Christmas with the Udalls by numbers

34
people sleeping, eating, and living in one big rented house

0
dollars our beautiful Christmas tree cost during a blizzard on Christmas Eve

4
types of soup we ate on Christmas Eve (tortilla, broccoli cheese, lentil, corn chowder)

2
presents I forgot at home

72
eggs served Christmas morning (along with bacon, coffee cake, hot cocoa, juice, and fruit)

3
movies I watched (The Nativity Story, Hairspray, Juno)

1
times we heard Boomer peform Whitney's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" (thankfully, only 1)

2
cute baby boys getting millions of kisses daily

3
caffeine-free Diet Cokes I drank (which is very good for me, especially the caffeine free part…I'm taking baby steps here)

17
missed calls on Keegan's phone he deliberately didn't pick up

5
trips to the airport (including one flight that resulted in a smoke-filled plane, so was rescheduled for the following night)

8
kids "Uncle Brady" had in the hot tub in their undies in below-freezing temps

5
dollars he offered to each of them if they'd jump out and roll in the snow before getting back in (most of them did, and he made good on his promise)

5
bags of microwave popcorn we ruined before realizing the microwave was wacked

12
kids we took to the "Bouncing Off the Walls" fun center (which was exactly how we felt!)

23
degrees Fahrenheit the day we left the house to go sledding

1
times Ame went down the sledding hill before declaring "no more" with all the grump she could muster

2
grandparents wondering to themselves what they ever did to deserve such a posterity

2.5
days the Udall tribe can hang out with each other before killing one another off

Hope your Christmas was as merry—and hairy—as ours!

Kilisimasi Fiefia

One last post before Christmas. We had my sister Camie stay with us for a few days, which was fun. Since then I've been working like a crazy woman to get everything ready for Christmas (the fact that I actually got all my Christmas cards sent out still amazes me). We had a very nice Sunday today…lessons and programs at Church were wonderful.

Tomorrow we head out to spend 2-1/2 days with the Udall clan, which the kids are very much looking forward to, as am I. It's Aki I'm not so sure about…I think he gets very homesick this time of year, and I don't blame him. Maybe a present or two will cheer him. :)

I hope all of you have a lovely Christmas holiday, and try to think about the first Christmas when that little baby boy was born in Bethlehem. I'm so grateful he was. Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, and Kilisimasi Fiefia to all!

some of the snowflakes we made

letting the Christmas cards dry (stamped with red paint) at 1:00 am

the gingerbread house that is now mostly frosting and walls

"…in the sun he melted, he melted, he melted…"

Are we really surprised?

some food for thought:
Salt Lake City named vainest city by Forbes
[different links: SL Trib article and the Forbes slideshow]

Just remember this when you start comparing yourself to other people…you can never tell what's real or "enhanced."

Menu Plan Monday - 12/17

Our menu for this week:

SUN: baked potato bar (chili, cheese, broccoli, etc.)
MON: steak fajitas
TUE: zuppa toscana, salad, rolls
WED: homemade pizza, green salad
THU: chicken soft tacos, rice and beans
FRI: hamburgers, steak fries
SAT: breakfast burritos, fruit

Talking gift tags

I love, love, love these printable gift tags from Angry Chicken (you've got to click on it and make it larger so you can read them. I would so get a kick out of receiving one of these.) As she says, "Now you don't have to yell embarrassing comments across the room like I do—the tag will say it for you." I think I might have a gift fitting for each of these tags right now!

Click here for the post that will take you to a PDF of the tags so you can print some yourself.

Dreaming of a green Christmas?

Consider this cool alternative to wrapping paper (saving trees!), especially all of you who have stacks of beautiful fabrics. It's a Japanese cloth-wrapping called furoshiki. The Japanese government actually issued the below image to help keep the practice "alive." I think it would be a fun thing to know. The best part is that the gift recipient then has a pretty piece of fabric to either make into something or pass onto someone else as furoshiki. Click on below image to enlarge for the how to.

