Thanksgiving Memories

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week? Wow! Where has the time gone? The older I get, the more I feel time is just flying by. I reminisce more than I used to and Thanksgiving always brings fond memories to the forefront of my mind.

We always spent Thanksgiving at home when I was growing up. There was no "over the river and thru the woods to Grandmother's house we go" when I was a kid. Instead, we invited family to our house, which I rather enjoyed. My maternal grandparents, step-grandparents and uncle were always there, and occasionally another uncle and his wife would come or someone would bring a guest. We would clean the house until it was sparkling and then my parents would begin to cook a day or two in advance.

Thanksgiving morning was always spent watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. To this day I truly enjoy the parade. Even if I'm too busy to actually watch it, I know it's on and it represents a special time in my life.

Family would arrive while everything was being prepared and they'd sit in the family room and watch TV and munch on summer sausage, cheese, beer cheese and crackers. By the time dinner was ready, it would be around 1pm or so in the afternoon. We'd all gather in the kitchen and my step-dad would say the blessing before the meal.

Our Thanksgiving banquet was something to behold! Honestly, I don't think I've ever tasted better food in my entire life. Do all kids feel that way about their mom's and grandmother's cooking? I obviously did and still do! We served traditional fair - turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green beans, dressed eggs, jell-o salad, tuna salad, a pickle and beet relish tray (a must for us southerners), yeast rolls (Those things would absolutely melt in your mouth!), and of course lots of sweet tea (Is there another kind?). For dessert my mom usually made pecan and pumpkin pies and perhaps a Derby pie (If you don't have this recipe, you NEED it!). My step-grandmother usually brought butterscotch and key lime pies too. Our family loves sweets, so we had to have a variety.

We ate until we were sufficiently stuffed and then still managed to eat a little more. After we ate, the men would retire to the family room to watch football and nap while the ladies cleared the table and cleaned the dishes. Now that doesn't seem very fair to me, but at the time, that's the way it happened year after year. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching football and just conversing with one another.

Along about 5 or 6pm, we'd get the food back out for "Round 2." We'd heat up the leftovers and have another plate of food. I LOVED Thanksgiving leftovers, especially turkey and Miracle Whip sandwiches! My aunt, uncle and cousins would come to the house and we'd eat and then draw names for Christmas. I looked forward to this for weeks! Drawing names was so much fun.

Thanksgiving was truly the kick-off of the holiday season for me. I guess that's one of the reasons I love it more than any other holiday. It's a time to reflect upon all the things for which we are thankful, reminisce about the past, and to think ahead to Christmas and the joy the season brings.

Now that I'm married and have children of my own, Thanksgiving means even more to me. We move a lot and circumstances don't always allow us to be with our families, so we spend it with good friends instead. We have a big meal, serving favorites from our individual pasts, turn on the parade and later watch football. I want our boys to have fond memories of this special holiday. Next week on Thanksgiving Day we're gathering at my in-laws since we only live a couple of hours away, therefore "over the river and thru the woods to Grandmother's house we go" really applies this year.

May you and yours have a most blessed Thanksgiving, remembering to pause and give thanks, enjoying time with loved ones, and making cherished memories for years to come.

Boys like to make noise...

The boys went to a birthday party yesterday afternoon. A kid in the neighborhood had his party at an indoor laser tag/arcade place and he was kind enough to invite both boys. It was a great deal for my husband and me in that we didn't have to go hang out and help chaperone. We had several hours of uninterrupted free time to ourselves. What did we do during that time? That would be none of your business...

The boys came back from the party and told us about the great time they'd had. They were given whoopie cushions at the party and it's amazing how entertaining those things have been in only 24 hours. If you have boys, you understand what I'm talking about. Any noise that simulates a bodily function is simply hilarious and needs to be repeated over and over and over.

The boys have been chasing one another in the house with their whoopie cushions and have come up with a new game called "Toot Tag." Think we could market that idea or what? Boys! You gotta love 'em!

How'd I do that?

I now have music on this blog! I'm very excited seeing as how I'd been wanting to do this for a while now. There are a couple of other blogs I've been reading lately that have music, therefore I was prompted to COPY the idea. It took FOREVER to figure out how to do this! One of my friends explained to me how she did it, saying it was pretty easy. Yeah, okay, Shannon... whatever you say! You don't know who you're talking to. I'm techno-challenged!

I got my husband in on this and even he had some issues (one of my favorite words by the way... ISSUES) and he's pretty computer literate. I didn't feel so bad about myself then.

Anyway... we finally tried this music-on-my-blog thing again a couple of nights ago and somehow... someway... we miraculously made it work. Okay, my husband made it work, but I was there for the moral support.

