Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve Day ended with the twelve of us attending one of the "Family Christmas Eve Services"  (our church has five services Christmas Eve - we chose the 5PM one).  The Family Service involves audience participation.  We contributed two angels.  They were marvelous.  

Not only amongst the cutest but brave as they were home based from the balcony and had to go all the way down to the alter at the front of the church.  Of course Dad accompanied them.

Home after church and after a great Patt black bean chili dinner we had three grandsons in the tub— a hoot-- and Jen and Matt did the washing too.

Christmas morning started with Julianna tugging on our sheets at 5:45 telling us it was 15 minutes before 7.  We established that she was an hour early, got her in bed with us and waited till we heard the two Dad's taking the boys down stairs some 30 minutes later.

Present opening was a hoot, lots to open and lots of group opening and oohing and aahing.

A big hit was the iPad for the Big three.

Stephen and Raleigh represented the southern contingent of our family as Jen was a bit under the weather — well a lot actually under-the weather and until late in the day was pretty much bedridden.  Raleigh was also a bit lethargic.- putting it mildly —  (This is a harbinger of things to come)

Trucks of all sizes motored across the floor, and games were played.

Got in a family photo, with most looking at the camera.  Matt thinks he has a good one or two on his camera too.

And we ended the day watching a movie in the basement, just before sending the kids off to bed and the adults having a quiet glass of wine. Well that was not to be. The second round of under-the weather hit the Eastern contingent of our family about the time Lydia got in bed. 

Laundry is being done now and other adults are not feeling so hot.  It may be a long couple of days.  Tonight probably will be long.    

Christmas Eve Day and a lot is going on

Well our family has grown, we have added three males and one female, as Matt, Stephen, Raleigh, and Jennifer have all just arrived in the last two or was it three days.  Yes it did give rise to some readjustment of toy sharing and who sits where but we are having a great time.  Raleigh being the new kid and littlest is a bit wowed at times I believe.  He also took the red-eye out of New York —(arrived  RDU at 8 AM) .

Matt was eagerly welcomed by his family and is fighting jet lag too.  I tease him about it too.

Stephen made a quiet unobtrusive entrance as one would expect.  (the basement playroom is proving its worth over and over).

Julianna turned eight and assisted cake decorating,  The house added birthday decorations to the Christmas decorations so the ole place is rather festive.

and today, Christmas Eve, after the rain, and warm weather we had a cold but bright day for a game of keep-away in the cup-de-sac using basketball rules for handling the ball.   Had a vigorous and fun game game.  The kids are competitive and I have no idea where that came from.

The younger two after walking through the game, getting bumped into a couple of times finally moved up street a bit under Jen's direction to presumably watch.

Church is a five PM, then dinner then bed and then I reckon tomorrow will be a big day too.

we like to do l-a-u-n-d-r-y

Laundry is spelled in the title because if it is a spoken word in this house, Luke for certain and John Paul likely will dart to the laundry anxiously awaiting the opportunity to participate in laundry activities.  Luke indicates his interest in said activity by looking expectantly at the machine or at a potential operator and twisting his hands in an agitating (?) motion.  When he looks at either Patt or me he has the most adorable expression, not sure if he gives it to the machine or not.

A stool is a vital tool for a short person in doing laundry and is recovered from the bathroom sink.  (If you visit us and need a stool, check the laundry.)

Recovery form the dryer is serious business, and done with a great deal of vigor.

The agitator and splash of the washing machine is such a fascination - after the initial shock and awe.

 Note,  assistance is provided at every stage of the operation.  Some greater levels than others.

this is a bit of a make work, activity, Grandmamamama actually starts the clothing out of the tub, but I guess you figured that much.

[ Grandmamamamama is what Luke calls both of us.  John Paul uses multiple final syllables for both of us but gets the dadada right for me.  (we are pleased with both of their efforts) ]

John Paul really attacks the removal of the dried laundry to Luke's amusement - or occasional  frustration.

Close up, time to return the stool and announce to that all is done for now, except for picking up the overflow and missed target pieces.  Oh and you should see the group activity of the carrying of the l-a-u-n-d-r-y basket.

one of your busier and quite fun Saturdays (cooking, ballgame, servanthood, and some TV football

Last Saturday, was one of our more active days, 

Sidebar here:  All days are active.  Some are just documented, or outside the house or just sectioned as this one was.  With these kids a meal is active, believe me it is active.  I even photographed the floor under the table after one of our early meals anticipating some sort of documentation of what was indeed the state of affairs.  And thank goodness for Patt's decision on keeping play and toys in the basement.  It has payed dividends.  Books and crayons and puzzles excepted.

