A New Year Upon Us

Our Christmas cards finally arrived on December 29th so I have a great big stack of them sitting on my desk.

My sister posts this every year, and every year I read through it one by one. I love this list!

This Christmas, mend a quarrel.
Seek out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
Write a letter.
Give a soft answer.
Encourage youth.
Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
Keep a promise.
Forgo a grudge.
Forgive an enemy.
Apologize.
Try to understand.
Examine your demands on others.
Think first of someone else.
Be kind.
Be gentle.
Laugh a little more.
Express your gratitude.
Welcome a stranger.
Gladden the heart of a child.
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
Speak your love and then speak it again.
Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning
--with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.

-Howard W. Hunter

Sunny Alentejo Days

There are few places in this world more perfect for familiy time than a good old fashioned farm. Bottle feeding animals, riding, fishing, biking, long walks, exploring, digging, creating, building, eating, and roasting things over a fire are all so pleasing to adults and children alike that one just can't go wrong.

Happy cows

Freddy bottle-feeding an older calf

The wide trunked tree to the left of Moojie is the kids' "favorite tree." Its many bumps on its trunk make it the perfect climbing tree.

Last day in Lisbon

I think this is the first photo i have with me and the kids since my 29th birthday. I had a considerable height advantage way back then, and now not even high shoes can help me look taller than Moojie.

We had a perfect last day, but their trip was much too short. The house always feels too quiet and too empty when guests leave :(

I'm still without a camera so I'll be recycling holiday photos until I get myself to the FNAC.

Brothers fishing

Freddy got a new fishing rod for Christmas, and the Alentejo was the perfect place to try it out. He lost interest after holding the rod for about a minute, but it was a good photo opp while it lasted.

Belém

No trip is complete without a stop at the Pasteis de Belém cafe.
We went to the top of the discoveries monument (that huge stone ship on the river front)-another first for me, and had an uncharacteristically enjoyable train ride in both directions.

Lego mania continues tonight.

Lego mania

We're back from the Alentejo, waiting for the fire to get going and getting our marshmallows on skewers. The children are in a Lego induced state of bliss.

Quick Christmas 2011 Re-cap

The overriding theme of gifts this year was tennis gear

One of the first gifts Freddy opened was his tennis backpack and a tennis hat, and he opened the rest of the his presents wearing said backpack and hat.

A trip to the GB store on the 23rd meant that pretty much everyone gave and received a large box of wine gums.

Moojie's Christmas intake looked much like that of an 80 year old man. It included many books, a brown sweater, cologne, tennis hats and accessories, a racket, and many boxes of chocolates.

Freddy is still in the phase where opening presents takes forever since he is so excited about each gift that he was simply too distracted to get back to the tree and open more.

Miss Zita got lots and lots of Lego kits and spent much of Christmas day up in her room, getting started on building the ultimate Lego village.

On Christmas eve, I made my first ever sticky toffee pudding and I don't think I will make a different dessert ever again.

Listening to Pai sing Christmas songs on Christmas morning was heaven.

Seeing the girl cousins dressed up and the boys looking so handsome was heart melting perfection.

Our Christmas cards never arrived, and must be sitting somewhere in customs :( all that work lost!

My two favorite gifts were lilac slippers with two pom pom tassels on each foot, especially chosen by Freddy, and a black cat mug with a black cat stirrer chosen by Zita.

Finishing touches

The turkey is about to come out of the oven, the sticky toffee pudding is about to go in, the table looks beautiful, and the house is filled with Christmas spirit.

A very merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

My favorite part of the holidays so far...

... Is being a regular customer at the spa the kids are running upstairs.

I've had two blow dry treatments, many foot massages, a special hand moisturizing treatment, and the best head massage I've ever had.

The kids are in gift wrapping full force. They all have presents for everyone else and are more excited about giving than receiving. At least for now they are. We'll see what the story is on Christmas morning.

Matching cousins

What a great first day we had! I had my baby nephew, affectionately referred to as "baby bubba" until around 2:15am and then handed him back to his daddy- glad that I had that baby time, but also glad that as auntie I could hand him back!

