O Christmas Tree

First, I had completely forgotten about this picture. These trees are all over the island, well, the parts I have seen. Aren't they funny? The needles grow upward. I think they are fantastic. I want these in my yard in Michigan. Wonder if they need the semi tropical climate. I am going to look into that.

Now, onto another tree. I know this picture is a little blurry, but it was the best I could do. I wish the pictures were better. The tree is much prettier in person.

Please ignore the speaker on the wall near the top of the tree. If I thought I could get Jerry to take it down, I would. However, I live in the real world.

Exciting Times

There are several exciting things happening around here. Well, exciting for me, maybe not for you, but I am positive you are dying to know what is going on. I will indulge you.

First, we finally got a car for Jerry. Hugely exciting for me; I am no longer trapped at home on weekdays!! Okinawa is much more appealing when you can go places. There is a small downside, he got a Subaru Impreza WRX STI (if I don't include those six letters I get corrected and several nasty looks), which will at some point garner my I-think-I-am-a-racecar-driver husband a ticket. Oh, and it is white, just like my van. I KNOW you are loving that Yee.

Second, Christmas shopping is done. Whew. Now, if you would, please cross your fingers that my last few boxes get here before Christmas Day. Being that we are now at the mercy of the postal service, I feel a screwing in our future.

Third, and most importantly, I snagged a panini maker really cheap at the PX today. Mmmmmm. If any of you have some good panini recipes, throw them my way. I am so excited!

I know, I know, I told you it was exciting around here! And our Christmas tree turned out so pretty! I really love it this year. It is the first artificial tree we have had, but it is nice all the same. I will take some pictures soon. I need to have a cup of tea and relax for pete's sake. Go, do the same, after sending me panini ideas of course.

Awesomeness

One of my college friends, Brent, is now a teacher, an amazing one. He sent me an email with a link to the music video his class made. It is great. Take a look.
Boom De Yada Video.

Progress

As your kids get older, they become so much more self sufficient, in good and bad ways. Garrett dresses himself pretty much all the time, even for bed. It is nice; I love it. Lately he has come up with his own unique style. Here is a little video to illustrate what I mean.




And, yes, this is everyday, for now. I love kids.

The Cutest Pizza Ever

Hunting for Christmas gifts, I found this site Mahar Drygoods. They have some of the cutest things. This is one of my favorites, the pizza set. I do think it is kind of pricey, but G has a birthday not too far away.

Black Friday Hunting of a Different Sort

We needed to get out of the house today, so we went to a beach. I was so excited, we found a lot of sea glass. I am hoping to collect much more over our time here.

Here's Boo sitting on the sea wall.

Like the tongue sticking out me? He's such a nice boy.

I think the sea glass is so pretty. As you can tell, some started life as a beer bottle. We got some nice shells too.

Collecting shells, and sea glass after mommy mandated we all look for it. Luckily the boys were happy to help me out. Garrett is not in this picture because he just could not move on down the beach. There were shells everywhere. He would start to head toward us, stop pick up something else and run back to the pile he had started. It was really funny, he just could not walk past anything.

Stuffing recipe

My folders:

This is the recipe I used. I did not use it to stuff my turkey, so I used more stock than the recipe called for since I was baking it in a dish. And I used 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white for the bread cubes. Since we do not have Golden Delicious apples I used a Wojin apple. That is one of only about 3 kinds here. And apples are crazy expensive here, as are potatoes. Gotta love the produce embargoes. Oh, and I added the apples and cranberries to the skillet to warm them through a little before adding to the bread cubes. I am going to get a picture of the green onions sold at the Japanese grocery here. They are huge. You'll see. Someday. I promise. Someday.

• 1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread
• 3 3/4 cups cubed white bread
• 1 pound ground turkey sausage
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
• 3/4 cup turkey stock
  

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the white and whole wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.
• In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
• Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, and parsley. Drizzle with turkey stock. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.