Priceless Gifts

Our family has a tradition of spending Christmas Eve with The Hudson side of my family (father's side) while Christmas Day was generally reserved for my mother's family. Especially since my parents divorced over 20 years ago Christmases continued on in this fashion, even after we grew up Christmases and the eve was spent much this way, however, with a few variations due to the fact I lived in another state and now had additional family to accommodate with being with The Chad.

This year was like any Christmas Eve, making the trek to the southern part of Arizona to spend Christmas Eve with my grandparent's. But this year was ever so bittersweet and meant so much more since the passing of my grandfather in October. I still have a hard time with the fact he is gone...probably because he is not and never will be gone from my heart and the many memories I have of him and the holidays, weekends, and in between we shared together.

So upon leaving to make the drive south on I-10 I made sure to load up on wonderful goodies to share with my family. The Hudson's have always been very near and dear to my heart, with all our trials and drama, we are nonetheless family. I bagged up my fresh black eyed peas (just need to be shucked) for my family to eat for New Year's. If you didn't know black eyed peas signify wealth (or coins actually) for a prosperous new year, I packaged up the ornaments Grant and I made, the baked goodies, the kids, a homemade DVD for my grandmother to enjoy, and this year I received a gift from the One2One Network which was a Tony Bennett holiday CD. While I love Tony Bennett I knew my grandmother would be even more appreciative, because she REALLY loves Tony Bennett and Christmas is her favorite holiday so these two were a winning combination for her. Thank you One2One for the gift I could share with my grandmother.

We loaded the kids and made the drive. Arriving with plenty of time to pour wine, snack on some goodies, share lots of laughs and hugs with family not seen except for (sometimes in our cases) funerals. Dinner was served, my grandmother's traditional ham, broccoli salad, my aunt's mustard mold (it was a beautiful mold of mustard), my other aunt's FABULOUS potato salad, plenty of food, good family, laughs, and tears for the beautiful prayer my grandmother said in honor of the holiday and the angel missing at our table, my grandfather.

After dinner we finally got to the brass tax of things and started to open gifts. My uncle made a point to share how my grandfather was not fond of Christmas (I share his belief....as I said...he and I were of the same cloth in many ways) but he always busted his arse to make sure that enough money was made to pay for the joyous holiday, that all the kids, grand-kids, and now great-grand-kids had wonderful gifts to open. While he was absent for this year, and this year also brought many financial hardships to our family and others, the holiday was still joyous and ever special with the wonderful gifts to be opened and shared.

He could not have been more true with his words. These are the beautiful gifts received by The Chad and I from my family on Christmas Eve. Gifts to last my grandparent's lifetime, my lifetime, and soon, the times of my children; gifts to never be replaced, exchanged, or packed away, but honored, cherished, and stories to be told of these gifts for a lifetime.

My grandmother's Spode. 

Some of these pieces are no longer available and as my grandmother shared in her card:

"Little of a little, to the girl who appreciates it all!"

My grandmother gifted me a few pieces of her Spode Christmas Tree collection to as she said "whet" my appetite for the ENTIRE collection that I will be receiving over the many years to come that she has left in this life and upon her passing I will be the recipient of the complete collection. YES. COMPLETE.

The worth is priceless in my opinion. So many Christmas holidays were spent eating and drinking with these pieces of fine china, stemware, flatware, and glassware, the wonderful memories.

All the serving pieces, china, table settings, and even pieces like the beautiful ornament that has a compartment to refill with wonderful scented potpourri.

A gift received by The Chad. My grandfather's pocket watch.

I believe this has more strong sentimental value to me than to The Chad, though the gift did bring him to tears.

My grandmother each gave a wrist watch to each of her son's and grandson's (my brother and half-brother) and finally an heirloom gift to "keep in the family" as she said in the card to The Chad.

A wonderful honor, priceless gift, and a beautiful memento of how truly special my grandfather and my family are to me, how special we are to them, and how special my husband is to my family.

