Gone Country

We're back from our Thanksgiving trip to Nana's house. We're all fat and happy from the carb-fest and suffering only minimal emotional scarring from the enforced family time cooped up in a car for nearly 8 hours straight with a blind toddler overly entranced with asking "whatchu doin'?", a 7 year old with ADD, Daddy-O with a cold quickly making a run for his moist lungs and me, the driver, with a foot that could not possibly be too heavy.

The boys had a wonderful time. They reveled in the countriness that is Nana's House. B loved the freedom of a small neighborhood where he can ride his bike all day long without fear of being hit by a speeding vehicle. He spent the days there shooting bb guns and collecting leeches . The boys were loudly screamed at and swatted at with various hands and cleaning/cooking implements while simultaneously being shooed out of the house, all the while proudly trying to show us the cool leeches they found. Yughghghh! And there was plenty of nightcrawler digging for fishing. What 7 year old boy doesn't love that?

As for D... well, he just got doted on. He is just as big a ham as B was at that age. I swear, the more attention you give that boy the more he mugs for you. And he has found a new love. The Tire Swing. He's never been on anything but a toddler swing before so he was definately scared at first. But once he figured out that it was just a new twist on an old favorite... watch out! He was hooked! Poor Daddy-O was suffering outside in the cold for so long that I finally took pity on him. I had to tell D the Tire Swing was tired and had to go ni-ni. Then he very willingly came in the house and had his own bath. My boy understands ni-ni.

All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing holiday. My mom and I are cancer free this year for which I am extremely grateful. While the whole family is suffering a bit with the economy (as is everyone else) by and large we have it a far site better than most.

Thanks to all of you for being there for me. And welcome to the begining of my favorite time of the year...

Christmas