The King Family Christmas Tree!!!

"We're kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols"  
So while the Griswolds headed out into an snow covered field, numb up to their eyeballs the kings,  headed down the open road and ended up here............

Yep, that's right.  We bought our tree at Rite Aid this year.  At first I was quite sad about it.  Most years we make an afternoon out of getting our tree.  We find a tree farm and bundle up and head there after church.  We have fun wandering through the trees trying to find the BEST tree available.  Matt gets to cut it down and we drag it back to the car.  Sometimes there is hot chocolate waiting at the end and candy canes or other times we just head home and start pulling out the decor.  Another part of our tradition is making a big pot of golden cream soup and warm our freezing selves back up before we start the best part.  The "best" part usually includes arguing over who's ornament is whos.  Me untangling lights for most of the time.  Matt putting the lights up.  Me getting sad/mad because another ornament has broken.  And of course the best part, trying to decide who gets to put up the star!  But through all of that we have found the secret to keeping the peace.  Video camera!!! Hahah I set the camera up and just let it roll.  And guess what?  Everyone is a little nicer, a little happier and all around a little more fun! It's amazing how we behave when that thing is on.  Madels is definitely her mothers daughter and spends a large amount of time jumping up and down in front of the camera, and Jude mostly tries to avoid it. 

Too bad that beautiful flocking job didn't stick around.

Yep, we did that!  Good thing the house isn't far from Rite Aid.  I actually held onto the top of the tree from inside the car while we went up the hill to our house! We must have been quite a sight.

Matt King, the best tree lighter I know.

Cutest light helpers I know. 

We can never remember who put the star up last year so this was our solution this year!

What a beaut!  The kids are so happy with the tree!  They walk in the room and just gush about how much they love the tree.  It smells sooooo good and I love the glow of the lights through our front window. 

So although this year's tree hunt didn't start out like I had planned (hello story of the last few months!)  it turned out like it always does.  My family was together, we made memories and we have a beautiful tree decorated with love! :)  

So what are your favorite family traditions when it comes to putting up the tree?  

Merry Christmas from The Kings!!!

The Super Bass-O-Matic!!! AKA Vitamix!

So several years Matt's cousin Lacey was talking about how she got a vitamix at the fair.  She was sooo excited.  I said, "isn't that just a blender?" Uh NO it isn't.  I didn't get it.  But now I do.  Sorry Lacey for doubting you.  The thing is amazing.  So far I have only used it for blending smoothies but my goodness that thing rips through it all.
Seeds from berries???? They don't stand a chance.
Ice cubes? See ya!!
Kale?  Smooth as your mutha!

Matt and I have always loved starting out the day with a smoothie.  Our main recipe was simple, Spinach, strawberries and lemon juice.  It was good but now it is even better.  But since the VM has entered our home we have reached a new level of wonder.  I have never consumed more fruits and veggies.  I basically will put anything in that baby.  Today I took pictures along the way to share with you!

It's a beast.  

One thing I really like to add to my smoothies is Odwalla Super Food.  Main reason is, it is great for you.

It has all kinds of good stuff in it.  And secondly my kids love it.  So when their smoothie is totally green from me adding kale or spinach I just say the superfood made it green and they are good. 

I used about 1 cup.

Next I added Kale.  This food is full of it!  Full of everything you need for the day.  It is a cancer fighter and much much more!  google it.  You will start eating it.  

I added 2 stalks.

Today I used plain yogurt.  Sometimes I use greek yogurt.  About 1/2 cup.

Strawberries.  

A handful

Flaxseed.  Good source of fiber, protein, and omega-3's  I don't mind it in there but it does change the texture a bit. 1 serving is 2 tablespoons.  I did 6 tablespoons today.  (for a 2 serving batch)

I had lots of grapefruit that needed to be eaten so I peeled one and added half of it to the mix.

Half a banana for a smooth texture.  

There it all is.  Isn't that pretty!

Start blending.  And be amazed.

There is nothing this thing can't handle.

And there you have it.  Everything you need to start your day right! 

Just think I have already had about 4 servings of fruits and veggies today! Add in the yogurt and flax and I have some protein and fiber!  

I added it up and for 1 serving (this recipe made 2) it was about 325 calories.  Not too bad.

So to those of you who love to blend things, pass on your recipes!  And to my friends, if I start acting like Dan Aykroyd please stop me! hahahaha I love the bass-o-matic!

The Kings are back in the Kitchen!

Looks like we took a little kitchen hiatus there, but have no fear! The holidays are upon us and we are back in full force in Cocina de la King's! 

This video is our absolute favorite treat to bring to holiday (or any day for that matter) gatherings.  It is a very welcome addition on any table of treats.  I really like to be able to have a light item among all of the other wonderful savory dishes. 

