6 days: hindsight is 20/20

We never should have used the words "snowed in" those few days ago.  Sure, the snow was pretty, and yes, it required shoveling, and not just the usual wait-for-the-sun-to-melt-it-technique but real true shoveling, but by using those particular words "snowed in" we jinxed ourselves and this morning we woke up to a winter onslaught of snow and ice that left us with over 1 foot of new snow to shovel after lunch.  Really, this isn't a problem for us–we love snow, and hope this means we will be blessed with the coveted white Christmas–but today we really were snowed in; the plow visited our neighborhood several times before the snow stopped around one o'clock, but he didn't plow out our little cul-de-sac, and the foot plus of snow combined with the throw from the plow made our off-shoot impassable in the true meaning of the word. But no worries; we had dinner supplies and plenty to do, especially with the fun that the snow itself supplies.  Shoveling took nearly two hours, the majority of which, I'm sure, was devoted to throwing snow balls, sledding the driveway, and climbing snow mountains.  Oh, and shoveling the lawn so our seven pound dachshund can make it out to potty.

8 days: up to our you know whats

If we were aiming for a white Christmas our decoration arrived a week too early.  We watched the snow falling last night and woke up to a true winter wonderland this morning.  It's always more enjoyable when there's no place you have to go, and even more so for Calvin, who doesn't have to shovel it.  If we are lucky it will stick around long enough to brighten our Christmas day, but we won't hold our breath; we've celebrated Michigan Christmases long enough to know better.

Thanksgiving weekend

Our modern day American Thanksgiving may be just one day, but according to Calvin's library book the original Pilgrim celebration lasted for several days.  We don't remember our elementary lessons well enough to back that up, but we're not ones to look a party horse in the mouth, nor are we to be outdone, so this year our celebration lasted for six days and took on several different forms.  On Wednesday afternoon we celebrated with that good old Thanksgiving tradition - baking - when Calvin and I made a pumpkin pie from scratch; meaning, that is, from a pumpkin.  Wednesday night we ventured a little farther from the norm and celebrated love by attending the Baptism of our Godson, Isaac.  Turkey day itself was a whole family affair this year, with both sets of grandparents, aunt, uncle, and even an extra friend sitting at table together to partake in all the yummy treats of this very flavorful holiday.  After a meal like that one can't very well just sit around, so on Friday morning we set out to find our 2008 Christmas tree, a process that might have been easier if the online tree farm lists were general updated.  As it was we found ourselves driving out to a farm in Saline whose only ornamentation was the "Closed. Out of business." sign out front.  Never fear, a half hour drive past Chelsea found us a passable harvest, and while our living room might want for space right now, it is sporting a beautiful scotch pine replete with a lifetime's bounty of meaningful ornaments.  We finished our decorating at a record pace this year because we continued our thanks giving by hosting a dinner party on Saturday night and a brunch at Sunday noon and wanted to use our Christmas dishes for both events.  Our house was filled with the sound of toddler play both times, and not a single garnish or bauble was broken, so we consider both parties to have been successful.  And that brings us to Sunday evening, when we traded our finery for pajamas, our fancy meals for quick soup, and our frolicking for an evening by the fire singing Christmas carols, just us three.  We did a lot of giving thanks this weekend, for family, for friends, and for all the accoutrements of our daily life, and then we quietly gave thanks for the those little moments between and all the joys they bring.  Especially the mounds of shoveling that awaited me this morning, and Calvin's rendition of "Over the River" to which he treated me (and the neighbors) while I worked.

Scads of pictures in the November 2008 album.

Saying goodbye.

Today we lost a beloved member of our family when we had to say goodbye to Diamond.  The past couple of weeks have been very difficult for us as we grappled with this decision, but in the end we know that it was the merciful and graceful thing to do;  her physical abilities had declined rapidly in the past few months, as we knew they would some day, and keeping her here with us any longer would have been selfish.
Diamond lived a very long and full life.  When she came into our lives the vets said she would not live more than a year, that her disabilities or our limitations would get in the way.  Since then she celebrated eight birthdays.  There is no way to sum up a life so richly lived, nor describe the courage with which she lived it.  Everything we gave her she gave us back a thousand fold in love.  No amount of time with her could have ever been enough, but we are thankful for the years we had, thankful that she met our son, and thankful for all the love she gave us.  
The vets nine years ago could not have been more wrong when they told us we would not have the strength to care for her special needs.  Keeping her alive was easy, it was letting her go that required all the strength we could carry.

If tears could build a stairway,
and memories were a lane,
I would walk right up to heaven
and bring you home again

 

Calvin meet Ollie. No, not eat Ollie.

Calvin is always intrigued by the dogs, and everyone seems to get along well.  Diamond ignores him for the most part, Moose wants to protect him (from us whenever he is crying), and Ollie is in awe of him.  Today, though, was the first time any of our four legged family tried to snuggle him.  Ollie was the courgeous canine who took it upon himself to keep the baby warm on such a cold day, and Calvin couldn't have been more thrilled.  Of course, his excitement was mainly due to the fact that he was sure Ollie was a new toy to chew on, but to Ollie any attention is good attention and he just soaked it all up.  And, no, we didn't let Calvin chew on the dog, but we did take a lot of pictures that we posted in the 22nd week album.