Porter's Disgusting Dinner Delight - 2011

The mood was set with spooky music, the lights were low and candles were burning.  Mysterious smells wafted from the kitchen. One by one each of the Porter children knocked on the door to the family room/kitchen. They were greeted by the hostess of the Disgusting Dinner Delight restaurant.

"What do you want?" she said.
"Um . . . . dinner."  And then they were led by the hostess to their seat at the Table of Doom, where they selected their meal from an array of enticing choices.  Goblin Droppings, Scab Picker, Zombie Intestines, Shivering Slimy Ghosts, Bloody Cat Hearts,  Decapitated Digits, Bat Saliva, Crunchy Cicadas, Leftover Toejam, Bat Saliva, Ghostly Spirits.  Yum.  How delicious.

Thanks to lots of hard work with food challenges and OT, Joseph was only a little nervous about choosing disgusting sounding foods without knowing what he would receive.  (In past years, this was really tough for him). And, he tried everything on his plate, including the finger!

 

The 2011 Disgusting Dinner Delight was a great success!

Making pumpkin faces

After our perfect pumpkins were selected early in October, they sat on our front porch for weeks. Joseph was anxious to carve the pumpkins from the very first day we brought them home, but I convinced him to wait until closer to Halloween. To take the sting out of the delay, I had him paint one of his pumpkins.

But, he still asked me every day if today we could finally break out the knives and carve. However, as we neared the end of October it became increasingly difficult to get everyone in the family home at the same time. Seriously, we couldn't find one night when everyone was available. Finally, we did our carving the night before Halloween. And even that wasn't perfect, because Bailey chose not to carve since she was doing some prepping for a big Geometry test taking place the next day.  Oh well.

First Joseph drew a picture of his carving plan.

 Then he helped Dad carve. Well, we forced him to help. It's ironic that he was the most excited 6-year-old in the universe to carve his pumpkin, but didn't actually want to touch the gooey stuff.

 And the finished products.

 Aubrey also wasn't a fan of scooping out the pumpkin innards.Good thing Dan is so, so patient!

 

I love the freckles on your pumpkin, Aub!

Pumpkin Patch

Somehow I missed blogging about all our October festivities. So, here goes my catching up.
Early in October we made our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch.  It was a beautiful fall day - the kind of day I remember with great fondness now that the weather has turned colder!

Our friends the Kartchners met us there. Here Joseph is with two of his bestest buddies.

Joseph had a staring contest with the sheep - who could keep a straight face longer?  Hmmmmm - I wonder.

Loved this gentle donkey.

My sweet girls, growing up too fast.

The pumpkin launch - a huge slingshot thing which always requires Dan's help to pull back.

Riding the wagon to the pumpkin fields.

Picking out the perfect pumpkins.

 

 As we were preparing to load back up on the wagon, Aubrey accidentally slipped on some rotted pumpkin and landed in a pile of pumpkin slime (and who knows what else). Wow - it was some stinky and disgusting stuff, and she was covered from her feet to midway up her back.

The greatest thing, though, was her attitude. Aubrey just laughed it off and kept smiling when it would have been easy to be really upset. Way to go, Aubrey!  

By the way, we did break all the traffic laws and let her ride the short distance home in the very back of van. We had her go back there and strip off her stinky clothes where there is a liner to protect the car floor. She didn't want to jump up to the regular seat in her skivvies, so we gave in.  It took three washings with hot water to get the smell and stain out of her clothes!

That's it for the pumpkin patch - til next year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

Joseph is very INTO the holidays this year, in every possible way.  When I pulled out my paltry collection of Halloween/Fall decorations this year, he was aghast. I have never owned an abundance of Halloween decorations, and the older I get the more simplified and streamlined I have made our holiday decorating.  Well, according to Joseph, this is Unacceptable.

He talked to me incessantly about our sad state of festive preparedness and what types of Halloween decorations we needed to buy until I finally took him to the store and let him pick out a few things to jazz up our walkway.  I am realizing belatedly that I didn't ever take a picture of our festive and tacky new decorations . . . . skeleton window clings, bright yellow caution tape wrapped around the front porch, light up ghosts to line the walkway. You get the idea. And Joseph was really  happy.

Until the day after Halloween, when he wondered where my box of Thanksgiving decorations was hiding.  "Hmmmm," I said, "I think I have a few turkeys somewhere." And I found three cute little turkeys to add to the tables in the living room. But did that satisfy my little holiday decoration aficionado?  Oh no, no, no. Unacceptable. So, he decided to try a new tack and proposed that we decorate early for Christmas.  Like now - right now.

Last Sunday I was taking a nap after church. Apparently while I was in a semi-sleep state Joseph asked me if he could get out some of the Christmas boxes.  And apparently I said yes (to get him to leave me alone, I'm sure, but I do not remember this). So, he immediately went downstairs to tell Dan that "Mom said you are supposed to get out some Christmas boxes."  So, they did. And when I came downstairs a few hours later, this is what I saw.

