Beastie the Homemaker

Here is Lennon modeling her brand new, hand made apron from G-ma Lawrence that she got for Christmas. G-ma Lawrence (Grandma Sweet/Barb's mom) loves to sew and make gifts for the grandchildren for Christmas. She has made the grandchildren all sorts of gifts, from quillows to hats to purses. I love the idea of homemade gifts (if only I could sew!), there are the ones that come from the heart and these are things we will keep for generations (or as long as they stand the test and wear of a toddler).

Lennon loves to cook in her kitchen and thank goodness she has an apron her size because she is a messy cook (just like her Daddy).

Thank you G-ma Lawrence for the perfect gift!

COOKIES!!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! You can smell it a mile away. Grandma Sweet's Annual Sugar Cookie Baking/Decorating Day. WOO HOO! I think this day is the most looked forward to during the whole Christmas season, and more so by the adults than the children. : )
When I first joined the Sweet family I heard many great things about this day. Barb makes tubs and tubs of sugar cookie dough and invites everyone over to cookie cut, decorate, bake and get into the holiday spirit. An essential family tradition. I have to say out of all the family traditions, this one is becoming one of my favorites and is something I hope that Lennon begins to look forward to every year.
This was Lennon's first year of participating in this family get together and boy did she ever enjoy it! It took a lot of effort to try and explain to a 22 month old why she can't eat cookie dough (but her Mommy can) and that she should be extra careful when decorating. As you can see she is a true artiste. It was so cute to watch her concentrate on each detail of cookie making. The painting and the sprinkles were her favorite part of the event, of course. And she didn't once pick her nose while handling the food. SUCCESS!!! It is true that some cookies get some extra tidbits of love put into them (thankfully they are usually eaten by their own makers). But that's part of the fun. Think of it as an added surprise.
I only had the energy and patience to let Lennon decorate about 4 cookies (two of which I was able to get pictures of), but I figure by next Christmas we may be able to double that number.
Hopefully by then I can get a copy of Barb's recipes and try it out myself at home. I hope to be the envy of the neighborhood with all of my perfect Christmas treats.
Thanks to Michelle I am well on my way. We spent a few long nights trying out new cookie recipes, so that we could make treats for family and friends. Next year I am sure we will get the hang of the whole "timing" thing (Who knew how long it took for dough to get firm in the fridge? Lesson learned.), but all in all it was a success. We were able to gift: Chocolate Crinkles (the favorite of all the cookies), Cheesecake Bars, Gingerbread Pinwheels, Candy Cane cookies and even a few professionally decorated sugar cookies---When I say professional, I mean the adults got a chance to decorate. : ) Thanks to Julia for showing us how the "Queen of Sugar Cookies" creates the perfectly decorated angel and gingerbread man.
On top of all that I actually spent a day at home experimenting with my own creations. Thanks to my Mom for cluing me in on how to make her pretzel treats (they were a huge hit) and to John for giving me instructions on how to make his delicious white chocolate covered pretzels. I wasn't brave enough to try that one on my own, so I
had Josh lend a hand on that one. I should have had him shop for the chocolate for that recipe too, since I am hopeless at reading directions. We now have enough Almond Bark white chocolate to last us till next Christmas! Any ideas on what to do with the extra, please send them my way. : )
In case you want to make your own special treats here is the fave recipe of this year:
Chocolate Crinkles
4 tbsp unsalted butter
8 ounces of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of baking powder
Topping: 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Directions:
1. In the microwave or double boiler slowly melt your chocolate and butter together. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale and fluffy. You want to see slow ribbons falling back into the bowl when you lift your beaters. Then beat in vanilla and stir in your chocolate mixture.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients into the
chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate
until firm enough to shape into balls (3-4 hours or overnight).
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and place your rack in the center of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set those aside.
5. Place the powder sugar into a shallow bowl. With lightly greased hands roll the chilled dough to form a 1 inch diameter ball. Place the ball into the powder sugar and roll until covered completely. Tap off excess sugar if needed.
6. Space cookies about 2 inches apart on your baking sheets and bake the cookies 8 to 10 minutes. I like to bake them for 8 minutes so that they come out a little more soft, kind of like a brownie bite. Do not over bake, this will cause the cookies to become very dry.
7. Remove them from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

