Family – Page 4 – My Truant Pen

My first grader

My eldest son is going to his first day of first grade today.

The traditional first day of school picture

The other night I had the mother of a kindergartener at my son’s school over for dinner. She was asking me how it all worked. “Did you pack a drink?” “Do they have microwaves?” “Do you walk the kids into the school?” “Have they ever forgotten to pick your kids up from afterschool?” For many of the questions I know the answers “No, they’ve never once forgotten my kids” but for others… “Grey!” I called. “What do you drink during snack time?” With the cool confidence of one who sees Kindergarten in the rear-view-mirror, he gave us the lowdown on how things were supposed to work, how things actually worked and how to optimize the Kindergarten snack-drink experience.

Grey's new "Back to school" wardrobe, which he picked himself — Grey’s new “Back to school” wardrobe, which he picked himself

I suppose I should have few qualms sending him to first grade He’s academically prepared (hey, we even know where the over-the-summer homework is and it’s even done and it wasn’t all done this week! WIN!). He’s socially prepared, although he’s bummed that many of his friends are in the other first grade class. He’s confident. He’s looking forward to returning to school.

And oh, my friends, he is so very big and grown.

Those of you who have been reading for a long time remember me talking about being pregnant with little Alpha. You remember the “holy cow are they really letting me go home with this baby?!”. The toddler phase. The barfing phase. The preschool phase. Becoming a big brother. Reading. Becoming a fully fleshed person. Now I find myself gobsmacked by my son’s capability and confidence. When and how did he learn to do all these marvelous things he does?

For example, Grey earned $32 this summer feeding neighbors’ cats, watering plants, weeding gardens and bringing in the mail. I will confess that I still had a role to play (what can I say… he is too short to reach one mail box and one key is too hard for him to turn). But I sat on the porch and let him do his work for the most part. He and I had long conversations about this money he earned. I played payday lender and threatened to charge him a 10% daily interest rate if he really wanted to spend the money before he’d gotten it. He opted not to. We talked about giving a portion to the church. He owed his brother a portion for helping with the weeding. And finally, I took him down this week to create his very own savings account at the bank.*

We went camping this weekend, and Grey was a marvellous help. He helped his brother play Legos. He swam (head underwater and everything!) in the lake. He was reliable and dependable. He (GASP!) went to the bathroom all by himself. In possibly the most astonishing evolution of all, he also announced every night that he was tired and was heading to bed now, thankyouverymuch. And then… he did!

Grey still has his faults, for sure. There are still many things we have to teach him, beyond a doubt. But I am so proud of the person he is and the person he is becoming.

*As an aside, I am offended on his behalf about the kind of account we set up. Perhaps I should have done more investigation. He isn’t allowed to withdraw money from his own account until he is 21. What’s up with that? He could be drafted by the army to be sent to war when he’s 18. He can vote for our leaders. He would be convicted as an adult of any crime. But he can’t touch the money that he himself earned? That’s… shameful. I wanted to go to the bank we walk past all the time to give him a concrete connection to his money, but I dislike the account we set up immensely. I was also disappointed that they didn’t have any children’s financial literacy documents or anything.

The Garden of Marriage

A one day marriage designation given by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

This past weekend was full of the celebrations of love and marriage. On Saturday, I had a (likely!) once in a lifetime experience. Two of my dear friends announced their engagement last fall – to my delight. When they asked me if I would be willing to perform the ceremony of their wedding, I was even MORE delighted. I am ordained (as a Ruling Elder and a Deacon – for those of you who are Presbyterian Polity specialists and wanted to know. Of course, most people I know who are keenly interested in Presbyterian Polity are my family and my church – both of whom already know. I digress.) But the kind of ordination I have is to serve in specific ways (in the governance and service of a church) and they don’t count for doing weddings. So before I said yes, I asked my pastor if it was ok for me to perform a wedding. With his blessing (and letter of recommendation), it was full steam ahead!