We call it "The Pears" yep they're that famous in our family.  So here you have another episode of Cooking with the Kings, with special guest Grammy!!!

Ahhhh I have just spent far too much time trying to get this video uploaded!!! NOT Working.  I will give it another whirl tomorrow but I am pretty sure I have tried everything I know how to do.  

I am not sure that I have ever actually seen a written recipe for this item.  My mom received this recipe from a friend at work so I am sure it is floating around somewhere but I am going to give you my best direction.

I like to do about 1 lime per pear.  This will give you plenty of juice and zest.  And do make sure you get Asian pears.  We have tried with a regular pear and it just isn't the same.  

1. Wash limes and pears.

2. Zest limes

3. Combine lime zest and some super fine sugar.  (Here is where a printed recipe would come in handy)

Do about 1/4 cup sugar per lime.  

4. juice limes.

5. slice pears.  We like to do ours quite thin. Cut into 16ths.

6. In a gallon zip-lock bag combine pears, lime juice and half of the zest sugar mixture. 

7.  Allow to soak for at least one hour in the refrigerator.  But probably no more than 4-6 hours

7.  remove from juice, place on a platter and sprinkle remaining zest/sugar mixture over top.

And there you have it.  My kids snarf these things!!!

Today Jude and I got the urge to get started on the holiday treats.  We were going to make the cookie press cookies but it appears that the press was either thrown away (very good chance) or still packed away somewhere very special!  So we decided to go with the best cookies ever.  No Bakes!!!  If you haven't made these cookies you must walk straight to the kitchen with this recipe and make them now.  They are soooo simple.  I wanted to film Jude but he said he would rather just do photos.  So that's what we did. 

You can just see the excitement in his eyes!  He doesn't have to take turns pouring with sissy. :)

Strep one:

Assemble ingredients. Including one adorable son. :)

Pour into pan.

Stir

Add butter

Pour some more

Pat with semi-clean hands

Stir a little more

And finally plop!

I am trying to make sure and enjoy these afternoons that I have with Jude! First grade will be here before I know it. And then what will I do?!?!?!? Hahaha.  

No Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

4 cups quick oats.

Cook the sugar, cocoa, milk and butter over medium heat until it starts to boil.  Remove from heat and cool one minute.  Add vanilla, salt, peanut butter and oatmeal.  Stir well, then drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper and cool.  

Thanks for stopping by.  What is your favorite holiday treat?

A fun weekend with Grandpa and Grandma!!

So there is really only one way to say this,  I have AMAZING grandparents!  There is pretty much no way I could tell you how wonderful they are.  So you are going to have to take my word for it.  Let's just say, my grandpa will HAPPILY rub my feet every single time I ask(which reminds me I forgot to ask for a foot rub this weekend) Bummer  and my grandma is the best kitchen helper EVER!!!    Anyhow, over the weekend they were here at our house in Pullman!  They had driven to Mexico for a vacation with their friends and were making their way back home.  They made stops along the way at my Uncle and Aunt's house in Tucson and some other friends in Arizona as well.   From there they made their way to Idaho to see Grandmas sister and BOOM next they were here!  I think it is great that somehow on their way home from Mexico they ended up in Pullman.  :)  What a wonderful treat for us.

 Here they are with my kids, their great-grandchildren.

If you remember back to my first blog post in Pullman you will see that these are the very same extraordinary grandparents that drove our U-haul over here with us when we moved!!!  They definitely deserve a major award.  

Perhaps?????? 

So Friday afternoon they pulled in.  The kids and I were so excited and met them at the door with lots of hugs and kisses!  They had been in the car for 6 hours so we spent a little time letting them stretch their legs out and asking all kinds of questions about their trip so far.  We were also excited to show them all the great things in Pullman and so our first stop was, Sella's Pizza!!!  Yummmm

Once we were home Papa taught Jude how to crack his nose! Ouch.  :) 

And then for some reason the kids and I decided to torture them by bringing out the game SWAP!  Oops how did I already forget how lame that game is?  Oh well the kids still seem to like it and it was fun playing games all together. 

The next morning we were up and at 'em again, ready to go!  Matt made a delish breakfast and basically stuffed us all to the top!

Here's is a small portion of our wonderful breakfast!

And what do you do as soon as breakfast is cleaned up?  Start eating lunch!!!  We were still so full we opted for snacks in front of the football games!  

Matt and Gramps also took a tour of Matt's job site and were able to see the crane being delivered.  

The kids and ladies chose to stay home and stay WARM! 

