Ghosts of Christmas Past

It's quite possible that most people of a certain age

get nostalgic on this day.  Old photos stir memories

of the ghosts of Christmas Past....

Funny how you notice the details on old photos...

how Gma Mieska hung Christmas balls from all

her lampshades....those drapes...my new doll

I named "Janie".  (I think Steve eventually

tore her arm off.)....and dad's hair!

I think this was 1957 when Aunt Phyllis made

these felt stockings for all the Mieska grandchildren...

a tradition that continues for my family with 16 stockings now.

That's cousins Jay, Fred and Rynda with my baby sister,

Ann, me and my brother Steve at Gma Mieska's.

Believe it or not that tinsel was saved from year to

year to re-hang on each subsequent tree.

I believe this was Christmas, 1974

Chad-3, Scott 9 mos. 

I loved those little red suits.

Christmas 1983

Scott, Jesse, Chad

(look at that wallpaper!)

For several Christmases the Mieska grandchildren

put on a Christmas play.  This first play was

the story of the birth of Jesus.  I was

pregnant with Jesse and holding Zac (baby Jesus).  Chad

is the shepherd/Joseph; Heather was Mary, Jer

is the angel (crying because he got his

fingers pinched somehow) and Scott as a wiseman.

The next year Sue helped with "The Night Before Christmas".

We had programs and everything.

Chad is Santa, Heather is Ma, Jer is Pa, Josh

is a mouse and Zac and Jesse were the "children nestled

in their beds".  What was Scott?

Another year...another play

This time it's "The Porcelain Doll (Heather) and

the Teddy Bear (Jer).

Notice the lineup of stockings at that time.

 "The Velveteen Rabbit" with Beth in the lead role.

Scott and Zac  were "real" rabbits.

And, of course, "Santa Goes Mod" where Chad

was the narrator, Jer was a newsman and

Josh, Beth and Jesse were elves.

Jer made his "camera" from legos...

not pictured here were Scott as Santa,

 Heather as Mrs. Claus and Zac as a mailman.

And I think this was circa 1991 with

Chad, Scott, Jer, Heather, Zac, Josh

Jesse and Beth arranged in birth order.

And...skip ahead a couple of decades.

Christmas 2013

Briggs, Ethan

Everleigh, Andrew

Matthew, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Brighton

Merry Christmas to family near and far!

A New Teenager

Jonathan Caleb Ketcher will be a teenager

on Dec. 15.  Can't believe how fast

this 13 years has gone by!

Here he is at about one year old.

He's always had really curly hair.

Here he is with his daddy.

He has a goofy side.  He and his brother, Brighton,

often share in hi-jinks.

Whenever you see Jonathan, here with his 3 brothers,

there's usually a plush toy nearby.  His bed is filled

with them.

He has a serious side, too. 

Love that Winnie the Pooh is peeking

through his arm though.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Somebunny in Minnesota loves you!

A Day to Say Thanks

My Sister Sue invited the family for Thanksgiving dinner.

Greg helped carve the birds.  The food was great and

it was good to be together.  It was our mom's first

Thanksgiving in MN for over 25 years.  The only

disappointment for the kids was that they couldn't

go swimming.  Isn't that why Sue lives on a lake?

 Six of the nine Minnesota little ones were present:

Everleigh, Andrew, Briggs, Ethan, Max and Claire.

(along with their parents, Scott & Ami, Jesse & Ben, Josh & Whitney)

There was some dancing.

There was a project.

GG read some stories.

And there were plenty of smiles.

Lots to be thankful for....

Visitin'

The kids have been doing some "visitin".  First

on a weekend getaway for Scott & Ami I was

in charge of Briggs & Everleigh so they came to

Grandma Bunny's for "visitin" with GA Sue, Julie

and GG.

GG joined a game of hide and seek.

Everleigh was hiding in the closet.  Good spot!

