Now that I have sufficiently recovered from the Holidays, it is time to write about it. As you can imagine the whole month of December was one big countdown as the kids got more and more excited for the big day. Their smiles were huge, eyes were bright, and excitement level was over the top. But first, for the adults.....
Christmas Eve Dinner.
I consider myself a decent cook and a better baker. But I consider myself blessed to have married a chef. I don't mean that tongue-in-cheek. If Dave ever invites you over for dinner, especially one that he is dreaming up menus for weeks in advance, the only answer is YES. Honestly, you don't want to miss it. And for Christmas Eve he picked a Mediterranean theme, food that Jesus might have eaten. He single-handedly made about 14 things for our Christmas Eve dinner, many of them fun and interesting appetizers. I won't get it all right, but you can see from the pictures some Feta Cheese, spiced nuts, mixed olives, hummus, pita bread, orange and black salad, lamb kebabs, chicken tagine, haloumi and grape salad, and the list could go on and on. It was
FABULOUS, STUPENDOUS, I am still thinking about it...
On Christmas morning the kids tore through the gifts at a steady, constant clip. There were a few breaks for the bathroom, to feed Phinn, to look closer at an especially interesting gift, etc. but they didn't want to stop until they had seen everything. It was a blast.
Enoch loves cooking and pirates so much, that this was the perfect gift for him.
Phinn mostly just enjoyed watching everyone else and taking the occasional nap. That was fine with Hilde and Enoch since that meant they could open his presents as well as their own. Bonus.
Sleeping bags for all 3 kids! A huge hit. Hilde and Enoch have been sleeping in theirs in the igloo tent, on their beds, on their floors, all over the house. Lots of fun for years to come.
Then, the time for me to cook arrived. In the High family, my grandmother makes Ebelskivers. So we have decided that this is our family's traditional Christmas breakfast. With my new Nordicware pan, these turned out perfectly. They are basically a round pancake. Some were plain, and others had jam or slices of apple inside. You could hide just about anything in them, super fun. My grandma always makes ham to go with these, but I made scrambled eggs instead. Maybe next year...
So, Christmas around here was fabulous, but I was glad to be back to a little more peace and quiet after it was over.
January 20th - Happy 6 months to Phinn. A half year already?? Where has the time gone? It was harder to get the pictures done this time. He is definitely more mobile, rolling around and scooting backwards all over the place. He gets up on his hands and tiptoes and rocks back and forth until his momentum carries him backwards. Unless, of course, it carries him forward, and then he does a faceplant on the floor. He loves to chat and is starting to get interested in food. He and Enoch crack each other up with loud squeals that hurt the ears of everyone else. He sits in his high chair now and joins the family at the table. Bonus for him, but not so great for mom who has to spend most of dinner time either feeding or entertaining him. Luckily he can entertain himself with a spoon just long enough for her to eat. 
Hilde constantly asks to hold Phinn or play with him. She really loves being the big sister.
Some action shots:
