Thanksgiving and Fa-la-la-la-la

We had the nicest Thanksgiving feast at Ben and Linden's new home.  If this blog disappears someday, the event will stick in my memory forever for a number of reasons: 

1)  It was at somebody elses's house!
2)  Linden did ALL the cooking.  This was a serious departure from her typical list of responsibilities.
3)  The meal was served at the appointed hour.  (Have you ever heard of such a thing?)
4)  The turkey was moist.  (What's up with that??)
5)  The day included great games with the kids and the traditional Thanksgiving Day walk. 

I had to shoot this turkey (with my camera, that is) because not only was it perfectly pleasing to the eye, but also for the done-on-time and still-moist reasons listed above. 



Jude kept snapping pictures of his mother in the kitchen.  She posed for him because she said the child has never seen such a thing!


Two days later we had our annual holiday baking day.  This tradition is 35 years old and was started by the children's great grandmother.  It began with two little boys going crazy in the kitchen, licking beaters and sneaking cookies.  As the little boys grew up the tradition continued throughout the years and I can remember when it was a very productive event sometimes resulting in nearly 20 batches of Christmas cookies.  But we have come full circle now, times two.  There are four little beater lickers and cookie sneakers. And the holiday cookies are secondary to the upholding of the tradition. 


Jude, wearing a determined look and a holiday barrett in his hair:)


Aunt Kathy comes to spend a day with the wee ones.  Her participation is one of the highlights of the day.  She's a peach:)


Ada likes to eat sugar, but she's not much into wearing it


Total delight - Brady and his cutouts


A rare shot - 4 in a frame


Ada in her apron - a perfect fit:)


Drew helping make the pizelle


Jen supervising the icing of the cut-out cookies.  Wait a minute, where's Ada?


Aren't they beautiful?  Check out the one with an entire jar of green sprinkles on it!


Oh there she is.  Playing foozeball!


The baking bunch.  What?  No Ada?


Need I say more?

I have to mention that everyone (with the exception of the children) would like to drop this annual event from every calendar and all memory.  But it continues on each year and I have to hand it to my girls (daughters-in-law Linden and Jen) who probably groan at the very thought of it but arrive with smiles on their faces and jump right smack into the action. 

And I have to smile when I notice the fine layer of powdered sugar 3 rooms away.....

This event is the kick-off of the holiday season.  Now we're just waiting for a partridge to land in my pear tree. 

xo

Monkeys, all of them

Last week I inadvertently scheduled in kids for five days in a row.  It all turned out to be great fun, especially since I only had two of them at a time and they changed the guard a few times so they wouldn't get tired of taking care of me. 

There was alot of action and a million quotable quotes:)

I snapped a few memories.  This is Drew playing STORE.  He loves to get everything out of my lower cabinets and display them in his own little mini-mart. 


Brady is the Assistant Store Manager, checking here to make sure Drew didn't miss anything.


They left the store unattended to go play in the field on a rare sunny day.


Drew's hair is the same color as the fall leaves........


The next day was rainy when Jude and Ada came to play.  Ada might grow into this raincoat (someday!)


Jude took a long run in the rain.  Kids could care less if they're getting sopping wet:)


Here he is, describing how to use all the power tools in the shop


I think Jude was trying to get the hens to play "chicken". 





And then he climbed a tree that didn't look strong enough to hold him. 


Come back, Judey! 


Jude took this picture of me driving my NEW CAR.  Snazzy, huh?  I told Jude I had a really big problem:  the car was so new I hadn't figured out how to open the little gas door.  Don't worry, Nini, the gas guys will do it.  But, Jude, I live in Washington and we don't have "gas guys".  Well, just come over by my house, (Oregon) WE HAVE GAS GUYS.  I thought it was a brilliant solution.


Ada's hair is finally recovering from the last haircut so she had time for the play area -


Jude talked the stylist's ear off and she now knows way more than she should:)


The next day Brady & Drew were baaaacck.  I raked the leaves into a pile, and their job was to scatter them right back where they started. 


We went for a walk and at the bottom of a hill, Brady refused to walk another step.


Monkey see....


