Christmas Day 2011

Irving's Winter Concert

The music teachers at Irving are gifted musicians who work hard every year to produce the winter concert series for the parents.  With five performances over a three-day period, Ms. T and Ms. H direct over 400 Irving students to sing their hearts out.  Thru it all, the parents laugh and cry, and take tons and tons of pictures of their little darlings.

It's the last year I'll have a little darling performing at Irving.  And yes, I cried a bit.

Thanks for the memories.

Christkindlmarket

For the past several years, after our family has finished its annual tour of The Walnut Room, we venture over to the Christkindlmarket.  It's usually so cold and so crowded that we quickly dash in and out.  On the drive home, we promise ourselves that next year, we'll spend a little more time at the Christkindlmarket.   This year we decided to make good on our promise.

The weather seemed more like March than December tonight, but everyone at the market was in a festive mood.  It's hard not to be when there's booths that look like this:

and the kids are happy like this:

I think we've found something else to add to our Christmas traditions!

Early Christmas 2011

For more than two decades, we've celebrated Christmas early with Missy and her family.  We usually hang out at Brookfield Zoo for awhile before heading back to our house for pizza and presents.  This year we changed it up just a bit, as Missy wasn't feeling well, and Steve didn't join us as he suffered a pretty serious accident at work less than two days before.  We had a quiet, low-key celebration.  We skipped the zoo, ate pizza and exchanged gifts, and called it a night.

Happy early Christmas!

Shop til You Drop

Erin and I spent the afternoon Christmas shopping.

We were very successful.

Serenaded at Work

Whole Foods Market invited Calvary Memorial Church's adult and children's choir to sing Christmas carols in the cafeteria today, which meant they were right on the other side of the wall from where I work.  It was so much fun to hear live Christmas carols at work today!

Contrary to popular belief, I had nothing to do with arranging my church's choirs to sing at my place of work.  I thought it was a genius move on WFM's part to have live music at a peak shopping day and time.  Our customers who were waiting in long lines to check out seemed much more patient as they listened to the carolers belt out some favorite Christmas tunes.  I hope this becomes a new tradition!

Frosted Christmas Sugar Cookies

When I was a little girl, my mom pulled a magic trick every year at Christmas.  I'd leave for school in the morning, and when I returned that afternoon, there would be a double batch of frosted Christmas sugar cookies.  The last few would usually be resting on the counter, fully frosted and ready to be devoured as an after-school snack.  All the rest would be tucked away inside a giant metal Schwan's tin, which at one point held an enormous amount of ice cream, but had long since been cleaned out and re-used as a cookie container.

In our old farm house, the family dining room was basically an extension of kitchen, so Mom could keep an eye on our snack-and-homework rituals while starting supper.  While I'd feast on those special Christmas sugar cookies, I could hear the first whispers of a homemade supper coming together in that very kitchen where my mom had worked her magic on the cookies just a few hours before.

Once I moved out on my own, I decided to make my own batch of frosted Christmas sugar cookies.  I mixed up the dough and set it in my fridge.  And that's as far as I got that first year.

At the time, I was working crazy hours at a Loop law firm.  I left my apartment in the dark; I returned well after midnight most nights.  I was just too tired to try and tackle the cookies.  It occurred to me at one point that in the grown-up world, cookies don't just magically happen - someone puts a lot of effort into them.  Over the course of the next two weeks, I wound up eating the entire batch of raw cookie dough straight out of the fridge.

Once Baird and I were married and we moved to the two-flat, I thought I'd try again.  Still working crazy hours at the law firm, I figured that I'd need to plan a little more.  I set aside two hours of a Saturday afternoon to tackle the project.  That was basically enough time to roll out the dough, cut out the shapes, and get the cookies baked.  It did not allow time for frosting. That year, the cookies got baked, but they were never adorned with frosting - I just plain ran out of time.  As I sat eating my half-completed cookies, it occurred to me that this whole frosted Christmas sugar cookie thing was a lot bigger production than my mother ever let on.

Fast forward a few years, and my life was in a different place.  I'd quit the law firm job, we had a house, and the girls were small.  I thought it was the perfect time to spend a Saturday in December baking frosted Christmas sugar cookies with my own daughters.  We worked all day.  Or rather, I worked, and they "helped."  I was so tired by the time the last cookies were frosted, I had Baird make a run to Pete's for supper that night.  As I munched on a few cookies for dessert, I remember thinking, I don't know how she did it.  How did she make all those cookies, get them frosted and clean up the kitchen before we came home from school?  And then make dinner without complaining?

It's been more than a decade since the last batch of homemade frosted Christmas sugar cookies graced my Christmas baking.  I decided it was time to try again.