Yesterday I got brave and decided to try to change my original song choice, just to see if had enough sense to do it. I also wanted to see if I could change the widget because I didn't like the one I had because it was way too big. I actually did it, but the crazy thing is that I have no idea how I did it. Does that ever happen to you? You try and try to make something happen, nearly give up and then it happens, but you have NO IDEA how it happened, thus you'll probably never be able to duplicate it again?

Anyway... enjoy my current choice of song (or turn your sound down or click on the widget to turn it off - YOUR CHOICE), but only for a short while because I'll be changing songs periodically, if I can remember how it's done........

If it ain't one thing, it's another...

Yesterday was one of "those" days, if you know what I mean. I woke to find it raining, which was actually okay because we need the rain and I rather like rainy days from time to time. No biggie. But because it was raining and the boys were home from school for those parent/teacher conferences days, I didn't feel like dragging everyone out to go grocery shopping, therefore I decided to go online and order from a local grocery store because they will deliver. Shoppers just have to be sure to place an order prior to 9:30am for same-day delivery. No problem. I finished my order at 8:16am and scheduled the delivery for sometime between 4-6pm. I thought I was doing great since I'd already done my grocery shopping in my pajamas sans makeup. That's the ONLY way to shop!

I gently reminded my 5th grader that he would be going back to school the following day (today), therefore he needed to buckle down and get the remainder of his homework done. He complied and got busy, finishing his homework in no time. I went to check his homework, as I always do, and discovered he hadn't followed the directions in one section of social studies questions. He was going to have to re-do all 10 questions. You'd have thought the world was coming to an end! I explained how great it was that we figured it out rather than to have turned it in the way it was. I was trying to put the positive spin on the situation, right? He wasn't seeing it that way at all. It's like I had done something wrong by catching his error. He finally starts to try to fix his mistakes and he's just sitting there, doing nothing. I ask what's wrong and he complains that he can't find the answers. It's because they don't literally jump off the page and say "Here I am!" and I tell him he's lazy. I got a little ugly with him and he nearly teared up and cried. I hate it when that happens! Makes me feel like a lousy mother. He finally got a better attitude and he finished the homework.

In the meantime the rain stops, the skies clear and the day ends up being absolutely beautiful. Maybe we should get out and enjoy it. Oh yeah, the 5th grader is doing his homework. And once the homework is done, we only have a short time before the groceries are to be delivered, and of course we have to be here to receive them. Can't go anywhere.

Along about 5:00 or so, my husband calls and says he needs me to pick him up at the slug lot just up the road because he can't ride the Metro home since there was a FIRE in the tunnel at his Metro stop. So he's jumping in a vehicle with some other sluggers and heading our way and will be at the slug lot in about 20 minutes. Of course I go to pick him up, thinking the whole time that the grocery delivery people will probably show during the 5 minutes I'm away from the house.

Miraculously, the grocery people hadn't shown yet, but it's now 5:30-ish and I haven't even started dinner because part of the dinner was supposed to be delivered. Our 2nd grader had a Cub Scout meeting at 7pm, and we need to go pick up my husband's vehicle from the Metro station, so we're not so patiently waiting for those groceries to arrive. I don't know what happens if you're not available when the delivery is made. I'm sure they charge you, which is understandable.

6pm comes and goes and still there has been no grocery delivery. We go online and make an inquiry, but we know we won't hear anything back right away, so I also dial this 877 number and ask what's going on. The man I'm speaking with tries to locate the driver of the delivery truck and can't seem to find him. My options are to schedule a re-delivery for the next day or to get a total refund. I have things to do the next day (today) and can't give them a delivery window, so a total refund is in order. I'm so disappointed... No, I'm hopping MAD! This is the first time I'd tried to order from these people and I was very careful to make sure I'd done everything correctly.

Now it's 6:20, we have no dinner, we still have to pick up my husband's vehicle and get the little guy to Scouts by 7pm. We leave the house and head to the Metro station. Our plan is to divide and conquer. I will drop off my husband and the little guy at the parking garage and they can go on their merry way, stopping at a drive-thru for dinner and going on to the Scout meeting, while I take our oldest son and also stop at a drive-thru and then go grocery shopping.

We get to the Metro station and it's a zoo, an absolute snarl of traffic and people because of the fact that the Metro isn't running and people were stranded all over the place, trying to get back to their vehicles. We're in traffic for quite a while. My husband and I just look at each other and start laughing. This is such a typical thing to happen to us!

My husband's plan has now changed and he's taking the little guy to Scouts with no dinner. I'm still going to stick to my plan until my husband calls me on the cell phone and says the little guy has decided he wants biscuits and gravy for dinner. Biscuits and gravy? Where did that come from? Since my son hasn't had much of an appetite lately, I figured I'd feed him whatever he requested, therefore my plans then changed. I took the oldest son and went to dinner at Bob Evans and ordered two entrees to go, one of which was biscuits and gravy. Needless to say, after having dinner in the restaurant, there is no time for grocery shopping before the other half of our family will be home from their meeting, starving and in need of food. The grocery shopping is nixed and we go home.