We all got going rather slowly this morning with at least five different breakfast shifts, but we did eventually make it out by 11am. We went to one of my favorite places around here- Quinta da Regaleira- for a fully day of exploring. There is no better word for this place in Sintra than enchanting. Despite jet-lag, the kids held up with the walking, and even braved the dark and scary caves and tunnels. It was also the first time we have visited without either a person, or a camera, or both flying down the dangerous steep stone staircases.

We had an interlude for a sunny veranda lunch, and two tennis classes,and the rest of the day has been spent just keeping up with these kids.
They are now all cuddled up in matching jammies, because we just can't resist the matching, listening to an Amelia Bedelia story with auntie Tinna.

I'm sure it's obvious, but my camera is broken hence dark and grainy iPad shots.

Cousins reunited!

Everyone's arrived. The cousins wasted no time in getting dressed up and putting on a play for us. I'm so happy to have a baby in the house.

Skating!

We tried out the Cascais Winter Wonderland that has an ice rink, a carrousel, and a sledding "hill" which is really a ramp. Zita did ice skating, and enjoyed it, but 20 minutes was enough. My arm was twisted into letting them go on the carrousel at the end of the afternoon where Freddy was thrilled to have jumped from a stationary giraffe- not so fun- onto an elephant cage- apparently more fun.

This was the best way to kick off Christmas holidays and get out of the errands-housework- cooking-clean-up cycle that I haven't been able to break for the last two days.

Note: Zita would like to point out that she skates just fine without the seal, and was just playing around with it.

You Know the Sink?

Nothing good can come after a question like that. Zita's story went something like this:

"So Freddy and I were washing our hands, and you know the very heavy soap dispenser?"

"Yes.Where is this going, guys?"

" and well, you know how everything in our house is very old and very fragile? So the soap dispenser slipped and just flew through the air. Just like this- (makes flying motion with her arms, and Freddy mirrors it nodding all the while) and when it hit the sink- our sink that was very old already- it just broke."


This is not only our only downstairs bathroom, but our guest bathroom as well. Bigger problems have existed in this world, so I won't sweat it, but it's ill timed and annoying to have lost an irreplaceable sink. You know, those very old and very fragile kinds.

Christmas Concert

I very much wanted to make a fancy, more refined video, but having just got home from the baptism, and with a list already growing by the second, this unedited clip I put on YouTube will have to do.

I get seriously choked up when Zita takes the stage, and I'm sure I did't breathe the entire time she was playing. I had no reason to be nervous though since she didn't make a single mistake.

Here is a jazzy version of Silent Night to usher in the week leading up to Christmas. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKzpmr7F6Tg&sns=em

Sent from my iPad

On Entertaining

For the past few months, things kept coming up for "the weekend of the 17th and 18th." I kept writing them in my calendar, stressing that we would never fit it all in. The weekend included: a Christmas play, 5 separate tennis lessons, a formal lunch at our house, a baptism, Zita's clarinet concert, and two birthday parties. I sent our regrets to both birthday parties, but we were still left with all the rest. Oh, and Pai would be spending the weekend in the office, driving back for the essentials only.

It was doable thanks to getting things ready as early as possible, list making, getting the kid's outfits for the entire weekend all laid out, and to setting the table a day ahead.

Here I am in between the lunch and the clarinet concert, typing on the couch with a steamy mug or Earl gray beside me, all thanks to my best move yet- hired help! We also got another arroz de marisco from a Guincho restaurant so I didn't even cook. I calculated the cost of groceries, and the time spent cooking for so many people, and the stress of it all, and the answer was clear: Hired help + restaurant food= happy mummy and happy family.

One extra pair of hands meant plates and silverware were washed and dried before dessert was over, and the kitchen and house were left clean by 5 o'clock. I actually sat with guests in the sala with Christmas music playing, and the tree lights glowing, thinking to myself that we should entertain more often.

