A Historical Thanksgiving

While I regret not having more Thanksgiving pictures, I proudly blame it on "living in the moment!" A group of family and friends met to play football and Jon & Courtney's in the morning and it was SO FUN. (It was so fun that my entire body was unable to forget it for days. But of course I'd do it again.)

Then we all headed to Mom and Dad's--our family, Jon & Courtney's, Shelley, Stacey & Brad, Brad's brother Derek, and the wonderful addition of my in-laws. I really love when our kids can gather with both sets of grandparents. It was so generous of them to drive up from VA Beach.

Being together is just GOOD. I've always been a sucker for family gatherings, and while my love lapsed when the girls were small and all of life felt so much more exhausting, I've come full circle again. We played games and visited, and I only regret not having a group of us storm the kitchen and insist on helping Mom clean up. Mom and I are taking notes for next time. Thank you, Mom, for all the work you did hosting so well!

On Friday we did something I've never done before--my in-laws, parents, and I took a customized historical tour of Baltimore via Zippy of Zippy Tours. She is 79 and I dare you to keep up with her. (Zippy is short for Zappora.) She knows her stuff, too. She took our varied interests (Civil War, old Baltimore neighborhoods & architecture, Wallis Warfield Simpson, and Betsy Patterson Bonaparte--choose only a few interests unless you want to spend an entire day with Zippy, which would probably leave the most fit marathon runner lolling on the floor with his eyes glazed over) and wove them into 2 1/2 hours of fascinating lecture through the streets of our city and in some of its most interesting (and not on the typical tour route!) places. I would definitely do it again!

Thankfulness.

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Col.2:6-7)

Overflowing with thankfulness. Thanksgiving weekend was a good start to that.

Celebrating Casey

Our nephew, Casey, is three weeks younger than Evelyn. (I've always loved that Alan and his twin sister, Becky, had their

first

kids only
three weeks apart! The twin thing is pretty cool.)

Becky had the party at one of those bounce-places--and it was glow in the dark! All the kids wore glow-necklaces and the place was lit only with black light. It was hilarious--and great for social anxiety, I might add. I think the next time I'm asked to host a mixer, I'll do it by black light!

Afterward we had cupcakes and sang a version of the happy birthday song I've never heard before--I'll have to have Casey dictate it to me so I can write it down. His whole group of friends knew it--had one of those "I'm a grown-up and totally out of the loop" moments!

We followed him home and hung out a little--well, Casey's neighbor got a lot of that "hanging out." Abby is about Evelyn's age and the girls have mixed well every time they've been together, and have always graciously let our girls come over and play. And between the neighbors' gracious play-date and the party in the dark, I have regrettably few pictures of the birthday boy himself!

Happy birthday, Casey! It's so fun watching you grow up!

Celebrating Esther

It's been a fabulous string of parties around here! On Nov. 4th we kicked off Esther's Nov. 5th b-day at our house with a game night. She gathered an array of current and former roommates (and a few of their friends) for Apples to Apples and a crazy round of The Name Game, which is her absolute favorite--and one of mine, too!

I totally stole the apple-slices-and-mini-marshmallow snack off the blog of my friend Holly (she & I were on a mission trip together as teenagers...we haven't seen each other since, but cyberspace has reunited us!)

Evelyn's "sassy attitude" pose makes me shudder.

And one of the evening's highlights was when all of us were standing in the kitchen scrolling through each of our various "random texts from Esther." You just can't make this stuff up.

Happy birthday, Esther! You've been one of my "big kids" for over 12 years now! You know how to add a lot of fun to life!

Celebrating Lisa

When Lisa turned 40 last year, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday (I love having a list!) and she told me she wanted to meet Tracey from ShineFM's morning team.

Well, the three of us enjoyed dinner on the Avenue in White Marsh last year, and Lisa and Tracey have continued their friendship. We met again last week, belatedly celebrating Lisa's 41st b-day, dining at Red Brick Station and desserting at Starbucks. WAY fun.

Tracey gave Lisa that adorable hat (among other pretty things!), and Lisa gave Tracey a hand massage--her adapted way of "washing feet." It was a really touching evening, and I felt blessed to be a part of it! The video is Tracey getting the thrill of driving Lisa's electric wheelchair. She did it with astounding deftness--the first time I tried that ultra-sensitive joystick, I nearly took myself out at the shins!) Happy belated birthday, dear Lisa. And thank you, Tracey, for being exactly like you sound.

The Zoo is Different...

...when you're not there with your own kids! Our Scottish cousin, Alice, was visiting with her daughter Ruth and granddaughter Alice Emma (who live in the Shetland Islands! Ruth is a renowned artist. Check her out here.) I met a crew of cousins at the zoo while my own kids were in school, and I just loved taking Eva and Alice Emma to brush the goats with cousin Kate's Aunt Debbie (familial confusion, anyone?)

It wasn't that long ago that I had my own two and three year olds brushing goats at the zoo. How nice to shepherd my cousins' girls on this little visit.

And I had to post the video of Eva. While the picture of her on the saddle looks pensive, she's actually very enthusiastic. I love when she says "gee-ee-yup." And I must say, those two with their heads of blond curls were magazine-worthy (although it would probably be challenging to dictate to them during a photo shoot!)

Out of Uniform

A few weeks ago Evelyn's class won the boxtop-collection contest at school and earned an out-of-dress-code day. What did she choose to wear? A Christmas dress, complete with sparkly shoes. When I asked her sensitively if she thought anyone might tease her for wearing a Christmas dress in October, she replied confidently, "No!" Then, holding up her sleeve, she continued, "I'll just let them feel my fur!"

Then I took pictures of both girls heading out the door to school. These are days to cherish and remember!

The Trick-or-Treating Princesses

Evelyn's home-made costume was almost a bust. The hat would not stay on the right place on her head, and it took a while to figure out how to keep the sides of her dress (made from an old sheet) from flapping open (especially since I had no safety pins.)

It didn't help that we made the whole outfit just minutes before heading out the door. (Thank you, Mom, for your help!!)

Eventually, I ended up wearing the hat, and all was well. Amelia repeated last year's eat-the-poison-apple-and-die-on-the-porch performances at as many houses as would watch, and Mom and I were basically trotting after them as they ran from lit house to lit house.

I enjoy Halloween. It's fun walking around the neighborhood in the chill of fall, seeing neighbors and doing something so odd (when you stop to think about it.) I enjoyed it as a kid, and it's been fun to do it all over again with our children, often with Mom along, too!