The holidays are the time when you get together with your family and friends. Some people you don't see all year. It is great to see them and to talk on the phone with other family members. Sometimes I would rather call someone than to send a card. I actually like to get to hear their voices on the phone and get laughing with them.
Well, here in Maine and all my kids and their cousins are having a good time. They have been quiet for a while in the girl's bedroom and us adults had a quiet time to visit with each other. My father watched my siblings and I hop on the internet. It was like coffee break at the island table for us. And my father said, "It's all greek to me."
My computer was being really slow, so I ended up watching a video of my brother boxing in his basement. Punch. Punch. Punch. We watched a few videos on you tube of my cousin's son. He committed suicide last month and had been a marine. It is such a shame. He was a beautiful person. There was one video when he was a kid and the music in the background was Johnny Cash's song, Fulsom Prison. I love that song. It was really neat to look back on his childhood pictures, as that was the image we remembered about him. We knew him when he was little.
It was sad to see his grown up pictures in the marines. You really don't stop to think how hard it is over there for them. They are forced into war and battle, partly because they want to be there to fight for our country and also because they signed up and are forced into it, even though maybe they want to change their minds for fear of being killed.
They have got to know though that they are signing up for death upon themselves when they enlist. Many do come home in body bags. But it is the honor that they leave behind.
So, it was sad to see the videos around this holiday season. I would hope to never have to feel that pain of seeing my children die because they wanted to end it. They don't realize that people are going to be so upset and angry with them when they choose their fate.
On a lighter note, our children are having fun playing with their cousins. It is a special time. They always have a good time, and often the nightly curfew gets to be later than usual. They've all watched the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer special and are now getting the bedrooms set up for bedtime.
My niece and I painted our nails this afternoon. I pulled out all my nailpolish and we had a fun time picking out our colors.
Now, my sister and I are quietly playing on the computers. She is playing mahjong tile games and I am writing this blog. I love to play mahjong tile games too. It's a really fun matching game, with lightning speed. Fun to see it all disappear and beat your high score or time.
We've all had our share of yummy supper and sinful ice cream.
I ended up wrapping my nephews present and my oldest daughter was ready to go in and tell him what it was. I hope she didn't spoil the surprise for him. It was a present that my son got one year and he never even unwrapped it so it is still practically brand new.
Better to send a gift like that to someone that is actually going to open it and play with it. It's a good way to recycle gifts.
One visit, the cousins were all playing in their bedroom and one kept locking the door so the other sister couldn't come in. She got surprised when her dad got his drill and took away her doorknob for the duration of that visit. She got so upset that her door knob was gone and she wanted it back. Hence, the moral of that story, she won't be locking the door again.
Kids do really funny things.
Jennifer Jo Fay
Copyrighted December 10, 2011
Our family get togethers are priceless.
It's so important to let your kids get to know their cousins. We were always involved with all of our cousins when we were growing up. They were a big part of our lives. It's too bad when some kids never get the priviledge to get to know their cousins. When they live further away it is harder, but not impossible.
If anyone likes paperdolls or knows someone who likes paper dolls, check out my paperdoll post on each of my blogs where my paper dolls are for sale:
http://jennyjofaypaperdolls.blogspot.com/
http://jenniferpaperdolls.blogspot.com/ The Official Paper Doll Blog
http://mommiedearest101.blogspot.com/
http://yourstrulycraftygal.blogspot.com/
http://prolificpoetrychick.blogspot.com/
