Hanging out with Family

We gathered in Granbury to celebrate Mom's graduation, but the best part was hanging around with each other. I enjoy my sister's kids a lot, and our little S is more and more fun. She isn't talking a lot yet, but she is so cute when she does. She really likes to be outside with the neighbor's cats who come down the hill. She will be 18 months old on January 3rd.

E will be 4 on January 28th. He loves dot-to-dots and mazes, the movie Cars, and dipping things in ketchup. He's particular about what he eats, and will probably have a more healthy lifestyle than the rest of us----he seems to not have a sweet tooth at all! He needs time to warm up in the morning, and my kids could not understand this. He likes to run, and he likes spending time with my B.

My J is 11. He tries hard to keep everyone entertained (everywhere, even in a classroom). He wants so bad to carry S around, but she wouldn't have much of that. He can be the best helper in the house, but mostly would rather play on the computer 24-7. I wonder where he gets that? In other ways, he's a lot like my Dad.

And lastly, I'll talk about B, who was very patient to play with E and S, but has already lost it this Christmas break with her brother. Sick and tired of him already! She also loves S and wants to hold her and sit with her at every opportunity. When we drew some mazes for E, she wanted some drawn for her, but then she turned it around and drew some for me. She's in a transition

phase, as is J. Big kid, Little kid, they switch back and forth between being so independent and helpful to being needy and dependent. B is 8 years old.

Mom finally got her wish and got a shot of all four of them on her couch. She had gotten them all new pjs, and we got them all to look the same direction at the same time without sticking their tongues out!

They weren't family, but I spent a couple of hours with my high school friends, Susan and Donna. We still know who each other is. We all walked in and greeted each other, and as I was leaving, we realized none of us had hugged or touched each other a bit. So we did some obligatory hugs, but none of us are huggy people, despite our friends and children changing us over these years. Even though we have distance and time between our interactions, I feel like they really know me still. I can tell them about my artistic endeavors because they are artistic, too. Donna, my fellow oboe player and jr. high art teacher, could appreciate that the beginning band we watched had two bassoons, and that was remarkable. We can brag about our smart kids because we're all three on equal grounds ourselves. It's good to hang onto some old friendships.

J is sick with a fever, 101.9 when we checked yesterday afternoon. He complains of nothing else, but he slept on the couch from about 8 until even now. I know he's alive--I can hear him breathing. Also the check engine light came on in my car, so we're trying to figure out how to get it to our mechanic this morning, and do so with the truck which can seat only 3. Life is complicated! Otherwise, I plan on cleaning up the house some more today, and maybe we'll bake some cookies or something.

Christmas is almost here!