Massachusetts has a neat program where once a year a person may petition for and recieve a license to perform exactly one wedding on one day for two people. You fill out a form between 6 months and 6 weeks ahead of time, including a letter of reference from someone whose marriage you are NOT performing. I was _very_ impressed by the Commonwealth’s handling of this: they communicated in a timely and useful way. They were clear about the requirements and steps. And they were very fast in getting my approval and letter.

Shiny certificate in hand, speech written, extremely-dfficult-to-shop-for-dress put on, I showed up at the Arabian Horse Inn in Sudbury two hours early, and with two of my three boys. Grey was the “ringleader” for the ceremony, so his presence was required. It was a stifling hot day – 93 degrees on our way in with very high humidity. We did a quick run through of the service, we lounged around, the bride and groom disappeared to get dressed and suddenly “Froggy Went a’Courtin'” was playing and a lovely pair was walking over the bridge to the service. With a deep breath I launched into the service.

It is a wonderful thing to be at the front because you can watch people’s faces as they see their son and daughter, their siblings, their dear friends joined to each other in marriage. All the faces in front of me reflected back joy from the faces of the two marriagees.I got to call my son forward to bring the rings (he actually got to carry the real things, and to keep the box afterwards). I spoke about my favorite metaphor for love in marriage – the garden. I pronounced them husband and wife. I told them to kiss each other. It was over in just the right amount of time, at which point I finally got to tear up myself.

There was joy, my friends. And then there was cheese, dinner and dancing. I even got to sign the marriage license, which is pretty cool. And Grey was PERFECTLY behaved. He made friends of the staff of the Inn, whom he talked into letting him ride on the tractor and mix the punch according to his own recipe. He was excellent.

We went home tired and satisfied that night. It was a great day.

Now all of you who know me well are wondering… where is your other son?

Well.

Six weeks ago or so I asked my friend and babysitter if she could take Thane basically all day on Saturday (given that schedule). She said she would and there was much rejoicing. I pointed out that if she wanted him at her house, that was perfectly reasonable and we could accommodate it. But then, two weeks ago while I was in Ashland, she called. “Hey, I was just calling because I’m going to be vacationing in Maine the weekend coming up.” At this point, I was lamenting in my mind and wondering what else I could do. She continued, “So I was wondering if you would mind if I brought Thane with me and kept him overnight at our beach house. You guys could come up on Sunday and go to the beach too.”

SCORE!!!!!!!

My sons took turns, the week before, being jealous of each other. “Why does Thane get to go with her for a sleepover?” “Why does Grey get to go to a wedding?” but in the end each kid went joyfully to their special event. Sunday morning – at a reasonable hour – we got dressed and drove up to Maine. After the application of some sunscreen (subpar*, as it turned out) we all hit the beach. I got to do something that has been a fantasy of mine for six years…. go to the beach with a babysitter so I can swim with my husband. We had a BLAST in the waves at York beach while my kids had a blast with the babysitter-friend, who is one of the very few people in the world capable of convincing me that she’s really enjoying taking care of my kids. We chatted together. We lounged in the beach. Adam and I played this game where he would shoot the intertube I was in into a breaker and I would launch back at him. Superb.

Then we all went out for dinner, where I got an incredibly cheap lobster and Grey got the champion for his age division at Pacman.

That lovely Sunday together as a happy family, right after that lovely Saturday together as a community celebrating love. Well… that Sunday was the 12 anniversary of the day Adam and I stood before friends and family and declared to everyone that we loved each other, and we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Twelve years, my friends. Many people talk about the ups and downs of marriage. I feel like our dozen years has had many, many ups and very few downs. If tomorrow was my wedding day, I would make my vows just as (or more) enthusiastically as I did 144 months ago.

Engagement photo - 99 — Engagement photo ’99. I didn’t have a wedding picture, but this was taken after we were engaged.

*I think it may not have been waterproof, since those of use who used it turned to a crispy lobster red. I’m juuuust about at the peeling stage now. Yay.