Later that afternoon we took a drive south to see the snake river bluffs.  Matt has been wanting to take the drive for a while and this seemed like a great time for that!  I of course forgot my camera so I only took a few on the phone.  During our trip we saw several deer on the mountainside.  Thankfully Papa had thought to bring his binoculars so that was a lot of fun for the kids, and for the rest of us too.

We most definitely did NOT need the binocs to see this guy. :)

The drive was quite beautiful!  There were lots of people out bird hunting and fishing!  We thought they were nuts to be out in such cold weather but we have been assured that this is nothing yet!  Looks like the cold weather is just starting.  

Once we had made it to Clarkston we hopped out at Costco and had a very leisurely stroll around the store.  Sometimes it is so nice to be at Costco with no where to run off to. 

This was our view as we crossed the Snake River into Clarkston. 

Somehow we missed sample hour at Costco, but since we were all still quite full from lunch and breakfast it was just fine!

When we got home we had a nice relaxing evening ahead of us.  We reheated our leftover pizza and snacked on cougar gold cheese! The kids wanted to get Gramps and Grams in on family fun night so we all sat down for a game of rummikub! Our bananas weren't quite ripe enough so we did strawberry shakes and we were full (again) so we skipped the popcorn!

Once the kids went to bed the real competition began!  G&G had learned a new game in Mexico and had been playing along the way.  It is a version of the card game golf, but in this game you play with 9 cards.

And if you have ever played this game you know how valuable these bad boys are!  

We had some good laughs that is for sure!   This game was right up Matt's alley.  It has a great level of strategy and I am sure he will figure out the best one very soon!

Sunday morning G&G went to church with us.  It was lots of fun taking them there.  Isn't it funny how you notice EVERYTHING that happens at church when you bring someone with you?  Thankfully we attend an amazing church and had such a great sermon and we all really enjoyed it.

 Afterwards we hit up Cougar Country for lunch.  The kids and I had not yet gone there and so it was fun to try out another fun Pullman place.  

G&G wanted to get home at a decent time, (And I am sure they were ready to be in their own home and bed after traveling for over 5 weeks!) so they left once we were home from lunch.   We sent them off the same way we greeted them with lots of hugs and kisses and I love yous! 

We are so very thankful that they took the time to come spend a weekend with us.  It is a memory that we will carry with us forever.  I am lucky to have such fantastic grandparents and how awesome for my kids to have a relationship and great memories with their GREAT grandparents!!! 

Madeline and I had plans to go see The Nutcracker Ballet with her brownie troop that afternoon so we headed there in the afternoon!  It was so so fun to get dressed up with my girl and spend the day together.  She absolutely loved the show!

And stay tuned for a post about this awesome appliance very soon!!!

And she's back!

She won't stop bugging me to let her do another post so here ya go!

by Rebecca The Redhead

Today started with the TO DO list, and on that list was:

Clean off the huge piles of paperwork from the kitchen island:

Watch The View

Take the kid to school

Run

Go to Safeway

Fold laundry

Clean toilets

Write guest blog

Paint fingernails & toenails (if there’s time for toenails, but definitely fingernails)

Make appointments (doctor, etc)

Make charitable contributions of lowly amounts, save receipts for taxes

So far, I have accomplished a few things on the list. It doesn’t matter which ones, people. They are all important. Kind of like sin: they are all the same. Murder is the same as Thou Shalt Not Covet (Whatever “covet ”means. I don't covet my neighbors: one never turns on her porch light & the other one's dog barks incessantly!) Coveting: That’s my topic today. I had to look it up. I knew it did not mean bedspread, but I wanted the true dictionary.com definition. Also, I have a real paper dictionary (kids, ask your grandpappy what this is) but it’s heavy, oh so heavy, and all the way downstairs... and dictionary.com is right here. CLICK: COVET

But first a little history:

I was not raised in any kind of religious faith. I went to Sunday school a time or two (I loved the crafts; Mom loved the free childcare.) I looked up the name Rebecca on Wikipedia last week and learned about this biblical girl watering camels and snagging her hubby Isaac. As a kid, I had a plastic Noah’s Ark that was a giveaway at a Union 76 or Shell station in the late 70s; and with every fill-up, I got a new animal to fill said ark. I had no idea it was a religious thing. I wish I still had that toy. It was pretty fun to march the animals in and out, two by two and all that jazz. I never got the lady zebra or the male giraffe, tho, so I made up a new species: Girabra (tall & stripey!) I am fascinated with church, tho. And all because of second grade... when.... yes, I COVETED!

