Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Nearly two years since I posted here. So much and so little happens in that time. Kids grow, the old die. I have a funeral to attend today. A little itty bitty woman who continued to live with cancer, blindness, low oxygen and even finally without her husband. Yet, today she will be laid to rest. She was in her late nineties. I didn't get to work along side her. Her active years were before I came to live in Torrington. Yet, her husband was diligent in bringing her to church and to our women's Bible Study. She couldn't see but she could hear and loved being with us. They were married when they were 19 or 20. She told me they married on a whim with two other good friends. One day they were all together and went to the courthouse and got married. How does a marriage like that last for over 75 years? Yet they were dedicated to each other so maybe it wasn't a whim after all, but God directed and they heard the call and followed. Her husband died 13 months ago. All of us who knew them thought Madge would go first and when Mel went first, we thought Madge wouldn't last. She did though. She came to church when she could - she got and gave the hugs she craved. Today we will say goodbye and rejoice that Heaven has acquired a new citizen. That citizen is hugging Jesus because well, I'm pretty sure Jesus likes hugs, too.
Monday, May 23, 2016
More James time
I had hoped the days wouldn't run together but they seem to. It has been non-stop playing or watching sumpin on TV. His favorite is Wonder Pets. His mom hates Wonder Pets she told me yesterday. Karyn, do you remember all those times you told me you hated me? Revenge can be sweet. (I kinda of like Wonder Pets, the tunes are getting annoying though)
James has been pretty compliant about putting his toys back in the clubhouse when he is done with them. He doesn't really like staying in the clubhouse but he likes getting his toys out of there and putting them back. He makes me smile with his sweet voice and the lilt he has at the end of his sentences when he is hoping I'll do something with him. Being called Grandma, grandma, grandma at the beginning of each sentence is wearing thin, though.
This boys wakes up at 5:30 every morning! Sunday morning he was at the table playing with playdoh. I told him it wasn't happening for me until I had coffee! He ate cereal for breakfast but I didn't have enough kid kinds, we mixed 3 different kinds up. One box had cereal with strawberried on it. He had to have strawberries. Karyn had given me some strawberries for his snack in the car. With some careful carving I found enough that was still good. Cereal went down like a charm.
His Sunday shirt was wrinkled. I have a little iron and little ironing board set up. While I ironed his shirt he "ironed" his pants. He was a fancy looking boy by the time we left.
No arguments about church and Sunday School. I forgot to put together the Sunday back of water, treats, books, and colors. Church had the colors and the Handy Dandy Notebook (from Blues Clues.) He drew a rocket ship and sent it flying toward the sky, he almost put out Ggma's eye with that one. She didn't snap. I was proud of her and moved James on the other side of me. He was kind of wiggly but kept fairly quiet. He raced up to hear Pastor's Children message and did a great job sitting still up there.
After church, he got his treat in the fellowship hall. He raced out to play on the playground, finished his snack and WE went to Sunday School. I stayed with him. He did a pretty good job there, too, but I know the Sunday School teacher who was a sub for the class was glad I was there. Tough class, 3 kids but ages 3, 5, and 6. James kept up with some help and letting him do his own thing with the instructions. Choose your battles.
In the afternoon, we went to Boppa's work and took him a picnic. Boppa's work is the property we bought outside of town. The quonset hut has a half court basketball court in it. James has remembered this and wanted to play basketball. Boppa put up a basket that was about his height so he was making some nice shots. Then he wanted to sit on the ATV, go into the camper, drive the boat, sit on the tractor, dig dirt, poop in the dirt (he actually did that part very well - I however, was scrambling for wiping material) cover the poop with the dirt, watched Charlie play with a mouse, and have a picnic.
With all of that, naptime wasn't too much of a battle. After naptime, the Legos came out. He built a race car, I just played and let the Legos decide what they wanted to be. It was kind of fun. Spaghetti for supper, watching sumpin, and bedtime in there eventually.
No snuggles Monday morning but he stayed in bed until 6:07. He wanted to watch sumpin'. I found Thomas the Train - the Best of James. He DID not want to watch this but soon he was and ate all the marshmallows out of his Star Wars cereal that we bought yesterday. He soon wanted to play but I did the first you have to eat your cereal then I will play routine. He was being stubborn but no melt downs. While he was playing without me, I had some quiet time, and got a few things started. I don't think I'll ever get much done completely while he is around. Eventually he went back and ate his cereal. He cannot wait until he is 4! 4 means he gets to take Tae Kwon Doh. So I started with eat 3 bites because you are 3. Eat 4 bites because then you can take Tae Kwon Doh. I found something special for each age - 5 - Kindergarten, 6 - baseball, 7 - basketball, 8 - riding his bike, 9 - plays the piano, 10 - stay with Uncle Dave all by himself. He loved this and played it until his cereal was eaten up.
During my time of quiet, I made a batch of brownies and we took them over to Ggma's for a coffee break. I brought his Legos and race cars. We had a brownie, coffee or chocolate milk, entertained Ggma for awhile. Ggma and James tooks the trash to the dumpster. We stayed about two hours.
More fun and games, another nap, playground, bath and shampoo (which went better) and off to bed. Yawn! And that's where I'm headed too because 5:30 is awfully early. I think his mother is starting to miss him.
James has been pretty compliant about putting his toys back in the clubhouse when he is done with them. He doesn't really like staying in the clubhouse but he likes getting his toys out of there and putting them back. He makes me smile with his sweet voice and the lilt he has at the end of his sentences when he is hoping I'll do something with him. Being called Grandma, grandma, grandma at the beginning of each sentence is wearing thin, though.
This boys wakes up at 5:30 every morning! Sunday morning he was at the table playing with playdoh. I told him it wasn't happening for me until I had coffee! He ate cereal for breakfast but I didn't have enough kid kinds, we mixed 3 different kinds up. One box had cereal with strawberried on it. He had to have strawberries. Karyn had given me some strawberries for his snack in the car. With some careful carving I found enough that was still good. Cereal went down like a charm.
His Sunday shirt was wrinkled. I have a little iron and little ironing board set up. While I ironed his shirt he "ironed" his pants. He was a fancy looking boy by the time we left.
No arguments about church and Sunday School. I forgot to put together the Sunday back of water, treats, books, and colors. Church had the colors and the Handy Dandy Notebook (from Blues Clues.) He drew a rocket ship and sent it flying toward the sky, he almost put out Ggma's eye with that one. She didn't snap. I was proud of her and moved James on the other side of me. He was kind of wiggly but kept fairly quiet. He raced up to hear Pastor's Children message and did a great job sitting still up there.
After church, he got his treat in the fellowship hall. He raced out to play on the playground, finished his snack and WE went to Sunday School. I stayed with him. He did a pretty good job there, too, but I know the Sunday School teacher who was a sub for the class was glad I was there. Tough class, 3 kids but ages 3, 5, and 6. James kept up with some help and letting him do his own thing with the instructions. Choose your battles.
In the afternoon, we went to Boppa's work and took him a picnic. Boppa's work is the property we bought outside of town. The quonset hut has a half court basketball court in it. James has remembered this and wanted to play basketball. Boppa put up a basket that was about his height so he was making some nice shots. Then he wanted to sit on the ATV, go into the camper, drive the boat, sit on the tractor, dig dirt, poop in the dirt (he actually did that part very well - I however, was scrambling for wiping material) cover the poop with the dirt, watched Charlie play with a mouse, and have a picnic.
With all of that, naptime wasn't too much of a battle. After naptime, the Legos came out. He built a race car, I just played and let the Legos decide what they wanted to be. It was kind of fun. Spaghetti for supper, watching sumpin, and bedtime in there eventually.
No snuggles Monday morning but he stayed in bed until 6:07. He wanted to watch sumpin'. I found Thomas the Train - the Best of James. He DID not want to watch this but soon he was and ate all the marshmallows out of his Star Wars cereal that we bought yesterday. He soon wanted to play but I did the first you have to eat your cereal then I will play routine. He was being stubborn but no melt downs. While he was playing without me, I had some quiet time, and got a few things started. I don't think I'll ever get much done completely while he is around. Eventually he went back and ate his cereal. He cannot wait until he is 4! 4 means he gets to take Tae Kwon Doh. So I started with eat 3 bites because you are 3. Eat 4 bites because then you can take Tae Kwon Doh. I found something special for each age - 5 - Kindergarten, 6 - baseball, 7 - basketball, 8 - riding his bike, 9 - plays the piano, 10 - stay with Uncle Dave all by himself. He loved this and played it until his cereal was eaten up.
During my time of quiet, I made a batch of brownies and we took them over to Ggma's for a coffee break. I brought his Legos and race cars. We had a brownie, coffee or chocolate milk, entertained Ggma for awhile. Ggma and James tooks the trash to the dumpster. We stayed about two hours.
More fun and games, another nap, playground, bath and shampoo (which went better) and off to bed. Yawn! And that's where I'm headed too because 5:30 is awfully early. I think his mother is starting to miss him.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
When is it James' Turn?
Last summer, Boppa and Grandma gave each of the older grandboys a turn to spend with just us. Karyn used to call that being "just one kid" and she only had a brother. Must be important. James was two almost 3 and all of us figured he probably wouldn't last more than a day. Since Karyn's family lives 6 hours away, it was a cosideration. Yet, on one of the exchanges, James asked in all of his adorable two year old speech, "When is James' turn?" Yesterday arrived and is James' turn. Karyn, Abigal, James and Grandma met in Sutherland, NE and Grandma picked up a traveling companion.
Karyn told me that James took his nap on the way over. He was trying to talk to me from the back seat but with road noise, I couldn't quite hear him. We stopped in Ogallala to get a movie at Walmart. I did think to bring my computer for such a time as this but couldn't find any kid friendly movies at home. James wanted to the Minion one. I tried to talk him into others but that is the one he wanted. It was $5 - away we went. As we were leaving the store, James used his super powers to open the door. It Worked! The movie DVD didn't though; for $5 I paid for about 4 commercials and 3 very, very, very short Minion movies. The cover called them Mini movies - should've been called nanosecond movies. We stopped in Oshkosh and they were having a rental movie sale. I found Shaun the Sheep for $10 and kepts on going.
James kept asking when we would get to grandma's house. I told him we'd be there before dark. Storm clouds were gathering on the horizon and darkening the sun. He was getting impatient and concerned! Still and all he was a good little traveler. He was pretty excited when we got to grandma's house. He ran up to the front door and rang the door bell. Boppa answered with Charlie right behind him. I think James greeted Charlie first, after all Charlie is eye level, then Boppa.
James headed right to the club house under the stairs and looked for the blower. We also bought balloons in Walmart. He saw the kit - balloons and a blower. I bought the balloons and told him I had the blower. We finally found it. That clubhouse is too short for me but grandmas do crazy things for grandsons. The next hour was spent blowing up balloons, playing baseball with balloons, letting balloons be rockets. Then off to the park, then dinner. Macaroni and cheese.....from a box....don't judge me. He ate 2 bowls and saved a little for Boppa and me.
Bathtime came next. He knows the routine but doesn't like getting his head shampooed. Did it anyway. He got over it. Changed into his Superman shirt and then I set up a cot for him by our bed. I figured he wouldn't sleep by himself upstairs and I'm getting used to the downstairs bed. He liked the astronaut sleeping bag and we were down for the count. Only we weren't. Snuggles, down for the count, put him back into bed. Only he still wasn't asleep. He wanted to sleep upstairs. He wanted a light on, not that light, the night light on the table, now turn on the fan, sleep upstairs. I almost gave up but he finally, really, did fall asleep and I put him back in the cot. By that time I was ready for bed, too.
5:30 am. He was staring at me from the cot when I happened to wake up enough to look at the time. Morning cuddles, then it was "let's go play!" Yawn. We woke up the balloons on the couch, we woke up the fire truck and the race car. We played with puzzles. "I did it!" He crowed. Breakfast was pancakes. He wanted to be the poor helper. Took me a second......he wanted to be pour helper and a Mickey Mouse pancake, and a baby Micky Mouse pancake, with chocolate chips. He ate it all and a few more besides plus apple slices and banana bread and strawberries.
