christmas day

christmas eve, part two

My favorite night of the year- the big family Christmas Eve celebration - Santa, cousins, cocktails and many, many presents. Just a few pictures . . .

christmas eve part one

Some pre-Christmas eve shots.

crochet, mama

I just finished this scarf . . . and rather then knitting, I crocheted! And I can't share too many too many details because it's a gift on it's way to a dear friend.

it's a pattern call chain mail - very fun to work on. Hopefully she will like it - I am going to request a picture of her wearing it for the blog

card shark

One of my favorite things about my parents visiting is that we play cards nearly every day. E joined us tonight for "65" - which is kind of like a progressive gin rummy. He ended up in second place and made it through the whole game. The soda pop and chex mix didn't hurt.

09 cookie exchange

egg nog logs, lemon rosemary shortbread, peanut butter cherry coconut bonbons, jam thumbprints, coffee crisps - it's a good cookie exchange year! No blizzard to keep us from sharing. yeah!

yeah christmas!

em's first little girlfriend

Em has been in a class of all boys since she was five months old. She loves her boys but definitely talks a lot about her official first girlfriend, who happens to live across the street - Margaret. Margaret is very serious - yet very funny, even wry. While they haven't started interactive play, they do circle each other a bit and play next to each other. I am looking forward to seeing their friendship grow

e's birthday

7! My best boy is 7! What a great celebration we had! I don't have words yet to put it all in perspective but here are some photos from his big day, from breakfast to party time.

yeah Wisconsin

Another year, another lovely trip to Wisconsin.
We took our Christmas card picture out in my parents' woods. We marched out a bit and found a great rock and picture-perfect log, hoping no wayward hunters would pick us off.

We spent some time out on the farm. Emme and Ev fed the llamas and an old donkey that Em believed was a pony.

E rowed around the pond like a pro.

And of course, candy bloomed on the candy tree the day we arrived. Em was thrilled!

abelskiver off

The annual abelskiver off took place on Saturday up at the Cedros kitchen. All of the cooks from last year returned - though everyone stepped up their game this year. Those lovely orbs of pancakes were stuffed with lemon-ricotta-cherry preserves, trip chocolate, sausage, pumpkin butter, and many more.
Tall House, Double Cup took my killer Bloody Mary mix to a new level with a Wisconsin bacon stirrer. Who needs celery?
I love this event because I get to sit back and enjoy while others cook. The kids play, run, sing, and eat. There is video of below of their newly formed band . . . .
Another great year!

dinner, wine, pictionary, kids, and a little knitting

You've gotta love it when the Cedros clan comes over for dinner. Em talks about Maria all day in anticipation and then gets very shy when she arrives. E plots for ways to get everyone to do exactly what he wants, and everyone ends up with double dessert with ice cream and the best pumpkin pie, baked by Marfie.
This is the first thing (gasp!) that I've knit for Sam. Maria took it very well that I didn't have a handmade hat for her too. But I had to get my knitting on this gorgeous mug!

happy halloween

We had an amazing Halloween - the weather was perfect (a triumph itself in rainy Portland), the kids were happy and the neighbors on the street all celebrated together.





Em was a pretty, pretty princess and E was a dangerous ninja. Em found a lollipop ten minutes into the evening and that made her entire night.

E looks grumpy in this picture but he was actually trying to look like a tough ninja. Em totally kept up with the boys, running from house to house.

E had a school parade and class party - lots of candy, games and costume modeling.

Astoria Goonies weekend

We had a great time recreating scenes from The Goonies during our weekend trip to Astoria with the Davis family. The kids patiently went along with all of the stops though the posing got a bit silly.
This is the jail from the opening scene when one of the Fratelli brother's escapes.


Here is the Goonies house. The owners are VERY nice to welcome visitors on foot - and the view is amazing from up here.

We also hit the Maritime Museum where the kids could run around a real ship . . . . we loved the whole weekend.

children of the corn . . . er, pumpkin patch

I love this kids! They had the best time and so did we! Marfie did a great job finding a good old-fashioned farm for our pumpkin picking.