It was mid-year, and Ms. Brown announced we had a new student: “Sunni Tsuboi” and the most beautiful Asian girl stood at the front of the glass, black hair shimmering. She had a cast on her ankle (A bike accident, she shyly told us.) And then the magic words, Please, Sunni, take a seat next to Rebecca, The Redhead... OH MY GOSH! I had never seen anyone like her, I was AB-SO-LUTE-LEEEE in A-DUBYA-E! She sat down. I said HI! YOU ARE SO PRETTY!! I LOVE THE NAME SUNNI!!! IS THAT YOUR YOUR REAL NAME? WHERE ARE YOU FROM? WHERE DO YOU LIVE? WILL YOU BE MY BEST FRIEND? DOYOUHAVEANYBROTHERSORSISTERSAREYOUCHINESEORJAPANESEWHATISYOURFAVORITEFOODDOYOUUSECHOPSTICKS ...” and the teacher said, “Ahem, Rebecca, please stop talking. Save it for recess.”

Rebecca The Redhead: That’s me! Since day one, thank you. That’s my name. Middle Name The. Last name Redhead. Sometimes it changes to Rebecca The Redhead With Freckles (formal occasions).

To see Sunni Tsuboi (silent T like Tsunami, readers) every day for the next four school years, with her past-shoulder length hair in one long ponytail, two high pigtails, braids, French braids, parted on the side, parted in the middle, two barrettes, one barrette, curled one day, wavy the next, straight the next. IT WAS SIMPLY OVERWHELMING for a girl with thick red wavy hair that looked exactly the same every day (ICK!) HOW I LOVEDTHAT STRAIGHT BLACK HAIR. Sunni’s hair was PERFECTION to me. I WANTED IT! (I also thought it would be neat-o to have a cast, like Sunni did, but was not about to stick my foot in the back wheel of a moving bicycle to achieve it.) I was coveting the cast, a little, the shiny, straight, long black hair A LOT.

                                  I believe this is what Sunni would look like today

Sunni and I became friends. She lived across the street from my babysitter so we walked home together, played on her swingset, played paper dolls. She had BUNK BEDS. She had a SISTER (like me, but Erin was a little sister, how magical!) and a BROTHER (older, wow! I wish I had an older brother, too....lucky!) Her mom was named Judy (like mine!) Her dad played the trumpet. (My dad played the radio!) First, she had the perfect hair, now the perfect LIFE! I kept coveting. I invited her to my birthday parties. We went swimming. She introduced me to CHEEZ-Its and American cheese. We pretended a baby elephant lived under my staircase. We named him Elmer.

Sunni went to church every weekend. I wanted to go, too! I asked her, can I go sometime? She hesitated... Um you may not like MY church, but she asked her mom, Can She? And her mom said YES!

The Yellow Smiley Face: On every brown paper sack & my best dress!

I dressed up in my most favorite dress: White with Yellow Happy Faces all over it (again, this was the 70s: very popular icon.) Picture this pale, freckled, bright redheaded girl in a very idenfiable 70s iconic knee-length dress at church ... but not any church... a Buddhist temple with an ALL JAPANESE CONGREGATION.... J

Danny P, talented & beautiful!

I didn’t just Stick Out. I didn’t just get a few quizzical looks. I didn’t just Fit In as any other guest of a regular church member. I did just look like Danny Patridge in a Happy Face Dress pouring sacred tea over a ceramic temple and bowing to some random Asian person who was apparently the In Charge guy (like a minister or whatever the Buddhist equivalent is.) I noticed that some people looked at me oddly, but I didn’t care. I was happy to be part of this group, although I didn’t look like anyone else, and I certainly did not know their religion or customs. I had a blast. After church, Sunni & I  ran around the gardens and put coins in all the statues. It was a beautiful day, made more special by hearing Judy Tsuboi tell a group of her friends, “... Oh that Is Sunni’s friend Rebecca. She wanted to come along today... Doesn’t she have the most beautiful red hair and freckles? I would LOVE to have her coloring!")

Me & my first born, 1997. My hair was flaming red; my boy had a little touch of it, too but not anymore...

REALLY??? NO WAY!!! Everyone covets, I discovered early in life, at this Buddhist temple. But keep it in check... be complimentary not jealous. Be happy you have wavy hair, you don’t have to straighten it to fit in with the latest trends, but if you want to, great! If you have freckles, like me, be happy they cover a few wrinkles! Blondes and Brunettes & Gray-Haired ladies too: It’s all good. I happen to adore my practically bald husband along with any all-bald men: That is another blog I have brewing about TV’s Kojak, but you will just have to wait....!) I have found in the wisdom of my old age of 44, that it is easier to compliment than covet. The jealousy evaporates and you can enjoy your differences while embracing your uniqueness! There is NO ONE just like YOU. Isn’t that just so very cool?

There were never any redheads or freckly girls in magazines but now there are! This makes me happy!!

And about that To Do List... CHECK!

lowly contribution! 

 and don't forget to --