He watched some TV, played with the barn. Said some darling cute things that I wanted to write down and should have. He loves me, he loves my house but he won't give me kisses! What's up with that? And he keeps blowing up balloons. I think we have 20 now and he can count them all.
Playdough was the next quiet activity. We had to make it. This time when he wanted to be my pour helper, I knew what he wanted. I got some toys out of the toy box that I thought would make some fun designs. He was using the pieces from a counting puzzle. When he pushed down on it in the playdough, it made pegs. Pretty soon he was adding his pegs. Then he was subtracting his pegs so we could make the numbers in the playdough. I kind of wished I had the wisdom when I was a young mother to play better with my children and just enjoy the discovering they do. I think I was too worried about having the perfect children that I forgot to enjoy them. At least I get to do this with my granchildren. So much fun. James helped me spell his name with playdough and Grama with playdough. Enough of that - let go play at the park!
The new skill level at the park is to climb the rope ladder. He has that down pat. He doesn't have going poop before he goes to the park down pat though. We raced back.
Lunch - he ate peanut butter and jelly with a side of beans. Another TV show and off for a nap. He didn't want to do that but I stayed with him. I had pulled down the shades. He got on his cot, then kept looking over to me and carefully pushed the shades back up. He thought he was being so sneaky. He finally crawled onto bed with me and we both napped ... his was longer.
We took a trip to GGma's for root beer floats. As soon as we pulled in, James knew where we were. He recognized her twirly ballon. He remembered the piano room, and playing Sorry the last time we were there. We went to the piano room and he played Rocket ship on the piano for me. I played a song. We found a 60 piece puzzle and went back to Ggma's apartment. Oh, the root beer floats were enjoyed by all. James went to the bathroom and discovered Ggma's hand mirror. He said, "I don't look fancy" He found a comb and made himself fancy. He took the mirror to Ggma and the comb and made her fancy, too. He tried to make me fancy. No luck.
We are at home. Blowing up more balloons, eating more mac and cheese, figuring out puzzles and having a glorious time. It hasn't been too hard other than I have been his all day playmate and it makes me wonder how a mother of four gets anything done!
Karyn told me that James took his nap on the way over. He was trying to talk to me from the back seat but with road noise, I couldn't quite hear him. We stopped in Ogallala to get a movie at Walmart. I did think to bring my computer for such a time as this but couldn't find any kid friendly movies at home. James wanted to the Minion one. I tried to talk him into others but that is the one he wanted. It was $5 - away we went. As we were leaving the store, James used his super powers to open the door. It Worked! The movie DVD didn't though; for $5 I paid for about 4 commercials and 3 very, very, very short Minion movies. The cover called them Mini movies - should've been called nanosecond movies. We stopped in Oshkosh and they were having a rental movie sale. I found Shaun the Sheep for $10 and kepts on going.
James kept asking when we would get to grandma's house. I told him we'd be there before dark. Storm clouds were gathering on the horizon and darkening the sun. He was getting impatient and concerned! Still and all he was a good little traveler. He was pretty excited when we got to grandma's house. He ran up to the front door and rang the door bell. Boppa answered with Charlie right behind him. I think James greeted Charlie first, after all Charlie is eye level, then Boppa.
James headed right to the club house under the stairs and looked for the blower. We also bought balloons in Walmart. He saw the kit - balloons and a blower. I bought the balloons and told him I had the blower. We finally found it. That clubhouse is too short for me but grandmas do crazy things for grandsons. The next hour was spent blowing up balloons, playing baseball with balloons, letting balloons be rockets. Then off to the park, then dinner. Macaroni and cheese.....from a box....don't judge me. He ate 2 bowls and saved a little for Boppa and me.
Bathtime came next. He knows the routine but doesn't like getting his head shampooed. Did it anyway. He got over it. Changed into his Superman shirt and then I set up a cot for him by our bed. I figured he wouldn't sleep by himself upstairs and I'm getting used to the downstairs bed. He liked the astronaut sleeping bag and we were down for the count. Only we weren't. Snuggles, down for the count, put him back into bed. Only he still wasn't asleep. He wanted to sleep upstairs. He wanted a light on, not that light, the night light on the table, now turn on the fan, sleep upstairs. I almost gave up but he finally, really, did fall asleep and I put him back in the cot. By that time I was ready for bed, too.
5:30 am. He was staring at me from the cot when I happened to wake up enough to look at the time. Morning cuddles, then it was "let's go play!" Yawn. We woke up the balloons on the couch, we woke up the fire truck and the race car. We played with puzzles. "I did it!" He crowed. Breakfast was pancakes. He wanted to be the poor helper. Took me a second......he wanted to be pour helper and a Mickey Mouse pancake, and a baby Micky Mouse pancake, with chocolate chips. He ate it all and a few more besides plus apple slices and banana bread and strawberries.
He watched some TV, played with the barn. Said some darling cute things that I wanted to write down and should have. He loves me, he loves my house but he won't give me kisses! What's up with that? And he keeps blowing up balloons. I think we have 20 now and he can count them all.
Playdough was the next quiet activity. We had to make it. This time when he wanted to be my pour helper, I knew what he wanted. I got some toys out of the toy box that I thought would make some fun designs. He was using the pieces from a counting puzzle. When he pushed down on it in the playdough, it made pegs. Pretty soon he was adding his pegs. Then he was subtracting his pegs so we could make the numbers in the playdough. I kind of wished I had the wisdom when I was a young mother to play better with my children and just enjoy the discovering they do. I think I was too worried about having the perfect children that I forgot to enjoy them. At least I get to do this with my granchildren. So much fun. James helped me spell his name with playdough and Grama with playdough. Enough of that - let go play at the park!
The new skill level at the park is to climb the rope ladder. He has that down pat. He doesn't have going poop before he goes to the park down pat though. We raced back.
Lunch - he ate peanut butter and jelly with a side of beans. Another TV show and off for a nap. He didn't want to do that but I stayed with him. I had pulled down the shades. He got on his cot, then kept looking over to me and carefully pushed the shades back up. He thought he was being so sneaky. He finally crawled onto bed with me and we both napped ... his was longer.
We took a trip to GGma's for root beer floats. As soon as we pulled in, James knew where we were. He recognized her twirly ballon. He remembered the piano room, and playing Sorry the last time we were there. We went to the piano room and he played Rocket ship on the piano for me. I played a song. We found a 60 piece puzzle and went back to Ggma's apartment. Oh, the root beer floats were enjoyed by all. James went to the bathroom and discovered Ggma's hand mirror. He said, "I don't look fancy" He found a comb and made himself fancy. He took the mirror to Ggma and the comb and made her fancy, too. He tried to make me fancy. No luck.
We are at home. Blowing up more balloons, eating more mac and cheese, figuring out puzzles and having a glorious time. It hasn't been too hard other than I have been his all day playmate and it makes me wonder how a mother of four gets anything done!
Saturday, March 19, 2016
March Madness
It is my fifth year subbing. I like the special ed classes, reading classes, and elementary grades. Each year I seem to form a bond with one of the schools more than the others. It all just rotates around. Recently, I've been showing up at the K-2 school. I can look for sub jobs and plan my month a bit with a program called Aesop. I looked a few weeks ago and saw Kindergarten was open. It was a 4 day job but taught by a man (MA) who has good control on the class. I thought about it. I kept watching and nobody was picking it up. I wrote an email and told him I could do 2 maybe 3 days but I was pretty sure I didn't have the stamina to do 3.
After sending MA the note, I was in his building again. He found me and told me, he would consider my request but was really hoping for the same sub. Then MA told me he had a full-time Paraprofessional (teacher's aide - TA) which made the class so much more fun. MA also indicated that I could assist and let TA do most of the hard teaching. I indicated that I liked his classes because he usually had great control over his classroom but that meant, he was often given the toughest kids. MA smiled, nodded and indicated that is why TA was a full-time aide in his room. TA smiled and indicated she'd happily teach anything I was uncomfortable with. So they won, and I signed up.
Monday was a dream. What a great class - even with a new student! TA did the teaching while I assisted and learned the procedures. MA's class doesn't vary too much, it was easy to follow the routine. I had a good time and thought maybe kindergarten was my new favorite class. Tuesday came along and I did a little bit more on the teaching side of things. There was a bit of discipline breakdown - kids will push buttons, but it wasn't too bad. There is one student who cries whenever things don't go his way exactly. He mostly got ignored. One student whose speech is hard to understand but generally pretty well behaved. One student that needs the TA to remind him how to handle himself in the classroom and else where. One very pretty girl, who also has speech problems and is hard to understand. 18 kids in all and by Tuesday, I already knew who would fly with the concepts and those who would struggle.
TA had some special projects she wanted to try. One coincided with the shapes they were learning. I love doing this kind of teaching and was ready to follow her lead. We were going to have shapes all cut out and ready to go (their time is pretty limited for these activities). Then they could chose any color and number of shapes to glue a picture on paper. TA's eyes suddenly lit up and she wondered if the pictures wouldn't look better on black paper. Yes! We told the kids to play with the shapes for a bit and arrange them on the paper anyway they wanted to. They could make anything they wanted. I found it interesting that the lower learners were very good at this and made some beautiful designs. Most looked like stained glass windows when they were done gluing. This ended up being a two day project but they worked diligently. Yay, us!
There were a few fill in spots with nothing planned. So I brought out good ole' "Where is Thumbkin?" Some of the kids knew this, the new kid knew it and changed the words from "How are you today, Sir?" to "How are you today, Friend?" I liked that better - it could be generic. Of course, when we got to Tall man (middle finger) a few students piped up and said, "That's a bad finger!" I ignored them. Kindergartners shouldn't know that. It was a big hit, especially with Pinky and All of them. Right on cue, after we were done with "Here we are!" "Here we are!" The school counselor came in and did an activity about being mindful.
This exercise included a glass of water. We sat in a circle and we were told to be mindful-to really think about the water in the glass. We should pass the glass to our neighbor and if we were mindful, we could do it without spilling. We could and did! Then she told us to close our eyes, but that we should still be able to do this without spilling or talking. We did it! Then she told us that she'd tell us to reverse so we'd have to change directions. They did great (and I did, too). Finally we passed two glasses of water. They were quiet for half an hour, it was wonderful!
Wednesday, was a little crazier. More talking, less listening. More team teaching between TA and I. We had some trouble with the Smart Board - it might be smart but we weren't. TA really wanted to to use the digital pen to help the kids with their math homework. We finally pulled in a teacher from next door and she got a pen to work. TA picked a pen and it wrote orange, eventhough it was red, same with green - it was orange, blue wasn't going to be left out, it was orange, too. Black joined the game and put his orange on also. Then she picked up the digital eraser to make it all go away. Nope - orange smears all over the board. The kids laughed at us, we shrugged our shoulders and carried on.
There was an unplanned naptime on Wednesday - chatty kids, breaking rules, not listening. I was ready for a time out, but TA was gone so I couldn't go to my pouting corner. I made everyone go to their seats and put their heads down. I cooled down, they rested, and we began anew. Because of this they missed their center time. I would feel really bad about this but they seemed a bit bored with the centers I was told to let them do. Except for Leggos. Leggos are always a hit. And the day ended and I went home and took a wee nap before going to church for Lenten services.
I was warned by TA before I left school on Wednesday that MA would be in early on March 17th and would reign havoc on his room. The Leprechauns, you know? He would also hide gold for the kids to find. I arrived and checked in. The secretary told me I would need a key to get into the classroom because there had been a break in. It took me a minute - I thought she meant a real break in. I knew TA was planning on footprinting Leprechaun footprints all over the room and I thought a few buckets of toys would be strewn around. TA was in the foyer area, looking like a Leprechaun and talking with an Irish accent -her accent sounded pretty good to me, but would probably make a true Irishman cringe. She was smiling from ear to ear. "I hear there was a wee bit of mischief happenin' in our room, lassie!" she says with a glimmer in her eyes.
