our Thanksgiving menu

On Monday DT brought home a Thanksgiving dinner menu that he had written out for us at school. Here it is...

Ham
Pizza
Popsicles
Cranberry
Potato chips
Cookies
Ice cream
Spaghetti
Soda
Milk
Cereal
Cupcakes
Hotdogs










When he saw us preparing turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, corn, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and rolls, he was very disappointed. Somehow, we had failed him.

What I was thankful for? A meal on the table and family to share it with.

our little pilgrims and Indian

"I hope you have a merry Christmas."

Goodbye Grandma.

This morning I took my mom to the Amtrak station for her return to New Mexico. I'm so glad she was able to come. DT played more games and read more books while Grandma was here than he would have without her. He never grows tired of attention, books, and games.

Anyway, as my mom and I were getting her things to pack in the car, she said her goodbye to DT. "I'm going back to New Mexico and your mommy's taking me. I'll miss you." He hugged her and looked sad.

Mom and I set off but only made if a half mile before I realized I forgot my cell phone at home and had to turn around for it. When I came in the door, DT looked so surprised and said "That didn't take long." I answered, "Well, I forgot something." He said, "And I forgot to tell you 'I hope you have a merry Christmas'."

He knew that we weren't going to see Grandma for a long time again, and the last thing she had said was "your mommy's taking me." Poor little guy thought I was going with her and would be gone for the holidays. Awwww! Of course I explained that I'd see him after school. And he smiled and hugged me.

Turkey, Ham or Pizza?

For several weeks I've been bummed that my husband, son and I had no Thanksgiving plans to look forward to. My sister's family which is 40 minutes away, is the only immediate family around and they spend holidays with her husband's parents.

I have 3 pairs of aunts and uncles and a 97-year old grandma within an hour of our house, but we rarely see any of them. If my parents were here, I know they'd have all the extended family over for Thanksgiving. Every family would bring something to go with turkey or ham, and we'd sit around, play games and enjoy each others company. But without my parents here it's just kinda strange.

We ran into the same situation last year. So Ben, DT and I drove out to Maryland to spend the holiday with my parents. This year they're in New Mexico which is too far to drive for the short weekend, and too expensive to fly. So... back to my original dilema. Bummed and lonely for the holiday.

I expressed my sadness to Ben. He suggested starting some home improvements. I suggested going to a bed and breakfast. Derek suggested having pizza. It just seemed so sad.

Then my sister called. She knew we didn't have plans and asked if her family could come over. Just when I thought pizza could honestly be in our future, a real Thanksgiving began to unfold.

Loving and selfless, but not hip to pop culture!

My mom is staying with us this weekend. I'm loving it. She came by Amtrak last week from a 2-year Brethren Volunteer Service project in New Mexico to be here for the birth of my niece. She stayed at my sister's house during the week to help her at home when her husband's at work. Loving and selfless as usual.

We've had a great time with her today. She came after lunch, and I made a banana bread thinking she'd appreciate it, but when I saw how dark it was getting on top, I took it out of the oven 10 minutes prematurely. I shouldn't have. I didn't find out how doughy it still was in the middle until I cut into it 2 hours later. I'm no Rachael Ray!

In the 2 hours that the bread cooled, DT and I went shopping with mom at Kohl's and Family Christian Bookstore. Afterward we got Ben to take us to a soup supper fundraiser, and then he dropped mom and I off at church where a movie night was planned. We watched "Dan in Real Life" which was really good...in an emotional-romantic-drama way.

When we got home, I turned on The Food Network. Mom looked with intent for a moment and said seriously, "I think I know her or I've seen her before. Do you know who she is?"

I wanted to say, "What rock have you been hiding under?! Honestly!"

"Yeeaaaahhhh....(pause)....Rachael Ray," I responded, thinking she surely must be putting me on. But she was serious. She didn't know who Rachael Ray is. Not only has she hosted multiple Food Network shows, but she has now had a daytime talk show on NBC for several seasons.

But this incident reminds me of a comment she made in the late 80's. My sister had just gotten home from going to see "Ghost" with her friends and they were oohing and aahhing over Patrick Swayze. Mom overheard their excitement and said "Who?" They said "Patrick Swayze. He's so hot." And to that, mom said, "You saw him at the movies?" "Yeah, we just went to see 'Ghost'." Mom, still confused answered "I don't think I know him. And he go to NorthWood?" NorthWood was our high school!

The Black Pilgrims

Earlier this week I noticed student work on the walls at my school already showing evidence of preparation for Thanksgiving.

In a second grade display were turkeys with bodies made of construction paper on top of tail feathers made of painted paper plates. In the same case were Indian villages. Each student made a teepee by decorating a piece of brown construction paper with Indian-looking symbols and rolling it into a cone and setting it with the others in a fall scene.



A kindergarten display showed autumn-colored tissue paper leaves glued onto construction paper trees.





Just outside my office were colorful 3rd graders' scrarecrows painted on large pieces of white paper with short pieces of straight brown yarn for hair, and small square fabric patches glued onto painted pants.






Then, this morning I saw my first pilgrims... my first black pilgrims. Each student in this class created a mixed media mug shot of a pilgrim. Boys made boy pilgrims, and girls made girls. The girls used pearlescent wallpaper remnants for dresses and white paper doilies for collars or bonnets. Boys made black hats with gold buckles out of construction paper and put real buttons on their white paper shirts. Their scary smiles had pointed teeth and as a true reflection of themselves, the students cut their urban pilgrims out of brown paper.

Carleah Grace Takes First Place

I am blessed again with a baby niece. Carleah Grace was born Thursday morning, November 6 at 8:37 am. Last night Ben, DT and I drove to Plymouth to see her. She is a perfect beauty. She never made a peep or batted an eye, but her dark hair, round cheeks, and tiny fingers made a wonderful first impression.



Mommy, Daddy and baby Carleah

The Great Pumpkin

Last week I saw a TV ad for the Charlie Brown Halloween special, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." I'm pretty sure I watched it on public television every year as a kid. I loved it. It wouldn't have been Halloween without it. So, when I saw that it was going to be on TV this Tuesday, I planned to watch it with DT.

Tuesday night came and went, and I forgot! Not surprising for those who know me well. I've forgotten far bigger events and far more important meetings. But, still I was sad when Ben came home from teaching his night class at Purdue and asked if we remembered to watch the special.

Regardless, DT dressed as "The Great Pumpkin" to go trick-or-treating. A friend from work passed down the costume. DT had seen it in the closet in the spring and has been excited since then to wear it. Ben walked around the subdivision with DT and then we drove to 2 houses of people we knew...we didn't stop at either one since their porch lights weren't on, but we did see a lot of trick-or-treaters out and about.

At home I passed out Kool-Aid Burst drinks and pre-packaged popcorn balls. We had 24 trick-or-treaters in the hour and a half that I had the light on. Overall, I was impressed with the costumes and manners, but of course there were a few kids that were "too old" to be trick-or-treating. The presidential election is in 3 days. I'll vote for whoever sets a legal trick-or-treating age of 10 and younger.