Wednesday at Camp Gramp

The economics of Chuck E Cheese is fascinating, or perhaps it is the marketing. It is a study in inflation psychology. We got 120 tokens with our badly overpriced and mediocre pizza. That is 30 per child. All around us, machines screamed, “Play me.” There were lights and graphics and sounds. It is incredible noisy! You can shoot, drive, ride, or hit innocent small creatures on the head. You can have your picture taken. You can shoot basketballs and throw baseballs. Or you can try to drop your token into the slot for the jackpot. Grey ran around like mad and had finished the tokens before the pizza arrived. Thane likes putting the tokens in the slots but cares little for the tickets or the games. He likes the graphics, but he doesn’t need to interact with them. Kay likes cute things, but she did did spend quite a bit of time at a shooter. Baz is the most thoughtful of the players. He walks around looking, analyses each of the games to see what he likes best and what he is likely to get the most tickets from. He always finishes his tokens last.

After plowing through the 30 tokens Camp Gramp supported, Grey impulsively and Baz thoughtfully decided to invest their Camp Gramp spending money in another 50 tokens. It was unbelievably hard to let them do that! What a waste! But we didn’t say anything when Kay invested her Camp Gramp spending money in a blue bear clinging to a piece of candy and Thane spent his on a dinosaur egg — which when put in water actually hatched (actually, this was neat — but worth $3 not $10.) So all the spending money is gone now.

Back to Chuck E Cheese. The games you play spew out an incredible number of tickets. I picked up 26 of Thane’s. He wasn’t interested. Kay had 76 — she was interested. Grey got 140 — he was very interested. Baz earned an impressive 441 tickets. At the ticket “store”, each ticket is worth about a penny. Where do they find all that trash? You would think the children were starving because the candy was popular. Baz got a magic trick and a rocket, plus a bag of cotton candy. Kay got vampire teeth. She can hardly wait until her mouth gets big so they don’t hurt. Grey got CANDY! Thane got one of those packets of Koolaid type stuff with a little stick you use to dip in it. Don’t worry, he didn’t eat most of the pure sugar. He deposited it in the car seat. The vacuum cleaner took care of the mess.

What amazed me is that all the children were happy! They had a great time and they thought their prizes were wonderful. It was such trash! But they were happy. Is it the games or the tickets? What motivates the children to so deeply desire this particular Camp Gramp activity? And why don’t Don and I refuse? Amazing. We noticed the demographic is changing. There were more tweens and young adults there. The children’s section has shrunk and the adult games, car chases, etc., have increased.

The whole day was not consumed by CEC. We went to Hamma Hamma, an oyster farm on Hood Canal. It was very interesting! I know a job that will inspire you to go to college — oyster shucking! That looks brutal. If I can get them downloaded, there is a picture of the children on top of a pile of oyster shells. (The shadow at the top of the picture is not impending weather, but a finger!) They looked wonderful against the blue sky!

Speaking of college, our tour guide was wonderful. At the end of the tour, someone asked her if she went to college. “Yes” she said, “a little college in Vermont.” Class of 2004 — Middlebury. She is putting her degree in English literature to good use!

Then we went to the Olympic National Park — or a subsection of it — Seal Rock Camp Grounds — remember it, Matthew. The children played in the water for about an hour. It was a nice time. They don’t like the sun screen we have — I think there may be a little too much red on Thane’s face. Such bliss — water, rocks. It doesn’t get much better.

I would like to apologize to my children for making them take trips without DS or videos. It may not be the best interaction we can get, but it sure cuts down on the fighting and whining. I didn’t hear “are we there yet” more than twice.

Sleep is settling over our little camp and I am about to join them. It will never do to let them get ahead.

The health report: Baz feels fine. Thane spent the whole day coughing and informing us he was going to throw up — then not doing so. Since he revived in remarkable ways when something fun offered, we were not too worried. On the other hand, let’s not talk about the cuts. The rocks were a little sharp. Again, Thane won hands down! I love the therapeutic value of a little antiseptic wash! Medicine!

Two Camp Gramp Days

Editor’s note: I’m a little behind. Here are two fun days of Camp Gramp updates!