I thought I was prepared. I wasn't. I unlocked the door and it was a mess!!! Tables were overturned. Chairs were spread everywhere. Every bin that contained some sort of item was strewn across the floor. The big rug was made to look like a tent. Books were topsy turvy. Little leprechaun feet were everywhere along with "gold dust". One student had made a leprechaun trap. The leprechauns made short work of it. That snooty leprechaun took the gold pieces (chocolate candy) and pulled the wrapper off, took a wee bite and left it on the floor. The trap was pulled apart, too. Needless to say, the trap didn't work. Some teachers peeked in. The best part of the day was that the teachers felt sorry for me all day long!
The children were delighted! I told them that the leprechauns probably hid some gold somewhere and they should look for it while they cleaned up. They looked for it, and slid on toys. I was afraid someone was going to slide right into a table and have stitches, so the toys got picked up first. Table were put to rights and chairs put in place. The rug was put down properly and they finally found the gold as I played "hot and cold" with them. Each student received a $1 gold coin. They were happy. Happily for me, they did settle down pretty quickly and weren't much of a handful the rest of the day. A snack bribe of chocolate mint oreos in the afternoon was a great tool. Thanks, MA. Whew! We even took some time to finish their shape-stained glass window AND write a story about those pesky leprechauns.
It ended up being a fun day and fun week. I had asked everyone I knew to pray for me as I have grown acccustomed to living the life Riley and wasn't sure I could get through a whole week. God was gracious in giving me a yes answer to that.
I did have some fun with MA - the teacher I subbed for. I wrote him a long note about the sorry mess his room was in when I arrived. I stated that the rumors were that it was he, himself, who had done the damage. I was pretty sure however, that a minimilist and neat and tidy man such as himself wouldn't dare do such thing so I was squealching the rumors whenever I heard them. However, his class was pretty sure it was the leprechauns and he should stick with their story because they would be his best defenders. I also stated that it appeared the topsy turvy room caused no undue psychological damage, but he might want to be sensitive to PTSD for a few days. And while I left the room after school to return some items I had borrowed from others in the school, those pesky leprechauns were back! They had cleared nearly every item off his desk. Most items were gone! I think I interrupted them before they managed to lift the computers, though. Good luck filing the police report. (Yes, it was me, I hid everything I thought I could.) I happened to be there when he returned to school. He asked how it went. I just shook my finger at him. He had the audacity to laugh! Then he read my note and laughed some more! I think I got the last laugh. He told me in an email that he found his pencil/pen holder right away but his teacher's manuals, stapler, tape, leader stickers and the remote to run the smart board took him a bit longer.
All in fun. I'll probably sub for him again if asked.
After sending MA the note, I was in his building again. He found me and told me, he would consider my request but was really hoping for the same sub. Then MA told me he had a full-time Paraprofessional (teacher's aide - TA) which made the class so much more fun. MA also indicated that I could assist and let TA do most of the hard teaching. I indicated that I liked his classes because he usually had great control over his classroom but that meant, he was often given the toughest kids. MA smiled, nodded and indicated that is why TA was a full-time aide in his room. TA smiled and indicated she'd happily teach anything I was uncomfortable with. So they won, and I signed up.
Monday was a dream. What a great class - even with a new student! TA did the teaching while I assisted and learned the procedures. MA's class doesn't vary too much, it was easy to follow the routine. I had a good time and thought maybe kindergarten was my new favorite class. Tuesday came along and I did a little bit more on the teaching side of things. There was a bit of discipline breakdown - kids will push buttons, but it wasn't too bad. There is one student who cries whenever things don't go his way exactly. He mostly got ignored. One student whose speech is hard to understand but generally pretty well behaved. One student that needs the TA to remind him how to handle himself in the classroom and else where. One very pretty girl, who also has speech problems and is hard to understand. 18 kids in all and by Tuesday, I already knew who would fly with the concepts and those who would struggle.
TA had some special projects she wanted to try. One coincided with the shapes they were learning. I love doing this kind of teaching and was ready to follow her lead. We were going to have shapes all cut out and ready to go (their time is pretty limited for these activities). Then they could chose any color and number of shapes to glue a picture on paper. TA's eyes suddenly lit up and she wondered if the pictures wouldn't look better on black paper. Yes! We told the kids to play with the shapes for a bit and arrange them on the paper anyway they wanted to. They could make anything they wanted. I found it interesting that the lower learners were very good at this and made some beautiful designs. Most looked like stained glass windows when they were done gluing. This ended up being a two day project but they worked diligently. Yay, us!
There were a few fill in spots with nothing planned. So I brought out good ole' "Where is Thumbkin?" Some of the kids knew this, the new kid knew it and changed the words from "How are you today, Sir?" to "How are you today, Friend?" I liked that better - it could be generic. Of course, when we got to Tall man (middle finger) a few students piped up and said, "That's a bad finger!" I ignored them. Kindergartners shouldn't know that. It was a big hit, especially with Pinky and All of them. Right on cue, after we were done with "Here we are!" "Here we are!" The school counselor came in and did an activity about being mindful.
This exercise included a glass of water. We sat in a circle and we were told to be mindful-to really think about the water in the glass. We should pass the glass to our neighbor and if we were mindful, we could do it without spilling. We could and did! Then she told us to close our eyes, but that we should still be able to do this without spilling or talking. We did it! Then she told us that she'd tell us to reverse so we'd have to change directions. They did great (and I did, too). Finally we passed two glasses of water. They were quiet for half an hour, it was wonderful!
Wednesday, was a little crazier. More talking, less listening. More team teaching between TA and I. We had some trouble with the Smart Board - it might be smart but we weren't. TA really wanted to to use the digital pen to help the kids with their math homework. We finally pulled in a teacher from next door and she got a pen to work. TA picked a pen and it wrote orange, eventhough it was red, same with green - it was orange, blue wasn't going to be left out, it was orange, too. Black joined the game and put his orange on also. Then she picked up the digital eraser to make it all go away. Nope - orange smears all over the board. The kids laughed at us, we shrugged our shoulders and carried on.
There was an unplanned naptime on Wednesday - chatty kids, breaking rules, not listening. I was ready for a time out, but TA was gone so I couldn't go to my pouting corner. I made everyone go to their seats and put their heads down. I cooled down, they rested, and we began anew. Because of this they missed their center time. I would feel really bad about this but they seemed a bit bored with the centers I was told to let them do. Except for Leggos. Leggos are always a hit. And the day ended and I went home and took a wee nap before going to church for Lenten services.
I was warned by TA before I left school on Wednesday that MA would be in early on March 17th and would reign havoc on his room. The Leprechauns, you know? He would also hide gold for the kids to find. I arrived and checked in. The secretary told me I would need a key to get into the classroom because there had been a break in. It took me a minute - I thought she meant a real break in. I knew TA was planning on footprinting Leprechaun footprints all over the room and I thought a few buckets of toys would be strewn around. TA was in the foyer area, looking like a Leprechaun and talking with an Irish accent -her accent sounded pretty good to me, but would probably make a true Irishman cringe. She was smiling from ear to ear. "I hear there was a wee bit of mischief happenin' in our room, lassie!" she says with a glimmer in her eyes.
I thought I was prepared. I wasn't. I unlocked the door and it was a mess!!! Tables were overturned. Chairs were spread everywhere. Every bin that contained some sort of item was strewn across the floor. The big rug was made to look like a tent. Books were topsy turvy. Little leprechaun feet were everywhere along with "gold dust". One student had made a leprechaun trap. The leprechauns made short work of it. That snooty leprechaun took the gold pieces (chocolate candy) and pulled the wrapper off, took a wee bite and left it on the floor. The trap was pulled apart, too. Needless to say, the trap didn't work. Some teachers peeked in. The best part of the day was that the teachers felt sorry for me all day long!
The children were delighted! I told them that the leprechauns probably hid some gold somewhere and they should look for it while they cleaned up. They looked for it, and slid on toys. I was afraid someone was going to slide right into a table and have stitches, so the toys got picked up first. Table were put to rights and chairs put in place. The rug was put down properly and they finally found the gold as I played "hot and cold" with them. Each student received a $1 gold coin. They were happy. Happily for me, they did settle down pretty quickly and weren't much of a handful the rest of the day. A snack bribe of chocolate mint oreos in the afternoon was a great tool. Thanks, MA. Whew! We even took some time to finish their shape-stained glass window AND write a story about those pesky leprechauns.
It ended up being a fun day and fun week. I had asked everyone I knew to pray for me as I have grown acccustomed to living the life Riley and wasn't sure I could get through a whole week. God was gracious in giving me a yes answer to that.
I did have some fun with MA - the teacher I subbed for. I wrote him a long note about the sorry mess his room was in when I arrived. I stated that the rumors were that it was he, himself, who had done the damage. I was pretty sure however, that a minimilist and neat and tidy man such as himself wouldn't dare do such thing so I was squealching the rumors whenever I heard them. However, his class was pretty sure it was the leprechauns and he should stick with their story because they would be his best defenders. I also stated that it appeared the topsy turvy room caused no undue psychological damage, but he might want to be sensitive to PTSD for a few days. And while I left the room after school to return some items I had borrowed from others in the school, those pesky leprechauns were back! They had cleared nearly every item off his desk. Most items were gone! I think I interrupted them before they managed to lift the computers, though. Good luck filing the police report. (Yes, it was me, I hid everything I thought I could.) I happened to be there when he returned to school. He asked how it went. I just shook my finger at him. He had the audacity to laugh! Then he read my note and laughed some more! I think I got the last laugh. He told me in an email that he found his pencil/pen holder right away but his teacher's manuals, stapler, tape, leader stickers and the remote to run the smart board took him a bit longer.
All in fun. I'll probably sub for him again if asked.
Friday, July 17, 2015
The Cabin is Getting Smaller
I discovered the Denniston Family Cabin when I discovered Tom. Well, in actuality, I think Tom discovered me. It has been in the family since the 1950s and many a youngster has learned to love the outdoors up there. Our children loved it and brought friends and now our grandchildren are loving it and bringing friends.
Our daughter, Karyn, has 3 boys with another child on the way. It won't matter if the baby is boy or girls s/he will learn to love the outdoors. The whole family hasn't been to the cabin for awhile so this year they made the trek from Nebraska and brought along one friend and one extended family member. Boppa and Grandma tried to stay - (we did have obligations but once those obligations were finished we high-tailed it up to the cabin). Karyn and Rick longed to be "grown-ups" at the cabin. I remembered when I longed to have the cabin all to ourselves, too. I tried to remember that and stay away but those grandsons are so darn cute!
Karyn's family arrived Sunday evening. By all reports, there was fishing, boating, fort building, hiking, exploring, running in and out galore. I can just hear the screen door slamming. I can almost here Grandma Denniston (the original cabin owner) yelling "Quit slamming the screen door!" We arrived around 4 or 5 on Tuesday afternoon. As we pulled up, Karyn and James were walking towards us, until James saw me - then he was on the run. See? How can a person resist a toddler running down a mountain path with a big smile on his face, yelling, "Grandma!" Not me. Hugs and kisses ensued - then we entered the cabin. Tom (Boppa) and I were happy we made accomodations to sleep elsewhere the cabin is getting smaller! At one time, I think it could about 11 - but I don't think it ever did. Now I know why.
Timmy, Daniel, and friend Christian showed up shortly after. Daniel grabbed me and off we went to see the Big Bam. It was behind the cabin and in a cluster of trees. The forest floor had been cleaned and each room claimed by a boy. A bit of furniture was taking shape. From many accounts, this took a good portion of the day. Timmy and Christian had spent some of the day "oaring" the rowboat out on the lake. The lake is deeper than I've ever seen it - maybe that's why the "seaweed" is growing up to the top of the water. Timmy has been on the boat by himself before but I think this was a first for Christian. They had fun, until they floated over the seaweed bed - rowing through solid ground is kind of tough. I think the wind helped them a bit but then started pushing them towards the outlet. Generally the outlet ends at a pretty shallow gravely shore but because the lake is deep that shallow area was gone. The water leaving the outlet sounded pretty loud, especially to a couple of boys who couldn't control the boat because of the wind and exhaustion. According to Karyn they were terrified they were going over the raging rapids. I'm not saying the outlet isn't dangerous but I'm pretty sure the boat would've stopped before going over any ledge. And that's what happened. Karyn managed to rescue them when they hit shore and it was all a fun adventure in the end.
