The Zoe and Silas Show

2011 has been good to us. We needed it . We are hitting our stride, and we are solid amidst chaos. This year I have used technology to help me better manage my life. My goal has been to free up mental resources so that I can sleep better, work better, and be a better parent. Pepperplate and Mint have helped me on the home front, and Evernote and Wunderlist are a godsend both personally and professionally. Pandora is keeping us rockin' these days (thank you, VVF!), and I suspect that Pinterest will have a place in 2012. This year we graduated from early intervention. I have finally gotten to a place where I have stopped worrying about possible delays and meeting milestones. That mindset shift has freed up the most mental resources of all. This year I started regularly meeting up with a group of other professional twin moms who work in my area. They have been a wonderful source of support, advice, and laughter. I have a handful of other mom friends that I meet fo...

I came across this poem on my friend  Rachel's blog  yesterday. It really spoke to me so I wanted to share it. I am Running Into a New Year Lucille Clifton i am running into a new year and the old years blow back like a wind that i catch in my hair like strong fingers like all my old promises and it will be hard to let go of what i said to myself about myself when i was sixteen and twenty-six and thirty-six even thirty-six but i am running into a new year and i beg what i love and i leave to forgive me ----------------- I came across this video on a mom blog that I follow . It's haunting. I can't get enough of it.

We took down the Christmas trees yesterday, both from the refrigerator and from the living room . "Bye bye, kissmis twee!" (Zoe). The refrigerator looked pretty bare, so we decided to do another art project for New Year's. I cut star shapes out of construction paper, we covered them with glue stick, and then the kids decorated them with squares of yellow and orange tissue paper. Super simple and they turned out really cute. They headed straight to the refrigerator to hang them up when they were finished! Wishing you a star-filled New Year's Eve!!!!!!!!

There has been a ton of cooking going on around here this Christmas vacation week - turkey, etc. for the Christmas Eve meal; spanish-style braised lentils and sausage with lefse ; Eliza's baked pasta with chicken and broccoli;  texas-style carnitas , spanish rice, and slaw; turkey-veggie casserole; mushroom, goat cheese, and roasted red pepper strata; and (my parents made) turkey soup. It's no wonder that S&Z's fascination with cooking continues to grow. On top of all of their other kitchen stuff , they have spent hours playing with waxed paper, ziploc baggies, and two of my metal bowls the last two days. They crack me up! Bon appetit!

My parents flew to Minneapolis today where they will spend the weekend celebrating a belated Christmas with Sue & Bob and Stephanie & Jim. I haven't been to MN for Christmas since 2008, so I'll be missing everyone very much this weekend. We laid pretty low this week and I didn't even get many pictures. But here are a few from this morning before we left for the airport. We miss you guys already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With my parents in town this week Derek & I decided to go out and celebrate New Year's early. We've never gone to a steakhouse together so we decided to splurge and go to  Abe & Louie's on Boylston Street. A quick photo before we headed out the door Derek was a happy man eating his giant rib eye! I got beef wellington. Somehow we managed to save room for creme brulee for dessert. What a perfect way to ring in the new year!

We were all home this morning, including my parents who are visiting this week. Silas was playing with Zoe and he climbed up on a folding chair in the living room. I was in the nursery putting clothes away when I heard a pain scream. I ran into the living room where Derek was comforting him - he had toppled off the side of the chair. I noticed that the top part of his ear had turned purple and was bleeding. A LOT. Apparently he smashed his ear on a metal rack that holds the puzzles. YIKES. I proceeded to freak out while Derek kicked into EMT mode. Silas was such a trooper while we (and by we I mean Derek) assessed the damage, cleaned up his ear, and put ice on it. Of course Zoe was very concerned while this was all happening. She hovered over him, patting his back and shushing him. After the kids took a shower Derek taped gauze over the wound to keep it clean and protected. All day Zoe kept saying "Siyas boo-boo ear", and she would...

Lefse is a traditional norwegian potato flatbread that has always blessed our table around the holidays. The lefse tradition in our family goes back to my Great Grandma H., whose mother emigrated from Norway to South Dakota. GGH's daughter-in-law, my Grandma H., taught herself how to make lefse in order to carry on the tradition for her husband and daughters. My mom has carried it on for as long as I can remember, and I hope to pick up the torch one day. Grandma H., Aunt Sue & Mom making lefse at Sue's house in Minneapolis In my mom's house making lefse is a 2-day process. The dough is made on the first day and the lefse is rolled out and grilled on the second day. I remember lefse making often happening on Veteran's Day weekend, so that we would have it made in time for Thanksgiving. Because making lefse is so labor intensive, each piece of lefse is like gold and we all enjoy it in different ways. Sue likes to make a little norwegian burrito with hers, fill...

Following a busy and joyful day spent with both of our families, I was looking forward to a quiet day at home (well, as quiet as things can be with two crazy 2-year-olds running around!). We surprised the kids with Raggedy Ann dolls that were made for me & my sister ~35 years ago by a talented friend of my mom's. They love them! We hung out in our jammies, played with gifts from Christmas Eve, and opened more gifts too! Thank goodness for skype, so we could see my Dad & Mary too! There was lots of tower building, remote control fire truck driving, doll snuggling, and Mr. Potato Head creating all day. In the afternoon we watched "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas" and had a nice family meal. Wishing all of our friends and family a very, very Merry Christmas!!!!

My parents arrived in Boston on Friday morning. This is the first Christmas holiday that they have spent here with us, and it's the first time we've all been together for Christmas in quite a few years. I'm off work until January 3rd, so I've been excited to enjoy some quality family time! Because of crazy work schedules we decided to celebrate with Derek's family on Christmas Eve. We hosted his parents and his brother Doug's family here for a noon time meal. Since our Thanksgiving meal was such a success, we decided to make a turkey again. We also made mashed potatoes, wild rice and corn casserole; Joanne made dessert. Everything was delicious! After that it was kid gift opening madness! They had a blast playing with all their new toys, which included a slide, Doctor's kits, And big building blocks. It was wonderful to have both of our families together this Christmas. We are truly blessed.