First the light sabers come out (along with assorted helmets, masks and shields from my son’s extensive collection, Thanks Aunt S!)
Then we start being crazy with the light sabers:
What else can we find?
Oh I know, lets get creative!
And the Grand Finale!
Happy New Year!
Every country has its own traditions and Spain has some pretty fun ones.
New Year’s Eve is no exception and this is one of the Spanish traditions that you can do in your own home!
If you are in Spain on New Year’s Eve you will find pretty much everyone in a square or plaza hanging out with friends and eating and drinking. When the clock strikes 12 everyone eats 12 grapes (ideally one for every strike!) and you will have luck all year long. The grapes here are crazy big and generally have seeds, but you’ll see cans of grapes (conveniently 12 grapes!) for sale that are smaller and easier to eat.
This started one year (many many years ago) with a bigger than normal grape harvest. The farmers couldn’t get rid of their grapes so they basically started the tradition! A great way to get rid of the grapes and the start of a fun tradition.
We are generally boring and stay home with the kids because its a bit insane to be out with the kids (although it’s pretty normal to see kids running around that late anyways) but we like to have our grapes at home anyway. Thankfully I can get some smaller grapes from the commissary so we can actually eat them!
I know we JUST celebrate Christmas but I am done with winter. It was 39 degrees this morning when I came to work. I know some of my friends (especially one friend in North Dakota!) would laugh at me, and I did live in North Idaho for 5 years but I am out of winter shape! It’s cold! We are supposed to be in southern Spain!
Of course I am here complaining about the cold and my kids are begging to go to Germany again this year so they can play in the snow! While I don’t know if we’ll get to Germany we might take a day trip to the mountains, Spain has its own Sierra Nevada mountain range near Granada.
I think I would have preferred moving to Hawaii RIGHT NOW instead of in the middle of summer! It seems a lot of people stationed in Hawaii complain about having a warm Christmas but it sounds REALLY good right about now!
Yes that is all I can think about this moment.
School is over and the presents are all shopped for (and wrapped!) so I can finally start to get into the Christmas spirit. I just haven’t had time before!
So here is my happiness in a cup:
Perfection. Mocha peppermint creamer in my FAVORITE holiday mug with the lights on the tree.
Also I should have posted this earlier in the month to inspire somone else… I saw this online SOMEWHERE last year and just loved it so I had to start this tradition this year.
Christmas Book Advent
The kids get to unwrap a book every night in December and read it. I ran short of Christmas books and had to hit up the library. I did order a BUNCH more for them for Christmas so we should be good for next year! It’s a fun thing to look forward to and they love that they get to open SOMETHING before Christmas. Along with the chocolate advent calendar anyways!
Rum cake ready to be glazed so I’m off, this is just the start to our holiday binge eating!
And I mean really baby steps, nothing big.
Last week I took the dog to get his second rabies vaccine so we don’t have to quarantine him when we get to Hawaii. Next month he’ll have to go back and get blood drawn so it can be sent off and tested, making sure he is totally rabies free. Yay!
Although he had me rethinking taking him this weekend. I noticed him acting a little funny so I let him outside and walked with him… What does this dummy do? Hork up a pair of my underwear and one of my son’s socks. And yes barfing them is preferable to an intestinal blockage but dang it, stop eating everything!
The next thing isn’t REALLY even a step, but I had ordered a copy of Oahu Revealed (by Andrew Doughty) I have been having so much fun paging through and planning all of the awesome stuff I am going to be doing soon!
We have a book here in Rota that pretty much everyone uses, it’s called 40 Day Trips from Rota. It is wonderful. While it doesn’t have as much information, it is so helpful on navigating some of the crazy Spanish roads, towns and customs. I received my copy when a friend moved but I don’t know if I’ll be able to pay it forward, I want to keep it as a souvenir!
So we have had this nasty stomach bug that has been circulating around base. Fingers were crossed that it wouldn’t infect anyone in our house. Somehow even though I work at a day care and my son goes to a day care I thought that we would be fine.
Surprise surprise, it is actually my daughter who woke up Saturday morning with an upset tummy. Very unfortunate since she had a flag football game that morning but I wanted to keep her home just in case. A few hours later after lunch here I hear that dreaded sound from the kitchen, the cough/gag. I knew little O was in there puking.
Thank God for tile floors is all I’m saying.
Sunday everyone is fine. Today everyone is fine. Kept little O home this morning just to be on the safe side, don’t want him going back to school and spreading it around.
Hubby and I have had that general feeling of not being 100%. Don’t have to throw up, just don’t reeeaaaallly feel like eating anything heavy just in case.
And also decided to procrastinate my ass off, (as per usual) and had to stay up until 3am last night submitting a report to one of my teachers. Yay for midnight east coast time deadlines.
Weekend you went by way too quickly.
Sink Or Swim 