Those were the stories we heard while we settled in. Timmy, Christian and Daniel had decided to explore the direction of the inlet. When they returned they announced that they had seen a moose. I was a little concerned but they stated they were pretty far from it. Just as they finished that statement, I looked out the cabin window and here came a gangly-legged, young bull moose. He barely had his paddle horns. He looked over his shoulder at us, like he was hoping we'd invite him in for a muffin or something. It's always fun to see moose at the cabin!
In short order, Rick was busy cooking up a fish feast. Almost anyone can catch fish at this lake. Christian caught his first fish, James caught his first lake trout, Timmy and Daniel added to the catch. Not sure who had the license on Tuesday but there was enough trout for an actual feast. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many fish cooked up there at one time. The platter was piled high. These trout may be small but they are tasty. Our standard is to make anyone who catches a fish to at least try it. We have had some argument with younger ones - we didn't with Christian. We showed him how to eat it like "corn on the cob". That was a mistake. He loved it, and started eating fish after fish. After the 3rd or 4th one, he slowed down. Rick told him there was one more. He looked around the table. We were all stuffed - he finished the last trout.
Since Boppa and I were "guests" we relaxed, played with the boys, chatted, walked to the lake and Rick cleaned up the kitchen. I was hoping we'd get all the boys to bed so we could play bridge but that wasn't going to happen. Thin air, a full day of sun and fun makes everyone tired. Tom and I retired to a nearby cabin we had begged to use.
Wednesday morning dawned a bit cooler than usual this time of year. Tom and I made it over to the Denniston Cabin. Tom made coffee. It was pretty quiet when I arrived. I thought everyone must be at the lake fishing. I peeked into the bedroom and James spotted me. Everyone else was still sawing logs. "Grandma! Look, mama, it's grandma!" It sure is fun having that kid around. He got up, jumped into my arms and we went to the living room and rocked in the wicker rocking chair. James promptly fell asleep and I got my snuggle time in. Eventually everyone stirred - breakfast was casual. I'm not sure who devised it but either Timmy or Christian started a cribbage bracket. Christian learned Cribbage on this trip. I was surprised how well Daniel and Timmy were playing. The tournament on throughout the day. I got to play Timmy and he beat me! I ended up in the loser bracket along with Daniel. Daniel doesn't lose games very often and he beat me, too! It's a good thing I can still beat Boppa regularly or I'd have to find a new game. Oh, Timmy and Christian decided to make another cribbage board to speed things up. They used the battery operated drill until the battery ran out of juice, they used the hand drill until they broke several bits. We never played on that board as it had about 20 more holes to make it complete. I think they must have packed it away to complete it at home though because I couldn't find it after they left.
Between games, there were some lake visits. Karyn, James and I went to find the close by spring. It was running pretty fast with a little streamlet of water entering the lake. We found a sitting spot and James had great fun throwing leaves into the water and watching them race down the stream. Water, leaves, and grandma make a great time and much of it was spent watching leaf races!
Rick's brother, Tom, joined us about noon. He got the tour of the place, a boat ride, caught some fish, got educated on cribbage and helped with fish feast #2. Karyn has a favorite waterfall she likes to find so she convinced the boys and I to help her find it. We left the big boys alone while the figured out what to cook with fish feast #2. I thought we could get to the falls by the road and turning at the first cabin. The first cabin has a lovely setting even if it isn't on the lake. It looks out over a pretty dense willow field. We worked our way through the willows. James finally ended up on Mom's shoulders. Thus she was carrying two babies - one inside and one outside (but don't tell James he is a baby!) We came to a "raging rapid" and thought we needed to cross over as less willows were along the opposite bank. We found a downed tree to cross on. The boys had crossed over higher up but we'd have to negotiate more willows so Karyn and I elected to cross on the log we found. I made it across - then it was up to us to get James across. He was having none of it! James gets very stubborn so it took some convincing. I was on one side reaching over and getting ready to pull, Karyn was on the other side getting ready to push. James took a step, then another, let go of his mom's hand, grabbed mine, took a couple more steps and he was over. "I did it!" fist pumping in the air, "I crossed the bridge, mama!" Indeed, what a trouper.
It was easier going until Karyn discovered we'd gone to far. We re-grouped and turned around - except James. He was having none of it! We left him. I stayed behind, waiting for him to come our way. He started to cry, I peeked out and asked if he wanted to come with me. He did - only he wanted me to carry him. I did for a little bit then I had to put him down. Somehow I enticed him to keep walking. We caught up with the others navigating another willow patch but could see the falls!
James wasn't going to make it through the willows, so he ended up on my shoulders. He enjoyed that immensely. We found out that we should've turned at the first cabin on our way out not our way in - the falls were right there. That's a lesson I won't forget. We got pictures, tried to find away across. Daniel got stuck in the willows. Karyn got him out. I found a fairly shallow place to cross with only some rushing water. I stood in the rushing water with my hand out as everyone crossed the water - except James. He wasn't having anything to do with getting his feet wet. Karyn kept urging him and we finally all made it across.
On the climb back up tot he road, I found some sunglasses. One ear ban was broken but they still fit James okay. He called them his soccer glasses. The sky is getting very dark - thunder is booming and we need to get back. Soon we hear Boppa's truck. He came to rescue us. Thank you, Boppa, we were ready for a ride. Dinner was waiting when we arrived. We also had steak but the trout were again the hit of the evening even though we also had corn on the cob.
While the cribbage tournament raged on, I offered to do kitchen detail. Thank goodness for paper plates! Again, I was hoping for bridge, but cribbage took precident and after I lost to Timmy - cards didn't sound fun anymore. Haha, just kidding, it was great fun watching Timmy's face glow when he won. He has the most beautiful genuine smile. It was worth it.
On Thursday morning, Tom (uncle) was sleeping in the living room but people were up and having coffee. Rick was going to cook us a mountain man breakfast and Boppa was helping. Uncle Tom slept through most of the chatter. It was windier and fishing on the boat while tried earlier was more work than it was worth. We enjoyed our pancackes, sausage and eggs. Karyn did kitchen detail - boys got dressed, cribbage tournament continued. The champion round was down to Boppa and Christian. It was neck and neck. Christian won. I think that boy just might come back to the cabin when invited again.
Karyn and family were planning on leaving around noon - I think they made it by three. The boys all got along really well. Timmy would go off and do something by himself, Christian would go fish. Daniel would be included sometimes or hang around with one of us. It all worked pretty well mostly.
Some fishing was tried, the boat was tried again. Mixed success. Karyn and Boppa made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. A watched pot never boils but an unwatched one boils over. Karyn had put the big soup pot on low to keep it warm and turned around to do something else. The soup boiled over. Boppa got clean up detail after lunch. Our new cooktop cleaned up fairly easily - easier than if the same thing had happened to the old Coleman campstove.
While Boppa was kitchen cleaning, Karyn shooed us all outdoors. I took the boys to the road and convinced them that beavers might be at the inlet again. James went along for awhile then put on his brakes. We left him. He started crying, I went to get him - I carried him for a little while. I put him down and then did the grandma underpass. It's great fun to run between my legs with me peeking through them to encourage stubborn toddlers to keep going. Then to add to the adventure, I put my hands down as the monster crunching gadget, toddles have to run past in order to not get eaten. Don't laugh - it got him up the hill! Walking along the road wasn't quite as difficult and a few peeks showed us that no beavers were building dams - but that inspired James to remember to go potty. He peed on the rock and was quite proud of the feat. I was quite happy he did it on the rock and not on my neck while carrying him!
James discovered a small "New Testament" in the bookshelf at the cabin. It came his favorite book and went everywhere with him. As we headed back to the cabin. He wanted me to carry him. I told him I would carry his book. He put it in my pocket. The he "found" a "key". Took me awhile to figure out it was an imaginary key but when I did, we put it in my pocket, too. Then we'd walk for awhile. He'd want his book, then his key. He'd carry then about 5 steps then want me to carry them. This went on all the way down the road but I didn't have to carry him! Meanwhile Timmy and Christian "invented" a language. They were carrying on quite a conversation. Not to be outdone, Daniel joined in. Only it was the right language - Timmy and Christian pretended not to understand him. Daniel was quite upset that they weren't including him. I told Daniel they were just pretending and hadn't really invented a new language that we could do it, too. So we started talking gibberish and pretending to have quite a conversation. We met up with the older boys and language chaos ensued. Daniel wasn't convinced that they didn't really have a secret language going on and I couldn't convince him otherwise. By this time, I'm tired and maybe James is, too. He should be. I sit down on a rock and James stands staring at me and refusing to budge. In my very firm secret language I tell him to get his butt over to the rock and sit down. He doesn't seem to know what to do but he slowly comes over and sits down. When he does, I praise him very happily in my new secret language and he smiles and gives me a thumbs up.
We rest for awhile then I head back towards the cabin. James is sitting on the rock. I look over my shoulder and invitingly ask him to join me in my secret language. He grins, nods his head and follows me. I keep looking over my shoulder and say some pleasant secret language stuff, he continues to grin and nods his head. He does this about 4 times until finally he says something back to me in his secret language! I laugh. Later, I decide he's probably just happy that someone finally understands what he has been trying to say for the last 18 months.
We arrive at the cabin - try to play horseshoes in our respective secret language but just like the tower of Babel directions are too confusing. The best thing out of it is James is now bilingual. He can call a horseshoe a horseshoe or he can call it Bompawho. And I know what he is saying!
Our daughter, Karyn, has 3 boys with another child on the way. It won't matter if the baby is boy or girls s/he will learn to love the outdoors. The whole family hasn't been to the cabin for awhile so this year they made the trek from Nebraska and brought along one friend and one extended family member. Boppa and Grandma tried to stay - (we did have obligations but once those obligations were finished we high-tailed it up to the cabin). Karyn and Rick longed to be "grown-ups" at the cabin. I remembered when I longed to have the cabin all to ourselves, too. I tried to remember that and stay away but those grandsons are so darn cute!
Karyn's family arrived Sunday evening. By all reports, there was fishing, boating, fort building, hiking, exploring, running in and out galore. I can just hear the screen door slamming. I can almost here Grandma Denniston (the original cabin owner) yelling "Quit slamming the screen door!" We arrived around 4 or 5 on Tuesday afternoon. As we pulled up, Karyn and James were walking towards us, until James saw me - then he was on the run. See? How can a person resist a toddler running down a mountain path with a big smile on his face, yelling, "Grandma!" Not me. Hugs and kisses ensued - then we entered the cabin. Tom (Boppa) and I were happy we made accomodations to sleep elsewhere the cabin is getting smaller! At one time, I think it could about 11 - but I don't think it ever did. Now I know why.
Timmy, Daniel, and friend Christian showed up shortly after. Daniel grabbed me and off we went to see the Big Bam. It was behind the cabin and in a cluster of trees. The forest floor had been cleaned and each room claimed by a boy. A bit of furniture was taking shape. From many accounts, this took a good portion of the day. Timmy and Christian had spent some of the day "oaring" the rowboat out on the lake. The lake is deeper than I've ever seen it - maybe that's why the "seaweed" is growing up to the top of the water. Timmy has been on the boat by himself before but I think this was a first for Christian. They had fun, until they floated over the seaweed bed - rowing through solid ground is kind of tough. I think the wind helped them a bit but then started pushing them towards the outlet. Generally the outlet ends at a pretty shallow gravely shore but because the lake is deep that shallow area was gone. The water leaving the outlet sounded pretty loud, especially to a couple of boys who couldn't control the boat because of the wind and exhaustion. According to Karyn they were terrified they were going over the raging rapids. I'm not saying the outlet isn't dangerous but I'm pretty sure the boat would've stopped before going over any ledge. And that's what happened. Karyn managed to rescue them when they hit shore and it was all a fun adventure in the end.
Those were the stories we heard while we settled in. Timmy, Christian and Daniel had decided to explore the direction of the inlet. When they returned they announced that they had seen a moose. I was a little concerned but they stated they were pretty far from it. Just as they finished that statement, I looked out the cabin window and here came a gangly-legged, young bull moose. He barely had his paddle horns. He looked over his shoulder at us, like he was hoping we'd invite him in for a muffin or something. It's always fun to see moose at the cabin!
