Oreo meets Madeline

Two old people and one Oreo between them

Oreo meets Madeline.

Oreo has a new cousin, her name is Madeline.  She was a Christmas gift for the family. Madeline has had all her shots now so today was their first meeting.

Charlie needed help with a ham radio antenna because the little old lady he lives with had a "hissy fit" about him getting on the roof.  We all know that the main cause of injury in old men is that they think they are young men.

Suzy, Tim, and the boys all came over and Miss Madeline was with them.  We decided it was time for Miss Mattie to meet cousin Oreo.

Madeline is only 7 pounds of happy hyper puppy and of course, our old man Oreo is 3 times her size.

There was no barking, growling, or aggressive behavior between the two.  Oreo sniffed her all over which any proper lady would find offensive. 

Oreo got so excited he lost bladder control in the kitchen. You could tell he was embarrassed so we took him outside to finish his business.

Suzy and I tried to get a picture of this momentous occasion.  It was hardly a " Lady and the Tramp " spaghetti moment.  Many thanks to photographer Oscar. Suzy and I found out how hard it is to get both dogs looking in the same direction at the same time.  We laughed hysterically during the photoshoot.

It will take a while before they play together but it was a good first meeting. Madeline fell asleep cuddled by her mom in a nice warm blanket around the fire pit.  Oreo found Poppa's lap and a warm blanket to snuggle in also.

Hopefully, this will be the start of a growing friendship.

Parcheesi

 Dear Mom,                                                                                            

 January 25,2021

Hello for Tennessee.  This is Kathy, your middle daughter writing you.  It is a cold rainy day today and really nice to stay inside.  I am writing this on my computer while drinking some hot tea and listening to Christian music.  Our little dog Oreo is asleep in his bed next to me all warm and snuggly.

   Your great-grandsons Oscar (12), Charlie (10), and Henry(8) love to play board games.  I taught all of them how to play Parcheesi.  I told them it was a game you learned to play as a child and that you were a really great player.

    I told them how you love to build blockades and made everybody wait for you to break them.  I told them that you were very good at rolling fives to get on the board and how you always knew where to put your players without having to count all the spaces after you rolled.

   I also told them that I played this game with my grandmother (your mom) (their great-great-grandmother) when I was their age.  She always won but never made me feel bad.  My grandsons have favorite colors.  Little Charlie loves red, Henry loves green, Oscar takes blue so I am always yellow.  I remember coming home one evening and you were playing all 4 colors by yourself.  I asked you, “Who’s winning?”  You just smiled and said, “Well I am! Of course!”

   I recently saw an old black and white Christmas picture of Bobbie and me playing    Parcheesi at grandmother’s house one Christmas Day while we were still dressed in our pajamas.  Bobbie and I had gotten a child-size card table ( Red and White) for Christmas.  Again, I was losing but didn’t mind because Bobbie was actually playing with me.

   You were amazing at throwing doubles in the game and always zipped around the board before I could get a single player out.  You were ruthless when it came to sending someone back to their home place.  You would get mad at me much later on in life when I had the chance to send you home but didn’t.  I would tell you that I chose to “extend mercy” and not take you home.  Actually, I really didn’t want the game to go on any longer than it needed to be since I was already losing!     

    It broke our hearts when you lost your vision and couldn’t play any longer.  I know you enjoyed the fellowship of your card games with other ladies in the church.  Your great-granddaughter Emma just turned 14 years old.  She had an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for her birthday.  I told her about the time you bought an ice cream cake for your best friend Violet Elliott’s birthday and planned to serve it for dessert after the card game but you got distracted by a phone call and left the ice cream cake in the garage on top of the washing machine instead of the freezer in the garage.  She laughed and said that could happen to anyone.  Emma still has fond memories of you and asks about you whenever we speak.

I hope this brought you some sweet memories for you.  Charlie and I love you and pray for you every day.  We miss you so much and pray for the day when we can visit you.                                                 

 Love,   Kathy

  

Diva Remembers

 I am now 71 years old and you may want to know what I was like as a child, the things I did, and the games I grew up with. 

This game" Cootie"  was a favorite game of mine.  I got the game when I was about 5 years old.  Each part of the Cootie had a numerical value and you would roll the die to get the parts you needed.  1...1 body, 2...1 head, 3...  1 mouth, 4... 2 antennae, 5... 2 eyes, 6...6 legs  If you already had the body part you lost your turn and hoped you would roll a 6 the next time.  The winner was the first person to complete the "Cootie".

One of the first toys I remember was this music box that had creepy clowns on it.  It played "Pop Goes the Weasel" and a clown would pop out.  I never realized till much later that the clown would always pop up at a certain part of the song and I was always terrified when it popped up.  I think this is one reason that Diva is very skittish to this day.  I will always jump at scary movies or when I think Poppa doesn't see oncoming traffic and we are all going to die.  Fortunately, Poppa knows that when I jump there is a reason and will start braking.  I jump long before I can tell him why.

One of the first dolls I got for Christmas was called "Tiny Tears Doll"  Her eyes would open and shut and when you gave her a bottle of water she would wet her pants.  I have never been a big doll lover like my sister Bobbie.  She always kept her dolls in pristine condition on her bed. I always dragged mine around half-dressed and dirty from playing in the sandbox with me.  I was intrigued with the doll's eyes and in my medical observations I accidentally punched out one eye on Christmas Day.  I called her Winky after that!

This was always one of my favorite toys.  I love color, and designs and the Kaleidoscope was endless entertainment.  It had pieces of plastic color shapes and when you twisted the bottom part there would be a new design.  I spent hours watching the new design.  It was a good toy to take in the car to keep me entertained.

