We have beautiful granite counter tops, which I love. They look like jewelry in the kitchen. The night before Thanksgiving, a glass tumbler fell out of the cupboard and shattered; dissolved into a bazillion tiny pieces of glass, right in my face. On bit flew right into my mouth! I spit it out reflexively, before I even had time to process what had happened.
Zack was right behind me when it happened, so that he also found himself standing in a sea of glass. It was like someone dumped a bucket of crushed ice on the floor. Deadly, pain inflicting ice. He was in socks, I was barefoot.
Jay was around the island and out of range so he was able to grab me my clogs and the broom so we could sweep ourselves free.
We did a very thorough job of cleaning the floor and counter because all the grandkids were coming over in the morning and the last thing anyone wants is for some tiny hand or foot to get a glass sliver.
Ty dropped Xena and Babalouie here around nine, then he went off to play in the annual Thanksgiving morning touch football game.
It was three years ago that my nephew Woody played in the Prep Bowl for St. Thomas Academy andmy nephew Holden played in the Prep Bowl for Osseo. They didn’t face each other: Minnesota is one of the states that separates football teams into classes so the huge schools don’t play the tiny schools. Tiny David beating giant Goliath is just Un-Minnesotan in its Unfairness! (STA lost their championship bid but Osseo won!)
Anyway, it’s not every year you get to watch not one but twonephews compete for State Championships!
It’s every three years!
My nephew Gus ran in the State Cross Country Championships and his team WON! Another nephew, Vince, will be vying for a football State Title in the Prep Bowl on Saturday! Vince told me a couple of years ago that his team was better than his older brother, Woody’s team. This afternoon, he gets a chance to prove it once and for all.
But before we get to Saturday, we have Thanksgiving.
We have a lot of Thanksgiving traditions, the football game being only one. Another is Jay getting the turkey in the oven in the wee hours of the morning so that when I wake up, it’s to the aroma of roasted turkey. Katie and Josie come over here early enough to bake a dessert to bring to the Pivec family gathering. Josie picks the recipe and Katie brings the ingredients. I supply the kitchen. Josie always chooses something they’ve never made before so the whole process is a big adventure and surprise. They’ve been doing it for years and sometimes the dessert is a hit and sometimes it’s a disaster.
This year, they made an English Trifle.
This year was going to be a smaller gathering at Pam and Steve’s; Tim’s whole crew was gathering at Jake’s new house and Tom’s crew at his house because the parents of the two new babies didn’t want to expose their newborns to whatever colds and viruses were lurking in the whole big family. I was looking forward to a nice intimate gathering of twenty eight or so.
Then, for the first time in ever, the Pivec Thanksgiving gathering was cancelled due to the hosts being sick.
So…all the kids came here for the day. Xena and Babalouie arrived first. We watched Jingle All the Way while Coach carved the turkey and made soup. They helped me shrink wrap the porch windows and make cranberry sauce, then we ate lunch, read books and played. Josie, Katie and Boopity Boop arrived after lunch and the party really got going while the girls put their trifle together.
Xena, Babalouie and BoopityBoop had a blast playing together all day. They danced to their favorite music (the Greatest Showman soundtrack), sang songs, bounced on the couch, bounced on my bed and played with a bazillion toys. At one point, Boop apparently decided she needed a bit of alone time, so she dumped all the toys out of the toybox and climbed in herself, creating her own little room where she could be alone.
In the late afternoon, Tyler and Megan joined us and we packed everything up and went over to Andy’s. It was sort of nice, only having one stop to make. Within minutes of arriving, I accidently knocked a glass off an end table, shattering it all over the hard wood floor. Being a delightful hostess, ViAnne did not kick me out of the house.
It’s been 36 hours since I’ve broken a glass; I’m on a roll!
The four grandkids were a tiny bit shy when we first got there and crowded onto my lap like I was an island in a sea of hot lava but once they had scoped out the situation and ventured out, they all had a blast. Xena and Babalouie love hanging out with all their big, grown up (some are teenagers!)cousins.
BoopityBoop had a blast with Nanners, Bean and Tot. At one point, Boopity was playing Peek-a-Boo with Bean that included running from the kitchen to the livingroom. Grandma Punkin said she didn’t know what Boopity was up to, but she was clearly having a ball as she dashed in and out of the kitchen, shrieking with laughter.
Later on, when dessert was served, BoopityBoop decided BJ was their favorite as he graciously shared his trifle with them.
It was a hit, by the way: the crowd ate the whole thing.
After dinner, we played some game that quickly devolved into Molly, Hattie and MJ trying to out sing and dance each other, which was extremely entertaining for the rest of us.
It was a very fun day and while I didn’t miss packing up and going to two different parties, I did miss seeing all the Pivec relatives.
Before bed, I watched The Christmas Chronicles, starring Kurt Russell as Santa Claus; A+!
The Holidays are off to a rollicking start!