In short order, Rick was busy cooking up a fish feast. Almost anyone can catch fish at this lake. Christian caught his first fish, James caught his first lake trout, Timmy and Daniel added to the catch. Not sure who had the license on Tuesday but there was enough trout for an actual feast. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many fish cooked up there at one time. The platter was piled high. These trout may be small but they are tasty. Our standard is to make anyone who catches a fish to at least try it. We have had some argument with younger ones - we didn't with Christian. We showed him how to eat it like "corn on the cob". That was a mistake. He loved it, and started eating fish after fish. After the 3rd or 4th one, he slowed down. Rick told him there was one more. He looked around the table. We were all stuffed - he finished the last trout.
Since Boppa and I were "guests" we relaxed, played with the boys, chatted, walked to the lake and Rick cleaned up the kitchen. I was hoping we'd get all the boys to bed so we could play bridge but that wasn't going to happen. Thin air, a full day of sun and fun makes everyone tired. Tom and I retired to a nearby cabin we had begged to use.
Wednesday morning dawned a bit cooler than usual this time of year. Tom and I made it over to the Denniston Cabin. Tom made coffee. It was pretty quiet when I arrived. I thought everyone must be at the lake fishing. I peeked into the bedroom and James spotted me. Everyone else was still sawing logs. "Grandma! Look, mama, it's grandma!" It sure is fun having that kid around. He got up, jumped into my arms and we went to the living room and rocked in the wicker rocking chair. James promptly fell asleep and I got my snuggle time in. Eventually everyone stirred - breakfast was casual. I'm not sure who devised it but either Timmy or Christian started a cribbage bracket. Christian learned Cribbage on this trip. I was surprised how well Daniel and Timmy were playing. The tournament on throughout the day. I got to play Timmy and he beat me! I ended up in the loser bracket along with Daniel. Daniel doesn't lose games very often and he beat me, too! It's a good thing I can still beat Boppa regularly or I'd have to find a new game. Oh, Timmy and Christian decided to make another cribbage board to speed things up. They used the battery operated drill until the battery ran out of juice, they used the hand drill until they broke several bits. We never played on that board as it had about 20 more holes to make it complete. I think they must have packed it away to complete it at home though because I couldn't find it after they left.
Between games, there were some lake visits. Karyn, James and I went to find the close by spring. It was running pretty fast with a little streamlet of water entering the lake. We found a sitting spot and James had great fun throwing leaves into the water and watching them race down the stream. Water, leaves, and grandma make a great time and much of it was spent watching leaf races!
Rick's brother, Tom, joined us about noon. He got the tour of the place, a boat ride, caught some fish, got educated on cribbage and helped with fish feast #2. Karyn has a favorite waterfall she likes to find so she convinced the boys and I to help her find it. We left the big boys alone while the figured out what to cook with fish feast #2. I thought we could get to the falls by the road and turning at the first cabin. The first cabin has a lovely setting even if it isn't on the lake. It looks out over a pretty dense willow field. We worked our way through the willows. James finally ended up on Mom's shoulders. Thus she was carrying two babies - one inside and one outside (but don't tell James he is a baby!) We came to a "raging rapid" and thought we needed to cross over as less willows were along the opposite bank. We found a downed tree to cross on. The boys had crossed over higher up but we'd have to negotiate more willows so Karyn and I elected to cross on the log we found. I made it across - then it was up to us to get James across. He was having none of it! James gets very stubborn so it took some convincing. I was on one side reaching over and getting ready to pull, Karyn was on the other side getting ready to push. James took a step, then another, let go of his mom's hand, grabbed mine, took a couple more steps and he was over. "I did it!" fist pumping in the air, "I crossed the bridge, mama!" Indeed, what a trouper.
It was easier going until Karyn discovered we'd gone to far. We re-grouped and turned around - except James. He was having none of it! We left him. I stayed behind, waiting for him to come our way. He started to cry, I peeked out and asked if he wanted to come with me. He did - only he wanted me to carry him. I did for a little bit then I had to put him down. Somehow I enticed him to keep walking. We caught up with the others navigating another willow patch but could see the falls!
James wasn't going to make it through the willows, so he ended up on my shoulders. He enjoyed that immensely. We found out that we should've turned at the first cabin on our way out not our way in - the falls were right there. That's a lesson I won't forget. We got pictures, tried to find away across. Daniel got stuck in the willows. Karyn got him out. I found a fairly shallow place to cross with only some rushing water. I stood in the rushing water with my hand out as everyone crossed the water - except James. He wasn't having anything to do with getting his feet wet. Karyn kept urging him and we finally all made it across.
On the climb back up tot he road, I found some sunglasses. One ear ban was broken but they still fit James okay. He called them his soccer glasses. The sky is getting very dark - thunder is booming and we need to get back. Soon we hear Boppa's truck. He came to rescue us. Thank you, Boppa, we were ready for a ride. Dinner was waiting when we arrived. We also had steak but the trout were again the hit of the evening even though we also had corn on the cob.
While the cribbage tournament raged on, I offered to do kitchen detail. Thank goodness for paper plates! Again, I was hoping for bridge, but cribbage took precident and after I lost to Timmy - cards didn't sound fun anymore. Haha, just kidding, it was great fun watching Timmy's face glow when he won. He has the most beautiful genuine smile. It was worth it.
On Thursday morning, Tom (uncle) was sleeping in the living room but people were up and having coffee. Rick was going to cook us a mountain man breakfast and Boppa was helping. Uncle Tom slept through most of the chatter. It was windier and fishing on the boat while tried earlier was more work than it was worth. We enjoyed our pancackes, sausage and eggs. Karyn did kitchen detail - boys got dressed, cribbage tournament continued. The champion round was down to Boppa and Christian. It was neck and neck. Christian won. I think that boy just might come back to the cabin when invited again.
Karyn and family were planning on leaving around noon - I think they made it by three. The boys all got along really well. Timmy would go off and do something by himself, Christian would go fish. Daniel would be included sometimes or hang around with one of us. It all worked pretty well mostly.
Some fishing was tried, the boat was tried again. Mixed success. Karyn and Boppa made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. A watched pot never boils but an unwatched one boils over. Karyn had put the big soup pot on low to keep it warm and turned around to do something else. The soup boiled over. Boppa got clean up detail after lunch. Our new cooktop cleaned up fairly easily - easier than if the same thing had happened to the old Coleman campstove.
While Boppa was kitchen cleaning, Karyn shooed us all outdoors. I took the boys to the road and convinced them that beavers might be at the inlet again. James went along for awhile then put on his brakes. We left him. He started crying, I went to get him - I carried him for a little while. I put him down and then did the grandma underpass. It's great fun to run between my legs with me peeking through them to encourage stubborn toddlers to keep going. Then to add to the adventure, I put my hands down as the monster crunching gadget, toddles have to run past in order to not get eaten. Don't laugh - it got him up the hill! Walking along the road wasn't quite as difficult and a few peeks showed us that no beavers were building dams - but that inspired James to remember to go potty. He peed on the rock and was quite proud of the feat. I was quite happy he did it on the rock and not on my neck while carrying him!
James discovered a small "New Testament" in the bookshelf at the cabin. It came his favorite book and went everywhere with him. As we headed back to the cabin. He wanted me to carry him. I told him I would carry his book. He put it in my pocket. The he "found" a "key". Took me awhile to figure out it was an imaginary key but when I did, we put it in my pocket, too. Then we'd walk for awhile. He'd want his book, then his key. He'd carry then about 5 steps then want me to carry them. This went on all the way down the road but I didn't have to carry him! Meanwhile Timmy and Christian "invented" a language. They were carrying on quite a conversation. Not to be outdone, Daniel joined in. Only it was the right language - Timmy and Christian pretended not to understand him. Daniel was quite upset that they weren't including him. I told Daniel they were just pretending and hadn't really invented a new language that we could do it, too. So we started talking gibberish and pretending to have quite a conversation. We met up with the older boys and language chaos ensued. Daniel wasn't convinced that they didn't really have a secret language going on and I couldn't convince him otherwise. By this time, I'm tired and maybe James is, too. He should be. I sit down on a rock and James stands staring at me and refusing to budge. In my very firm secret language I tell him to get his butt over to the rock and sit down. He doesn't seem to know what to do but he slowly comes over and sits down. When he does, I praise him very happily in my new secret language and he smiles and gives me a thumbs up.
We rest for awhile then I head back towards the cabin. James is sitting on the rock. I look over my shoulder and invitingly ask him to join me in my secret language. He grins, nods his head and follows me. I keep looking over my shoulder and say some pleasant secret language stuff, he continues to grin and nods his head. He does this about 4 times until finally he says something back to me in his secret language! I laugh. Later, I decide he's probably just happy that someone finally understands what he has been trying to say for the last 18 months.
We arrive at the cabin - try to play horseshoes in our respective secret language but just like the tower of Babel directions are too confusing. The best thing out of it is James is now bilingual. He can call a horseshoe a horseshoe or he can call it Bompawho. And I know what he is saying!
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Oh the JOY of Boys!
Our Christmas of 2013 was supposed to start early. This year Thanksgiving was near the end of November and that means Advent starts immediately. Advent for Lutherans is very precious and we begin it with the first Sunday in December. It is a time of reflection and waiting and repentance as we look forward to our Savior's birth. It also means that the secular Christmas preparation begins in earnest. I have managed through the years to weave these two ways of approaching Christmas into a fabric that can, on occasion be confusing, but still warm and fuzzy. However, as I age, I long to put the CHRIST into Christmas in a more prominent way. If I had my way, we'd celebrate the secular Christmas on New Year's Day and focus on worshiping our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This year I was almost getting my way.
Tom found some out-of-state deer licenses that Karyn, Rick, and David could afford in an area where we own a little bit of property. They put their heads together and agreed that hunting together would be a fun family event. I (grandma) would be more than happy to watch the three grand boys while the adults hunted first thing in the morning and last thing late in the day. The best time for this would be the the first full weekend in December - the second Sunday in Advent. Tom and I scurried home from a Thanksgiving visit at my mom's house. We also practiced. In the past, our children have been less than amused with our form of communication. We decided we would have a code phrase to remind us to tone it down during the frustration of going from 2 to 8. "My Love" was well used during our time together.
The plan might have been to hunt but it seemed appropriate to make it Christmas, too. I unpacked my Christmas boxes, put together my Christmas tree, wrapped presents, made a menu, decorated the house, washed bedding, dusted vacuumed and prepared for the coming of boys! It looked nice and festive! Alas, a north arctic wind plummeted the countryside in below zero weather. Nobody wanted to hunt so the trip was postponed.
To the third full weekend in December aka the fourth Sunday in Advent. It was cold, it was windy, but on they came anyway. Karyn and family arrived very early Saturday morning. I had stayed up to welcome them and sort them out into their various sleeping arrangement. Then I crawled into bed. All, too soon, I had a couple of grand boys joining me and the sun was peeking in the window. There is something about this early morning time for us. The boys are happy to see me and share some of their thoughts with me. This morning though, they wanted me to help them make a marionette just like great grandma makes. I thought they meant Rick's grandma. I know my mom wasn't into puppets, dolls for sure, but not puppets. Timmy reminded me of the gooney bird puppet that cousin, Sara, had played with at Great Grandma's 80th birthday party. OHho, that marionette. Most of the morning was spent trying to figure out how to make a pompom marionette when there isn't a craft store in town to help with the supplies. Eventually, Daniel made a rather cute dragon marionette out of cardboard tube. Timmy, however, had his sight set on pompoms so didn't make one.
After lunch, the hunters left to sight in their rifles and check out some hunting areas while waiting for David to arrive. I spent the day with the boys and figured out our meal. I asked that we have one special "Christmas" type dinner and that we invite our neighbor, Pat, to attend that one. It seemed as if Monday would be the best evening for that event. HOWEVER, I had bought a big spiral ham. Most folks were leaving on Tuesday. I didn't want to eat that big ham over and over again for weeks. I decided to cook the ham for a Saturday meal so everybody could help eat it the rest of the weekend.