Charlie gets his black belt

 What a wonderful celebration today watching 10-year-old Charlie get his black belt at Olsen's Martial Arts.  He had a private celebration with his family and Diva and Poppa.  He has been waiting a long time because of Covid restriction but has persisted in his training with Zoom on-line lessons and private lessons.  He was able to show off all his skills.  I was amazed at how agile he is and graceful with his forms.  He spared with Oscar and actually knocked him on his bottom.  I later told Oz it was really nice of him to take a dive to make his brother look better.

We loved watching his kicks, twirls, confidence, and agility.  I was impressed by his ability to break a board with his hand and break the last one with his heel. He earned his black belt and was given two words...Determination and Patience both of which he displayed to earn his belt.

Christmas 2020

 

Lyra, did you like your Ribbon this year?  Did you like the candy or the toys?  Poppa and I miss our girls so much. We are always so happy to talk with you on the phone or watch you dance.  

Poppa and I know you like to dress up in Princess Dresses and that you love Disney princess movies.  We suspected that maybe it is hard to share dolls so thought maybe having extra dolls so everyone could play with their favorite might be fun.  We love seeing your smiling faces and miss you so very much. We are so happy that you live so close to Pops and Deedee.

Did you like the warm bathrobes that Auntie Suzy made you?  I thought she did a wonderful job.  I love that they have your name on them too.  They will help keep you warm after your baths or when you go swimming this summer in Pops and Deedee's pool.  I like the pretty colors.  I bet they are very soft too.

We know you had a really fun Christmas morning.  We miss your hugs and kisses.  We love you and pray for you every single day.

Your Diva

Advent Ribbons

 A Bennetch Christmas Tradition. 12 days of Christmas ribbon

 Years ago when our children were very young and had no sense of time they would get up every morning hoping it was Christmas.  They were so excited and would follow up with the next question such as......" Will it be Christmas tomorrow?"   

 So being a very poor pastor's wife we would make a paper chain with the exact number of links till it would be  Christmas. We would hang it by the table and every day we would cut off one link.  That way they could see how many sleeps till Christmas day.

As they grew older we would write an activity on each link to do for that day.  There were activities such as baking cookies, make Christmas cards, watch a Christmas movie, have a snowball fight, or sing a silly Christmas song.

As the children grew older each one wanted to make his or her own Christmas chain and write their own activity. Of course, they never wanted to do the same thing at the same time so that idea was quickly abandoned.

The next improvement was each child would tell me what colors they wanted their chain to be.  I would cut the strips and number them so one child got to be the leader in an activity, another got to be the one to pick out the book we would read together and the third child got a special message ( either a compliment or a  timed challenge with a reward ).  As you can easily see this led to hurt feelings with 3 preschoolers so this was quickly abandoned for our present-day solution.  

  

Now, Mom wraps candy with a  special note inside for each kid and glues it on a ribbon.   It used to be 25 notes times 3.  Each note had to be heartfelt, funny, or what I admired about them. And yes, they would compare them with each other to see who mom loved best.   

Our kids are grown now with kids of their own. I still make them ribbons every year as well as for each grandchild. The tradition is now the 12 days of Christmas. 

I also decorate and make some ribbons for extended family and friends.  Of course the older I get the more friends I've made.  So if you receive an Advent ribbon from me know that you are holding a special piece of my heart. 

Advent ribbon 2020

 

Lyra Jane,  you made the perfect Dorothy for Halloween.  I especially love your little dog and red shoes!  I love seeing your costumes every Halloween.  We miss you!  Diva and Poppa

 

 Lyra,  I love your enthusiasm for watching Superhero movies with your Daddy man!  Daddy-Daughter dates are the best.  Love your matching shirts.  Take care of him for me!  Diva

 

 
 

Lyra, I love that you were so excited about going to school.  Your Aunt Becky waited her whole life to go to kindergarten too!  She loved every minute of it.  I love your school uniform.  Miss my big girl.  Diva

 

 

 Lyra Jane...I love to see my ballerinas and hear that you and your sisters have dance parties frequently.  I am so glad you like to dance.  Diva does happy dances (when no one is watching!) Miss you! Diva

 

 

 

 

Lyra, what pretty finger polish you have!  I love it!!  What a wonderful mommy you have!  I think we should keep her,
don’t you?  Miss you more than hot chocolate on a cold day.  Your Diva

  

Lyra Jane,  I love this picture of all my Christmas elves with  Daddy Santa.  Do you get matching pajamas every year?  Diva and Poppa always look forward to seeing your pictures.  Miss you ...so much,  Diva and Poppa

 

Lyra, this is my favorite picture of you with your beautiful Momma, and your sisters.  I love that you have matching sister dresses.  I did too when we were growing up.  Love your bows.  Diva

 

 

 

 

Lyra Jane,  What a lucky girl you are to have a unicorn party.  I love this big unicorn blow-up.  Wish we could have been there to celebrate with you.  Five is Fun!  Diva and Poppa

 

 

 

 

Lyra Jane, thank you for sharing Lady with us.  She was such a sweet dog and brought us much joy.  She loved to cuddle and kept us active by walking her around the neighborhood.  We miss her.  Diva

 

 

 

Lyra Jane, what a lucky girl you are to have so many people that love you.  I am so glad your Dede and Pops live nearby so you can see them.    We miss you and your sisters but are happy you have a wonderful loving family nearby.  Diva and Poppa

 

 

Lyra, do you remember making handprints for Diva and Poppa?  I have them on my refrigerator so I see your little hand as well as your whole family.  Sometimes I put my hand on top of all of yours.  Miss you sweet girl.  Diva

 

 

 

Rub a dub dub, three girls in the tub.  Lyra when your daddy was little your Poppa used to help me by bathing all three of our kids in the bathtub at once.  There was always lots of giggling and lots of water on the bathroom floor.  Happy memories...Diva