THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving

  It was the first Thanksgiving we have not been with family and we spent the morning looking at photos of Thanksgivings past.  Piles of leaves in my grandparents backyard, a house full of cousins, warm rolls from my Aunt Judy, the china and crystal, a brisk walk after dinner; all wonderful memories that have a special place in my heart and childhood. 

 Time marches on and my grandparents house is an empty lot, cousins have scattered, life is different.  This year we had Thanksgiving in our home with friends.  We shared stories and recipes, ate a little too much, and had a Bocce tournament in the park across the street.  It was a lovely day!  But I thought about my grandparents a lot, I had multiple conversations and text messages with my brother about the Judy rolls, I set my table with china and white linen napkins, and decorated my chandelier.  I talked to my mother twice and wished she had been here to make the traditional salad and take a walk after dinner. 

It dawned on me that what I create today will be the memories my children cling to.

I love that we can tie the past to the present with memories and traditions because I am thankful for both.

THE DICTIONARY

Dear Loyal Readers,


I have been in a writer's slump lately.  Too busy to do anything more than some photos and a few comments on our adventures.  But today, yes just this morning, I have been inspired!  


Did you know there is a whole new philosophy in education regarding good old fashioned grammar and spelling?  I recently had a conversation with someone in the field of education who said,  "We are really rethinking the need for rote memorization in our world of laptops and spellcheck..."


Really?


I personally think my children should know how to spell and how to write legibly.  With a pencil!  I also think they should look up a word.  In a dictionary.  The kind with a cover and 1500+ pages inside.


So imagine my delight and pride this morning when my oldest reached for a dictionary.  I was packing lunches and listening to the morning chatter over breakfast.  


First, they looked up "crap" - a word that apparently flies around school with regularity.
They decided that it was pretty funny that there are so many words in the English language for poop.


Then we moved onto the word "sex".  Now here is a word I know they have heard, but don't understand the complexity of.  The first comment was hard to understand through the fit of giggles but I think I made out "I actually found it!"  


Then in a mature voice of wisdom I heard - 
"I already know what that means.  Duh!  It means marriage."


To my great relief we did not spend much time on the actual definition; it was too long to bother reading but my oldest did discover that  the word "sex" is so important it makes new words.  Words that fill a whole page of the dictionary.  Words that are just fun to say.  Out loud.  While giggling so much you choke on your toast.
Here are some of the favorites:  sex appeal, sex gland, sexism, sexless, sextant, sextuplet, sexual, sexuality, sexualize, sexy...

And my personal favorite "sexpot", which is one of the guide words right at the top of the page.  From the other room I hear a female voice say in a confused tone "What is a sexpot anyway?  That sounds weird!"


I didn't get too involved in their conversation because I might start giggling myself, but decided the fun should end when I began to imagine what other words we might look up!  


My children are such intellectuals.

OCTOBER

On 10-10 Ellie turned 10!

She had  all her girlfriends for an ice skating party.

The girls skated in their matching, blue and purple fleece, monogramed scarves.

Itsme came from Oklahoma for the party.

(Thanks for helping me sew all those scarves mom!)

Tim provided the party games.

Later, the pumpkin cheesecake she requested and tickets to see Annie 2 at a local dinner theater.  

October was full of fun festivities.

 A Girls In Grace Tea Party and Fashion Show

Ellie and her friend Abigal  were models.

And we spent a wild evening taking the kids and 2 friends to the corn maze...

 where we buried each other in corn,

 toured a 3-D funhouse,

and of course made our way out of the maze just before dark!

More exciting events for October 

 my pickiest eater became inspired by bright purple cauliflower,

we had a family outing to the new Ikea store in Denver,

(Ellie modeling a Christmas "hat")

and a pumpkin carving party for some friends who had never done it before.

And then of course,

HALLOWEEN!

This year we had Strawberry Shortcake with her aquarium pumpkin,

A Star Wars clone trooper with his white ghost pumpkin,

Felicity - An American Girl with her dolphin pumpkin,

(poor Ellie kept getting called Little Bo Peep)

and a Jedi knight with a gruesome faced pumpkin.

I put on a white wig and a black witch hat and Tim donned his Darth Vader costume.  

We were a motley crew walking the dark streets!