Suddenly, our special meal was being moved up. David rolled in with a donkey hat on. I told him where everyone was. He asked what dinner would be. When I told him, he asked for cloves in the ham, just like grandma used to make. I had to borrow cloves from Pat but didn't invite her to dinner. In retrospect that would've been the best night, but I thought the hunters might get a deer and delay the meal. Timmy ran next door to borrow the cloves. I called Pat again and invited her to be our Christmas dinner guest on Monday evening. She said she'd bring over her stuffed mushrooms. They are the best!
The boys were being pretty good. I decided to fix a cake David especially likes - Red Velvet cake but from my recipe called "The $200 Cake". It is in essence, Red Velvet with a cooked type frosting that I like better than the cream cheese frosting put on Red Velvet today. It is a bit complicated but the boys were being good so I proceeded. Again, with the idea that we'd have lots of people helping to eat that cake. My memory is fuzzy now, I think there was some managing of boys, cooking, borrowing, letting dogs in, letting dogs out (Karyn brought their little dog, Aida) but since everyone lived through this afternoon it must not have been too harrowing, other than we lost a Wii remote which could have been catastrophic, instead became a hunting game. It was finally found next to the refrigerator on the floor - sneaky James.
The boys and I set the table with my pretty Christmas dishes. I have owned these for years but had left them in storage. This year, I pulled them out and started using them the first Sunday in Advent. Alas, they can't go into the microwave which was a little inconvenient at times. I put candles in the middle of the table. I got out a carafe of wine, pulled the "kid wine" from the back of the fridge, placed the Red Velvet cake on the glass cake stand in a prominent place. I was waiting for accolades on my domestic "grandma" skills - the kids were alive and happy, the dogs were curled up in front of the "fake" fireplace, a meal was simmering on the stove, a dessert was lusciously awaiting consumption.
I wasn't disappointed. Everyone seemed properly impressed with the meal and wondered where Pat was. They, too, thought this was the Christmas meal. I stated it was a trial run. Everyone ate, drank and lusciously consumed a portion of the Red Velvet Cake - they even liked the unusual frosting. It was mentioned that there was some good comradery during the hunting stake out. It was decided that anyone acting like and "ass" would have to wear David's donkey hat. Ha, play on words.
I forget, I'm old, I might have a few details mixed up. Somewhere in here we decided to let everyone open one present. I think we did this after the meal but it might have been before. Daniel and Timmy got to play Santa Claus. Daniel grabbed the biggest present right away. I was glad of it as it was the one he was supposed to have from me, grandma! Timmy had a replica under the tree, too. Grandma was hoping to rock the Christmas presents this year. Timmy, being the big brother, was NOT going to pick the exact same present though. He was still searching under the tree for another present with his name on it. Karyn stepped in and made sure other presents were passed out, too. James got his biggest present (also from Grandma). Timmy was still searching but little brother, Daniel, was impatient and began to unwrap his present. A machine NERF gun! Timmy glanced over and suddenly the replica present became much more enticing! Timmy ended his search and began ripping into his present from Grandma. A machine NERF gun! It had to be put together, loaded and figured out before a war could begin. Daniel went to Boppa for help and Timmy went to David for help. It wasn't long before it was raining NERF bullets everywhere. Giggles were unrestrained from everyone. David was sorely disappointed that "Grandma" hadn't bought him a NERF gun, too. James had also opened his present, a rather calm one in comparison. It was a "Hammer Away" toy boat with balls and a hammer that kept him entertained most of the weekend. He did learn to hammer the balls but mostly liked pushing them through the hold with his hand until by Monday, he learned he could just sit on them and they would "poop" through!
The adults were hoping to get the kids to bed so we could play a few hands of cards, but after the kitchen was cleaned, bullets dodged, baths taken, beds figured out, we all just crashed.
Sunday morning we began our morning by getting ready for church. As I came into the room dressed and ready to go, I glanced at the Backhus clan! How handsome! All three boys were decked out in their Sunday best. Timmy in his pin-striped suit, Daniel in his 3 piece suit, James in his vested suit but wearing a very dapper hat that he did like to wear. The dad of the bunch, Rick was also dressed in a red shirt and tie. David rolled out of his room and rolled back in. He called to me, "does dad have a tie I can wear, I feel underdressed!" We picked one out and headed to church. Tom was elder of the day and had already left. Most of the boys were very well behaved in church. Timmy had most of the answers to Pastor's questions during the children's sermon. Daniel threw in a few answers too. I'm glad they were there as Pastor might not have had much interaction. For some reason there were only 4 boys at his feet that morning. James did well for awhile but his cries and antics got a bit loud. Since Boppa was the elder and had to be at the back of the church for many things, he just corralled him for the rest of the service.
I tried to convince the boys to stay for Sunday School. They weren't ready to do that which was spoiling my plan! A few adults were to go home and stuff Christmas stockings. I finally pulled Timmy aside. I asked, "What do you know of Santa Claus?"
Timmy replied, "I know his real name is St. Nicholas and that he really lived a long time ago."
"Okay. What do you think of Santa Claus, today?" I asked.
"Well, he is supposed to bring presents to children." This is dragging out longer than I intended. Finally, I quit being obtuse. "Do you believe in him?" I asked.
Timmy hesitated, pondering the meaning behind my question just like his Boppa does. "No, not really, anymore."
Then I whispered..."Okay, here's the deal, Santa Claus is filling Christmas stockings while you are at Sunday School, if you don't go to Sunday School, he won't have time to fill them and you won't have presents to open when you get home. If you get excited about Sunday School then Daniel will get excited, too."
Timmy said, "Okaaaaay, " and headed downstairs to find Daniel. Daniel still was reluctant so I told him I would go with him. That worked. Finally!
The Sunday School lesson of the day was Jesus' birth out of Luke 2:1-14. The lesson was paraphrased from the original version. The teacher started reading it and Daniel started saying it. "I know that," he said. He started narrating. Like all good teachers everywhere, the teacher interrupted him and said, "that is one version, thank you, but we need to read this one." I didn't know he had the entire thing memorized or I would've stepped in for him. He shrugged it off and listened. When we got to the Bible verse, it was just part of the verse - Daniel said the rest of it. The teacher was finally properly impressed as was Grandma! The teacher handed out candy canes, candy to add to the additional candy bag each boy received after church - leftovers from the children's Christmas program. Oh boy, just what I needed boys on a sugar high.
We made it home. The kids ran right past the stocking towards the Nerf Machine Guns. They looked like the mob with their guns and dressed in suits. David nicknamed them, Timmy the "Brain", "Jawbone" Danny, and "Baby Face James" aka "Jimmy the Hammer". Karyn worked on getting some pictures while the boys looked spiffy. She was successful.
Santa Claus had come and stuffed the stocking but nobody seemed to care, partly because Karyn had gone to the store. Timmy was designing a graph to play Battle Ship the old-fashioned way. Karyn brought home a Battle Ship game at David's request and unbeknownst to him, she brought him his own Nerf Gun. He needed some defense. The Battle Ship game was a good call. Many a came was played between Timmy and Daniel, each of the boys and another adults. We did eat lunch - grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Finally we opened Christmas stocking presents and one more present. David was quite thrilled with his defense gun - it didn't have as many bullets but it had a longer range. The adults went out to hunt - maybe - kind of. It was cold and windy, they weren't gone all that long. I made a turkey pot pie from our left over Thanksgiving turkey. After dinner another present was open. I can't remember which ones- must have been a let down. However, Daniel did come into the living room giggling. He came and whispered into my ear. "Grandma, that Santa in your bathroom is naked!" For years I have decorated the half bath with some of my "raunchy" Santa stuff. I have toilet paper that says "HO, HO, HO" if you turn it the other way it says "OH, OH, OH". Someone gave me an outhouse figurine. Rudolph is standing outside the door and Santa standing inside using the facilities (his hands covering his private parts) I have a Santa on top of an outhouse telling Rudolph, "No, I said the Schmidt House" There is a button that makes a flushing sounds. This is the first year the boys have been curious enough to peek and try buttons. The giggles were delightful. Potty humor always gets a laugh.
Early Monday morning, the hunters left again. I was dreading this morning by myself with all 3 boys but it was very pleasant. James was in his usual good mood. The boys wanted to play Wii. They played some tennis, some baseball, some golfing, some boxing and then they let me play some bowling with them. It was really a very nice relaxed morning. We were still in our jammies mid-morning, when Timmy or Daniel asked for waffles for breakfast. Sounded good to me, besides I had some ham to get rid of.
I started the waffle iron, carved off some ham to warm up. I had just finished the first batch when the phone rang. The hunters were coming home - it was too cold. They wanted to bring home breakfast burritos, but I told them we were eating waffles. Yummy! I put pecans on theirs. I'm gunning for the "Grandma-hostess of the Year" Award.
I was running out of food and needed to round out my Special Christmas dinner menu. Karyn needed to pick up a few things and Tom needed to go get batteries for the present he bought for the boys. We scattered. I had asked Tom to be in charge of buying a nice roast beef. (Pat isn't a big fan of venison so I thought we'd appeal to her tastes) I had all the fixings for the mince meat pie Karyn had requested for Rick. There was still some cake left over but most of us were tired of it, so I wanted to get another dessert. When we came back there was more present opening. Tom had bought the boys remote control bumper cars! The kitchen was the perfect place to play - one boy at one opening to the kitchen another at the other opening. James in the middle picking up the drivers that would eject from the cars if they were hit just right. Then he'd drop them in the dog's water dish, where they would bob until rescued by some adult. Fortunately, James never did that with the bumper cars. This toy was wildly, loudly entertaining! It gave the boys something to do while the adults settled in for marathon bridge. I thought were going to play until 2 or so until the late afternoon hunting began. I needed to get some of the dinner started. It was going to be relatively simple. Tom was taking care of the roast. I had potatoes ready to boil. We had a spinach, cranberry, almond salad kit to throw together. I also threw in some walnuts and raspberries to add some more variety. I was going to make some beer bread but that was relatively easy. I cheated and bought a frozen pie to cook along with the mince meat. I also cheated there with mincemeat in a jar and frozen pastry.
The bridge was good; the weather lousy and the hunters wouldn't leave. I felt somewhat bad about this but never turn down bridge players so we played on. I was partnered with Rick, something that rarely happens. Brother and sister were partnered - a real treat for them. Rick and I won again, and again and again. Audacity mixed with skill makes a good combo, I guess. We also let the kids play cards with us now and then - Uno! They are catching on fast. Uno is a great game to teach how to overcome disappointment.
Pat arrived at 5 with a cake pan full of stuffed mushrooms. Karyn and I broke out the chocovine and shared with Pat. Tom and David figured out drinks for the rest. The boys were on excellent behavior. The mushrooms disappeared in quick order which pleased Pat. They are delicious! The meal was divinely festive. Tom did a great job with the roast. The potatoes were lovely, the spinach salad just right, the beer bread is always great. We were stuffed so we let the meal settle for a bit before dessert. After dessert, Pat was getting ready to excuse herself, but I told her she couldn't. I told everyone all day that they could open all the presents except one. I wanted one left so we could all open presents together with Pat. She felt like she was imposing until I told her that it was the plan all along that we would open one present with her and she had one, too! I think she enjoyed that but she did "escape" not long afterwards. She was going to stay and help clean up the kitchen. I told her that is what I had Karyn and Rick for!
Musical beds, as the boys figured out where they wanted to sleep. There are so many choices most entail closets! My closets are big and while I can't fit a bed in any of them, they are big enough to have a little quiet space. A few more hands of bridge were played. Rick and I won again.
Tuesday morning - 3:30 am. James is not happy. Grandma isn't happy, her tummy isn't happy. I finally get up and take some soda water hoping that will help with the heartburn. It did, sort of, it made me vomit - a lot. Boppa got up to see if he could help with James. Karyn turned on the computer and brought up James Taylor singing "Sweet Baby James" - this finally lulls James into quietude. Karyn said it works every single time. I went back to bed.
