the goose, fat

at long last the hours of enslavement inside the otherwise fantastic new vehicle are over. it was dark when the car was unloaded and the floors of the car have yet to be vacuumed of crumbled goldfish, crayon paper peelings, sorry shrivels of frenched fries. we all question the family road trip ideal: how is it possible to do this harmoniously? the crying, the thrashing about in seatbelts, the endless readings of a spiderman comic book, the broken record playing of the title track on the ever-favored yellow submarine album, the constant chewing of straw and jerked beef to stay awake to track over and under hill and mountain, to cross the bleakness of a harvested november, muddy, brindled fields abandonded for the winter.

we're not planning any more road trips any time soon.

warning: graphic pictures to follow. seriously. scroll with caution.

henry placed the faces with the names of cousins, second cousins,



roasted marshmallows and hot dogs over fire, lost his new gloves, acquired new dragon boots (via a much kissed and hugged grammy), learned that he is too young to drive a golf cart by himself.climbed atop a tractor,



zipped around on a four wheeler with his pop, clambered atop a fortress of hay bales, petted a murdered "rein"deer (much to the horror of his mother), and watched the dog eat pieces of said deer as they were tossed to him (!).





jude was overwhelmed by new-faces, ate pecans that he found all over the farm, gathered sticks and leaves, mooed at the cows, screamed at the site of his namesake (?), hated the "firepoppers," learned the meaning of despair as he rode across country in a car seat for what felt like forever, and was hailed as the spitting image of his handsome father (lucky boy) by multiple family members.





shortly after we pulled into town and released our children from their straighjacket seatbelts we walked into our house, turned up the heat, and caught the delicious whiff of new wood. puzzled, we began a search and, upon further inspection revealed a fantastic surprise -- the construction of new bookshelves in my study!



thanks to a handy father (delighting in giving good gifts to his children) who spent his holiday measuring and wiring and sawing out a surprise for his favorite daughter, yours truly, this mama is obsessing over paint and general bookshelf-coolness-overload.



and we've a snow! the house was silent and smelled like snow (most likely due to drafty windows in the bedroom) this morning. we work to clear space and place for celebratory christmas gear. list making, cookie baking, et al. expect fewer words.