Whatever: Merry, merry Christmas

Oh Christmas, you are so wonderful.

The breakneck speed which we hurdle ourselves toward you.

The anxiety of watching and waiting for the presents and the food. The moment when we gather under the tree, bed head and bad breath, coffee in hand to watch as our loved ones open their much anticipated gifts. 

The songs that drive us nuts for a month, but on Christmas Day make us teary eyed and sentimental.  Church with strangers and friends who greet each other with all the joy that is Jesus.

The food, the wine, the fun. All rolled into one big ball of wonderfulness.

Whatever: Traditions and a cheap mom

*As a "glass half full" person, I am ready for some good news.*

My kids are almost ready for Christmas and the talk of that has taken over the tragedy that is all over the news has quieted down some.
 We are  gathering up our Christmas traditions and celebrating them as much as possible.

I started a tradition a few years ago with my girls that we celebrate the countdown to Christmas with a little gift starting 12 days before. They love it, knowing they get the yearly Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and random little things up until then.

Cooking: Holiday kickoff

I had an awesome weekend.

I hope you did as well.

My children in the midst of final exams and end of year projects.

 I worked a fair amount last week and we had various home projects going on, including getting the dry wall fixed in our bedroom (mess!).

We actually had no firm plans this weekend other than we had tickets to a local highschool's Christmas program on Saturday night.

On a whim, Steve and I went to a movie Friday night. 

Saw the new Bond movie (as the only girl in my house that had not seen hottie Daniel Craig running around in a well fitting suit, I was felling left out.)

We even got popcorn AND split a Diet Coke. Wild.

Sigh...

Saturday, Steve went biking and I worked out, while the girls did their chores. Cleaning rooms that stay clean for about 13 minutes is a Sisyphus task for them. Not sure how they get so trashed. But, after Steve got home and we all showered, we drive to a neighboring "town" and went to a cut your own Christmas tree farm. I wasn't sure what to expect. 

What we got was a memory that will last a very long time and a new Swann family tradition.

 I put a shout out on the Facebooks looking for a farm and my friend Maria came through, for sure.

 

The sweet couple at the Reese Family Christmas Tree Farm were so nice and the guy who helped us with our tree and took our Christmas card photo was truly a gem.

 

 They didn't bat an eye when Steve chased the girls around the farm with a stick.

 Or when we pretended we were giants. Or when we made Ellie "work"

. Or when we tried to take their dog. (Joke, but I really have a soft spot for Jack Russells). We tromped around on that farm for a good hour touching every tree and running around, laughing like lunatics.

 

After we had our fill of the tree farm, we came home and relaxed.

The girls and I went to hear the McCallie/GPS Candlelight Christmas concert. The music was absolutely top notch and put the three of us in the holiday spirit.

Sunday we did the church thing, shopped for secret Santa, did some homework and worked on decorating the tree. We are taking our time with the decorations and it is truly a great way to do it. 

The girls made my aunts recipe for Molasses Crisp cookies Steve and I went to dinner and went to hear the Carolina Chocolate Drops as the final icing on a lovely weekend.

If you have not seen or for that matter heard the Carolina Chocolate Drops,  you must do so as soon as possible. One of the best folk bands around (just nominated for their second Grammy).

Casa Swann We gotta Eat Menu 

• Chicken soup, Creamy Kale Soup
• Taco Pasta (courtesy  of my daughter's Pinterest Board)
• Cuban Chicken, black beans and rice
• Spaghetti Squash Casserole

All in all, a great weekend and a truly great way to ease into the holidays.

Whatever: The family that plays together...

As I said Monday, I survived the holiday weekend.

My sister, Jennifer and her adorable family was here from Wednesday on.

Middle Sister, as my nephew dubbed her, Karen came up for the day Thursday.

She brought her husband and two youngest kids. Her two oldest had other plans and decided to stay in the Nashville area with their girlfriends dad. We missed them, especially as I look back on the family photo and miss the tallest kid 6"1"! 

With both my sisters in the house AND Steve's brother-in-law and two of his three kids, along with several mother-in-laws, we were a large and loud group. The best part was the fact that the women outnumbered the men for once. Love it!

Thanksgiving dinner was lovely and we all behaved once we sat down to eat. 

After a short "break" to digest our dinner, we dove into a rousing game of Cranium, or more appropriately named... "yell at the top of your lungs". Literally, the windows were rattling. 

 

If you have never played Cranium, it is a game of knowledge, creativity, charade-like performance and words. If you would like the experience that we had I suggest you gather ALL of the most competitive and obnoxious people you know, give them several bottles of wine to drink, have them talk a lot of trash, pair them up with the unlikeliest alliances, then tell them to be quiet because the little kids are in bed. 

Most everyone in my family is very competitive. My baby sister has only recently been able to play games because she hates to lose. I personally have gotten more so the older I get. And, my nephew, who literally is the most competitive person I know, seems to bring it out in me even more. So, it is a bit of an understatement to say that it got ugly. 

