cooking up a storm

Audrey loves to cook. She would do it every day if she could. This year for Christmas she asked for an EasyBake Oven. But I just couldn't do it. For one, we're trying to get rid of extra things and we already have a perfectly good oven. I also didn't want her "cooking" to be limited to cakes and cookies from pre-packaged mixes. And I knew that what she really wanted was just more time in the kitchen. So instead, I found her this:

It comes with six cups to cook in and a recipe book with lots of options from appetizers to main dishes to desserts. She picked a recipe. Added the ingredients she needed to our shopping list. And then she cooked pear puff pastry cups for us all. Yum!



Now she wants to do this every Sunday. Won't be long before she's in charge of meals around here! Working myself right out of a job...

and it was great

Christmas Eve was great. Patrick got off in time to meet us at the church service that night AND Ethan happily played the entire time in the nursery. Ahhh - what a relaxing service it was.

Christmas day was great. Breakfast. Presents. Grateful children. Family walk on the nearby trails. Yummy dinner. Watching "Rudolph" together before bed.

My birthday was great. Quiet, but good. Wonderful presents. A show put on by the kids. Special surprises from my husband. I'm thirty-seven now. Sounds old but I sure don't feel it.

And now it's all over. As of today, decorations are put away. Doing some deep cleaning. Ready to start a new year. And I do love fresh starts.

Christmas Eve

I think I have come up with the perfect Christmas Eve activity. Cleaning! I told the kids this morning that they need to clean out their rooms before they get more stuff tomorrow and they thought it was a great idea. Two full bags came out of each of their rooms. I went through some of my things too and now we have a big Goodwill pile ready to go. Woo-hoo.

And for those of you who are now certain that I am the most boring mother around...we did do something fun after we got our work done!

Christmas activities

It's been a fun, busy holiday season at the Oscarson household. Here are some of the things we've been doing.

Old Fashioned Christmas at Pioneer Park in Ferndale.



Went to the gingerbread house competition at the ferry terminal.


Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa.




We were planning a birthday celebration for them both but they had to head back early due to the weather. We enjoyed their cake for them! Happy Birthday Grandma and Grandpa!

Christmas program at church. Audrey and Liam did a great job.

Attended a Walk Through Bethlehem event for the first time. Very fun. Something we'll add to our yearly list.



Went and saw the firetruck santa that came through our neighborhood.


Hard to believe that Christmas is almost here! The kids are thrilled and Mom is ready (I think!).

guitar hero

Oscarson style.

While at Nana and Papa's over Thanksgiving, my children were exposed to Guitar Hero. And loved it. Even the two-year old has been humming "Living on a Prayer" ever since we got back. So we decided to try a little Guitar Hero at home. I found the beloved Bon Jovi song on YouTube - Audrey was the singer, Liam on guitar, and Ethan on the drums. Worked great!

blessing

I just got the best news today and I have to share it with you. We were in Chelan for Thanksgiving last week and had a wonderful time celebrating with our family. But on Thanksgiving Day I did something really stupid. I tried to drive into an underground garage at a condominium with our car roof-top carrier on. Totally forgot it was there. I destroyed our carrier - and was unsure about the damage to the garage itself.

Patrick and his mom spent all day Friday in Wenatchee finding us a new one. So far, this mistake cost us a couple hundred dollars. Painful, but ok. Then Saturday morning we get a call from the condo manager. The garage door has stopped working. In the past (I was not the first to do this!) this repair costs between $900-1500. Minimum of $500 since the repair company comes from Spokane. Oh my goodness, I cried. My husband works so hard for our money and we are so careful with how we spend it. I couldn't believe this stupid mistake was going to cost so much.

I was pretty upset that day. But my husband is amazing. So forgiving. So comforting. He reminded me that we have the money to pay for it and it's not "our" money anyway so don't worry about it. Amazing. We prayed about it together that night - but he hasn't mentioned it since. Now let me be clear about something. I am a worrier. I'm not proud of it, but I am. This an area in my life that I am working on. I want to not worry. God wants me to not worry. So after Patrick and I prayed about it - I CHOSE to not worry. Anytime it would come to my mind I would just thank Him for being in control of this situation. I seriously did not lose any sleep over this one.

I got an e-mail today from the manager. The total bill for the repair is $91.89. Yep - UNDER $100. I couldn't believe it. I cried again. But this time in relief. This time in awe of God's goodness to me. He cares. I feel so blessed.

santa!

Today was the day for our annual trip to see Santa. And for the first time - Ethan did not scream! He barely took his eyes off the big guy, but he sat there willingly. (Click here to see our previous two Ethan visits.)


