snowfall

my camera has been capturing the images of my days, but i have yet to upload them or even look through them, because we have been too busy playing endless games of scrabble, pictionary, and cranium, sipping comfortably warm and re-heated cups of coffee with cream and sugar (yes), soaking up the beautiful words of cs lewis, taking steaming hot showers, and cheering austen on as she begins reaching for people for the first time.

on saturday night sweet, soft flakes floated to the ground. after evening church we made our way to breakfast for dinner at a cafe and stayed drinking coffee and talking for a good two hours until finally river's nodding head and heavy eyelids told us it was probably time to go home and get the kiddos to bed.

and then on sunday morning the fields and trees and roads and sidewalks had all been covered in a fine layer of white powder. just enough to cover the ground so that blades of grass were hidden away. river was overjoyed.


it kept snowing and on wednesday it was expected to warm up and rain and wash the snow away. instead, in the quiet of tuesday night much of the northwest coast received a foot of snow, and everything was bright white. everything. we were snowed in. it was all fun and games as we piled onto sarah's bed deciding what movie to watch when suddenly everything went dark and the echo of our heater's last hum was heard. the power was out.

we spent the next few hours petting the dog feeling sorry for ourselves wondering what people did in the days before ben flew his kite in a thunderstorm (read books?!) and shivering in our dark apartment that had cooled nearly 15 degrees. and then when trees started falling, heavy with the weight of snow and freezing rain, and people's vehicles were getting stuck in snow for hours just trying to pull out of their parking lots and we couldn't even boil water (because our oven didn't work -- obviously) and the electric company said "your electricity probably won't turn on until sunday" i laughed a little laugh of insanity and decided it was time to call mom and dad and see if we could crash at their house for a few days.

on went the snow chains and we packed up the necessities and made the three mile trip to my parents' going fifteen miles per hour, staring at the trees all enveloped in ice. it looks like someone had decorated them like that. everything was ... beautiful. like glass. shiny and reflective and slick and beautiful. like they could snap in two so easily. (which is what they were doing, anyway.) we weren't the only ones without electricity; apparently 255,000 at one time from seattle to olympia were without power. by the time we arrived at my parents' their electricity had come back on.

surprisingly, we spent the next few days playing board games instead of watching tv and talking instead of facebooking and reading instead of tweeting. (although some quick pinteresting was done now and then.
after all, i had to show my sister that tree covered in lace) and it was so nice. nice to have warm, homecooked breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for a few days (thanks mom). nice to have someone to talk to at any moment and nice that i wasn't the only one chasing after river and bouncing austen when she cried.

yesterday the power came back on in our apartment (a day early!) and so we packed up our belongings, a little bit of sadness and relief rolled into one, because i was sad i was losing some pictionary buddies to join  me for midnight games, but happy to finally be home in our quiet, tiny living room in my own bed cot (because we got rid of our bed when we moved).

i'm so happy to be living here so close to my family. i'm happy that my babies get to grow up these next few years with their nini and grandpa and that my mom gets to see austen turn into a roly-poly baby and river, from a baby to a kid. and that i can tell my brother to shut up when he's annoying me, like the good old days! haha.

we sure did get sick of the snow, but last night as the sun was setting and the skies were finally blue and pink again and not white like everything else and the whole earth was wet and drippy and some trees were springing back from their bowing positions (while others permanently bowed, as they had snapped in two) sarah and i crunched (frolicked) in the untouched snow in the front yard and enjoyed the "warmer" weather of 40 degrees.

it hasn't snowed like this in olympia in over 60 years (or something like that) but i'm glad this is how washington has greeted me. because i wanted snow. (and it began on my birthday) and even after all that i'm still enjoying the winter because after two record breaking san antonio summers (during which i was pregnant) in the last three years, a little snow doesn't even phase me.

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3-year blogiversary

today marks the third year my little blog has been around -- all started because there was a teeny baby boy growing in my tummy, and i wanted to record moments so that i would never forget them.

