More blessings from heaven, let the FUN begin!

So we are prepping for another big storm, and this time the city wants to make sure that everyone is prepared and they do not have a repeat of what happened last week with thousands of people stuck at the airport. Or those idiots who did not have enough food and water in their homes (we have TONS of food, we could survive for months if we have running water, well except for diapers and milk that is!) So they are telling people to stock up on food and water for at least 3 days, anyone planning on flying in or out of DIA is told to take the earliest flight possible, and hope for the best.

The snow has just begun to fall, and is expected to drop at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour! We have a doctors appointment to go to in an hour, so I hope it holds off a bit more, as Baby B developed a nasty case of Croup in the wee hours this morning. Aba has borrowed the neighbors SUV again, since he is home for lunch and is required to return to work, and take the kids to the movies (Charlotte's web, they cancelled it last week due to the storm, and ironically choose today of all days to reschedule!)

And sadly it looks like I will not get to see my best friend since 7th grade, who was scheduled to fly in tomorrow. I haven't seen her in years, but I would rather she be safe in Oregon, than stuck at DIA. And cancel your New Years Eve plans, because no one is going anywhere this weekend.

Oh, and FYI, every store in the state of Colorado is officially out of snowplow, snowplows, snow shovels, metal shovels, plastic shovels, and chains.

So Bring on the snow!

Well it is snowing AGAIN

So I guess now is as good as a time as any to update MommyMommyland! Aba was able to borrow an SUV from one of our neighbors to get to work on Friday and was able to retrieve our camera, so I have some videos of our snowpack to share ( see below) as well as a video of the 8th night of Chanukah.

But before I show you, let me explain all the work and effort that went into finding a particular gift for J I saw this gift on a TV commercial and thought J would love that! and I saw it in many stores, but wanted to ask other parents if their children liked it before I went and got it (it was kinda pricey) so I asked in my online group (hi PAFO! - waving and smiling) and it seemed all who had gotten it had loved it, so with the go ahead from Aba I set out to buy it. I went to 6 stores and lo and behold they were all sold out of it, then I called another 10 who were also sold out! and then finally found it at one online store - the rest were also sold out! but one was all I really needed, so we ordered, it and Waited for it arrive which finally happened on the 5th day of chanukah - thank goodness, and he went nuts! It was definitely worth all of that effort, I mean true he was happy with his pillow, and playing with his new hot wheel nonstop (running it all over the walls and such) but really the last present is supposed to be the best right? well I think it certainly was!

So now I sit here with the Bronco's game on, typing away while Aba and N are headed over to CB and Potts to watch the Chargers (they are not playing on regular TV today) I will share with you 3 videos and a few choice pictures from the chanukah blizzard of 2006 and a few chanukah pics you have yet to see.

well the photo chronology of Chanukah has reached an abrupt end.

As most of you have noticed, I was doing a daily photo update of chanukah and our chanukah activities. Well, unfortunately it has reached an early end. Let me tell you about what has led up to this forced, decision.

On the fifth night of Chanukah I took pictures as usual, ready to upload, clean, and format. Well, Aba decided to take the camera to work with him, unbenounced to me. The day goes by and I think nothing of it, and actually I was quite wrapped up in watching the storm that was rapidly turning into a blizzard; worrying about how Aba is going to possibly get home, how I am going to get The Dog to ever go out to pee, and the like. Well at about 3 o'clock Aba calls and says he is stuck, at work, 5 miles a way; after several calls back and forth I find a neighbor willing to try and go get him, but by this point he had managed to get free and was hurriedly heading home, sliding and skidding the whole way, his speed being determined by the amount of snow and ice in the way, not bothering to stop at any of the red lights or stop signs for fear he would not be able to get going again. The ice and snow on the road determined which streets he was driving down, as his control was very limited, to say the least, and he was just praying to get safely home at this point. On wildcat he slid around 2 large city buses that were stuck parallel to each other, two blocks from our home 4 count them f-o-u-r SUV's were stuck some trying to turn left, some trying to turn right, yet he choose to gun his car , red lining it in fact ( remember Aba drives a Lexus sedan) and passed them all bobbing and weaving and sliding through, to finally get stuck at the end of the cul-de-sac while several neighbors stood outside cheering him on.

