Thanksgiving is really the kick off to the holiday season. Each year Auntie, the second grade team, and I teach a thanksgiving unit. It is fantastic and so much fun! We learn all about what it was like to be on the Mayflower right down to the gruesome detail that they did not have toilets or running water on the Mayflower. I take great time to describe the horror of being forced to use a chamber pot.
Chamber Pot 2K14
So I came to the horrifying realization as I was scrubbing out the mini potty that essentially I am a Pilgrim. I have to empty a chamber pot. And I don't like it one bit. I wish I could talk to the Pilgrims and see what exactly they did to efficiently empty their chamber pots. They would have Anna's to get the contents our quickly. I suppose maybe it wasn't such a big deal if remnants were left in the chamber pots with how smelly everything was on the Mayflower. I've debated spraying the potty with Pam so that everything just slides out, but it seems as if there is something inherently wrong with spraying Pam somewhere so vile. I don't ever wish time away. But I will certainly not miss the chamber pot sitting in my bathroom. One might say that the fact that I'm emptying the tiny potty is a sign that it is in fact being utilized. Let's just say I'm cautiously optimistic that Baby Waider will be out of diapers before kindergarten.
Burns
Speaking of things that need to be simplified. Boiling potatoes before you mash them. It takes too long. I boil them whole because a blog told me to. But the issue is that they are so hot to peel if you don't have time to let them cool. As I was burning I was thinking about Thanksgivings past. Grandma made me a recipe book for XMAS one year and on the potatoes I made it said (made one year for thanksgiving). I started thinking about that and how I never ever brought anything to any meal. I just showed up and presumably wouldn't be able to cook on my own. That one year I made the potatoes I certainly would never have thought I'd have two littles at my table with me ever. Just as I was thinking about my littles Baby Waider said, "hey mom, I want to help." So I let you help. It was fun! Pretty much you mix hot potatoes up with butter, sour cream in a mixer. Baby waider, you love to pour ingredients in. It's your favorites. So we got the potatoes made. I decided to let you help with blackberry pie the next day.
This morning (Thanksgiving) I woke up early because I decided to make a giant cornucopia out of bread. It turned out so cool. I stupidly didn't get any good pictures of it, but I managed to take a few on my iPhone. While I was wrapping the aluminum cornucopia with pizza dough I got to thinking about Thanksgivings past. Who used to be at our table. What we used to eat. It's strange how it works, but the people change at our table. People we love are no longer at our table. Maybe they have died or maybe they have moved (THE ENTIRE JARVIS CLAN). What was so strange about my realization was that even though people leave the table the past six years have been proof that just as people leave the table people are also added to the table. In the past six years SEVEN kids have been added to our Thanksgiving table. That's pretty amazing and fortunate. We also add friends to our table. This year mom's co-worker and friend, Allison came to the feast. It was so much fun.
Again, just as I was on my trip down memory lane my timer went off and the cornucopia was finished. It looked awesome. About that time Little Brother also woke up. I quit thinking about Thanksgivings past and continued on with the morning drill. About mid-morning I started itching to make my blackberry pie. I love blackberry anything. Actually our whole family does. It's sort of a throw back to my days working at the Blue Bell Lodge. I mostly worked nights and sometimes when we first came into work in the afternoons it would be super slow. Francis, the cook, would usually be making pies. Sometimes from scratch and sometimes heating up frozen pies. I would love it when she would make them from scratch. I would help her and we would gossip about the other park employees. I had made pies with my mom and my grandma so I had a clue how to make them already. See, Baby Waider, your namesake, my grandma Eleanor was a pie making machine. Your grandma is not far from the same. I remember watching them synchronized sprinkling sugar, mixing apples with spices and sugar, pressing in the crust working in grandma's tiny kitchen.They worked so quickly. Grandma always had pie. It was delicious.
