Winding Up 2006

Another Christmas has come and gone and we are left with the sad job of taking down the decorations. But, we have a lot of wonderful memories from this Christmas Season.

CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES. As I mentioned last Saturday we went to Kenny and Lori’s for their annual Christmas party which was a lot of fun. Sunday found us at church for both morning and evening services. Mom and Pauline came over to our house for supper after the evening service.

Christmas morning, after opening our own presents, we headed over to Mrs. Connie’s for the annual Christmas brunch where there was more food than any of us needed to eat. For supper Vicki made soup and we all went over to Aunt Mar’s to eat.

The sad part of Christmas this year was that Aunt Mar had been fighting a cough all last week which was diagnosed as bronchitis. She wisely decided to skip out on all the Christmas activities in order to get better. I know it was hard for her to stay home and we all missed her very much. At least she felt good enough for us to eat supper at her house Christmas evening and come back for supper again Tuesday evening. It should be noted that even bronchitis did not keep Aunt Mar from canceling her hair appointment.

Wednesday we went to Opry Mills to meet with Jonathan and Sheila Leach (college friends) and their three daughters. We enjoyed visiting as we browsed around the mall and had an adventure at the Rainforest Café. Thursday we went out to eat and to see Charlotte’s Web. And Friday all the cousins from Ashland City came over for chili and soup. 

All in all it has been a nice, relaxing holiday.

WHAT WE GOT FOR CHRISTMAS. You know you are blessed when your daughter is complaining about where in her room she is going to put the stuff she got for Christmas. I will not inventory everything the kids got for Christmas, but here are some highlights.

Jenna is an avid reader and enjoys movies as well. She got several books and movies to add to her collection. I’ll have to say her 20Q is pretty addictive. This handheld game asks 20 questions to guess what you are thinking. Whoever programmed it has my respect.

Ben’s favorite present is probably his Superman laptop. It is his constant companion in the van. Another hit for him is the Gum Ball machine from the Bradley’s. He now considers himself a businessman and even hired Jenna to write up the following sign on the Magna-Doodle stationed by the machine: “PAY! If not you will be found.” The machine accepts all coins, but he prefers quarters of course! It is for a worthy cause, all of the proceeds will go toward a Disney trip in 2008.

This was another year of Thomas the Tank Engine for Nate. He got an expansion set from Santa and the Water Tower Steam Set from Kenny and Lori . He also got several engines from G’Anne. He greeted each gift with, “Oh, I love Thomas and he loves me!” He has enough track now to invade both front rooms of the house.

Probably the coolest gift in my opinion was the dominoes. These aren’t marked for playing the game of dominoes, but for setting up to enjoy the domino effect. The set included what looks similar to a gun clip. The dominoes are stacked in the clip and the clip is inserted into a little truck. Turn the truck on and it rolls across the floor setting the dominoes up for you. It’s pretty slick!

On the way home one evening, Benton was unusually quiet. When he did speak he started expressing his appreciation to Vicki for all the hard work she does to keep our family running: cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. Vicki was grateful for the acknowledgment but was later shocked to learn that I hadn’t put him up to it. She was very pleased to realize he had no ulterior motives...his thankfulness was Vicki’s best present this year.

A PROMOTION. Nate is now heavy enough to move up to a booster seat. So Wednesday I took his car seat out of the van and replaced it with a smaller booster. This will make loading and unloading so much easier and give the van greater seating flexibility when we take Mom and Aunt Mar out to eat.

When we broke the news to Nate, Ben quickly offered his congratulations saying, “Way to go, Nate. I knew you could do it!” When Nate understood what was happening he said, “Good-bye old car seat [it was sitting in the back hall at this point]. I hated you.” Then he turned to us and said, “I’m ready to go somewhere!”

CHARLOTTE’S WEB. We just can’t think of how they could have made this film any better. It will be as much a classic as the book and the first animated movie. If you enjoy movies, go see this one. I think E. B. White would be proud of this rendition of his story.

HAPPY NEW YEAR We are about to head to church for a family game night to celebrate and ring in the New Year. We hope and pray that 2007 will be a wonderful year for you!

Joe

Christmastime Is Here

All the schools have closed their doors for holidays, and we are busy getting ready for the BIG DAY. We hope you have a great Christmas at your house. As for us, we will be going to Kenny and Lori’s this evening for their 21st annual community Christmas party, church tomorrow, and, well, all the usual activities....

FIRST PUBLIC PERFORMANCE. Last Sunday night the choir at church hosted a dessert dinner. After eating we all enjoyed Christmas music. Leading off the entertainment were three of Ann Morris’ piano pupils. Jenna played We Three Kings of Orient Are as a duet with Mrs. Ann and she did a great job. She said she wasn’t nervous. We were all very proud of her.

CHEATER. Ben is a fast kid. When he takes off running you can tell it would be hard for other kids to keep up with him. Jenna sure can’t. I can still outrun him, but I know my days are numbered.