These cookies are best when eaten the day they are made.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Christmas Light Tour

This year we thought it would be fun to start (and in some of the other family member's cases, renew) the Christmas tradition of touring the Keizer Christmas lights. There is a particular neighborhood in Keizer, Oregon that likes to fanatically decorate their homes with Christmas lights, decorations and all sorts of holiday paraphernalia. They have been holding this neighborhood tradition for many years, even when Josh, Angela and Michelle were young. You are encouraged to bring a donation for the Marion/Polk County Food Share if you participate and you may drive through the displays or walk.
Well the entire Sweet-Volkert clan could hardly wait to experience the fun and adventure of watching the Christmas light displays and picking out our favorites among the houses. For the first time ever the entire Sweet clan came over to our house for dinner, along with the Volkerts and some visiting Sweet cousins of Grandpa's from Idaho, before heading out to the light show. Thank goodness we love family chaos since our house was buzzing with kids and lacking a fair amount of seats. Next year I hope to be better prepared. But all was well as we ate Josh's homemade French Dip sandwiches. Lennon was ever the gracious hostess and barely threw a fuss having to share her toys and her Grandma with all the other children.
After dinner we corralled all the kids and packed into 3 different vehicles to make our way to Keizer. It is no small feat getting our entire family packed, prepared and out of a house on time. As we neared Keizer the traffic was bumper to bumper, everyone inching to get to the lighted neighborhood. It seems that most people enjoy driving through the display, rather than walk.
The Sweet-Volkert clans are always up for an adventure, so walking was for us! We parked the cars, squeezed the little gals into their snowsuits, jackets and strollers. Clutching our cameras we braved the chill and walked on to the neighborhood. What did we find when we got there???? NADA!
Maybe it was the long line of cars headed in, the local hype or the childhood memories that buffeted our excitement of something stupendous, but when we got to this "neighborhood of lights" there wasn't much. A few houses here and there were smattered with lights and decorations, nothing out of the norm that you would see across your own front lawn. I will give credit to the handful of houses that did go all out and decorate. But a handful of houses in an entire neighborhood known for it's fantastic light displays? Come on! What a let down.

Luckily the girls and most of the other kids hardly noticed. They were having more fun chasing each other around the neighborhood and talking to one another while riding side by side in their strollers. I will say it was nice to be able to donate something to the
Food Share for Christmas and having Lennon meet Santa in a non-threatening way. Santa was standing at the end of the neighborhood collecting the donations and greeting all the children. Lennon seemed much more at ease visiting him with Daddy and in the safety of her stroller.
All in all the lights were a bust, but the night was not. The night was not too cold, unlike last year when we braved the freezing temperatures to see ZOOLights, which was a blessing. We got to spend time with family, which is always fun, make memories and get some good exercise---which was also very much needed due to the over abundance of sugary treats! Lennon and Addison were too cute riding along in their strollers and interacting with each other (also in the safety of their strollers). Seeing them together is always worth a trip or get together.
Next year I think this tradition will continue regardless of the lack of lights. But we will be better prepared at the house with more food and seating, we will remember to bring the hot chocolate along with us and we will convince the Campbells to brave the show with us. For they were missed!

Trimming the Tree

Our first Christmas in the new house! Wow, it's hard to believe. We weren't quite prepared to decorate a whole house this year, so our Christmas trimmings were a bit on the light side. (Thanks to the Volkerts for loaning us their regal Nativity set!) Hopefully our Christmas spirit made up for our lack of Christmas decorations.

