Not Easily Broken

Christmas Letter 2011

I have been working on our Christmas letter for 2011.  Each year I write a Hess family update/Christmas greeting for our Christmas cards and send it out.  I finished it up this morning and have added a new twist to it...a YouTube accompaniment.  If you go to this link, "Carol of the Bells--ukulele instrumental by Kui Lima" on YouTube, then you can have some backup music for the song (start singing at the first twang of the ukulele). 

There are many arrangments of "Carol of the Bells" out there on YouTube, and I watched many, many videos looking for the perfect accompaniment for our song.  You should thank me for not using a heavy metal version.  Anyway, thank you, Kui Lima, for your excellent performance of "Carol of the Bells," and we hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas!!

Hess Christmas Song 2011

Christmas is here! Let’s give a cheer!
Time to update--lots on my plate,
Our fam is well; stories to tell,
I’ll try to share, pull up a chair.

Ding, dong, ding, dong…disrupts my song.
That was my phone--kids need ride home.
Clark’s at swim meet; learned to cross street.
Cam’s at football, freshman this fall.

Clayton’s all done, scholarship won,
ROTC, U’versity
Of Washington, Air Force is fun,
College is hard, caught him offguard,
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!

Caleb’s 13, mastered hygiene,
Finished baseball, growing so tall,
Kelli turned 10, Katie’s best friend,
Plays basketball, gives it her all.

Ding, dong, ding, dong, hear fiddle song.
Now Katie plays, Suzuki ways.
Kindergarten she has begun,
Learned to ride bike; Princess she’s like.

Now let’s talk Ben; he’s my best friend.
He worked real hard in our backyard,
Built a new shed and riverbed.
Took me on hike, bears I don’t like!
I caught a trout, and learned about,
Camping Ben’s way; needs more bug spray.
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas

Ding dong, ding dong,
I better end, cards I must send
Check our website, that’s where I write.
Ding dong, ding dong,
Song is all done, hope it was fun!
Done!

Sure Do Love Those Christmas Cookies, Babe...

Yay! One more day of school and we are on Christmas break!!  Clayton will be finished tomorrow after one more final exam.  We are excited to get extended time with him as he has been soooo busy studying.  He often leaves before everyone but me is up, and then comes home after everyone but me is down.  So even though he has been living at home and commuting to UW this year, he is not home very often.  Needless to say, his younger brothers and sisters are looking forward to spending time with him. And so is his banjo!

We have a lot of Christmas cookie baking to do!  Here's a Christmas cookie recipe that has become a new favorite for us.  It is from my favorite Christmas cookie book, Christmas Cookie Jar  from Gooseberry Patch.  I made extra dough and was storing it in the frig when I noticed the lid was always open.  Hmmmm.  I always make sure lids are secure...why was the lid open? 

 When I looked in the container, I could see many finger swipes where someone was tasting the dough.  I was able to squeeze out a few reluctant confessions, but not without some pressure.  I was glad for the confessions, but annoyed because with all the activities and gift plates that require cookies, I am feeling the pressure to provide.  If all my dough gets eaten, I have no cookies to share.  So with a firm rebuke, I told the tasters to "Stop it!"  and with some passion. 

A few hours later, Clayton came home uncharacteristically early and was chatting amicably with his brothers.  At one point in his conversation, he innocently called out, "Hey, Mom, that chocolate cookie dough you made is AWESOME!"  His brothers enjoyed this way too much.  Him too???  It's a wonder I have any dough left.

But here's the recipe, and I hope you get to bake the cookies because they are pretty good cooked too!

Chocolate Peppermint Drops

1 c. margarine, softened

2/3 c. sugar

2/3 c. dark brown sugar, packed

1 t. vanilla extract

1 t. peppermint extract

2 eggs, beaten

2 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. baking cocoa

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. candy canes, crushed

Combine margarine, sugars, extracts and eggs in a large bowl; mix well.  Add remaining ingredients except candy canes; blend well.  Chill for 15 minutes (I love it when recipes tell me to chill...I just picture myself with a magazine on the couch with the timer set for 15 minutes.  It's nice to have permission to chill--but wait, I think they mean the cookies.) 

Roll well-rounded teaspoons of dough into balls; place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  (I love parchment...it helps me not burn stuff.)  Bake at 325 degrees for 11-13 minutes, or until cookies are puffed and centers are set.  Remove from oven, and with the back of a spoon (or your thumbprint--that's what I did) immediately and gently make a well in the center of cookies.