The other day he came in bragging about how he beat Jenna running back from Pauline’s. Usually when I race Ben I run to keep it close or I let him win. This time he was bragging so much I decided I’d challenge him and blow his doors in. So we went outside, agreed on a course (from the back porch, around the red house, around the chicken house and back to the porch) and took off on Jenna’s command. When I rounded the chicken house I thought I heard noises coming from the other side but I didn’t look back. On the final turn, as the porch came into view, Ben was standing there celebrating his victory. Knowing he had taken a shortcut I cried, “You cheated!”

“I did not!” came his reply, “You were getting ahead of me so I decided to go a different way!”

We brought our friendly disagreement into the house. Vicki laughed at our huffing and puffing (both from our physical exertion and our male egos).

THE NATIVITY STORY. One of the Sunday school classes at church reserved a movie theatre for a showing of this film last night and we all (except Nate) went. If you have not made time to see this movie you need to do so. This is a must see in our opinion. The acting was excellent. The movie stays about as true to the Christmas story as possible, but a few aspects were compressed or left out to make the story flow well on screen (e.g. no angelic choir appeared to the shepherds, the wise men show up the night of the birth as well as Herod’s orders to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem being carried out that night).

This film really made everything Mary and Joseph went through become more real. I’ve thought about these things when reading the Bible but seeing this acted out on the big screen made things like the shame they suffered, the hardships of travel they endured, how life was under Roman rule and the dreams they had as parents take on a stronger reality.

I’m glad this movie came out after Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. This really made the scene after the birth more poignant for me. I kept thinking about what it felt like to hold one of my kids in my arms and look at their little faces, hands and feet. And then to think about Jesus like that, knowing the rest of the story...

(By the way, the actress that played Mary also had the lead role in Whale Rider. She did a great job in that film as well and it is a good story for a movie rental night.)

Joe

Dealing with Loss

You are never ready to say good-bye when someone passes away, and that is certainly the case with Uncle Paul. Jimmie Pitt had stopped in to check on him before church Sunday morning. He told Jimmie he didn’t feel well and Jimmie was helping him back to bed when he collapsed. Uncle Paul was 94.

My heart hurts for Uncle Paul’s son, Jackie, as he and his dad were best friends. Jackie drove out here from Clarksville (about an hour’s drive) practically every week day to spend time with his dad. Uncle Paul and Jackie are two men that I admire very much. It would be fair to say that both men are heroes of mine. I hope I will have the relationship with my kids that they have enjoyed with each other. One memory that stands out in my mind is how Uncle Paul took care of Aunt Bonnie, his first wife, when her kidneys failed her and she needed dialysis. He learned how to do the whole procedure and did as much as for her as he could.

Up until the last year or so you’d find Uncle Paul parked up at the four way stop in Cross Plains every afternoon. He loved to watch the kids get off the school bus in town. He had been a bus driver himself for 33 years. Uncle Paul’s driving had tapered off the last couple of years but he did drive himself to the Threshermen’s Show back in July.

Uncle Paul was never too old to be mischievous. He loved to pick at kids. Sometimes he would motion to one of the boys when we’d go to visit and say something like, “Come here and let me turn your nose upside down so it will rain in it.” I’ll never forget a story he told me about the wheat threshing days. This was back in the day when two men had to bag the grain when it came out of the separator. He climbed atop the separator, lit a cherry bomb and dropped it down the grain chute. When it exploded in the bag of grain dust went everywhere. The two men bagging the wheat were too busy blaming each other for the prank to notice him climbing down to the ground, laughing all the way. He was such a prankster that Aunt Mildred, his second wife, finally baptized him with a glass of water saying he needed it a second time. After Aunt Mildred died someone asked Uncle Paul if he would marry again. “Naw,” thinking of both very special women with a twinkle in his eye as he replied, “It costs too much to bury them.”

His mind was sharp to the very end. Jackie said that last week they rode all over the farm and that Uncle Paul pointed out the property corners and many other things he remembered. He loved the farm and fulfilled his wish to live there all of his days. I’ve always looked across the fields to Uncle Paul’s house whenever I am in the yard. Our houses are about a mile apart. (He once told me that when Mom and Dad were living here he and Dad would stand on their respective porches and try to shoot each other with their .22 rifles.) It gives me a very lonely feeling to look over his way now, but I take great comfort knowing that, as it is worded when a death is recorded in Genesis, he has been gathered to his people.

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Since I last wrote it has either been really cold (I noticed Friday we were 20° colder than Anchorage, Alaska) or really warm (no need for a jacket today). We’re just bouncing all around the average for this time of year.

A VISIT TO BETHLEHEM. Every year, on the second weekend of December, for the past 25 years Southeast Baptist Church in Murfreesboro puts on the Bethlehem Marketplace. What they have done is taken the idea of a live nativity scene and scaled it up to the village level in their gym.

