A Tasty Korean Treat

Who else but my husband and his father would have a great day shopping at the Korean market?  They came back with bags and bags of... garbage (says IJ).  Some things they couldn't even identify because there wasn't any English on the package:

This one ended up as sugared seaweed

M says these are the kinds of things his dad (the Scoutmaster) would bring on the Boy Scout 50 mile hike when he was younger: 

AKA Korean Popcorn

M's dad would pull a bag of dried anchovies out of his backpack and freak everyone out.  And who can resist kimchee?

Here is a run down on what they brought home:
Abalone, Periwinkle, Sea squirt, Squid, Baby Octopus, Quail Egg, Honey Powder, Lotus Root, Fish Cakes, Lots of Seaweed, Taurine Green Tea with Ginseng, Noodles and a lot of different sauces.  At least they didn't bring home the dehydrated squid

I told them they have to use up the old bottles of weird sauces, octopus, and kimchee before they could open the new ones.  M says, "You think we brought home weird things, but you should see what we left at the store!  You should be thankful!"  And I am.  I haven't even finished the Christmas food problem (although I made four different kinds of bean and ham soup for the freezer yesterday).

Tomorrow night, for New Year's Eve, M will cook up a Great Korean Feast with a side of steak for dinner.  I think I'll have the steak.

All I Can Say Is...

Who me? Put flour handprints on the oven? Never!

And yes, that is my 40 year old oven. Tres retro!

Pokemon Card Heaven: All a boy could ever hope for...

Grandad finally got the movie he has been wanting!  Gotta love Ebay for old out-of-print movies.

The Candy Stealer

Seriously.  As her siblings opened presents, she went around to everyone's stocking and ate their candy.

Re-scattering the wrapping paper...

Play Doh Princess

Having all my kids under one roof and playing together.

What could be better?

Christmas Adam

Anyone else think Christmas Adam is the best day of the year?  I have a few presents wrapped and under the tree, a little gingerbread cookie dough made and in the fridge, and many many plans to catch up the in the next 24 hours.

First there is the matter of F's Christmas stocking.  Even hear of Second Sock Syndrome?  SSS is a common ailment among knitters.  We enthusiastically knit one sock, cast on for the second, get bored, and pack it away forever.  I've knit five Christmas stockings.

Four of my five hand knit Christmas Stockings

Last year I was unable to muster any enthusiasm, spirit, or desire to knit one for F.  I tried, but didn't get very far.  About a month ago I tried again, this time using different colors.  No such luck.  I went to JoAnn's and got new yarn and started up a new stocking...yesterday afternoon.  We'll just have to wait and see if I get it done by tomorrow night...

Three Unfinished Christmas Stockings

Step Away from the Knitting!

The next issue is Christmas Cookies.  Every year we have too many cookies.  Too much candy.  Too much frosting.  This year we are trying to cut down on the fat and calories.  By only cutting out some of the cookies and some of the candy.  I like making gingerbread cookies and a gingerbread house, but this year I used nuts and dried fruit instead of candy:

I used pumpkin and sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, coconut, anise stars, dried bananas, cranberries, and blueberries.  I was going to let my kids help me, but I changed my mind.

 

This is my house. And no, just because I'm done doesn't mean you can start eating it, M!

Now, the presents.  We did a good job not going overboard.  I set up a gate around our little Cub Scout tree to keep F out of the presents.  It lasted a few minutes:

I wasn't kidding when I said she reached the age where she's in to everything!

Cougars

Not real cougars, although I've heard rumors that they are out here.  The cats are outside.  The kid like to go outside and play with them.  Everyone is happy.  When the kids and cats are climbing around on the fallen maple, the cats look like little cougars.  M built a little Kitty Condo for them out on the back porch, so they are purr-fectly content and out of reach of old Mr. Raccoon.  And The Pathetic Doberman.

Every little girl needs a white kitty to love.  This white kitty is the one that killed the mouse.  We don't have absolute proof she was the killer, but the fact she was playing with the carcass "gives paws to competing theories," says M.  Haven't heard the mouse story?  Well, during the cold spell a mouse moved in.  I had three cats in my house, all there for the sole purpose of rodent control, and they were all locked up so The Pathetic Doberman wouldn't eat them.  Two days later, one cat managed to fulfill her duty.

 Who is this third cat?  She is Sernia, one of the original members of the D family from many years ago.  She moved in with Grandad when she, Bubo, and Scratchy (who came from my house) were terrorizing the tweety birds in our old neighborhood.  She is mostly wild now, thanks to The Pathetic Doberman.  But I managed to capture her at the beginning of the cold spell and keep her indoors with the Ying Yang cats until the ice was gone.  She was not pleased, although she does enjoy adult attention. But keep the babies away!

A Long Week

That is my excuse for not posting for a very long time.  Some important points to note:

• The kids tested for and passed their latest Taekwondo test.  IJ is now a Danbo (the last belt before black belt)  and Shane is a brown belt.  That was two round trips to our hometown, one of which saw me sitting in the dealership waiting for a new set of brakes with four kids.
  
• The cats are living outside full time.  Finally.  Cat peace.  Now comes the hard part of cleaning up what they left behind in their "cat room."
• We now have a baby gate and can lock the kids, specifically F, downstairs and out of trouble.
• We took the kids to see Santa Claus at the mall in our Hometown, where S had the quote of the year:

"Mom, you are the opposite of Santa Claus.  You never want us to have new toys and you are always trying to throw them away."

That is what my week has been like.

Frozen Pond Part 3

Today the rain returned, but yesterday we did get a little tiny bit of snow...

After we stood in the freezing cold waving to strangers and smiling, in order to sell Christmas trees for the Scouts (we sold two...and I got to tell a bum to get away from the tree stand before I called the cops-scary!). How far could we go out on the ice? This far:Well, that's how far IJ would go. Not me. I wouldn't leave the safety of the bank. M tested the ice for safety. F also went out on the ice and M had fun sliding her around: And whenever she fell down and got cold hands, Daddy was there to scoop her up and warm her little hands in his jacket: And he hasn't been able to get rid of her since! IJ had the most fun slipping, sliding, and pulling himself across the ice with the rescue rope M set up, you know, just in case someone fell through: S and E wouldn't leave the house. They had had enough of cold I guess. S isn't much of a cold lover. And I'm really ready for some warmer weather because of this: I just love pushing those cats out the front door. And when its gets warmer, I'm sure they will be more likely to STAY outdoors. I have noticed however that since these cats have been tossed out in the cold whenever they leave "their" room, they've stopped scratching the door to get out...

Christmas Traditions & Birthday Party

We decorated our trees yesterday! The kids took care of their own tree with candy canes ("Perfect!" says S):and Sponge Bob and other personalized ornaments. We had or annual "Christmas Cocoa" with whipped cream and candy canes: and plenty of Christmas music to keep the spirit of Christmas going. The cherry on top of our day was E going to a birthday party! Doesn't she look cute in her party dress? The party was for a little girl who is just two weeks younger than E that we know from Homeschool roller skating. At the party I met two other homeschooling moms with 4 year old girls who also have 7 year old boys! And one of the boys lives five minutes from us and uses the exact same curriculum that IJ uses.

So maybe there is hope that we will meet people here and make friends!