I got the details of this story as he was defrosting in a steamy hot shower, that is when I began to hunt for the camera and was informed that it was at work, 5 miles away through a raging blizzard. So picture if you will a white Lexus covered in three feet of snow at the end of our cul-de-sac (CLICK) picture if you will Aba shoveling out the driveway and a path from the car to the house with 2 helpful neighbors (CLICK) picture if you will our menorah lighting ceremonies (CLICK.,CLICK,CLICKITY-CLICK,CLICK,CLICK) and picture if you will the present opening events in which JoJo went absolutely nuts over his gift.

I have never seen a child so exited over something so simple. Are you curious to what he received? Okay, I will tell you, he received a big boy pillow, a full sized pillow in a green toddler bed. it is a super fluffy down pillow that is essentially the same size he is (he could use it for a bed if he wanted to, and in fact when I checked on him last night, he was sleeping exclusively on his new pillow).

Oh, and just in case you haven't seen the news or read the paper since yesterday morning, Denver is in a state of emergency, they have called the national guard in to retrieve people stuck in their cars, (a friend of mines husband is actually stuck in a hotel 5 miles from his house because he could not get home) and the storm does not show signs of stopping any time soon.

So there will be no more photos, just imaginary photo click's trying to hold onto the memories, as no one is leaving to go retrieve the camera and Chanukah will be long over before Aba gets to work again on Monday as the metropolis in which we live is essentially shut down through Friday (at the very least) and everyone knows that schools are not open on the weekend. So enjoy yourselves as we will be having a movie marathon and staying inside where it is nice an warm and cozy. First up on our marathon Pirates of the caribbean 2 (one of Aba's chanukah presents).

On the 4th night if Chanukah

We attended Chanukah on Ice! The ice menorah,
Aba and I behind the Menorah,
The kids, who can not skate to save their lives,
and...
guess who got to bring the Ice Menorah home!

It is now sitting on on front porch, and will be till it melts away.

On the 3rd night of Chanukah

We celebrated with donuts.
"This donut is almost as big as my head!"Silly Aba! You can't put it back after you take a bite!
"Yum, mine is almost done."
" Ooh, pretty sprinkles AND Chocolate!"

On the 2nd night if Chanukah

We went to the community menorah lighting, where we froze for a while, then had a nice gathering with other neighborhood Jews. Tonite was the night if books for the children.
J received a Dr. Seuss board book.

Dr. Seuss's ABC An Amazing Alphabet Book!

B received a Dinosaur table manners book.

How So Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?

N received an American history book.

1776 YANKEE DOODLE AMERICA

The first night of Chanukah

The first night is a night of warm toes and sweet drinks
Socks for Aba Thick socks for J
Two types of socks for B
Short socks for N

and a sugar jar for Mommy (sorry no picture).

how to fold a shirt in Japan

I Sooo want to learn to do this!!!

An Italian evening

We had a wonderful Italian evening tonite thanks to Sunset magazine!

I tried the Italian stew they had listed this month.

Chicken Stew with Olives and Lemon
From Sunset Magazine

Boned, skinned chicken thighs are just as convenient as breasts, and they have an added advantage: Their succulent texture and robust flavor stand up well to braising. Add the flavors of Italian salsa verde--bright parsley, tart lemon, piquant capers, and green olives--for a fresh, fast twist on cold-weather cooking. Prep and Cook Time: about 45 minutes. Notes: To save prep time, cube the potatoes or mince the garlic and capers while the chicken browns. Then, while the stew simmers, you can chop the parsley and juice the lemon.

1 pound boned, skinned chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons each salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon capers, drained and minced
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 3/4-in. cubes
1 package (8 oz.) thawed frozen artichoke hearts, quartered if large
1 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup pitted medium green olives
Lemon wedges

1. Cut each chicken thigh into 2 or 3 chunks. In a resealable plastic bag, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Add chicken, seal, and shake to coat.