A collage made by my Aunt Shawn, for me. I lost it. I could barely keep my composure and the only words I could get out were "You're an asshole Shawn!" But she knew how much this means to me. How very special and cherished my family is to me, how my grandfather was like no other man in my life. The collage contains a picture of my great-grandparents (top right), my grandparents at their 50th wedding anniversary (top middle), my grandparents and their children, my aunts, uncles, father (top left), my grandfather's memorial picture (bottom left), my grandfather's senior picture...the handsome devil he is (bottom middle) and the picture to the bottom left is all of our family. I was pregnant with Grant in this photo. All of my brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, EVERYONE is in that photo. Again, priceless. words could not and still cannot describe how wonderful a gift this was to receive.

Even more priceless was the gift received by my aunts and uncles from my grandmother. Another honor that brought me to tears and one to be cherished by my family forever.

I wrote a tribute to be shared at my grandfather's memorial service, as did my aunt Doreen and my aunt Vicia.

Each of these tributes captured what is, was, and always will be the true essence and being of my grandfather in his life and in the next. These tributes were framed beautifully all next to one another and given as gifts to my aunts and uncles on behalf of my grandmother. A gift I was so honored to be a part of and had no idea.

Here is the tribute I wrote that was the last to be shared at the memorial:

My grandfather was and still is the patriarch of the family. He is the rock, always steady and calm, weathering every storm. He was always the joker, trouble maker, story teller, shepherd of all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Watching as they all played happily, giggling, laughing, he would bask in their innocence and fun. Occasionally he would join in on the fun and games. If you ask any of his grandchildren they will tell you his was perfect, despite all of his imperfections, Grandpa could do anything. In fact many of us believed he roped and hung the moon.

I recall many holidays, family gatherings, and weekends that I would spend with Grandma and Grandpa; they are and will always be some of my fondest childhood memories. I spent a great deal of my childhood with them.

At one of their homes in Eloy, shortly after they got Brig I recall Grandpa showing us how Brig would nip at your heels. As a child this was greatly exciting and scary all the same, considering the size of Brig compared to our small childish frames. Grandpa showed us to shuffle our feet and get Brig riled up, tell us to run like hell for the stalls and jump onto the railing. He would belly laugh and cackle to watch myself and my siblings, Chris and Brittany, run as fast as we could, but his cackle grew increasingly strong as you heard the shriek of Grandma Tina yelling through the kitchen window, “Danny!!! You Stop that and tell those kids to get in this house right now!” He was so good at getting her just as riled up as the dog.

He would reach the back door after riding or being in the stall with Sonny and stamp his feet as dust came rising off his boots and jeans. You could hear her from the other room scolding him and he would giggle under his breath, as he took those boots off at the back door. Grandpa spent a lot of hours, which seemed like days to me, in those stalls. I felt like we would walk for miles with him, at the house off the highway where they lived, which was next to the stud farm. He would walk us around, talking about horses, telling us everything and how that equated to life. The man was so graceful, he was in his element around a horse, he is my cowboy and no other will ever measure up to my Grandpa. He was lean, strong, wiry, and gentle, he could be cruel and kind all at the same time, and he was like no other man I have ever met.

He could tell you all you ever wanted to know about horses. But he could also take you on his lap, sit you there for hours and tell you about horses and cars, baseball, basketball, men and women, love and life, and he always had room to talk about business, he was savvy in business. Grandpa had a story, a lesson, a passion, and an unyielding love for horses, cars, sports and life; he told me “If you don’t love what you do, then you need to do something else, love what you do, find your niche. Life is not worth living if you don’t love it, love what you do, and don’t let anyone tell you how to do it.” Grandpa had a way of always doing things his way, they made sense, they were fun, and he showed that life was to be lived for every moment, no matter how big or small, good or bad, everything had a reason.

