A Charlie Brown...oh, Swaney...Christmas Tree

On Saturday after Thanksgiving, Ed and I invited Charlie over to help decorate our Christmas tree.   Charlie was in charge of hanging the candy canes, of course.

No need to even take off your jacket...just get started with the candy canes!

And don't waste time hanging them all over the place.  Easier to get to this way.

 Also in charge of eating the marshmallow chocolate Santa.

And in charge of unpacking one of the Nativity sets.

This is Charlie's version of the Christmas story.  The Holy Family needed a tree, you notice.  
And Santa had to fly by on his way around the world.  

And when the whole set was out, Charlie asked, "Where's God?"  
So we had a chat about Baby Jesus being God.  That didn't quite work, 
so Charlie hunted until he found "God and His Ladies", shown above.  
I think it's the beard that convinced him.   :)
By the way, the Lady on the left, holding the "flallers" is getting married, according to Charlie.

He was a great help, bringing ornaments to me to hang on the tree, and hanging a lot of them himself.

The only breakage of the day was done by Grandpa!!  Poor Joseph, from the Nativity set, had his hand amputated in a severe fall, and Joe's donkey got its tail cropped.  But, thanks to Gorilla Glue, or as Charlie calls it, Monkey Glue, Joe and his ride are almost as good as new.  The donkey is also missing an ear, but that was eaten several years ago by Theo (RIP, Theo.  We miss you, you big Christmas ornament eater, you.)

After the big decorating session, we went to Kate's in North Everett for a burger and fries.  We were sitting there waiting for our meal, just chatting with Charlie and asking him questions.  Finally he said, "OK, that's enough talking."

Well!

We had a good laugh at that.

It was a truly Charlie Swaney Day.

The Hummingbird's Thanksgiving

The day before Thanksgiving, in the snow, I saw this little guy on one of my hummingbird feeders.  He sat here for ages, just drinking the sugar water, which must not have been frozen solid.  We have seen hummingbirds almost daily this winter.  Funny cute little guys.

Hummingbird, having Thanksgiving dinner.

And today I saw two pileated woodpeckers in my neighbor's yard.  These guys are amazing looking.  Sometimes I see them on my walk, on dead trees in Forest Park, near our house.  Big and very distinctive.

Pileated Woodpecker, courtesy of National Geographic, just like the ones I see.  Thanks, NG!

Lately, one of Charlie's favorite books here is Have You Seen Birds?, a cute book about all kinds of birds, told in a poem.  (And illustrated with Sculpey clay sculptures -- quite unique.)

So, yes, We Have Seen Birds.
(We LOVE birdwatching - or rather, Birding - hence the name of this blog...)

Today's Book Recommendation:  The Grail Bird, by Tim Gallagher.   Very interesting book about the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (looks like the Pileated, but much bigger and different color patterns, and is supposedly extinct, but maybe not really....who knows?)

Happy Turkey...umm, Ribs...Day

I love Thanksgiving weekend.  It's always been one of those cozy family times that are so special.  And this year we had snow, too!  (First Thanksgiving with snow since 1985...and Dad and Mom and Jenny and Jay probably remember that one.  Spent at our house, the coldest house we have ever lived in or hope to never live in again.  That was when Jenny was pregnant with Courtney.  Time flies!)

This Thanksgiving we did something totally new.  Back in October, Erin had this great idea.  So, we had baby back ribs and a bunch of "sides" for our Thanksgiving dinner.

I kept wondering why I was so far ahead on my prep, then I remembered that I...

1.  Wasn't making stuffing.
2.  Wasn't roasting a big bird.
3.  Wasn't making homemade rolls.

Instead, Erin and I made ribs, mashed potatoes, sweet potato bisquits (I highly recommend these!), and a bunch of delicious side veggies.  Erin made these caramelized onions which were just amazing.  I could have had only those and maybe a rib or two.

Ed kept saying he thought this was the best Thanksgiving meal we have ever had.  I would have to agree.  Of course, I did make the mandatory pumpkin and pecan pies.

You could say we pardoned the turkey this year, and pigged out, instead.  Extra bonus:  No triptophan (sp??) effect.

This was Graces' first Thanksgiving, too.  She and Charlie were napping, so the adults had a nice little grown-up meal.  Having them here made me remember the concept of the "kid's table", which was always a wobbly card table, if I remember correctly.  Charlie and Grace got to sit at the big table, though, once they woke up.

Pumpkin Pie with Cinnamon Gelato. Yum.

Grace had her first Thanksgiving meal right where she belongs, on Grandma's lap.

Grace enjoys her version of baby back ribs.

My brother is so...funny.

Grandpa needs a hat like this.

And this was our pumpkin, later that evening.
Aaron asked me if I had put glitter on a pumpkin, and I had no idea what he was talking about.
So we went to check, and this is how the real pumpkin with real frost on it looked, on our front porch.  Pretty neat.  

Love to you all, and we are Thankful for all of you.

A Day of Grace

I have always loved sayings with the word "grace" in them...

A Day of Grace
Graceful
Amazing Grace
Pretty Amazing Grace (thanks, Neil Diamond)
We're Giving You a Grace Period
Say Grace

So, yesterday was a Day of Grace for me.  Grace arrived at 6:15 AM so her parents could drive down to Portland to meet with a restaurant client.  Since they make the trip there and back in one day, I had Grace All Day...from 6:15 AM to 9:15 PM.