2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken (discard excess flour) in a single layer and cook, turning once, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic, capers, and lemon zest and stir just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and simmer, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add broth, potatoes, and chicken and return to a simmer. Lower heat slightly to maintain simmer, cover, and cook 10 minutes.

4. Add artichokes to pot and stir. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in parsley, lemon juice to taste, and olives. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, with lemon wedges on the side.

Pared with a loaf of Hot toasty Italian bread (from King Soopers) with a dish of balsamic and olive oil to dip it in. And the Wine hand selected by the Somier at the liquor store picked out for us (I used it in the recipe as well - a 2005 Beringer Pinot Grigio).

Some Opera playing softly in the background and the evening was complete, now to get the little ones off to bed.

Winter Dance Recital

Today was Bs' Winter dance recital.

Here is the Ballet portion of Bs' Dance recital from this morning. She is the middle one (2nd from the left)who cracks up the audience with her smart mouth.



Please either turn your computer sideways or your head, as I am an idiot and forgot one can not edit videos the same as your would pictures.

I could REALLY use your help!

As most of you know, our computer crashed a few months ago, and the "computer god" was able to salvage most of the information off of our computer. Unfortunately he was unable to save it all, and was not able to find 2006 in our photos. Now, I know this is my fault for naming them something screwy like "eBay stuff" or "craigslist sale" or something, honestly I have no idea what I named them, but that is really despite the point, as is that I didn't print any of them out or put them on a back up disk (I was working on it when the computer crashed, but for some reason felt compelled to "clean" and name all the photos first, which didn't quite happen) so anyhow I have no pictures or videos left except the ones that made it onto my MySpace which is very few.

I was also a big enough imbecile to throw away all the disks of photos people, kind people had sent me after I uploaded the pictures to the computer (do you see a pattern here? Yep it is me having complete faith that nothing would happen to the computer, the old computer that I had repaired many times!). And I had great plans for these photos! I was going to make a movie out of them to send as Grandparent gifts, which I am now unable to do, and instead I am here to plead with you.

(Down on bended knee):Please, please, please send me any pictures you have of our little family and the kids! They will have no memories at all if someone doesn't have it in the kindness of there hearts to send me copies of photos! Not of their birthdays; not of the month they spent in California this summer; not of B's mutton button debut; or N's 2nd place ride!

Okay, well I am now off to scour the Internet: photobucket, craigslist, a variety of blogs and myspace accounts in search of lost photos, and putting a wish out on all the stars in the sky that I will receive disks of photos in the mail, and the the "computer god" will somehow find the photos and send them on to me as well.

Here's to hoping......

Sundays...

As time goes by and we get older and have families of our own, some basic things remain the same. Or rather they repeat themselves in the future generations, and one of these things are Sundays.

I remember growing up Sundays were a day of homemade buttermilk pancakes, served with log cabin syrup and butter; the day with the big paper and the Sunday comics which my father and I would fight over; a day of football on the TV, and naps with the dogs. A day of fun and relaxing about the house. Of course sometimes Sundays included gardening, planting flowers, weeding, adding fish to the pond, and deadheading the roses. But Sundays, were a day of family togetherness. And I never realized how important this was to me.

Until today, as I sat at the kitchen table with the big paper, reading the comics, and N asked to have them, and then B chimed in for them as well, it took me back in time to a similar place over 20 years and 1000 miles away, and realized that Sundays remain the same.

We still have homemade buttermilk pancakes with log cabin syrup and real butter, although now I am the one making them rather than my father, we still have the big paper, although it is my children and I fighting over the comics (even though they can't read them yet) and Aba has the ads, we still have football on the TV, but now it is the Chargers or Broncos game on instead of the Trojans (USC) or the Wildcats ( Kansas); and we still have lazy naps with the dog.

As times change so do we all, eventually we all grow up and start families of our own, but that doesn't mean we have to leave behind our childhood entirely, if we watch carefully we can see some of our favorite memories, morph into what will hopefully be some of children's favorite memories. and the cycle can repeat itself forever, well at least as long as their is log cabin syrup.