The little guy comes in from his Scout meeting and is excited about the biscuits and gravy (and a few scrambled eggs as well). He takes a few bites and then stops eating. He's not hungry for that anymore and opts for a can of mandarin oranges instead.

Today I have to go grocery shopping.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Yesterday I went to parent/teacher conferences and spoke with both of my sons' teachers. These meetings always seem to make me nervous and I don't know why. The boys are good students, they're well-behaved and things always go just fine. I somehow end up feeling intimidated and want to just run from the room. Is it because I'm afraid something negative is going to be said and I'm going to be disappointed or hurt? I'm very sensitive when it comes to my children. I suppose most mothers are though. I end up talking incessantly about anything and everything and later I can't even remember what was said. Good grief! What is my problem?

I do remember a few key things that were relayed to me regarding my boys and I have to share them because they made me laugh and nearly made me cry...

My youngest son is a social butterfly. His teacher told me he's well-liked, but talks too much. In other words, he's being a "Chatty Matty" (His name is Matthew) and he's disruptive at times. He's sweet as can be, she says, and always wants to please and is incredibly helpful whenever she asks him to do something, but he simply can't quit running his mouth. I have to laugh because he's JUST LIKE ME! I got in trouble for talking in class in 2nd grade too! I even had to stand in the corner because Mrs. Pearson didn't tolerate talkers. I think Matthew's teacher is a little less strict than Mrs. Pearson, thank God.

I also was told Matthew has BEAUTIFUL handwriting. He does have remarkable penmanship and I told the teacher, "Cattle prods work wonders!" Of course I was kidding! I have always stressed good penmanship though. I think teachers appreciate the effort, and even if you don't get something right, at least it was legible.

On to the next parent/teacher conference....

David's teacher told me he doesn't always pay attention, therefore he doesn't always get the full scoop on homework assignments. I didn't have to be given that tidbit of information because it's evident on the nights when I get the blank stare and the response "I don't know" when questioned about homework. Give me strength! I did hear some AWESOME news in that David currently has an "A" in advanced math. We may have to celebrate! That class has totally stressed us all out, but it's great to know our efforts (Yes, "OUR" efforts!) are paying off.

Lastly, David's teacher told me he's very kind to other students, particularly those who are in need of a friend and perhaps serve as targets for ridicule. She relayed a story to me about how he'd made another student feel better after receiving a poor grade on a test. He was very positive and told the kid it was okay, that it just meant she could do better next time. Now that almost made me cry. I don't care if my child is or isn't the smartest kid in the class, but I do care that he treats others with kindness. A mother longs to hear these kinds of things about her children.

The boys had to come with me to the conferences because I didn't have another option yesterday, but they sat outside the classrooms and played their Game Boys (LOVE those things at times like these!) quietly. After the conferences were over, we were walking down the hallway and Matthew pipes up and asks, "Did she say I talk too much?" I ask him why he wants to know and he says, "Because I do talk too much." When a kid confesses his sins and shortcomings upfront, it's difficult to be too tough on them. Do you suppose they know that?

Is it this year or last year?

I engaged in a very confusing conversation with my 8-year-old son today. We were talking about baseball season, which ended in June. I made a comment about "this year's baseball team" and my son tells me that was "last year." I explained to him about how baseball season ended less than six months ago and it was 2007 then and it's still 2007, so it was "last season," not "last year." He then goes on to say that he was in 1st grade "last year" when he was playing baseball, and now he's in 2nd grade. I have to further explain that the school year actually starts in one year and ends in the next year, but it's different than the "calendar year." Oh my goodness! This had my poor child thoroughly confused and frustrated. And of course we're having this conversation while in the vehicle, so I can't just show him a calendar and make things more concrete for him. I ended up with a major headache and he still doesn't get it. I'm not so sure I want to bring it up again either.

Scenes from Halloween

These neighbors always have lots of fun, spooky decorations.

This year they had this scary mummy in the window.

The boys thought it was way cool.

The neighbors went all out and decorated their front lawn with caskets and had lots of scary characters roaming around. The kids thought it was awesome! I was rather impressed myself.

Several of the kids in our neighborhood went trick-or-treating in one big group, which made it a lot of fun. My boys dressed as Harry Potter and Peyton Manning. The older one was going to be Spider-Man, but changed his mind and decided to wear his coveted Colts jersey

and be Peyton Manning instead.

We had a blast carving this pumpkin!

Boys love gross things, especially fake vomit.