Christmas Down South

So I thought it was about time for me to post all the pictures from our 2 weeks away. Here they are, in chronological order:

Cameron, the boys' hero.



We had a session in which the siblings were able to work out all of their childhood aggression.



Actually, they're pulling taffy.




There is most definitely a lynx hiding in those weeds.



That's it. Yes, those were all the pictures on our camera from the trip. Pathetic. We have so many photographers in both of our families, that I usually get lazy with the camera and then download everyone else's pictures onto our computer. But somehow that didn't happen. Can anyone help me out?

Boys

This morning I volunteered in Eli's classroom. This was the first time for that. Everything is clear to me now.

There are 19 kids in his class. 6 of them are girls. That means the overwhelming majority are boys.

As I walked from table to table helping with a craft, I heard what seemed to be Eli's quirks repeated over and over and over. Turns out, they're not Eli's quirks- they're 6-year old boy quirks. Lots of non-word noises. Lots of imagination. Lots of crashing and exploding.

I will attempt to demonstrate using bits of real conversations I overheard this morning:

Boy 1: And, like, Santa came in and (crashing noise)!

Boy 2: And there was a bear and he was like no way!

Boy 1: Yeah, like ahhh!!! a bear!

Boy 3: I saw a bear at a dumpster!

Boy 2: I saw a bear with his head stuck in a milk jug!

Boy 3: I saw a bear on a tire!

Boy 2: I saw a bear with his head stuck in a tire!

Boy 2: Like, we go up to the cops and say what are cops?

Boy 4: Ahhh! Yeah!

Boy 2: And they arrest us and say you're bad guys!

Never mind, this is a worthless exercise. I can't even come close to recreating any conversations because I can't do the million sound effects that were thrown in and all the chuckling and giggling.

I'll just say that it all became clear to me. Eli sounds exactly like his many male classmates. Apparently, he's right on track for a 6-year old boy.

Conversation With Evan

Following is a conversation that took place in the car:


Me: Tomorrow is your school Christmas party!

Evan: What do you mean?

Me: Tomorrow is your Christmas party at school.

Evan: What do you mean?

Me: I mean that tomorrow at school you're having a party.

Evan: What kind of party?

Me: A Christmas party.

Evan: Oh...Is tomorrow the next day?

Brrr....

It's 7 am and time to wake up the boys and get them breakfast, but I just wanted to announce that winter is definitely here. I just checked the weather and it's -29 Celsius, which translates to -20.2 Fahrenheit. That's cold.

Kendall is currently outside with his buddy loading the 4-wheeler onto the truck for a day of hunting. They couldn't decide which truck to take- Kendall's? (with a malfunctioning 4-wheel drive) or Jeff's? (with a malfunctioning heater). Hmmm... They chose the chilly ride. They may regret that.

The Big Parade

Tonight was the Santa Claus Parade here in Red Lake. It’s a huge deal here. An amazing event! There are well-over 4 floats and a couple police cars and fire trucks a fire truck and… Well anyway, it’s still a big deal for us. Everyone shows up.

Tonight was a beautiful night for it. It was snowing huge, fluffy snowflakes. Unfortunately, we got to the parade route 2 minutes after it started and missed about a large portion of the event. Being in a small town, we, of course, knew the people we happened to be standing next to. The boys got candy, we huddled together to stay warm, and we waved to people on the floats for 10 exciting minutes!

Our friend standing next to us was overwhelmed with the excitement. She turned to me and gushed, "This parade- It's goes on for minutes and minutes!"

He he. She makes me laugh.

But, even as I affectionately mock the Big Parade, I love that the whole town turns out for this community event. And afterward, everyone is invited to the Canadian Legion for snacks. There are some special things about being part of a small, isolated community. It makes not having a McDonald's or a Wal-mart a little easier to handle. :)

Evan's Secret Weapon

Evan recently let us in on his secret weapon. He informed us that he uses it at school if someone is mean to him. Now I share it with you:



Evan was serious when he first told us about it, but after watching it on the camera and laughing with me, he said, "That was funny. I mean funny."

Craft Show

So, the craft show... I actually did have a lot of fun, but it wasn't as profitable as I was hoping. (I don't think it would do me much good to figure out how much I made per hour.) I didn't do a good job of keeping records, but I think that, after taking out my expenses, I made somewhere around $150.

I just had no idea what would sell. I wasn't confident about the aprons, but those were my biggest seller. I was confident about the evergreen arrangements, but people just were not interested. So 2 days of work didn't amount to much. Money wasn't a problem there, since most of the materials were free from the bush.

I really think things could have been different with the Christmas arrangements if there was snow on the ground. Everyone is amazed, but there is no real snow to speak of. Last year around this time, I remember a huge mountain of snow by a nearby parking lot from all the plowing. But the weather has been extremely strange this year and we have no snow. So I think people just aren't in the Christmas mood yet. I ended up selling 8 of the 16 arrangements I made, but I really think some of those purchases were based on pity. :) The other 8 I had fun giving away, so it's not all a waste.

I did have a lot of fun being at the show. It was fun to see so many people and get to know some people I recognized from around town, but didn't really know. And now I have an idea of what people buy for future reference. Chalk it up to good experience!