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All things Merry and Bright

Day before Christmas Eve.



Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day

Day after Christmas

I don't care where you go . . .

but you can't stay here.



before:



after:

Merry Merry!

Solstice/Birthday

For the 2nd Monday in a row we went skiing together. It was John's birthday and he wanted to go skiing more than anything. Grandpa came to take Odin home, but first got to watch Odin ski by himself. Odin wriggled away from John and was showing off a little bit. We were astounded at how well he could turn.



The candles on Johns cake put out enough light that no flash was needed - but the frosting did taste a bit smokey!

Noodles

This evening when the doorbell rang I was expecting our letter carrier with a box from my mom, instead it was FedEx bringing a birthday present (a baking stone with a 10 year warranty(!) In the last 8 years I have been through 5 stones!).
Odin was so excited that the FedEx man brought him a box full of packing noodles - He was in them for over an hour. The clean up was tricky today, he was clad head to toe in synthetics and the air is pretty dry.

J. Winter

My senior year in college I went to Oregon on spring break with two great friends. We experienced a bunch if interesting things like spending a freezing cold night in a yurt that was colder inside than outside (that theory was untested, but man it was cold). Mostly it was neat to be in a completely different climate and vegetation area.
One day we went to a wax / oddity museum (how did we find these things?). After touring the exhibits we found ourselves in the gift shop where we the "Gene Machine"was located. The"Gene Machine" you ask.. Please, let me explain. It is a unique photo booth that takes pictures of two people (myself and Julie in our case) and smashes them together (keep in mind this was almost 10 years ago). As I remember you get to select the gender of your "child".
When the image emerged we were a little creeped out. At some point on the trip we named 'him' J. Winter.

Anyhow I still have the picture. And it is still pretty creepy.. Especially since I live now with this guy. . . .


Strange indeed. . .

Last week in pictures

Gingerbread house pre-decorating.


He is in love with my old Holga, he refuses my offers to use a digital camera. He keeps on asking if we can get film for it.


Do you see what I see?

It's beginning to look a lot like. . .

Last weekend the plan was to collect the dog from John's folks house - he had been there over a month as we were traveling.
We thought it might also be nice to find a Christmas tree - the old fashioned way - while up north. Mind you it is about 250 miles between our house and theirs and we were not sure we would want a tree in our house after 200+ miles on top of a car. So, we crafted a plan to take Fritz, the mercedes, and put the tree inside. Yes, wagons are the only way to go. The only downside was the seats... They are a bit droopy and after a couple or hours so were we.




Our Tree

Giving Thanks

We are all feeling refreshed after a blissful week in southern California. Everything was perfect, weather, beach, house, company. It went by a tad fast, but not without leaving us all with loads of great memories.


Odin was such great company. I enjoy traveling with him.

We ventured to the Happiest Place on Earth for my birthday. He went on all the rides. The real ones, not just the kiddo stuff. He really liked space mountain- sat next to me. I don't know if he could see much, but really how much is there to see?


We explored some tide pools that Jamie and I used to walk to from our grandparents house. He was fascinated. Actually we were all pretty excited to explore.

Open Invitation

To the person who taught my son to put tissues in his pockets:
Please feel free to come over anytime to clean out my laundry machines and pick all the bits out of the laundry.

Halloween

Shortly after Odin was born my mom gave me a Army dress uniform that had been my dad's. I had no idea what to do with it, so I had it cleaned (it was a bit musty) and hung it in Odin's closet.
A few weeks ago I had him try it on just to see if it might work for Halloween. It fit great. The pants were a little big, but the jacket was great. Now all we needed was a hat. I consulted with my mom and also a picture of my dad (and his twin brother) in the outfits and went out to find a hat. Call it what you will but I found the exact hat in the correct size at the first place I looked. It was even stamped with a date in the late 40's to match the ago of the style of uniform. And it cost $2.99. In the few weeks that past Odin kept on saying he was going to wear a union suit for Halloween. (Not to be confused with a Union Army Uniform)...

We carved pumpkins after breakfast, with some help from Grandma and Grandpa, waited around for an eternity then headed to the zoo. Last year was kind of a bust in the neighborhood trick or treating. There were very few people participating so this year we decided to try the zoo's event. It was great.





Now I am cooking down the Jack O Lanterns. We had 37 pounds of pumpkin and I think I'll get about 15 cups of pumpkin out of it. Mmmmmm pie, muffins and more!

School-aween

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.

Art wall

The house of late has been overrun with masterpieces. He brings them home for school just about everyday and also at the Y. My solution for a long time has been either:
1) a clip on the refrigerator. (the stack was 1/2" thick)
or
2)a paper bag under the desk in the kitchen.

I always thought I would send them to Grandmas and Grandpas, but it seldom (if ever) happened.
This is our new solution. Two art lines in his room. We had the paintings in frames before, had to keep those. The clothes lines so to speak are new and I love it.

Dinner

After school today Odin and I made pumpkin cookies with frosting. He insisted that the frosting (maple, powdered sugar) be orange. As we were waiting for the last batch to come out of the oven I distinctly heard five gongs on the clock, it's dinner time what are we going to eat. (?)
Just then the doorbell rings, Odin and Sampson both start barking and running down to the door. It is our Neighbor (the best in the world) with dinner (taco soup and cornbread). How wonderful.
We ring her bell moments later with a couple of our pumpkin cookies fresh from the oven and just frosted.
Dinner was delicious!

Leaf pile going strong

Snow/Leaf pile

Last Saturday it snowed, about 4". It stuck to the ground but not the roads. It also made all the (green) leaves fall off the trees. Not much color this year. We are having a blast in our leafy snow pile. The pile got to impressive heights this year, thanks to Odin's new rake. And thanks to townhouse living we can leave our pile all week and play in it each day! I keep thinking the leaves will get vacuumed up soon, but not yet.

Opples and Bononos

Before the snow came (this morning) we made it out to the orchard to pick apples and pumpkins. We fed the chickens, the turkeys (briefly, Odin thought them impolite), the miniature donkey and ran with the dogs. This year he rode in the wagon more than he pulled it and hardly sat still the the obligatory photo op.

Camera Photos

It's no iphone, but I recently got a new phone. It has one of those fancy cameras in it. And thanks to overstock, I got a tiny little card for it. Here are a few from the new device. Thanks Jenny for telling me how to do it!

in the chicken coop at the MN zoo.


At the County Fair, he asked me to take his picture by the tire - That is why it is so sharp, he stood still.


A "hike" at a local park


Fall walk