on-hand modern

easter traditions 2012

1) making resurrection bread

2) dyeing easter eggs

3) new saltwater sandals (read more about that tradition here)

4) new for 2012 : eggs filled with "fish and honeycomb" (i.e. swedish fish and sugar babies) + reading luke 24:39-42

i hope your easter holiday was happy and meaningful. i miss being in this space more often and connecting with all of you. fyi, tomorrow evening i'll be playing the organ at the kansas city temple open house. eek! i'm nervous and excited. cross your fingers i don't do anything (too) embarrassing. maybe i'll see you there? i hope i do.

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valentine's day by dad

Whoa. Way too much time between posts. Must try to remedy that situation starting...now.
 
Hey! I wanted to talk to you about holidays and who's in charge of planning. In my experience, the role of holiday cruise director usually falls under the job description of Mom, but at some point over the years the Engineer took over Valentine's Day, and it's pretty great. There are usually flowers involved, for me and the girls. (Attention dads: if you give your daughter flowers on Valentine's Day, she will feel loved and special and remember your thoughtfulness forever. Learned this tip from my own dad who probably doesn't remember he once sent me flowers at BYU on Valentine's Day, but I do. Hi Dad!)
 
There is also chocolate for everyone--this year giant Hershey kisses for the kids, something a little more grown up for me--and maybe a surprise or two. Like paper hearts everywhere! It doesn't have to cost a lot or be elaborate to make a big impact. As a mom (and blogger) I always try to remember that. Simple is just fine, and over-the-top is generally overrated. (Do you agree? Is this easier for guys, do you think?)
 
Anyway, that's our family Valentine's Day. What do you think? Is dad in charge of any holidays at your house? As a mom, would you be cool with a holiday dad's way? Love to hear your thoughts.

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hey, i got older

the week before christmas i had a birthday. we rang the salvation army bell like i talked about doing here, which turned out to be a lot of fun and i hope to make it an annual tradition. we also had dinner with friends and then there was homemade red velvet cake and balloons and some thoughtful gifts from k and the children. i felt loved by friends and family, and it was pretty much a great day.

the big surprise (to me) about turning 33 is that i'm basically the same person i was at 22. i still burp out loud like a 14-year-old boy. i still answer the phone sometimes in a really lousy asian accent. (disclaimer: i am not, nor have i ever been, asian.) i still love junk food, Quantum Leap, and karaoke--not necessarily in that order. i'm proud to say i've mostly conquered my fear of feet, but clowns of any kind and dolls lined up in rows still make me shudder. i confess, i've never tried sushi and can't see any reason why i should. and i still don't know how to properly hang up a pair of pants, though i can see how this would be a useful skill if for any reason the engineer one day woke up and decided he'd rather declare his undying love for me in some other less-endearing way than carefully lining up seams and folding and draping my jeans over a plastic hanger. (he hasn't yet.)

on a more serious note, i still have a lot of the same self-doubts i had when i was younger, and maybe even a few more. this is perhaps the great disappointment of growing up. as a kid i never thought adults felt uncertain or confused, self-conscious or insecure. i was wrong about that. 

okay, so painful awareness of my nerdiness + shortcomings aside, i'm also aware that in some ways i have changed and become an upgraded version of the old me. for one thing, i'm better at relationships than i used to be. not perfect, but better. according to my dad, compassion is "love with action" and i've made some progress in that area as i've gotten older. i'm a pretty good friend in general but a great one in a crisis, i think.

i've changed in other ways too, but i think that may be the most meaningful.

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scenes from christmas + new year's eve 2011

hello and happy new year to all of you. i hope you had a joyful holiday season.

our christmas was cozy and pretty great. and then we raised the bar on new year's eve by getting a pinata.

i'm still easing into 2012, but i hope to be around more soon. thanks for being here and being patient with me. xoxo!

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kid cards

the thing about kids is they are not so much concerned with making things perfect as they are with enjoying the process. an enviable trait, i think, and one i will try (try!) to emulate this week.

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holiday baking: what's on your list?

you know what's better than baking? talking about baking. and, let's be honest, i'm more likely to do the latter than the former.

so. what are you making this year? what do you wish you were making? what do you wish someone would make for you?

[photo originally posted in 2009]

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thanksgiving 2011

without any family around to share the holiday, it's become our tradition the last few years to eat out on thanksgiving. to be totally honest, i still much prefer a home-cooked meal surrounded by parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews, but this way at least we get to spend more time hanging around with the kids instead of doing dishes. it's also become our tradition in recent years to book a hotel room close to home for the night. so for us the holiday pretty much goes like this: morning--see a movie in the theater, afternoon--eat an early dinner, evening--swim in the hotel pool. then the next day we get up and explore the city where we're staying.

so, these are some of my favorite photos from this year's thanksgiving festivities in...lawrence, kansas. haha. it's a cute little college town, home to the University of Kansas. we spent most of the day after thanksgiving on massachusetts street, poking our heads into all the quirky shops and making mental wishlists. olivia bought herself a vintage nancy drew book in an antique store. and asher picked out a $1 plastic reindeer at one of the local toy shops. around dinner time, the holiday lights came on for the first time and santa made his much-anticipated appearance on top of weavers, the department store.

it all sounds pretty idyllic and "thanksgiving in mayberry" as i type this. in reality...well.

we had our moments.

the thing is i look at the photos, and pretty much i only remember the good parts.

[photo of me by k]

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happy thanksgiving

i know i'm late to the party, but i hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving holiday.

oh yes i did. i spent waaaaay too much time sewing goofy pilgrim hats for the children.

back to regular posting this week, i hope. see you here tomorrow?

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the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is that it's tradition.

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is that if you use pre-made graham cracker crusts, it takes exactly the same amount of effort to make 4 pies as it does to make one. so always make the full recipe.

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is that when you look in the fridge and see FOUR PIES, you feel rich.

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is knowing that if someone were to drop by unexpectedly, you could say, "please come in. i have pie." and they would think you are awesome. even if you are still in your pajamas.

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is that when you wake up too early and can't get back to sleep, at least you have something to write about.

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is that it signals the start of the holiday season. and girls in red dresses.

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is how cute are these mini pies my sister made?

the thing about pumpkin chiffon pie is it's my 1950s entrepreneurial grandmother's recipe. my favorite vintage photo of her + the recipe are right here.

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thoughts on holiday shopping

are you thinking about gifts for the holidays yet? it still feels early to me, but i made my first purchase for the kids this morning. i'm not much of a shopper usually--i get overwhelmed by crowds and choices (not to mention tiny-house-more-stuff syndrome, and the expense) so i tend to avoid it as much as possible. then the holidays come around and there's all this (self-induced) pressure to buybuybuy! just.the.right.thing. i confess. i can get a bit...crazy.

to try to keep the consumerism + my stress level at a minimum, i strive to abide by the following guidelines:

1) children may ask santa for ONE thing.

2) when shopping for children use this rule of thumb: one thing they want, one thing they need (our tradition is new shoes), one thing i made, one thing to read.

3) shop online as much as possible.

4) buy the grandparents the same thing every year.

5) avoid shipping costs + trips to the post office by sending gift cards to out-of-towners.

do you have any other anti-stress holiday shopping tips? i'd love to hear them.

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