He even let Santa put Reindeer antlers on him when we were done.

And even though we don't do the whole "Santa-thing" in our house, the kids love going through the motions of writing him a letter and mailing it.


Fun, fun morning. Oh, how I love the Christmas season. Decorations are up, music is playing (constantly!), and we're just trying to soak up each moment.

hmmmm....

...somehow I don't think this is quite what they had in mind for "mismatch" night at Awana. Oh well. This is what the kids came up with!

spoke too soon...

...about the 'on the mend' part. This is Liam this morning.


At his after-hours Dr. appointment last night, they have determined that he's having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic he's on for the strep throat he was diagnosed with last week. This rash covers his entire body and is very itchy. Poor baby.

While Patrick had him at the Dr. last night, I just had to make a list of our last two months. More just for my own record-keeping (and to help explain why I am filled with anxiety lately) - so don't feel the need to read it if you're time is short. It's not pretty.

mid-Sept. - everyone gets colds. Pretty standard, just lots of coughing.
Oct. 3 - A to Dr. R - ear infection, on antibiotics
Oct. 13 - E to Dr. L - cough/cold - check his asthma
Oct. 19 - R to Dr. H - bronchitis - on antibiotics
Oct. 19 - E to Dr. M - cough/cold - check his asthma
Oct. 26 - E to Dr. B - double ear infection - on antibiotics
Oct. 26 - L to Dr. B - sinus infection
Nov. 4 - E call to Dr. B - his eyes are itching, possible allergy? stop antibiotics, start Benedryl
Nov. 6 - E to Dr. B - eyes, nose, ears itching - try Zyrtec
Nov. 8 - E to Dr. D - still itching, getting worse - try antihistamine eye drops
Nov. 9 - L to Dr. R - strep throat, on antibiotics
Nov. 13 - E start Prednisone for itching (nightmare medication!!!)
Nov. 17 - L to Dr. F - full-body rash, stop amox. and try another antibiotic
Nov. 18 - E to Dr. E - asthma check/rash check

In case you lost track, that's 11 doctor visits since Oct. 3. To say that I'm feeling like we're under attack here would be putting it mildly. What the heck is going on? What the heck am I doing wrong? Sooooo need for this to be over.

On the other hand - I'm thankful that Patrick has been able to take some time off to be here and help. Sick kids freak me out - it's such a blessing to have him here.

So please keep us in your prayers. We could use them!

thankful...

...that after two months of various illnesses (and I'm not exaggerating - I feel more like a pharmacist that a mama) - we are all on the mend

...for amazing friends who bring meals and pray over you when you need it

...for a husband who picks up the slack when mama is falling apart

...that next week is Thanksgiving and we get to be with our family

...for Tylenol pm :-)

...for a renewed focus that from an eternal perspective, enjoying my kids is even more important than educating them

...for a God who loves me no matter what!

six!

Liam turned six this weekend! His birthday fell on a Sunday when the Seahawks had a home game - and he is a huge football fan - so he and Dad went to the game. Even though the Seahawks got creamed, Liam declared it, "the best game ever!"

He picked chocoate cake with chocolate frosting and gummy bears, which Audrey and I baked and decorated for him.

And we finished things off with a trip to Red Robin last night.

Happy Birthday Liam!

so proud...

...of this young man. He started Awana this year at our church and loves it. Yes, he gets to take a bus there and back. And yes, game time is a kick. But this little guy can memorize the Bible like you would not believe. All on his own. This book that he's holding is supposed to last him the entire year. But he finished it last week. Memorized 34 verses in just 6 weeks. And he KNOWS them.

Patrick and I gave him his first big Bible this week as a way to congratulate him and tell him how proud we are. He's an amazing kid. Strong and loud - but with a gentle heart for the Lord. Love, love, love him.

halloween 2010

Halloween week was busy and fun. We're developing some neat family traditions that everyone looks forward to.

Carving the pumpkin with Dad.


Decorating sugar cookies.

The kids dressed up for Awana as their favorite Bible characters. Meet Queen Esther and her Uncle Mordecai.

Mummy dogs for dinner.

Super girl. Bob the Builder. And a soldier.


We trick-or-treated with good friends.

And after a fun evening - everyone plunked down on the sidewalk to enjoy the fruit of their labor.

Sorting. Organizing. Trading. This was always my favorite part of the holiday!

And now we're off to sell our candy. No kidding. A local dentist in town will buy it and the kids want the money more than the sweets. Fine with me!

crazy hair night

It was crazy hair night at Awana this week. Audrey designed this masterpiece all by herself. And Liam discovered the magic of AquaNet.