Christmas Past Revisited

Christmas past in our household has always been pretty much a Walton Christmas.  We were a good-size family with our children close together in age.  At one point, we had 4 children under the age of 8.  And we didn't have much in the bank because we chose to be a one-income family.  I loved being at home with my children, but that meant we didn't have a lot to spend on them for Christmas.  But I only have happy memories of those years, and so do my children.  The excitement in the house every year made it such a happy, hectic time.  And we created traditions that the kids grasped onto and fiercely protected year in and year out.  Heaven help the person who dared break from tradition and do something different!  We had to bake the same treats each year, decorate the same way, serve the same meal, etc., etc....

But I loved every minute of it.

And now The Four have grown up, and we only have one child in the house.  And it's lovely, but not quite the same.  I feel like E. is missing out on something.

But this weekend, it all came back.  Our middle child, T. and his wife moved out of state this fall, which nearly broke my heart.  They have two little ones, and we have been missing them something awful, of course.  But they came back to visit for Christmas.  Not only for Christmas, but for the WHOLE  WEEKEND!   So E. got the whole Walton Christmas experience.  The excitement building up for 2 days, whispering secrets behind closed doors, wrapping gifts in the next room, the heavenly smells of cooking meals and baking treats drifting through the house.  Little children running and screaming through the house all day long, filled with anticipation (and sugar).

Each morning, there would be little footsteps coming up the stairs, accompanied by the not-so-quite voices calling "Nana!".  Then I would hear the bedroom door close again, as their mother and father would try to grab a few more minutes of sleep.  Which was fine with me - I was usually just waiting for them to get up anyway.  Then they would both climb on my lap and we did jig-saw puzzles on the computer for a while - not an easy thing to do with 2 little wiggly toddlers!  But they had  my attention for the whole day, and they took full advantage of it ;)

And I loved every minute of it.

This is how a 2-year old says Merry Christmas in our house:  Merry Kibbus!  And this is how he says Happy Birthday Jesus:  Happy Burtday Jingas!

Christmas morning, checking out the stockings - totally the best!  Everything in your stocking is SO COOL, doesn't matter what it is :)  That doesn't happen when you're a teen or pre-teen, now does it?

So, I guess there is one good thing about having this little family of ours move away.  If they hadn't moved away, then they wouldn't be spending the whole weekend with us.  What a blessing.

On Christmas Eve, the WHOLE family came over, all of our children, their spouses and their babies - that's a houseful!  What fun.  I honestly don't remember what was in the gifts - it was just so much fun having everyone here.  After all of the gifts were opened, the littles decided to shred all of the wrapping paper and swim in it.  What a mess, but they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  I'll be picking up scraps of wrapping paper for days, I'm sure :)

I feel as if things are coming full circle.  This is what life is all about.

And I'm loving every minute of it.

That Bittersweet Moment

It's ok, I know the truth about Santa, Mom.

What do you mean?

I mean, I know who really fills my stocking.

Oh.

Thank you, Mom.

For what?

For being Santa all those times.

:`)


I love you, E!

A Different Perspective

A cold, cloudy day today.  We went to bed last night seeing a temperature reading of almost 60 degrees, had thunderstorms overnight with plummeting temperatures, then rain mixed with snow this morning.  But despite the dreary weather, looking through the lens of my camera always gives me a better perspective.  I love my camera because it helps me focus on beautiful little details that I would otherwise ignore. 

  I get so busy with my daily life, my chores, my constant rushing here and there.  I love that part of my life too, but I sometimes feel like life is passing me by and I might be missing something.

               So I get my camera out and take a stroll occasionally, which forces me to slow down.

Chickens are kinda relaxing to watch, don't you think?

One lonely pumpkin behind left on the patio table. 

Have a great week!

The Dinner Table

E. and I were watching a program on Nat Geo the other day.  It was about the African Wild Dogs.  Something caught my attention.  The dogs worked together as a pack to bring down a large herd animal.  They shared the meal peacefully and the narrator said that eating together was an important bonding experience.

Right away my thoughts turned towards the human family.  I couldn't help making a comparison.  Sitting down to supper each night helps keeps a family together.  I know it's not always possible, but it's important enough to make the effort.  Sometimes I have to hold dinner off until a later time if someone has to work late.  Sometimes I'm too busy too cook and we may just have scrambled eggs or sandwiches.  So it's not really the setting or the content that's so important.  It's just the being together.  Some people get too caught up in the setting - tablecloths, candles, flowers?  I can't manage that every day.  Our kitchen table gets used.  It's also my office, my daughter's homework center, and a catch-all for everyone's mail.  So sometimes we have to shove it all over to one side in order to make room for our plates!  No matter, as long as there is room for the food and we're all sitting down together.  We eat, then we make sure we stay at the table for a few minutes after we're finished eating just to visit.  We ask each other about our respective day's activities, and sometimes discuss events in the news, or family news - whatever is relevant.

I love all the beautiful "Tablescapes" that people post on their blogs, but I find it impossible to achieve in real life.  So I thought I would give you 'reality table' on my blog.  This is my table on a normal day.  Well, not really, because I don't normally have time to do a jig-saw puzzle!  I took time off to do a puzzle since my main squeeze is out hunting ;)

But the point I want to make here is, if it's important enough for wild dogs to come together for a period each day to bond, I can't help but think that we also need to continue to make it a priority.  The experts do recommend that families sit down for a meal together each day, and yet many families don't manage to do just that.  There are too many activities each day after school right up until bed time.  I don't have a solution for that and I'm not judging anyone who's stuck in that routine.  I know that most of those activities have merit.

