It's a Stark Street Pizza Christmas.

We didn't get together with Lisa's family a day after or right before Christmas, like we usually do, so we did it tonight. We planned to gather at my house, but everyone was excited for Stark Street Pizza. Yeah, seriously. To be honest, I was just too lazy to do anything, especially clean, so I was glad, too. :)

It was a lovely time at the pizza joint for a holiday celebration...especially the large (real) stuffed bear on display there (see above photo). Ella and the four boys had a string of questions for me, asking which body parts were real and which weren't. They decided the tongue and eyes definitely weren't. I told them they were probably right. That was interesting dinner conversation.

We exchanged some gifts. Andy made (read: whittled - I'm not joking - like the Owen Wilson character in "Meet the Parents") the kids' presents. He'd made them a Harry Potter wand once before. This Christmas, he whittled them bows and arrows (see photos to the right). The arrows are padded at the end. They go fast and far (!), but don't do damage...what a great, great handmade gift for them.

It was an interesting Christmas exchange. The weather this year made everything a little different. Lisa's like a sister to me (the only non-family member at my wedding, for goodness sakes), so this was part of the holidays we couldn't miss.

Aloft in Portland, OR.

One of my presents to the boys was a night at the W Hotels Aloft Hotel. People who know me know that I love hotels, in general, and I love the W Hotels (Westin family), specifically. When this opened at the Portland IKEA-anchored mall Cascade Station, I knew I wanted to stay there.

When we went to Disneyland earlier this year, both of my boys were as excited to be at the hotel as they were to be in the theme park. I've decided we will just vacation in Portland, from now on. There are still a few hotels I would like to try. Another in the Westin family is the new The Nines, in downtown Portland.

I didn't know if he would, but Dennis ended up coming with us. He doesn't have the fondness for hotels that the boys and I do. It was going to be two nights, but one ended up being plenty. The boys played endless Wii on the 42" TV in the room; and, swam in the warm indoor pool. They loved it. We ate a couple of kid-friendly (but decent) meals and some tasty dessert. Was a fun outing. It's nice to just relax at home now.

Christmas.

Christmas at Granny & Gramps'.

(clockwise from left-Cade, Ashe, Gramps, Tucker, Finn)

I dug the car out for the first time today. It took about 1/2 hour...the irony is that it started snowing again (for the hour or so that it actually snowed today) right around 1:30, when I decided to dig. Once we tried to drive away the small new sheet of snow made it slippery. The street had a packed path, but it was slick. We got stuck a few more times right by the house, but Dennis got us out. We brought the shovel and had one hairy spot about one block from my parents' but made it there without having to dig out again.

The Ealys gave Finn a stamp set...Ashe experimented with it on Tucker's face.

My mom and dad were very, very happy to have us there. My mom in particular was going stir crazy being in that house. She doesn't mind driving in the snow and drove at the beginning of this craziness, but this was too much even for her. The boys gave her house some life...we got to have Christmas dinner together.

We opened presents. Dennis and Sean shoveled their stairs and walkway. It was a mellow, nice holiday. Again, I was just glad we could offer my parents some relief from this weather.

Merry Christmas!!

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These were taken this morning - Santa brought two Wii games and a Wall-E DVD. Santa way outdid us.

Venturing to The Nutcracker in a Winter Wonderland

We had tickets to Oregon Ballet Theater's production of The Nutcracker yesterday. If the weather ended up too bad, we figured we didn't HAVE to go, but since we knew we could get there by MAX we decided to do it. The light rail line is about nine blocks from our house. We walked there and rode it downtown. It was not very crowded to town, but on the way home (around 6 p.m.) it was very crowded. At that time, three trains came within five minutes of each other and every single one was NYC subway-style standing.

The Nutcracker was beautiful. The Prima Ballerina in the performance was amazing. The boys were definitely more into it for the first act. Dennis - being the opera and symphony lover - was the one who initially suggested we go. It was a surprisingly easy outing, and sort of relaxing. We had some dinner afterward and went home.

It was nice to venture out of the house and get our last Christmas present and have a family day.

Yes. It's Another Snow Post.

More and more snow has fallen. Apparently the most in 40 years. We still can't drive, since we stupidly always assumed our 4-wheel drive would be enough. We walked up to Glisan today. It was hard to get there but once we did, there were enough ruts from cars or other pedestrians, we were fine. Look at the bottom of the boys' jeans - you can see the depth of the snow, by the snow marks on them. 14" at the Portland Airport, as of today.

James Brown? James Brown.

This is sort of funny, I must say. The "Thank you, San Diego" with devil horns at the end - what a topper. Where did he come with this? I have no idea. (Please ignore the overflowing garbage can - that's Ashe's job and with the snow pile up he says "I'm off duty.")