Everyone was talking  major trash, beginning with our team names and going all the way to victory dances being pranced rather enthusiastically after each round.

(Although, to my great embarrassment, I am the only one who dropped the F-bomb.

Major fail...especially when my niece busted me for " Saying a curse word REALLY LOUD!")

 

  We were really excited to play, especially since all the "kids" are now actually old enough to play. Our children now range in age from 21 to 6, and all but the two smallest and one teen observer played.

  

We all took turns acting out people, places and things, drawing with our eyes closed and guessing at random trivia. 

 Intense is the not the right word for this experience, especially since we had an unusually high number of  "Club Cranium " cards when everyone had to play at once. Arguments and louder yelling ensued. Also, the 100th Club Cranium of the evening was the last straw for me, hence the now infamous uttering.

 After one spilled drink, many rounds of arguing over who was cheating and who was cheated, lots and lots of talking over each other, and much laughter we finally finished hours later after one major declaration of this being the worst game and biggest group of cry babies. EVER.

It was.The best game. Ever. 

Of course, I can say that because, my team won.

Go Team Cuddly Wolverines!!!!

Dirt: The group photo

In case you haven't noticed...

It is still November.

It is still the month in which we Americans give thanks for what we have received and for what we have in our lives. We had a lovely Thanksgiving, full of laughter and fancy dishes.

Grandmother's 20th anniversary china and mother's crystal

I am savoring the 300 plus photos I took over the Thanksgiving weekend.

I want it to last. At least longer than the turkey dinner did.

The hours and days I spent cleaning, shopping and cooking that culminated in just about 15 minutes of a meal on the actual day.  Sigh.

We had a minor speed bump in our plan to have dinner at 1pm. The original turkeys got too warm when defrosting, so we threw them out and started over.

Everyone was notified that it would be moved back 2-4 hours and it worked out great. We had snacks and lots of visiting and laughter to carry us through.  I was really happy to have most of both sides of our family together and everyone seemed to hit it off.

I am thankful for those calves

Bro-in-law and his mom

Middle sister and my mother-in-law

We had a speech given by a very eloquent speaker, who encouraged us to count our blessings before we sat down to a wonderful meal.

Amazing child

While we were waiting for the turkey to smoke, I went out on a limb and gathered everyone for a group photo. Something I wish we had been doing every year since Steve and I have been together. I had someone ask me for photos recently and I was sad to find out that even though I take the most in my family, I don't really have any good "groups". Steve and I have joined that adult group called "Adults without grandparents". The lack of photos from the holidays we celebrated with them is such a travesty as we were both extremely close to our grandparents.
So, while I can't get that back, I can create new photos for my children and my siblings children.
 

One thing to know about my family, we have a lot of women in it. 

A lot of smart and head strong women.

 So there were a lot of directions given to get everyone where they needed to be for the photo.

Negotiations began

No problem with self awarness

So, as of this year, as the official photographer of the family, I have decreed. We are taking the "damn" photo every time we get together. Mine are not as in focus as I wish they were, but they at least capture the "us" of 2012.

Including the dogs. 

Poor baby

Eating: Southern Kings

 

Well, the novelty has worn off the renovation.

I am sitting in my office surrounded by makeshift clothing racks. Essentially, I am sitting in a closet.

Last  night, however, we escaped the madness that is three beds and a spin  bike in our  bedroom and went over to our buddies' house for Sunday-Funday. We ate like southern kings and even had peach daiquiris from a real daiquiri machine like the ones you see in bars in New Orleans. They are fancy, these Sunday-Funday friends of ours.

Stacey is the hostess with the mostess and we had bbq, homemade macaroni and cheese, fabulous basil and tomato dip with fancy crackers and potato salad. I brought roasted green beans and tomato,cucumber and feta salad along with semi-frozen homemade strawberry ice cream. Oh, and had this, which was delicious and quite refreshing, I must say.

       Source: laurenconrad.com via Annie on Pinterest

We had met at the Chattanooga Market yesterday for a quick (and extremely warm) trip away from our families. A full shopping basket, a glass of sangria and we were back in our AC cars in about twenty minutes. In that twenty minutes, in addition to lovely sangria, I acquired two different kinds of tomatoes (Holy Land being my newest to try), patty pan squash, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, peaches, blueberries, green beans and strawberries. Oh, and Rio Grande spicy goat cheese. Summer is the best time for eating, in my opinion.

I guess yesterday was a food day. This week however, is my favorite week of the year. 

Independence Day is my very favorite holiday and I am working hard to make it my kids' favorite as well. So, this week, we will eat like southern kings, we will light things on fire and we will enjoy the freedoms that come with being Americans. Including sitting in a makeshift closet while blogging.

 Casa Swann Best Week of the Year Menu 

• Salad with grilled chicken, blueberries and avocados
• Grilled patty pan squash, chicken/veggie  pita sandwiches
• Happy Birthday, AMERICA! Roasted veggies, shrimp, cucumber, tomato and feta salad*
• Pesto pasta, kitchen sink salad

* I have two recipes to share with you this week. 