Now, I need to take a brief commercial break. I absolutely believe in a spirit world. Along with that I believe that spirits are often with us and contacting us. I recently went to Theresa Caputo. Google her and you'll get it. Anyway, as we were mixing berries with sugar and I was telling you to be careful and not smash the berries I really felt that my Grandma Eleanor was right there with us. It was pretty cool. Just as we were finishing up the pie and I put the top on the crust and I was cutting the vents Baby Waider asked if we could cut a heart for Grandma. I thought it was very sweet. I put the heart I cut out below it and Baby Waider asked why I put that heart there. I said it was because that was for my grandma.
We both enjoyed the pie at Thanksgiving. Fortunately, no one else ate the blackberry pie except dad so we got to share the pie the next day. I think Grandma Hafner would have been so proud of the pie. The crust was perfect (on the top).Just the right amount of sugar. The bottom crust was a little soggy, but with a little practice maybe someday we can be as good at making pies and your grandma and my grandma. Bottom line: Cooking together was super duper fun!
Constant Cleaning
Cleaning is something that never seems to end in this house. Tuesday I got home and quickly and completely cleaned the house. It looked amazing. By Thurssday it was a complete disaster. I try to somewhat clean up as we go. But it doesn't really seem to help. Recently Little Brother has started an obsession with toilet paper. He asks for it, sneaks in the bathroom to find it, and hides it. He will grab a roll and run with it. Squealing the entire way. Once in awhile we give up and just let Little Brother play with the toilet paper. The basics of this game consists of Little Brother pulling toilet paper apart one piece at a time and yelling BOOM! almost every time. Little Brother will give us pieces of toilet paper and laugh and smile. He loves toilet paper more than anything. I would give him rolls of toilet paper for Christmas if I didn't think that it promoted toilet paper waste. That and it is incredibly messy. As a bonus, I have found that cleaning up the toilet paper is an effective consequence for poor behavior for Baby Waider.
All He Wants to do is Dance
The secret is out. Little Brother likes to bust a move. Yesterday he found a car that played a song. He'd drive it around, play the music, and then dance. It was adorable. Of course. That seems to be the theme of little brother lately. He's just the perfect little brother. Little Brother's favorite jams are Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, and Tim McGraw. As a family we love to jam out and have dance parties. It is probably my favorite thing that we do.
Basketball and Playdates!
Historically, mom and dad always worked a half day on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was a drag. The kids were nuts, we were nuts, and everyone knows that you have a million things to do before turkey day. Thankfully, we were given the day off before Thanksgiving this year. It was awesome. Baby Waider was invited to Addie's house for a playdate. She had a blast and loved playing at someone else's house. Addie and her mom were awesome hostesses and it was just relaxing to visit and play!
That evening we had an invitation to watch the Hardrockers play basketball. Mom teaches the coach's daughter Gretchen. She's such a sweetheart and we have been giving each other a hard time because mom went to Black Hills State (big rivals of South Dakota School of Mines.) Anyway we decided to have a Hardrocker day and they gave our class a set of shirts along with you and Little Brother. You were obsessed with the shirt from the start. You loved the colors and the basketball on it. You wear it whenever you can. When you got the shirt we started talking about going to a game.You have not stopped talking about going to a game since. You were so excited. We went to the game and we all had a BLAST. I was so nervous because the game started at your bedtime. But it turned out that you both loved playing with Enna an Gretchen as well as dancing to the music during intermissions. You both LOVED the popcorn. Probably the highlight was running around on the gym floor after the game. It was a really fun beginning to our break and the Henry's were such gracious hosts!
Black Friday
Your mom has a history of Black Friday shopping. Before I met your dad I went with Auntie, Grandma, and Grandpa. It was always big fun. When I met your dad we also started going. It was fun. We got a big screen TV one year, which I love. We stayed in line overnight one time for Best Buy, which was awful. It was cold, I hate missing sleep, and people were weird. I'm not tough enough for the Black Friday crowd. Especially now that I have kids. This year we did go out. We hit up a couple of stores and then met Auntie at the Rushmore Mall. It was fun. Us girls did some shopping. People remarked how well you and Kitt did. Honestly, Auntie and I were not the least bit surprised. You two were absolutely born to shop.
