Catching up and sharing news

I'm sure you've missed me...it's been months :) Time to get back into the swing of blog posting, and I'm going to do that with a holiday recap from the last few months.

First, we start with Thanksgiving.

This was our very first time hosting, and though there was much apprehension on my part, it turned out to be a successful day full of festive feasting and family fellowship (alliterate much?) (bet you didn't think alliterate could be used as a verb. Yup, I looked it up, don't worry).

My faithful little sioux chef cherished the opportunity to spend hours helping me in the kitchen.



We tackled home made cranberry sauce and apfel pfitter, my Oma's beloved apple cake. I also handled the mashed potatoes (which I waited too long to start thereby delaying the entire meal) and the turkey. This was my very first time making a turkey. Since I've always considered this to be the pinnacle of a housewife's career, I definitely felt some (self-induced) pressure on this count. I can't tell you how many different blogs and recipes I read about the (so-called easy) art of turkey-baking. To baste? Not to baste? Liquid brine? Dry brine? Don't brine? Use a bag? Use foil? Stuff? Don't stuff? Then there's the matter of how long to thaw it? What size bird? How many hours to cook it?

I definitely lost some sleep over this huge fowl.

In the end, I decided to slather it in butter (one can never go wrong with butter, right?), throw it in a bag and toss it in the oven.



Oh, I also used some spices and dumped an entire bottle of champagne in there as well :)

It was a complete success! It was SO easy, and it browned up nicely even inside the bag!
Yes,  I had to take a picture with my bird, because I do feel I have now arrived as a housewife :)

I also made this apple cider sangria from my idol hero Deb Perelman. I'll admit I balked at the idea or spending TWENTY BUCKS on a small bottle of brandy.
But then it was so pretty, I just wanted to sit around admiring and taking pictures of it, so it was all ok.

Don't worry, I taste-tested plenty before serving it to my beloved guests.

I was happy with how our table turned out, thanks to my less-than-helpful-but-trying-to-be sons. (They sprinkled foil leaves and made the cute place-cards with the help of their Mimi)

Those sons ended up getting taken out by my helpful husband to play some 'street hockey' and stay out of stressed mommy's hair.

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving. We were happy to be able to share our home with our loved friends and family. The food spread was tasty and the company was fun.

And the boys enjoyed the poultry aftermath the next day :)

Fast forward with me now to the wonderful Christmas season, which flew by, as it always does.

Our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm

Their first Christmas pageant performance (he made a very tall wise man)

A trip to Milwaukee to visit with Mimi and Grampy on Christmas Day (can't believe I forgot to get a shot of all of us!)

A Christmas gathering with my family, including the two sets of newlyweds (so great to all be together as one, big, happy family...minus my bro and his fam)

Showing off their new gifts

Now fast-forward a couple months to Valentine's Day. We had a spontaneous little brunch on the morning of February 14th. Because Oma loves Valentine's Day, and she has passed that love down to her children and to her grandchildren.

Moving swiftly on, a quick blurp about St. Patty's Day. Not because I'm Irish (I'm not, but my kids are I guess, weird how that works), but because I've taken up some Irish jamming, and we got to play some tunes at an Irish bakery on St. Patrick's Day. It was fun.

Showing off their Irish tatooes

Lastly, we come to Easter. 

My sister and her (new) hubby hosted their very first Easter! 

They had a lovely table, 

and prepared a most amazing fare of Cuban pork sandwiches. Maybe the best sammie I ever had. Sorry, no pic :(

These lucky boys got to do TWO Easter egg/basket hunts, and as always, it was fun to share in their joy and excitement. 

And that brings us mostly to the present. These two are growing up and turning into quite the characters with very different personalities, talents, strengths and weaknesses.

It's fun to look back on how they've changed over the years.

We've had an Awana graduation

and this big five year old learned how to read!! 

and earned this great reward.

As a homeschooling mama, I feel extremely proud of this great milestone.

Next big hurdles: Riding a bike without training wheels and tying his shoes!

His little bro is still very VERY taken with all things work-related and mechanical. Give him a task to do, and he excitedly dives in with gusto. Give him a tool or appliance or anything with a motor, and he is endlessly occupied. 

They spend a TINY bit less time fighting and a tiny bit more time playing nicely together...which is a very blessed thing.

And these tw are very excited to become...

BIG BROTHERS!!

Ah yes, since I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy, I figured I should get around to making the news 'official' on social media.

Yes. We are being blessed with another child...

and on Christmas morning we all found out that this one is a baby girl!!!

We are thrilled. I'm trying to wrap my mind around the idea of having a daughter. 

And that she is coming in one short month!

It's been fun seeing little snippets on ultrasound, and for fun, I made this comparison of the three babies' ultrasound profiles.

Though we are sometimes apprehensive about the idea of corralling THREE children, we are so thankful for this blessing and canNOT wait to meet this little girl!!