Camp Gramp Post 2
I think I better quit naming them by days. By that measure, I am already a day behind!

Mummies and dinosaurs! Does it get much better than that? We went to the Pacific Science center. We were congratulating ourselves on the way in for not getting tickets in advance. We would have been late for the intended entrance! We were not congratulating ourselves when I waited in line over an hour for the tickets. Then we found out that we could have used the members only line since we had the Waterhouse membership. Humph! It actually worked out well since Don took the children to the Center House for lunch.

Mummies. We saw the movie, then went to the exhibit, which is probably the right way to do it. The movie was interesting. What is the symbol for so-so? There were good pictures, but a little too much dum-te-de-dum music. The suspense left me in good health. I did learn that there was a pre Tut discovery that the priests had been storing the pharaohs’ bodies in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings long before people thought. They found a tomb with about 40 mummies of royalty in the Valley of the Kings.

The exhibit was, I thought, a bit of a disappointment. I expected the gold coffin. One would think, that when there were 4 of them, we could get at least one. But no ….. However, there were some very interesting pieces. The children were surprised at how small the bed was, and the chairs. They must have been much smaller. At least Tut was.

The kids did a great job. They were interested in a very reasonable amount of the stuff. Baz has obviously studied — he knew about a lot of the things we saw. It was unbelievably crowded. They sell tickets by the 15 minute slots. I can’t imagine what it would be like if they didn’t do that. I would really like to see it some time when it is not so crowded.

Then we went to the Hall of Dinosaurs in the science center itself. Thane was in heaven. There was a really excellent claymation video about dinosaurs. I would love to get a copy! Thane watched it 3 times.

We left about 6 p.m. — middle of rush hour in Seattle. We were/are tired puppies, but happy. There were lots of comments on Camp Gramp. We were proud ot have our wonderful grandchildren! Thanks for sharing!

The disaster for the day. Baz has lost his DSI. He had it in his pocket at the movie. They told people to turn off devices and he took it out to turn it off. When we left the movie, he didn’t have it. We are still hoping but Lost and Found didn’t live up to its name. This is truly sad!

I had just finished this post and was ready to hit share when I heard the patting of little feet. They were hungry!

Intermezzo

I am the unloved grandparent. The Flynn children are up first. I provided the Lucky Charms this morning. Thane informed me that “Papapa always gives me lots of Lucky Charms because he loves me!” Now we know about me!

Camp Gramp – Tuesday night

I am a failure as a Grandmother! Woe is me!

Lunch today was made by Kay — lovely little tuna melts! She does a nice job. After lunch we actually took a nap, or anyway the Flynns took a nap. The W. children read and made up plays with stuffies.

Then I took the three younger ones to Pioneer Farms, an activity Kay has declared a tradition and of which she does not tire. They had a wonderful time. They ground coffee and wore skirts and aprons. They played with stereoscopics and tops and Kay and Thane washed all the clothes.

Then we headed for the barn. Here there was a great division. Kay and Thane liked the animals. They picked up ALL the chickens. Thane got quite good at it. They looked for eggs, milked a cow and rode the horse. The rabbit was declared so soft. Most of the giggling came from the pig sty where the new little pig loved to snort at their feed and tickle them. Jumping in the hay was like wonderful! Grey preferred the workshops. He nailed about 25 nails. His father has taught him how to do this. He used the draw knife, which he preferred to the saw. He also worked the forge and flattened one of the horse shoes.

Meanwhile Baz, who has been feeling a little under the weather — sore throat — stayed home with Papapa and made dinner. He made grilled chicken. He says when his father says he is grilling chicken, he puts it in the oven. Baz seems puzzled, but the chicken was wonderful. He wanted broccoli, but he forgot to tell me before I came home. It was very good.

The evening was perfect weather. there was playing outside in the bouncy house and on the swings. Now bath time is almost over and we are headed to bed.