When the kids came home this year, the kitchen was a wreck.  Yes, the cookies were made, and they were all frosted, but the remnants of my work lay scattered about my counters, and I had several containers sitting around.  I was trying to figure out which container would work best to hold all the cookies, since I don't own one of those fabulous Schwan's tins.  Once again, I found myself thinking I cannot figure out how Mom did it.  I did, however, manage to throw a respectable dinner together without complaining.

All I can say is: I'm getting closer.

Tree Time

Something strange happened this year with our tree.  Nothing went wrong.   That may make you laugh, but over the past 22 Christmases, we've had some tree disasters of epic proportions.  There was the year the tree fell on top of Kelsey and pinned her underneath.  I heard her little voice saying, "Mom, help me!"  I ran into the living room to find the tree lying on top of Kelsey.  The tree engulfed all but her sweet little two-year-old head.  By some sort of Christmas miracle, she was not hurt, and not a single ornament broke.

Then there are the years that I like to describe as "lighting disasters."  That's where it takes days and days to get all the lights to work on the tree.  There was one year where our tree sat unadorned for ten days, patiently waiting for us to figure out the lighting issues.

This year, none of that happened.  We found a tree without much hassle (meaning, the kids agreed fairly quickly on which tree they wanted).  It's firmly secured in the tree base.  The lights went on without a hitch, and the tree was fully decorated before suppertime.

It's turning out to be a fabulous Christmas season!

Second Sunday of Advent

This year the Advent calendar is a bit confusing.  Since Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, that made the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend the first Sunday of Advent, from a church perspective.  Starting Advent in November, however, throws off every piece of Advent ritual around my house.  The little Christmas tree that sits in the middle of our dining room table this time of year has 24 ornaments.  The Advent  Book that we read every night presents us with the same dilemma.  All this confusion led us to put up the manger scene early this year, but not start our nightly Advent ritual until this past Thursday.

Anyway, for this second Sunday of Advent, the children's choir at church sang.  It hit me while Drew was singing that this is another "last" for me:  after 13 consecutive years, it's the last time I'll have a child singing in the children's choir at Christmastime.

I love this time of year!

More Zoo Pics

Brookfield Zoo is Erin's home-away-from-home.

She spent a good part of her day today at the zoo...

...before jumping into costume and entertaining hoardes of visitors this evening at Holiday Magic.

(She's the leopard)

Ball Boy

Yep, that's a soccer ball on Drew's head.

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Walnut Room 2011

Over the past few years, we've been forced into a later and later visit to the Walnut Room, with frustrating results.  Not only have the lines been crazy long, but the supply of mugs and buttons has been depleted, leaving gaps in the much-treasured collections.  In spite of these disappointments, I have been reluctant to move up the date of this event on our calendar.  It is something we've always done much closer to Christmas than Thanksgiving.

Last year as I was chatting with a friend about the short supply of mugs, she mentioned, "You know, the tree's up by the middle of November.  We always go early and it's so much less stressful.  There are no lines when you go early."  Her words have haunted me for almost an entire year.

As we started mapping out our holiday schedule, it became clear that if we were going to get in a trip to The Walnut Room this year, we would need to go Thanksgiving weekend.  I couldn't believe how easy it all was!  We walked right up to the Walnut Room - no waiting.  We scored a table by a window.  The updated menu still promises more than it delivers, but for the first time in years, it feels like the kitchen is trying.  And there was less than a 20-minute wait to see Santa.

Welcome to the Christmas season!

Thanksgiving 2011

The 5 Ring Circus has been a little crazier than usual this week.  In order to ensure I could have Thanksgiving Day off work, I agreed to work overnights for the busiest three nights leading up to Thanksgiving Day.  I went to work at 9:45 last night, and walked back thru my front door at 6:20 this morning.  I slept for three hours before getting up and preparing Thanksgiving dinner for 16.  It's at times like this I'm so very thankful for my mom and daughters, would were able to start things in the kitchen.  I walked into the kitchen to see these three lovely ladies peeling sweet potatoes.  As the morning progressed, they moved on to stuffing, scalloped corn, and gravy.

We took a break for a little bite around 11:30:

By 2:15 we were sitting down to a fabulous Thanksgiving meal with Caleb, Julia and Lydia, Mom and Dad, Missy and Lloyd, and the Bedfords (who are moving out of state next week):

My favorite candids of the day:

H A P P Y   T H A N K S G I V I N G!

New 'Do

Kelsey donated her hair to Locks of Love today, and I'm thrilled for two reasons.  First, I think that Locks of Love is a worthy organization, and I'm always happy when any member of the 5 Ring Circus gives back.

