We woke up this morning to snow. It melted during the day, but is once again sprinkling white. They're saying we have a possibility of a couple of inches - I'm waiting for a good dumping so we can put this sled to real use on our hill!

Becka cut Mason's hair yesterday. Gave him a cut that has a bit more attitude - how fitting.

Last night Kenzie and I said a prayer for Aunt Carol as she prepared for surgery today. Thankfully, we got good news that she is cancer free! As we were heading home from the hospital today Kenzie said to me, "Mom? I just knew that if I held Aunt Carol in my heart that she would be just fine. God took care of her. We did it!"

I attempted to censor this post, but Grammy and Grampy insist that it is indeed blog-worthy. Judge for yourself.

Kenzie's in the bath tub. Mason just got out.

Kenzie: "Mom, I just felt something sprinkling over my back."
Me: "Mason, did you do something to your sister?"
Mason: "yah."
Me: "Show me what you did."

Mason points said instrument squarely toward his sister and says, "there."

Kenzie: “Mason pointed his weenie to me and PEED.”

Oh boy – it’s fun around here now.

Last weekend Kenzie and I met up with the ladies in our family for shopping and lunch. She's the short one in front. I'm the tall one in the back.

We all were invited to bring Christmas memories. Grampy, sadly, wasn't invited to the "girl's" day out - but Grammy represented his story well. Here it is:

Trees at Christmas Time
Grampy

I have many pleasant memories regarding Christmas time at the Averill’s when we lived on upper Pine Street in Snohomish. We had a fairly large living room that was not used much during the year but at Christmas time it was full of activity, not all of which was productive.

One of my most memorable events involved mom asking me to retrieve the ornaments from the room in the attic which was accessed through a removable opening from the bedroom that Les and I shared. As I recall, I was not in favor of doing it at that particular time because it was early evening and it was dark in the attic. In order to get to the ornaments you had to balance on the joists because the kitchen below was only a lath and plaster ceiling. I recall going in through the attic and retrieving the rather large box or ornaments and returning toward the opening. I wandered off the rafters and the next thing I knew I was hanging by my elbows above the stove in the kitchen. My elbows were on the joists but the ornaments were falling one by one or more through the hole I had created.

Mom and dad both came to the commotion and dad wanted to beat my butt. Mom was yelling to get the kid down. I don’t quite recall how I was rescued but little damage was done to my body. The hole was rather inspiring. Even after I was safe on the floor, ornaments continued to flow from the attic. There was an article in the Snohomish County Tribune about the event with the headline that Santa had come early to the Averill household.

Mom always decorated the tree. The ceiling in the living room was 9 or 10 feet high. She liked to save ornaments from year to year and usually purchased additional trimmings each year. One year she purchased a couple of dozen very large bright red balls. Dad purchased a cork gun. Before long there wasn’t a ball in sight but there were little piles of red broken ornaments all over the living room hardwood floor.

As a family we always had a couple of dogs, Don and Rock. We also usually had an array of kittens, mostly one at a time. One little cat we had was really more than rather playful. The cat was always up to something and was quite a joy for us to tease and play with. The old paper bag was always good for a laugh as this cat would come from far away and dive into the bag, regardless if you placed it in front of a solid cupboard or not. It also took a very fond liking to the Christmas tree. The cat discovered that if it went near the top and started shaking, funny sounds appeared. Those sounds were that of the ornaments flying from the tree.

Dad nearly always gave mom money for Christmas. He would put it in an envelope or place it under the tree or onto a branch. After I became of driving age, dad would give me money to buy mom her present. I would head toward the Bon Marche in Everett. I would stroll through the store and look at everything and I’d virtually always end up in the ladies lingerie. I can’t remember how many slip, etc, I bought for mom. Those ladies got so they knew me from year to year.

There was a small bedroom on the main floor that Les used while he was working his way through his bout with rheumatic fever. There was an open closet in that bedroom that mom used to store presents. There was never an item in that closet that didn’t get the snoop treatment. Les and I always knew every item we were receiving a month in advance.

Christmas was always the time that mom and all our aunts used to make candy. Divinity was the choice of most. I think Aunt Valera did the best on the divinity. Cookies were another favorite. Not too much of the dough was made into cookies if mom wasn’t on her toes.