So wherein the failure? I had a failure of camera. I got to enjoy the look of Kay’s straight back on the horse and Thane’s glee at tumbling down the hay. You don’t. Use your imagination.

Ah yes, the blood report. Grey came out of the of the doors at Pioneer Farms wrong. It closed on him and whacked both sides of his face. I don’t know how Thane managed the bit of blood on his knee but it was cured by medicine and a bandage. Also, Thane ran into the ice chest I was carrying. It was a Massachusetts accident — both fault.

It’s a Brand New Camp Gramp Day!

Well, folks, it’s the blog series you’ve all been waiting for! Yessirree, it’s CAMP GRAMP time! For those of you who have not yet met ths marvel, let me explain. Every summer, my parents gather up all their grandchildren and abscond with them for a week of adventures, bonding and Lucky Charms. We lucky parents then scoot to do non-child-friendly things. This is, by my count, about the 6th Camp Gramp.

And we’re off! An afoot! So, with no further ado before I start OUR drive down to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, I give you… CAMP GRAMP!

Camp Gramp Day # 1

Fabric paint! How could I have thought that was a good idea! The bright orange Camp Gramp shirts look awesome, but Grey’s pants, Kay’s shirt, and my jeans bear the marks of a painting party. The orange shirts went to church this morning, even on the pastor! No one will mistake our obvious togetherness. They will be washed often this Camp Gramp.

After the Saturday afternoon Camp Gramp work, putting up the tents and making the teeshirts, we went to Seattle for our annual Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. We had a lovely picnic in Rogers park with the family, then went to the Bagley Wright theater. The moment the curtain went up and the overture started, Thane, who was on my lap at the time, was enthralled. But due to the still Eastern time, he was asleep within 20 minutes, and so was Grey. Only Kay stayed awake until the end of the play. Iolanthe is not my favorite, but it was a good production. We returned home about 12:30, tired puppies all.

Today we went to church together. Brenda substituted at the piano — many thanks. Her offertory was very nice! (Eds. note: my piano playing is not my top musical skill, but I didn’t bring my trumpet.)

After lunch (mac and cheese and tuna fish — with chips — does it get any better than that) I got some down time. It has been a little busy lately. I was reading when I heard Kay say — “Just use the spoon. I will get a bowl of sugar for myself.” I went out to find Kay teaching Thane to eat sugar from a bowl. This particular educational activity I have discouraged!

Thane is also learning to use the DS. He is very excited, but not very proficient. I am hoping to teach him not to touch the top screen in hopes of changes. He got Grey’s StarWars game and erased his profile yesterday. There were tears. Then today Baz reminded Grey that at the same age, Grey had erased Baz’s Scriblenauts profile.

OK, here are some pictures

Healthy for a sick kid

Thane is awfully healthy for a sick kid. Alternately, he’s awfully sick for a healthy kid. Something like that. After Thane’s three days of vomitin the week I was off, we had a week of general good health as I started my job. Then last weekend it was Grey’s turn to throw up.

But on Monday when I went to pick up Thane, the nice daycare lady had a piece of paper for me to sign. After two – ahem – liquid stools a day, a kid can’t go back to the Y for at least 24 hours. So Thane was verboten to go back Tuesday. I’m having trouble remembering now if that’s when the problem really started, or if it stretched back to the weekend. Usually I would check my blog, but I periodically pretend to make attempts at taste and discretion and failed to chronicle this fascinating issue. Anyway, my patient, long-suffering husband worked from home with a constant Scooby Doo sound track in the background. Wednesday morning my husband took my son to the doctor for another issue. While there, Thane – ahem – demonstrated his digestive problems for the doctor.

The doctor recommended immediately discontinuing all dairy products for at least a week after Thane got better. This threw us into a tizzy since 80% of Thane’s calories come from dairy products. His favorite foods are milk, cheese, yogurt, butter and bacon. (The bacon being the 20%) But the very idea of a long term dietary constraint terrifies me, so I comply. I’m not strong enough for a life without dairy, or an elimination diet. No! Thane returned to school – briefly – before being sent home again. Once again, my husband manned up to the task.