FREEZING Parade of Lights
Each year Rapid City kicks off the holiday season right with the Parade of Lights. I have not consistently gone the past few years. I have either had an infant or sick kids. Prior to this year I think that Baby Waider has only made it to one Parade of Lights. Dad has made certain that you have quality winter gear so the fact that it was a million degrees below zero did not deter dad from going. In fact he was insistent upon all of us going. It was cold. Felt like -3 to be exact. It was awfully cold. We managed to make it, probably mostly due to Grandpa, Super Cousin Brook, Super Uncle Joe, and Super Cousin Lauryn. Little Brother did fine. He immediately went into the back of the suburban that Grandpa Halter and Brook parked downtown early. Lauryn snuggled with Benny in the back of the suburban with Auntie, Finn, and sometimes Vernon and Harry. Baby Waider heard that Grandpa and Grandma brought hot chocolate. Instantly your mittens came off and you had both a candy stick and a hot chocolate. Unfortunately, the windchill didn't care about hot chocolate and candy sticks. Your hands got cold and you decided to return to the suburban, which helped, but not enough. Soon you were crying. I was trying to help you, but was not able to. I took your candy stick and threw it and put my mittens on your incredibly sticky hands. That made my hands incredibly cold. And also made you throw an incredible fit. Thankfully, in swooped Super Uncle Joe. He took you to the front of the suburban, missed the end of the parade and gave you another candy stick. You were very fortunate. My hands nearly froze, but it was FUN. I am grateful dad forced me to go.
Now begins the countdown to Christmas Break.
Love,
Mama
Again, just as I was on my trip down memory lane my timer went off and the cornucopia was finished. It looked awesome. About that time Little Brother also woke up. I quit thinking about Thanksgivings past and continued on with the morning drill. About mid-morning I started itching to make my blackberry pie. I love blackberry anything. Actually our whole family does. It's sort of a throw back to my days working at the Blue Bell Lodge. I mostly worked nights and sometimes when we first came into work in the afternoons it would be super slow. Francis, the cook, would usually be making pies. Sometimes from scratch and sometimes heating up frozen pies. I would love it when she would make them from scratch. I would help her and we would gossip about the other park employees. I had made pies with my mom and my grandma so I had a clue how to make them already. See, Baby Waider, your namesake, my grandma Eleanor was a pie making machine. Your grandma is not far from the same. I remember watching them synchronized sprinkling sugar, mixing apples with spices and sugar, pressing in the crust working in grandma's tiny kitchen.They worked so quickly. Grandma always had pie. It was delicious.
Now, I need to take a brief commercial break. I absolutely believe in a spirit world. Along with that I believe that spirits are often with us and contacting us. I recently went to Theresa Caputo. Google her and you'll get it. Anyway, as we were mixing berries with sugar and I was telling you to be careful and not smash the berries I really felt that my Grandma Eleanor was right there with us. It was pretty cool. Just as we were finishing up the pie and I put the top on the crust and I was cutting the vents Baby Waider asked if we could cut a heart for Grandma. I thought it was very sweet. I put the heart I cut out below it and Baby Waider asked why I put that heart there. I said it was because that was for my grandma.
We both enjoyed the pie at Thanksgiving. Fortunately, no one else ate the blackberry pie except dad so we got to share the pie the next day. I think Grandma Hafner would have been so proud of the pie. The crust was perfect (on the top).Just the right amount of sugar. The bottom crust was a little soggy, but with a little practice maybe someday we can be as good at making pies and your grandma and my grandma. Bottom line: Cooking together was super duper fun!
