Thanksgiving...and some

Whew what a week! Happy turkey day everyone (or what I call a good excuse to pig out on lots of food). I find myself constantly struggling to define each holiday to Teilee. "What? Oh, well today we celebrate the coming together of the pilgrims and the native Americans at a gigantic feast. Well....actually the pilgrims invaded the native Americans homeland, stole their land, abolished their way of living, and brought them lots of disease and death. I don't know why? Because we get to remember why we are thankful. Well.....I guess that we are thankful that we have each other, and good friends, and good food. No, I suppose you are right, the native Americans probably weren't very thankful. What? Well if you are Bugantheist(Buddhist/Pagan/Atheist) like us we will celebrate the winter solstice which is the longest day of the year. If you are Christian than you celebrate Jesus' birth. Well...actually he wasn't born in December. I don't know, somebody wanted this time of year to be Christmas. The tree?....To us it is a celebration of nature. Well....a fat man dressed in red sneaks into your house while you are sleeping. He eats all of the baked goods that we made. No....don't cry. He leaves you presents. What? I don't know why. Because he wants to reward you for being good all year. Well......you don't always get gifts just because you are good. I don't know. What? We get to tell everyone we love that we care about them by buying them chocolate and making cards. Well....there was a man named St. Valentine........well....he invented the holiday. Yes...that's cupid. If he shoots you with one of his arrows you will fall in love. No...it doesn't hurt (at least not the arrow). I don't know....magic! What? Easter? Please don't ask why!"

So it is hard to be absolutely logical with a child and do I ever wish I could resort to "because God made it that way." My child is never satisfied until I can properly explain every aspect. Honestly, aren't alot of our holiday traditions completely skewed by commercialism. We give to many gifts, we eat too much food, we buy to many decorations. This year simplicity is my goal to be grateful, to be loving, to be giving from the heart (not the wallet).



So I meant to post this a long time age but time caught up with me quickly. We had a very scary night the weekend before Thanksgiving where Teilee woke up and was unable to breath. A bad case of Bronchitis coupled with her asthma and swollen tonsils made for a scary situation. Fortunately I remembered that cold air can help and was able to dash her out into the freezing night so she could get some shallow breaths. Our neighborhood nurse saint, aka Delta, arrived shortly after she resumed breathing to confirm that she was okay. It was a sleepless night as I slept in her bed with her and helped her to slow her breathing every time she woke. I have started looking into some breathing techniques that reteach you how to breath and are said to be able to help with asthma and other lung issues. You know......in my spare time:)

Thanksgiving week Landis, Teilee, and I were all ill and we continue to have symptoms! Maybe by Winter Solstice we will be all better!:)

I am wrapping up finals week. Already got an A on one and subsequently and A in the class and I have my Micro final tomorrow. I have yet to study, but am confident that I will do fine. Good luck to all you others in the deep trenches of homework, cramming, and test taking!!!! See you on the other side for relaxing, non-stressful Christmas!

Our Night

So Landis got his flu shot and he was the most well behaved of tots,

the woman stabbed him with the needle and he didn't even cough,

no sputter or snivel only a slightly angry glare,

came from his little face a small inclining of despair,

then on to laughing and playing a most happy child,

and we thought, "man, this whole ordeal was pretty mild".

Than came the evening when our little babe laid down to rest,

and it was evident that the shot had an effect to say the least.

The sleep we had that night was intermittent and greatly disturbed,

as he cried all night long, except for two hours, that little turd!

Yes we are pretty darn tired and I have much to do, today has begun fairly slowly but is sure to pick up pace quickly. Much homework to do, many projects, lots of unfun stuff. In the meantime enjoy these pictures from topless soccer day, fun in the tree, and Halloween!

Nick said, 'be stoic Teilee'.

If you look closely the wick on the TNT has been lit! Look out!