2009:

2010:

2011:

2012:

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today, slowflakes fell softly and people stayed in. each nub, twig, and branch was covered in a light powder and the outstretched arms of the trees looked like lace. 

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easy peasy pizza crust

i hate yeast. because if it's made with yeast, it probably means it needs to be kneaded and set to rise. nope, won't do it. first, kneading is way more work than i am willing to put forth for food. the only time i should be breaking a sweat when making food is when the kitchen's hot because the food's already in the oven.  so i discovered a pretty easy pizza crust recipe and made it even easier. i can honestly say it was pretty delicious! and with so little ingredients, it is super cheap.

2 cups self-rising flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tbs honey
1 tbs oil

after combining the flour and salt, add the rest of the ingredients. i made my pizzas right away and put the remaining dough in the fridge to make more later, and it was much easier to handle. the second batch wasn't as lumpy as these. i baked the crusts in the oven for 10 minutes at 350, took them out and put on the toppings, and then popped them back in the oven for five minutes. (and yes, i ate cheese. we are on a spending freeze until john gets his first paycheck and i am very limited in what i can actually make!)

the thing i like about this recipe is you can switch out some of the ingredients if you want. this would've been great with olive oil but we didn't have any on hand. the other day i used this recipe to make bread sticks (or rather, a stubborn bread blob that i cut into stick-like submission after it baked) and i used ham fat that i had scraped off the top of ham stock and froze. and of course, you can use sugar instead of honey if you want.

also, i never have self-rising flour on hand, but my dad bought it and my mom never uses it, so she gave it to me. it worked great and tasted delicious, but i got similar results when using whole wheat flour and a packet of yeast. the only thing is, you have to make sure the water is warm (about 130 degrees) and then you have to let it rise for about 20 minutes. not too bad. still tasty. just a couple little extra steps.

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is there such a thing as sugar withdrawal?

because i'm pretty sure that's what i'm going through.

see, here's my relationship to sugar. i love sugar. no, i mean, i love sugar. i have no self-control when it comes to sweets. i can sit there and eat ten oreos, or as many as it takes to satisfy my craving. you will never see me reach into the bag and pull out two oreos, like any other normal human being. i know not the lifestyle everything in moderation. i think i'm seriously and dangerously addicted. i know it may sound like i'm trying to be funny, but i'm not. it's bad, man. the recommended daily amount of added sugar (meaning, sugar outside of naturally occuring sugar in, say, fruit) is 40 grams for a grown woman. i eat way, way over this amount on a regular basis. one can of soda has 50 grams and i can easily drink the amount that is in two or three cans. i can't even imagine what it's doing to me on the inside. how am i going to pay for this some day?

so on the second day of not eating refined sugar, i woke up feeling like cuh-RAP. my head was pounding, i was light-headed, my heart was palpitating, and i felt like i was going to pass out. i had no strength and had to go back to bed and ask my husband to make me something to eat. it wasn't until a few hours later that i even attributed feeling like that with not having had sugar for two days. i guess my body is so used to having a sugar-overload that it didn't know what to do.

it's been eleven days since i gave up eating sugar. i have cheated a couple times -- once, with a tiny slice of homemade pecan pie (how could i pass that up?) and maybe two or three other times, with very small amounts. other than that, i have stayed very far away. it's been extremely difficult. it's such a part of my life, that i often forget. the other day i was checking out at the grocery store and saw there was discounted christmas chocolate at the register. i almost added it to my cart until i realized i'm not eating sugar! when it's right in front of me and i am resisting it, it feels so good afterward to know that i held my ground and didn't give in. i can't believe it's been eleven days!

other than feeling great emotionally because i am proud of myself, i think how i change physically will be obvious to me in a few more months.

