Emotions

Coming home from Indiana with our window wells. The kids ran around on the trailer at rest stops.
Trying on new Christmas pajamas and playing with Owen's new camera.
Saying goodbye to our Ohio guests.
Intense grief.
Rediscovering pinwheels from the summer.

Jack and the Great Grandparents

On our trip to Indiana over Thanksgiving, Jack got to meet his northern great grands.
Here he is on Thanksgiving Day with Great Grandma B, my paternal grandmother. We had a small feast at my Uncle Sheldon's house that day, and the sun was as gorgeous as my grandma. She has always been busy making things, from noodles to sock monkeys. She has a very generous heart, and loves to give creative gifts. One Christmas, each of us grandchildren got a box of our favorite cereal suited up in a towel "jacket" and washcloth "tie." Mine was Peanut Butter Crunch in a peach towel!

Great Grandma G took her turn holding the baby too. She is another fine lady, one whom I am finding I am a lot alike. She learned to sew by watching. Her mother didn't let her sew, but gave her housework instead. One day, her mother went to town, and grandma took the opportunity to sew herself a dress. After that, her mother let her do the sewing, and she never stopped. She is still sewing for other people, and one of her most recent projects was making two comforters out of memorabilia t-shirts.
Jack sure loved his great grandparents! My Grandpa G always gives lots of hugs. He sure knows how to relax and have a good time, too! I remember Grandpa G's had the best bikes at their house, one of which I could ride with no hands. I even have the scars to prove it.
And here's Jack with Grandma B again. She presented him with an Amish outfit that Grandpa B wore as a baby. We had quite a time figuring out how to fasten the barn-door pants! This is a treasured picture. Jack Herman was named after his grandpa Herman, whom we won't see again until we get to heaven. Alas, the outfit's suspenders went missing!

Some Christmas Crafting

Here are a few of the things I made this Christmas:
Helen's Christmas dress, made from a hand-me-down pattern from Kim Rudd and some pass-along fabric from Lisa. I intentionally made it big, so she could wear it next year too, provided she follow my plan of growth for her. Ha ha.

Superteeth now has a pajama shirt. I did this with freezer paper stencils. It was nearly the most fun project ever, like I caught myself wanting to jump up and down in the kitchen as I peeled the stencil off the shirt.



And Christmas cheesecake. This little stinker grabbed my fork off the table! He hasn't even mastered baby cereal yet, and here he goes for caramelized sugar, Ghiradelli chocolate and cream cheese. From the accidental tastes I've had of baby cereal, I can't say that I blame him.

Merry Christmas from us to you, albeit a late greeting!

And Jack just turned six months old. He has four teeth and a great sense of humor.

Another Helping of Insanity, with a Little Crazy on the Side

Two days before Christmas, Jason had carpal tunnel surgery on his right wrist. We made it through Christmas with his one-handedness, even hosting out-of-town guests and holding a Christmas morning brunch for the extended family. We had a LOT of help from Uncle Phil, Aunt Twila, Jonathan and Andrew!

As our company pulled out of the drive, I wiped Owen's tears, then said to Jason, "I'm ready for you to get over this surgery, already."

"I can tell you are," he replied.

"Oh really? I didn't know I was so transparent."

"The first day, you were so nice. You kept bringing me drinks and ice and asking if there was anything else I needed....and then it stopped."

Well.....ahem.

Yesterday afternoon, a poopy diaper on Jack interrupted my busyness. I dropped the overflowing, slimy, yellow mess into the trashcan because I didn't have time to origami-fold it into the smallest, tightest wad I could. I ran back to the kitchen to work on my time-sensitive soft pretzel dough for another get-together. As I was throwing the Kosher salt on my pretzels, Jason appeared with Jack. He had been investigating the foul smell, and when he found it, asked me why in the world I left such a smelly diaper and didn't finish the take-out.

I didn't handle the question very well. I shoved my irritation for about five minutes while he dumped the diaper in the garage bin, then unloaded as politely as I could. I might have mentioned some things about the kid wrangling, the cooking and the house cleaning I had been doing, without much of his help.

After we got to our destination, and had mingled a bit, he came back with a sheepish smirk. "Well, I guess I got paid back for my comment," he announced. It turns out he noticed something on his shoe, and when he couldn't tell what it was, he wiped his finger in it and smelled it--Jack poo!

Cheesecake ahead

Confession: I've never made a cheesecake before--GASP!!

Two reasons: 1) Jason is just not that into cheesecake, but I am, and I didn't want a graham-cracker-crumb-covered, 3-blocks-of-cream-cheese pie in my fridge and me with a fork in my hand. 2) It intimidated me because too much was at stake; expensive ingredients, the better part of a morning, my *cough-cough* cooking reputation--all could go up in smoke, and I could end up with a dry, tasteless, cracked-top cheesecake that nobody but the compost pile would want to eat.

Saturday I faced my fears and tried this.

I made it for Jason's family Christmas, and nobody has died yet.

3-4-5

Once Upon a Time...

...I was cool.

I wore this coat for several years. Please accept my apologies, World.

What's really scary is that Mom saved it. I cut out the pocket zippers and threw the remains in the trash bin. (The zipper salvage may scare some of you readers, but you never know when you'll need a good zipper.)