New Holiday Traditions: Jolabokaflod, The Christmas Book Flood

I realize this is the exact wrong time to be talking about Christmas but I seem to be running about two months late in all aspects of my life today so here goes:

On Christmas Eve the kids always get a pair of PJs and a book. Then we all sit down and read The Polar Express, which was a tradition in Chris' family growing up. The adults cry. Every time. 

(image by rawpixel via unsplash.com

This year we incorporated another Nordic tradition, this one from Iceland: Jolabokaflod, the Christmas Book Flood. 

The story goes like this:

During WWII, import taxes on foreign imports were painfully high so the stoic Icelanders turned to paper, which was still relatively cheap. Books became their newest gifts of choice during this difficult time.

Today, the tradition continues. Iceland has an unusually high literacy rate and a healthy publishing industry: each year a free catalog is distributed to all home with a list of every published book. The vast majority of the country buys their books between September and November (the 'flood'), in preparation for gifting favorite stories to loved ones on Christmas Eve. Once the special night arrives, everyone cozies up with chocolate and reads far into the night.

Naturally, it doesn't take much to sell me on chocolate and books so this tradition was a slam dunk, as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately, we all got the flu on Christmas Eve and it was an ill child, indeed, that didn't even have the heart to touch her giant chocolate bar.

Sigh. We'll try again next year.

Flamingo Birthday Party

So, let's me confess right up front: I adore party planning. Which is a bit weird given that I'm not a details person. I'm definitely a big picture kinda gal. Chris is the nuts and bolts half of the relationship. We joke that I dream up the vision and he makes it a reality. Which, if you know us, is so true. 

I think I'm going to start telling Chris that my grand vision for our daily lives does not include a tidy house. Life, especially with kids, is gloriously messy. This is a great idea, yes?! All in favor of adopting, shout 'aye'!

Anyway, back to the party. Since Ben and Emma have birthdays that are only separated by two weeks, it makes sense to smoosh them together into one glorious fiesta. I plan to do this until they stage a revolt. Frankly, we expected Ben to protest vociferously  but we appeased him with the promise of his Treasure Hunt (aka his buddy birthday) party and he happily went out of his way to tell everyone that he was having two birthday parties. Dude is spoiled rotten, it's true. 

So, now that we were planning Un Gran Fiesta (can you tell that I've been practicing my spanish on Duolingo?!), we needed to pack a birthday punch. 

And really, are there any other birds on the planet that can rival the flamingo for sheer showy gaudyness? (Parents and other birders: don't answer that. Save your blue mot mots, birds of paradise, and other feathered friends for next year's party) 

I found this geometric flamingo file (instant download) for $1.50 on Etsy and then set about crafting a proper invitation. 

Eh. It was ok. But who can resist messing around a bit more? 

(And I just noticed that there was a typo in the first invitation. Eek. Where is my detail-oriented husband?!)

 Or adding pink bunting? Peeps, the world needs more pink bunting.

I also added a few feathered models to the birthday cake. Bad picture, I know. Wind + dying camera does not make for good photographic evidence. Plus I was trying to balance the entire thing on top of a paint bucket (yes, we're still in construction mode) 10 minutes before guests walked in the door. Welcome to my hectic life. Which clearly has no time for tidying. Flamingos always take precedence over house chores, yes?

Here is the cake right before we dug in. This is when I started singing Happy Birthday but Ben halted the proceedings because I'd neglected to turn off every single last light in the house and it wasn't dark enough for him. Got to follow the rules and the rules say that light go OFF. Yes sir.

Ben requested an ice cream cake which was good since our oven wasn't hooked up and thus we had no way to bake a cake. This one was based off of an Ombre Cake and it got high scores from family members. Basically you whip up a whole bunch of whipped cream and layer it in between ice cream flavors of your choice. I picked chocolate, raspberry, and mango. YUM. It was an excellent combo, if I do say so myself.

Give yourself a day to make this cake. You put the bottom ice cream layer down, then a whipped cream layer and then stick it in the freezer to harden for half an hour. Then you put down another layer of ice cream and a second layer of whipped cream. Then harden. And repeat for as many layers as necessary. And then you cloak the entire thing in more whipped cream that takes the place of an exterior frosting.

Next time I'd try to make my whipped cream layers thinner. Or perhaps nix them entirely. Whipped cream simply doesn't it do it for me when compared to a good gelato. 

For the past few years we've done birthday shirts for the kids but I lied shamelessly to Ben and told him that they don't make shirts big enough for five year-olds. The tradition was cute for the first few years but I don't want my sixteen-year-old throwing a fit when he doesn't receive his annual birthday vestment. So we cut it off at age four. Sorry, Bubba. 