Then, on a recent day, second cousin Silas

came to visit us.  Here Ethan and Silas, who

are about 2 weeks apart age-wise, check

out the Percy flashlight.

Here's Grandma Rynda (is that the official title?)

with Silas.

We got four out of five of the kids together

for a photo.

Ethan-20 mos, Everleigh-4 yrs, Briggs-2 yrs, Silas 20 mos

GG was also with us that day and after Silas left

we snuggled in to watch a movie. Andrew is

snuggling with GG.

Then it was Andrew's turn for a trip to Grandma Bunny's.

Five minutes in, he already had all these toys out.

And no trip is complete to Grandma Bunny's without

a bath....not sure why because they have tubs

at home..but who knows about these things?

Just One Day....

Toddlers can change direction every 5 minutes so when

all 4 of these kids are together activities change fast.

Ben made a puppet theater/castle/dog house/stable/you get the idea

out of a cardboard box.  Here a pirate invades the

princess and the puppy in the castle.

GG was with me on this day and she is helping

Ethan with stickers here.

Meanwhile, Andrew & Everleigh were playing a favorite

....puppy and mommy.  Sometimes Andrew is

the puppy and Everleigh is the mommy.

Briggs does pretty well on his own and favors colors,

play dough or paints.

Ev's pose here reminds me of her mom.  They love

the big swivel rocker as it turns 360 degrees and rocks!

Andrew & Ev ended the morning with a dance.

I didn't get any photos of the afternoon which included

a craft project, storytime(multiples), snacks, a tea party...

and a nap....whew!

Ghosts of Halloween Past

So...Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  My creative juices
just don't work that way.  Here are a couple of pictures of
Halloweens of long ago.  In the bottom photo, Chad is a Dallas
Cowboy, Jesse is Strawberry Shortcake and Scott is...
maybe a hippie?  I was dressed as a french waiter I think because
we were hosting a neighborhood bonfire.
In the top picture, Jesse is a clown.
And these were my Best Efforts!  One year poor Jesse
went as a ladybug (a black leotard with red felt spots)
 and Scott was a door to door salesman...
I'm not kidding.  I think Chad had given up on me.
Of course, there weren't many costumes for purchase then.
Everyone made their own costumes from stuff that
they had around the house.  So we had lots of
ghosts, witches, hobos and farmers.  And most
adults didn't dress up unless they were teachers(and just
a few of those) or some of the store clerks.  The only
Halloween tv show was "The Great Pumpkin" with
Charlie Brown.  There were very few decorations.
I guess Halloween is more entertaining now and
probably more fun....but I still don't quite get it.
I'm just glad I don't have to create any more costumes.

"Let's talk about God..."

Everleigh and Andrew are both enrolled at Christian

Pre-Schools so both are experiencing new things

and hearings new stories.

The other day Everleigh, Briggs and I were sitting at

 lunch.  In her most serious voice, Everleigh

looked at me and said...."Let's talk about God."

....

So I said, "What would you like to talk about God?"

And she said, "Is he really Everywhere?"

So we had a brief talk about God being Everywhere

and He is always with us.  She wanted to know if he sees

Everything....and then I saw the wheels turning....

"He sees Everything?"  (as in all the good things

and all the bad things?)

And I said, "yes"...he sees and knows everything.

We can't always understand how he does this

but we have faith that he does.

A Revelation...

God can see when I'm naughty And nice.

hmmmm

Then, another day I'm with Andrew and he's

singing...."In the Name of the Father,

and the Son, and the Holy Spirit..."

in perfect preacherly chant.

Recently, the kids wanted to "wash" my car....

so why not?

a close up of Ethan

Andrew (hidden in the "rocket"), Everleigh

and Briggs pretend Briggs' crib is a rocket ship.

Ethan and Everleigh like each other and often interact

in positive ways.  She has a lot of patience with him

and he loves all the attention.

Here, Everleigh and Andrew are playing a combination

of Thomas the Train and Littlest Pet Shops.

Everleigh took this picture....pretty good.