THE YEAR IN REVIEW: OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2010

Finally, we've reached the part of 2010 I can still remember. The last 3 months of the year can pretty much be summed up with holidays . . .

Halloween . . .

Thanksgiving . . .

and Christmas! 

And I should probably mention the rare lunar eclipse on the Winter Solstice.  First time in 373 years that's happened.  I think it's a sign that 2011 is going to be fabulous! After all, it is "one louder" than 2010. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THE YEAR IN REVIEW: APRIL TO JUNE 2010

April of 2010 began with an important development.  I became the mother of a teenager.  It wasn't long after E's birthday that he started growing a mustache . . . sort of.  We call it the Pedro. 



In May I learned rediscovered that being the mother of a teenager is relatively easy compared to being the mother of this kid . . .

I swear, we can't go anywhere without C being chased by a moose.  Or ending up in a stew pot in the church kitchen.

June found us celebrating another birthday, Harry Potter style!

We had it all . . . potions, wands, Quidditch, magical color changing drinks, inviations delivered by owl post, Platform 9 3/4, a sorting hat . . .

Even a visit to Honeyduke's Sweet Shop.  I think it's safe to say it was T's best birthday ever!  You can see all of the party fun here and here.

In June T also joined me as the only other glasses-wearing member of the family.  It's good to finally have some company.

Of course, summer was in full swing by the end of June, and so was our Summer Fun Program, wherein we spend large amounts of money to entertain the children during summer break.  But more on that in the July to September review. 

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

No, not her.  But speaking of her, have you noticed how they bring back all the toys we played with as kids right around the time they would be age appropriate for our own children?  Except I never had a Strawberry Shortcake.  Never wanted one, really. 

What I really wanted as a kid was that Mr. Mouth game, and a Stretch Armstrong.  Which may explain why a wise and merciful God sent all the girl children to other families.

It does not explain why someone would decide to make a Stretch Armstrong movie and cast Taylor Lautner from Twilight in the starring role.  Taylor himself said. "It's like the worst superhero power, possibly, to get . . ."  In 3-D even.

But on the bright side, it probably means that the Stretch Armstrong toy will be on the market again soon and I can finally get one!  For my boys, of course.

At any rate, I think it's safe to say that Strawberry Shortcake will not be making an appearance around here any time soon.

Unless . . .

Unless you're talking about this kind of strawberry shortcake.  The kind that E, being the genius that he is, decided to serve up for dessert Friday night.

Seriously, the best strawberry shortcake we've ever had! 

We baked our own shortcakes and whipped our own cream.  Just the way Martha would have wanted us to.  The only way these could have been more homemade is if we'd milked our own cow and grown our own strawberries.

It's got me thinking . . . could we come up with some sort of Stretch Armstrong themed dessert?

It would have to be something jelly filled, I think.

I'll have to get back to you on that.

In the meantime, go make yourself some strawberry shortcake. If the thought of Taylor Lautner as a 3-D Stretch Armstrong doesn't make you lose your appetite.

THE YUMMY AND THE NOT SO YUMMY

This weekend it was T's turn to help plan and prepare dinner.  He is wise beyond his culinary years to understand that food on a stick never fails to please.

He did learn that he doesn't care for touching raw meat.  I get that.  I don't really care for it either.  Which is why this whole have-the-kids-help-with-dinner thing is working out so well for me.  I just make the kids do all the gross jobs.  It's all part of their learning experience.

Remember when you were a kid and your mom would reach into the kitchen sink with her BARE HANDS and scoop up all the food goop that was left after doing dishes?  I always thought "I am never, EVER doing that when I grow up." 

But once you've had kids and dealt with all the poop and vomit--which is basically food that's gone in and come back out--that sink goop isn't so scary anymore. 

Okay, I lie.  It still scares me.  I have a very environmentally unfriendly confession to make.  I don't plug and fill the sink when I do dishes.  I just let the water run.  That way, I never have to worry about the sink goop.  All those gross bits of food just wash down the drain where I never have to touch them or see them again.

Unless one of my kids vomits.

But I digress, and you are probably no longer in the mood to make these tasty Sesame Chicken Kabobs. 

Would it help if I mentioned that T made this super easy Lemon Meringue Pie for dessert?  We couldn't figure out how to put it on a stick, but it was still yummy. 

Enjoy!