Before those gathered at my table for Thanksgiving dove into their meal, I thanked them all for being here and told them how much I love to be able to host a holiday meal. My introverted mother-in-law who does not like a crowd explained with a bit too much enthusiasm, "Oh good!" Sounds like someone is a little too eager to bestow hosting duties on the next generation.
I really do love hosting Thanksgiving, or any holiday for that matter. I enjoy catching up with friends and family I don't see regularly and making more memories with those I do see more often. I take pride in planning the menu and decorating. And most of all, I'm thankful for the traditions I can create for my children.
Our Thanksgiving was "small" this year with only 12 people. That may sound big to some, but when my immediate family accounts for seven seats at the table, 12 isn't all that big. The advantage of having "only" 12 is that we all fit around my dining room table.
We tried something new this year by having dessert at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house two blocks away. We called it a progressive Thanksgiving dinner. Part of our party went ahead to set out the dessert spread and let their Goldendoodle, Watson, get it out of his system to jump all over everyone and steal their shoes. (That only kind of worked.) The rest of us stayed behind to clean up, which meant there was nothing left to do when we came back home to put the kids to bed.
Grandma Nan, Kiera and me
Our au pair Nina's first Thanksgiving
I always have grand decorating ideas, but rarely pull them off. But this idea worked! A adorned a burlap runner with six feet of garland, clementines, little pumpkins and candles.
Yes, Legos and Minecraft made it on the list of things to be thankful for.
Our Easter can be summed up with one word - chocolate. Lots of it. With three days in a row of egg hunts and visits from both the American and German Easter bunnies, the quantity of chocolate the kids received rivaled Halloween. I've got to find a non-candy tradition for next year.
Soren, Kiera and Matteo had their first egg hunt at preschool on Friday, where each child was designated a color and searched the classroom and hallways for four eggs of that color. I actually thought that was a nice variation on the usual free-for-all. Because that's what they got on Saturday.
The Germanic-American Institute puts on an egg hunt to raise money for their preschool program. They actually have two egg hunts, one for the little kids in the fenced-in playground and the other out on the main lawn of the property. The kids waited semi-patiently on the walkways surrounding the lawn as volunteers like Celina and Alina kept a watchful eye. Then the organizer blew her whistle and kids went scrambling. Some eggs were filled with candy, others with tokens the kids could exchange for small toys and a few with "golden tickets" good for specialty chocolates or German baked goods. We ended up with one golden ticket, lots of tokens the kids enjoyed exchanging and of course, loads of chocolate.
We spent Easter at Chris' parent's house where the final egg hunt took place. Those Easter bunnies made our kids work for those eggs they were hidden so well!
Matteo got so into this egg hunt and yelled with delight upon each egg he found.
The "German Easter Bunny" (aka, our au pair, Celina) even left Chris and me a surprise.
We also enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the grandparents' with pancakes, an egg bake and Celina's homemade Hefezopf, a bread baked at holidays. Between that and the chocolate, we were practically in a food coma by mid-afternoon.
恭喜发财! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Welcome the year of the Monkey!!
Because we had arrived home last year just days before the start of Chinese New Year, we sadly did nothing in recognition of the holiday. We didn't want to miss the opportunity for a second year in a row, especially because the biggest holiday of the year for the Chinese also coincided with the one-year anniversary of being together as a family of six. We had a lot to celebrate!
The Chinese New Year starts on Monday, February 8, so I wanted to celebrate on New Year's Eve, but that happened to be the Super Bowl, so our party got pushed to the Eve of New Year's Eve, or Saturday. Such things sometimes happen when you're trying to balance two cultures.
Before dinner started, my mother-in-law
taught everyone about the "year of the monkey." People born in this
year are supposedly "witty and intelligent with magnetic personalities,
but also very naughty. Monkeys are masters of practical jokes, because
they like playing most of the time." She then went around the table
and told each person what his or her zodiac sign was and what they
mean. Lively discussions ensued about who most resembled the supposed
attributes of their zodiac sign.
Such as it is in many cultures when it comes to holidays, food is a big component of Chinese New Year. I love to cook and am determined to learn how to cook a few key Chinese dishes, but Chris convinced me that cooking dishes I'm not familiar with for 14 people would not be in my best interest. A friend had given me a recommendation for a Chinese restaurant run by a woman from Shanghai, so I reluctantly gave in and ordered food. I set the table with dinner plates, bowls of soy sauce, chopsticks and the tea sets we had bought last year in China and then Chris showed up with steaming hot containers of noodles, meat and vegetable dishes and of of course dumplings, a symbol of luck and fortune for the new year. As we dug into the delicious food, I knew I couldn't have made it any better.