This is what I sent to the gal on Etsy that makes the shirts:

And...we got kind of close. It all depends on what she has in stock and I'm not surprised that her stash of oranges is a little thin.  Eh. I can live with it. Don't sweat the details, remember? :) I'm just grateful that she's willing to do custom orders. The one she made last year for Em was perfect. 

The birthday girl was happy and proceeded to show her appreciation by smearing chocolate ice cream over the front. It's my party and I do what I want to.

Sometimes it seems a bit silly to make such a to-do for what is a very small birthday party for only the kids' closest family members. But I remember quite vividly the parties my mom staged every February: the kite flying party. The high heel races. The tea party. They were great fun, even when things went wrong. Ahem. Like the time I lit the house on fire. In hindsight, that one was less fun for my parents, perhaps.

So in the meantime we're going to make a fuss over the kids and let them enjoy (jointly!) their special day. And really, it's also just an awesome opportunity to make delicious cakes.

xo,

Sonja

Treasure Hunt for a Five-Year Old

Ben's birthday was last week and today we invited five of his buddies over for an ice cream social. Frankly, I was a bit worried about how to fill the time since it takes a kiddo 30 seconds to eat a slice of pizza and polish off a juice box. Coming up with January (indoor) party ideas was making me anxious.

Eventually I decided that a treasure hunt was the best way to entertain the hordes. I spread the goodies out over all three floors; the most challenging part was coming up with the clues (and hoping that the kids could figure them out). We also decided to add in an ice cream sundae component to the party since our kitchen is still being rebuilt and I didn't have an oven to bake a cake. Ice cream is easy.


When the kids arrived they were ushered over to the table where they decorated white goodie bags with their name and some pirate stickers.

And then I unrolled a scroll and read the following:


Oh No! Terrible News!

The evil pirate Captain Hook as STOLEN all the candy toppings for our ice cream sundaes. It is up to you guys to rescue the treasure. Can you help us?!

Ok Mateys, here are the instructions for the treasure hunt:
-There are CLUES (I held up the first envelope) with riddles, that you must solve that will tell you the location of the NEXT CLUE. 
-Along the way, you might find pieces of pirate treasure. There is ONE piece for every kid. 
-Once you find a clue, bring it to me and I'll read it out loud. 
-At the very end you'll find the buried treasure and only then can we have our ice cream sundaes. 

And then I gave them a practice riddle:

If I had 3 legs I wouldn't be stable
I'm where you eat breakfast
I am a __________(table)

There were a lot of puzzled faces. Then Ben shouted out "BOBCAT!!!" Wtf? Oh dear, I thought, this is going to be a disaster. But I read it again, more slowly, and they guessed the right answer. That seemed to give them confidence and we moved onto the real deal.

Here was the first clue:

Clue #1:
Lots of water and soapy bubbles,
To scrub off the grub,
take a look in the_____(tub!)

In the bathtub was a package with cool pens (pirate treasure) and another clue. The kids brought both down and I picked a kid to distribute one piece of treasure to each child. Then I read the second clue out loud:

Clue #2:
Captain Hook is such a crook,
he's hidden the next clue in a ______(book)

If they're not getting the clue, you can always read the whole thing (including the last word) and they'll still have fun hunting down the next clue.

Clue #3:
Mateys, You're doing well. Pay attention, because here we go:
On your feet when tromping through ooze,
the next clue is hidden in some ____(shoes)

For the next clue we blew up a whole bunch of balloons and spread them out on the floor of our closet. Underneath were sprinkled gold chocolate coins.

Clue #4:
In amongst all the balloons, you might find some gold doubloons! 

From the top of your head on down to your toes,
the next clue is hidden where you find your: ________(Clothes)

Clue #5:
It now time to head to your bower,
the next clue is hidden in a _________(shower)

Here’s a hint because this one’s tricky,

it where you get clean when you’re awfully sticky

Clue #6:
Arg Mateys!
This is the last clue, you're almost there! 

Find the goodies and bring them back here!

Ok pirates, time for all to pitch-in,
the last clue is hidden in the _______(kitchen)

If your kid can read than you can tape this to the package:
“Bra-awk! Congratulations salty pirates! 

You are a clever brood! 

And now it's time to have some food!


I should note that I came up with most, but not all of these clues. My Dears, the internet is a gold mine. Mix and match to suit your pleasure.

Here are a few more that I came up with but didn't actually use:


Now we have a big dilemma, 

where do we find our little emma? 