Spoon some of the crushed candy canes into the wells and let stand 2-3 minutes before removing from baking sheet.  I would tell you how much this recipe makes, but I think those estimates always lie.  I never get that many cookies out of a recipe. Hey, maybe it's because of the dough-eaters in my house...hmmmm.  Just double this recipe and you will have enough for dough-eaters and cookie-eaters.  Enjoy!

Daisy's Revenge

To understand this blog, you must read the one before it titled, "Christmas Time's a Comin." 

Oh, and due to the graphic nature of the photo in this blog, viewer discretion is advised.

In my last blog I ended with how I did not know how our cat, Daisy, puts up with us after forcing her to don a mini-Santa hat.  She wasted no time in getting her revenge. 

The very next morning was a busy Sunday morning.  I was racing around trying to get the girls ready for church when I realized the "hair box" (the box with all the girls' hair fixins) was out in the car.  I whipped open the front door ready to dash into the rain to get to the box when I stopped short of tripping on Daisy's hunched over body on the doormat.  Wondering what she was doing and why she didn't scatter away, I took a closer look only to discover THIS...

 

Eating vermin on my front doormat is her best revenge. And this is the biggest vermin she has caught yet.  Quite impressive--she never gets squirrels.  Sorry, had to share. 

At this point, I am thinking she won, and no more mini-Santa hat.

Hope to see you at Great Wolf Lodge from Dec. 21-23 6-8 pm. OR Lights of Christmas at Warm Beach Christian Conference Center in the Tinhorn Town Cafe Dec. 26-28 5:15-9:45pm!!!

Christmas Time's a Comin'

My daughter, Kelli, is part elf.  She LOVES Christmas and was counting the days until Black Friday not because she is a shopper, but because she decided that Black Friday was the perfect day to begin decorating for Christmas--whether the rest of us baa-hum-buggers like it or not!

It is ironic to me that Kelli wants to begin the Christmas season so early.  Her birthday is December 15th, and when I was pregnant with her, whenever people found out her due date they always told me how much Kelli was going to hate having her birthday so close to Christmas.  So, I decided to be extra careful about not decorating for Christmas until after her birthday celebration and to make sure we were very purposeful about making a distinction between the two so that Kelli's birthday would always receive proper attention instead of being overshadowed by Christmas.

However, what I have found is that Kelli LOVES having Christmas and her birthday together!  She considers herself lucky, lucky, lucky to get to have them together in the same month.  So, no worries there--Kelli has a healthy attitude toward Christmas...maybe too healthy!

And so, that is how I found myself at the local RiteAid last week with Kelli searching for a mini-Christmas tree for her room.  She thought it would be great fun to have her own personal tree in her room.  Of course!

We didn't find her mini-tree there, but we did find something else that I figured would keep us entertained and laughing for awhile.  Well, all of us except our cat, Daisy.  I found a mini-Christmas hat just her size.  I figured for the $1.00 that it cost me, it was well worth it to give it to Daisy.  She was not amused, but we sure were!  I truly do not know why this cat considers us her family with what we put her through, but it sure is nice that she sticks with us!

Thanksgiving at the Hess Home

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with some of our family and a bunch of friends. 

Before dinner...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And dessert...YUM!!

 

Do you think turkey is soporific?  Is it the L-tryptophan or is it Clayton's college life and Camden's football schedule that makes them like this? 

 

 

The Things We Do For Our Children...

Any day now we are expecting a special package in the mail.

Caleb's 13th birthday is November 9th and this year, he is getting something I never dreamed I would ever say "Yes" to.

It is almost every boy's dream and every woman's nightmare.

It is a tarantula.

Yes, you read that right...a tarantula.

Am I a nice mom, or what?

Fortunately, it will arrive as a "spiderling."  That means it will only be about 1 inch big, as opposed to its 4-6 inch size in about 5 months. 

It has to be kept in the house because of the cold. 

I am becoming okay with it because I love Caleb.  But, man, if you told me 13 years ago that I would ever say "Yes" to this, I never would have believed you!

Because it is a Mexican Red-Kneed tarantula, he wants to name it Pepe--yup, Pepe the Tarantula.

I did say "No" to the roaches that you can breed yourself and feed to your tarantula.  No way.  Crickets and flightless fruit flies are all I will allow.

I will let you know how this goes...

Driver's Ed...Please No, Not Again

I just received an email from Ben confirming Clark's enrollment in a driver's education class.  Gulp. 

