Today's Mail

Look what came in the mail today... A beautiful Nutcracker wreath that my sister Audrey made!

 

Our mom loved The Nutcracker and we grew up going to see it every year. It is one of my favorite things about Christmas! It brings back so many wonderful memories from my childhood. The Nutcracker was, is, and always will be, magical to me.

Thanks Aud, I love my wreath! And I love you.

Peas and Carrots Anyone?

It is no secret that my sweet Logan is not a big fan of vegetables. Bergen, on the other hand, will eat them every chance she gets. So I was pretty excited when I found a little something to use to trick the boy.

Candy peas and carrots!

I've had then in the pantry for a few weeks and Bergen has been really good at keeping them a secret. I've just had a hard time trying to come up with the right meal to serve them with. Well tonight's Parmesan Chicken was it.

I poured them in a bowl and Bergen put them on the table right after the prayer. As soon as Logan saw them he was suspicious. Darn smarty pants. But he tried them anyway. And would you believe, he liked them. Kind-of.

After dinner he grabbed a handful of carrots, but no peas. He said the carrots tasted better. (And no, they didn't taste like the real thing.)

I had to laugh in the end. Logan was a trooper and did eat a couple of bites of mashed potatoes with gravy and a few real peas and carrots. It was the two pieces of chicken that got me!

Christmas Card Picture Preview

I think I got the picture for our Christmas card today. If only Santa had been looking at the camera... Oh well, nobody's going to be looking at him anyway.

Merry Christmas!

Sinterklaas

I introduced Sinterklaas to the kids as part of our 25 Days of Christmas tonight.

I love that I am part Dutch and have always been interested in the traditions that surround Christmas. When we were kids our grandparents would give us a *Dutch chocolate letter on Christmas Eve, and it's something I still try to do for my kids today.

Although we didn't celebrate Sinterklaas growing up, he still has meaning to me. I hope that through this fun new tradition Logan and Bergen will come to have fond memories of him too.

Here's the story I told them. It was one of several I found on Google, and I went with it because I didn't have time to consult my dad.

At the start, Sinterklaas was a real person. He was born in the 4th century in Myra, Asia Minor, where he became a bishop as a grown man. Little else is known about him—except that he loved children.

A story is told about Sinterklaas to illustrate this point. It is said that three little boys dined at a restaurant and, after eating their fill, informed the innkeeper that they could not pay their bill. To exact payment, the innkeeper chopped them up into little bits and cooked them in a stew.

Nicholas heard about the awful deed and came to the inn to find the boys boiling away in the pot. He told the innkeeper that if he, Nicholas, could find one little piece of each boy that was good, he would perform a miracle and bring them him back to life. Now, what child does not have at least one little piece of good in him? And, so Sinterklaas returned the boys to life and took them into his care.

Nice story! Not. But I told it anyway.

And there's more...

There is not a single family in Holland that does not in some way or another honor the old "Bishop" and his servant the Grumpus (or Black Pete as I was told growing up) with a party, a small get-together or by going to somebody's else's house to celebrate. There may be many presents, or just a few, tables laden with traditional candles and cookies, or just a pot of hot chocolate. The house may be teeming with children, or with perhaps just a few grown-ups around the dining room table—but the Sinterklaas spirit is everywhere—one simply can't miss it. It is far and away the nicest, most wonderful and exciting festivity in the land!

When the early Dutch settlers came to America, they naturally brought with them their venerated old bishop. St. Nicholas and their favorite holiday, Sinterklaas.

And so that I don't have to keep this all in my head to remember it, I have even more information:

Did you know that “cookie” is a Dutch word? And that the first chocolate in America came from Holland? Not only did children in New Amsterdam (NYC) love the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas, they also quickly came to love another tradition the Dutch brought to the New World: cookies!! The Dutch word was "koekje," and meant "little cake." The Dutch brought the "koekjes" to America in the 17th century and the word became "cookie." Much like Sinterklaas became Santa Claus. The first cookies were created by accident. Cooks used a small amount of cake batter to test their oven temperature before baking a large cake. Almost immediately the Dutch knew they had discovered something very, very good. With a little bit of sugar added, crackers became cookies! Before long, special cookies were being made for the Dutch’s favorite holiday­ -- Sinterklaas. These cookies are called Speculaas.

The kids and I finished things up with hot chocolate and speculaas before putting a pair of wooden shoes under the tree. They really seemed to like tonight's activity and I think they're excited about their Dutch heritage. I hope they like what they find in the morning...

 

*At many Dutch Sinterklaas Eve parties, the very last surprise in Sinterklaas’ special burlap sack, are chocolate initials, the first letter of each person’s name.