 

 

 

That's right . . . turkeys co-existing with snowmen, Christmas trees, and all our regular decor. It's very unique. Our house looked like frantic Christmas elves threw decorations around haphazardly.  And to Joseph it looked just right.

Dan and I talked and decided that there is no compelling reason to hold off on Christmas decorating until after Thanksgiving, other than the avoidance of extra clutter in the house. So, we decided to follow the lead of our youngest and jump headlong into the holidays.  Which wasn't too difficult, because Bailey has been listening to Christmas music since the day after Halloween and both she and Joseph have already written multiple Christmas lists. (And Joseph has written many, many letters to Santa, currying favor before the big day arrives.)

 And that's how we do holidays at the Porter home. Early and wholeheartedly.

Winter therapy

This delicious hot cocoa mix is going to get me through the long Washington winter.

Every winter I need a new gimmick, a new happy moment to make the dreary, rainy days more bearable.  When we first moved here five years ago I would turn on every light in the house first thing in the morning and leave them on all day.  Every. Single. Light.   And that somehow made me feel like it was bright and sunny, not gray and dreary.

A few years later I discovered "fuzzy socks." I think they are designed to be worn as sort-of slippers around the house, but during winter I wear them all day long, with and without shoes, out and about and everywhere. Every year I add a few new varieties, and my fuzzy socks keep my toes warm and cozy.

Then two years ago I found some fabulous super soft sheets.  They are still wonderful, and still make me happy all during the cold season. Which, in case you are wondering, lasts from October to July.

A few weeks ago I happened upon a big tin of  Starbucks Hot Cocoa mix at Costco, and with the very first mug I fell in love. The dark chocolate mix - prepared with milk - is rich, velvety, decadent, indulgent, and amazing. I have a mug of this cocoa every day, and I plan ahead to select a "cocoa time" when I can really focus on the chocolaty goodness. Every once in awhile I'll make a cup just after waking up, but at 5 a.m. I'm really not coherent enough to fully appreciate it. So, I usually wait until I get the last kid successfully off to school. Then I make my cocoa, breathe deeply, and enjoy my chocolate moment.  (I bought the Cocoa tin using a Costco coupon, and when I realized how magnificent it is, I raced back to the store to buy a winter's supply before it went off coupon!)

These are just a few of my winter coping strategies.

Healing

It has been 11 days since I injured my hand (but who's counting?)  I think it's really interesting to observe the slow healing process. I took a picture so I can remember what it is like at this point and compare to the way it looks a week from now, etc.  I would add this picture to this post, but I'm not sure everyone shares my fascination with healing body parts (or at least that's what my family tells me every time I try to show them my fingers.  "Ewwwww!  Gross!")

Over the past 11 days I've had some time to think about healing. Here are a few of my thoughts:

• First of all, I marvel at the regenerative abilities of the body. The body is an amazing and beautiful thing. It is remarkable that new cells can be produced, bones can knit back together, viral and bacterial invaders can be defeated by the immune system. I'm in awe.
• But I'm also impatient. Because healing takes time, and I don't like to wait. I like to be active, involved, hands-on. I like to do projects myself - not tell other people what needs to be done. I haven't enjoyed doing chores and activities one-handed.  
• Before this little accident I was on a roll with exercise. I had attended an exercise class at the gym five days a week since school started.  Now, I'm not supposed to pick up a hand weight or other equipment or touch the floor or anything else with my hand until it is much better healed. I'm not supposed to wave my hands around or clap my hands or anything like that (so there goes my favorite Zumba class for awhile.) My exercise rhythm has been disrupted, so instead of getting in exercise at the gym I am at home eating Halloween candy. Not a good trade.
• It is interesting to see how quickly we can adapt to weaknesses.  I can't use two of the fingers on my left hand and can't get the hand wet or dirty, but the other fingers of that hand and my right hand have gotten stronger and more dexterous, and I can do most everything (even type - which is quite a feat!) But, everything takes about three times as long. And sometimes that makes me grumpy.
• Isn't it true that you never appreciate being well until you are sick? Every time I have a cold and struggle to breathe normally I'm amazed that I normally don't even think about breathing.  It isn't until I have the stomach flu that I realize how my digestive system normally works just fine without my attention or consideration. It isn't until something isn't working right that I appreciate the fact that normally everything works great. I guess that's the meaning of the scripture which says that there must be "opposition in all things".  Without the sickness, we'll never appreciate health. Without adversity, we'll never appreciate peace.
•  I've also thought a lot about the physical challenges endured by many people I know. Their challenges are much more daunting than temporarily lame fingers, and I applaud them for overcoming the obstacles and functioning every day.
• I really am grateful for health. I'm grateful to have a body that serves me well most of the time.  I've really enjoyed exercising over the past few months, and it feels good to stretch and push my body and feel the strength and capacity in my body. I am grateful for my sore hand, because it reminds me to appreciate health and strength. And it reminds me to be very careful around power hedgers.