I will always remember the way Grandpa smelled. My family has a thing with smells, I think I get that from Grandma because her house always smelled like the freshest florist or the warmest bakery, it was heaven. But I remember the rough, calloused, and gentle smell of his hands, the hint of warm, earthy, dust from his morning ride, the remnant smell of a vanilla tobacco pipe, leather from his boots, chaps, and saddle, the sweat off his Stetson, the cotton from his shirt and jeans, and the air of his cologne. Each and every time I hugged him I could smell those smells, I can still smell him to this day. I know when I recall the smell I was at home, he was home.

My relationship with my grandpa cannot be expressed, the words will not come. A dear friend of mine (who recently lost her grandfather) told me that the love and relationship between a grandfather and his eldest grandchild and granddaughter is “magical.” He truly was magical, his life, the experiences we shared, and the memories I hold dear, will always be magical.

I love you forever and always, Kare babe. 

 

Those are the gifts that holidays and moments are made of, not the fancy electronics, the Lexus with the big red bow, the diamond pendant, none of those matter...the simple gifts of love, the time and thought are what make gifts at the holidays priceless. 

What were and or are your priceless gifts? Gifts your children handmade at school or with your spouse? Maybe your parents still have gifts you made as a child? Maybe even the simple gift of conception, family love.

Holiday Tradition

 I tweeted and updated my Facebook status on how fabulous this holiday season would be, even after a tumultuous Thanksgiving I knew Christmas would completely drown everything that happened.

For the week leading up to Christmas Big G and I were on a Betty Crocker roll. I think I was channeling her or Martha Stewart for that matter with how many crafts and baking we accomplished together. We started by making these absolutely easy and aromatic Christmas ornaments courtesy of my friend Casey over at Extraordinary Mothers. Look at these beauties, I was so proud of my baby for sticking with the project.

We used some super simple ribbon too. Just a bit of wired ribbon and decorative craft rope and we have insta- ornaments that not only look fantastic and can be dressed up but smell absolutely intoxicating!

Next we did some rolled and cut Gingerbread Man cookies that were just the most tender, sweet, soft delicious cookies you could ever have. We did THREE dozen of those cookies. Look at the boy go! I was so proud he had so much fun...and we chowed on some dough! What good are cookies without cookie dough to nibble on.

So we moved onto more fun cookies and we did some really fun sugar cookies. I decided to use my new Wilton's Cookie Press that I won from my friend Sandra over at Adventures In Mommyland (you should read...this woman has amazing strength!) and we did fabulous Christmas tree press cookies and some "star" shapes that actually looked more like flowers and we decorated as such.

Finally I made THREE, yes THREE homemade, from scratch, did not buy the shit in a pan from the store, PIES. I know I am a culinary snob...I truly enjoy the insult of being a snob, I pride myself in this delight. I have skills and I am proud to flaunt! HA HA HA. Okay, so enough of me, here is my prize winning pie...well actually it was eaten too fast before I could take a beauty shot, but I do have the original specimen, and I will be posting the recipe for Morsel Monday next week since I have failed to play along with consistent blogging this week. A-Okay by me, enjoying the relaxing time the no pressure of posting. But here is the specimen that I speak of...yes...that is a Pumpkin. An albino (white) pumpkin and what the insides look like after being cooked/mashed. Pretty right? Just imagine the taste. OH EM GEE!

The three wise pies were my infamous and prized beauties that each of my Grandmother's raved over (yes both Grandmothers asked for the recipe....the women with phenomenal, mad cooking abilities wanted MY recipe!), my aunt's who both have an insane level of gift in the culinary arts wanted the recipe, and of course my mother...who legitimized my claim of THE PERFECT child cook said my pie was better than the other pie she had that day...or any other day or holiday for that matter. Well of course...mine was made with love...not from an assembly line and stamped with the brand of "Marie Callendar's." kthxbai

