Strange Feeling

One try and a fail.

Second try and...a fail.

They said, "If you fail once more, you'll need to reapply for your driver's permit and wait six months to try again."

Undaunted, he went for the third try... and passed!

Our third son is now a licensed driver. That is a strange feeling.

But a stranger feeling hits when your babies (the three youngest) all drive off together and spend the afternoon with friends. Yeah, I know. I don't have babies. But when did all this happen?

Somewhere I must have blinked. 

And now they're about grown up. Now I'm the short one. The weak one. 

And they're men.

Today I'm thankful for...
...a stunning sunrise.
...Sudoku.
...I Spy books.

(Maybe I'm even entering my second childhood?)

Thanksgiving With Family

Do you ever plan and look forward to something for so long that when it finally comes, you can hardly grasp its reality? The relatives came for Thanksgiving and now they've gone home and all we have left are memories. 

Thankfully we have good memories. Good food, good conversations, good singing, good coffee, good games, good times working together. Just good times. 

Joe, Verina, Melvin, Maxie, Josie, Gwn, Sylvia, Chel

Mama, Rosetta, Jean, Monica, Christopher, Carl, Joe, etc

Doris, Matthew, Tim, Keshi

Stephen, Austin, Mervin, Doris

Nick, Stephen, etc

We all sat around tables together for Thanksgiving dinner. There wasn't much wiggle room. I didn't get Daddy, Thomas and myself in the pictures. Daddy is between Mama and Keshi and Thomas and I are between Chel and Nick.

I spoke with my friend at church this morning. Her family came for Thanksgiving and stayed about 24 hrs. I'm so glad we had more time than that! 

Doris, Chel & the three girlies came Tuesday, Tim & Keshi (Kee-sha) came Wednesday evening and Rosetta & her friend Nick came Thursday. The latter four left on Sunday and the former five stayed until Tuesday.

We hosted the majority of the people at our house. Our pastor and wife so kindly lent us their camper. The boys who gave up their bedrooms and Nick made good use of it.

With our family, my parents and my sister's family who live locally, we fed two dozen people at most meals. Breakfasts were taken at our individual places. Friday and Saturday's main meals were assigned to the visitors. 

On Friday we took a hay ride. It was reasonably warm. Or tolerably cold. However you wish to term it. Nick had told Rosetta that he could hardly wait to get to WV to have a horse and buggy ride.

Prepping the baby (no, we didn't take the Kenworth)

One half of the ride

She asked him where he thought he was going? They don't have horses and buggies! Well, could he have a dump truck ride? Thus the hay ride idea was born. He said he'd take any ride he could get.

Remember that favorite aunt or uncle you had that was the youngest in the family and played with all the cousins? Well, that's kind of how Christopher is to all his little cousins.

With Gwen

Then Josie pops in

Next comes Maxie

Thomas' mother brought a puzzle over that occupied a lot of people's time. It was labeled Impossibles because it has no border and has five extra pieces. They finished it up Monday evening before everyone dispersed.

Monica and Jean

Monica, Sylvia, Stephen, Mervin, Jean

There was a giant dead oak by the field that the men cut down and cut up for some "manly time". And Thomas' mother asked for help to can some apples. Otherwise we just lived and enjoyed each other. 

Chel, Stephen and Sylvia went to Farmville, VA Wednesday evening to meet Nick and Rosetta. They had planned to do a Turkey Trot in Madison Thursday morning but gave up the idea and just partied with the Troyer side of the family until time to come our way for Thanksgiving dinner.

Sweet memories. Until next time....

Today I am thankful for...
...good drinking water.
...the truth of God's Word.
...a voice to sing with.


Correction- In the post titled Jerky, I said the boys ate most of the jerky in one day. I later discovered they had a good bit more left than I realized. They aren't quite the inhalers I believed they were.

P.S. Someday I might have a good camera. Or learn to take better photos with my phone. 

Baby

The day (evening) finally came to meet niece and cousin Anibelle de Carmen. She was wide awake and full of smiles although it was late in the evening. Of course, she was still on Texas time.

My sisters Doris and Rachel (Chel) came to our house while we were spending time with Thomas' mother. My mother and sister Verina went to the Dulles airport to pick them up. Doris' two other girls came also- Maximiana (Maxie) and Gwendolyn (Gwen). They'll show up in another post, Lord willing.

Anibelle quickly became a well-loved acquaintance. We hope we didn't spoil her completely by the time she went home.

We had planned and re-planned lodging a number of times so in Christopher's mind Maxie and Gwen were not going to be at our house. He came to me Wednesday morning and said he thought it would be boring with just Anibelle here but, "She's a party".

