Before and After

Scruffy just got a hair cut. I think he is really cute when he has long hair, but when the black rugs in the kitchen turn white, it's time for a trim. :^)

Mmmm

Tonight we had Thanksgiving Dinner at the church. Our church takes turns hosting homeless families and this was our week. My friend Charlee signed up to do the meal tonight and asked if I would help. Charlee and her husband made the most delicious turkey on the BBQ. It was so good. She also made chestnut and sausage stuffing to die for. All I had to do was bring rolls and mashed potatoes. It was an excellent meal. I can’t remember the last traditional Thanksgiving meal I’ve had.

The homeless kids were a real eye-opener for the boys. The youngest was 11 and he had some mental/emotional issues. His sister was loud, obnoxious, and had all the teen-age boys but one at her beck and call. Her mother was totally clueless about how to control her children. It was sad. The boy who stayed away from the girl had a wise grandma keeping an eye on him. The other boys’ mother seemed blind to the fact that if someone didn’t intervene, she would soon be a grandma. And unless they did a DNA test no one would know which of her three sons the father was.

It made me wonder how the homeless kids I worked with in Dallas are doing. They would all be grown up by now. Some of them had wonderful parents and were homeless because of circumstances. I always hoped they would make it.

At any rate, I believe the boys now see that they have many things for which they can give thanks.

Frick and Frack

So, it is almost Christmas. The ONLY thing Leta likes for Christmas are pictures of the boys. Since they don’t go to school, I have to haul them to Penney’s Portrait Studio to get school pictures. Jeremy had his done yesterday. The photographer fell in love with him and commented that he was her easiest shoot that day. It was really hard to pick the picture because they were all so good.

Today I took in Josh. Last year I made him wear something nice and made sure his hair looked good. He was really grumpy as a result and his picture reflected it. This year I left everything up to him. I refused to look at him before he left. My only condition was that he couldn’t wear the t-shirt Mike’s dad got him that says, “I don’t give a…” and has a picture of a rat sitting on a donkey. Oh – and he had the hood of his hoodie over his head so I couldn’t see his hair anyway. So we get to the studio and I look at his hair. Dandruff and oil. Sigh. So I made him comb out the dandruff. When we got into the studio he absolutely refused to smile. He bit his lip to stop smiling because the photographer was making him crack up. The rat. When she finally got all his pictures done, another lady showed them to us to so we choose what we wanted. Usually they try to get you to buy a whole bunch. These were so bad, the lady just sold us the package and let us go. We hopefully found one that will work.

The Battle Over the Hair

It would seem that at some time or another in every family with boys there will be a battle over hair. Should it be long or should it be short? It inevitably will come down to a battle of the wills. Today I took matters into my own hands. I put it in a pony tale to keep it out of his eyes. It was the only way if it wasn’t going to be cut. There was much yelling and screaming, but I prevailed.

Do We Have a Scrooge In the Family???

Inquiring minds want to know. (See poll)

A Time To Give Thanks

When I was growing up, Thanks-giving was my favorite time of the year. I loved the meal, and it didn't hurt that my birthday was always around then. Alas, I have grown up and things have changed. My beloved traditional Thanksgiving meal has turned to a meal of ham and cornbread stuffing. It would seem that not everyone likes turkey and good old bread stuffing, and I am low man on the totem pole. So, I compromise and make a traditional meal the weekend before or after Thanksgiving. As for my birthday, Jeremy is generally the only one around here who remembers it. That may not be such a bad thing...

The Big Emergency

I was fast asleep last night when Caleb’s barking woke me up. He was barking like he does when he is shut up in the bedroom without me. I turned on the light so he could see I was there, but he continued barking urgently. So, thinking something must be wrong, I got out of be and he tore out of the room to the living room. The big emergency? Mike was eating a midnight snack of pizza without him. I was not amused at either of them.