You'd better watch out!

Last night while I was away at the YW activity, the kids watched Prancer with Dad. I caught the tail end of it when I got home. We put them to bed amidst questions of "Why did the hunter shoot the reindeer?" "Why didn't the girl's dad like the reindeer?" They were obviously concerned. We assured them that it was just a movie, so no need to worry. Santa's reindeer were perfectly fine.

And THEN, this morning, I heard screaming. Lots of it. I came running to see which child was most likely seriously injured, then I heard the words they were saying: "Mom, it's Prancer! But without the horns!"

I looked where they were pointing, and there in our backyard were two Prancers, just as they'd said.

These pictures don't show how big they were. When you figure that they are standing in a foot-and-a-half of snow, and how far away I was standing, they were actually pretty big. It was quite impressive. They stayed there for several hours, eating the weeds that we like to call our backyard. [that mess of chain link used to be the previous owner's dog kennel; we've just never done anything with it]

My kids kept giggling, saying, "He's looking at me!" "Can we go feed him? Please, mom!" "Mom, will they tell Santa where we live?" Ah, the magic of Christmas.

I got some good leverage out of it: "That's right, they are looking at you. Santa sent them to check up on you and make sure you're being good. You'd better watch out!" Christmas does work magic!

Some of my favorite decorations…

this little nativity set I picked up in Mexico (they're only about 1 to 2 inches tall)

the birds and berries I have scattered throughout the room

this stocking ornament that came from one of my sister Camie's around-the-world trips…can't remember if this is from Kosovo or from Bolivia

this stocking ornament from Tonga, made from tapa cloth and shells

this angel, another Tongan tapa cloth and shell ornament

wood advent calendar (I think I got this at Roberts a couple years ago)—the kids love to open a door each day to find two of a small treat (sticker, quarter, candy, gum) and a strip of paper listing an activity…see sidebar for what we're doing today

this felt wall hanging takes over a frame and space of another print I have up year round…I made these little snowmen when I was still single

and my kids' favorite is the Little People nativity scene. My sister Symonie gave it to them last year, complete with shepherds, and they LOOOOOVE it. [Bonus: both the nativity and the shepherd sets are on sale.]

P.S. Sorry for the horrible photos. I wish I knew how to take better photos. Add that to my wish list, huh?

I've always said I loooooove fat babies…

…but I don't know if I'd want to be mother one this big.

Once there was a snowman…

…whose gender, according to Ame, was determined by which hat was put upon him/her.

Menu Plan Monday - 12/10

Our menu for this week:

SUN: chicken lasagna, spinach salad, crusty bread
MON: taco salad on tortilla chips w/ Martha's salsa
TUE: Thai coconut chicken curry, steamed rice, green salad
WED: boneless pork BBQ ribs, scalloped potatoes, steamed green beans
THU: chicken pot pie, spinach salad
FRI: black bean & rice skillet, quesadilla triangles
SAT: date night

Please note that the recipes I link to are more-or-less the recipe I use. I modify based on my family's likes/dislikes and on what I actually have on hand at the moment. You can get a lot of good ideas for tweaking each recipe in the comments below it.

And there was light

I'm feeling rather triumphant today, having put up the outside lights all by my lonesome yesterday while Aki was at work. (Okay, so that's a little white lie…I paid a kid down the street a few bucks to climb up on my roof to do the highest part of the roof…I usually try to avoid lawsuits, so I'm extremely glad he didn't fall.) Above, you can see the unprofessional-looking results of my efforts (with or without snow, for your viewing pleasure).

The inside of our house, however, is a different story altogether. In fact, during dinner tonight, I was looking at the shelf and thinking to myself, "You know, I should probably put the Indian corn and squash away, but the Give Thanks sign would still work for Christmas."

This has been one foggy day in Tooele, folks…couldn't even see two lightposts ahead while driving. But the line at Apollo Burger was extremely long I noticed (it is Tooele's latest addition to their growing list of fine eating establishments). I mean, what else are you going to do when it's foggy?