I'm thrilled for another reason.  Kelsey's hair was long.  Really long.  As in, it's-everywhere-and-it's-driving-me-crazy long.  She was in the habit of flinging her hair as she walked thru the kitchen, and as a result I would find hair long enough to pass for fishing line all over the place.  In the fridge.  In the ice cube tray.  In the sink.

Kelsey walked over to Snip City with hair downthe middle of her back and returned home with a new look.  She walked home in the cold and drizzle, so her hair "fell" a bit on the way home, but I still think she looks adorable:

Annual Thanksgiving Foodie Film Fest

A few years ago, Mel and I established a pre-Thanksgiving tradition of cooking up a micro-Thanksgiving dinner and watching the movie Pieces of April.  We use this ritual of getting together in early November to chat about our plans for Thanksgiving, and to catch up on each other's lives (altho admittedly, we do that over the phone on a regular basis).  We've fallen into a pattern: I use this day to try out the salad I'm thinking about for my Thanksgiving meal, and sometimes I'll throw in another side dish or appetizer.  Mel does the heavy lifting of cooking everything else.  I firmly believe that everyone needs a good Friend in her life who will not only cook food for her, but will also stretch and inspire her to new culinary heights.  Mel is that person in my life.  My food's pretty good, but Mel's is off the chain.  I just love it when she cooks for me!

My contributions:  Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Prosciuto and Mint Garnish

Baby Arugula, Radicchio and Endive Salad with Candied Pecans

Mel's contributions:  Turkey Legs and Homemade Gravy (this was such a treat!  I love turkey legs but I never get them at Thanksgiving - they always wind up going to the kids)

Taste of Mouth-Watering Thanksgiving Sides

This whole meal was fantastic!  It's hard for me to pick a veggie off the plate above and call it my favorite.  Let's see...herbed carrots?  Always tasty.  Potato loaded with butter and garlic?  Can't ever go wrong with that choice!  Rutabaga?  Fluffy and full of flavor.  Classic cranberries?  It's just not Thanksgiving without them! Mushrooms?  Still not a huge fan of their texture, but their flavor pairs so well with fall veggies they just can't be dismissed.  And then there were the brussel sprouts.  Never been a big fan, but these were lightly fried and that changes everything.  Frying the sprouts totally changes the texture of the outside leaves. I could honestly call them tasty!

Thanks, Mel, for the inspiration!

Celebrating Six

The year Erin was in third grade, she and I dashed from her AYSO playoff game to church so she could be flower girl in M and Bre's wedding.  In the short span of half an hour, Erin transformed herself from tough jock to gorgeous flower girl, and she did such a good job of supporting our friends as they vowed to love, honor and cherish each other forever.  Six years later, they are well on their way to happily-ever-after.

We consider M and Bre to be almost family, and I couldn't think of a better way to honor their anniversary than to cook a fabulous meal just for the two of them.  I served six courses, one for each year:

Bruschetta with goat cheese and fig compote, garnished with proscuitto and mint

The second dish was so beautiful, and I forgot to capture it!  Both M and Bre were impressed with the Tower of Roasted Red and Yellow Beets with Chevre Cheese and Pistacchios.

Third course was Carrot-Ginger Soup with Chili-Chive Butter and Roasted Peanuts, served with "Seeduction Bread"

Fourth course:  Chopped Salad with Sherry-Vinegar Dressing and Crumbled Blue Cheese

Main Dish:

Grilled Lamb with Honey and Macademia and Herb Crust
Wild Rice Pilaf with Orange and Ginger

Steamed Broccoli

Sixth Course:  Dessert
Homemade Cashew-Caramel Cups
European Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles

M and Bre ate at our dining room table by candlelight, just the two of them.  It was such fun to spoil these two!  After more than two hours of eating, they opted to stretch out on the couch in order to enjoy dessert.

I had a lot of fun putting this anniverary dinner together, but honestly, this was a collaborative effort.  Erin helped me with food prep this morning.  Baird grilled the lamb this evening.  Kelsey and Drew helped to transform the house from the home base for the 5 Ring Circus to a place worthy of an anniversary dinner.



AYSO Last Hurrah

The 5 Ring Circus has been continuously involved with AYSO soccer for the past 12 years.  Today marked the end of an era: our last child's last AYSO game.  Drew's team, the Neon Eagles, took a tough loss in the second round of the playoffs, going down 1-2.

We are still a soccer family, as Drew will continue to play for the Strikers and Erin still plays for OPRF One.  It just seems a little odd that our AYSO days are over.  It's another one of those winding-down-an-era things that seems to be happening a lot this year.  This one caught me by surprise, and made me a little wistful.

Thanks, Oak Park AYSO, for all the wonderful memories.