When you get there you are seated in their sanctuary where you enjoy Christmas music while you wait your turn to enter the Marketplace. The setting is the day after Jesus was born and you walk though the town as the locals (church members in costume) interact with you. The first thing you see is the shepherds outside the town where they tell you what they saw the night before. From there you enter through the town’s gate where you must participate in the census (sign the guest register).

Inside Bethlehem you walk through the marketplace where surly Roman centurions patrol the street to keep order. You can also “shop” at the stalls of the basket maker, baker, brass tinker, tanner, carpenter, wine maker, weaver, and potter. There is also a food vendor, a perfumer, a jail, a fisherman selling the fresh catch on the day and an inn (no vacancy here). Whenever you hear the shofar blown you can make your way over to the synagogue to hear a short Old Testament story relating to the birth of the Messiah. On your way out you walk through the cave that serves as the stable setting for the live nativity.

They bring several animals in for this event. I was almost kissed on the lips by a six month old camel. The people do a good job staying in character too. Nate was in the basket maker’s booth looking at a basket he liked when the lady told him he could buy it for two mites. Not having any money she offered to trade for his garment (coat). She no more than said that then Nate shucked off his coat and walked away, the proud owner of a new basket. (They traded back as the garment would fit anyone she knew). It was a very neat Christmas activity.

Joe

Getting into the Spirit of the Season

Last time I mentioned a change in the weather was predicted. It was 60° when we went to bed last Thursday night and 30° the next morning when we got up. That was a bit of a shock to the system when I went out to get the paper.

CHRISTMAS PARADE. Cross Plains had its annual parade Saturday. It was actually pretty good for something that was organized at the last minute. All the fire departments in the county were well represented and deafening. On a quieter note the East Robertson band and the local boy scout and girl scout troops were in line too. All this made up 80% of the parade. Our kids had a great time visiting with school friends and cousins as well as scrambling for candy.

HAVING A FRIEND OVER. Mackenzie Barrow is one of Jenna’s classmates and friends. Jenna invited her for a sleep-over Saturday evening. We took everyone out to Pizza Hut for supper. On the way to eat we went through Greenbrier. We’d heard about one house with a light display choreographed to music. It’s not as big a display as on some of the videos I’ve seen on the Internet but pretty impressive to be sure. When you get there you tune your radio to the frequency posted on a sign in the yard to get the full effect of the show.

After supper we drove by my supervisor’s house. James has been making at least one life size Peanuts character out of plywood each year for the last few years. Snoopy sleeps atop a shed at the end of the driveway (Woodstock is standing on his stomach). Charlie Brown, Sally, Linus, Lucy and others are on the ground around the building. His latest addition is Marcy. He puts a lot of work into these figures and they look really good.

When we got home it was bed time for the boys, but we let the girls stay up and play games. They (Vicki included) had a great time playing together and stayed up later than I did.

FOOTBALL FANATIC. I am not much of a sports nut. I have mentioned this abnormality about myself before. Vicki takes up my slack. The kids and I ate our lunch Sunday at the table. Vicki took hers to the living room to watch the Titans play the Colts. We were eating peacefully when we heard Vicki let out a big scream (that was when the Titans made an interception). The kids and I all looked at each other. Ben, feeling the need to explain the sound for the rest of us, nodded toward the front of the house and simply said, “That’s football.” Her screams reached a fever pitch by the end of the game. And though I don’t keep up closely I am glad both Manning boys went home nursing their wounds, so to speak, these last two weeks.

HOME TOUR. The Cross Plains Heritage Commission hosted a holiday home tour Sunday. Vicki and I went after the game was over. It was a short tour with three homes on the route. Two of them are approaching 200 years old, twice the age of our house. It just made me wonder what stories I’d hear if those walls could talk.

VROOM! A few weeks ago Ben was intrigued with the exhaust from the truck as it was cool enough for it to show up plainly. At the bus stop he walked around behind the truck to get a closer look (he wasn’t close enough to be in danger). At the right moment I revved the engine making the poor boy jump back about five feet. Now, when we arrive at the bus stop, I am given explicit instructions from Ben not to “vroom” him.

NOW THAT’S BIG! Saturday afternoon I was waiting at church for another fellow to take care of a maintenance project. While out in the parking lot I got to thinking about Noah and how big his ark was supposed to be. Using the accepted conversion factor that 1 cubit is 18 inches I began to step off the size of the ark. At 450 X 75 feet the ark would take up all the parking spaces in the back three rows (these are the only rows that run the length of the lot). Then I estimated how the height of the ark (45 feet ) would compare to our church building. I figure it would be just a few feet shorter than the highest part of the roof line. Standing there trying to visualize the ark sitting in the parking lot almost defies the imagination.

For those of you not familiar with our church there is a great aerial shot on Google Earth. Just search for 7109 Highway 25 East, Cross Plains, TN. You can use the measurement tools to get a feel for the dimensions of the parking lot. Or you can do this to a parking lot near where you live. You’ll be amazed. After stepping it off I sure was.

Joe