Deck the Hall

I knew this year was going to feel different from other years. Ethan has set up his own home and Libby is across the country. I know everyone will be home for Christmas, so I was looking forward to that as the four of us at home started pulling out the decorations. As we pulled out the many ornaments made by Heidi, my heart was aching. I realized my family would never be all together again. Heidi loved Christmas with fervor and would spend July forward working on Christmas cards and crafts. I was trying to put on a brave face but I just felt lonely and empty. My older kids were not home, my younger kids are growing up, and I have family members I will never spend another Christmas with. Holidays can be so hard.

As I was decorating with our many nostalgic ornaments, I came across some weird pipe cleaner creation. I turned it over, expecting to throw it in the trash, and then saw this stellar creation. 

I have no idea why Libby made this or when, but I got a jump scare. Then I started laughing. This may be my favorite ornament this year. I'm still sad and missing my family. But I also am so thankful for the people I still have in my life, and their uniqueness. 

After we got all the ornaments on the tree it was time for the tree crowning. Grace wanted to use the star this year, which was not a bad call. I've had the angel we usually put on the tree for 25 years. She was weird-looking to begin with, and the years have done her no favors. So this year we are opting for a star.

We cannot put a star on the tree without help in this house. Our six-foot tree is just such a towering monster...

One day Michael's back isn't going to survive, but this year it did. The tradition continues!

Thanksgiving in Delaware

Libby was not able to afford a flight home for Thanksgiving. That is the sad news.

Her dear high school friend Kylie could not afford to fly home either. Double sad news.

They are actually only four hours apart on the East Coast. Libby now has her car. That is the happy news.

The girls made travel arrangements. Kylie got a ride halfway and Libby fought traffic and toll roads to meet her. Once they found each other, they headed back to Lewes, where they spent the next week together. Not as good as coming home, but they still had a lot of fun. 

They dressed up and went to Chef Dom's (the chef for the Children's Beach House) home for Thanksgiving dinner. 

They made homemade maple bars and challah bread to contribute to the meal. Apparently, the East Coast doesn't believe in maple bars and Kylie was dying a slow death from maple bar deprivation. Chef Dom slowly ate a donut, pausing between bites. He examined the treat and declared them quite delicious. Libby was over the moon. The hosts also requested the leftover challah be left with them. The girls were bursting with pride.

The girls also went for lots of beach walks and found a live horseshoe crab. He was flailing on his back and Libby screwed up enough courage to flip him over. I'm sure he was grateful.

While the girls were together, they of course needed to get more holes put in their bodies. See how brave Libby was?

They even braved more traffic and headed into D.C. Libby had to gloat to me about the Monets she saw. What a jerk. 

I think they had a great time, but I know Libby is looking forward to coming home for Christmas. We are looking forward to having her home. Kylie is also coming back to Boise for Christmas and I'm hoping to see her cute face in person.

Thanksgiving

I don't have anything witty or clever to share about Thanksgiving. It was lovely. We ate too much, spent time with everyone, and had a great time. What more can a person ask for?

Unfortunately, we only got pictures of our Thursday Thanksgiving, but we also had Saturday Thanksgiving with Michael's family. It was all lovely.

Ethan did hit the apple cider pretty hard. 

The child in the middle is Eleanor. Her mom had to work Thanksgiving, so she joined us for our insanity. She was a good sport. She also found some kittens to pet. She couldn't have asked for more.

A rare photo of Grace. She has recently added knitting to her list of skills.

Photos of just a few people who bring me endless joy, and just a little bit of stress. I loved spending Thanksgiving with these people.

Adulting Update

Ethan has moved from his shared house into a shared townhouse. He lost a nice-sized backyard but his bedroom now has a window! That opens! His joy in having a window cannot be overstated.

When he moved into his townhouse, the only furniture was in his roommate's bedroom. The rest of the house was an empty echo chamber. So, Ethan asked around, stalked free pages, and managed to furnish his downstairs for $40, including two couches a TV, and a TV stand. 

He's affording his lavish lifestyle working full time as a bike mechanic for George's Cycles. He's planning on re-enrolling at BSU in the winter semester. 

Things are going well. He's fed, housed, and fairly stable. He's adulting quite well. He is still searching for a third roommate. Housing is crazy expensive.

