Christmas Eve

I took these two pictures this evening - one of me and the kids before going to the Christmas Eve service, and then in their new jammies in front of their stockings.

Rebekah is beside herself with excitement - couldn't WAIT to get in bed so Santa could come. She even asked me when I was going to bed - afraid Santa wouldn't come if I was awake. So cute!

Bryan will be on the web cam all morning tomorrow so he will be able to see the kids open gifts and all of that. Should be fun!

Merry Christmas to all!

Aebleskivars!

There is a tradition in my family to have the Danish dish Aebleskivars for dinner around Christmas time. This is a dish my grandfather, who was Danish, loved and is one of the few Danish foods the family has continued to fix. They are YUMMY and a lot of fun to eat! Basically they are pancake balls - I think Aebleskivar means apple panckake. They are served with jam, fruit syrups and powdered sugar. The Jorgensen tradition is that when eating Aebleskivars you have to "come up even" meaning you can't have anything left on your plate. If you have powdered sugar or jam - then you need another Aebleskivar!

I have tried to keep with the tradition and every year around Christmas we have Aebleskivars for dinner one night. We have started inviting friends over to share in our tradition, since they are so unique and fun to eat! This year I invited my friend Amy and her girls Samantha and Maddie to come over. Her husband was out of town that day and since Bryan is gone we decided it was a good night to get together.

Emma's first Aebleskivar

The big kids

Rebekah took this one

Maddie, Rebekah and Samantha
Rebekah is right between these girls in age - it makes for great play dates!

Maddie was especially fond of the Aebleskivars and I had to snap a couple of pictures or her enjoyment - I love the powdered sugar on her arm!

If you want to try your hand at Aebleskivars I will share my Grandmother - Elsie Jorgensen's recipe.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 t. soda
3/4 t. baking powder
2 eggs separated
2 c. buttermilk (this is the only recipe I use actual buttermilk, I do not substitute!)
3 T. melted butter

Directions:
Sift together dry ingredients in mixing bowl
In another bowl, beat egg yolks slightly. Beat in buttermilk and butter.
Stir egg yolk mixture into flour mixture.
In small bowl beat egg whites till stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.

Pour about 3T batter into each preheated, buttered cup of Aebleskivar pan.
Turn when bottom is browned.
Remove when tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve with powdered sugar, raspberry jam and fruit syrup.

Makes about 35 Aebleskivars

The link at the top of the post has good pictures and good advice about what kind of Aebleskivar pan to get. I have a cast iron pan and it is awesome!

Enjoy and Glaedig Jul! (That's Merry Christmas in Danish )

Picture With Santa

Yesterday I finally took the kids to see Santa. After last year's trip I was a little concerned that Alex would be scared again. He has been assuring me for about a month now. "I'm not going to cry on Santa's lap, I cry when I am two, I don't cry when I am three." So I was hopeful, but knew that the fact that he was saying that meant he was probably nervous about the whole thing.

We got in line with our Strawberry Julius' (I read after the fact that we weren't suppose to have drinks in line - oops!) we had a bout a half and hour wait, which wasn't too bad. At one point Alex went up to one of the little red and white striped posts holding up the divider rope - and before I knew what he was doing he squatted down to lick all the way up the post. I asked him if it tasted like a candy cane - he said yes - but didn't go for another lick. Rebekah wanted to try it too, but I was able to convince her they were indeed NOT candy canes and she didn't need to lick them.

Soon after the post licking incident Alex came over and hugged my leg - "I don't want to sit on Santa's lap Mommy" Oh no! But I had realized earlier there would not be room for all three of them on Santa's lap - one of them would have to stand, or sit next to Santa - I asked him if that would be OK, he decided it would.

I was not prepared for our dear sweet happy Emma to cry on Santa's lap. But she did. As soon as I put her down. Alex was quite concerned for her . Maybe next year we will get three smiles!

Or maybe not!

10 Days 'Till Christmas!

I took this video tonight after Alex took off one of the rings on our chain counting down the days until Christmas. I'm not sure where all the energy came from all of a sudden, but they were just a LITTLE bit wound up. Amazingly enough they went to bed right after this!