Thursday dawned with no improvement. My husband now has the dialogue memorized for all the Scooby episodes, including that one with the Speed Buggy. I called my brother, figuring hey! He’s part time! It’s totally, like, pastoral to drive 8 hours in a 24 hour period to watch your sister’s child with digestive problems, right? Anyway, he gets several dozen hero points for taking Thane today, and moreover having dinner ready for us by the time we got home.

Now I simply exist in fear. What if Thane isn’t ready to go back to school on Monday? Or Tuesday? Or ever again? I’m in week 3 of a new job. My husband has a wonderfully flexible company, but there are limits. (It’s also tough on the ol’ patience to have a three year old with a Scooby fixation while you’re working on some complicated code bug.) Ugh. Anyway, Thane is eating a diet entirely comprised of constipating foods (would you like another banana?) and I’m crossing my fingers.

Which brings me to his other issue. As I mentioned, he was taken to the doctor on Wednesday for another delicate, but unrelated problem. After long soul-searching, I think it is not TOO inappropriate (or at least no more inappropriate than usual) to tell you that we’ve learned that Thane has a hydrocele. Given his age, it is not unlikely he will need the surgical remedy, since it hasn’t resolved itself and it might lead to complications if left untreated.

So here I have a little boy who’s been sick from school several days with – ahem – diarrhea (and hey, I actually wrote it out this time because this bout has been bad enough that I have FINALLY ACTUALLY learned how to spell diarrhea!) and who probably needs surgery. And yet this kid is the least sick kid around. He’s full of vim and vigor (I almost said piss and vinegar, but that’s too close to the truth…) He’s FINE. He’s bored. And he sooooo needs to go back to school on Monday!

Hex heaven and hell

So, here’s a funny story I failed to share with you at the time. As you all know, bated-breath-daily-readers, my son began Kindergarten in our public school this year. What this really means is that we entered the Realm of the PTO Fundraiser. Now, I’m delighted by the Japanese drummers and such that the PTO helps pay for, so I cheerfully forked over my dues. Then there was the big Halloween fundraiser. Every family was expected to sell 12 cash raffle tickets at $5 a piece (or $25 for six). I toyed with offering to swap purchases with our similarly be-Kindergartenered neighbors. But when I jokingly mentioned this “great opportunity” to my mother-in-law, she actually professed a desire to part with money for these tickets and demanded I offer said opportunity to my parents as well. Bemused, I did. And thus I disposed of our 12 obliged tickets, end of story.

Or not. We left the Halloween party prior to the great unveiling of winners, but not being the optimistic sort thought nothing of it. Until the day my mother-in-law arrived home to find a $500 check. She was the grand prize winner!

Now, long time readers of the blog will know that one of my mother-in-law’s favorite hobbies is home renovation. Namely: our home. It started with painting the basement floor the week we moved in. Then we had Thane’s prenatal bedroom renovation (she painted), our bedroom repainting (while I was gone one day), the kitchen repainting, the hallway repainting (she’s a genius with paint), the entry-way transformation early one post-Piemas morning, and the infamous “I’m sure the tile under the carpet is in fine shape” bathroom renovation just this September. All this she has accomplished despite living 1000 miles away and weighing 90 pounds wet. (To be fair, my parents helped demo Thane’s room and repainted the living room 3 years ago this week. But they don’t daydream about our attic the same way Laureen does.) And I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two more minor renovations she instigated or executed. So she decided what she wanted to do with her money was to “update” something in our house – generously leaving the choice of what up to me.

"Before" picture... from before we painted the living room

Watching how hard it was to use the XBox Kinect in our smallish living room as currently configured, I finally decided it was time to pull the trigger and get rid of the ancient CRT media center we had gotten for free because they didn’t want to move it when we moved into our last rented house. So Thursday was planned as a trip to IKEA.