I still spent most of Friday both baking and getting ready for the weekend, but things never feel burdensome with plenty of time to accomplish them. The crisp white linens were laid, china and silverware were washed and set, glasses were placed on the table (4 per place setting making a grand total of 48 glasses to be hand washed), and the table was decorated, which somehow swallowed up my child-free hours. I'm sure there are people who set their table in 5 minutes and think this is all crazy talk, but believe me when I say that here it's just not possible to cut corners on formality.

It's not the end of the weekend yet, but it's safe to say that we'll make it.

(note: I did take a picture of the table, and will upload it tomorrow after the baptism.)

Done with baking

It's bark time!

Carried away?

I think I might have gotten a tad carried away decorating these brownies for a dinner I'm going to. I was so disappointed not to be able to make the Santa hat brownies that I saw on Pinterest (no strawberries) that I couldn't just leave them plain.

Mid-Hug Snooze

Freddy came home exhausted after a field trip at school today. All he wanted to do was have a cuddle and rest. He gave me his best cheek-to-cheek tight hug and all of a sudden, I felt his breathing slow to a sleepy pace. He was out. Luckily my iPad was within reach to capture the moment.

100 posts

This is my one hundreth post on Happy Street. The only thing I vowed to do with this blog was to post every single day without fail, and never let it feel like an unwelcome obligation. Daily posting has been a cinch and I've loved keeping it up.

I have so much to write about that my bigger problem is narrowing it down to just one post per day, and trying not to bore y'all. My hope of all hopes is that my love of mothering Moojie, Zita, and Freddy bear is reflected in these 100 posts and the many more to come. It's so easy to write about what one loves, right?

I could fill one thousand pages with Pai talk, but this blog would get a court injunction faster that I could write Happy Street. So that's it- my 100th post that wasn't really a post after all. I now have a significant number of teacher cookies to bake, chocolate bark to make, and tea boxes to assemble, all of which I'll write about, of course.

School Pictures Are Here

The boys got their school pictures back yesterday and we are still waiting on Miss Zita's. Every year when the kids bring home their school picture, I make them sit with me, tell me the names of everyone in the class photo, and tell me a little bit about each person. Moojie has had the same class for four years now, but with that school uniform, it's still hard for me to keep some of those girls straight. It also doesn't help that there seems to be roughly 3 names divded among 16 girls.

Freddy's class is much the same. I pulled him into my lap and squeezed him as he listed his classmates. It went something like this "Leonor, Afonso, Leonor, Afonso, Lenor, Afonso, me, the teacher, ....." This is very normal in Portugal- everyone sharing a limited supply of names- hence the prevalence of two syllable nicknames, usually ending in a vowel.

I use pseudonyms on this blog, but they are the kids' real nicknames. Nickname use is taken to such a level that many people's real names are not known until their obituary is released. Many a time I have sat at a funeral mass, gotten the little paper thing they give you, and wispered to Pai, "you mean Tio/tia ´toto, titi, mimi, meimei, bla bla bla´was  really named Maria/Miguel???" I digress. Back to the kids' photos.
Here is my Freddy bear

He's grown so much since his first ever "school" picture. I think his face is squeezy and cute now, but man oh man do I wish I could get to 2007 and smooch those baby cheeks.

Here's Moojie who will never forgive me for making him go in such a small sweater.* As we were looking at the photos after school, I was laughing so hard at Moojie's Italian-man-in-a-tight-sweater impression. That's something I love about Moojie- he can put on any accent and do a Saturday-Night-Live level impersination.

*I've blured his school shirt and school emblem

Toasted Almond Brownies

We made these fudgy moist brownies over the weekend and I just had to share since they were so yummy.

Pre-heat the oven to 190cº (375fº?) and throw some almonds on a baking sheet so they toast while you prepare the brownies.

You'll need: 1 bar baking chocolate (200-250 grams depending on how chocolatey you like them)
4 Eggs
2 tsps vanilla
1 tbsp instant coffee
250 grams sugar
100 grams flour
180 grams butter
150 grams toasted almonds (not pictured)

Melt the chocolate and the butter in a saucepan on low heat. Add two tablespoons boiling water to the instant coffee and then add to the melting choclate.

Stir until fully melted and smooth and then remove from heat and let cool.

While it cools, wisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together

Add the chocolate mixture and mix well.