We used our small artificial tree this year. Neither Josh nor I was willing to brave the Christmas tree hunt out in the wild this December. Hopefully by next December that will change, because I sure did miss the smell of a real tree in the house. Although I think our artificial one was much sturdier than we thought, considering Lennon was all a flutter when she saw it and couldn't keep her hands off of it. Thankfully there were no Christmas tree casualties.

This was Lennon's first year participating in decorating the Christmas tree. As you can see she was very meticulous in where she chose to hang her ornaments. Thank goodness I am no Martha Stewart, expecting absolute perfection and symmetry. Lennon took a quick liking to the

Christmas balls that we had bought at Target. I suppose they were the exact size for her petite hands, which couldn't resist them. Lennon's clustering technique was a bit unconventional, but I think it could catch on. Her Christmas Cluster is rather cute.

With Lennon growing like a weed no ornament within her reach was safe. Thank goodness I learned right away Mommy Christmas Tip #1: All cherished ornaments need to be exempt from the tree or else placed high, towards the top. Her little mittens loved touching and exploring each ornament. Many of them were shuffled and found in new places. A little surprise for Mommy every day.

Lennon is much like a squirrel, she loves to hoard, pile and hide objects. Many a hook, ribbon and string were lost this year, making many of the ornaments unusable. Towards the end of the month the tree became very top heavy and bare bottomed.

Kudos to Josh for using three strands of lights on our tree. Don't worry Mom--he strings the lights just like you do! We are carrying on that Christmas tradition. We also used Grandma Sweet's (Barb) homemade tree skirt, which is beautiful and fit perfectly, aside from Lennon slipping and sliding on it as she tried to fit herself under the tree. Next year we may have to put some sort of gripping underneath the skirt so our little miss doesn't "schwip fawl".

Josh and I can hardly wait until next Christmas! We hope to rival the Griswold's in spectacular light displays and I will attempt some Martha Stewart like touches inside the house. Most of all, we can't wait to see how Lennon's face lights up with excitement as the decorations come out and how she beams with pride as she helps carry-out new family traditions.

Merry Tismas!

As Lennon would say: "Merry Tismas!" So these next few posts are from the whole of December and Christmas...so far. Better late than never, eh? Hopefully after our 2nd Christmas in Bend I will be able to post more frequently and on time! My sincere apologies for those of you who have had to wait for your current Lennon fix.

If you are looking for pictures of Lennon's first visit to see Santa, you'll be waiting a very long time. I didn't listen to Josh's warnings and I took Lennon to see Santa at the Salem Center. There is evidence of her having met him, however she was using her Vulcan-like death grip around my neck so I was unable to take any photos, but I believe Auntie Michelle or Grandma Sweet may have one. You'd think a gal of her bravado would not object to meeting the big man in red. Oh how wrong to assume...

All day leading up to the big meeting she was very excited, shrieking "Ho, Ho" and "Happy Nu-Nu!" When we met up with Grandma Sweet, Auntie Renee, Uncle Cody, Auntie Michelle and Addy she was still all excitement and energy. As we neared "Santa's Village" still wiggles and giggles. Finally, it was our turn to greet the magic man. What does Lennon do? Climb my body like a spider monkey and Kung-fu grip my neck, refusing to let go or go near him.

I tried not to let my impulse to make a memory and take a properly posed Santa picture cloud my motherly judgement, where I force my child to sit on a strange man's lap while she screams bloody murder. My better instincts prevailed and I followed Lennon's lead. While she clung to my body we approached Santa, waved hello, gave him a suspicious once over and left. Better luck next year.

Kickin' It Old School

Well I was finally able to do it. I wrangled Lennon into one of my old outfits that my mom thought I looked oh-so-cute in, in the '80's. Since the '80's garb is coming back in style here is Lennon kickin' it old school. Now I tried to make a side pony, but it was hard enough to get a hair tie in her hair. So you'll have to settle for a pseudo-top knot/Cindy-Lou 'do.

Here is Lennon's Wish List for Christmas.

