Entries from December 23rd, 2006

Christmas Morning

December 28th, 2006 · 3 Comments

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Jessica, Rachelle, Stephanie :: Oak Creek, WI

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Jessica :: Oak Creek, WI

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Jessica Got Dora’s Magical Castle :: Oak Creek, WI

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Stephanie Got PSP :: Oak Creek, WI

On Christmas morning Jess crawled into bed with me and told me they had already opened gifts from Santa. I think. It’s hard talking to a chatty 3-year-old. It’s like talking to a drunk person. The twists and turns and fibs are nearly impossible to follow. And there’s no reasoning. I tried to ask her why she doesn’t like Dallas. If he scares her or if she thinks he’s mean or too silly or if his voice is too loud or if she thinks he looks strange or what, but I got no where. So I tried to tell her that it was pretty mean to say that she didn’t like someone, but she didn’t seem to care about that. I asked her how she would feel if Stephanie came in and said “Jessica, I don’t like you any more” and she basically told me that wasn’t going to happen because she is “Grandmas Little Girl.” Well, la dee dah! We even tried to guilt her. “Jessica, Dallas got you this new Curious George movie and you won’t even say ‘thanks’ to him?” No dice. I asked her if Dallas was invited to her next birthday party and she just kept saying “I like you better” and that Dallas could go to Stephanie’s birthday party. It’s kind of a frustrating situation, but one I think she will grow out of. She didn’t like to be held by any men except her dad when she was a baby. Maybe this is leftover from that. I think when she’s older we’ll say “Hey, did you know there was a 2-year period when you wouldn’t even talk to Dallas?” and she won’t even remember or know why.

Anyway, Jessica jabbered for about a half hour and my brother came in to say we needed to open presents from Santa. .. which Jess already told me they did, and then in the next sentence denied that there were any presents from Santa, then in the next sentence told me she was getting Dora’s Magic Castle from Santa. Which she did. She didn’t even seem that excited, but I think it’s because she’d been telling everyone for so long that she was getting it.. she didn’t even realize that it was a possibility that she wouldn’t get it. Dallas said she needed to learn a lesson in disappointment. Maybe that’s why she won’t talk to him!

Stephanie’s big gift was Play Station Portable. The night before she told Santa in a note that she wanted Nintendo DS and Nintendogs. My brother was so irritated.. I guess it was a last minute switch, but I think Steph was happy with her gift anyway. She did get a stomach ache after writing the letter and getting my brother annoyed, though. She’s always had a nervous stomach. Christmas is so stressful for kids! Steph is still an inbetween age where she likes toys but is starting to like clothes and scented bath/shampoo products and lip gloss and things like that. I think it’s a hard age because you’re stuck where you’re not really a little kid, but not a teenager yet.

We all had fun anyway. It goes by so fast.

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Christmas Eve

December 27th, 2006 · 2 Comments

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Jessica & Stephanie :: Oak Creek, WI

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Stephanie Made Dolls for Jessica :: Oak Creek, WI

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Matching Pajamas :: Oak Creek, WI

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Jessica :: Oak Creek, WI

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Stephanie :: Oak Creek, WI

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Jessica Still Loves Dress Up :: Oak Creek, WI

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Mom & Stephanie :: Oak Creek, WI

On Christmas Eve we went to my brother’s house. We had a big lunch because Amanda had to work at 3pm. No holidays for nurses! Jessica and Stephanie opened gifts from Dallas and me and from my parents. Later on they got cookies and milk ready for Santa and wrote him a note. I can’t tell if Stephanie still believes in Santa. Sometimes I think yes, sometimes no. I hope she’s not reading this. If so… you know that thing about the big rabbit jumping around the world with baskets of candy? I don’t think Steph is allowed to read my site without supervision anyway.

When the kids were off to bed and Amanda got home from work, the adults exchanged gifts. It was a fun and laid back day. Jessica still won’t talk to Dallas, though. She’ll talk when he’s in the room, which is a big step, but she won’t talk to him.

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Christmas Eve Eve @ Aunt Laura’s

December 26th, 2006 · 4 Comments

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Zoe :: Bartlett, IL

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Laura, Danny, Dallas, Maggie & Zoe :: Bartlett, IL

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Wontons :: Bartlett, IL

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Flank Steak :: Bartlett, IL

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Cory Trimming the Tree :: Bartlett, IL**

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Dallas with Danny & his new Dyson vacuum :: Bartlett, IL

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Maggie & her New Bed :: Bartlett, IL

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Zoe & her New Jacket :: Bartlett, IL

On the eve of Christmas Eve we went to dinner at Dallas’ Aunt Laura’s house. Danny and Cory were there, too, as well as their doggies, Maggie and Zoe. Laura’s actual grandson, Hideto, hadn’t arrived yet from California, so the pooches got a lot of spoiling. Including new doggie beds by the fireplace at grandma’s house, a new dog bed for Maggie to bring home and a new shearling jacket for Zoe.

For dinner we had Aunt Laura’s special flank steak and some pork wontons. Dallas’ family’s dinners are always a mix of Asian and American cultures, so we also had edamame, kimchi, tofu, rice and deviled eggs.

After dinner we trimmed the tree, which was in such dire shape that I later learned that Danny and Laura went out the next day and bought a new one and started over. Still fun. We opened a few gifts also and then had coffee and tea and dessert.

A nice way to kick off the holiday weekend.

** Does anyone know what would be causing my camera to sometimes take photos like the one of Corie trimming the tree? I’ve also been having memory card errors where it will just show up as “corrupted data” instead of the photos.

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Yearly Santa Hat Photo

December 24th, 2006 · 2 Comments

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I almost didn’t take this photo this year. Tired. I feel like I haven’t had the time or energy for the holiday spirit. Resolutions for next year: Make more time for rest, don’t over-extend myself so much, try to get rid of the bags under my eyes. As my dad pointed out two weeks ago when I had a twitch in my eye that wouldn’t go away, I’m “not getting any younger.”

Other years are not online.

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Poke

December 23rd, 2006 · 5 Comments

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Dallas and I went to Whole Foods to get dried currants and he, as always, was lured over to the meat and seafood department to drool over the choice cuts. We ended up getting a little over 3/4 pound of ahi and making poke that night.

For those who don’t know, poke is a raw tuna salad served in Hawaii. It’s made with tuna (ahi), shoyu (soy sauce), green onions, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper. And then there are some variations off of that too. When we were in Hawaii, there were many different kinds of poke with different fish and stuff, but that’s the basic recipe.

Also note the new Shun knife. It was one of Dallas’ Christmas gifts from his parents. Now we each have a nice chef’s knife. I have my Mac, he has his Shun.

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