The Laundry

This weekend I spent many hours cleaning, laundering clothes, wrapping presents, cooking and sleeping.  N's parents arrive in T minus 2 days.  We are beyond excited. 

I had a helper with all the wrapping.  Zoe loves to wear some curled ribbon in her hair or as a scarf, then she will put the sticky bow on the package, walk it over to the tree, put in the pile and declare it "perfect." 

Apparently all that sticking and making things perfect is exhausting because I found her in bed.

Who needs a Laz-E-Boy when you have a laundry hamper, a Red Wings blanket and a Wubbzy pillow?

All the Skype

Over Thanksgiving N's parents insisted gently persuaded us to try Skype.  I'm not one to shy away from technology.  As Kip from Napoleon Dynamite said, "I love technology."  What I am against is trying to find a small webcam in the mountain of boxes that we call storage in our garage.

N remembered, after about the 1,500th eye roll of the do we or don't we look for the webcam debate, he had one built into his netbook.  Ah problem solved.

Until we had to figure out all the Skype-ing.  Do we talk on the phone?  Do we talk through the computer?  Does it have a microphone with the webcam?  Does the camera really add 10 pounds?  Are these ratty sweatpants appropriate for a Thanksgiving chat with your parents? 

Okay, so the last two were really my issues, but still, they rattled around in my brain while N set us up on all the Skype.

During the call N and I appeared to be new to the whole technology things as we made comments like "this is so cool."  "I shouldn't pick my nose while I'm talking to you because you can see me."  "What am I doing now?  Can you see me now?"  "Oh what are you watching on TV?"  You'd think they just invented sliced bread and the live picture show on thee tel-lee-vision box in our livin' room. 

In all reality we aren't new to the whole technology thing.  This whole webcam/talk through the computer is what we did for the first 5 months of our dating life, but without the fancy name of Skype.  He was in South Korea defending our freedom.  I was single, living in my own apartment, free to join a bowling league and go out dancing when the mood struck.  Oh yes I did join a bowling league.  It was fun.

What we didn't expect was all the other old-timers in our family to get hooked on all the Skype.  N's twin sister Bev called and set up a Skype call (which I unfortunately missed because I was doing so much chatting with a dear friend that we lost track of time for 4 hours.  Oh yes, us girls can talk!)

When the call happened with Bev, a certain little person in our home was all about the talking.  And the seeing.  And the waving.  And the funny face making.

She's already addicted to the Skype.  Watch out Aunt Bevie, Grammie and Grandpa, you may be getting video calls like the Jetsons. 

Make sure you have your face ready.

With Your Nose So Bright

It seems like the Thanksgiving weekend starts the crazy holiday season.  I'm one of those devoted people who head out before dawn on Black Friday to do some shopping.  It's actually a tradition for the girls in my family to do that.  To say we're die-hard is an understatement. 

This year was no exception.  Except that it's taking me longer to recover from Black Friday hours that it used to.  Thankfully N understands and let me nap a little that afternoon.  Which needs to become a tradition since we also put up the Christmas decorations on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

For some reason I seem to have more Christmas decorations than I know what to do with.  I'm having a hard time remembering when or where I got some things. 

This year, instead of throwing plastic ornaments into the tree, Zoe was more than happy to learn how to put them on the tree.  If they had a Disney princess, Tigger, Pooh or Piglet on it, she knew it was hers to put on the tree. 

While I was helping N get some things for him to hang the outside lights, Zoe also found something else she wanted to lay claim to.

It actually blinks.

Looks like our Rudolph is ready for the season.

A Little Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving is a time of utter chaos for us.  It's not a stressful chaos, it's a good chaos.  My sister has three sons and we have three daughters.  They are all fairly close in age, so you can imagine the fun that begins when we put them in the same house together. 

It's not uncommon to see a dog pile in the kichen.

Or a kid's table with 6 heads, all with some kind of food or beverage coming out of their mouth. 

We had about 20 people for Thanksgiving.  The kids wore themselves out, the pumpkin pies were devoured and the blessings of family enjoyed.

A Little Kitchen Bonding

Every year it's N's job to make the pumpkin pies.  I usually make a cheesecake because I don't like pie, but N takes care of everyone else with his perfect pies.

It's been a tradition since our first Thanksgiving and one I'm more than happy to keep going!  What's better than a man doing all the cooking?

Maybe having him share that moment with our daughter.

I think it's safe to say that there is a new tradition on the horizon.

Blessed and Thankful

Today is a day where I truly cherish the opportunity to be thankful.  I know I am thankful most days, but today provides an opportunity to tell people I'm thankful for them, show them and soak them in. 

Photo by Jaidean Baker

I'm thankful this man chooses to love me every day, that he chooses to love our girls every day and he does it all sacrificially.  I'm thankful he puts up with my crazy.

Photo by Jaidean Baker

I'm thankful for her.  She has taught me about what kind of example I want to be. 

Photo by Jaidean Baker

I'm thankful for her.  She has taught me to enjoy life and laugh at the silly things.

Photo by Jaidean Baker

I'm thankful for her.  She has taught me about a love so deep I sometimes think I might burst.  She brought me back to the feet of Jesus. 

I'm thankful to the Giver of all my blessings. 

I See Plenty of Parades in Our Future

It was a quite night on Sunday.  I wasn't feeling great and Zoe was getting over some fever thing, so we decided to lay low.  You can only lay low for so long with a 2-year old before they start to go a little stir crazy.  Because I wasn't feeling great, sewing and cooking were out. 

Fortunately N came to the rescue and asked Zoe if she wanted to play his trumpet.  I don't think I've ever seen her jump up fast than I have at that moment.

He brought out his trumpet and showed her how to hold it.  She was a little too excited/nervous to try.  He played a few notes and then she decided she could do better.

I was amazed.  She can actually play it.  She knew exactly what to do.  She may look like me, but she's all daddy's girl on the inside.  After a few tries of composing her own song, she asked N to get his trumpet too!  Apparently she feels this is her trumpet now.

Of course N, who is a great trumpet player, has two.  Although one is called something else, but don't ask me what.  I played flute from 4th through 7th grade and don't think I could tell you how to read music nor how to play the flute.  I blocked most of that out after having to march in a parade, fake play a song and wear a green and white polyester band uniform.  It was not a highlight of my junior high life.

They played their duet for the rest of the night.  When it was time for jammies, Zoe kept sticking her tongue out to feel her lips.  I'm sure they were numb and tingly. 

N wore a perma-grin.  I'm sure he was dreaming of their future duets.