I thought it'd be cute to have Toddler Emma have the next clue in a backpack on her back but eventually decided that she might be overwhelmed by the sudden crush of big kids around her. 

What is that odorous perfume?
Must be something in the baby's room!

A few treasure hunt tips

• Make sure every kid gets to open (and then distribute) treasures to the other kids. They love having jobs at this age. 

• The treasure doesn't have to be fancy. Our pirate treasure consisted of gold chocolate coins, cute little pens, glow sticks, and a toy car. Small stuff. Stickers, temporary tattoos, and packs of crayons would also work well. Frankly, you could probably nix the small stuff and just have the big pirate treasure at the end. 

• Kids at this age can follow directions. I'd wait until goodies were stowed in bags before bringing the children back together for the next clue. The more attentive ones would shush the others so everyone could hear the clue being read. 

• Don't be afraid to give hints. The joy is them running around the house in a big pack trying to find the next clue. Honestly though, somebody always got the clue. Five year-olds are bright. 

• We spread our clues out strategically: one clue upstairs, then one in the basement, then another back upstairs. Gets 'em tired and hungry. 

The final treasure was a bag of candy toppings for the ice cream sundaes. We regrouped in the dining room and everybody was assigned a job: setting the table, pouring the candy into bowls, handing out juice boxes, and making sure there were enough chairs. Kids love having a job to perform. 

Then Chris arrived with pizza so we whisked the candy away before the kids could start gobbling that and instead put down pizza pie. 

A word of advice when having an ice cream sundae party for kids:

Put the ice cream bowl in front of them, then clearly instruct that they can have ONE spoonful of topping(s). If you're my kid, you'll take one spoonful of every. single. topping. But then take the candy bowls off the table. Otherwise they'll just keep grabbing goodies and it'll be a huge mess.

And then you can (hopefully) send everyone home before the sugar crash occurs.   :)

Rough party itinerary

20 minutes - arrival and bag decoration
20 minutes - treasure hunt
15 minutes - lunch
15 minutes - ice cream sundaes
20 minutes - general play and departures


Another fun idea that my sister-in-law mentioned: Fishing. The kind where the kid has a pole, throws the end over the edge of the deck, and someone puts a small treat on the hook. Next year, perhaps.

Chronicles of family life

Let’s talk photos, yes? I am the kind of tourist that takes 5,000 pictures, puts them on the blog, and then never looks at them again.

Which is a bit of shame, really.

So we’re changing things up around here. Namely, I’ve decided to do a few 8x8 mini trip albums. These are getting added to our stack of baby books and the “Year in Review” series.

Thus far, I’ve done two: Peru and Iceland/Sweden. It’s a slow process though because I wait until Shutterfly has a free album coupon available. You still have to pay s&h so it typically works out to about $8/book. 

Here is the latest version:

8x8 isn’t much room to work with and I have a tendency to cram lots of photos onto a single page; it’s my inability to pick just one picture to showcase. 

But honestly, it’s the kids that are going to be looking at these albums the most and they like to see pictures of themselves. Even little Emma is obsessed with her own image. 

Consequently, I’m ok with a little visual clutter.

I’ve also started including maps in the albums. I paint them first with watercolors and then digitally add in the towns and trip route.

As you can see, I’m not exactly the next Picasso, but it’s a fun little project.

Someday I’d love to take a painting course. Or a sketching class. Wouldn’t that be fun to travel and sketch out town scenes or pyramids?

That won’t be happening anytime soon, but it’s still fun to dream.

xo,
Sonja

Emma’s Baby Book

This morning I was walking around Greenlake with a friend and we were discussing baby books. And lo and behold, look what was waiting on the doorstep when we arrived home: The Book of Emma 

Just like Ben’s Book, we ordered it through MyPublisher and went for the gigantic 11"x15” size.

There are a few changes since we ordered Ben’s three years ago, the first one being that the covers are thicker and have a bit of gloss.

You should know that I blurred some portions of the text, just to provide our wee gal with some birth info privacy. 

Like Ben’s book, this album is divided into several chapters.

Ready?

Here we go:



Chapter 1: Formal Monthly and Weekly Photographs

All those weekly picture sessions finally paid off! Never again will I be doing that project. :)

I know some people consider it a waste to only put one picture on a page, but the big photos are some of my favorites. Especially this one.

Chapter 2: The Baby Journal

The journal includes stats, birth details, notes, and milestones. There is also a section for future 'accomplishments' and height/weight entries. 

