christmas program, 2013

Okay, this was last night, Lydia working on math surrounded by gingerbread.  She has a math tutor this year, well worth the money.  This lovely woman, a real estate client, an engineer, agreed to tutor her, two 45 minute sessions a week.

It's helping tremendously.

These were taken in church this morning.  Lydia was the acolyte, carefully lighting candles and helping.

That's my dad's head.  My parents came to our church this morning for the Christmas Program.

Okay, somehow this slipped past me: Tim as angel. That kid beside him--a spaz, way too much energy for any one human. The two of them as angels this good looking is pretty dang hilarious. They did a fantastic job.

Julia was Mary.  The newborn Jesus was a big floppy puppet with a mustache.  The kids thought that was weird.  Jesus was not born with a mustache?  Was he?

t.c. was cast as Joseph a few weeks back.   This is sort of funny:  Julia kept on wanting and wanting to CALL John and Dannell and tell them about their kid being Joseph.  But John had said they weren't going to be at the program, so I didn't want to put pressure upon him and disrupt his life.

So no call was made. No, no, no.

Well, last night about 9 pm John called and asked if we wanted to do a meal after the program?

The program you're not going to even be at? The whole reason I never posed having a meal here is because I did not want to stress you out further, making you do things and be places.

Weeee-aalll.

So they did participate and even hosted a meal afterward.  "Come here, the house is clean from some other occasion and we'll just order food."

Works for me.

So, back to Joseph and Mary, or t.c. and his Auntie Jule.

My Sweetie as a shepherd, the little tiny one second from the right. He did great too.

The kids memorized their lines over the weeks. They're homeschooled. They have nothing but time to memorize lines and sleep.

Joseph, aka t.c. reading all alone onstage.

This guy was prodded into coming along.  He was mostly a good sport.  He definitely tries.

Here's m.c., too grown up now to be a player in the program.

And a sweet, tender guy I got to kiss a lotta times, plus that mom of his I love very much.

Here's Tim and his prayer partner, Oly.  They are supposed to pray for each other and so forth.  When they're together, they mostly just shake hands and have brief conversations, but Tim's very comfortable around this old carpenter.

Back at John and Dannell's they hit the video games:

Oh and these two. My Sweetie said they wanted their picture taken upstairs, specifically standing on John and Dannell's bed.

Then b.g. sat down and My Sweetie stomped off mad.

Well, we got one picture.

Here's my mom chatting with b.g.'s little brother:

And my dad listening to a little toy guinea pig with green fur.  It chirps guinea-pig like: "Mweep, Mweep."

Dannell and I were pretty impressed.  Alicia put on her coat and mittens and Dan's hat, which she hates, and braved out into the zero degree air to go sledding.   Pssht.

This last week or so Julia, Tim, Kari and I have been reading Rasmus and the Vagabond, chapter by chapter.  Last night we blew through the last three chapters, just to get to the ending.   Somewhere while I was reading, Julia got up on the couch under my arm, and I thought she was cold.

It's very cold here.

Well, when Rasmus ended, she brought her face out from my hip and she was crying! Crying!

First she was happy. Then sad! Then happy again!  Rasmus.

It is a great story true, adventurous and funny, and sweet, and heroic.   Kari even interrupted at one point while I was reading along--I thought she was mostly engrossed in her ipod, but she blurted out, "Oh here he again goes ranting about how he's innocent as a bride!"

Anyway, she dried her eyes and cried some more.  Tim claimed he too liked the story.

Anyway today, at the end of the afternoon, we headed home.  The world was all this vibrant periwinkle blue.

Cold as steel, but pretty.

John and Dannell, thank you for bringing Joseph and the fine shepherd to the program, and for hosting this beautiful meal at your house afterward.

Christmas is in 9 days and it's going to be wonderful, and 2014 is looking pretty fine.

Love you all so, Mom, aka Grandma, aka Val

getting ready, 2013

Okay, this year as they took over, rolling and cutting cookies adeptly, advising p.j. not to stamp out cookies in the middle, to go around the edges and get the most out of the dough, I realized this:

They can do this all by themselves.

Holy crap.   Life skills.  I know adults who have no idea how to do this.

I ran the oven.

She told me she was a hard worker and a big helper, and she was too.  It's not easy when you're so tiny you have to stand on a chair.    After a while she got bored and wandered off, and then the Speed Queens took over.

We realized James is falling behind on his life.  It's just too much.  Being sick this fall has taken a toll on his stamina and he gets to not feeling well.    Well, his laundry is a problem we can take over for today.  He did seem truly grateful.

And look at this!  Cookies galore.

Ooops, that dough was rolled a little thick.

Then we forged ahead and frosted and sprinkled.

I didn't take this pictures, but it's nice someone did.

Ah, and these old characters.  My friend Jody gave them to me for Christmas many years ago. They've been on many adventures, and I'm glad for Christmas decorations that aren't breakable.

Tonight the wrapping began.    We're going to get this thing done.