Haunted in Delaware

Recent text conversation from Libby:

for the blog:

the jury is back on the hauntedness of my apartment - all clear, non-haunted and super cute.

however, the jury has concluded that the beach house is absolutely 100% certainly with[out] a doubt, haunted.

The lights in the lower corner are her apartment lights, in a portion of a larger house that contains dorms and a kitchen.

I concur that her apartment is in fact "super cute" and "not haunted".

When Libby refers to the beach house, this is the building she is speaking about. It is where all the activities happen, such as after-school programs, summer camps, special events and even weddings.

Libby: "pics don't do it justice - image this but you're 18, its pitch black, and you just want to fill up your water bottle"

This concludes the tour of Libby's current living situation. I am deeply jealous and plan on visiting as soon as possible. I may even see a ghost!

Life Expenses

On Wednesday I had a scheduled day off. I was planning on taking it easy and getting some things done around the house. Instead, I woke up to a house full of sick kids and a request to help Ethan move. So I spent the day helping Ethan move, buying popsicles and juice, and then collapsing on the couch that evening. Grace had a load of clothes in the dryer and Sam had clothes in the washer. Sam asked us if we could transfer his laundry before we went to bed. We agreed and Grace and Sam both headed off to bed. I collapsed onto the couch, exhausted after a crazy day.

Michael and I decided to watch a show while we waited for the laundry to finish. Fast forward to 10:30 and Michael and I are finally heading to bed. That's when we discovered the heating element on the dryer had stopped working. So I ended my day by turning the living room into a hodgepodge clothesline/rack, Michael ordered a replacement part, and we finally turned in, really tired, and with a little less patience and money.

Meanwhile, the cat has mostly led a non-problematic life. She hasn't required more than some basic cat food and a warm place to sleep. When Libby moved out we discovered something. Namely, the warm place Gertie likes to sleep is cuddled up to a person's face. This was not a problem for Libby, but Grace is rather allergic, which is the person Gertie now tries to sleep with. So we bought Gertie a bed, which she likes. But not as much as Grace's pillow and face. So we bought her allergen-reducing cat food, which costs a whole lot more than her previous cat food. She cannot sleep with Sam or Michael as they are both horribly allergic as well. So far, the expensive cat food and reasonably priced cat bed seem to be helping. 

So the cat problem is almost under control. The dryer heating element came the next day (extra expense of expedited shipping), and I crawled behind the dryer while Michael brought me tools and we got the dryer sorted. Ethan was also getting settled in his new apartment, and I felt like I could finally breathe again. 

But then Appa must have felt left out. She has had two surgeries on her ACL and she has been healing nicely. She loves to play with the kids and go for slow jogs. Everything was going well until suddenly it was not. Michael and I went on a date Saturday evening, and Appa was calmly hanging out with the kids while we were gone. By the time we got home, though, her leg had completely quit working. She was refusing to put any weight on it and was in visible pain. We are still waiting to get an appointment with the specialist (who is impossible to get ahold of) to find out what is happening. 

Moral of the story: kids and pets are expensive.

The Day of Truly Frightening Festivities

Pumpkins were carefully (kinda) carved.

The jack-o-lanterns were lit, after knife removal.

Grace and Sam donned their costumes:

The mighty Donkey Kong,

 

and the music star went door to door in search of candy.  Grace opted to wear a mask as she wasn't feeling well. 

She managed to score a ton of candy, though. Halloween was a grand success. 

What 45 Looks Like

We celebrated my birthday a couple days early this year, as everyone had friend plans on Halloween. So Michael, Grace, Sam, Ethan and I gathered on Sunday evening to celebrate and eat. Michael spent the afternoon in the kitchen and made fluffy biscuits, sausage gravy, and grasshopper brownies for dessert. We were awash in whole milk, cream, and butter. It was delicious!

After dinner Grace needed to run a "quick" errand before the party started. Her errand took forever, but she finally arrived home breathless and frazzled, as she had got repeatedly lost on the way to the store. I was startled that she had gotten lost on such a familiar path, but then she handed me my presents. She had biked into the nightmare that is downtown to get chocolates and flowers from Trader Joe's, as she wanted to get me something that she really thought I would love. Raising teens can sometimes feel like I'm raising sociopaths, but then they will blow me away with their thoughtfulness. Having four teenagers is never dull, sometimes exhausting, and absolutely wonderful. 