Also I took these two to a holiday bazaar in a retirement community.  All the old ladies thought they were so cute and these mostly-timid-in-a-new-situation boys responded with a royal case of the wild and crazies.  It was beyond hilarious!  I had to buy quite a number of things to make up for the disruption and when we were ready to leave, nobody tried to stop us:(

We only had two near-death experiences in a total of 5 days.  1)  Drew was falling down a full flight of stairs, but I happened to be walking up at the exact right moment and caught him after the 3rd step.  2)  Brady fell backward on a tall kitchen chair and I caught him before he and the chair hit the ground.  Not bad, huh?  They were all still alive when their parents collected them, (it's one of the rules their silly parents require of me).   Other than that, what happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's -

xoxo

Brady, 4 years old this week

Brady has a very busy 4-year old life and it has recently included some significant "firsts".  This is a photo of him in front of his preschool.  I have never in my life seen a happier version of this child.  He was beyond excited and enthusiastic and so anxious to show me the drill. 


He literally ran down the hall, quickly naming all the various classrooms on the way to HIS BLUE DOOR. 


He put his backpack and helmet in the exact right spot (not to be confused with BrOdy's spot) then plopped down and waited for the door to open so he could be the first to choose the chore he wanted:  Bell Ringer.   BTW, those skinny legs can move at an alarmingly rapid rate! 



Brady's legs move quickly until, that is, he gets on a soccer field.  His overachieving parents signed him up for a soccer team and he did quite well until it was time to play in a game.  All of a sudden he was unable to move at all!  He was totally miserable and didn't understand why he was out there.  He whimpered through most games and at one point he stood in front of the goal and exhibited a huge yawn while the other team kicked goals through his legs! 

I worked with him out in the field on the days he was here, practicing and explaining the game.  One day while I was stealing the ball from him, he said "but that's not very nice".  All of a sudden it became very clear to me:  his parents had spent nearly 4 years teaching him to be nice, take turns with other kids, share your toys (or soccer balls).  Now on the soccer field all those rules had changed!  GET OUT THERE, STEAL THAT BALL, GO GET 'EM BRADY!!!  It's no wonder the little guy was confused. 

He did like it that all the grandparents came to watch him.  It also gave him alot of people to hide behind so the coach wouldn't see him or call his name.  But he was stuck with six weeks of misery on Saturday mornings. 


Another problem:  his dad was the coach:)


He seemed quite happy on the day of the last game.  Maybe because it was the last game???


In the meantime, back on the ranch, he had chores to do.  He had to rake leaves.......


We had to take a picture of our rake-wielding shadows.......


He had to tend the chickens......


He had to BE a chicken:)


He had to gather the eggs.....  Ok, Drewey, take these to Ter Ter.  Now run!!


He had to teach Drew how to play "shower ball"


Dr. Brady had to cure all our ills (he can do that with his smile!)


He had to measure the depth of the first great puddle in the driveway


He had to make yet another batch of applesauce.  He wanted to make applesauce every time he came to visit and it always turned into an all day job, and a lesson in the "life cycle of an apple":

Shake the tree
Pick up the apples
Wash them with the hose
Help cut them up
Feed the cores to the chickens
Cook the apples
Squish them (see above)
Taste for sweetness
Add white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon
Eat warm.  Feed to little brother after nap:)


And then........the birthday party!  Fourteen rowdy kids came to Brady's Lego-themed extravaganza.  (That's Jude, Ada and Drew with their backs to the camera).



I have to include this picture of the cupcakes.  Jen outdid herself this time, making the little Lego candies on each cupcake. 


Note the Lego crown above that awe-struck face.  And it's difficult to tell, but his shirt is imprinted with a Lego person.  This party took place several days prior to his actual birthday because he already had plans for the BIG day:  The whole family flew to California to......just guess......  Legoland! 

Brady, Brady, Brady.  It's hard to describe him these days.  He's wild and crazy and curious and busy and brave beyond his own good sense.  He's sensitive and serious and imaginative.  He doesn't like being left alone and gets lonely at night in his bed.  One night when he slept over, he woke a half-dozen times for different reasons:  my foot hurts; no, it's my leg; let's read a book; no, let's watch a video; how about some waffles?  Finally at about 3:00 a.m. he told me he doesn't like to sleep alone.  I was impressed that he was able to sift through all those other reasons come up with that pearl of wisdom.  The next time he came for a sleepover, I made him a little sleeping bag sort of nest right next to my bed.  Much better. 

Brady frustrates easily these days, but this, too, shall pass.  I have to mention it, though, because otherwise he sounds like the perfect child when in fact, he's been driving us nuts for the past few months!  It's just a phase and, like my mother always said, the next one will probably be worse:)  In the meantime while he's busy pushing everyone's limits, he can still crack me up more often than not..... when he sings (like an opera star), when he gets the giggles, when he names every activity (let's call this game "take things away from Drewey"), when he walks in the door.  This kid had me at hello:)

Happy Birthday, Brady - I love my little buddy