What if He’s Fired

Yesterday, out of the blue, MD asked, “what if Daddy were fired?” Then she went on to wonder what would happen if both my brother and I were fired. “I hope they don’t get fired.”

Not to worry, CE had the solution, “If Daddy gets fired, a fire truck will come, and he’ll be saved.”

Christmas Cat

Soon after our cat adopted us we decided she was going to be an outside pet. We’ve managed to keep her out there, and she has a nice warm and cozy bed in the shed (when she’s not sleeping in the childs seat on the back of the bicycle). She does manage to sneak in at times, usually when we’re trying to come inside.

Christmas Cat

She got a new colar this Christmas, but promptly licked it and caused the top to fray some. But even if it’s not as pretty as when we first put it on, the little bell still helps us find her now.

An Old Bridge

Over the Christmas holiday, MD and I were exploring the wood behind our house and clean out some of the brush to make paths. We worked our way all the way back to the ditch on the other side of the wood from our yard (not quite sure if our property extends to the ditch or not) where we made a discovery. I was going along the ditch, which is deeper than the one that runs along the side of our property, and noticed an old, leaf-covered bridge going across the ditch to someone else’s yard. In addition to leaves, some old vines had grown across it (probably honeysuckle or wisteria) and it looked like it hadn’t been used in a number of years.

I started cutting back some of the vines so we could get to the bridge. It was still in good condition, no signs of rotten wood. So we walked across and found it connected us to a house on Walker Street.

Bridge in the Woods

MD and I cleaned off most of the leaves and cut back more of the vines that covered it. While we did that, the cat crossed over and poked around in the neighbors yard to see what she could find.

MD Exploring the Bridge

More recently we were in the woods again and saw a couple of boys who live in the house directly behind ours on the next street. They came and crossed the bridge to join us in our exploration, but they didn’t know anything about the bridge either. So for now it’s builder and purpose remain an mystery.

Christmas Pictures

On Christmas Eve the family got together for a group picture. We ended up taking two different pictures as people arrived at different times. I was so busy checking for a sufficient amount of light, and making sure that nobody was cut off at the edges, that I forgot to check to see if anyone’s face was obscured. Something to remember for next year.

Second family picture

Sam’s family wasn’t supposed to arrive until later, but they got there before the camera was put away, so we were able to include them in a second picture.

First family picture

Christmas Cookies

This Christmas we went up to my parents house to make Christmas cookies with my two Aunts. This has been a tradition in my family for a long time, but for a number of years I let others do the baking. This year I was back to being involved, rolling out and cutting the dough. Zuni had mixed up the dough and supervised the baking.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

All the children helped out with the decorating. We used frosting and sprinkles to make many colorful designs. CE decided the frosting was better in her mouth. I’m not sure how many she managed to decorate all the way.

Enjoying the Frosting

Raleigh’s International Festival

This year we went to the 24th annual International Festival held at the Raleigh Convention Center. This was the first time for us and we were looking forward to visiting the booths from Egypt. Unfortunately the information on Egypt was sparse, mainly featuring the Rosetta stone, but the other countries represented made up for it.

There wasn’t much about Egypt

Along one side of the exhibit hall (and half of the next side) they had a row of food vendors, one for each country represented. The strongest smells were wafting out of the Indian and Polish booths, but all of them were serving savory dishes. Zuni and MD only tasted a sample from the Vietnamese booth (some sort of beef strip). The Dutch booth had some interesting desserts, but they weren’t offering samples when we passed by.

We walked through the “bazaar” next. The girls spent time looking at the Russian dolls and Chinese toys. But we didn’t buy anything until we got to the Asian booths. MD got a henna tattoo from the Arab Emirates’ booth and CE got bracelets from an Asian booth. Later on Zuni went back and got MD a ring and got a pretty scarf for herself.

Lots of Russian Dolls

After the bazaar were cultural exhibits, booths where one could talk to the someone about the country. We stopped at the ones representing Scotland, France, and Vietnam to learn about how each of their languages developed.

Vietnam

Myrtle Beach

On November 18th we went down to Myrtle Beach for the annual SEDUG conference. The weather was nicer this year and we were able to enjoy the beach more.

Myrtle Beach Hotel

The girls spent one morning on the beach and later on in the day, when it got warmer, they got in the water. It was quite cold, but enjoyed it anyway.

Walking on the Beach

Friday afternoon, once the the conference was over, we went over to another hotel, the Dunes, where we had a reservation for the night. This hotel has an indoor water park, and when we found out they were running winter specials we decided to jump on the chance. Everyone had a lot of fun going down water slides or just floating along in the lazy river.

Water Slide

MD and her cousin spent the most time on the slides. Zuni went down one with CE, but they both got soaked at the bottom, so CE decided she would stay in the lazy river. I went down the big twisty slide.

Leaf Pile

Today we were raking leaves in the front yard. The girls were working on the leaves under the Oak trees and came up with the plan to make a big pile of leaves to jump in. It took them the whole time to get something together (though they did have help at the end). Once it was ready, the fun started.

Jumping in the Leaf Pile

That cat wanted to get in on the fun too, but her idea of fun was to burrow under the leaves. I don’t know how she managed to avoid being jumped on.

Cat in the Leaves

Corn Maze at the Jones’ Farm

This past Saturday we went out to a farm owned by some friends to participate in their fall activities, especially to go through their corn maze. This is the first time they’ve done something like this on the farm, but they did a great job.

Welcome to the Jones’ Farm

Since the tractor was getting ready to leave when we got there, we went on the hay ride first. It was basically a tour of the farm. We got to see what they were growing and harvesting. We stopped at the first pig field (not a pen, a field), and fed them some corn. Then we moved on past the hen house where they keep almost 500 chickens. Then on past another field with pigs, and a cow on the other side, to the barn where they have goats and a baby calf. One of the daughters brought the calf out to show everyone — lured out with a big bottle of milk! CE wants to go back some time and help “milk” the baby cow.

Just outside the corn maze is a small pumpkin yard. We didn’t get a pumpkin, but took advantage of the decorations to take a family picture.

Fall Family Picture

After that the girls led us through the maze…

The Corn Maze

She’s Three

CE’s birthday celebrations stretched over the course of the week. It started with a small celebration down in Myrtle Beach, where we were staying with Zuni’s sister for the night. She had a red velvet cake.

Blowing out the Candles

This is Good Cake

Then on the next weekend we had a bigger party at the local park. This time Zuni made a cake in the shape of a butterfly, and we ordered pizza. We invited a lot more people this time. Before we ate the children were able to play on the playground and then afterward they played in the lawn beside the picnic shelter.

Butterfly Cake

One of CE’s favorite gifts was the scooter and helmet. Now she wears the helmet while riding the tricycle too.

She has a new Scooter