This week in Iowa...

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

I just came in from driving Alice to school with a monsoon rain in progress. I had to sweep a number of nightcrawlers out of the garage so they wouldn’t get squished and stink. A damp smell is in the air—it is almost 60 degrees and feels like summer. That is supposed to change tomorrow with an “arctic blast” arriving to change the rain to snow. We are grateful the cold didn’t arrive earlier, or we would have had a foot of snow or more!

The Christmas decorating is in process—the tree is up, the outdoor lights are up, and the other room decorations are on the docket. Our street is lined with 6-ft white lighted trees, one for each yard. A couple of neighbors did all the work of purchasing and handing them out, (and collecting the money), and the street looks so nice. Most houses have clear lights on their houses or landscaping, with just a few colored lights to accent things. It looks really nice!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Catherine and Aaron’s home. We drove up Wednesday morning and the kids were excited to see us. Brenna has changed so much since Labor Day. (It makes me sad for how much we are missing with Emma as she grows!) Brenna is no longer a baby but now a toddler, and speaks quite well, with some letters missing still (which is so endearing at that age). “Mommy” is “Bobby”, which I couldn’t figure out, until we were spent a lot of time looking for the mouse on each page of the book “Goodnight, Moon”, and she called it a “bouse”. (We went through that book many, many times!) She was a little leery of Kevin until he gave her airplane rides and she kept wanting another one, “please, gan-ka!” She could say “grandma” very well though. (Even with an “m” in it?!)


The Thanksgiving meal was delicious—my rolls were perfect, for once, and all the food was so tasty. Catherine’s turkey was scrumptious. It was good the weather was nice so we took a lot of walks, or took the kids to the nearby park (the playground is at the school, about a block away). With the hilly landscape, you always end up walking up a major hill no matter which direction you go in (and then you get to walk down again). That kept us from gaining any weight even though we’d feasted.

Over the River and Through the Woods...

...to Catherine's house we go! The weather is supposed to be nice (50's and maybe lots of sunshine). I'm taking books to read to Connor and Brenna. We're planning on dipping chocolates. We'll be making pies and other yummy things to eat. Then we'll go for long walks in the late autumn woods. All to be ended with putting up the Christmas tree! A great weekend!

I hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful as well.

Whew! It's Finished!

Yesterday was the deadline. I couldn't find the box of miniature candycanes in our Christmas stuff--another trip to Walmart (but I did it at the end of visiting teaching so it was "on the way"). Another batch of frosting (3rd or 4th--I lost count).
















I decided to go ahead and put the two parts together and finish with all the decorations. Good decision--it turned out well.
















Then Kevin held it in his lap as I drove (gently!) to the Music hall where everything is displayed.

I also waited until near the end of the time to submit them--I wanted the competition to already be displayed so I could see them.

















There were some pretty cute and imaginative displays!
Lots of good ideas if I ever feel the need to do this again. Who knows?!?

















There were TWO gingerbread trains, with gingersnap cookies for the wheels. And here I was "locked" into thinking they wanted gingerbread houses!

Maybe next time, I'll just donate money...?

Since I am such a novice at this, it seems like it has taken forever, this week, to get to this point.

Creating the pattern (Kevin helped here): 2 hours x 2 people= 4 hours
Mixing the dough, rolling it out, cutting and baking: 4 hours
Shopping for the candy (3 different stores): 2 hours
Making the practice house so I could remember how to do it: 3 hours










Decorating the real house: 5 hours (and it isn't totally done yet). I have to make a decision...
Go with the Tudor cottage (with yard decorations, of course!) Or,











go with the two-story English Shakespearean-era house?












The single-story cottage would be easier to transport...

I know one thing, the next one I do will go much faster! (IF I ever do another one.)

I made rectangular lollipops for the windows. The shutters are peppermint Andes Mints. The exposed timbers are ribbons of melted chocolate. I tried a number of things for the exposed timbers--sliced tootsie rolls, chocolate Twizzlers, or just leaving them bare. The chocolate ribbons make it look sooo delicious!

Gingerbread House???

Alice, Elizabeth and I have decided to enter a gingerbread house contest. What?!? Us???

Jamie made it look doable last Christmas, and the hospital charity just wants gingerbread houses it can auction off. (The contest part is just to make it fun--don't worry, we're not expecting to win.)

HELP! Our gingerbread house needs a theme, and the general theme of the Festival of Trees is "A Renaissance Christmas".

The display board can be no larger than 18" x 18", and the house delivered on Wed, Nov. 15. (So, time is short). Any gingerbread recipes? Or frosting recipes? Any decorating ideas? Jamie, if we attempted a castle, any pointers???

At least Alice and Elizabeth have two days out of school next week (parent-teacher conferences) and now I know what we'll be doing!

And this is ALL in the name of charity.

Neighborhood Flags

A number of homes like to show their colors.
They have flags flying in their yards--the American Flag is the most numerous.





The University of Northern Iowa Panthers flag is also seen a lot.










The Iowa Hawkeye flag flies in a number of yards, but this year it seems kind of lifeless.










There might be some Iowa State Cyclone fans around, but no flags!

Anyone care to trade?

For those of you living in balmy temperatures, it was 20 degrees this morning, and with a bright, sunny sky at 1:30 in the afternoon, it is up to 36 degrees. Did I mention the 20 mph wind? BRRRR....

And the winner is....

Brushfire!
(Brushfire, Brushfire, Brushfire, Brushfire...)

Deborah's group, "Brushfire" took first place in the large group division at the folk ensemble contest held in Provo last Saturday. Groups from all over Utah took place and in placing first, the group won $500. Although the crowd and the judges liked all their selections, the wild favorite was "Oh, Susannah! Around the World". Based on the old folk tune, the group arranged it to reflect different cultures, such as from Russia, China, Ireland, and Jamaica (reggae!). This grew out of the group's fatigue in playing "Oh, Susannah" this summer in Europe at every single venue with the Folk Dancers. During practice they began playing around with it so it became more fun to play.

Deborah also was part of a small group (3 people) at the folk music contest. They made it to the finals and eventually took 3rd place, which also had a monetary prize. So it was a very profitable day! (Not if you're worried about homework...)

On Nov. 10th, a Celtic folk group called FiddleSticks will release a new CD. This is a family group, and the daughter who is the fiddler on the CD is now on a mission. Our Deborah is the replacement fiddler and has been performing with FiddleSticks this fall. They will have a performance at the release of the CD at the Noni auditorium in Provo.

Is Deborah busy with music? Yes, and that's not all! Last Thursday, the 26th, she traveled with Mark Geslison and another guy to Roosevelt, Utah, and performed at an elementary school on an Indian reservation. Mark is the head of all the folk ensembles at BYU.

So, is that all? No, Deborah is part of one more group, but in this one she doesn't play the fiddle, she plays the guitar! "Not quite ready for public performance" could be one way to describe them, but they practice together a couple hours a week.

Is Deborah going to school??? We think so.