Right now we're in the midst of hunting season, and we haven't had a family meal in a while.  I miss it.  It's just been E. and me every evening.  I'll be happy when the guys are finished hunting and life gets back to normal. And then it will be time to look forward to the ultimate family dinner - Thanksgiving!

Waiting for the turkey!

I wish for you to see all of your family around your table this Thanksgiving season.  All of my children are coming home for the big meal and I'm so excited.  I think I like Thanksgiving the most of all.  It's like Christmas without the gift shopping.  I always page through all of the decorating magazines and *think* I might use some of the ideas for decorating my holiday table, but in the end, I'll be lucky if I can fit all of the food on my table, along with all of my family.  It's all good :)

SO GLAD THE CAMPAIGNING IS OVER!!!

Stepping Out

It's been a while, I know.  I haven't had a lot to say on this blog.  It doesn't seem to be the thing to do lately. You know - gardening, traveling, kid on summer vacation, all that summer stuff.  Now that it's fall and I haven't yet gotten elbow-deep into processing venison, I have some time to myself again.

I have started a new blog - hope you'll get a chance to check it out.  It's called Authentic Regards.  See it at http://authenticregards.blogspot.com/   It's just another facet of me, giving myself a push to take my writing in another direction.  I need to prod myself sometimes, in order to get something accomplished.  I was a published writer at one time, but them E. came along, and she has been pretty much my whole life for the past 11 years.  I guess I need to wake up and poke my head out of the 'mommy hole' as one writer put it so eloquently :)

We took several trips this summer and it was great fun. Traveling is always a conundrum for me because I love to see different places, but I am basically a homebody, so it takes me way out of my comfort zone.  Love my own bed, need my own kitchen, you know?   This is a picture I took of a sunset on Lake Kabetogema, MN.  We spent a week at a resort there.  Lots of fishing, swimming, boating, and relaxing.

We put in a garden at the ranch, basically just as an experiment and it went wild!  We didn't fertilize or use any pesticides and everything produced heavily.  So I guess the soil is good there...  The only problem we had was with woodchucks.  Once again the apples orchard harvest was outstanding.  I'm still making applesauce and pies.  New recipe ideas are welcome!  I would love a new pie crust recipe - not happy with my old standard.  Seems as though the Crisco ingredients have changed and it doesn't turn out like it used to.

I have missed my blog buddies and plan on patrolling all of your blogs again!  Hopefully I will also find some new blogs to add to my list.

Here is a newcomer to our menagerie.  His name is Hairy (as of today).  He showed up one day in July, about one week after our dear Oliver died.  He looks almost exactly like Oliver did, only he's just a kitten.  Spooky, huh?  I didn't want another cat, but he refused to go away and he made E. feel better after losing her cat, so he stays.  That desperate look on his face?  It's like that all the time.  He's overly affectionate - almost annoyingly so.

Ok, this is me at the Harry Truman Library in Kansas City.  I'm a huge fan of Harry Truman.  We spent 2 lovely afternoons at the museum.  Oh, and I LOVED Kansas City!  We were there in September for a conference.  I just thought I would share a pic of myself, chubby legs and all, since nobody ever posts pictures of themselves on their blogs.  Maybe someone else will get brave enough to do it now.  Come on!  I know I'm not the only one who wants to see what her blogger friends look like ;)

Marie

All I Ask

My youngest son asked me what I want for Mother's Day this year.  At this point in my life I don't need or want anything material.  So I told him I didn't want anything.  He wasn't satisfied with that answer, of course.

As I was driving into town the other day, I was having one of those days where I felt weighed down by the negative self-speak:  I shouldn't have said this, or why didn't I say that instead?

I think most mothers can relate to the second-guessing that goes on inside my head some days.  It's not constant.  But we all have days like that occasionally.  I just happen to be having a few more days like that lately with a beautiful little girl who is flourishing, yet struggling to become a young woman.  It is a difficult, tumultuous journey, and I have to remind myself to be patient and and understanding. 

So as I was driving that day, it came to me that all I really want for Mother's Day is to hear that I haven't totally screwed up as a mother.  And that my children, please God, be better parents than I was.

On a lighter note, I'm sharing these photos of a handsome visitor to my feeder this week.  Sadly, my hummingbird family did not return this year, but we have two pairs of orioles that are finding the hummingbird feeder to be just to their liking.  Aren't they gorgeous!  Have a great day! :)

Taking Care

I have a friend who is a body builder.  And she turned 50 exactly 2 weeks before me.  That's right, 50.  And what's more impressive is she was overweight and inactive just 2 1/2 years before and now this August she is set to compete in her first bodybuilding show.  I am so proud of her!   She inspires me to be better.  When I don't feel like doing my stretches or exercises, I think about the fact that she lifts every day, twice a day and sticks to a 'clean' diet.  Then I find the time and energy to do what I need to do, and it's not much, compared with what she does.  All I ask of myself is to get back my flexibility and strength that I had just a few years ago.  Surely I can do that if she can accomplish all that she has done in the past two years.  My PTA told me that the normal course of events is you get older and less active.  You become stiff from being inactive.  You feel some pain from the stiffness and you become even less active, and it becomes a vicious circle.  And that's how people get old in a hurry.  Don't let it happen!  Get up!  Get moving!  Are you with me?!  :)