'Aarrghh' Birthday

The most anticipated day in August has came: our big boy Vidor turned four. We celebrated his birthday with a pirate party, lots of friends, food and some real treasure hunt.

Four years ago he was just a little 'grasshopper' we brought home from the hospital (Lutza was the squirrel, and Guzie the polliwog at birth). He quickly grew into a strong fine boy ... sometimes we think too quickly. He is smart as a whip, strong like a bull and loves like a little kitten. He makes our lives and family full by his funniness and endless energy.

Augusztus leg varva vartabb napja eljott: nagy fiunk Vidor negy eves lett. Kaloz partyval, sok barattal, jo falattal es igazi kincsvadaszattal unnepeltunk.

Negy evvel ezelott egy kicsi 'szocske' volt amikor hazahoztuk a korhazbol (Lutza a kismokus Guzie meg az ebihal nevet kapta szuleteskor). Gyorsan komoly fiuva nott ... neha azt hisszuk hogy tul gyorsan. Eles eszu, eros mint egy 'bika' es ugy tud szeretni mint egy hizelgos kiscica. Teljesse teszi a csaladunkat a jokedvevel, humoraval es vegtelen energiajaval.

To get the pirate spirit going, we decorated a bit. Got out all the cool stuff from Daddy's top shelf and made a banner.

Hogy kaloz kedvbe lenduljunk egy kicsit atrendeztuk a hazat es diszitettunk. Leszedtuk Daddy felso polcarol a sok kaloz kincset.

We cooked a super summer meal. Since I haven't had a single party this summer (which I truly have no idea how it happened) I covered a long table with goodies. He asked for ribs and bread ... and I threw in some other stuff to make it a complete meal.

Foztunk egy nagyon fincsi nyarias vacsolrat. Mivel egesz nyaron nem volt egy hivatalos party-nk sem, igy egy kicsit talan tul be akartam hozni a lemaradast. Oldalast es kenyeret kert Vidor ... en meg hozzaadtam nehany aprosagot (gorhet ... ahogy a Mamam mondana) hogy teljes legyen a menu.

The night before I drew some treasure maps and buried some goodies for the children all around the house. It was a real treasure hunt ....

Elozo este rajzoltam nehagy kincses terkepet es elastam aprosagokat a haz korul. Igazi kincsvadaszat volt hogy megtalaljak oket....

Running around in a pack, looking for the X
Egy kupacban volt az osszes barat ... kerestek az X-et.



New accessories turned his friends all into little pirate boys and girls.

Az uj kiegeszitok kaloz fiuva es lannya varazsoltak a baratokat.

And, a birthday would not be complete without a cake...

Es egy szuletesnap nem lenne teljes torta nelkul.

Surrounded by friends ... he was at the spotlight and shined like a little star. There are no words that can express how much we love this boy!!!

Korulveve baratokkal ... ugy ragyogott a fiunk mint egy kis csillag. Nincsenek szavak arra hogy kifejezzek mennyire szeretjuk ezt a fiut!!!

The best day ever...

I know that life is good when my son tells me that 'this is the best day ever' as I am scrubbing dirt off his feet and trying to wash out dried marshmallow from his hair. Life is full of fun and fun is always the best when you have loved ones to share it with.

This Easter - and a few past ones and for many more years coming - we went to see Uncle Dave and Auntie Cindy at Sequim. There is just something super special about their place ... probably because it starts with a ferry ride and always ends with loads of fun with cousins, amazing food, and dirty feet.

The ferry ride is always full of excitement. Having the wanderer and adventurous blood in my boys should have taught me by now that you can't travel on a huge body of water without wanting to throw rocks in it. My darling Vidor was devastated when he realized that there are no pebbles and rocks on deck. He was searching for anything, and I mean anything (which ended up being a dried up chewing gum) to toss in - just to satisfy his urge of watching something disappear in a vast amount of water.