A few hours later, I got up and still felt cruddy. I am aching now. Breakfast is fend for yourself. Nobody goes out hunting because it's still cold and windy. Karyn and family are organizing stuff to head down to Denver to spend Christmas with Rick's family. We get to keep Aida and David for a few more days. David is supposed to drop Aida off in Denver on his way through.
I mostly sleep through the day but rally enough to play some cards with David and Tom in the afternoon. Our presents have been opened. The only thing left is celebrating Jesus' birth. There is nothing secular distracting from this. This is what I've always wanted and yet it isn't what I want. I remember the Christmas's of my youth. We usually had chili because my mom couldn't stand oyster stew which was some sort of Minnesota tradition her family did in her youth. After eating the chili, was dressing in our finery to go to Christmas Eve service. Sometimes it was the Children's program, sometimes it was a regular worship service. ALWAYS it was going around town to see the Christmas lights then home to see what Santa brought while we were away at church service. Hot chocolate, cookies, Christmas music, wrapping paper, ribbons, toys, new clothes. It was a joyous time in my memory. Yet, now I didn't want to fix dinner. My tummy was still rebelling. Tom did throw together some left over roast beef sandwiches and I ate a little bit. I decided I would try to attend service.
I did get into some finery. Tom was still elder so he left early. David and I left together. If I couldn't handle it, I could come home. We were invited to friends after the service for a mini celebration. Again, I wasn't sure if I would be up to it. The service was lovely - a candlelight service is always a favorite. Pastor's wife and children shared their musical talents with us. Callie, their daughter played a few piano selections, She and her mother, Courtney, played a flute duet. Courtney and another member sang a duet. Pastor's sermon was poignant. The service was well attended with many people we hadn't seen for awhile - grown children that had moved away were home with their children. I was glad I was able to attend. I managed to go to the party afterward which helped ease my memories of Christmas past with Christmas present.
Thanks to my sister, we had one more present to open on Christmas morning. We got up had our coffee opened our present, chatted for a bit and got ready for Christmas Day service. Tom was still elder so he had to leave early. David and I got spiffed up and were out the door not long after. Fewer people were there in the morning. There was gentleman sitting by himself. He turned around and said, " I saw you here last night."
I introduced us to him (I became more confident with that because of my Toastmasters' Training). I said, "I noticed you last night, too, because you wore a red bow tie. My father-in-law always wore a bow tie and sometimes David wears a bow tie. Not many do anymore." At this point, David would be kicking me under the table if he could, he teases me about my rambling. Too bad, this man is a rambler, too!
He said, "I was going to leave my son's this morning but I so enjoyed your pastor's sermon last night I thought I would give myself one more gift and worship with you this morning before going home." It turns out he is an elder from North Platte and even helps the LWML in the kitchen (with his bow tie on) when he gets a chance. Since his son is a new member to our congregation, I'm sure we will see more of him in the future.
We welcomed him. While the service wasn't very well attended, we still were blessed with piano selections from Pastor's daughter and son along with another flute duet from mother and daughter.
Since we didn't have breakfast, I told Tom and David, I would make us Christmas brunch. I woke up feeling much better and was rather hungry! Cleverly, I throw together a frittata (fancy word for open faced omelet), and sneakily cut up the pie into squares and call it coffee cake. I set the table with my fancy Christmas dishes - light a candle and Voila! a festive meal - #3 or 4, I lost track.
It is a low key day. David and Tom go to the quonset to do some work on David's truck. I talk to some of the family. We play some more cards. I made scalloped potatoes from scratch to go with some left-over ham. David provided the dessert, his various Christmas cookies he received from his sister and grandma.
After all of it is over, I have to admit, I think I rather liked that Christmas gift opening didn't take precedent on a special holiday to worship our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Taking time to set that all aside for awhile and just worship was good for my soul. If the grandchildren had been around on the actual day, perhaps it would've been harder. Undoubtedly next year will go back to trying to balance it all. I am rather assured that my grandchildren are learning how to balance it well. They know the answers, they have the story memorized, they know about the real St. Nicholas, Jesus does live in their hearts, I will trust that He always will and pray nightly for my dear boys that bring me such joy.
Merry Christmas, May Jesus, our Lord be in your heart, too!
Tom found some out-of-state deer licenses that Karyn, Rick, and David could afford in an area where we own a little bit of property. They put their heads together and agreed that hunting together would be a fun family event. I (grandma) would be more than happy to watch the three grand boys while the adults hunted first thing in the morning and last thing late in the day. The best time for this would be the the first full weekend in December - the second Sunday in Advent. Tom and I scurried home from a Thanksgiving visit at my mom's house. We also practiced. In the past, our children have been less than amused with our form of communication. We decided we would have a code phrase to remind us to tone it down during the frustration of going from 2 to 8. "My Love" was well used during our time together.
The plan might have been to hunt but it seemed appropriate to make it Christmas, too. I unpacked my Christmas boxes, put together my Christmas tree, wrapped presents, made a menu, decorated the house, washed bedding, dusted vacuumed and prepared for the coming of boys! It looked nice and festive! Alas, a north arctic wind plummeted the countryside in below zero weather. Nobody wanted to hunt so the trip was postponed.
To the third full weekend in December aka the fourth Sunday in Advent. It was cold, it was windy, but on they came anyway. Karyn and family arrived very early Saturday morning. I had stayed up to welcome them and sort them out into their various sleeping arrangement. Then I crawled into bed. All, too soon, I had a couple of grand boys joining me and the sun was peeking in the window. There is something about this early morning time for us. The boys are happy to see me and share some of their thoughts with me. This morning though, they wanted me to help them make a marionette just like great grandma makes. I thought they meant Rick's grandma. I know my mom wasn't into puppets, dolls for sure, but not puppets. Timmy reminded me of the gooney bird puppet that cousin, Sara, had played with at Great Grandma's 80th birthday party. OHho, that marionette. Most of the morning was spent trying to figure out how to make a pompom marionette when there isn't a craft store in town to help with the supplies. Eventually, Daniel made a rather cute dragon marionette out of cardboard tube. Timmy, however, had his sight set on pompoms so didn't make one.
After lunch, the hunters left to sight in their rifles and check out some hunting areas while waiting for David to arrive. I spent the day with the boys and figured out our meal. I asked that we have one special "Christmas" type dinner and that we invite our neighbor, Pat, to attend that one. It seemed as if Monday would be the best evening for that event. HOWEVER, I had bought a big spiral ham. Most folks were leaving on Tuesday. I didn't want to eat that big ham over and over again for weeks. I decided to cook the ham for a Saturday meal so everybody could help eat it the rest of the weekend.
Suddenly, our special meal was being moved up. David rolled in with a donkey hat on. I told him where everyone was. He asked what dinner would be. When I told him, he asked for cloves in the ham, just like grandma used to make. I had to borrow cloves from Pat but didn't invite her to dinner. In retrospect that would've been the best night, but I thought the hunters might get a deer and delay the meal. Timmy ran next door to borrow the cloves. I called Pat again and invited her to be our Christmas dinner guest on Monday evening. She said she'd bring over her stuffed mushrooms. They are the best!
The boys were being pretty good. I decided to fix a cake David especially likes - Red Velvet cake but from my recipe called "The $200 Cake". It is in essence, Red Velvet with a cooked type frosting that I like better than the cream cheese frosting put on Red Velvet today. It is a bit complicated but the boys were being good so I proceeded. Again, with the idea that we'd have lots of people helping to eat that cake. My memory is fuzzy now, I think there was some managing of boys, cooking, borrowing, letting dogs in, letting dogs out (Karyn brought their little dog, Aida) but since everyone lived through this afternoon it must not have been too harrowing, other than we lost a Wii remote which could have been catastrophic, instead became a hunting game. It was finally found next to the refrigerator on the floor - sneaky James.
The boys and I set the table with my pretty Christmas dishes. I have owned these for years but had left them in storage. This year, I pulled them out and started using them the first Sunday in Advent. Alas, they can't go into the microwave which was a little inconvenient at times. I put candles in the middle of the table. I got out a carafe of wine, pulled the "kid wine" from the back of the fridge, placed the Red Velvet cake on the glass cake stand in a prominent place. I was waiting for accolades on my domestic "grandma" skills - the kids were alive and happy, the dogs were curled up in front of the "fake" fireplace, a meal was simmering on the stove, a dessert was lusciously awaiting consumption.
I wasn't disappointed. Everyone seemed properly impressed with the meal and wondered where Pat was. They, too, thought this was the Christmas meal. I stated it was a trial run. Everyone ate, drank and lusciously consumed a portion of the Red Velvet Cake - they even liked the unusual frosting. It was mentioned that there was some good comradery during the hunting stake out. It was decided that anyone acting like and "ass" would have to wear David's donkey hat. Ha, play on words.
I forget, I'm old, I might have a few details mixed up. Somewhere in here we decided to let everyone open one present. I think we did this after the meal but it might have been before. Daniel and Timmy got to play Santa Claus. Daniel grabbed the biggest present right away. I was glad of it as it was the one he was supposed to have from me, grandma! Timmy had a replica under the tree, too. Grandma was hoping to rock the Christmas presents this year. Timmy, being the big brother, was NOT going to pick the exact same present though. He was still searching under the tree for another present with his name on it. Karyn stepped in and made sure other presents were passed out, too. James got his biggest present (also from Grandma). Timmy was still searching but little brother, Daniel, was impatient and began to unwrap his present. A machine NERF gun! Timmy glanced over and suddenly the replica present became much more enticing! Timmy ended his search and began ripping into his present from Grandma. A machine NERF gun! It had to be put together, loaded and figured out before a war could begin. Daniel went to Boppa for help and Timmy went to David for help. It wasn't long before it was raining NERF bullets everywhere. Giggles were unrestrained from everyone. David was sorely disappointed that "Grandma" hadn't bought him a NERF gun, too. James had also opened his present, a rather calm one in comparison. It was a "Hammer Away" toy boat with balls and a hammer that kept him entertained most of the weekend. He did learn to hammer the balls but mostly liked pushing them through the hold with his hand until by Monday, he learned he could just sit on them and they would "poop" through!
The adults were hoping to get the kids to bed so we could play a few hands of cards, but after the kitchen was cleaned, bullets dodged, baths taken, beds figured out, we all just crashed.
Sunday morning we began our morning by getting ready for church. As I came into the room dressed and ready to go, I glanced at the Backhus clan! How handsome! All three boys were decked out in their Sunday best. Timmy in his pin-striped suit, Daniel in his 3 piece suit, James in his vested suit but wearing a very dapper hat that he did like to wear. The dad of the bunch, Rick was also dressed in a red shirt and tie. David rolled out of his room and rolled back in. He called to me, "does dad have a tie I can wear, I feel underdressed!" We picked one out and headed to church. Tom was elder of the day and had already left. Most of the boys were very well behaved in church. Timmy had most of the answers to Pastor's questions during the children's sermon. Daniel threw in a few answers too. I'm glad they were there as Pastor might not have had much interaction. For some reason there were only 4 boys at his feet that morning. James did well for awhile but his cries and antics got a bit loud. Since Boppa was the elder and had to be at the back of the church for many things, he just corralled him for the rest of the service.
I tried to convince the boys to stay for Sunday School. They weren't ready to do that which was spoiling my plan! A few adults were to go home and stuff Christmas stockings. I finally pulled Timmy aside. I asked, "What do you know of Santa Claus?"
Timmy replied, "I know his real name is St. Nicholas and that he really lived a long time ago."
"Okay. What do you think of Santa Claus, today?" I asked.
"Well, he is supposed to bring presents to children." This is dragging out longer than I intended. Finally, I quit being obtuse. "Do you believe in him?" I asked.
Timmy hesitated, pondering the meaning behind my question just like his Boppa does. "No, not really, anymore."
Then I whispered..."Okay, here's the deal, Santa Claus is filling Christmas stockings while you are at Sunday School, if you don't go to Sunday School, he won't have time to fill them and you won't have presents to open when you get home. If you get excited about Sunday School then Daniel will get excited, too."
Timmy said, "Okaaaaay, " and headed downstairs to find Daniel. Daniel still was reluctant so I told him I would go with him. That worked. Finally!
