After another fun Jorgensen Top Chef night, we woke up Saturday morning to Cruz standing by our bed telling us he just threw up in the bathroom sink. I'm no fan of stomach flu anytime of the year, but the stomach flu for Christmas is something that always gets me in a tizzy. And this would be the second year in a row one of my kids would throw up on December 23rd! I think it's God's way of grounding me. ;) At least Cruz was here at home instead of last year's nightmare at Tony's Pizzeria when Mila ralphed all over the table... Thankfully, all was pretty much prepared and we had no plans other than a quiet day at home anyway, so I tucked Cruz in his cozy bed and bleached nearly every square inch of the house. I made mental plans to shift our Christmas if Cruz was the first of all the dominoes to fall and made the most of a day to rest and lean into the messy, not-so-sparkly parts of Christmas. Cruz was the sweetest sick kid on the planet, choosing to spend most of his day reading his books and sleeping under those covers. His bug proved to be about 12 hours and he was thankfully back to himself by the time he went to bed that night. Beau and I had a fun day with Mila, putting together a Koala Crate, eating cookies, and doing puzzles, and we all drank lots of grape juice, a tip I learned from another mama as a potential shield from the flu. Fingers crossed we'd stay puke-free for Christmas!
We kicked off our Christmas break with a family tradition that's easily become our favorite - a night in the kitchen known as Jorgensen Top Chef. It was Beau's idea three years ago - we each pick a dish we'd like to make and vote for our favorites in taste and presentation/creativity. Whoever wins gets to open the first gift of Christmas - a new board game to play together. Every year we seem to get better at coordinating and it's fun to see the kids become more skillful in the kitchen. It is my hope our love of cooking and serving and the togetherness felt as we congregate around the island and smell and taste and laugh carries through for years to come. I can always picture it - both of them coming home from college someday ready to impress us with something they've learned to cook or a new dish they've tried and want to recreate. Or maybe Cruz will just want to make ham balls again. ;) This year's menu included a Christmas wreath fruit pizza (me), a "fryder", aka, slider burger served on fried potato slices (Beau), ham balls (Cruz), and chocolate dessert tacos (Mila). Cruz took his recipe selection very seriously and spent the night before rewriting it word-for-word so he could have it in front of him. Mila, she just wanted to make something that would win, hence the dessert AND taco selection. And Beau, he always goes for the most inventive, the most creative. All week he had been bragging that he was going to win, and all week I secretly wondered if he had forgotten who he was cooking for! We presented our dishes progressively, which makes the night slow, fun, and stress-free. I prepared my fruit pizza ahead of time so I could help the kids with their dishes. Everything was really very good this year, but the fruit pizza and ham balls were my favorite. Mila won for best presentation with her chocolate tacos, and Cruz and I tied for best taste. And although Beau's fryders came up short, he won the affection from the kids who felt sorry for his lack of votes. We all decided next year he could have the dessert category! Pictures from a top night...
Beau has written me two songs since we've been together, both at Christmas time. And both songs go along with two of the sweetest memories of my life. He sang the first on Christmas Eve night when I was a plump ten months pregnant with Mila. We were in our first house, I was on the couch, and he sat down on the floor right beside me with no lights on except the Christmas tree. Little Cruz was sleeping, we were just days away from welcoming our new baby girl, and everything felt tender. Fast forward five years later and all three of them got in on this year's song. For a couple weeks prior, every now and then one of them would say something to make the other snicker, then they'd go up to Beau and whisper something and smirk at me like they were being super sneaky. I was on to the fact that they had some kind of Christmas surprise up their sleeve, but can't believe I missed all the practicing and playing coming from the basement. Beau said they practiced when I was gone or in the morning before school and said never once did they tell him no to a practice session. I think that's the sweetest part - they were all in on it together, helping Beau with the rhymes, learning the big words, and making sure they all did their very best. Just for me. I won't forget my Christmas present this year. Halfway through all the gift opening, they said they had a special present for me downstairs. They set up a chair in front of the reading nook and all had the proudest smiles on their faces. The first time through I cried and smiled through the entire thing. Beau's creative lyrics, the big words Mila learned like superfluous and sarcophagus, the pictures, like Moses and that funny baby, that went along with all the lines, the bridge and the way the kids giggled when they sang the word "booty," and their looks of deep love and pride as they shared their hearts and watched me close. It was funny, it was sweet, it was creative, and it was us. I know I get most of the credit for creating the experiences in this family of ours, but Beau - he's the best. And he gifted me with a perfect three minute story of us this Christmas.
