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My mom arrived this week to spend Christmas with us. She spent the first 3 days of her trip in Portland, and we joined her there for about half of that time. Portland doesn't dress up for the holidays nearly as much as NYC does, but you also don't have to fight with as many people to see it.

Mom is a world-class knitter and has a bit of a weakness for yarn shops. During her 3 days in Portland, she managed to visit 13 different yarn shops. She even found - and bought - some yarn in Tardis Blue from her favorite guilty pleasure, Doctor Who. We went to four different stores while we were with her. Thankfully, most of them had a small kids area to entertain Anders.

Anders loves his hand-knitted, brightly colored socks from my mom; the brighter, the better for him! When mom asked him earlier this year what color he wanted for his next socks, he picked pink. She couldn't quite bring herself to make him truly pink socks, but the compromise made everyone (Anders and Corinne) happy.

Anders quote of the week:

(While changing his clothes, naked Anders sits on a stuffed dinosaur.)
Corinne: Anders, don't sit on that stuffed animal when you don't have any clothes on.
Anders: Well, he doesn't have a very good sense of smell.

Since we brought the tall step ladder in to help us decorate the tree, Corinne decided that we should get some house-cleaning done with it as well. Nothing says holidays like vacuuming the cobwebs off the logs and ceiling. Who's with me?

This might be the thing that makes Corinne the most happy this Christmas.

Second Anders quote of the week:

Anders: Someday we should buy a boat.
Corinne: What kind of boat should we get?
Anders: Well, how about a Zodiac. <pause> Because in a zodiac, you can find a dozen constellations.

The weather has been unseasonably warm. As a result, there is virtually no chance of having a white Christmas this year. It does mean that we can walk outside and be comfortable, particularly with my "always cold" Mom.

On this walk through our forest, Anders took along his binoculars. Every few minutes he would ask us to stop so that he could "make sure that it was safe."

Anders and I made bread for dinner one night using the stand mixer method. He really enjoys using the mixer.

I let him feel the dough when the loaf was resting. Later that day as he was "massaging" my shoulders, he says "Hey, this part feels the same as the dough." Thanks, Anders.

We are particularly happy with our Christmas tree this year. But we'll save those pictures for another day.

- Mike, Corinne and Anders