Christmas Snapshot

We celebrated Christmas pretty much for a solid week.  We started out last Saturday at Mike's mother's and shared a meal with her family.  There was a huge crowd of cousins, aunts, and uncles and more food than you could shake a fork at.  Really.

We were loud and the children were rowdy (almost as rowdy as the adults) and we ate till we could barely breathe.  I think there were almost forty people in attendance.  It was great fun, there were lots of tales, lots of smiles, and loads of food was consumed.

Mike and I shared a quiet Christmas Eve and it was warm and quiet and cozy.  We turned on the logs and dozed in front of the television.

Then, after sleeping late Christmas morning, we had a couple of Google Hangout sessions with a couple of the granddaughters, scrambled a dozen eggs, and zipped up to Mike's mother's house to share the morning with his family.  His brother's three grown children were in attendance and two of them had their little ones (and almost grown ones) in tow.  Mike's son and his family were there, too.  We ranged in age from 4+months to 80+years.  The children tore into a few gifts we had wrapped for them to enjoy and the adults played a game of Dirty Santa.  Mike and I came home and once again crashed in the den to doze with a full belly.  We enjoyed a phone call from our oldest grandson (15-months-old) who barely had time to tell us that he had gotten presents from, "Ho-Ho-Ho," because he was too busy playing with his treasures.

Friday evening, we converged on my parents' house.  My sister's family of three grown daughters (one of whom is married and one of whom brought a significant other) and my two children and four rowdy grandchildren kicked up a ruckus there.  There were almost twenty of us there and there was at least enough food for fifty but we did our best to consume it all!  Then, wrapping paper was flying as we discovered gifts of stitchery, clothing, toys, and the green stuff (and I don't mean veggies - this was bank-worthy green stuff).  The whole crew pitched in to store the leftovers and Brenda washed dishes.  I dried enough dishes to save face after supervising the flying turtle racers and basketball bouncer.  We left with stuffed tummies, stuffed pockets, and a tub or two of delicousness for later.

Saturday evening, three of our children and most of the rowdy grandchildren convened here at our house.  Mike was the primary chef, frying up bacon, tenderloin, and sausage and scrambling eggs to be smothered under home-baked biscuits.  I had assembled a breakfast casserole and fruit salad and poured some pancakes onto the griddle and we feasted on breakfast for supper.  Again, there was enough food for at least a score of folks and the dozen here tried to polish it all off.  Then, the wrapping paper flew and we all shared gifts.  We traded electronics, clothing, toys, and gift cards for further shopping.  The stockings held snacks for later as well as jewelry, lip balm, and other treasures.

It was a fabulous year for celebrating family, laughter, and love.  We feel ultra-blessed and hope you have, too!

Santa Came!

I must have been a much better girl than I thought I'd been!  Santa came and brought me exactly what I wished for and didn't really think I'd get.

I also got a tripod and a 50 mm lens.  So, today, Mike and I were on a mission...off to get a memory card to fit it!

I have been playing with it since we got home.  Every calf has been a subject, every piece of farm equipment (for our inventory), and even this big hunk of handsomeness...

I love my new camera and I love and thank Santa for making me so happy with such a cool new toy tool!

Merry Christmas!

We hope your blessings are as bountiful as ours.  Here are a few of our bountiful blessings...

Clockwise from top left: Harris - age 1-year (son of Bryan and Jessica), Levi - age almost-5-months (son of Stephen and Bonnie), Lydia - age 5-years, Lillie - age 8-years, and Luci - age 4-and-a-half-months (daughters of Corey and Bridgette), Cassie - age 7-years and Evie - age 5-years (daughters of Laura), and Toby - our rambunctious 5-year-old Schnauzer/Terrier mix pooch

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Elf in the House

She may not be on the shelf but how about this cute little elf?

Luci Elf

Spilling the Beans

Our Lillie has always been honest to a fault.  She will confess every time you ask her about something.  Really, when you think about it, that is truly a good way to be.

This past week she was letting her mother know about some conversations she had exchanged with Emily, a girl who sits near her in class.  It seems that Emily's older sisters might have enlightened her on some topics and she felt a need to share the info with Lillie.  So, in pretty typical Lillie-fashion, the info was passed along in conversation with Bridgette.  As soon as she got a chance, Bridgette made a quick call to her mother (me) to get a bit of advice.  As always, I adhere to the honesty and openness is the best course and encouraged such this time as well.

The next morning, after trekking out to feed her horse, Blaze...after preparing her own microwave pancakes for breakfast...she told her mother...

"Another thing Emily told me is that her father is...you know."

Bridgette took a deep breath and swallowed (to make her heart get back down into her chest and out of her throat) before she said, "No, I don't know.  You will have to explain."

"Santa Claus," explained Lillie.

Before another half-heartbeat, Lydia vehemently exclaimed, "Well, Emily is a liar, Lillie!  Ain't she, Mama?"

(...and she kept repeating that statement several times.)

Lillie went on to explain that she looked closely at Emily's ears and, "they did look a little pointy."

Bridgette asked her if she didn't recall what Emily's dad looked like last summer when he coached a softball team and Lillie did remember...

"Emily is a liar, Lillie!" exclaimed Lydia again.

So, Bridgette suggested that maybe Emily was pulling Lillie's leg a bit and off to school they went.

Fast forward to our family Thanksgiving gathering...

We were all feasting at my mother and father's house and the doorbell rang.  Papaw nonchalantly opened the back door and guess who was standing there...

Santa!

Like children do, Lydia came running to the door to see who had arrived and as her eyes widened, Santa said, "Hi, Lydia.  Where is Lillie?"

