The good, the bad and the ugly

2012 was an interesting year with its share of the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good:

In January L performed in her first school band concert since beginning flute lessons.

Andy stepped down in January after serving as the church's moderator for two year and I began a term as church clerk.

E traveled to Springfield with her Girl Scout troop in April to lay bones for a national genocide project.

B was confirmed after a year of classes.

Aunt Cindy and Grandma Bentrup visited in May and took E to see “Jersey Boys” in Chicago.

B received a medal and certificate at his middle school’s Tribute to Excellence program for being on a team of students that earned a second place national finish for a computer project about bullying. He surprised me by volunteering to stand up, speak into the microphone and tell about the project.

E received an award for “Outstanding Freshman in Physical Education” from her high school for her “leadership, scholarship, sportsmanship, cooperation, love of play, enthusiasm, exceptional ability and fitness through class participation.”

We added another teenager to the house as B turned 13!

E spent a very hot week at a golf camp at University of Illinois-Urbana.

In July we took a short family vacation to Door County, Wis., then headed to Florida for a week at Disney World.

B's friend L, who moved to Ohio in 2011, was able to come back three times to visit this year.

L celebrated her 10th birthday with a weeklong stay on Grandma Bentrup’s farm. She went to a water park, saw a drive-in movie and visited Meramac Caverns with grandma and Aunt Cindy.

After years of talking about it, we rescued two kittens from a local shelter in August. We named them August and Muffles.

We celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary with a no-kids dinner in Chicago at Rick Bayless' restaurant and I actually saw Bayless when he popped out of the kitchen.

Andy volunteered to work at a the Ryder Cup golf tournament at Medinah Country Club. He was fortunate enough to work in the air-conditioned merchandising tent.

As a sophomore, E ends her high school golf season playing mostly on the varsity team and earns her varsity letters and Most Improved Player Award.

L started taking vocal lessons this year and performed in her first recital in November. She had some microphone problems, but I give her credit for being on stage and giving it her all.

E received her driver’s permit in anticipation of starting driver’s ed next semester.

Andy and I spent a relaxing week on the beach in Negril, Jamaica, while Aunt Allison watches the kids.

The bad:

B had oral surgery in January to remove two teeth from the roof of his mouth. He did like that the doctor told him to stay home from school for three days, though.

We had our oven "fixed" in January and on Valentine's Day is quit for good. We ordered a a pizza for dinner and were surprised that it was heart-shaped.

I took the girls to our church's annual women's retreat in February and not only was it freezing outside, it was freezing inside because the heat was never turned on.

Our microwave starts sparking and has to be replaced.

In June L had to leave a weeklong church camp (which she was loving) early because of a illness that overcame a lot of the campers.

We replaced the garage door in May and had it break again in October and November. Keep your fingers crossed that it stays fixed!

And the ugly:

I accidentally broke a glass in my hand that required surgery to fix the nerve and tendon. That was followed by months of doctor visits and physical therapy.

Merry Christmas to me

Andy and I did a little shopping yesterday and I'm not sure what it is, but not much of the Christmas items look very appealing to me after Christmas. I did find some scrapbook items on sale and pulled out all my albums and photos and started doing some scrapbooking today. It took about three hours this afternoon to get B's album completed from first day of seventh grade to Christmas 2011. I'm a little behind.

E's friend F left this morning. We took a couple funny shots before she left. Her father was recently promoted to CEO of a nonprofit organization so she thinks they'll be in California for at least another year. Hopefully she comes back to visit soon!

Back from California

E's friend, F, who left for California in July, came back to Oak Park for a visit over winter break. F's been busy visiting with relatives and other friends, and today E met her at the Main Library for a day in Downtown Oak Park. They came back here, had some pizza for dinner, chatted upstairs in E's room and played the new Wii U with B, his friend IR, his sister M (also E's friend) and L, of course. F is also going to sleep over. Here's our basement packed with six kids. The view from the back of the room ...:

... and the view from the front:

Cuddly kittens

It's not often we're able to get a picture of the kittens together. Must be the Christmas spirit.

Another party

E invited her friend, A, over for a sleepover last night that extended into last this afternoon. A is traveling to Israel at the end of January for four months and will complete a semester of high school while she's there, studying the Jewish culture. She's super excited to go.

Tonight was the Baker Christmas party, hosted by Andy's cousin. I made the little smokies like I did a couple of years ago. We got to meet cousin S's girlfriend whom he's known since kindergarten. She's so sweet. B gave her his stamp of approval - he said she kept saying how nice he was while they were all playing pool in the basement. The cousins' kids are getting so old - two of the girls have graduated college and are teaching.

Cousin C fun

L had a blast shopping today with Cousin C. The girls planned it last night at the Christmas party and C came to pick her up this morning and took her to Yorktown Mall. L blew through $20 I gave her and bought headphones that cover her ears, a Hello Kitty pen, a sleep mask, a mood ring and several necklaces. Now they're trying to plan a sleepover for tomorrow night. Cousin C took E shopping in the spring, but they mostly bought clothes.

Christmas

Everyone was happy with their Christmas presents - a 32GB iPod for L, a range finder for E and the black Wii U for B. Andy surprised me with an iPad. I think it's a bit of toy for himself, too.