There is also: “The Price Of: ...a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, the cost of your first house, etc”. Another fun section: What Famous Events Happened On Your Birthday, Which Famous People Share Your Birthday, etc.

Many of the questions we used in the baby journal can be found in this link. 

Here is a new page: photos of Chris and I as babies. I think Emma is a dead ringer for Baby Christopher, bottom right. Especially the hair! I wonder when Emma’s hair will go dark. 

The one of me with my mama (bottom middle) is a favorite of mine. 

Chapter 3: Informal photos

These are arranged chronologically and begin with her birth (very early January) and end with Christmas (December). Basically a “Year in Review” section.

Here is a prime example: The summer trip to Alaska

In addition to the bigger album format, I also sprung for lay-flat pages. Fancy, fancy. 

I love picking out pictures for album. Hopefully she’ll see the humor in these...

This one is mostly of Ben but I crack up every time. Because clearly this is the photo one should make when forced to do posed pictures with family members.

 If our little girl ever gets too big for her britches then I can always whip out the baby book to show her what the first year was really like:

Oh Ben, you’re so sweet. And I am such a horrible mother for choosing to photograph this rather than saving the poor wee babe from nasal tickling.

Chapter 4: Keepsakes

This section has been revamped. Ben’s book is a bit unwieldy because I pasted in all the cards and hospital keepsakes right into the album. With Emma’s version I decided to scan everything as photo files and incorporate them directly into the book. Much better.

Remember we did the Wishes For Emma project at her party? Here is how it turned out. I also scanned these, rather than pasting in the card stock.

Chapter 5: Birthday Book (Ages 1-18)

I went ahead and filled in her one year birthday party page but all the subsequent pages are blank.

Here is a good example. On the left, we have space for descriptions and photos of Emma’s 4th birthday (and year) and on the right is the annual questionnaire (What is your favorite animal, what do you want to be when you grow up, tell us a funny joke, etc). Some of the questions I used for Ben’s interview can be found here. I tweaked them a bit for Emma’s version.

There is also space to post pictures and announcements in the Time Capsule section.

Another new feature: a customizable back cover. Whoohoo.

Darling, 
You are loved, Emma. Fiercely, unconditionally, and without reserve. We are, and always will be, grateful to have you in our lives.
Love, Mama and Daddy

(I know, 'Mama and Daddy' sounds slightly off. But I don’t love ‘Mommy’ and Chris doesn’t adore ‘Papa’ so this is the compromise)

So, the nitty gritty:

Book: MyPublisher

Size: 11”x15"

Extras: lay flat pages, linen book cover, 100 pages

Cost: $236 face value. (I know, crazy expensive. But I used a coupon so the total cost after rebate was $104. Still not cheap, but hopefully she’ll keep this around for many, many years to come)

MyPublisher requires that you download the program from their website and it’s available for either Mac or PC. We used the Mac version and it was fairly decent. There were a few things in the program that I found somewhat limiting (background colors, resizing photos, spacing/aligning photos, moving pages around) but overall it was fine. Once you’re finished, you upload the entire thing to the website and fork over your $$. The ordering process was easy. 

xo, 

Sonja

Ben’s 4th Birthday: Party Details

Have I told you what good sports our family is? 

Exhibit #1:

Not only do they graciously help us celebrate our two wee tykes but they willingly embraced the whimsical toddler activities.   It reminded me of my second grade teacher Mrs. Roarback who came to my birthday part and then gleefully participated in the high heel relay races. 

[side note: how is it that none of us broke ankles participating in that particular stunt?!]

But back to the family: I think I’ll keep them. 

And they make quite fetching woodland wolves:

I'm especially partial to this one:

The forest gnome. Awesome sauce, peeps. You totally need this one at your next wedding photo booth. Robbie looks quite dapper, no? The jaunty bow tie makes the ensemble. 

The birthday boy doing a little ice cream cranking. 

Hedgy the Hedgehog! In all his glory. 

He is directly modeled off of this terrific version, available from Etsy seller Wunderlandhome.

I feel like he’s got his arms out, saying: “No!! Stop, do not smash me to smithereens!"

Sorry Hedgie, no mercy today, even after all that work. sniff.

Never get between a boy and his candy. 

Cake topper and invitation:

I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow that candle out:

xo, 

Sonja

Resource List:

Invitations: The Pear in Paper (I cannot rave about this Irish artist enough. She’s so fun to work with)

Piñata Inspiration: Wunderlandhome

Party Masks: The Quirky Quail

Birthday Shirts: Say It ’N Stitches

Here are the details for Emma’s First Birthday Party.