When we made the decisions (they didn't all happen at once) to have 6 children, I thought the biggest challenge would be potty-training everyone.  How short-sighted was that?  Ask me currently what the biggest challenge is, and I will tell you before you finish your question, "Driver's Ed!"  But I am young (relatively) and so are my children.  I haven't faced college graduations, marriages or grandchildren yet.  So for me, Driver's Ed is my biggest challenge.  Why?  Because I don't like to face death or anything close to it.

With Clayton, I tried to be that laid back parent who encourages her teen driver to drive at every chance so that he can learn and get lots and lots of practice for when he would face the road alone.  I tried that for a couple of weeks and thought I was doing pretty well.  After all, I was not one of those parents who was forever pushing the imaginary brake on the passenger side, or constantly shouting out instructions.  No, actually, I was not a parent at all in my behavior, I was a crazed victim whose feet were sweating and frozen to the floor while the rest of  me was struck mute and frantically at clawing at the window.  Am I ashamed to admit this?  No way.  When a person feels that much desperation, she cares not what others think....don't judge me.

We noticed that after Clayton began learning to drive two things happened:  the handle on the front seat passenger side broke and I began coloring my hair (not blonde--just more brunette to cover the gray). 

We even named a song after one of Clayton's scariest episodes.  The episode involved a U-turn.  That was the only time I can ever remember swearing at one of my children.  In tears, I called Ben at work and told him about it.  He suggested that maybe I should take a break from driving lessons for a couple of weeks.  What a relief.  My break gave Clayton some time to mature as a driver and me some time to recover.  Things began to get better.  And we were able to give a name to the new song Clayton wrote, "Suburban Breakdown."  The breakdown part was me.

I began my Driver's Ed ride striving to be one of those laid back parents who is favored by their children for calmness as a driving teacher.  I remember appreciating parental support as I learned to drive.  However, after teaching one kid to drive, I have given that up and instead  am pursuing popularity for my ability to make great pancakes--with chocolate chips.

I have given up trying to hide my drudgery in teaching teens to drive.  My kids have no doubt what a trial it is for me.  One time I was in the passenger seat while Clayton was driving, and I noticed Caleb's batting helmet in the backseat.  Putting it on made my point, and gave my husband a chuckle when he saw us pull into the driveway.

Anyway, after Clayton finally learned to drive (relatively speaking), all I could think was, "I can't believe I have to do this 5 more times."  Which is exactly what I thought after potty-training him.  So for now, this is the hardest thing for me as a parent, but I am sure there is more to come as the years unfold and kids grow up.  I have some strategies to help me through it--like not getting in the passenger seat until three weeks after the teen begins driving.  Also, I constantly tell myself that just like using the toilet correctly, that everyone learns to drive.  But for now, well, I am going to go look for that batting helmet.

Gone Fishing

Early Saturday morning, right on the heels of the bluegrass camp, some of my guys left for an overnight fishing trip on the Columbia River.  Ben takes an overnight fishing/camping trip with each of our kids every summer.  Since we have 6 kids, his weekends can get pretty full with fishing and camping.  But they all LOVE to go with their dad and it is a very meaningful weekend for them all.

This past summer, I actually went with Ben and Clayton on one of these trips.  That's a WHOLE story all by itself... 

Anyway, here it is October and Clark still needed to take his trip.  Camden and Clark decided to let each other accompany each other on each other's trip.  That way, they both get two trips.  (Did that make sense?  Pardon me, it's still kind of early here.) They have been trying to get a trip in and have been struggling with the weather a lot since our rainy season is in it's beginning stages.  But this weekend was supposed to be beautiful, and even though Ben had a lot of work to do, they decided to go for it and head out with the S.S. Redneck   The S.S. Redneck is their souped up fishing boat that I don't allow to be on cinder blocks in the front yard anymore.

Ben called this morning and told me that the fish just aren't biting.  He fished all day long and only caught one smallish bass.  Disappointed with the results, they are heading to Caleb's favorite fishing/scorpion catching spot, Lake Lenice.  Though they planned to be bassmasters on the Columbia for the weekend, the triploid trout at Lake Lenice may be more promising.  He was letting me know that they were changing locations.

When I asked him what time they would be home tonight he said he didn't really know.  He couldn't really tell. 

Really? We are having Camden's birthday meal tonight and I would really like to know when they expect to be home.  So, I asked again...  He hemmed and hawed and mentioned something about traffic possibly being bad.  As I pressed him, he sheepishly explained that if they were catching forty fish in a few hours like they have in the past at that location, then it might be difficult to make it home at a reasonable time.