Chris and I hope that we can gather our family and friends every year for Chinese New Year and that we can expand upon traditions in future years as we learn more about the birth culture of Kiera and Matteo.
As we have for a couple of years now, we celebrated Christmas Eve at Chris' Uncle Pat and Aunt Carol's house. They're welcoming people with a "more the merrier" attitude towards hosting, and Carol goes all out with the Christmas decorations. It was a "small" Chesla gathering this year with only two dozen people, but still full of fun and good stories.
Once everyone had arrived, we took up a tradition started by Chris' grandparents of lighting the Advent candles. All the little cousins got to light a candle and the adult cousins handled the readings. We also sang Christmas carols, and I appreciated that Pat and Carol thought to print the lyrics, not just for the German guests among us, but for me too! Matteo sat on my lap as we sang and he loves music. I was astounded that he was trying to "sing" along, which consisted of half saying, half singing the last word of each line, but it was nonetheless really cute.
Matteo with his Aunt Danielle
Our au pair Celina and her boyfriend, Marius, who is visiting from Germany
The grandchildren got turns lighting the Advent candles.
Oliver loved playing Santa and passing out presents.
After we sang, we opened presents. Dan and his six siblings and their spouses all exchange gifts and their children exchange gifts with their cousins. There always ends up being something for the littlest kids because they wouldn't be able to make it through the evening without being able to open something. For my children those gifts were University of Minnesota Gophers t-shirts from their aunt and uncle and matching footie pajamas from Grandma. They changed into their new pajamas before the car ride home and I was so tired by that point that I wished there had been a pair for me.
On Christmas morning Chris got up before everyone and cooked blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon, and our German guests especially enjoyed this all-American breakfast. I really appreciated having this family time around the table before the gift-opening frenzy.
I had a surprise gift waiting for me when it was time to clean up from breakfast - a new kitchen faucet. Chris' friends had tried to convince him that a kitchen faucet does not count as a gift for your wife, but that's how our relationship works. I complain about something (in this case, I worried our faucet, which we'd already fixed once, and was really on its last leg) and Chris surprises me with a solution. So I loved the new faucet, but I felt so guilty about what I'd put Chris through.
The afternoon of Christmas Eve was pretty chaotic with our kids and German guest to tend to, a lasagna to make, gifts to wrap and a house to pick up and in the middle of this all, Chris casually suggested that if there's nothing left for him to do, he'd like to take apart the kitchen faucet to see if he could fix it. I admit that I might have in a less-than-kind manner ixnayed his suggestion and told him I thought that was the worst timing ever. Obviously I had no idea that Chris was trying to get a jump-start on the faucet replacement so he wouldn't have to stay up until 1:00 a.m. like he ended up doing. Now that's true love, right?
The kids were as equally excited about their gifts as I was about my new faucet. While we don't know whether Kiera and Matteo understood that it was Christmas, they did understand how to open gifts and were excited about it being their turn to do so. The kids ended up with gifts not just from two sets of grandparents, but from Celina, her "Oma Heidi" and Marius. They were so spoiled this year!
By the time we made it to Chris' parent's house for Christmas Day lunch, the kids were punch happy and us adults, were, well, we honestly looked like we were hung over. Some of us were getting over colds and all of us had stayed up way too late Christmas Eve and the days leading up to it and we were all ready for a nap. Luckily we plan for Christmas Day to be low-key. Lunch happens whenever we show up and we have nothing on our agenda other than to spend time with the grandparents, who our kids adore, tired or not.
As tired as we were, we had celebrated Christmas exactly as I had hoped we would. It was also a memorable first Christmas with Kiera and Matteo. Depending upon when you come home with your children, that first Christmas can be more stressful than fun. We had the gift of over 10 months home though, and our kids are so well-adjusted that I didn't have to worry about over-stimulation with large family gatherings or lots of presents, or attachment issues with everyone wanting to hug and kiss the newest members of our family.
Ten months home, we're coming to the end of our year of firsts, but Christmas was one of the most special. On Christmas Eve we sang Christmas carols and lit the candles on the Advent wreath, and an intense feeling of thankfulness filled my heart. These two almost weren't my children, but are, and forever are. A year ago I had longed so intensely for them and on Christmas Eve this year I had Matteo seated on my lap and Kiera snuggled up next to me. Gathered around the Advent wreath were brothers and parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and cousins, all who loved and adored them.
