Christmas Apron

One of my friends gifted me with this apron because she knew how much granddaughters would love it, especially the twinkling lights.  They did!

Merry Christmas Going

(From December 31)

And going, going, gone! By the second day after Christmas, no trace of Christmas remained inside our home, but a few tokens of the winter season will stay until red and white emerges again for a Valentine theme. I favor leaving up our outdoor lights year round, but I have never won that battle. 

After our triple play celebration in November, most of December is anticlimactic.  I determinedly stay busier than necessary with community and social activities and in the kitchen.  Absent family members contribute to the pensive mood.  Happily, my sisters and their husbands came Christmas day and celebrated with us. 

Next on the calendar will be the birthdays of both granddaughters and another trip to their cold state.  So much fun doing kid things again!  Parties, school trips, movies, lessons, hairdos, cafeteria lunches, books and more books--great way for us to start the new year!

Merry Christmas Coming

The tree shoppers and their purchase!



Up and in the stand!



Always need plenty of lights!



After all the ornaments, the finishing touch!


True to our tradition of Thanksgiving weekend, the Christmas tree goes up on Friday.  This year our helpers are proficient decorators and completed the joyful job in record time.

Thanksgiving

Our turkey day philosophy has always been not to mess with our traditional menu tried and true. However, this year we decided to shake things up and prepare only our outstanding favorites for Thursday and fix other dishes over the weekend. Who ever feasted on the raw veggies? And green bean casserole was never successful at assuaging any guilt. 

Seven people, seven votes, seven items on our first menu of the holiday: turkey, cornbread dressing, sausage bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry relish, and flaky dinner rolls. Can you say carbolicious? We didn't count drinks so therefore managed to justify Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Nap time was right around the corner. Pies could wait for afternoon. We had seven happy faces and stuffed tummies!

One more reason for giving thanks - - - younger granddaughter lost her first tooth tonight while biting into a dinner roll. We're also thankful that she didn't swallow it.

More snow!

(Early Thanksgiving morning)
The ground is covered with a new blanket of snow that fell last night. Look at that sunshine we are having today! Temperature is currently at 7 degrees, yes, seven. Younger daughter arrived last night safely and almost on time. What a glorious morning!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Separations

A popular blog topic in late August and early September is the beginning of a new school year. Young tots and their moms face their separation fears, maybe for the first time but not for the last. One friend blogged about emotions that surfaced when a child moved away to attend the first year of college. So all of you young moms might as well know that letting go may never get any easier.

I unashamedly admit that I cried every time our daughters drove away and returned to college, whether after a weekend or a longer vacation at home. I never ran down the driveway after them, not once. But through my tears flashed the childhoods they were leaving.

I remember that friends with younger children sometimes asked me how I could bear to let my girls go, how I kept from crying all the time they were gone. My answer was that if I tried to keep them home we would all cry.

Tomorrow I'm flying home after being with one daughter and her family for almost a month.  Tears will fall, but now we share them together.  The next visit never comes soon enough, but it will come.

August Evening at Gull Lake MN

Sad sad sad to Google directions for "Red Rover" children's game to learn that it is so rough that most playgrounds have banned it, especially if three dangerous variations are used. We are sticking with "May I," "Red Light Green Light," and "Simon Says" on our sandy beach. Girls learned the rules instantly and are thrilled to beat us. The lake has smoothed immensely from the last two evenings, and we're staying outside until bedtime.
This morning we played at Nisswa City Park for two hours with about twenty new kid friends. Next stop was our favorite Nisswa lunch spot A&W where girls devoured hamburgers, fries, lemonade, and ice cream in record time.

(Gotta pause this blog because a solitary loon started calling, soon answered by another, so haunting that I feel connected to the mournful canyon wrens of our Frio bluff.)

After lunch we strolled sidewalks of the main street until a girl showed up with a tiny white puppy, fluffy all over, ten months old. Our whole world stopped for admiring and cooing and petting. Sweet, but not a loon or canyon wren.

Turkey Confidence

A flock of about a dozen turkeys came into our MN backyard, pecked around for food, perched on the fence, and strolled around to the front before crossing the street. Risky behavior the day before Thanksgiving!

Son-in-law warned them about his slingshot, but nobody wanted to dig through the snow for a rock. Lucky turkeys! Lucky SIL for not having anyone call his bluff!

Lost Maples

On a Sunday in early November I went on the homes tour benefiting the library and "found" these turning maple trees beside the drive to one of the houses. They weren't truly lost but surely looked lost out on the edge of the manmade lake pond with no others in sight.

I didn't go to Lost Maples State Park this year. Reports said that half the trees finished their brilliant display early, and the remaining half turned later. They all twirled without me.

First Fire

Last night we celebrated our first fire of the season with a few friends. With mornings in the low thirties and the sun setting early, it was time to burn some wood. The outdoor fireplace was clean and ready, but I did have some concern for a couple of black squirrels I had seen scurrying around there recently. No desire for roasting any animals in the process! Husband stacked more logs than necessary, added some fire cubes, clicked the butane wand, and flames jumped to life. (I so badly wanted to write "struck the match," but that action happens so rarely these days.) Friends appeared, wine disappeared, and everyone stayed warm as the sun retreated behind the bluff.