And then I will sit in church on Christmas Eve and soak it all in.

I'm not an overly religious person.   I mean, I was raised in a church as a Lutheran and we still are, but that's not a world-denying religion.  It's all about struggle and grace and respect and love.  Grace mostly.

But I watched the Curious George Christmas show and wondered about a Christmas without the Christmas story.   Christmas Monkey?

Oh my goodness, and I love that damned monkey, but there really is not a sufficient stand in for Jesus.  So what was the dilemma, finding the perfect gift?

There are very few perfect gifts.  There are generous hearts full of love, celebrating.  But we also probably tend to fall short of perfection in our efforts.   But that's okay.  

Be kind.  Be patient. Give each other the benefit of the doubt.  Boundaries are important--they're part of it--manners and boundaries are the grease that keep relationships peaceful.

Plus we're going to have fun. There was a trip to see Santa tonight.

love always, Val

cookies, basketball, and neighbors we're lucky for

 We made these cookies today, also quick.   Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, dump in a box of Ritz Bitz with peanut butter filling, and stir.  Then dump them out on waxed paper, pick them apart with a fork, and sprinkle.

We also took this opportunity to go watch James play basketball.  This ONE picture was taken before the camera died.

That's him in the orange shoes.

I love watching my boys play basketball, their long, narrow bodies, and the elegant way they move.

I know, I'm the MOM, right?  I can adore them if I want.

Okay, this is the neighbor who called this afternoon and teased me a little then told me he'd noticed my driver's side rear tire was about flat.

Jay's been filling the tires every day, and in this below zero weather, they go flat again right away.  (A tiny chip in the windshield also turned into a giant crack too, but that's a different problem.)

He said, "I hope you're not going anywhere at the moment."

I told him I'd been planning to go watch James play basketball, but if the tire was almost flat, that probably wasn't a good idea.

He said, "Give me five minutes, then bring the car over here and I'll have the air compressor going."

Okay, I am a lucky woman.  He notices my flat tire, and goes out at -4 degrees out of concern.

No wonder we all love you two SO MUCH.  How could we not?

And in the same folder as this picture of the two of them at our 25th anniversary party, also was found this goofy one of Julia, Sidney and me, probably taken by Maria, in the kitchen, obviously.

I still have that shirt and those jeans.  Good grief.

love all you kids so much, and Don and Sherry, you too.   love, Val, aka MOM, aka Grandma

some guys came over yesterday

They came here to play while Dan and Alicia went Christmas shopping.   b.g. told me his parents names are Dan and Wawesha.  I love that.

Here they're helping sort the M&Ms.  We only use the green and yellow ones.   After a couple handfuls we finally put the rest up.  I didn't want them getting stomach aches.

But the big kids must have stomachs of steel.  Between the time I put that big container up and bedtime, they ate ALL of them.  ALL.  Unbelievable.

Here we are making the cookies.  First the pretzel sticks are placed on waxed paper. Then melted almond bark is dribbled on and then the M&Ms, yellow and green to be the egg yolks.

These have nothing to do with Christmas at all, so why we do this, I'm not sure.

Julia was trying to entertain these guys with some old video games, and they were happy with her efforts, but they were so baffled as to why Tim would not wake up.

"He can get up! Why doesn't he?"

I honestly think he's growing.  He sleeps as much as a little baby, and he loves to sleep, adores it, all rolled up in his flannel sheets and quilts for long hours.

While we were making lunch I told him, the way to wake up Uncle Tim is to go in there and bounce around and roll around on him and hug him and stuff.   Talk to him.  Tell him we're going to eat.

(Sometimes he goes back to bed after lunch again and sleeps some more.  It's pretty hilarious.)

Finally he had him awake.   He came skipping out to the family room cheering, "He's getting dressed!"

b.g. won!  Tim was up, and dressed, and helped him with a video game.

Anyway, it was a great morning making cookies with kids I love.   love you all so, Grandma, aka MOM

first snow of the year and a bunny named cheese

 They were happy.  Sam, in particular was absolutely ecstatic.

And then the kids came outside too!  She was overjoyed.

 Okay, this morning we were in bed watching cartoons.   I asked her about her bunny, and she told me his name was Cheese.

He has a bright fuchsia ribbon around his neck, and he's named Cheese.

 Later Jay came home and I asked her to tell Grandpa her bunny's name:  "Cheese."

(Kid are so darn weird.)

 Kari thought it was funny too, and we asked her to take her picture with the bunny, could she sit up and smile?   These pictures are the result.  She and b.g. are the hardest people to take pictures of. He's getting better. She's still awful.

 In this picture she's looking at a little tiny doll that actually belongs to her mother.  I found it in a basket of old mail last week, cleaning for Thanksgiving

And that is that.  Kick around in your grandparents' bed with a bunny named Cheese, and do not cooperate for any nice pictures.     love you weird kids, Grandma

family picture, 2013

This isn't easy to do, so we'll take what we can get.   Happy Thanksgiving.   love you all, Mom