I spent another Thanksgiving right where I wanted to be, in my home with my own little (big) family and friends. I didn't those who had to get on a plane, or even drive a few hours. Sure hosting is a lot of work and I began cooking over the weekend, but in a lot of ways it was pretty relaxed and I had a lot of help. By the time Thanksgiving morning arrived, if you had gotten a peak at my dining room, you wouldn't have believed that in less that three hours, I was going to be hosting 14 people, yet it all came together.
Chris' Aunt Ginny showed up early to help (and brought her own apron), because in her words, "Thanksgiving dinner is a team sport!" She provided both color commentary and cooking trouble-shooting over the couple of hours it took us to prepare all the dishes. Followed not long after Ginny, Chris' parents marched in our house with a folding table, eight chairs, table linens, a turkey in a giant roaster and a large crockpot full of mashed potatoes. It didn't take them long to transform our dining room to seat 14.
My chef partner, Chris' Aunt Ginny
Dan and Nan graciously provide the turkey so this vegetarian doesn't have to.
We had a lot to be thankful for at this Thanksgiving. Our au pair, Celina, who has done a wonderful job of taking care of our children these past couple of months, joined us for her first American Thanksgiving. Our friends are adopting a seven-year-old girl and this brand-new family of three also joined us. It was incredibly special to be part of their first holiday together. And lastly, are the two newest members of my family. While Kiera and Matteo don't yet understand how truly thankful I am that I get to call myself their mom, that made this Thanksgiving so special for me.
Kiera and Matteo loved all the food (except for pumpkin pie!), but perhaps Matteo ate too much turkey.
On Black Friday, instead of going shopping, the kids and I headed into the woods. The Minnesota state park system waived its entrance fees for every park in the state on Black Friday and asked people to "opt outside". We finally dug out all the boots, snow pants and winter coats for the kids and I was relieved to discover that no one had outgrown anything from the previous year. We went to Fort Snelling State Park because it's so accessible given its location right in St. Paul. I didn't go with any agenda other than to let the kids roam and spend time outside and that's what they did. Even though we got less than two inches of snow yesterday, they were happy to stomp around in the snow, make snowballs and scrape snow off fallen tree trunks. Snow truly is magical.
Send kids into the woods and I guarantee they're going to collect sticks.
Because Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, we got two days straight of the holiday with the school celebrations on Friday and then trick-or-treating the next night. Kiera, Soren and Matteo had their Halloween party at preschool on Friday morning and then parents were invited to Oliver's school at the end of the day for their Halloween parade. Oliver and I finished the evening with a party at a fellow host family's house. The back staircase of the their three-story home was turned into a haunted house. We kept climbing up and up through the darkened staircase where there was a surprise for us around every twist and turn. It was quite phenomenal.
On Saturday afternoon I took the kids up to their
grandparent's house to show off the costumes. Grandma and Grandpa made
an appropriate fuss over them.
It rained on and off much of the afternoon and I kept checking the forecast in hopes it would clear up in time because I had four kids bouncing off the walls desperate for it to be time to go trick-or-treating. We held them off until darkness fell, it quit raining and out the door we went!
I wasn't sure how much Matteo and Kiera would like Halloween since there's a lot that can scare a little kid, and Oliver and Soren didn't necessarily get caught up in the hype at that age, but they really enjoyed themselves. Although they really couldn't say "trick or treat," they did understand that if they held out their bags, someone would drop candy in them and of course they liked that! And then they were off tailing their brothers to the next house.
We continued down our street and back up the other side and visited some of our favorite neighbors along the way. The boys eventually got tired and wanted to go back home to count their loot, so Kiera, Celina and I continued on with our next-door-neighbors to check out the crazy Halloween decorations some of the houses in our neighborhood have up. The weather I had been so worried about ended up providing the perfect backdrop to Halloween with a mist that shrouded the neighborhood.
Chris' bat and Dracula pumpkins flanked Celina's Tinkerbell.
With Chris up at the cabin for his brother's bachelor party, and our au pair, Marcel, away camping, the kids and I had a low-key Fourth of July weekend. We had just enough on our calendars to not make a three-day weekend alone with the kids feel daunting, but also plenty of downtime to enjoy the lazy days of summer.