I think that sealed it.

Emily was confirmed as a liar with no doubts!

Santa came in and knelt down to talk to the children.  Recognizing an old friend when she saw one, Lillie began talking...

Having a serious talk with the man, himself!

She let him know exactly what made her list.  She also requested that he include a halter for Blaze and some treats for him and Benny to share and maybe a few treats for their puppy, Huck.  She explained that they have Chester, an elf-on-the-shelf, who comes to their house and described some of his antics - including when he hung underwear on the mantel.  Santa also listened to Lydia's list and responded that he wasn't so sure about her getting a pony since that is hard for him to transport in his sleigh.  Lydia, who has always been fearful and stand-off-ish toward Santa, gave him, not just one, but two hugs!

Santa asked them to record their lists in his book so that there was no danger of forgetting.  He visited with each of the children there, calling many by name - including Mike and me!  Then, he slipped quietly out the back door and went on his merry way.

I guess you can imagine what the talk for the rest of the evening centered round.  Even on the trip home Santa was the main topic.  Lydia knew Emily was a liar and, "Lillie you need to tell her she's a liar!"

Lillie noticed, "He even knew our names when he walked in!  And, I think he may bring me everything on my list I made him."

Even the next morning the girls were reflecting on the experience with their visitor and Lillie decided, "I gave him a hug...twice.  I think I'm in good shape."

Grandbabies

I think the greatest rewards of parenting are the grandchildren we get to enjoy!  I have been remiss lately of posting updates and photos of our youngest grandchildren because I have been so busy with my work that I don't want to spend time at a computer when the school bell rings.  Here are a couple of my favorite photos that have been shared of the two little ones lately...

Ladies first, of course:

Little Miss Luci is really a laid-back and happy girl.  She is so patient with her sisters who love her so much that they seem to want to worry her all the time.  I observed her last Saturday as she watched them with rapt attention and grinned like this photo shows and never fussed when they were poking at her or all up in her face.  They will talk to her and mess with her even when she is snoozing and she doesn't seem to be bothered by it.  I guess she knows just how loved she is and absorbs it all.

Now for our little gentleman:

Little Mr. Levi is such a happy and curious little fellow.  This 'tummy-time' shot is one of my favorite and makes me want to get in the floor and have a chat with him or grab him up and squeeze all that sweetness oozing out of him.  I'm sure he is running the store for his mother and father by now and that business is booming because of it!

It is really amazing to me to see the two of them and how they are growing and developing.  Being about a week apart in age, we can see the similar progressions of development and notice the differences... such as foot size!  

We truly are bountifully blessed and Mike and I are ever grateful that our children share these special moments with us via digital photos when we cannot be squeezing them and spoiling them as much as we would like!  (I'm looking forward to a little GrandB time with all of the grands this weekend.)

Informational Text

Reading is probably my most favorite pastime.  I learned to read before I started first grade when I was five years old.  I can never remember not loving books and the written word.

There are all sorts of studies and statistics which confirm that those who read are more successful in school and usually more successful in life.  I'm not so sure I fit those stats but I do love to read and have always been pretty well-informed!

That is a characteristic that at least one of our grandchildren has also developed.  Lillie is a reader.  She loves books and always has.  Some of our earliest photographs of her show her fascination and interest in board books.  She is now a second-grader and is rarely caught without a book to read.

Not long ago her parents were waiting for her to disembark from their vehicle and she was taking what they deemed as too much time.  So, she got a fussing..."Hurry up!  What is taking you so long?  Everytime we have gotten out of the vehicle today it has taken you longer than anybody else..."

Finally, she let her unreasonable parents know that she was simply gathering up her books.  Of course, they didn't understand - after all they are unreasonable.  Their response was, "Why do you have to wag around several books?  Why can't you just take one?"  They don't understand that a girl has to be prepared and sometimes her reading tastes run to fictional material and sometimes those tastes run toward non-fiction.  Really!

Recently, she even got a fussing because she had a light on in the back seat and was distractful to the driver.  She was told to turn off the light and read her story some other time.  To which she responded, "You know, some books have informational text."  (She has heard the educational buzz-words, hasn't she?)

I'm sure you can imagine the reaction she got...groans, an eye-roll, and an order to turn off the light in the back seat.

Her parents think she is a nerd and I think that is quite alright.  She isn't one of those kids who doesn't go outside and play or who doesn't watch television or who doesn't use her imagination and create games when she is with her peers.  Of course, I would like to expand her horizons a little and encourage her to read something that doesn't have a horse involved, but that isn't all bad either.

A couple of weeks ago she checked out a book from the school library that had a horse on the cover.  As it turned out, the entire book wasn't really about horses - only one of the selections in the anthology was about a horse.  She wound up reading a lot more than just that one selection, though.  She had to share with me what she learned about weather and storms by reading another selection in that book.  (I think most of that book was informational text.)

Later in that week, Lillie brought home an assignment that her parents had to sign and within that signature page was a bit more about "informational text."

 (I hope they realize the importance of her reading and can accommodate it a bit more now!)

I hope she never tires of her love of reading!  My experience has been that as long as you have a good book, you will never be bored.  Waiting isn't a pain when you have a good book as a companion and I have sat patiently at the auto-repair place several times with a book.  Reading can take you places that you may never be able to travel physically.  When you read about something, that information can never be taken away from you because it is always stored there in your head somewhere.

Plus, it certainly makes shopping an easy task for grandmother!  I've picked up a couple of good equine reads to tuck into Lillie's stocking but I might have to do a bit more shopping just so I can make sure to also include some of that "informational text."