View my wish list on Wishpot »

View all the Sweet-Wong family's Wish Lists at Wishpot. : )

What a week...

Well it's official: Lennon has her very first ear infection. Apparently it's a pretty bad one too and we caught it in just the nick of time (I guess my weekly phone calls to the Dr.'s office for 4 weeks straight didn't warrant a visit...until now).

All things considering she's doing really well. Aside from the occasional whine here and there, not eating great and wanting to be attached to Mommy for most of the day this cold doesn't seem so bad. If you ask Josh it's the worst. The poor guy has been having to get up with her during the night. Boy am I lucky I am a hard sleeper. : ) I am sure the antibiotics will kick in just in time for Barb's Birthday All Gals Portland Trip. Woo hoo!

Another special little treat from this week (in case some of you haven't seen my Facebook posts) Lennon took her first number two----on our living room floor!! Here I was all proud that she wanted to use the potty, took off her pants and diaper herself and ran to the bathroom. I turn my back on her for two seconds to grab some toilet paper and she's disappeared. Where did she go? To her ball pit, where she proceeded to squat and take a poo. YUUUUUUUUUUCK! Of course this all happens just 10 minutes before Josh returns home from work. I guess this makes up for the fact that I am a hard sleeper.

Aren't you glad I didn't post a picture to go along with this little anecdote? : )

Happy New Year!

I mean Happy Halloween! Lennon has adopted "Happy New Year" for any greeting that involves the word happy. This includes but is not limited to birthdays, Halloween and really any old regular day. I think this is due to her obsession over one of the books her Mimi gifted her: "My First Chinese New Year". The hope is that by the actual New Year she will have moved on to more appropriate salutations.

But back to Halloween...Lennon had a fabulous Halloween. She spent the day at the Setnicker Farm with her cousin Addy, Uncle Nick and Auntie Michelle. There she discovered a new found respect and love for corn and hay bale slides. We spent the rest of the evening battling ants, cooking, corralling the girls into costumes, passing out candy and avoiding having to give out too much.

Lennon dressed as a ladybug this year (Thank you Mimi!) and for the whole 10 minutes or so she was in her costume she looked like the cutest little ladybug ever. It took Michelle, Nick, Julia and I to finagle her into her costume, get her to look in the general direction of my camera and to keep the costume on longer than a minute. Addy was much more compliant when it came to her ballerina costume. So enjoy the pictures! It took a crack team to make them happen. : ) I only wish I pictures of her passing out candy to trick-or-treaters in just her diaper.

Oh and did I mention I ruined dessert? Hopefully I can redeem myself next Halloween.

First Pumpkin Patch of the Season

Due to all three of us having caught the same cold at the same time we have yet to visit a pumpkin patch. Booooooo! Instead, we have all been hacking, achey and cranky while being cooped up in the house. But luckily today was the first day that Lennon and I didn't feel too bad (and we're now definitely not contagious). So we met our playgroup at the E.Z. Orchard Pumpkin Patch while Daddy stayed home to get a very long, quiet nap. Awwww....how nice. : )

This year I found it virtually impossible to keep Lennon clean and free of mud, pumpkin guts and goat saliva. C'est la vie. I guess the plus side of it all is that it could have been a lot worse if she had noticed the tractor race track, which was essentially a pool of mud filled with pint-sized tractors. Although our little Beastie was very protective of any animal and/or pumpkin she touched, I am proud to report she didn't make anyone cry and actually played well. It got a little hairy though when she noticed her friend Maddy had a lollipop clenched in her little fist. Let me tell ya, it took all my will power to keep Lennon distracted and away from it. Victory!

Lennon had the worst time trying to pick out 1 pumpkin. There were just too many to choose from. I guess she's got a bit of an indecisive streak. I have no idea where she picked that up. She did finally settle on "Baby", her teeny-tiny little pumpkin (pictures posted later). I cannot get over how much she has grown since this year she was able to run after anyone and anything, while exclaiming "EWWWW!" all the way as she avoided stepping in pumpkin guts.