Arriving after a 'long drive' (which is kind of a funny thing to say since the cousins drove over 8 hours compared to our 2 and 1/2), we had an amazing dinner and campfire ... who would not want to settle in and stay a while. There is just something special about the first roasted marshmallow of the year - especially when a puppy is tugging at the other and of your stick. Oh, and shoes are optional here ;o) even if it is only 60 some degrees (one of my favorite things).

Next day we checked out Uncle Dave's boat he has been rebuilding for the past few years. Being on the water, we could not pass by this beach without throwing rocks or picking up shells. The beach we usually go to in Mukilteo has only broken shells so Lutza was not really sure which direction to run and which shell to pick up when practically all of them were intact.

Finally we had enough rocks (some even made it to the van - for the ferry ride home).

It's funny how the Easter Bunny comes by the morning and has baskets full of goodies for the children and then leaves ... just to return later to scatter the garden full of eggs. Why does he do that? Why doesn't he just do it all at once? And why do bunnies lay eggs anyway??? -- Oh, little minds working, I love that our children are so pure and innocent and every thought just comes right out of their mouths. I wish they could stay like this forever!!

I hope one day they look back at these pictures and still remember that this was the 'best day ever'!!!

For the love of baking

Do you see this sweet lady???? It is all her 'fault'. It is because of her that I love to bake so much and appreciate the joy of crafting something delicious for others enjoyment. This sweet lady is my Grandma, and when I say sweet, I mean salt of the earth, the most caring, loving, giving person who God could have given me for a grandmother. She bakes up the most wonderful things out of nothing, things that were lowered in wells or tucked away under pillows to rise just to turn into delicious pastries that are famous in her village. She is in her 76th year and it is nothing for her to get up at 3 am to turn 15 pounds of flour into warm buttery biscuits and rolls to please any cultural event in her village - in fact there are no public gatherings without her goodies. She refuses to use time saving or electric devices, still kneads her bread and whips her cream and meringue by hand. The joy and happiness that her baked goods bring out of people is her biggest complement - you wanna win my grandma's heart 'dig in and enjoy' (it worked for Jeff). She shares all her receipts and hears it a lot that "I tried it, but mine was just not like yours' - and this is how she ends up doing the holiday baking for half of her village friends.

My grandma was the one who planted the seed and nurtured my love for baking. She let me crack - and ruin - dozens of eggs before I learned to separate the white and the yoke, she let me stir the batter both ways - despite superstition that it would flatten your cakes, taught me to braid and fold and twist and to put all your love into what you are making (and always 'draw' a cross over anything that you put in the oven - I bet you all wonder now how come your baking sometimes doesn't come out right?!). She has always been and she will always be my inspiration, my go to person when it comes to new or really old receipts and I hope I can preserve and master making some of her delicious goodies.

I think I have came a long way. I know that, as sometimes I can't pass along my receipts, because I can't remember how much of what I put in it. But it has not always been like that. I mean yes, I was always lousy at following receipts, the 'I know better' attitude often ended up with something bad. But I was not always a good baker. There were times when I got the bread baking fever and baked away 25 pounds of flour just to be disappointed over and over. They were not failures, just small steps. Those were the times when the ducks would run away when they spotted me on the trail - in memory of my previous loaves that they could hardly swallow even if they were choking it down with water. Or the days when you could have a loaf of my 'wonderful' bread for a doorstop any day of the week. Yup, those days, they were fun, especially when I found out that the pound of yeast that I wanted to use up was not SO active any more - hence the bricks that kept coming out my oven.

But now things are as easy as pie, as whipping up a great loaf of bread or making birthdays cakes in shape of insects or flowers or cars or you name it. I love baking and I love sharing my baked goods. This is why I am so thankful for my family and friends who love to eat so I can stay in the kitchen. And I am so thankful for my wonderful grandma who helped me find this joy in my life and who inspires me every day.

This was fun ... held together by 'nails'.

One of my grandma's famous pastries - plum jelly filled with toasted nuts on top.

Oh, and the .... no comment.