I then worked on my Turkish chocolate cake. This cake was like no other though, more of a Swiss Roll with wonderful whipped cream inside...again, another recipe I will be sure to post. Super easy, super delish and very decadent. A true dessert cake and delicacy. However, one cake did not roll, so it was a layer cake of sorts, the other did roll, beautifully so I hauled that with us, along with the pecan pie, oh and the divinity. Yes, I made divinity. Which is a true feat to successfully create this confection in winter due to the weather and often cloudy days. You cannot make divinity on a cloudy day...same with fudge...the consistency just isn't right. But I hauled all these goodies to my Grandmother's house in Casa Grande for my 31st Christmas Eve celebration with her, with my Grandfather's passing which was ever so bittersweet a celebration of family nonetheless, my aunt's who had I many a laughs with, and my uncle who I joined in sarcastic witty banter as we jabbed others and one another.

Needless to say while the gifts were not overly plentiful as some may expect, the love of family, being together, having fun, and the creations of love and joy were shared abound. Those gifts are the gifts that carry no price, can never be replaced, and are felt year round and are remembered for a lifetime.

What were your holiday traditions? Family traditions? Baking fun? Any childhood memories you had that carry on with your present family? Children?

Monday Mingle: Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone!

This is the last week for a mingle until the new year. You can still play along. Be sure to visit EightyMPHMom.com to link up and find all the details of doing your very own Vlog! Tons of fun. This week's questions are:

1. What three things are on the top of your holiday wish list?

2. What are you doing for the holidays? Any special plans? Going out of town?

3. What is your favorite holiday cookie?

Monday Mingle - Happy Holidays! from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

Happy חֲנֻכָּה‎ Hannukah!

Happy Kwanza!

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Christmas Meme

Okay I am a huge FAIL BLOG-ALE, I have memes to be posted and awards....so I need to get to it!

My gal pal Jackie over at Monkey Mayhem tagged me for a really fun Christmas meme, so here goes!


1.) Have you started your Christmas shopping?

Yes, I began a bit before Thanksgiving and then the day after,.

2.) Tell me about one of your special traditions.
Every year I load up the kids and drive to my grandparent's house in Casa Grande to spend Christmas Eve with them. This year will be even more special and meaningful and bittersweet as this is the first Christmas without my grandfather, but my grandmother always has such a beautiful spread.

3.) When do you put up your Tree?
When I get off my ass. Seriously.....I just put it up Saturday. Some years it has been just a week before Christmas because of the kids pulling on the tree, ornaments, ya know.

4.) Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Oh I am now! Last year I was devirginized in my Black Friday experience, so now....a seasoned pro. I will go every year for sure!

5.) Do you Travel at Christmas or Stay home?
With kids....we stay home. If we do travel, it is across town to my other grandparent's or uncles and aunt's homes for Christmas Day festivities and shots of Crown Royal. That's how the Polish roll in my family so we roll with them!

6.) What is your funniest Christmas memory?
One that is cherished by my entire family when my dad and brother were lighting luminarias and my brother and dad could not get one to light. My dad called it a weak sister, and my brother chimed in "Which one? Lynneah or Shawn?" Makes us all fall over laughing everytime we hear that story.

7.) What is your favorite Christmas Movie of All time?
The original Miracle on 34th Street.

8.)Do you do your own Christmas Baking, what’s your favorite treat?
I do bake all my holiday goodies....my favorite would be an angel roll and it is similar to a Little Debbie roll without the icing on top and I put coffee into the mix for a truly decadent flavor.

9.) Fake or Real Tree?
While I miss the real, I would rather keep my home and save the environment. I have a 13 year old fake....who might need to be donated for a needy family next year and we upgrade to a new one.

10.) What day (as a Mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
Christmas Eve...bar none. Although my OCD kicks in right about now freaking the hell out to get it all done.

11.) Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?
Isn't everyone?!

12.) What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?
The morning of Christmas, to see the kids faces are just priceless.

13.) What Christmas craft do you like the best?
Casey, over at A Couch with a View did a SAWEET craft that I need to try out this year for the kids which is applesauce and cinnamon ornaments! You can get the recipe here.