We finished our excursion with a shopping cart ride with Maddy in the E.Z. Orchards grocery store, where Lennon shared her pumpkin donuts. Alas, Maddy did not share her lollipop. Thank you Maddy!!

All in all, it was a fabulous day since it didn't rain. Lennon fed the goats, screamed "BAA!" in the sheep's faces, chased Lu-Ann the wild chicken and almost made out with a baby calf. But she has better etiquette at a petting zoo than her mom---I was once known to have stuck my finger in or around a goat's tushy. Talk about "EWWW!"

Ruge (Pronounced Roo-gee) House, Continued

More pictures, coming soon...

Ruge (Pronounced Roo-gee) House

Here they are folks: Pictures of the brand-spanking new house! Well, our new 72 year old house. Keep in mind since it's our first house it will always be under construction. Just be glad neither of us lives under the Slum Lord of Corvallis's roof.

Hopefully I will not need to label what each of the rooms are, but you will notice there are no pictures of the bathroom, master room, basement or backyard. That's because they are so pitiful at the moment you definitely don't want to see them. Oh just wait...you're in for a treat with the basement! Please sign us up for a home makeover, specifically for basements. : )

P.S. Note our brand new skylight in the kitchen (that unidentifiable sheet rocked hole picture). Josh made this with his booted foot while insulating our attic---solo. So if you're interested in insulation, attics or cramped tight spaces feel free to let him know. He'd love an insulating buddy!

Chef Beastie

I finally have the time to post more (hence the next few posts bearing the date October 30, 2009). Woo hoo! What better way to start my posting frenzy than with Lennon AKA Chef Beastie.

When Mimi was here to help with our big move she brought along Lennon's Christmas gift. Yup...a Christmas gift. About two and a half months early. Once I saw it I knew she wouldn't have been able to wait until Christmas to see Lennon play with it, and frankly it's saved my butt a few times here at the new house. : )

Well to get to the point: Lennon has become master of her very own spiffy kitchen. This is the kitchen of all play kitchens. Compartments for everything, top of the line microwave, stove, oven and fridge. If only it could really make ice! Thank goodness we haven't put batteries in this thing yet, otherwise I am sure Josh and I would have chucked it out the back door by now. But Lennon loves it. She marches over to you (if you're not already made a hostage), says "Come!" while pulling you into the kitchen, then shoves you down so that you can sit and enjoy her home cooked meal. She mostly cooks ice cream. That's my girl!

Lennon's Room

We've finally taken pictures of the house, but as I was looking through them I realized that the only room that is in decent shape (aside from the carpet, trim, windows, closet/closet doors & molding) is Lennon's room. Which is funny, since it's the room that is used the least. Lennon would rather be rolling around on top of you, using your body as her own personal jungle gym, or "helping" you get tasks done. Go figure. : )

So for those of you who have been waiting to see pictures of the house we will start with Lennon's bedroom. Speaking of those of you who are checking out our blog....who are you? Josh and I have made sure to spread the word about the new website, but I have a feeling that no one really looks on here much. So basically we are just talking-typing to ourselves. Sad....

Start reading this darn thing! : )

We Are Home Owners!!

Well ta-da! The Sweet-Wong's are now officially home owners. We spent the last very long week and weekend moving into our new home. Hopefully now that we have an internet connection again we will be posting pictures of the new place. Remember: It is a work in progress...no judgment! : )

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how well things turned out and I am sure it's due to all of our family and friends who helped out...and there were many of you. And kudos to Josh for installing our brand new toilet and vanity! Who knew he was so handy outside of car related fixes? I mean I've seen him do some general handy work, but my golly that shocked me. It's the best toilet I have ever sat on (apologies for the TMI). You will all have to visit to experience the wonders of our new commode. : )