Both boys are now old enough to go to “Smaland” – which was great. It gave us just enough time to scope out the available options, attempt to decide if glass shelves were advantageous or disadvantageous, and put together A Plan. We blessed our larger vehicle with the roof-rack as we vibrated home up I93. Then we had dinner with friends, put the kids to bed, and sat down with massive amounts of cardboard, Swedish instructions, hex wrenches and the Mythbusters. Half an hour past midnight, the pieces were all assembled, but we were too tired to put them in place. So this afternoon, we attached, wired, organized and otherwise prepared for our new configuration.

I confess I’m pleased as punch about just how nice it looks. Here it is in daylight:

I just took this one, so the light’s different but you can see more:

I can hardly express how much BIGGER the room seems!

And as a bonus, here’s my husband hard at work:

Merriment Managed

Ah, Christmas! We are at the height of the fun and joyful years with our kids. The Christmas Eve service was excellent. Thane clutched a Christmas card from my aunt and uncle with a scene of the nativity in his hands, periodically lifting it to give “cute baby Jesus” a kiss as he wide-eyed and wiggly watched the tableau of unfold before him, punctuated by familiar carols. After the service, the boys laid out cookies for Santa (soo…. many… cookies!!!!) and put on their brand new Scooby Doo pajamas and soft-footed ascended the stairs. Although Grey had expressed his scientific intention to run some double-blind studies around the existence of Santa, he was out light.

Morning dawned bright, joyful, and not unreasonably early. 7 am is a perfectly fine time for Christmas. A vast ocean of glittering gifts was laid out under the festive fir. And oh joy unbounded! Santa had come! The stockings were resplendent and overflowing. He even put three Hershey’s kisses in the tiny little knit stocking for Puppy. He left a note thanking the boys for their excellent behavior over the course of the year. Then the great unwrapping began.

Thane’s most-played with gifts were an astronaut helmet, a sword and shield and a light saber. He also got a bunch of games, books, some puzzles (which have made a resurgence in popularity) and a bunch of other stuff I don’t remember.

Grey got the sword, shield and light saber too. What fun is it to get a sword if you have no one to battle, I ask you? He also got a camera, a DS game, a bunch of board games, books, and crafts.

Adam got an XBox 360 with Kinect, which may require us to do some home renovation in order to get enough room to actually play it. Grey’s really enjoyed it so far. Adam is deep into Arkham City. I’m sure you’re all glad to hear that he’s out there protecting civilization from evil and complaining about how he’s not nearly as good with an XBox controller as with a PC.

I got a book about Peculiar Kids (from Grey), some new pajamas, two new cookbooks, a book on learning German (now slightly less relevant than when I asked for it), and a DROID X phone. Heh. Heh heh. I have joined the digital revolution folks! I’m like the last member of the technorati who doesn’t get email on their phone. I was so ready for this. So now I’m in the long process of configuring, personalizing, etc. I’m PSYCHED.

It was a great Christmas, and everyone was cheerful and no one melted down and it was neither too many nor too few gifties and there was joy and love and coffee and pancakes.

Then we went to church (hey! Did you know that when Christmas falls on a Sunday church is open?! True story!) and the kids sang with us and looked cute and didn’t complain about being there even a little bit.

It was a happy time and will be a happy memory. These are the true richnesses in life. And now I have a week to shovel out the accumulated tasks piling up since I had surgery in September. If I’m far overdue on something for you, watch your inbox.

One sad note amid the cheer, however. On Christmas Eve, I was talking with my mother-in-law about how much we were looking forward to having her here. Half an hour later, my husband tells me that she’s on her way to the ER. She snapped her upper right arm. It’s a clean break – a best case – but a conversation with her orthopedist says she can’t risk her 3 year old grandson until like MARCH. I really like my MIL and her visits are heaven for us, so this is a royal bummer for me, and obviously an even bigger one for her.

One humbug in an otherwise great season.

So… how about you? What great loot did you get? Was it a warm and joyful season? What was the best part?

Mocksgiving 2011

So. I’ll admit I find it flattering that one or two of you have commented that I am remiss in my updating. It’s true. One day this month is not up to even my appalling standards. So let me give you the quick answer to your many questions.

