"This was a great Christmas!"

. . . Rollo repeated frequently.  A few scenes . . .

Scoot helping decorate outside.

We could see the full moon through the clouds Monday night

as we strung lights and supported ladders,

but the clouds thickened and started to rain before the Earth's shadow was noticeable.

Suffice it to say that the moon is often eclipsed around here.

Christmas Eve, after going carolling in the rain.

By the way, these guys decided on a new name for December 23rd:

"Christmas Adam"

Since Adam came before Eve, you know.

Why didn't I think of that?

Some of these boys were more awake than the others.

A new squad of army men monitored the proceedings.

Rockin' Rollo with his surprising robe and long-awaited guitar.

This season I've been feeling more literary than crafty, but I did enjoy sewing Rollo's robe.  I also crocheted this green Santa hat for Scoot, and followed my old standby pattern to make slippers for Rollo and the Caterpillar. 

I hope you had a merry day as well!

The First Gift of Christmas

No, it is not the first gift that I have planned or ordered or purchased this year.  But it is the first that I finished making and actually wrapped.  D2 carefully placed it where the tree will be.  I'm not sure that is the best place for it.  Certain of his brothers don't handle anticipation very well. 

D2 loves wrapping and giving presents.  Yesterday he found a little bag to use.  First he presented it to me with one of Scoot's slippers inside.  Just what I always wanted!  He took it back, of course, then offered me the bag again.  I felt it from the outside, and found his little fist. 

"Oh, what a wonderful present," I said.  "Do I get to keep just the hand, or the whole boy?"

"The whole thing!"  Our smiles were bright as I tried out a little hugging and tickling on my present.

Vous savez bien que l'amour, c'est avant tout le don de soi!

You know very well that love is, above all, the gift of oneself!

--Jean Anouilh

A Week of Saturdays

That's what it felt like after the snow.  The boys were previously scheduled to come home early that Monday, which was convenient considering the weather.  Dandelionslayer left work early, and arrived home late.  By then the wind had picked up and started blowing down trees and knocking out power.  Ours was restored by the time we sat down to our candlelit sandwich supper.  Others were not so fortunate.

On Tuesday, school was cancelled due to treacherous roads.  Dandelionslayer's place of work was also closed.  So that afternoon the boys played with friends, and we cautiously drove to a grocery store.  Nearly there, and feeling successful, we slid into a ditch.  Friendly people stopped to help us out.  We returned the favor to others on the way home.  It was nice to be of service.

The snow was beginning to melt, and the main roads were fairly clear by Wednesday, but some of the schools were still without electricity.  Dandelionslayer doubted that his afternoon meeting would be well attended, so he stayed home, too.  Sticking with the pattern, we spent Thanksgiving day relaxing, particularly grateful for light, heat, and hot water.

On Friday we set out for an adventure.  Rain had dispersed the snow at home, so some friends drove us to the other side of the Hood Canal and up to where it was still snowy.  We took a hike along the Dosewallips River, scouting out the area for a future camping trip.

A light rain fell as we sloshed through the snow, listening to the beautiful blue-green river rush by.  Mostly we walked along a road, but we did have to climb up and around a part where the road washed away a few years ago.  I guess the river took over that spot. 

Here's a partly frozen waterfall.  We didn't actually hike very far, but it felt like it with little boys setting the pace in their inadequate shoes.  It was interesting to see the mossy evergreen forest covered in snow, a lovely landscape of green, brown, white, and mist.  And we were glad to go home and warm up again.

Saturday was a real Saturday, of course.  Sunday was rather a relief.  It was wonderful to have everyone safe at home, playing games and watching movies during our week of Saturdays.  But it was also good to get back on track with the Sunday routine before sending them back to the crazy world again.

Let It Snow!

It probably won't amount to much, but we've had more snow today than we did all last winter. 

Isn't it lovely?

D2 has a good crop coming in.

Watch out for brain freeze, Caterpillar!

Decade

     We have had our energetic Scoot with us for ten whole years, and he hasn't slowed down yet!  The sun came out yesterday, appropriately for a boy who was born in the desert, and he had a pretty good birthday.  Here he is with his Spectacular Orange Cake.  He enhanced its plain appearance by diagramming a soccer field in the icing, and arranging the candles into a team.  He couldn't wait for the candles to sparkle, so excited was he to blow them out and eat.  And it was awfully tasty.

     Scoot is a warm-hearted boy, and he likes to keep his body warm, too.  These gifts from Grandma and Grandpa G should help!

     And, in case you were wondering, that is an orca hat he is wearing.  I made it out of fleece in a fit of creativity, and he likes it more than I hoped he would.  So it was a busy day for me, but very gratifying.

You've grown so much, Scoot!

Have a great year!

Dictionary Moment: Epizeuxis

Epizeuxis is a rhetorical technique in which a word is repeated emphatically or vehemently.  I ran across this term in the SOED several months ago, but didn't quite know what to do with it.  It has come back to me, though, in this election season.  After all, who uses rhetoric more than politicians?  I haven't been to any rallies where this might occur, but the multitude of campaign signs on the roadside strikes me as visual epizeuxis.  Please, get out there and vote for someone who will clean up the government, so someone else can clean up the signs.

In our domestic setting, epizeuxis often involves words like "no" and "get up" and "let's go."  What words do you repeat emphatically?  Are you persuasive?

Must be Halloween

. . . though it feels like the day after.  Another flurry of Halloween events has gone by, and, as usual, our pumpkins remain uncarved.  Isn't this a nice selection, though?  The small yellow specimens are Melonettes Jaspee Vendee, the complete harvest of half a dozen vines.  Have I mentioned that we had a chilly summer?  The others were grown by more expert hands.

While we were too busy with homework and concerts and soccer games to do any carving, the costumes were easy enough.  The boys assembled their own, with items on hand.  I appreciated that, except when some vital pieces were not as close to hand as they should have been.  But we arrived safely (if not punctually) at the Trunk or Treat with Scoot the Gangster, D2 as Sheriff Woody, and Rollo as a cowboy friend of Woody's with the Star Wars-ish name of R2B.  Don't ask me why.

The Caterpillar skipped the Trunk or Treat for a friend's Halloween party, after finishing most of his homework.  I believe he went as a convincingly stinky soccer player.  He wore a lab coat for the Halloween piano recital at the memory care facility (I hope he didn't prompt any unpleasant memories).  But this is how he dressed for another party, last week.  He and Scoot were assistants for the alarmingly mad, lab-coated scientist, Dandelionslayer.  I think the Caterpillar would distract the unsuspecting children while subtle Scoot would

. . . no, I should not reveal a mad scientist's secrets.

Happy Halloween!