How Presbyterians Party

This post should have been made almost a month ago but I am just now able to find the time to download pictures off of our camera. Some of you know (because some of you are these people) that we have a weekly small group that meets for dinner, fellowship, and prayer time on Tuesday nights. This group has grown tremendously in the last two years and we are a happy bunch of people that like to eat the weekly host and/or hostess out of house and home. We gathered for a Christmas party earlier in December and it was a blissful adult only party, minus the little ones. Sarah Marsh is attending culinary school so we are always eager to sample her "homework" each week. Our Christmas party was both delicious and delightful and although my pregnancy prevented me from partaking of a glass of my favorite "House Wine" merlot, I did put ice water in a wine glass to keep my cool.

At some point in the night, I realized that all the men were standing in the kitchen, drinks in hand, with their backs to all us women, who were seated in the living room, cackling like a bunch of hens. Eventually two men ventured to the hen house and blended the genders again. All in all, it was a wonderful evening with friends.

Who's the Daddy?

Yes, it's time for another installment of Who's the Daddy and Who's the Son? We are at Mamie and Bop Bop's house in Brownsville, TN this week for the holidays and happened upon some more pictures to show just how closely Little Philip resembles his daddy at this age. If not for 1970's picture quality, we are certain you would have a hard time telling who's who in these pictures. Well, that and Bop Bop's super stylin' butterfly collar suit.

The Gift of Slippers

From my friend, Jennifer Cooke's wonderful email forward today...

Dear Friends, Christmas is tight this year. I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts. Please let me know your sizes. You'll most likely agree that it's a splendid idea, and should you wish to do the same, I've included the instructions below. Please take a look at the photo above before reading any further. How to make bedroom slippers: You need four maxi pads to make a pair. Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part. The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top. Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part. Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most aesthetically appealing), etc. These slippers are: * Soft and Hygienic * Non-slip grip strips on the soles * Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh * No more bending over to mop up spills * Disposable and biodegradable * Environmentally safe * convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light I've attached a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the nifty slippers for yourself.... Awaiting your response. It's crucial that I get the right size for each one of you.

Dinner Out with Little Philip

Little Philip: "FRIES!" "FRIES!" "FRIES!"

Mommy, alternating with Daddy: "Philip, you need to take a bit of your hamburger first."

Little Philip: "NO! NO! NO!" "FRIES!" "FRIES!" FRIES!" (slams his face into the booth wall)

Daddy looks at Mommy for support, who is seated across the table from he and his son. Mommy shrugs, after all, she's new at this too.

Little Philip, seeing a glimmer of hope instead said "ICE CREAM?" "MOMMY'S ICE CREAM?"

Mommy, sensing a need to be protective over her strawberry shake, her only item for dinner due to pregnancy heartburn, attempts to hide the enormous classic shake anywhere but in her son's hands.

Little Philip again screams "NO DADDY!" "FRIES!" "FRIES!" "FRIES!" (pause) "ICE CREAM!" "ICE CREAM!" "ICE CREAM!"

Daddy tears a tiny piece of hamburger meat and places it on a napkin, attempting to wager with a two year old by saying "Philip, if you will eat just this one piece, you can have a fry."

Little Philip collapses in sheer horror and pain at the thought of not getting his beloved fry. And then, he decides to give it a try. He takes the hamburger bite, places it in his mouth and begins to chew. Mommy and Daddy praise him for being obedient, and Daddy hands him the fry.

Little Philip promptly spits the chewed piece of hamburger out of his mouth, feeling a sense of accomplishment as he opens his mouth to insert the fry. Daddy takes the fry from his hand just before contact.

Again, complete detonation, full out tears, screams of horror. Mommy looks at Daddy and without speaking says in her facial expression "DO NOT REACT! WE HAVE TO DO THIS!"