Most Snow in My PDX Life

*UPDATE*, 9:15 p.m. 12/21/2008 - the local news channel, kgw, just reported that this is the snowiest december since 1968, when the airport had over 15" snow. so far, this month, we've had over 11" at the airport. i was telling my kids this was the snowiest time i remember here in my life (i've been here since 1975), and i guess i was correct.

also - i thought my 4-wheel drive passat would be too low to the ground and have the potential of getting high centered. it's very deep on some of these side streets. my friend, andy, who's out in this right now at this moment just tm'd and confirmed that indeed my passat would be too short.

these might be entertaining to you - 18 hours difference in the amount of snow (the first was from the afternoon of dec 21 and the second is from early morning on dec 22):

Crazy Snow.

So much weather news going on here - don't even know where to start. This a snow drift in front of the garage. (picture taken around midnight, early on 12/21/2008)

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This is the front yard. Razor scooter for perspective...

Snow.

We've had snowy, cold weather in the last couple of days. It is snowing right now. More expected this weekend, and around Christmas. I love the snow, but after all of this, I'll be done with it for awhile.

Those silly boys!

So Saucy!

This is another item from my beloved Fire on the Mountain. It's the G.W. Carver Chicken Sandwich, which is my new addiction. Another addiction is mine to sauce. I have passed this addiction along to Ashe and Finn. This chicken sandwich requires extra spicy peanut sauce, as well as bleu cheese in which to dip the fries (both are pictured).

There's not much more I love than food. It's one of the things that makes life so enjoyable...

Ashe and Fourth Grade Hoops

Ashe - second from right (see Molly & Dennis strategizing,
in the background to the left)

Ashe played a basketball game today. This is his third year playing on a team with his classmates. They are the Chargers.

Our friend, Molly (see blog here), is the coach - for the third year. Dennis is the assistant coach. Molly's a cute little blond thing, so as you might expect, there has been more than one occassion where officials and other coaches have assumed Dennis was the coach. Molly and I laugh about it.

Ashe's team are 10 fourth grade, mostly nine year old, boys. These little guys are pretty impressive. They are all talented and have something to contribute. Several kids have really quality skills and will surely go on to at least high school ball.

Both of the games so far this year have been "pre-season". The season starts in January. Last week Ashe's team was blown out to the point where they stopped showing the score - they only kept it for statistical reasons. This week, the Chargers blew out the other team. 49-11...It was a good win for the boys, psychologically.

Ashe played so amazingly today. His last game left Dennis a little concerned, only because he was not really into it. We aren't going to make him play, but if he's going to choose to play, he has to give it his all - especially for his teammates. Ashe practices shooting baskets every single day (we have a hoop both inside-6' and outside our house), and is seriously a 80-90% shooter. His OCD tendencies have definitely paid off in this department...He often is one of or the top in "shoot out" or free throw drills at camp and practice. At his Granny's, he'll stand as far away from the basket as he can to see if he can make it.

His issues have mostly to do with the speed of the game, and that he gets caught up in it. Last year, he'd ask "Can I just watch?" He's a good player, because he truly loves the game, but he can't forget he's on the team. Last week (and in past seasons sometimes), by the time he processed in his mind what's going on in that moment of play, the team had moved away and was onto the next play. This week, his head was in the game!! He had some good dribbles (and a double-dribble or two as well :); good passing; a jump ball; and, the most important thing to him - he made two baskets. Ashe reminded us that four points is the most he's made in a game, and he was so, so proud.

YAY for Ashe P.!!!

O Tannenbaum

The holiday season has begun in our house. We got our treeS! over the weekend. The boys were beside themselves with glee.

It began with the ornaments. Dennis takes them to pick out a new ornament each year, and they did that last Friday. Ashe picked Buzz Lightyear; and, Finn picked a Pac-Man one, shaped like an old school stand-up Pac-Man machine (click to see it). It also makes sound effects like the old Pac-Man game. So cool that he picked that one. Love it.

On Saturday night, we took them to get the trees. We tricked them (for several reasons I won't go into here - it wasn't necessarily for a fun thing), making them think we were just going to get some hot chocolate. When they found out we were getting the tree, they were so excited.
We got two beautiful noble firs (they get one in their room). We went with a smaller tree (approx. 5') this year, because we didn't want to deal with the work of a bigger one (more ornaments and lights). It was humorous, though, because once it was in the stand, in our living room, it looked so teeny tiny. Our ceilings are so high, it was just dwarfed by the room. Anyway, Dennis suggested we put it on a table, and it's much better. Next year, we will probably be getting a larger tree...the picture below gives you some perspective of the size of the tree.

I really do love Christmas. I always have. It's almost like someone should be ashamed of loving it. You're supposed to hate how commercial it's become...I love the festivities. I love that we get together with family and everyone (in my family at least) is in such good moods. Everyone's happy and, yes, we give a lot of gifts. We also just like being together. As much as we (might) get on each others' nerves other times of the year, the Ordals-O'Dranes-Ealys have so much fun during the holidays.

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Boys decorate the tree in Ashe's room.

The boys' finished tree.

Nothing

just haven't had anything worth reporting on lately. thanksgiving was very quiet. the holidays and kids' vacation from school will surely bring something worth posting about. check back soon.