a clay pot. I really don't know much about what is behind smashing the clay pot, but it is a tradition, and I love traditions.

Thank you friends for all the pictures. 

None of these pictures were taken by me or with my camera, but obviously, I have chosen friends wisely.

Oh, and if you didn't already know, I chopped my hair.  Again. 

Valentine's Dinner.

Wouldn't you know, Ben had some people visiting for work today. Which meant he took them to dinner tonight, instead of me. *pout*

This was my Valentine's Dinner. I even splurged and ate a Big Mac.

I find it hard to resist the secret sauce.

*done pouting*

At least these two handsome fellas agreed to be my dates!

Although, as soon as they finished eating, they ran off to the Play Place, and left me all alone.

So I read a magazine, and watched the other McDonald's customers, which is quite entertaining. As are my children- one performed "Gangnam Style" and the other spun around until he couldn't walk straight. It was pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure you wish you were here, celebrating with us.

And I dressed for the occasion.

Happy Valentine's Day!

*hugs*

 

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Best. New Years. Ever.

It is 12:30 a.m., January 1st here.  

Happy 2013.

This has been one of the best New Year's Eve.  Ever.  

We started out by setting off some loud fire works.  LOUD.  Really Loud.  We stopped after one shot straight up into the air, came back down and exploded in our neighbors yard.  Opps.  Don't worry, we checked it out, and nothing was damaged.

Then we went inside and made some party hats, and set some resolutions.  One of Ben's resolutions last year was to write in his journal, so he wrote in his journal one last time before the end of the year.

The boys had a little dinner,  and we set off some more fireworks (the pretty kind, not the loud kind).

We came inside and made a snack tray and some yummy spinach artichoke dip. We finished up the evening with a dance party and at 9:00 we had some sparkling cider, and put the boys to bed.

At midnight, things got crazy around here, and we climbed to our roof and watched the fireworks around the city.  It was the loudest, most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen.  There were fireworks going off in every direction, and we had an amazing view.  

Happy New Year!

Christmas Day.

Did you know that we have had "Hand, Foot and Mouth" disease running its nasty course through our family (and the whole of Colombo, as far as I know).  Well, everyone has had it at our house, except for me.  It really hasn't been that bad, but it is extremely contagious for an unknown amount of time, so we have been trying to avoid contact with anyone.  Luckily for us, there were a few other families that have been infected with this highly contagious disease, and so on Christmas day we had a Quarantine Christmas celebration.  It was perfect.  The kids ran around and played and the adults talked and played games.  Oh, and did I mention our gracious hosts are scheduled to leave two days after Christmas?  Wonderful (and impressive) people, they are!

Merry Christmas.  

What Ben built, and what I built.  Can you guess which is which?

How we spent our Christmas Eve.

We went for a walk along the beach, and found a lighthouse with some cannons around it.  We were not allowed to take any pictures of the lighthouse, so here are some shots of the cannons.

Thomas was in this picture, but he ran behind the cannon before the timer went off.

And we opened Christmas pajamas.

Most of our traditions are for Christmas Eve.  We had huge plans, but they kind of all fell through- due to Ben being called into work.  We will have to see next year if these traditions are going to fade away, or if this year was a fluke.  

I wasn't in the best mood when Ben got home after the boys were in bed, but we ordered some really yummy food and watched a silly movie.

Even though we didn't set out any cookies or milk, Santa still came.  I hope next year will be a little more traditional (at least for us) or we are in a really nice hotel.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Visit with Santa.  Check.

Conquered, or virtual high five.

Thanksgiving.

Four years ago I wanted a traditional thanksgiving dinner, but it did not go as planned. I was pregnant with Thomas and extremely hormonal. I read the instructions on how to cook a turkey and thought everything was golden. Unfortunately, the turkey was severely under cooked, and in a moment of frustration and hormonal rage, I threw the turkey away. Yes, I realize I could have put it back in the oven, but at the time I was blinded by grief and despair. Since then I have not attempted another turkey, and Thanksgiving became a holiday of inviting ourselves to friends and family's homes and restaurants.

This year both Ben and I wanted big traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and we wanted to share the day with friends. We ordered our turkey (which cost us $50 for 13 lbs.), and invited some friends over. I researched how to make a turkey, and found a schedule for a Thanksgiving feast (thank you Pioneer Woman).

Friends- I brined, I baked, and I WAS SUCCESSFUL!

Miracles do happen; I conquered the turkey, and I am proud of myself.

I also conquered a Chocolate Silk Pie! (My fantastic Aunt Kay's recipe.)

Oh, and homemade rolls. Seriously, are you impressed yet? I totally shocked myself. So here is my virtual high five. And an open invite to come over for Thanksgiving next year.

I would like to thank my dad who gave me pep talk and told me I could do It.

I don't have any pictures, but it was good. We had almost twenty people over, and it was a perfect night. Great food, great friends, and fantastic leftovers.

Ben declared it one of his all time favorite Thanksgivings. Ever.

I call that a win.

Leftovers.

I am counting down to the next time I can eat.

I hope all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

 

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Oh my, another week has gone by.

This week has been fun and full of adventures. Here are some of the pictures of our week. Because as you all know, if you don't take a picture and document it in a least two ways, how do you know it really happened?

 

What I have been working on: Christmas decorations. This year, I wanted to do an angel theme, so I have been busy making angel wings and collecting all sorts of different angels. It has been really fun. Oh, and if you were ever wondering if paper mâché goes bad if left in the fridge too long, the answer is yes, and it smells quite nasty.

 

While I have been crafting, the boys have also been working on their artistic abilities.

 

They are totally cute, and face painting was a wonderful way for them to have fun when I was working on my projects.

 

 

We have also been exploring around town.

The man on the right is carrying cut up pineapple on his head.

 

And, this is what I wore. Have I told you for the last year have been documenting my outfits almost daily? I can't remember if I told you before, in fact, I think I did. Either way, now you know. It has been fun to see the good, bad, and strange things I have worn over the last year. But this is about last week.

 

 

This week has been great, and next week is Thanksgiving, and I can already smell the turkey, which is much better than the rancid paper mâché smell.

I have cooking preparations all week, so wish me luck...I am pretty sure I am going to need it.

This is the first time I am attempting a turkey since 2008 when it ended in tears (raw turkey is never a good thing). This time the stakes are a little higher as we have invited people over...maybe you should be wishing them luck.

 

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