Cleaning is something that never seems to end in this house. Tuesday I got home and quickly and completely cleaned the house. It looked amazing. By Thurssday it was a complete disaster. I try to somewhat clean up as we go. But it doesn't really seem to help. Recently Little Brother has started an obsession with toilet paper. He asks for it, sneaks in the bathroom to find it, and hides it. He will grab a roll and run with it. Squealing the entire way. Once in awhile we give up and just let Little Brother play with the toilet paper. The basics of this game consists of Little Brother pulling toilet paper apart one piece at a time and yelling BOOM! almost every time. Little Brother will give us pieces of toilet paper and laugh and smile. He loves toilet paper more than anything. I would give him rolls of toilet paper for Christmas if I didn't think that it promoted toilet paper waste. That and it is incredibly messy. As a bonus, I have found that cleaning up the toilet paper is an effective consequence for poor behavior for Baby Waider.
All He Wants to do is Dance
The secret is out. Little Brother likes to bust a move. Yesterday he found a car that played a song. He'd drive it around, play the music, and then dance. It was adorable. Of course. That seems to be the theme of little brother lately. He's just the perfect little brother. Little Brother's favorite jams are Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, and Tim McGraw. As a family we love to jam out and have dance parties. It is probably my favorite thing that we do.
Basketball and Playdates!
Historically, mom and dad always worked a half day on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was a drag. The kids were nuts, we were nuts, and everyone knows that you have a million things to do before turkey day. Thankfully, we were given the day off before Thanksgiving this year. It was awesome. Baby Waider was invited to Addie's house for a playdate. She had a blast and loved playing at someone else's house. Addie and her mom were awesome hostesses and it was just relaxing to visit and play!
That evening we had an invitation to watch the Hardrockers play basketball. Mom teaches the coach's daughter Gretchen. She's such a sweetheart and we have been giving each other a hard time because mom went to Black Hills State (big rivals of South Dakota School of Mines.) Anyway we decided to have a Hardrocker day and they gave our class a set of shirts along with you and Little Brother. You were obsessed with the shirt from the start. You loved the colors and the basketball on it. You wear it whenever you can. When you got the shirt we started talking about going to a game.You have not stopped talking about going to a game since. You were so excited. We went to the game and we all had a BLAST. I was so nervous because the game started at your bedtime. But it turned out that you both loved playing with Enna an Gretchen as well as dancing to the music during intermissions. You both LOVED the popcorn. Probably the highlight was running around on the gym floor after the game. It was a really fun beginning to our break and the Henry's were such gracious hosts!
Black Friday
 |
| Black Friday Steamer and Latte stop! |
Each year Rapid City kicks off the holiday season right with the Parade of Lights. I have not consistently gone the past few years. I have either had an infant or sick kids. Prior to this year I think that Baby Waider has only made it to one Parade of Lights. Dad has made certain that you have quality winter gear so the fact that it was a million degrees below zero did not deter dad from going. In fact he was insistent upon all of us going. It was cold. Felt like -3 to be exact. It was awfully cold. We managed to make it, probably mostly due to Grandpa, Super Cousin Brook, Super Uncle Joe, and Super Cousin Lauryn. Little Brother did fine. He immediately went into the back of the suburban that Grandpa Halter and Brook parked downtown early. Lauryn snuggled with Benny in the back of the suburban with Auntie, Finn, and sometimes Vernon and Harry. Baby Waider heard that Grandpa and Grandma brought hot chocolate. Instantly your mittens came off and you had both a candy stick and a hot chocolate. Unfortunately, the windchill didn't care about hot chocolate and candy sticks. Your hands got cold and you decided to return to the suburban, which helped, but not enough. Soon you were crying. I was trying to help you, but was not able to. I took your candy stick and threw it and put my mittens on your incredibly sticky hands. That made my hands incredibly cold. And also made you throw an incredible fit. Thankfully, in swooped Super Uncle Joe. He took you to the front of the suburban, missed the end of the parade and gave you another candy stick. You were very fortunate. My hands nearly froze, but it was FUN. I am grateful dad forced me to go.
Now begins the countdown to Christmas Break.
Love,
Mama
No comments:
Post a Comment