I was most excited about taking Kiera and Matteo strawberry-picking for the first time. I wanted them to experience what is possibly my favorite part of summer - that first taste of a juicy Minnesotan-grown, freshly-picked strawberry warmed by the sun.
Strawberry-picking has become my Fourth of July tradition to do with my children. I love being able to set them loose in a field of strawberries and let them pick and eat as many berries as their hearts desire. Just like with Oliver and Soren, it took some time for Kiera and Matteo to get the hang of picking berries, but eventually I didn't need to help them look under the leaves for the berries or instruct them to only pick the red ones. They quietly and happily searched for berries to pick and munched as they went.
Thankfully the weather was not hot, so even though we were out in the sun all morning with no shade, it was still pleasant. And that means we weren't spent before the afternoon rolled around, because our neighbors were hosting one of their epic barbecues later in the afternoon.
You may think that "epic" is an overkill description for a barbecue, but when they host, you're guaranteed excellent food served with a side of shenanigans. They're reasonably quiet and unassuming people, but then they do things like rent a dunk tank for a barbecue. Clearly these Yooper transplants know how to have a good time.
When Chris heard about the dunk tank, he told the kids that they could try to dunk me. Somehow this rumor that I would willingly sit on a spring-loaded board above a tank of cold water spread among party guests and I wondered how long I could hold off everyone's "encouragement" to be the next volunteer. To my surprise, Oliver wanted to give the dunk tank a try.
My once shy and timid Oliver loved it! This is just one of many recent example of how adventurous he has gotten in the last year.
Some of the other kids were curious enough about the dunk tank to climb in it, but no one else actually wanted to be dunked, so the tank turned into a glorified kiddie pool until the adults had had enough to drink to the point where they also thought the dunk tank was a good idea.
My neighbor is very "thorough". Why light sparklers with a match when you have a propane torch?
Eventually it got way too late for my four to be still awake and they were so disappointed they had to leave before the S'mores (but, for the record, well after they'd gotten plenty of other dessert). Soren kept screaming at me, "I'M NOT TIRED!!!," which as any parent knows, means he was really tired. I've never seen him glare so hard at me when I put him to bed. I went next door to get Oliver and found neighbor gathering firewood for the bonfire and Oliver rallying everyone with, "Let's get this fire started!" Again, my once shy little boy is coming out of his shell!
Although the barbecue went into the wee hours of the morning, I had to call it a night once the kids were in bed. I needed my energy to finish the weekend strong.
My mother-in-law came the following morning to take the kids to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She even packed lunches for the kids so when she showed up, all I had to do was hand her the keys to our minivan and off she went. While the kids the very non-traditional garden exhibit of giant Lego sculptures, I had hours to myself alone in my own house. That time went by way too quickly.
We didn't actually take part in any traditional 4th of July activities that day, like a barbecue or fireworks. The sun doesn't even set until 9:00 p.m. at this time of year and there's no way the kids could stay awake that late. Plus the noise would terrify them. Long after the kids had fallen asleep, I lay in my bed and could see fireworks from my window, a window that didn't exist this time last year since our renovation had yet to begin. I watched the last of the fireworks explode above the trees and finally fell asleep.
On Sunday morning we packed up and went to the Tamarack Nature Center, where we spent hours digging in the sand and water at the natural play area. I love this place as much as the kids to. It's full of sand to dig in, water to fill your pails with and boulders to climb on. Presumably it would have been busier if it weren't a holiday weekend, because we mostly had the place to ourselves.
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I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had only packed a picnic lunch and not a picnic dinner. Plus we had to get home for the women's World Cup Final!
My sister-in-law came over and made us a yummy Mexican dinner. I rushed through baths while she started dinner. I sent the kids down to the basement while Danielle and I cleaned up. In a 90-minute game, chances of something happening the first few minutes is not likely, especially in a game of this importance where teams will probably start off playing conservatively. I came downstairs at minute nine and anyone who follows soccer will know that I had missed the beginning of World Cup history.
Thankfully Carli put a third ball in the net so that I could see at least one of her goals live.
I had a wonderful weekend, but my gosh, by the time Monday morning rolled around, I was exhausted!
My name is Kirsten and I live with my family in St. Paul, Minnesota. I started this blog while I was pregnant with my first, and upon realizing that I was creating a gift I could eventually pass onto this next generation, the blog continued into parenthood. I hope my kids will enjoy reading it someday and that it helps them understand I'd been doing the best I could as a parent!