The Sunday School lesson of the day was Jesus' birth out of Luke 2:1-14. The lesson was paraphrased from the original version. The teacher started reading it and Daniel started saying it. "I know that," he said. He started narrating. Like all good teachers everywhere, the teacher interrupted him and said, "that is one version, thank you, but we need to read this one." I didn't know he had the entire thing memorized or I would've stepped in for him. He shrugged it off and listened. When we got to the Bible verse, it was just part of the verse - Daniel said the rest of it. The teacher was finally properly impressed as was Grandma! The teacher handed out candy canes, candy to add to the additional candy bag each boy received after church - leftovers from the children's Christmas program. Oh boy, just what I needed boys on a sugar high.
We made it home. The kids ran right past the stocking towards the Nerf Machine Guns. They looked like the mob with their guns and dressed in suits. David nicknamed them, Timmy the "Brain", "Jawbone" Danny, and "Baby Face James" aka "Jimmy the Hammer". Karyn worked on getting some pictures while the boys looked spiffy. She was successful.
Early Monday morning, the hunters left again. I was dreading this morning by myself with all 3 boys but it was very pleasant. James was in his usual good mood. The boys wanted to play Wii. They played some tennis, some baseball, some golfing, some boxing and then they let me play some bowling with them. It was really a very nice relaxed morning. We were still in our jammies mid-morning, when Timmy or Daniel asked for waffles for breakfast. Sounded good to me, besides I had some ham to get rid of.
I started the waffle iron, carved off some ham to warm up. I had just finished the first batch when the phone rang. The hunters were coming home - it was too cold. They wanted to bring home breakfast burritos, but I told them we were eating waffles. Yummy! I put pecans on theirs. I'm gunning for the "Grandma-hostess of the Year" Award.
I was running out of food and needed to round out my Special Christmas dinner menu. Karyn needed to pick up a few things and Tom needed to go get batteries for the present he bought for the boys. We scattered. I had asked Tom to be in charge of buying a nice roast beef. (Pat isn't a big fan of venison so I thought we'd appeal to her tastes) I had all the fixings for the mince meat pie Karyn had requested for Rick. There was still some cake left over but most of us were tired of it, so I wanted to get another dessert. When we came back there was more present opening. Tom had bought the boys remote control bumper cars! The kitchen was the perfect place to play - one boy at one opening to the kitchen another at the other opening. James in the middle picking up the drivers that would eject from the cars if they were hit just right. Then he'd drop them in the dog's water dish, where they would bob until rescued by some adult. Fortunately, James never did that with the bumper cars. This toy was wildly, loudly entertaining! It gave the boys something to do while the adults settled in for marathon bridge. I thought were going to play until 2 or so until the late afternoon hunting began. I needed to get some of the dinner started. It was going to be relatively simple. Tom was taking care of the roast. I had potatoes ready to boil. We had a spinach, cranberry, almond salad kit to throw together. I also threw in some walnuts and raspberries to add some more variety. I was going to make some beer bread but that was relatively easy. I cheated and bought a frozen pie to cook along with the mince meat. I also cheated there with mincemeat in a jar and frozen pastry.
The bridge was good; the weather lousy and the hunters wouldn't leave. I felt somewhat bad about this but never turn down bridge players so we played on. I was partnered with Rick, something that rarely happens. Brother and sister were partnered - a real treat for them. Rick and I won again, and again and again. Audacity mixed with skill makes a good combo, I guess. We also let the kids play cards with us now and then - Uno! They are catching on fast. Uno is a great game to teach how to overcome disappointment.
Pat arrived at 5 with a cake pan full of stuffed mushrooms. Karyn and I broke out the chocovine and shared with Pat. Tom and David figured out drinks for the rest. The boys were on excellent behavior. The mushrooms disappeared in quick order which pleased Pat. They are delicious! The meal was divinely festive. Tom did a great job with the roast. The potatoes were lovely, the spinach salad just right, the beer bread is always great. We were stuffed so we let the meal settle for a bit before dessert. After dessert, Pat was getting ready to excuse herself, but I told her she couldn't. I told everyone all day that they could open all the presents except one. I wanted one left so we could all open presents together with Pat. She felt like she was imposing until I told her that it was the plan all along that we would open one present with her and she had one, too! I think she enjoyed that but she did "escape" not long afterwards. She was going to stay and help clean up the kitchen. I told her that is what I had Karyn and Rick for!
Musical beds, as the boys figured out where they wanted to sleep. There are so many choices most entail closets! My closets are big and while I can't fit a bed in any of them, they are big enough to have a little quiet space. A few more hands of bridge were played. Rick and I won again.
Tuesday morning - 3:30 am. James is not happy. Grandma isn't happy, her tummy isn't happy. I finally get up and take some soda water hoping that will help with the heartburn. It did, sort of, it made me vomit - a lot. Boppa got up to see if he could help with James. Karyn turned on the computer and brought up James Taylor singing "Sweet Baby James" - this finally lulls James into quietude. Karyn said it works every single time. I went back to bed.
A few hours later, I got up and still felt cruddy. I am aching now. Breakfast is fend for yourself. Nobody goes out hunting because it's still cold and windy. Karyn and family are organizing stuff to head down to Denver to spend Christmas with Rick's family. We get to keep Aida and David for a few more days. David is supposed to drop Aida off in Denver on his way through.
I mostly sleep through the day but rally enough to play some cards with David and Tom in the afternoon. Our presents have been opened. The only thing left is celebrating Jesus' birth. There is nothing secular distracting from this. This is what I've always wanted and yet it isn't what I want. I remember the Christmas's of my youth. We usually had chili because my mom couldn't stand oyster stew which was some sort of Minnesota tradition her family did in her youth. After eating the chili, was dressing in our finery to go to Christmas Eve service. Sometimes it was the Children's program, sometimes it was a regular worship service. ALWAYS it was going around town to see the Christmas lights then home to see what Santa brought while we were away at church service. Hot chocolate, cookies, Christmas music, wrapping paper, ribbons, toys, new clothes. It was a joyous time in my memory. Yet, now I didn't want to fix dinner. My tummy was still rebelling. Tom did throw together some left over roast beef sandwiches and I ate a little bit. I decided I would try to attend service.
I did get into some finery. Tom was still elder so he left early. David and I left together. If I couldn't handle it, I could come home. We were invited to friends after the service for a mini celebration. Again, I wasn't sure if I would be up to it. The service was lovely - a candlelight service is always a favorite. Pastor's wife and children shared their musical talents with us. Callie, their daughter played a few piano selections, She and her mother, Courtney, played a flute duet. Courtney and another member sang a duet. Pastor's sermon was poignant. The service was well attended with many people we hadn't seen for awhile - grown children that had moved away were home with their children. I was glad I was able to attend. I managed to go to the party afterward which helped ease my memories of Christmas past with Christmas present.
Thanks to my sister, we had one more present to open on Christmas morning. We got up had our coffee opened our present, chatted for a bit and got ready for Christmas Day service. Tom was still elder so he had to leave early. David and I got spiffed up and were out the door not long after. Fewer people were there in the morning. There was gentleman sitting by himself. He turned around and said, " I saw you here last night."
I introduced us to him (I became more confident with that because of my Toastmasters' Training). I said, "I noticed you last night, too, because you wore a red bow tie. My father-in-law always wore a bow tie and sometimes David wears a bow tie. Not many do anymore." At this point, David would be kicking me under the table if he could, he teases me about my rambling. Too bad, this man is a rambler, too!
He said, "I was going to leave my son's this morning but I so enjoyed your pastor's sermon last night I thought I would give myself one more gift and worship with you this morning before going home." It turns out he is an elder from North Platte and even helps the LWML in the kitchen (with his bow tie on) when he gets a chance. Since his son is a new member to our congregation, I'm sure we will see more of him in the future.
We welcomed him. While the service wasn't very well attended, we still were blessed with piano selections from Pastor's daughter and son along with another flute duet from mother and daughter.
Since we didn't have breakfast, I told Tom and David, I would make us Christmas brunch. I woke up feeling much better and was rather hungry! Cleverly, I throw together a frittata (fancy word for open faced omelet), and sneakily cut up the pie into squares and call it coffee cake. I set the table with my fancy Christmas dishes - light a candle and Voila! a festive meal - #3 or 4, I lost track.
It is a low key day. David and Tom go to the quonset to do some work on David's truck. I talk to some of the family. We play some more cards. I made scalloped potatoes from scratch to go with some left-over ham. David provided the dessert, his various Christmas cookies he received from his sister and grandma.
After all of it is over, I have to admit, I think I rather liked that Christmas gift opening didn't take precedent on a special holiday to worship our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Taking time to set that all aside for awhile and just worship was good for my soul. If the grandchildren had been around on the actual day, perhaps it would've been harder. Undoubtedly next year will go back to trying to balance it all. I am rather assured that my grandchildren are learning how to balance it well. They know the answers, they have the story memorized, they know about the real St. Nicholas, Jesus does live in their hearts, I will trust that He always will and pray nightly for my dear boys that bring me such joy.
Merry Christmas, May Jesus, our Lord be in your heart, too!
Monday, May 20, 2013
YesterYear
Last year (2011-2012), I seemed to be a regular at Trail Elementary with a few forays into some of the more rural schools. This year (2012-2013) I've been a regular at Lincoln Elementary and Lingle-Ft. Laramie (LFL). The new vs the old. Lincoln is the newest school in the district. Lingle-Ft. Laramie might be the oldest. This school is like going back to second grade for me. It reminds me very much of the school I attended while living in McCook, Nebraska. LFL has been updated a bit but there is only so much you can do to a school built in 1939. Today, while I was there, I thought, "this school was built for the ages - too bad it couldn't predict that technology would make it obsolete." It looks like it might be ready for demolition and this makes me a little bit sad.
Here is some of the history of the school.
Lingle-Fort Laramie Elementary School - The Art Deco-style elementary school in Lingle was constructed in 1939 with funds provided by the New Deal, and is one of the remaining schools from that era in Wyoming. Like many schools of its period it was designed as an architectural landmark as well as an educational facility, and its position at the terminus of one of Lingle's main streets is testament to the prominent position of the school in the community.
I didn't really know any of that until I searched online - I figured there was some significance to the decor - when public buildings were built with some style. It is a small school and called a Grade School which probably meant that originally it taught students in grades 1 - 8. 8th grade used to be considered adequate education for most citizens of a rural/agricultural economy. Earlier this year, I was teaching in the 4th grade class (yes, only one class per grade) and the study was the Depression. I hope the teacher did a little research and discovered that the school she was teaching in was the result of some Depression style politics. I am not making a political statement here - I like this school.
I like the subway style tiles bordering the halls and bathrooms. I like the stair cases that have a landing and turn to go to the second floor. I like the little alcove at the top of a half set of stairs for the top floor. I like the "School house" ceiling light on one of those landings. I like the big windows and even though the steam radiators are inadequate and don't do the job anymore, I like them too. What I especially LOVE is the bathroom!On the second floor just off the girls' bathroom is a little room with a door that states quite boldly TEACHER in gold letters. I do believe those letters are original. I look at that word and remember when teachers were almost second to God in my world. Highly respected, somewhat feared, and definitely obeyed or you got a swat, stood in the corner, or some other punishment that was equally humiliating, but avoided at all costs. I love going in that little room - it isn't much - just a toilet, a little sink, a tiny radiator and window that can be propped open. AND the door can be locked! I imagine a few teachers used it to sneak a smoke before going back to the classroom to be the ogre of the classroom. There have been days when I've also been so tempted and I don't even smoke!
The schools district has tried to keep this building updated. The windows are not the original ones. There are computers and smart boards in every room. Floors and walls have been kept up. Each room has a wall of lockers that are now storage for the classroom. Various additions have been included - lunchroom with a kitchen, a gymnasium and various others nooks and crannies. I am torn. The students need a new school. To remodel is cost prohibitive, yet a new school means demolition for the old school. The terminus of that city block is where all the schools for the town have taken up residence. There doesn't seem another use for it that will keep it intact.
Until that day, I intend to enjoy it's idiosyncrasies and pretend that teachers are still held in high regard but I will try to temper my inner ogre.
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