Our Christmas decor is now up and we all feel festive. Outside it has been sunny and 65°. I’ve even been wearing shorts. Change (possibly snow) is coming this Friday though!
A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING. That really sums it up. It was a perfect day and the meal was delicious. We had so much we ate leftovers clean through to Sunday. It was a big Thanksgiving this year. We fed 21 people. Here’s the story with the guests...
My cousin, Sarah Letsinger, has recently moved from Florida to Lebanon, Tennessee. She now lives with her sister, Mildred Pryor. We invited Aunt Mildred and Aunt Sarah for starters. (Aunt? So how do you address cousins who are the age of your parents? In their case “aunt” is an affectionate title.) Knowing that some of their children would be traveling to visit them for the holiday we extended the invitation to whoever was coming this way. That brought Bill Letsinger (Aunt Sarah’s younger son) and Dewayne Barnes (Aunt Mildred’s grandson) to us as well. I had not seen Bill or Dewayne in about 20 years, and I had never met their wives, Jen and Melissa, or their children.
We had the best time together! It was so nice to renew relationships and meet new additions to the family. We couldn’t have enjoyed the afternoon more if we’d tried to plan it. I think the kids had a lot of fun too. With the exception of Aunt Mildred’s other grandson, Wesson, Jenna was the oldest child of the gang. We had bicycles and tricycles going every direction. It was just a fun day.
HOMECOMING. Friday Vicki and Pauline got up early to go to Camden. Six of Vicki’s high school friends got together and caught up with each other. Many of them she had not seen since her 10 year reunion in 1998. Life has taken lots of different twists and turns, but everyone seems to be in a good place now. And Vicki also said everyone looked mighty good to have doubled their age since graduation. Oh the things we all would go back and tell our 18 year old selves about life if we could. While Vicki was visiting, Pauline saw several of her friends as well. I think they both had a great time.
SURPRISE VISIT. I think I had mentioned a few months ago that the Yerglers had moved from New Jersey to Georgia. They spent their Thanksgiving in Michigan with the Yergler family but stopped by Aunt Mar’s for an hour or so on their way home Saturday night. It was nice to see them. Hopefully we can see more of each other now that they are only four hours away.
ALL THE LEAVES ARE GONE. As I alluded to above, we could not have asked for prettier weather this Thanksgiving break. I spent several hours Wednesday, Friday and Saturday getting the rest of the leaves off the yard. It could not have been more comfortable weather to work in. I have put all the leaves on the garden hoping to both kill weeds and act as mulch. I’ll be in trouble if I get a strong east wind before there’s a soaking rain to pack them down.
OUR SUPER HERO. Nate loves his super hero pajamas. Some nights he is Spiderman (which includes webbing under the arms). Other nights he is Super Man (complete with cape, which he calls a “tape”).
Friday morning Nate was Spiderman. The whole time I was cooking breakfast he kept coming in the kitchen and shooting his webs at me. It turns out I was his arch villain, the “Evil Big Guy.” In spite of our young hero’s best efforts I was still able to carry out my nefarious plot to make pancakes and sausage and he was glad enough to eat them when I was done cooking.
HALLELUJAH! Today I threw away the diaper pail. Nate has been wearing underwear during the day for months but he still needs a pull-up at night. While we can’t say he is 100% potty trained we’re close enough to get rid of that last part of babyhood. It is with mixed emotions that we say good-bye to this part of our lives.
GROWING UP. If you are reading this newsletter to young children you might want to stop here--this is your spoiler warning.
Last night Ben asked Vicki point blank if there really is a Santa Claus. We usually dodge this by asking, “What do you think?” But something about the way Ben asked made Vicki realize this wasn’t a casual question. Ben accusingly said that one boy at Mom’s Day Out last year told him that the parents buy the presents and put them under the tree. Jenna was present when Ben asked. She admitted that other girls at school had been talking about this. Telling about one friend who asked if she believed Jenna said with big eyes, “Momma, I LIED and said no because I didn’t want her to think I was a little girl.”
After fishing a bit more Vicki suggested that Jenna step out of the room. When she and Ben were alone she realized Jenna was standing just out of view. Vicki asked, “Do you want to hear this?” A tentative “yes” came back in response. That’s when Vicki broke the news.
Ben took the whole thing in stride, reflecting on what he’d heard, accepting it as fact. Jenna, on the other hand, had a brief moment of denial saying, “No, it can’t be true. He’s real. Is it true?” A good look into Vicki’s eyes confirmed her fears.
Pondering this revelation for a while Ben asked, “So have you and Dad enjoyed all the milk and cookies we’ve been leaving out?” When Vicki admitted we had he smiled and said, “That was a good snack for you!”
I think they are both okay with the news, but I believe Jenna took it a it harder than Ben. After asking about the cookies Ben proceeded to tell Vicki about all the things he wanted for Christmas.
Of course, this changes the whole Christmas wishing process. Before, Jenna would try to go easy on us asking us for smaller gifts and Santa for the more expensive ones because she knew we didn’t have enough money for everything she wanted. It has sort of taken her by surprise that we’ve been paying for Christmas all these years.
Ben now knows with whom to lodge his complaints. He told Vicki he really didn’t like the pinball machine he got last year and then proceeded to tell her exactly what he wanted this time around. She stopped him before he could reel off all his toy specifications.
Now Ben was warned not to tell Nate or his classmates. But at breakfast this morning Nate looked up from his Pop-Tart and asked, “Santa’s not real?” Vicki glared in Ben’s direction as he tried to feint his innocence.
Joe