Josh and I want to recognize everyone that helped. We couldn't have done it without all of you! We are completely indebted and owe you at least 2 favors for putting up with us (mostly me, since Josh seems fairly laid back and cool when it comes to moving--unlike myself). We appreciate all of you so much! These thank you's are in no particular order. We love you all equally. : )

Thank You!:

Julia: For going above and beyond what any friend will do. That's why you're a best friend! I especially want to thank you for making sure Josh and I didn't kill each other throughout this entire process. We can't wait to have you and Chad over for some cold beers, yummy food and Apples to Apples. Oh! Please thank Chad for our early wake up call and for our new bathroom faucet. I will think of him every time I wash filth off of me and I know that Josh will lovingly look at the caulk and remember their Home Depot trips.

Mimi: For reminding Josh and I too eat, by cooking and buying tons of food. It was so helpful! We're still eating pot roast. You're the greatest! Also, thank you for watching Lennon and spoiling her rotten (I have almost passed out from blowing up that dang ball pit!) Knowing that she was being pampered and cared for made our job of moving so much easier.

Angela, Dan & Tesslyn: For getting down and dirty and helping clean and prep the house. I know it's not the best way to a family weekend together, but we so appreciated your help and had fun getting to see you three. Also, thank you Dan for tackling some handy-man jobs. Everyone needs a contractor in the family. : ) Thank you Tesslyn for your awesome painting and cleaning jobs. Hopefully we didn't bore you too much and I promise to make sure my inappropriate comments do not leave my mouth until you are out of ear-shot. : ) Finally, thank you Angela for giving me the biggest laugh of the day by jumping and falling out of Lennon's bedroom window and for the gorgeous kitchen towels. You have excellent taste...as always!

Nick and Michelle: For taking time away from their beautiful baby to expertly clean everything they touched. The stairs and stove probably have never looked better! Now if only we could convince you to clean our oven. : ) And without you two we wouldn't have a gorgeous new fridge to stock full of....well nothing right now, but we hope to have it stocked soon. We are so glad to have the three of you in our lives and appreciate all the encouragement, excitement and support you give. We can hardly wait to root you on and help you move into your next new home. Don't hesitate to ask.

Barb, John & The Rest of the Sweet Clan: For taking such expert care in watching Lennon (and for so long!). We never worry when she's with you guys and it made it much easier to get all of the moving done. We hope we didn't monopolize your time. She has such a great time at your house, even though she only talks constantly about Abbey (woof-woof), I know that she loves spending time with each of you. We are so thankful that you are willing to fill your already overflowing plate with another child. You two are such an inspiration to Josh and I, especially on the days we feel overwhelmed with one. Also, thank you John for fixing our dishwasher! It made my day and I don't know how I'd live without one! Thank you also to Renee and Scarlet for their help unpacking, cleaning and tidying. I am sure it's not a fun way to spend your free time but I am sure we will all be helping you move into your first place in the future. : )

Keys!!!

WOO HOO! Holy cannoli! We've got keys people. Yup, keys! We finally received the keys to our new house. Unfortunately it was anticlimactic seeing as how we were supposed to get them a week or two ago, and we've only got one set. Boo. But by tomorrow all the sets will be ours. All ours! Moowah-hah-hah-haaaa! By now you've probably noticed how crazy this whole house thing has made me. Just wait, there will be more....

Josh's 30th Birthday

Today is Josh's 30th Birthday! Although he is getting crotchety and miserly in his old age, he is still the best partner and Daddy anyone could ever ask for. When asked how he wanted to spend his big 3-0 it was a resounding: "Beer, Taco Bell and mindless entertainment." Although this may sound lame-o (and if it were me, I'd be capitalizing on the fact that it is MY BIRTHDAY) it has been a wonderful way to spend an evening together. Now if only we had a birthday celebration like this every week.

Week of September 7th, 2009

Josh is currently experimenting with this new website/blog, while Tawnie is still mourning the loss of her beloved family website at shutterfly.com. So please be patient as we work out the kinks. Stay tuned....