Happy New Year 2014!

I hope you have someone cute to kiss at midnight and ring in the New Year!

As for me, I hope to be blissfully asleep. Planning on turning in early!

Happy New Year!
Rice Pot Mama

Tuesday Tips - Tomato Stains and Tupperware

I have a lot of strange pet peeves. One of them is when my storage containers get stained by the food I am storing. Spaghetti sauce is the worst. It turns clear Tupperware into a strange orange mess. One way around this is to spray your Tupperware with cooking spray before putting the food in. All of the tomato sauce will wash right off leaving no stains. Love it!

Resolution

I'm officially the fattest I've ever been (not including when I was pregnant). I've been exercising but my food consumption has definitely increased with the holidays. Also turning 35 I think my metabolism has taken a nose dive. I know I need to monitor the quantities that I eat but I'm such a competitive person; when the hubby wants seconds so do I!

For my New Year's resolution I'm going to firm up. I'm not going to put pressure on myself to lose weight but hopefully I can get a bit tighter in the areas that are a little soft. Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! Whether you love Santa, or

 

think he's a bit scary, may you find joy in the magic the season brings!

 

Much love,

Rice Pot Mama

Bah Humbug

Nate is a very pragmatic child. Almost a little too grown up at times. When we were on the Polar Express the engineer announced that we had arrived at the North Pole. Nate proceeded to tell the child sitting in the next seat over that the engineer was wrong. "Look at the trees," he said. The houses, the lack of snow. We need to teach him about suspending his disbelief.

When Santa came aboard he sat with each child and asked them what they wanted for Christmas. He then gave them a bell like in the book The Polar Express. If you haven't read the book, a little boy asks Santa for a bell from his sleigh. Only true believers can hear the ring of the bell. Well...the bell Nate received didn't have a clapper. No ring. The coincidence was not lost on any of the adults. We all enjoyed a good chuckle. As for Nate, we got a new bell. One that rings and everyone can hear.

Polar Express

Last Sunday we had a magical morning with the kids and their friends on the Polar Express. They put on their softest pajamas (and nicest for public viewing, we have some pretty ratty pjs!) and climbed on board.

They were served hot chocolate and cookies by the chefs and read the story of The Polar Express and even met some of the characters from the book.

They were given golden tickets.

The conductor punched their tickets like a crazy man. The kids were fascinated by the hole punch...I think I've found a stocking stuffer for next year! The highlight was the big man in the red suit. Read about that story tomorrow...

Skiing

Last weekend we had our annual gingerbread making party with the Okerstroms and Megan F. Typically while the girls bake the gingerbread the guys go skiing. This year we stayed at a posh condo in Government Camp. (Gotta love online deals!) Since we were so close to the mountain the guys took the older kids for their first attempt at skiing.

 

The weather was perfect. And the kids were all smiles.

 

 

Nate's favorite part of the morning was the chair lift. That was Jim's least favorite part of the day. A squirmy boy dangling from a spindly chair up in the air. All I can say is that I'm glad I wasn't there! It would have given me major anxiety. Especially with Nate's wiggle-ness.

 

The first attempt at skiing was thrilling and left both Nate and Elise with an appetite for more. Yay!