Christmas presents were always opened on Christmas morning. We were allowed to open one the evening before, but we already knew what was in the packages. I think the only surprises came if something was in the garage and I am not sure about that either.

Mom always cooked the Christmas dinner, complete with all the trimmings. Dad usually took several of us to visit close relatives as the toddy was always brewing near any Averill. People showed up at our door at all hours of the day or night and there was always enough for everyone. Dad and mom had several friends who made our home their regular stopping off place and it usually was around dinner time.

I thought this video would be a tender moment. Mason was cuddling Madison and the video camera was nearby, so I attempted to seize the moment. Unfortunately for the cat, tender moments don't tend to last too long with Mason--especially with Big Sister chirping in the background.

By the way, I can't interpret her "guss up on you Booty" warning...she's picking up some hip-hop jive talk that I already don't understand.

I took Kenzie up to Seattle U tonight for the South Asian Thanksgiving celebration. It was hosted by the International Club and was rich with food and dancing from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We didn't know anybody, except for a few students here and there. That didn't stop Kenzie from taking full advantage of the opportunity. She wormed her way to the front of the line for a henna tattoo and sat patiently while the lady carefully painted an intricate design on her hand. Once she got a little more comfortable, she joined in the dancing. By the end of the night the floor was filled with college students, all packed toward the middle jumping and dancing...and who was in the epicenter...Kenzie and a temporary best friend (another four year old that she found on the sidelines). I got a little nervous because I couldn't really see her through the dense crowd. But every once in a while she would emerge to make eye contact and show me her super-sized grin.

The result: diaper on the head and two legs crammed in one side.

Kenzie is really trying to read, as you can see in this video. Watch her bluff her way through and then slow down and use her finger to mark her way.

Mason, on the other hand, we call "one word wonder." He communicates quite well, but usually with only one word in a sentance. He picks the word that he believes is key to his point and says it repeatedly. For example, "eat" or "frog" or "bike." He says most words, but likes to let them stand on their own and not get mixed up with others!

Kenzie's on the computer. Mason's intrigued.

It's beginning. I guess Christmas is approaching, but we haven't even gotten through Thanksgiving yet and the questions have begun. Remember last year? Tonight, out of the blue, Kenzie said, "Mom, is Santa Claus real?" I said, "what do you mean?" She replied, "you know, is he REAL?" I tried avoidance one last time, "what do you think?" to which she responded directly, "I think I want to know if he's real." I literally just ignored her until I could think this one through a bit more. Typically that's not a successful technique, but thankfully I was able to buy myself some time.

It's a similar strategy that Grammy employed last week when babysitting. Kenzie befuddled her with the question, "but how do the babies get IN the mommy's bellies?" Grammy warned me that she avoided the direct question and suspected I would get hit with it the next day. So far, so good. But...I have a feeling this technique will not work for too much longer.

I think Mason may have broken the middle toe on his left foot today. He fell off a folding chair while watching the frog/fish, and reaching for a piece of sushi that he wasn't supposed to have. Usually he's Mr. Tough Guy, but is obviously in pain this time around. (He held the guilty piece of fish clenched in his hand for minutes after the crash.) After icing it and holding him for a couple of hours, he was able to walk, first with a limp and then almost normal. The toe is purple, but he's doing fine now. I called the doctor who said that they don't do much for broken toes anyway, so I should just tape it to the neighboring toe. I couldn't convince Mason that was a good idea, but we'll try again tomorrow. Not looking forward to trying to put shoes on him tomorrow...

By the way, one of the frogs died a couple of days ago. If you ask Mason about the frog, he'll give you one of two answers: "up" (pointing up to indicate that the frog floated) or "die." It was sad, but the fish and surviving frog are doing fine and providing ample entertainment. (I have to clean the fingerprints off the tank's glass every day.)

Kenzie did this without assistance (except for the date) and presented it to me for Tiffany, a person I work with and Kenzie has met at most four times. Every day Kenzie tells me to "tell Tiffany hi." Sometimes she makes art projects for her so that Tiffany can decorate her office.
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