Well, it has been a big Christmas here at the Swann home. We’ve had lots of fun. It has been nice for me to pretty much step away from a computer for a week.
TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS ROUTINE. Our schedule this year was pretty much the same as past years. I did not report this last time but Pauline had us all over to her house for lunch after church Sunday where we exchanged a few gifts. That night Kenny and Lori held their annual community Christmas party. Vicki was making Oreo truffles (recipe below) for this occasion as I was sending out the previous edition to this newsletter. That’s when I heard her start cackling from the kitchen. Vicki was at the point where she had rolled all the truffle centers into balls and was about to coat them with chocolate and almond bark when Nate came in. While this is a bit gross the truffles at this point could pass for small deer droppings which is probably what made Nate ask if Vicki was making poop.
Monday was a pretty slow day. Vicki and Jenna did a little shopping that afternoon and we went to the Christmas Eve service at church that evening.
The Christmas day excitement began around 7:00 at our house. We tore into our presents and the kids got a little time to play before we had to get ready to go to Mrs. Connie’s for breakfast. We enjoyed a great meal and visiting with cousins for a few hours. That night we had supper over at Aunt Mar’s house. The following day we went to Opry Mills mall where we met up with Jonathan and Sheila Leach and their girls and let the kids spend some of their Christmas money.
CHRISTMAS LOOT. The kids got a lot of neat stuff this year. The big ticket item was a basketball goal. I set it up over at Pauline’s since she has a concrete drive. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the best of weather for trying it out.
Earlier this year the kids had saved and purchased their own Nintendo Game Cube and there were a couple of presents under the tree related to their video game system. However, this did not deter Ben from asking for a Wii in his letter to Santa that was published in the Robertson County Times. For those of you who are out of the video gaming loop the Wii (pronounced ‘we’) is Nintendo’s successor to the Game Cube. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know this. Mom called up after seeing Ben’s letter in the paper and asked why Ben wanted a will for Christmas. Wii or no, the Game Cube is still popular with our brood and they take good care of it. The other day Nate spotted a kink in one of the cables and bent down to straighten it out. As he stood back up he explained to me the he needed to do this so the power wouldn’t go all twizzley.
LOSS OF WORDS. Ben is at that stage where he is growing so fast it is hard to keep him in pants. The good thing is that Pauline is handy with a needle and thread and can alter clothes. The other day Ben needed some pants and all his pants were dirty. That’s when Vicki remembered she had sent a pair over to her mom to be fixed up and she sent Nate over to get them. Pauline laughs as she tells it because Nate had a hard time thinking of how to ask for what he needed. He burst in the door, out of breath from running, and says, “I need...Benton’s...long sleeve pants!”
Happy New Year!
Joe
OREO “POOP” TRUFFLES
Crush one package of Oreo cookies in a food processor.
Mix in one bar of softened cream cheese.
Add one teaspoon of vanilla.
Roll into balls. Refrigerate or freeze if desired before coating.
Coat with melted chocolate or almond bark.
Refrigerate when hardened.
