I wish we could have a year full of days like we’ve had this weekend. It has simply been great to be outside!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JENNA! Tuesday was Jenna’s eighth birthday. Because Easter fell so close to her birthday this year we have only celebrated with family, but I think she and Vicki are planning to do something with a few of her friends.
Tuesday night, after her soccer practice, we all went out to eat at the Catfish House to celebrate. It was a slow evening for them which was good for us. Jenna was really impressed with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when she saw it in the theatre and had been talking about using her birthday money to buy the DVD. That made our shopping very easy and she was really happy to get the movie. We also got her a CD player to replace the outdated tape deck she has in her room. Mom got Jenna a really nice Minnie Mouse watch. She had looked long and hard because Jenna had said she wanted a watch with all the numbers (not just numbers at the 3, 6, 9 and 12 positions) and G’Anne came through for her granddaughter.
FOREVER LOST. I am really glad I do these newsletters as it has been nice to look back from time to time and read about things we have done over the past 2 1/2 years. Somehow this came up in conversation when we were eating at the Catfish House and Mom mentioned that she had written down all sorts of cute things I had said when I was a toddler. Now Mom, being the good secretary, wrote it all down in shorthand. The problem is that she has since forgotten how to read shorthand!
STUPID HUMAN TRICKS. I can wiggle my ears. Vicki can wiggle her nose. Jenna can touch her nose with her tongue. Jenna brought this up one night at the supper table asking the boys what they could do. Ben thinks he can wiggle his ears but I’m not convinced. He also thinks he can wiggle his nose but there is too much upper lip action going on for that. Nate can really wiggle his ears as long as you let him use his hands. We sure did enjoy watching them try to do these things. I guess this should tell you not to expect much in the way of dinner conversation around us. So, who can roll their tongue?
EIGHT BELOW. If you don’t get to see this movie in the theatre you need to put in on your rental list. We saw it Friday night and really enjoyed it. The film was inspired by a true story of a sled dog team of eight dogs that were part of an expedition in Antarctica. An approaching storm at the end of summer caused the people to have to evacuate their base leaving the dogs behind. The drama plays out in the story of the dogs’ survival on their own and the man responsible for the dogs attempting to return to rescue them. It was a well told story.
The funny part for us happened during the previews. Ever since she saw the IMAX 3-D version of The Polar Express Jenna has been a bit squeamish about watching a movie in a theatre (I think the scene where the train’s cowcatcher stops just inches from your nose sort of did her in). When we sat down Jenna had Ben on her left. She grabbed hold of Ben’s arm and settled in. Evidently this wasn’t good enough because she swapped places with him pretty quickly to be next to Vicki and her arm. She tried to cover this up when she whispered, “I think Benton can see better now.” Vicki replied, “I know what you’re up to,” and Jenna grinned sheepishly. Ben must have known too because he asked her several times, “Is this the scary part yet?”
THOUGHTFULNESS. I think I have mentioned this before but Will Ed Osborne has sort of become the candy man to some the kids at church (William, who I quoted in the tornado story last time, is his youngest son). For some reason Ben calls him Uncle Bud. As we were leaving for church today Ben showed me a piece of candy and asked if he could take it. When I asked why (knowing he gets candy in Sunday school as well as from Will Ed) he explained, “Last week Uncle Bud runned out of candy and I want him to have some to give other kids.” How could I refuse that?
Joe