To understand that, you would have had to see her reaction to him the evening before. I was holding her and he was sitting behind me. I leaned her his way to say hello and it surprised her. She jerked back and he mimicked her move. That just amused her greatly and she giggled out loud. Then she laughed and laughed as he talked and laughed.

We miss her presence in our home but we know she's spreading smiles wherever she goes.

Today I am thankful for...
...Ibuprofen to calm my hormonal headache.
...a cookstove.
...a milk cow.

Treat

Here it is, the first of December, already. The weather is incredibly beautiful and looks to stay that way for at least a week. 

Our "Thanksgiving week" began November 21. Thomas' Mom treated us to our first Thanksgiving meal in her apartment house. (Yes, there was more to eat than just cranberry salad.)

She also served turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and corn & limas for lunch. But we needed to work a couple of hours to "earn" it.

The boys swept the carpet, helped set the table, cleaned the inside of the car, took care of dead plants, replaced a fly ribbon and hauled trash to the dumpster.

I cut up some mangoes, ironed the table cloth, cleaned off the table and chairs, cleaned some of the floor and helped the boys some.

After a late lunch Thomas and I did the large stack of dishes and then most of us played games. Soon it was time to milk the cow, so Stephen and Melvin left to do that, while Thomas went to pick up a camper.

We came back together for a supper of chicken noodle soup, cheese, bread and pickles. A dessert was baking in the oven, so we sang awhile. 

The dessert went home with us; because it was still too warm to eat and we were too weary to wait on it.

This was a treat for me, to not have any food "worries" for the day. We had been working hard, prepping for my family's influx and this was the lull before the storm. 

Thanks again, Mom.

Today I am thankful for...
...electricity. (It went out for a moment as I began here.)
...the Bylers' four wheelers. (Boys get a lot done when they have machines to use!)
...a washing machine. (A machine that helps me with all the loads of laundry in a week.)

From the Desk of Our Dyslexic Son

Dyslexia is a gift in many respects. A dyslexic person has  perception that a "normal" person isn't gifted with. Many inventors have been dyslexics. 

I stole a picture of Melvin's desk. It is slightly cluttered. You can see a pair of binoculars behind his composition book on the right. A two by two Rubik's cube, a sanding mechanism (I don't even know what to call it), a tackle box and a dissembled gadget represent his many interests. 

A sign he made for his bedroom door. Wood burning.

He does a lot of carving/creating with wood, enjoys wildlife, loves fishing, and enjoys fixing things.

This lamp is a good example of his ingenuity. As you can see from this angle, it has no shade.

But now you see, it does have a shade! He made a list of his goals, folded it accordion style, and stuck it to the top part of his desk. Voila! A lamp shade.

His creativity shines through on his Goals sheet. Every goal has a symbol behind it. That way when he has accomplished it, he can record only the symbol on his time tracker. He thinks all these things up. The corners are graced with blue jay feathers. (And if you haven't noticed before, one of a dyslexic's weaknesses is an inability to spell.)

Thomas says he can be working hard to figure out some technical matter of installation or how to make something. It just won't come together. Then Melvin happens by, checks a few things out, makes a suggestion and there it is. It just comes together and works. 

Today he heard my sister say she wanted tatting looms for her daughters, Maxie & Gwen. He went to the shop and came back with these beauties a few hours later.

Today I am thankful for...
...another day.
...nieces.
...firewood.

Another mug

When one has multiple interests, one receives multiple mugs. Here's to Stephen as an avid photographer.

When he brought this one home, I asked, "You got a new lens?" It is too realistic. A birthday gift from a friend.

Today I'm thankful for...
...sunshine.
...a son who voluntarily cleaned up the kitchen this morning.
...a plate of salad.

Jerky

Matthew shot his first deer with his bow on Monday. Happy dance! The day he's long been working and waiting for. It was a small doe. He and Melvin decided they would turn it into jerky.

The internet is a very helpful place. These boys listened to the instructions of this person and that and figured out how to make jerky.

There were marinade recipes online that they tried and one in the Kanagy Kitchen Classics. Thank you, Freda. They liked yours the best.

A few hours in the oven turned the meat into dried goodness. These giants devoured most of it in the same day! (Truth to tell, Yours Truly was gone shopping all day and what else did they have to eat?)

Are you as favorably impressed with my sons' abilities as I am? 

Today I am thankful for... 

...motivated, Christian sons.

...plenty of food. (Wouldn't you be too if you had five sons?)

...shelter from the cold rain.