If a fisherman catches nothing and then goes on to another lake and still catches nothing, then perhaps I could see him wanting to stay longer to try to make it worth his while and catch something.  But if that fisherman goes from catching nothing all day to catching 40 fish in a few hours, then he should be able to feel some satisfaction from his success, call it good, and get home sooner than later, right?? 

When I explained this to my favorite fisherman, he affectionately told me that I don't really get it.  Nope, I don't get it, BUT I am going to try it out next time I have a successful shopping trip..."Honey, I just don't know when I am going to come home...the sales are so awesome!  I'm finding deal after deal after deal!"

Happy Birthday, Camden!

Today, October 11th, is Camden's 15th birthday!  Happy Birthday to Camden!  Here he is with his birthday breakfast...a super doughnut from our new favorite doughnut shop, Factory Donuts, in Kingsgate.  Clark bought him a Coke to go with his doughnut--good thing birthdays only come once a year, or we might have to worry more about his twice a year dental appointments!

This week, we will be helping Kenmore Junior High music students learn how to play some bluegrass up at Cedar Springs!  We are looking forward to working with the kids and seeing how they take to bluegrass!

Aaaaaah! Summer!

This is a blog I tried to post right after the 4th of July.  My computer broke, my camera wasn't working and I couldn't get it posted.  Currently, I am using the kid's computer and we bought a new camera.  So,this may be out of order as far as the summer happenings, but I love the pics and the memories and wanted to share them with you!

Right after the 4th of July....I think we finally made it to summer! We have been enjoying occasional sunny days, some local getaways, and frequent visits with friends. YES! Summer is here! 

BUT, we are still doing some schoolwork. Ugh. Clark's accident last winter put us a bit behind, but we should be finished by the first of August. 

And of course, there is always Work Camp. Work Camp has become a Hess tradition. And we even have returning campers outside the Hess family! We are still accepting campers if you are interested in attending. There's lots of work to do here!

Here's some pics of the 4th of July weekend we spent with our friends, the Ross Family. They have a cabin on Herron Island and invited us to spend the 4th of July with them there. It was the best weather we have seen all summer for four days straight! We enjoyed kayaking, catching crabs and starfish, relaxed conversations with our friends, and seaside appetizers all weekend.

 Kelli holding octopus eggs...ew! 

 One day while on the island, the kids caught a bunch of horse clams on the beach. At first, we thought they were geoducks (pronounced "gooey ducks"), which are considered an expensive delicacy. But later, as we watched Youtube videos on how to clean the giant clams, we realized that they were just the cheap cousin to the geoduck--the common and not so tasty, horse clam.

I have always wanted to do the clamming thing here in the Northwest because I love the beach, I love catching things on the beach and I love clam chowder. Plus, when I started the process of cleaning these clams, I was still thinking they were $200 treasures (a.k.a. geoducks). I am always up for trying delicacies!

I had already cleaned 4 or so before we realized that what I was doing was cleaning really good crab pot bait. But I did find a pretty good horse clam fritter recipe online, and we used them as our seaside appetizer for that night.

I have to tell you that cleaning horse clams is really gross. Did you know that in most horse clams, you will find two little pea crabs living inside the clam? I didn't know that until I pried one open and two little crabs fell out with some of the yucky stuff from the clam. I thought the crabs were being digested by the clam and tried to figure out what kind of a dumb crab gets caught by a clam? But later we read about the little crabs actually dwelling in the clam. I made it through all the horse clams with just a few squeals from being grossed out.

But there was one more shellfish that needed cleaning. We all thought that it was a scallop and our mouths watered as we thought of sauteing it with a piece of bacon wrapped around it.

However, there was nothing scallopish about that thing... I followed the instructions for getting the "scallop" to open so that I could get to the meat. After icing it for a few minutes, the "scallop" began opening. I was so excited and ready to get it cleaned and prepared. However, as the thing opened, a strange, large tongue-like protrusion came slinking slowly out of the shell. I think it was trying to reach my hand!!! That brought about the largest scream of the whole weekend--maybe even the whole summer. So weird and gross! The boys had quite a laugh from that.

Suffice it to say, I found no scallop in that shell, and whatever kind of clam it was, it was never made into a fritter. It joined the unedible parts of the horse clams in the crab pot. Here is the pic of the tongue-like protrusion. Careful viewing it, it did give me nightmares.

Anyway, we had a great 4th of July and as I said, summer is finally in full swing!