First, I was treated for pneumonia last Friday and sent home with an actual written doctor’s note saying not to go to work until Wednesday. I took the weekend “off” (no church, not much childcare), but had training that could not be repeated Monday and Tuesday. Also no sick leave left. I love antibiotics and am feeling mostly better, but still am tired and lack stamina.

This weekend was Mocksgiving 2011. My tally was two pies, two other desserts, one 22 pound turkey that took an hour and a half longer than it should have but was perfect, five pounds mashed potatoes, 4 large butternut squash halves, five loaves of bread, one canned batch of cranberry sauce (particularly good) and stuffing. 28 adults, 4 children and 2 babies partook of the feast. The furthest visitors came from California this year.

I was explaining Mocksgiving to someone this week, and they said, “Oh, it’s like a feast!” And I had an epiphany. It is a feast! That is why I do it, because to serve a feast to the ones you love is a great gift. It is an abundance and overabundance of good things, a cornucopia of friendship, an overflowing of plenty and dishes that include butter. It’s funny that I never thought of it quite that way, but it is an apt description of what I was doing, and of why I do it every year.

Also, the friends I always borrow plates and silverware from actually brought us eight brand new settings all our own this year. Heh. Yeah, I guess that does make sense. But it was TRADITIONAL, darn it!

I probably say this every year, but this was one of the loveliest Mocksgivings yet. Other than the stress of a tardy turkey, it seemed much mellower than than some have been. There were more board games than usual. The night ended in a fantastic series of Werewolf games. There were more new faces than usual, but also a delightful balanced of the familiar Mocksgiving faces. The weather cooperated. It was great.

So now I’m through the five parties in two months section of my year. Phew! Better yet, I’ve posted my photos of this weekend! The random black dog was an assignment for Grey’s classroom – Dudley visits the around the class and we journal his adventures with our Kindergartners.*

Anyway, happy Mocksgiving!

*No one warned me how much homework *I* would have once school started! Also, I would like to protest that it is unfair to go after my neighbor the graphic designer and her “Dudley at the MFA” spread.

Ruddygore

I have been going to the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan’s Society since I was nine years old. I remember those first trips allll the way in to the city. I remember the dark, fancy restaurant where we ate – my relations boisterous recounting previous years’ productions or scouting escapades. (My grandparents were professional scouters, as were their friends.

Obviously, I have missed many years, what with the “living in Boston” bits. I’ve never seen Pinafore! Heavens! But this year it transpired that we were in Seattle for the annual trip – this year to see Ruddygore.

I am less intimidated by the whole process than I was as a girl. It was at G&S that my family renewed it’s friendship with my Godfather, who, during my high school years took me to see roughly one performance in Seattle once a week. (Yes, for four years.) He took me (and my siblings) to Ashland for the Shakespeare festival, to the Seattle Opera’s Ring Cycle. He had season tickets to four theaters in Seattle, and I accompanied him to them for years.

He was there this year for Ruddigore. But other beloved faces were missing. My Grandmother had continued going even after a surgery gone awry had robbed her of the use of most of her body. My Grandfather presided jovially at the table for several more years, until he also died. Most of my cousins, although local, have not chosen to continue attending. On the other hand, my nephew Baz sat rapt during the operetta, extending the performances to the fourth generation.

Yes, fourth generation. One thing I learned during this year’s dinner is that my family and my godfather have been attending the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan society’s productions FOR 53 YEARS. Since 1958 or ’59.

What an awesome and enduring tradition! Without the previous generation, it can be hard for the siblings to stay together – stay in more contact than Facebook. But this tradition brought all four brothers together once again, with old family friends, to talk about what was, what is, and which G&S operetta is our favorite. (I’m caught between fan favorite Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe, which is much funnier when seen in conjunction with Wagner’s Ring).

This production of Ruddygore was no disappointment. For a more obscure operetta, it had a goodly number of marquee numbers. The staging and cast were, as always, superb. And best of all were the friends and family!