Christmas Trees and Christmas Cookies

Well, it has been a while. I know a lot of you out there probably know why I am busier than usual and not blogging like as much as I usually do - but for those of who don't know - Bryan is on a one year remote assignment in Manta, Ecuador. He left November 2nd and so I have been a single mom for the last month and a half - and will continue as such for the next 10 and 1/2 months - yes I AM counting! Just a few details about the assignment, - for those of you who already know, just skip to the next paragraph! Bryan is the Director of Operations (2nd in command) of the Forward Operating Location in Manta - their mission there is anti-drug enforcement. He is enjoying the job, it is giving him leadership experience and he will be flying again a year sooner than if he remained in Tucson for another two years - which was the other option at this point. This also almost certainly ensures he won't be doing a year in a less desirable locale - ie Iraq or Korea. The other plus to this assignment is he will be coming back to Tucson for conferences where he can then take leave on either end and be home for a "visit". So far I am doing great - the kids are doing great as well.

I have a great support network here, and just yesterday one of my worst fears came true when I got a stomach virus that knocked me out all day. My dear friend Kay came to my rescue and watched the kids for a few hours so I could get in a good nap after being up most of the night. The rest of the day I was on the couch while the kids watched movies - Emma took a long nap in the afternoon and I got to take one too. In the end, I made it, and things are good again today!

The kids and I have been having fun getting ready for Christmas - so I will share a few pictures (OK more than a few) of Christmas tree and decorating Christmas cookies...

The tree is definitely bottom heavy this year! I basically handed the kids the ornaments and they put them on the tree - I did stand up and do some myself up top, but a lot ended up on the bottom! I decided not to stress it - the kids had fun, that is all that really matters!

Great shot! Except I didn't get all of the star in, let me try again.

Rebekah, sit up straight - Alex, honey, look at the camera!

I guess this one will have to do!



Cookie time!

Rebekah was running around in her undewear before we did cookies, I told her to get dressed because I was going to take pictures, and I didn't want her to be naked. So she put on her dress-up dress and she did her own hair.

I just want to point out how Alex has stacked his decorating containers
I love that I got that in the picture - because that is so typical Alex!

I gave Emma a plain cookie to munch on while we decorated. After we were done I thought OH I should take a picture of Emma eating one! Well, she was done, but I salvaged a piece from her bib and I got a couple of shots.

What a cutie-pie! I am so blessed!

These are the ones the kids decorated - and the ones THEY get to eat!

Here's the video. I actually remembered!

Happy Halloweeeeeeeen!

Here are several pictures from trick-or-treating last night as well as pumpkin carving. We were a little early with our pumpkin carving - so they didn't last until Halloween, but the kids still loved it!

You can't see the designs really well in the picture, but when we turned off the lights I couldn't get a clear picture.

Now on to Halloween night!

I came up with this costume at the last minute, I hadn't found a costume I liked for Emma so I was just going to skip it. I couldn't let her go out with NO costume but couldn't figure out what. I had decided to get a white onsie and just write BOO! in Sharpie marker on it and that would be that. As I was getting out the onsie I caught a glimpse of her TWO cheerleading outfits (Broncos and Clemson) in her closet and thought OF COURSE that would be cute! Rebekah let Emma borrow her pom poms.

Go Broncos!

Give me a B!

Precious Rebekah was Tinkerbell and I had SO MUCH fun doing her hair!

Ready for Trick-or-Treating! Complete with flashlights from Grandma Melissa!

Alex was so cute, he would say "I'm ready to go Halloween!"

This was their first true trick or treating expereince. Last year we went on base to a carnival and the BX for trick or treating - we had fun this year going up our own street.

The first house.

On to the next one!

The kids had a blast. This morning Alex asked me if he could go trick or treating again. I said "next year!" I'm pretty sure he does not grasp the concept.

After going up our street we made a few stops at some ladies who have helped me with the kids and would enjoy seeing the kids in costume - on the way home Alex started singing his own little song about trick or treating, I got part of it on video - I will hopefully remember to post that later.