just yesterday, i was telling john how easy it's been with the kids the past week. i've been uncharacteristically patient with river, and in turn, he's been a pretty easy tot. he always feeds off my vibe. then, last night, i was talking to my mom about how hard it's been for me to resist sugar, and that i really do think it is a real addiction. it's already been shown that fast food triggers the same addictive response as drugs, so it doesn't surprise me that giving into every single craving of refined sugar set me up for a sugar addiction. i'm wondering how long i will have to go without sugar to get over it. it's horrible enough being addicted to sugar! i dream about french toast... cookies... caramel popcorn. along side giant glasses of ice cold milk, of course. i can't imagine being addicted to a hard drug. ha! my mom replied that she was with a friend when desert was offered, and when her friend passed up desert, she asked wasn't she going to get any desert? her friend replied, "no, sugar makes me angry." her friend went on to say she used to be addicted to sugar and had to stop eating it because it changed her mood.

i was like, oh oh THAT'S ME! that's why i've been so patient lately! because i haven't had any sugar! so now i know the key to keeping crazywhitney at bay is to stay away from sugar. it all makes sense now! sort of. i need to learn why sugar changes my mood. funny, because as a parent i am very aware that excessive amounts of sugar for my children is bad and how it changes the personality of my son, but it never occurred to me that it could change my mood as well!

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christmas was merry!

the whole christmas theme on my blog is getting a little old. i haven't had time to make a new header but i guess at this point i should just recycle an old one. until then, it's also about time i posted our christmas photos.

christmas eve night was spent at my family's house. my mom's parents started the tradition that the youngest children see the tree on christmas day first, and this year austen must have been pretty excited because she woke up at eight on the dot and would not fall back asleep, even though normally she is a pretty late sleeper.  i admit that even at twenty-three years old, i get really excited for christmas. so, when i figured she wasn't going back to sleep, i did what i had to do and woke up my little sisters, knowing they would spring out of bed and wake everyone else up. instructions to "not come down until you hear the christmas music!" were given and the kids chattered in excitement as they all lined up near the top of the steps, anticipating seeing the after-santa tree.

austen was first, of course, but she was all very blasé about the whole thing.

next was river. i was totally excited to get a picture of him seeing the tree this christmas, because it is the first christmas that he

1) understood what was going on and
2) cared.

i present to you, river's christmas face:

he immediately started playing with the little people set santa scored at a second-hand store.

next was my little sister emma, who is ten. this picture cracks me up. it reminds me of this picture my mom has of herself running down the stairs behind her little brothers. my uncles are walking calmly down and my mom is just a blur. 

emma was shocked to discover santa had brought her a gerbil.  i mean, after her initial scream of happy disbelief, she just kind of sat there and it seemed to take a while to sink in. she had been asking and asking and my mother met each request with a resounding NO! no gerbils in the house! 

that santa...

the older kids were way too cool to make a big deal about the tree, but there was an inkling of emotion when my brother saw that he received the hoodie and webcam he'd wanted so badly. 

river got some cute mittens from his great-grandparents and insisted on opening presents while wearing them.

my old american girls doll was my gift to my little sister. she carried it around the rest of the day. :)

river's "fix-its" from my step mom. he loved them! after opening these, he then insisted on opening further gifts with his fix-its. and the mittens.

three cans of cinnamon rolls and two packages of bacon fed us for breakfast. when my mom asked what everyone liked more, we all replied bacon. duh.

and it looks like santa had more than just milk and cookies that night...

i really wanted to make hand-made gifts this year, but that was a little unrealistic in the middle of the move. we did, however, manage to keep river and austen's gifts within our "toy guidelines," or whatever you want to call them. we only got them a few things each, and everything was either second hand, eco-conscious, or ethically made. it was so hard to stick to these guidelines and i was tempted to just buy anything i could find in our budget for austen when it was two days before christmas and we had not found her that perfect gift yet (because she totally cares), but i didn't cave! i hope next year i can get started earlier and be a bit more creative and make them lop-sided mama-made toys with love. i had tons of friends who made their kids hand-made gifts this year and it was so inspiring to see their creations.

okay, now christmas is officially over and i can change my blog. :)