Have you tried?

I have, and I love them all. Some yummy tasting and yummy smelling products for the holidays:

• Pomegranate 7-Up (naturally flavored and a beautiful color, found at grocery stores everywhere)
• Method brand dish soap, scent peppermint-vanilla (their hand soap, scent diffusers, and all-purpose cleaners come in other holiday scents as well; found at Target)
• Bath & Body Works wallflower, scent cinnamon & clove bud (the spiced cider is also good for the holidays; i want to try the cinnamon-vanilla and the twisted peppermint)
• Andes mint/peppermint baking chips (and let's not forget the beloved mint m&ms)

Any other holiday-only products you enjoy and want to recommend?

The "Hawaiian boyfriend" picture

If you're confused, see the comments of the "Quotes" post below. Now who wouldn't want to have him as a boyfriend? :) Click photo to enlarge…you're supposed to check out the hottie on the left.

I do wish I could have seen Aki perform at the Polynesian Culture Center back in the day…he was not only a drummer and dancer, but was a Spanish tour guide in the Tongan village.

Anything else y'all would like to know about the Mr.?

Quotes of the season

December's quotes have been posted on the sidebar…who knows, maybe you'll find inspiration for your holiday greetings.

Apparently my kids think Santa is Jesus…

…and that Santa gives out presents on his birthday. (And Ame doesn't even know which holiday Santa belongs to.) "Write a letter to Santa" is what we did for our December 1 advent activity…see sidebar for running list. The resulting letters as dictated to me, with gentle prompts here and there:

Dear Santa Claus,

How do you live at the North Pole? How are you doing? Thank you for bringing presents. I would like you to bring me WebWorld (it's a Spiderman toy), a WebBlaster, Diego rescue center, Nerf long shot (that's like my gray gun), a dinosaur toy from Wal-Mart, and a Hot Wheels monster truck.

Happy Birthday! I'm helping my sister and being good. How do you make presents? How do you make the boxes and put ribbons on them? Please bring my presents to my Grandma Risa's house, 'cause I'm gonna have a big party and sleepover there with all my cousins. I don't know if that house has a fireplace. My house in Tooele doesn't, but my mom said she'll leave the door unlocked for you if you need to leave something. I'm 5 now. Love you. Oh, can I have the Jetix channel (number 174)?

Love,
Makai Funaki

* * * * * * * *

Dear Santa Claus,

Happy Birthday! Thank you for bringing presents. Please bring me blue princess shoes, and a blue princess dress and wand. Not a yellow one. That's it. Oh, I want some books too. And a movie.

I'm being a good girl. See? I'm happy [pointing to her cheesy smile]! I won't get food on my new red church dress. Happy Halloween!

Love you,

Amelia Nau Funaki…Ame

I turned 3. I live in Tooele.

Menu Plan Monday - 12/3

Our menu for this week:

SUN: sweet-n-sour pork, stir-fried veggies, steamed rice
MON: chicken enchiladas, Mexican rice, black beans, green salad
TUE: spaghetti, green salad, garlic bread
WED: turkey roast, scalloped potatoes, green beans
THU: salmon, herbed rice, green salad, corn
FRI: date night
SAT: red pepper chicken, steamed rice, green salad (bumped from last week)

Birthday fun

Makai didn't have a birthday party, so to speak, but he did have his neighbor friend over for a sleepover. We went and saw The Bee Movie, had a pizza dinner, cupcakes & ice cream for dessert, and put the kids in the bath. Makai loved his presents and had a fun day, except for one part: we got him a small sewing machine so he can stop bugging me to sew on the big one. He tried to do it by himself when I wasn't around, and he sewed his finger…needle straight through!

Isn't it beautiful?

We can see that Ame is learning quickly, following in her brother's footsteps as The Destroyer. Yes, it's permanent. Yes, it's the main bathroom that guests use.