Grace explained, again, how she got so lost.

Libby wasn't able to make it, so she sent me a gift. A portion of the card,

"happy birthday. halfway to 90. I would like to apologize for the janky aspects of this gift, while also acknowledging that i am the best daughter ever. I have to figure out how to A. go to the post office and B. how to send a package..."

She successfully sent the package and I received a book and delicious jam. 

Michael got me a new knitting bag, and Ethan got me new headphones.

I am ready to nest for winter. Chocolate, books, jam, audiobooks and knitting. I might be 45 going on 80, but I like it. 

I used my supplies to make up these odds-and-ends socks, left over from all my other pairs of socks. They might be my favorite to date!

Here's to another year of family, food, fun, and knitting.

Autumnal Vibes

I don't want to make several blog posts, so I'm just smashing a week or two of October into one long stream of consciousness. Stream of consciousness is always super interesting,  right?!

October 14th started gray and cloudy, which was deeply disappointing. We were looking forward to an annular solar eclipse that morning. We were stocked with a supply of solar glasses and ready to view the phenomenon. As the time drew nearer, the clouds began to part, and we all gathered in the front yard for maximum viewing delight. The neighbors were curious to find us staring at the sun but joined us when we passed them glasses and explained what was happening. We had an impromptu neighborhood party, including my niece-in-law and her boys. We did not get a picture of the eclipse (eclipses are so hard to photograph) but I am sharing this photo of the sun's shadows reflecting on a piece of wood during the eclipse. Pretty cool, huh?

After the eclipse, we retired inside, where Finn showed appreciation for our new rug. It is awfully cozy. 

The front of my house was also ready for fall to begin. The lawn may be shaggy, but the pumpkins are amazing! 

Later that day my sister Becca and I headed out to Ontario. Michael's sister Amy invited us over for a night of Bunco and revelry. We didn't really know anyone there but ended up having a wonderful time. Becca won the bat, but only briefly. I also briefly had ownership of the bat before it was snatched away. Alas, the pitfalls of gambling. By the end of the night, we were well-fed and well friended, Becca won a few dollars and we were glad we had gone.

A week or so later, on the way home from Sam's voice lessons, we stopped at my Halloween work party. Sadly, it was really cold, Grace wasn't feeling well, and it was tailored toward young children. Sam did grab a few donuts and we got a great picture. Then we scurried home.

This fall has been lovely, but it always makes me sad as well. I don't like the days getting cold and dark and the world growing weary. I'm making a concentrated effort to celebrate the season instead of dreading the short days to come. Bring on the blankets, books, knitting and chocolate. 

All in One Weekend

Friday, Sam was able to attend an all-day voice clinic with Francisco J. Núñez, a renowned conductor. After working all day with other junior high boys, they performed that evening. They did amazingly well! Junior high is not an easy time for boys and singing, but it was wonderful. Michael and I were so proud, and Sam had a great time. 

Saturday we kept busy chasing these naughty great-nephews around. 

A little naughty and a little sweet. Love these boys.

In the evening Sam and I went to a friend's backyard party. This was the only picture I took the entire evening as I was enjoying good food and great friends. I snapped this picture to send Libby, as Milo is one of our favorite people. He's one of Libby's dear friends, so I had to let her know we were all hanging out. Without her. That will show her the next time she thinks about moving across the country.

While at the party, everyone kept asking after Michael. Alas, he had chosen not to accompany me. He was in prison for the night. 

With his friend Andrew. 

Michael even managed to land himself in solitary confinement (Siberia). Thankfully his phone was not confiscated; otherwise, he never would have managed all the selfies. 

After being released for good behavior, he was given a balanced dinner of bread, beans and beautiful fresh well water. 

He settled down for the night and prayed to be released in the morning. 

Why Michael and Andrew actually paid money for this experience boggles the mind, but they seemed to enjoy themselves. It certainly helps the first dinner they were presented was actually a joke and they were fed a catered meal. 

By the time Michael came home on Sunday, we were both exhausted. It was a great weekend, but we were quite happy to spend Sunday resting peacefully at home.