Anyway back to the day, Patt make (finally too I might add) some molasses cookies.  She had helpers and incorporated each of them in turn too.  The attention to preparing the dough for refrigeration for later adding red-hots and baking was intense and appropriately serious.

Note the paired tilt of the heads in assisting the pour of the molasses.

Wisely, though carefully observed, the mixer was operated by the head cook.

There are five, count 'em five observers of John Paul measuring out flour or something.

Somehow Patt parceled out activities for each participant, which meant ...

Yes, even Luke got something to do.  Patt though is experienced enough to have a hand ready and close by to take care of contingencies.

and tasting the dough at the end of the operations is essential.

Isaac and I then left to go to Carter-Finley for the State 3A Championship football game between Havelock and Concord.  Of course it was cold, very cold.  We quickly identified with Havelock (sitting on their side of the field helped).

Sidebar number 2:

I had forgotten how important it is to this age set to identify with whom we are "going for".  At a restaurant meal recently with Sports Center on TVs in the background Isaac asked me who I was going for on one of the clips.  I could see Miami Dolphins but not the other team which I pointed out so I said I did not know as only Miami was identified to me and I really did not care to much about Miami.  Then one of my table mates said "the other team was wearing blue", to which another said "a lot of teams wear blue" to which a rejoinder came or to which another said (I can not remember which) "the other team was Duke".  I then said "well, then I guess I am going for Miami"  {Just doing what I can to make the world a better place-- with Laura's complete support}

Then it started raining, not hard, but raining.  Preparation, helped make for watching most of the first quarter in our seats an option.  Later after the rain stopped we went down to the first row for a better view.

Then out to concessions for lunch -- we went to the early of the championship games hosted at Carter-Finley--

Then back in to watch a bit more of the first half in heavier and heavier rain, sitting under the upper deck, then at halftime, and early departure.  Havelock safely ahead after scoring a late second quarter touchdown right in front of us.  They later won.  Our Wake County entry into the State Championship games lost the 4AA nightcap at Carter-Finley later that day.   Other games in other classifications elsewhere.

Not photographed is Laura and Julianna and Lydia's afternoon at our church's mission activity of packaging of 60,000 meals through STOP World Hunger.  and then we all reassembled at home to watched recorded the North Dakota State Bison on the TV in the Division II regional Championship game.  They were big winners too.

Sometime in there cookies were finished with red-hots, games were played, books read, and so on.  Baths givens and more.  Full day.  Good day and sorta typical.

A fine Sunday afternoon

Today was a most delightful Sunday afternoon in the finest of old southern traditions of visiting relatives as we were indeed visited by relatives.  My grandchildren and daughter visiting (for an extended visit) were with Patt and I visited by three of my four brothers and their wives,  and a niece.   Much fun was had by all.  We spent time in the basement prior to adjourning to the upstairs for snacks and some football on the TV.

Mark's Chinese has improved little since his last serious set of lessons from Julianna and Lydia but I am fearful that he is somewhat beyond hope.

The kids were well entertained as well as being entertained by the Uncles and Aunts.  Isaac found people to talk to and people who would talk to him.  ( he will carry on a conversation so be warned)

Conversation in the kitchen was full and lively and the younger set enjoyed listening in too.

Dramatic readings are a skill I was unaware the brother Eric possessed.

 And Kelly is much admired by John Paul, who though like all of his brothers and sisters gets along well with strangers and my brothers are a bit strange sometimes.

Lydia redecorated the tree which we reset this afternoon after its mishap earlier this week, and Luke is taking a close look at how the Panthers were doing.  He does enjoy bhootbhall (I think that is the pronunciation)

A visit to the Health Department

Yesterday, oh how long ago that seems, Laura and I took the five to the Health Department for vaccinations.  Regular pediatricians apparently are booked until sometime in mid next century but the health department was available for back to back appointments, so off we went.

Though I did not meet the nurse, who apparently was quite kind, she was obviously according to Laura was  not working on production, and did have quite the load of paper work to properly document, certify, legitify, duplicate, replicate, multiplcate, and so on with paper.  In fact at some point during the morning, the long morning — we were there from nine till almost noon— that is nearly three hours folks— count em— Laura went back to help with the paper work to coordinate existing records from abroad with needed vaccinations per child.  

and that left me with Ta - Da — Five kids, a waiting room and a hall way.