And, it was a Pretty Amazing Grace Day.

We played, took pictures, ate, took more pictures, rocked in the rocking chair, slept, worked on crawling (SOOOO close, Grace!), ate some more, sang some songs, danced to Oak Ridge Boys Christmas CD (Grace's intro into a MAJOR Christmas tradition in our family - it's just not Christmas season without the Oak Ridge Boys!), walked in the walker (not me, yet!), played again, slept again...you get the picture.

And speaking of pictures, here you go...

Grace is NOT sure that spending a whole day with MamaRaye is such a good idea...

Man, I SOOO want those toys...if only I could figure out the whole arm thing.

Did it...my way.

Pretty Amazing Grace (Is that hair getting a tinge of red?  Just like Big Brother.)

Recycle Joy

I keep thinking about this saying...

Joy in life is a woman's best cosmetic.  

I'm not sure who said it {I know I have it in my scrapbook stuff somewhere}, but it is so true.

For the past few years, I have had terrible allergies in my eyes to any sort of face cream or makeup.  The only products I can use are emu oil [yes, from emus in Kalispell, Montana!] and my eye medications.

So, my only cosmetic has to be joy.  Which is free, organic, and recyclable.

Because another one of my favorite sayings is this...

The joy you give to others is the joy that comes back to you.

Recycle Joy.

Dogs Don't Do Daylight Savings Time

Normally I like the whole Fall Back thing.  It's a chance to catch up from the seven or so months of trying to make up the missed hour from Spring Ahead.

However, I usually forget to take Sophie into account.

What time IS it, anyway??

Sophie doesn't do Daylight Savings Time, or Pacific Daylight Time, or Pacific Standard Time, or Quiet Time, or Any Time except Empty Stomach Time/ Eating Time, Sleeping By The Front Window Time and Playing Outside With Ed and/or Raye Time.  SomeTimes she might do Charlie Time or Aaron/Erin Time, and SomeTimes Gracie Time, and at least daily she does Chase the Squirrel Who Is Running Madly Down the Fenceline Time, but mostly she does Staring At Ed and/or Raye Because What Is It With This Extra Hour I Have To Wait For Food? Time.

We have tried most tricks (unsuccessfully):  feeding her part of her food on Daylight Savings Time, and part on Her Stomach Time; waiting for the Real Time to get here (worst plan!); Ignoring Her (like ignoring the elephant in the room); telling her that her staring isn't going to work; giving in to her staring...you get the picture.

So, since we are not cruel Dog Owners...oh, sorry, I mean, we are not cruel Doggie Companions...I am going right now, on Some Sort of Time, to feed Sophie the Pacific Daylight Time portion of her breakfast.

I'll be back at Pacific Standard Time to do a repeat.

The Bad Timing of the Bad Timing Belt

Well...all I can say is that I need to echo Alison's text message from yesterday: "What a wonderful week!", by which she means "not so wonderful."

Have you ever had to replace a timing belt on an Audi or VW?  Let's just say that it's almost as expensive as...a REALLY nice trip to Mexico with first class air tickets...or a REALLY nice treadmill so you don't have to walk in the pouring rain during the winter.

Not that we have either of those things, or will have anytime soon, because...hey...we have (or will have) a brand new timing belt.

If I even knew what a timing belt was, it might make the whole thing more palatable.  Is it a belt I could wear with a cute vintage outfit?  No, that would be the OLD timing belt.  Is it made of braided leather? Would it go with my cowboy hat and my Ariat Fat Baby boots?

When the Audi gets fixed, I will post a picture of it here.  I think we might be repainting it, too, with 24 karat gold paint.

Those of you who had your hearts set on Christmas presents from us will just have to go for a ride in the Audi.

But really, we are so grateful we can even afford to get the thing fixed.  It is still less expensive than replacing a car.

My verse for this post:  "There is a TIME for every purpose under heaven:...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance...a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend...He has made everything beautiful in its time."  Ecclesiastes 3:4,6,7,11

Now the Audi will be beautiful inside and out.  All in good time.

I Love Them All!

Let's go trick or treating, guys!  

Last night was the night Charlie has been looking forward to for at least two weeks.


After a delicious dinner,

What's the deal with having to eat before getting candy??

the grandpas and the dad took the boy trick or treating.

Ed took this one.
The guys had Charlie go up to this house by himself.
I love this picture!

Erin Cat, with her neighbor Jess behind her and me standing up.

All the women stayed home and passed out candy to the trick or treaters who came Aaron and Erin's house.

Erin's always artistic and always cool way of doing things
made keeping track of trick or treaters
(say that three times really fast) as fun as handing out candy.
Final count: 184, when candy ran out.

Pictures are better than words when it comes to adorable almost 5-month olds in ladybug suits, 

The Sweetest Bug Ever!

or three-year-olds enjoying a Tootsie Pop.

When I asked Charlie
to hold up his favorite treat for this picture,
he waved his hand over the pile and said, 
"I love them all!!" I couldn't have said it better, Charlie. Happy November and enjoy the family.  I love them all!!