It took a while, but L found the pickle ornament and got an extra gift - Disney's "A Christmas Carol" DVD.

For dinner we went to Julie's.

At least we saw the tree

Our plan for today was to head to Macy's downtown and eat lunch at the Walnut Room. I'd been told it's not crowded on Christmas Eve. We got to the store about 10 a.m. and could have walked right in and sat down for breakfast. However, we decided to get a pager for a seating at noon. We walked around the store for a couple of hours. The kids liked this huge nutcracker. I think it cost $2,000!

Noon came and went with no buzz from the pager so we headed to the restaurant, turned in our pager and were told to get in line. The line was enormous and slow! We guessed it would have taken at least two hours to get seated and we're still wondering what good the pager is if it isn't to get you a seat quickly.

Despite some grumbling from the kids (especially E) we left the store and decided to get pizza instead at Lou Malnati's. We got seated right away and were able to have their lunch specials since it was a Monday.

After lunch, we walked past the German Christkindlmarket and L finally bought her fuzzy rainbow hat that she's been wanting since we were there last time.

At night, we went to church for the Christmas Eve candlelight service. We only light the candle for Silent Night and one reading. Too bad we can't keep them lit longer.

Once we got home we let the kids open one present - their new pajamas that they expect every year. B and E got pajama pants - B's even have mooses on them! Course, we still had to wear his old blue moose pajama top with them.

Funny stuff

I went out to get the newspaper this morning and found our Santa like this. Perhaps he's hanging on the edge of the "fiscal cliff":

And I thought it was deer season. Who knew?

Popcorn!

When we got home today I boxed up some of our Christmas cookies for the neighbors and Andy and L went and delivered them. Parents of L's friends, E and B, sent back a container of Garrett's caramel and cheddar popcorn - the Chicago Mix. It's so good!

Staunton Christmas

Playing Bingo:

Opening presents:

Grandma got some wine:

L is so excited to have her own Sharpies:

Kevin was there, too:

B sneaking in on L's present-opening picture:

Andy, me and Mom with the quilt she made us:

E's first attempt at using her new SodaStream machine. Yes, she spilled all over the tablecloth:

The nephews:

The kids:

Winter concert

This morning was L's winter concert at school. She got all dressed up in the dress we found while shopping the other day.

She played her flute for one song.

But the most exciting part of her day (so far) was finding $20 in a tree! Not sure how exactly she did that; I'll have to get the details later. She gave it to me to bring home and put in her Disney savings. She was hiding it in her boot - ick.

Last batch

Andy's at his company's Christmas party tonight so the kids and I made the last batch of cookies - the decorated ones! B always does the bells, and L likes to decorate the Christmas trees, but when I called for her to come into the kitchen to help, she didn't so B did them all ... except one. Can you tell which one L did? Where's the quality control, kid?

L's usual job is putting the white sprinkles on top of the red stockings we make, but the stocking cookie cutter broke last year and we haven't yet found a replacement. I think the tin of cookies definitely needs something red in it so I guess I'll keep looking next year. I still use Mom's old recipe:

Sugar Candy Dough

1 c. butter
1 ½ c. powdered sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract (**I always use almond extract)
2 ½ c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cream of tartar

Mix butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in large mixer. Blend in remaining ingredients on low to soften dough, scraping constantly. Refrigerate until well-chilled. Roll out onto floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 F. until edges are light brown, about 10 minutes. Decorate as desired.

Meanwhile, E finished her final exams at school today and left the house after dinner to have a sleepover with her friend, A. No school for either of them tomorrow. I was hoping she'd be home in time tomorrow to go to L's chorus concert with me, but I have a feeling she won't be up early enough.

It works!

L was out of school early today so we headed over to JC Penneys to find her a dress for her school's winter concert Friday. She found a cute dress that she claims she's also going to wear for Christmas Eve. She was happy she got a dress, but seemed way more excited to find this winter hat with headphones attached to it. She couldn't wait to get home and try it out with my iPod. Warmth and music - what a combination!

She also loves this fedora. It was marked $10, on sale for $7 and clearance for $3. What a deal!

Bullish B-day

Cindy, Kevin and nephew A came up today to go to a Bulls basketball game. The tickets (and Derrick Rose jersey) were Cindy's birthday present to A, who turned 17 today. They got here just before L got home from school and waited for Andy to get home from work to drive them to the United Center. I even baked a birthday cake (yellow with chocolate frosting and absolutely no sprinkles) for A and he opened his present from us - a Bulls keychain made out of real basketball leather and a "Dumb and Dumber" DVD.

I couldn't resist getting a picture of all of them in their Bulls shirts.

Aww ... here's A and his uncle and godfather Kevin. Apparently Kevin hasn't been up to visit us since L's baptism!? Anyway, Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 89-100.

New cookie

It's kind of tedious baking the same cookies year after year so every so often I have to try something new. This year I found a Pecan Pie Cookie recipe from Land of Lakes and figured I'd give it a try. It does taste like pecan pie, but I'll have to let pecan-pie-tasting-expect Cindy try some of the "oopsy" ones tomorrow and see what she thinks.