Sift the flour over in two phases and fold in gently until no white flour clumps are visible.

Turn your oven to the highest grill setting for just a minute so the almonds brown, and then remove almonds, returning the temp to 190cº.

Pour the brownie mixture into a greased and lined baking tin (I used a 10 inch rectangualr glass pyrex and it seemed too small) and then gently fold in the almonds.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Boxes and Brownies

The first stage of box painting is underway thanks to another beautiful sunny day.

Before we painted, we made these....

Quick and easy toasted almond mocha brownie recipe coming soon.

In The Spotlight

How far our Freddy has come since his first Christmas play when an aide came out asking "Is anyone from Freddy's family in the audience?" I knew it was bad...

This year, as soon as the curtain went back and the spotlight moved to Freddy at the mike, I could tell from his expression that he was going to pull it off and all would be ok. The tights turned out to be leggings, but I wasn't too concerned about that.

 The set and costumes were the best yet and unlike other years, the performance was short and sweet.

 The children waved their arms and sang their hearts out, wishing all the parents and grandparents a very happy Christmas.

Freddy closed the show telling us how everyone in Bethlehem was happy, and felt peace and harmony in their souls- that's a perfect way to describe this Mummy's heart last night. Love my Freddy bear.

Finally, a very short highlights video that doesn't adhere to the 5 second rule, but it comes pretty close.

http://youtu.be/7f74R9A6FU0

Christmas Cards

Our family Christmas card was non-existent until 2008. I always tried to get photos before that, but I never felt like they looked good enough, or professional enough. I look back on this picture from 2006 and wonder how on earth I could not have thought this was the most wonderful picture in the whole wide world. I mean, just look at that squishy Freddy, sweet 3 yr. old Zita who was so proud of her baby brother, and what I thought was such a grown up Moojie at the old age of 8.

I can't fathom why I didn't send the below picture out in 2007 because looking at it now makes me want to eat them all up. Who doesn't love kids in flannel PJs.?

I thought I would solve the everyone-blinking-and-no-one-looking-at-the-camera problem with silhouettes in 2008. I went to a lot of trouble getting photos taken, picking a design, sending photos to a lady through Etsy, and then writing mini novels to every single recipient. This did not all go to plan because apparently people did not realize that the silhouettes were my children, and assumed the cards were store bought.

In 2009, I opted for a collage of photos using TinyPrints.com and was happy with their service.

I loved my 2010 card from Shutterfly.   I wound up not sending half of them since I was so late in ordering, and again I felt the need to write out somewhat long messages in each card.

This year's card was also made on Shutterfly. I was able to order and send out my US cards early because I had help (thank you!!), and because I let go of getting that perfect shot.

Today is Freddy's big Christmas play so stay tuned for photos of either a) a total meltdown and removal of our family from the auditorium, or  b) a proud confident narrator in black tights (heh heh- sorry Freddy!)

Nesting

There are two kinds of nesting; There is the pregnancy kind, and the oh Jimminy Christmas people are coming to the house kind. I fall into the latter category. Christmas time also motivates me to take a look at what toys we have, and what can be given away.

I have been organizing like a mad woman this week and although I'm still in the phase of things looking messier than when I started, great progress has been made. I singled out all of the toys that Freddy actually plays with on a daily basis and narrowed it down to what you see below. Note that all small legos are in our main sala and are not pictured.

Whenever I re-organize their toys, there is always a renewed interest in everything and an every-waking-moment play-a-thon follows. Instead of buying new toys, sometimes all it takes is displaying current toys in a diffent way. This shelf unit is Freddy's old changing table (sniff sniff, sigh) and the bins for hand knit booties, bibs, and onsies have been replaced by dinos, cars, and blocks. Double sigh.

Of course when there is organization going on, there is going to be labeling. This helps to keep things where they belong. Freddy is very good about that and even chastised me for putting a car in the figurine bin.

This wasn't an easy road and I had to take a hard line on kids leaving toys out. One of two things will happen: it's given to the needy if it's a stuffed animal, a toy I dislike, something that makes annoying noises, or if it's a puzzle book (my hatred for puzzle books will have to be a post all its own). If it's a prized possession, or an expensive toy that they actually play with a lot, it's put in a Tupperware in the basement for months. I stick to this and it works.