Suppertime Silliness

I truly love our ritual of family suppertime, but I must admit that there have been points over the years when I wondered if it was truly worth the effort.  There have been times over the years when our family dinner table was, well, wildly challenging.  Some nights there were battles over food (what in the world is that?  Whatever it is, I'm so not eating it!).  Some nights there was a child or two who made it very clear he/she would rather be someplace other than our table (Why do I have to sit here and eat?  I want to go outside and play!).  At times bad manners needed to be corrected (For crying out loud, sit up straight and chew your food - don't just put your face to your plate and shovel it in!  You were not born in a barn!).  I would often fantasize about the kids getting older and sitting around the dinner table, chatting about what happened to each of us that day, and actually engaging in lively conversation about a broad array of topics.  Now that the kids are 16, 14 and 11, occasionally my fantasy comes true.  We sometimes discuss politics, current events, the modern American mentality, or a recent sports event.  Sometimes the talk turns to a particular issue of faith or the interpretation of a passage of the Bible.  I truly love it when these kinds of discussions break out around our dinner table.
More often than not, however, there are nights like tonight, when complete silliness breaks out.  These instances sneak up quickly and they're totally "you had to be there" family moments that I wouldn't trade for anything.  It's usually toward the end of the meal, and the silliness always invokes a hillarious response, such as Drew falling off his chair laughing, or Erin laughing so hard after she took a sip of water she's got it coming out her nose.
Tonight we had baby carrots as part of our meal, and Kelsey initiated the silliness when she turned a carrot into a witch's nose...

Then came the mustaches...

The girls' antics brought a healthy dose of laughter to the end of the meal.  And yes, Drew was rolling on the floor with laughter.  As we got up from the table there were smiles all around at the lighthearted nature that had descended on our house.  Have I mentioned how much I love the atmosphere around our family table?  It's why I'm so passionate about gathering our family for good food, good fun, and good laughs.

Boo!

This year, Halloween seemed almost an afterthought.  For the first time, neither Kelsey nor Erin dressed up and went trick-or-treating.  Drew had his costume figured out weeks ago, and Baird helped him turn his generic White Sox jersey into a Paul Konerko uniform.  I missed the annual Halloween parade at Irving because I worked the 6am-2pm shift today.  I did manage to buy candy tho.  And order a pizza so there was a Shattuck contribution at the block party potluck.  This year, it has to fall under the category of "good enough."

I did manage to snap a quick pic of Drew and his friends while they were making their way around our block:

Catching up with the Big Guys

I mentioned earlier this month about the trees on Fillmore that were finally sporting their fall colors.  The maple tree on the north side of our house is just now turning color, while the other trees a mere half a block west are now bare.  I don't mind, because it makes the fleeting colors of fall feel like they are lingering just a bit longer.

Oh, and the clear, bright blue sky is pretty great too!

Drew's 11!

I'm not exactly sure how this happened...my baby turned 11 today.  Well, actually, I know how it happened.  I just don't understand how it's been 11 years already.

It seems like just a few months ago my doctor was telling me I'd need a Halloween costume for my third child.  "Yeah, right,"  I replied. "You told me to plan on a February birth for my last baby, and she was born on March 12!  I don't believe you.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm going to see Election Day still pregnant."

Well, my doctor was right, and on October 23, 2000, Andrew Warren Shattuck was born.  It was clear from the beginning that Drew provides the link between his polar opposite sisters.  He has Kelsey's dark, dark eyes but he also has a cowlick like Erin.  While he's certainly a blend of the girls, he's louder and has more energy than the two of them combined.

When we brought Drew home from the hospital, his sisters couldn't wait to hold him.  They were both running green snot out of their noses and I remember thinking, Please, God, keep him healthy for the first six weeks.  He's just too little to be sick!

And then there's today:

While Drew often feels like his sisters are conspiring against him, they really do love him dearly.  Drew brings an exuberance for life and a passion for spiritual things that's truly inspiring.  Our family wouldn't be complete without the (not so) Little Dude around.

Happy birthday, Drew.  We love you!

Look Alike?

It was School Spirit Day today, and the students and teachers were challenged to dress like someone else for the day.  Drew's teacher paid him the ultimate compliment when she dressed like him:

She wore shorts (Drew's signature look until his legs turn blue about mid-January) and a sports t-shirt (she's also a big White Sox fan).  She carried a book and a basketball, because Drew's usually reading or playing a sport.  I think she nailed the look pretty well!

Apple Strudel

The opportunity to make apple strudel with my mom, my aunt, and my Friend J Renny made this trip home just that much sweeter.

J Renny and I went for a walk while the strudel was baking, and by the time we returned, most of it had been devoured.  Guess we'll have to make some more tomorrow!