14.) Christmas music. Yes or No, and if yes What is your favorite song?
Christmas music gets me everytime....I'm a sap...but I am not a huge Christian belief in Christmas type, but the music always gets me and my faves are The First Noel (because I am the first Noel in my family...nah nah, boo boo), Angels We have Heard on High, and Carol of the Bells....that one is my ALL time favorite.

15.) When do you plan to finish all your shopping?
I have to have a PLAN? Um soon....very very very soon!

So Heather @ Top Ten Christmas was the original creator of this meme so be sure to link to her and here are my tagged bloggers:

Jenine @ Badger Momma
Kelly @ Childhood
Lauren @ MisAdventures in Theatre
Sandra @ Adventures in MommyLand
My witches "Winter" and "Redneck" @ Networking Witches

And heck....whomever feels in the spirit of the season to play along because really....the season is all about giving! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

For Everyone: Step2 Lifestyle Kitchen :: CLOSED

The Herring Hunting, Five Fish Holiday gift guide is now officially in FULL SWING and I wanted to get this puppy started off right. My kids and I had the awesome opportunity provided to us by Step2 to receive and review the Lifestyle Deluxe Kitchen. I have to tell you that the kids LOVE IT! The first day the kitchen was assembled they rallied around it, with all the great features, accessories, the fostering of some really great pretend play!

Grant told me immediately that we had to go to Costco to stock up on supplies, that his fridge was looking a little barren. We needed bread, Cheerios, some more fruit and vegetables, maybe some milk. DH and I were laughing hysterically and taking note to plan a trip to Costco for he and the twins. The gnomes love all the sounds, the buttons and controls, plus the utensils have been loads of fun for them.

Here is what the Step2 Lifestyle Deluxe Kitchen has to offer as far as amenities and features:

• Appliances make realistic electronic sounds   
•  Granite-look counter top
• 38-piece accessory set included (accessories may vary)
• Loads of storage space 
• Framed window with overhead light 
• Sink with modern faucet and pull-out sprayer
• Adult assembly required 
• Made in USA of US and imported parts (phone, play food, light, faucet, electronic keypads and burner made in China) 
• Requires 8 - AA and 5 - AAA batteries (not included)  

 [Source: Step2 IPK]

The Mrs. Fish take: the appliances are cute for a small scale, so yes, realistic for the gnome size scale. The counter top I took to be more Corian than granite looking, the accessories are very cool, and adding more is even MORE fun for the kids.  Truly TONS of storage which is nice for the kids to experiment and play. The light is cool, the kids love to turn that on as the room gets darker. Adult assembly FOR SURE is required, the whole system to put together is snap and lock with a few screws here and there, however, I would suggest a strapping individual to help with the initial put together and a drill for the screws. Also be sure you have all the screws, we were short a few but scrounged some together in the garage. The put together is time consuming so be sure to set aside at least an hour or more if working alone.



All-in-all a GREAT toy! The only issue we had was with the screws, no biggie, the stickers and accessories were loads of fun to put away before the kids played with it and to see what all was included. I feel comfortable with my kids playing with this toy from Step2 because 1. it is made in the USA and 2. no choking parts for my little guys and 3. my oldest is six and he loves to play with it too! He was whipping up hamburgers and fresh baked buns the other day! Loads of fun!

Are you ready to have loads of fun with the Step2 Lifestyle Deluxe Kitchen? Good because you have your very own chance to win one! Valued at $219.99 and just in time for Christmas, definitely a "Santa" worthy gift for hours of unadulterated pretend play. Here are the rules:

Mandatory Entry:
Visit Step2 and tell me what other products from their kitchen line you would love to have in addition to the one listed in this review and how that would help foster your child's imagination and learning.