There will be one for each person—the first given to the youngest child, then on up to the oldest person present. These letters are popular throughout the Sinterklaas season. The tasty treats may be found in shoes, left by Sinterklaas as he makes his rounds checking on children. These letters make special little Sinterklaas remembrances to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea. The letters, in brightly colored boxes, are sold from around October 15th through December 5 only. Unsold letters aren’t marked down, rather, they are returned to the manufacturers to be melted down for other chocolate treats.

The custom of edible letters goes back to Germanic times when, at birth, children were given a runic letter, made of bread—as a symbol of good fortune. Schools in the Middle Ages used bread and chocolate letters to teach the alphabet. When the letter was learned and could be written well, a pupil could eat it up! Letters became associated with Sinterklaas in the 19th century, when a sheet was used to cover St. Nicholas presents. A bread dough letter, placed on top of the sheet, identified where a child’s gifts were located.

During the 1800s, advances in cocoa bean processing led to the production of chocolate letters. The Netherlands is the only place with a St. Nicholas chocolate initial letter tradition.


(This is a happy post for me. I am proud of my part Dutch-girl status! Thanks Dad!)

Lunch with Logan

I hit the McDonald's drive thru and then headed to school to have lunch with Logan today. He's been asking me to have lunch with him for weeks. (That, and he noticed that Bergen had been to McDonald's on Tuesday...) He asked me for a double cheese burger meal and that's exactly what he got!

I arrived right at lunchtime and after signing in, waited by the lunchroom door. Logan ran over when he saw me; excited about his Happy Meal.

We sat at a table full of girls from his class, and let me tell you that was fun. I think I talked - or rather listened - to them more than I did to Logan. He was a sport about it though, and I think he was glad I was there. I know he was happy his food was there!

So after our quick encounter, my boy was off to recess and I was off to the grocery store. What a nice little break in my day. I love that kid.

*Oh, and I don't want to forget this: While I was waiting in the hall before eating, a class walked by me to the lunch room and a little girl I didn't know said, "Hi Logan's mom!" I asked he how she knew I was his mom and she said, "Because you look like him!" Saweet!

Family Home Evening Props

I've mentioned before that I love having Family Home Evening. It's not something I grew up with; maybe that's why I love it so much!

Tonight Bergen wanted to present the lesson. She's wanted to do it before, but I think each time she's asked I've already have it planned. And then there was the night Logan decided to be in charge without really asking, so I'm sure she's been waiting for quite a while...

Well, tonight was her night. We talked about it before hand and she wanted the lesson to be about Jesus. "What about Jesus?," I asked? And she told me "His life." Then she told me who she wanted to talk about which parts. So I told about when Jesus was born, and Craig talked about the teaching he dud during his life, when he was crucified, and when he was resurrected.

Of course Logan couldn't stand to be left out, so he asked Bergen if he could make some props. He held these up at the appropriate times: Jesus swaddled as a baby, Jesus as he taught, and Jesus when he was crucified. He would have done more, but didn't have time because we wanted to get started.

 

I love the testimonies of my children. They are simple, but growing. They know Jesus and want to learn about Him all the time. I hope they always will.

Oh Happy Day

I haven't had good luck with hand mixers. I think I've gone through three in the last few years.

I've been looking around for one for a while and making due with my KitchenAid stand mixer, but it isn't my favorite for mashing potatoes. Transferring them from the pan to the bowl cools them down and I don't like reheating them in the microwave. Call me picky, but they're just not the same.

So with Thanksgiving coming, Craig agreed that it was time to get a new mixer. (Yay from the crowd.) I purchased this beauty at Meijer today, and couldn't be more excited about it.

 

Bring on the mashed potatoes!

Family Home Evening

We have Family Home Evening on Sunday nights because that's when Craig is home. Tonight we talked about doing chores and how each of us needs to do our part as a member of our family.

Logan and Bergen already do some things around the house, but we've decided to set aside a certain time for chores each week in order to be more consistent. We'll be adding regular dusting, and vacuuming to their chores as well as taking out the garbage and loading/unloading the dishwasher. And they are excited!

After that we talked about how nice it is to live in a clean house and to be able to have friends over on the spur of the moment without having to run and pick up toys! They had that experience last week and l-o-v-e-d it. Craig and I also explained that we appreciate it when they clean up after themselves.

And then... we talked about doing secret service.

Secret Service is doing something for someone without being asked, just because you want to be nice. It was funny because while we were talking about it, Craig got up and took Logan's church shoes into his room without saying anything. When he returned Logan wasn't sure what he'd done, but Bergen had seen it, so she did something for someone else. Then it became a game.

After some oven s'mores for our treat and a little more discussion we read the scriptures, had family prayer and the kids went to bed.

I love nights when we have Family Home Evening!