Before anyone feels bad for my children, bear in mind that they can keep ONE thing out if it's a work in progress or they are still playing with it. Freddy currently has a large and intricate Play Mobil castle scene sprawled out on his floor, and Caroline almost always has something arts or crafts related on her floor. Hopefully I'll have so more "after" pictures to post, but right now I have a tree to get in the house.

Teacher Gift Idea- Input Needed!

I have been on the hunt for materials that Moojie needed for an art  project at school. That lead me to the Chinese Shop across from CascaisVila. On a side note, they have an amazing selection of gift bags, ribbon, and wrapping paper. Sure some of it was tacky, but I was very impressed with their wrapping section.  Back to my original point of this post- gift ideas for teachers. This can also be for those random tias, primas, or friends, but I know that getting a teacher the right gift can be particularly difficult.

I found this box in the sewing section, and it's actually meant to hold spools of thread. Our teachers happen not to be big into sewing so I'm contemplating a few options:

 a) putting a well decorated cupcakes, cookies, or fudge into each space.

pro: it will look so so cute and yummy, and it will surely be the only baked goods box given.
con: lots of work, risk that frosting will squish against glass

 b) using it as a tea box (the window is glass and the box is wood) and filling it with a tea assortment
pro: it's easy, no kitchen mess, low stress
con: I'm not seeing any con here

 c) Christmas scented  candles

 The wood is unfinished so I'll supervise painting the boxes and let the kids write their teacher's name on the top part. I bought two of these boxes and I'm already kicking myself for not having bought more.

I also bought these wooden treasure chest type boxes which willl be painted for my nieces by my children as part of a secret santa exchange (don't worry Tinna, they're small!) . For the more religiously inclined niece, it will be a box for her rosary.

For the school aides and the nuns we are fond of, I bought Christmas tins and will fill them with cookies.

So, what's the consensus for my glass topped boxes- baked goods, tea, or candles?

More Christmas Spirit - M&M cookies

These cookies are the easiest and least messy way to get children involved in baking. I make cookie dough* in big batches and always put some aside. When the kids got home from school today, we just got out the dough, rolled it in into very small balls, and put one M&M into each cookie. So yummy and so cute. Plus, someone has to eat the non red and green M&Ms.

*standard recipe of 2.25 cups flour, 2 sticks butter, 2 eggs, 1.5 cups sugar, and vanilla- during the holidays I usually double this amount.

Not Just for Wine Bottles

A lot of attention has been drawn to the versatility of cork, but no article that I have seen mentions the critical use of cork in one's nativity scene. We have quite a few nativity scenes in our house and the little kids play with them constantly throughout December. Two lines were spoken during the recent bustle of Chrsitmas prep that I hope to never forget:

I was getting all of the decoration out of the garage when Caroline came out and said

"there's just one big problem with the presépio (nativity scene)- baby Jesus is missing!"

Later while listening to a wind instrument rendition of Let It Snow, Freddy said  "Clarinet and flute are just the most beautiful combination."

I'm sure an older version of Freddy will be embarrassed by that comment, but for me it was golden.

Scenes From Last Weekend's Tournament

Moojie was given the option to play in the 14+ group in a recent tennis tournament. He went back and forth between wanting to do well in the under 14 group (he's 13) or challenge himself in the older group. After a lot of nerves and thought on the matter, he decided to play in the 14+ group.

He won his first match and lost in sudden death (ponto d'ouro) in the second match. It was frustrating for sure to lose by such a small margin, but we were so proud of him for giving it a shot.

Why I Need to Stop Going To IKEA

I'm trying to think of a single thing I have bought at IKEA that has left me thinking "gosh, this has really held up. What a great buy that was." Yes, these books are heavy, but other shelves from IKEA with nothing but a picture frame seem to sag after time as well.

I think the only thing left there for me is their dill sauce for smoked salmon, but that doesn't even count since it's in the grocery section. I'm offically done with IKEA.