Peyton

Everyone has heard that it's a good thing kids are born to the young, because they have the energy to keep up with them. There's a cliche in there somewhere, but I can't recall it. See, that's what I'm talking about! We took care of our younger granddaughter a few days this week, and even had her for the night. It seemed every little task or activity was harder than it used to be when we were young and raising her mother.
Check out her beautiful, blue, wild eyes and the dressed-up, also wild-eyed Dakota, the family dog. The night before, Peyton climbed into bed around 8:00, and the next morning was up at 5:45! Every  activity pictured was finished before 8:30 a.m.

Dressing up Dakota

Her own mixture for baked ornaments:
salt, flour, oatmeal, rice krispies, tea.

Breakfast of French toast

She painted and decorated this paper
plate Christmas tree.

Math in the Weekly Reader

I read three library books to her.

She built a fort out of the couch

 .

She read books to herself.

We also watched Tom and Jerry Christmas. Needless to say, Peyton is a human dynamo, and Grandmother is working hard to keep up!  I love it

Turkey Trots

Another Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, and with it came many thoughts of years gone by.
 So many of those memories seemed to focus on The Turkey.  One of my earliest memories of doing the actual cooking of the bird is such a cliche; I left the little baggies of slimy turkey body parts inside the cavities. There was actually no harm done, just a little blow to my self esteem when I pulled the steaming mess out, providing a good laugh to my waiting diners.

Then there was the fatal hour early one Thanksgiving morning when after carefully preparing the turkey by removing the baggies (whew) and stuffing "Tom" with fragrant and hot dressing,  I realized the oven had not come on. I frustrated myself for awhile trying to trick it in to firing up, but ended up brainstorming with my daughter about what to do. We finally came up with a plan to call a friend. The call went something like this; "Hi Marie... Are you cooking a turkey today?... No? May we cook ours in your oven?" She promised to leave the front door unlocked, and we drove two miles, lugged the roasting pan up the walk, and found a locked door. Thankfully the back slider was open and we got the turkey going, saving that Thanksgiving day. Thanks dear friend!

While those memories bring a smile, the last one I'll write about still makes me cringe in disbelief even though I think I've forgiven myself for the debacle. We were joyfully planning a weekend in a Big Bear condo with Don's brother, my beloved sister-in-law, and their kids.  Our own three children were thrilled to get to spend two days with their cousins, and did their own packing.
My only dinner related task was to bring the turkey, while Valerie, a great cook, was preparing all the sides. I will blame my lapse of thinking on the fact that as a teacher, I had to work 'til 3:30 on Wednesday, leaving little time for planning. Long story short, I took a frozen twenty pound turkey up to Big Bear on Thanksgiving morning. It took hours, and hours to defrost, as everyone waited with empty stomachs and hopeful peeks into the kitchen. Finally, at least eight hours later than anyone expected, we got dinner on the table.
They always say turkey helps a person to sleep better, and that night it was true as we went from the dinner table to bed.

Just the shortest blog ever to say "Happy Thanksgiving!"