EXTRA Entries:

• Follow my blog (at the side)
• Follow my blog on Networked Blogs (again...at the side)
• Fan the Fish on Facebook (again....at the side)
  
• Technorati fave the Fish (....since we have the new URL)
• Oh want to increase your odds....Kristin and Lizzy have giveaways going on too! Enter with them and get an extra entry!
  
• Follow Me On Twitter
• Tweet this Giveaway by saying this: "@KariewithaK and @theStep2Company fostering imagination #giveaway http://tiny.cc/biyxB" (only one tweet per day please)
• Blog this giveaway with a minimum of 50-100 words, using my button (to the right) and linking back to this post. (Worth 4 Entries!)
  

Now play fair, if you FAIL to enter your EMAIL or I cannot find one attached to your blogger account...no entry. Also, you must tell me in each comment with proof (tweeted, etc) of your entry. I really hate to disqualify entrants, so again, please follow the simple rules. My dear friend Tammi @ My Organized Chaos brought up that this giveaway is US only, I say this because she is Canadian. *Sigh, I'm so sorry....

DOWNLOAD your Copy of the catalog HERE to see what other great products will be featured with awesome money savings for the holidays and of course giveaways!

CONTEST ENDS NOVEMBER 30TH @ MIDNIGHT ARIZONA TIME (Pacific Standard)

Thank you Step2 for providing a great toy for giveaway!

*Five Fish always blog ethically and with transparency. Click HERE!

Appliances make realistic electronic sounds

Granite-look countertop

38-piece accessory set included (accessories may vary)

Loads of storage space

Framed window with overhead light

Sink with modern faucet and pull-out sprayer

Adult assembly required

Made in USA of US and imported parts (phone, play food, light, faucet, electronic keypads and burner made in China)

Requires 8 - AA and 5 - AAA batteries (not included)

Read more: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1218#ixzz0UQAjsRNP

Appliances make realistic electronic sounds

Granite-look countertop

38-piece accessory set included (accessories may vary)

Loads of storage space

Framed window with overhead light

Sink with modern faucet and pull-out sprayer

Adult assembly required

Made in USA of US and imported parts (phone, play food, light, faucet, electronic keypads and burner made in China)

Requires 8 - AA and 5 - AAA batteries (not included)

Read more: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1218#ixzz0UQAjsRNP

Appliances make realistic electronic sounds

Granite-look countertop

38-piece accessory set included (accessories may vary)

Loads of storage space

Framed window with overhead light

Sink with modern faucet and pull-out sprayer

Adult assembly required

Made in USA of US and imported parts (phone, play food, light, faucet, electronic keypads and burner made in China)

Requires 8 - AA and 5 - AAA batteries (not included)

Read more: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1218#ixzz0UQAjsRNP

Santa Fish is Coming to Town

Can you believe that we are more than three-quarters through 2009?! I know I cannot believe how fast time has flown. I can tell you that we have 75 days until Christmas!

THAT'S IT! ES TODO!

So if you are like me and wait until the VERY last minute to shop, or you finally get the nerve to rouse in the morning before 4am to fight all those lovely Black Friday shoppers, like I did last year. Well you are in luck!

I, Karie, aka Mrs. Fish, am compiling the ultimate gift guide for you! These lovely gifts will be oh so unique that your recipient will be swooning in joy over their one of a kind package. The range is from a total family gift, so one everyone in the family can enjoy, to individual gifts for the "hard to shop for" or "they have everything."

Be ready! The gift giving begins HERE November 1st. What is even better than a guide of wonderful gifts, is the chance to WIN some of these AWESOME gifts! How is that for holiday shopping! You're very own holiday concierge, right here, delivered by moi.

I am still compiling a FABULOUS month of gift giving ideas, reviews, and giveaways, because you can never have enough GREAT ideas for gifts. If you are not participating with The Five Fish Holiday Gift Guide YOU SHOULD BE! Share with us your products, we love to hear about them and give them a good whirl in our house. If you are PR, please use the linky above to submit all requests. I look forward to hearing, sharing, and giving you all a Jolly Good Holiday time!