O Christmas Tree

In the first weekend of December we decided to head out to our local garden centre (soon to be owned by my Dad and Renata!!) to get our Christmas tree.

Blogging about our Christmas tree made me realize that I've been blogging for just over a year now! Click here if you'd like to journey back to our Christmas Tree last year.... when Edison was just a wee one. This is Edison's second Christmas and its really cool to look back at the pictures from last year and marvel at how much he's grown and how different his Christmas experience will be this year. He'll be a little less interested in the wrapping paper, and a little more interested in the toy that hides inside... unlike last year when the fun part was crunching up the paper.

Since November 25th of 2010, I've managed to write almost 150 blog posts! I have to admit, when starting the blog I wasn't sure I was going to be able to sick with it. I've definitely surpassed my own expectations of this blog and I'm so glad I did. I love looking back at past blog posts... it's such a great way to remember this most amazing year we've had with Edison, who brings indescribable joy to our lives.


Okay... back to the Christmas tree. So, there we are at Trice Farms... looking at all the beautiful trees, when a scraggly Charlie Brown tree calls Jonathan's name and he gets his heart set on bringing it home. It's probably a good thing we picked a Charlie Brown tree anyway, because we didn't want to put a ton of ornaments on it due to the curiosity of Mr. Edison

Edison was more interested in the rocks... which actually come from my Dad's company 

Loaded up and ready to go! 

Perhaps I should have stood in a different spot so there wasn't a giant pole in the pictures 

Jonathan and Edison built a fort in our living room, which we played in while decorating the tree 

Lights! 

Wondering why this candy cane doesn't taste as good 

 Edison, trying to help decorate. It was SO cute!

TA DA!  

My mom asked why our lights only went up the middle of the tree... I said, the branches on this tree are so wimpy they can't hold anything as heavy as lights! Also, after we first decorated the tree, Edison took off all the ornaments that were within his reach... so we now have a tree that is only decorated on the top half. But, I guess you can't expect perfection in a house that has a 16 month-old terrorizing it all the time. It's definitely a Charlie Brown tree with character.


But... lets not forget the real reason Christmas is celebrated in the Reichert household...

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given.

And the government will be upon his shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Councillor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

- Isaiah 9:6

Out for a Stroll

I love downloading pictures off my camera and discovering ones that I didn't even know were on there. Jonathan does a great job and taking pictures of their comings and goings during the day while I'm at work.

They frequently go to our local coffee shop (where Edison is always a big hit with the ladies that work there) and then from there, they walk to a park near by. Edison loves to walk... and he never seems to get tired!

Better Late Than Never...

This is a video that I took while we were at the pumpkin patch that I've wanted to put up on the blog for a long time... I just never got around to getting it off my phone and onto the computer.

I like this video because it's cute to watch Edison walking through the pumpkins. But my favourite part is what he does as soon as he hears the airplane. Edison LOVES airplanes and has crazy airplane radar. Sometimes when we're outside, I'd never have noticed an airplane in the air but Edison will spot it right away. It's really cute... and impressive.

Click the fullscreen button if you'd like to see it bigger

Cheese Please

A couple of nights ago, my mom and I decided to embark on a whole new adventure.... cheese making! It's actually something my mom has been wanting to do for a while. She ordered a couple cheese making kits online and we decided it was time to give it a whirl.

There are lots of different kinds of cheeses you can make at home. After reading the little book, the (seemingly) easiest and quickest one to make is mozzarella. In the grand scheme of things, making your own mozzarella is not that hard. However.... it was a harder than we thought it was going to be and our first batch was a bit of a failure.... well... a total failure.

All you need is milk. Add a little citric acid... 

Add the magical ingredient called rennet... 

Wait 5 minutes... 

Ta da... you have curd and whey 

You cut the curd... 

And stir over heat. However, somewhere in here, we did something wrong because our curds are very soft

We put the curds through a sieve, which was also wrong  

It is NOT supposed to look like this!

By the time we got to the step where we were supposed to microwave it for a minute and then kneed and stretch it like dough, our curds were still the texture of yogurt... not dough. We weren't really sure where we went wrong. 

After doing some reading online, we decided to try a couple of things differently and go back into the kitchen for round two. Edison was very patient while we experimented, playing on the floor with toys, and the dog. 

Here we go again, another gallon of milk 

Hoping this time it works... 

Checking to see if the whey is clear 

Stirring over heat, this time the curds are much firmer... We're on the right track!

Removing the curds 

I know... it doesn't look that appetizing yet 

Edison checking out his new booster seat at Grandma's house! 

 Edison and Grandma 

Hot! But at least it looks like dough, yay! 

Stretching the mozzarella  

We had to take turns stretching it because it was so cool! 

Giving them a cool bath 

Giving them an ice bath 

Ta Da! Fresh mozzarella! 

Insert 'cutting the cheese' joke here 

Yum!! Edison LOVES it! He kept wanting more

Vacuum sealed and ready to take home

We sure had fun in our first adventure into the land of cheese. We're excited to try another type of cheese next and, hopefully, not have to throw out a whole gallon of milk in the process! Stay tuned...