 Well, we did foot races in the hall way — timed of course by Julianna and me.  Fortunately no one bumped into one another and subsequently cried, ( I was worried about this potentiality)  I did not photograph the races.  I did photo the kids interacting with other board kids in the women's health waiting room.  At this point we are ranging far and wide.

Back in our native land, the vaccination central, do not be deceived by the apparent calm as presented by young John Paul, who by the way is avoiding the needle this day as he is awaiting a visit to UNC Children's Hospital for tubes to be put into his ears scheduled for Friday.  He was reading publications of avoiding AIDS, or checking on bus schedules.  He did unload both racks of folders several times.

I was somewhat loose with what passed for acceptable behavior (sorry about that Laura) as it was a very long morning and the trip to the snack bar - oh yeah juice bottles for us all and Oreo's (praise be) only lasted so long

Little was unexplored in the office, a door stopper, was actually removed — undocumented though

and my favorite photo — gosh I love this photo — it shows, not one but two types of Arab women, a Burmese man sleeping (later I enjoyed talking with him) some kids jointly playing with an iPad, one watching Sesame, or something like that on a TV with extremely low volume and poor reception, and the back of the mother of the littlest girl and her older sister who were from the Middle east (Iraq or Syria?)

As far as I could tell we were the only west Europeans in the building.  A regular United Nations was meeting on that floor.  Isaac told me he heard people speaking Chinese, a Vietnamese family was there when we arrived, and after we had been there a while a Karen Hill Tribe Family from the mountains of Thailand came in.  The grandmother was dressed like she had just come down the mountain too.  Looked very much like the many of the refugees from the Vietnam War the fled the mountains of Laos that Patt and I worked with after we left the Peace Corps back in 1976.  

Like I said we were there a long time.  We did - or rather the kids did get the shots though and thrown in with the wait was a little comforting time — or enjoying basking of a little boasting time whatever the case may be depending on how the time "in the back "there" went.  The number of stickers in possession was a clue too.

When I was a child

When I was a child, my Dad took me to basketball games in William Neal Reynolds Coliseum on the Campus on NC State University ( College at the time).   This past Sunday afternoon was a cold rainy December afternoon and  I took Laura and three grandchildren to Reynolds to see the Lady Wolfpack play a basketball game. 

This was not Laura's first trip to Reynolds.  She had been many other times to see ballgames and concerts and other events at the storied old place.  Stephen and I had been even more often as he became an avid Wolfpack supporter and bled Wolfpack red for many many years.  Well he still does actually, but from afar.

Trips to Reynolds were of course secondary to our trips to Wake to see the Deacons, but as a young family in Raleigh, seeing the Wolfpack and being a fan was fun and easy and we were on campus often at both football and basketball games and other events, and sometimes just to play.  (and I have one degree from State and Patt two, so it sorta makes sense that we would have a little familiarity huh?)

My childhood early memories of Reynolds are of a dark smoky place — back in the day it was not well ventilated and back in the day people smoked, lots of people smoked and the air in the place got thick, very thick and hazy.   At all day tournaments like the Dixie Classic or the ACC tournament, (both of which I attended)  by the time the fourth game was played late in the evening, the air was probably toxic from all the cigarette smoke.

Once at either a Dixie Classic, played after Christmas, or after an ACC tournament game there was rather deep snow storm and leaving the State campus I remember State students pushing Dad's car and others' up the hill to Hillsborough Street on a snowy evening and thinking that was about the coolest thing you could do.

Now back in the day we did not have mascots like now, but having Mrs. Wolf meet the granddaughters  and Laura was pretty neat.  

and getting Tarheel Laura to make this photo was a good one — and she is in red too.  I like the security being provided too.

Game action was followed.  Lots of questions to be answered from Julianna who does not miss much of anything and seems to want to know about everything.  Yes we had good seats too.

Lydia is following the action, you may not think so but she is.  The play on the court is preparation for a free throw — not much action — at the right end of the court — follow Lydia's gaze there is action. The cheerleaders are building up human pyramids, tossing pompoms and conducting other actions to distract the hapless opponent.

It was another good day at Reynolds.

and I have been blessed with many.