Thanksgiving

After swearing it wouldn't happen, I gave in for us all to eat Thanksgiving at Mama's house. It is our tradition, since I was a little girl. My mother always cooked, served, cleaned and we left her with all the dirty dishes and left over food. She says she doesn't care, just wants us to be there. We were there most of the day and washed every dish and pan before we left. It was a good day and we made lots of memories.

Elizabeth's 9th Birthday

Elizabeth is 9 years old today. She is having such a good time riding her electric scooter! All of her presents were exciting to her. She is zooming all over the neighborhood with her sparkly pink purse on her shoulder and her digital camera hanging around her neck. Her birthday cake was scrumptious and so was the confetti ice cream. She is a wonderful little girl and we love her very much!

Leah and Grandmom

It wasn't even raining but Leah and Grandmom needed an umbrella while they played together. Leah is the youngest of Grandmom's four great-granddaughters. She is the only one of the girls that calls her Grandmom. Olivia calls her Mamo, Kristin & Elizabeth call her Grandmama.

Kristin

Kristin is our oldest granddaughter. She is 12 years old and in the 7th grade. I was the first person to hold her after she was born. It was love at first sight.
Kristin likes to read and is learning to play the guitar. It's always a joy to have her visit. Sometimes she leaves me notes that I find when she is gone. This always makes me happy. She is a sweet girl. I wish she was here tonight.

Driving the lawn mower

Elizabeth loves to drive. Every time she gets in the car, she wants to hold the steering wheel or turn on the key. She would rather drive a car but the lawn mower will do in a pinch. When she was here last weekend, she drove it all over the yard. Part of the time the wagon was attached and Leah and Olivia were riding in it while Elizabeth was driving.
I'm sure Elizabeth will want to take her driving test on her 16 th birthday, early in the morning.

Easter eggs and biscuits

Friday, November 4, was a warm fall day. The leaves were covering our yard and more were blowing from the trees and the neighbor's yard. Olivia found a package of Easter egg dye and the cups we use to color the eggs. She was so excited so we boiled 10 eggs, let them cool, mixed our colors and we dyed our eggs. Olivia liked pink the best. After the eggs were dry I found a basket just the right size to hold 10 eggs. I went outside and hid the eggs for Olivia to hunt. She had the best time. She wanted to hide the eggs for me to hunt so I shut my eyes. When I opened them she had put all of the eggs in one place. I hunted and hunted and finally she helped me find them. She thought it was great fun.

Leah was here on Saturday and helped me make biscuits. She used my old wooden rolling pin to roll out the dough and she cut the biscuits with a small glass. Then she put each biscuit on the pan and we were ready to put them in the oven. She had us both covered in flour. She worked hard to get the biscuits in a line on the pan. When they were done we ate them with gravy.

No Sleep

No sleep for me. It's after 2am. I have clothes in the washer and dryer, the dishwasher is running and I have been changing sheets. Mama and Sadie are sound asleep. Chloe is awake with me.
Do I let Mama go home. I understand why she wants to go, why she needs to go. But my gut feeling is to keep her here. How pushy do I get with her. What if I'm wrong.
Susan and her crew may come for the weekend, I hope they do, I need to see them all. John Michael and Olivia could be here too. I would like to have everybody together.
I'm so unsettled. Maybe I need to be lost in a book. Maybe I need to sleep.

One O'clock, again

I've passed another midnight and here it is, 1 am. Again. I haven't even made it upstairs yet. The house is quiet except for my computer keys. I wonder how many hours I have spent awake in this house when everone else is sleeping. I could never go to bed early even when I was a little girl. I guess I'm a born night owl. I will want to sleep in the morning. But the house will wake me. Maybe I can sneak in a morning nap.

Arthur Dalton House

One of my favorite places to visit is the Arthur Dalton house. Every time I go, the house seems to have folded in on itself a little more. John Michael and Mama always go. We like to turn off the jeep and just listen to the quiet. I like to imagine the house as it was when the Dalton family lived there. Susannah was Arthur's wife, I can see her on the back porch sitting in a rocking chair, late in the afternoon, after supper is cooked, waiting for Arthur to come in from the barn. The barn has fallen in now. On hot nights they would eat their supper on the porch, where the breeze was the coolest. They would listen to the quiet, the same quiet we so love now.