The first came from my sweet and oh so super cool friend, Amy who lives the cooler version of my life in Charleston, SC. She and I have the same sense of humor and sensibilities about things, but she is less mean and has better clothes.

The second I got from Pinterest and made last night for Sunday-Funday.
Delicious and EASY!

Enjoy!


Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad

• about a pint of halved or quartered cherry tomatoes
• 1 medium field cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and diced to about 1/2-inch
• 1/2 of a medium red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp  red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp turbinado sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste

1. Combine cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, basil and feta cheese.  Toss to mix. 
2. Whisk olive oil, vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt in  small bowl.  Taste dressing and adjust seasonings if necessary.
3. Drizzle dressing over salad, whisking as you go.  Toss salad to coat evenly with dressing. Taste and adjust seasonings.  Serve immediately, or allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes for the cucumbers to soften and the flavors to blend.

Serves 4 as a healthy side portion.

Roasted Green Beans

• 1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half 
• 1 package sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbl. Olive oil
• 1 tbl balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper 
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Roasted green beans with mushrooms and balsamic . Marinate in ziploc bag, spread out on cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 30 minutes,  turning once.Sprinkle with Parmesan and roast for 5 minutes more.

YUM -O!

Gratituesday: traditions

I am a sucker for traditions.

We have several in my immediate family. 

We all sit in the same seat every night, and have for 10 years.

We also have them in  my extended family. 

Some of them come from growing up with two sisters (the assigned seats) and some come from our religious faith.

This past weekend, my nephew and godson made his First Holy Communion.

The tradition of it goes back to Jesus' last supper with his 12 disciples. We continue it until we die. 

My nephew was very nervous, as was I and, I am sure, every single one of my family members when we made our own first communion. But it is a tradition that we all carry forth. Our god parents show up and our parent's throw a party to celebrate.

This past weekend, we celebrated Gabe's first communion.

My sister cried (tradition is  that the mother's cry...I did at both of my girl's first communions).

We gathered for the obligatory family photographs.

My sister threw a great party and we ate too much (again, tradition)

 We continued our tradition of being a family that works together.

My sisters both live away from me. One lives two hours away and the other almost 7. 

When we get together, though, we don't miss a beat. We pitch in with chores and finish sentences. This weekend was no exception.

My oldest daughter has started doing that as well. She made cupcakes for her godmother's (my sister's) party. She helped get the kids where they needed to be. She listened as we hung out. 

We have lots of traditions in my family. Religious and otherwise.

 I think they are the glue that holds us together. Many are silly and inane,

 but they too have their place along with the serious and sincere.

 I am grateful that they are being passed down to the next generation.

Cooking: Sunday/ Funday

This week, my goal is to blog four times

____________________________________________________

We have accidentally started a tradition at my house. Accidental traditions are the best kind, I think. 

Accidental means not contrived, spontaneous and a matter of fate.

Starting on Easter Sunday, we have spent every Sunday cooking,eating and being outside. 

Usually we are with our friends and family, twice we have been to an event. One week it was our

 Four Bridges Art festival and yesterday to the opening of the local farmer's  market. 

We relish hanging out. Truly hanging out and relaxing with friends. We have been using our smoker and cooking chicken, pork and salmon. Delicious! I have made easy favorites, kitchen sink salad,key lime pie, black eyed peas, and homemade slaw. Easy and quick has been my motto.

My husband and I were talking earlier in the week as to how we used to hate not having anything to do on a weekend day. When our kids were little, we tried to cram as much into our weekends as possible.Now, we look forward to a calm Sunday to end our crazy week. Now, don't get me wrong, we still go hard on the weekends. This weekend alone, we went to two separate dinner parties, out to dinner with our kids, chauffeured a kid to a dance, a plant sale,  the garden center, a musical, church, mountain biking, the farmers market and Home Depot.  We planted our garden, mulched flower beds and mowed. The difference is now, we schedule our down time instead of trying to make up for it on Monday.

Yesterday, by mid afternoon, we were relaxing and hanging out with friends. Smoking a wild pig, cooking other treats and eating. The kids played wiffle ball and hide and go seek. The adults stood around and swapped stories and laughed hard. Relaxing and rejuvenating for the week ahead.

This week, we are going to my sister's and Sunday/Funday will be on hiatus, instead spent in the car, driving home. But it will return, in two weeks and we will be ready to do  what we now know we do best...cook, eat and relax.

Via my favorite way to waste time on Sunday/Funday

Post Sunday/Funday menu

* We over indulged yesterday. For instance, I ate about 10 pounds of goat cheese covered with this on lavash. THEN ate home made mac & cheese, corn bread salad, home made coconut cake and rosemary rolls. SO this week, we are going Spartan.

Taco Salad

dinner out due to kid's schedules (salad bar at Greenlife)

baked chicken, baked sweet potatoes, salad

Egg salad or turkey & cheese sandwiches