(customers look around, but then realize the ambiance of Johnny Rocket's calls for such behavior, thus the family friendly atmosphere with loud 50's music to drown out the screaming)

(Mommy, Daddy, and Little Philip repeat steps listed above for about 20 more minutes, with same said chewed hamburger meat being spit out two additional times)

Finally, Daddy shoves a juice in Little Philip's mouth just prior to the fourth attempt to spit out said hamburger sliver. By now Mommy has eaten most of the fries, leaving only a few for this teaching moment.

Little Philip finally swallows that tiny piece of hamburger and earns his fry. He refuses to eat it, until he is in the car on the way home, carrying it proudly out in front of him in the parking lot as he head to the car.

It is 7:58 p.m. and Mommy and Daddy are borrowing Little Philip's 8:00 p.m. bedtime tonight. We've earned it.

Spaghetti Squash

Baby Girl Moss now has a name. We plan to name her Helen Boyce Moss. Helen is a name on both sides of the family, in that her maternal great grandmother's name is Helen and her paternal great aunt and great-great aunt are both Helen as well. Boyce is her Mama's middle name, the middle name of her maternal grandmother and the middle name of her maternal great grandfather. It is also the name of a little town in Louisiana, Rapides Parish, named for her maternal great-great-great-great grandfather/grandmother, Henry and Irene Boyce. We learned tonight at my birthday dinner with the Porter family that Grandma Porter's (Little Helen's maternal great-great grandmother) middle name was also Helen. All these years we thought it was Ruth Ellen but apparently, it was Ruth Helen. My sister Ellen, was apparently named for Grandma Porter. Whoops.

So Helen it is. Helen Boyce Moss. Her initials will be HBM which is better than the second choice which was HAM. We just couldn't bare to do that.

At 22 weeks, Little Helen is now the length of a spaghetti squash, weighing in at just about a pound now. At this point, her teeth buds are beginning to form. We've settled on colors for her room, pink and green, considering the walls are already a light pastel green. Big Philip is working on refinishing an antique twin bed for Little Philip's room, so that the crib can move across the hall to Little Helen's room. We will be taking the daybed from my childhood years and putting that in Helen's room too. I learned my lesson with Little Philip so I want to be sure there is a bed in her room for Mama to crash on for late night feedings.

Oh, and we ordered some sample squares of FLOR carpet tiles. They definitely look modern and industrial, and certainly don't feel very good underfoot. I'm glad we ordered samples first because it's just not going to work for our style of house. Little Philip plays with the five color squares, and for at least two of the textures, they are a magnet for pet hair. That is about as far we we've come in preparing for baby number two. Time is flying by!

Thanksgiving Holiday at the Mosses

We left Wednesday afternoon to head north to Brownsville to spend the holiday with the Moss family. Thursday was spent at the farm doing the traditonal Moss family things...walking through the woods, chopping wood, riding the kaboda, sitting around the campfire. These are all the grandchildren around the fire. It was smoky and very cold.

Elizabeth joined us at the farm and had a good time playing with Philip. In this shot they were riding the mule. You can see how Philip is dressed to get an idea of how cold it was that day.

Friday morning we slept late and got ready for the Egg Bowl. Renie and the women went shopping and left the men to make rotel and watch the game. Mississippi State played poorly and Big Philip gave up on the dawgs in the fourth quarter and headed to join Jamie and Bop Bop deer hunting. It was a good day for the Mosses. Not only did Mississippi State win but Jamie and Big Philip both killed 8-points. No, we do not have new wall decoration for our living room. Big Philip is waiting on a bigger deer to mount.

Bananas and Turkey

The baby size comparison this week is that baby girl Moss is now the length of a banana, approximately 10 inches long. My check up this week assured us that so far, I am not going into preterm labor as I did with Little Philip. I'm getting sweet little kicks and jabs now, reassuring me that this a healthy pregnancy. Little Philip has regressed to not responding to our conversations about his baby sister anymore. However, our affectionate and sweet little boy will give Mama's belly a big hug and kiss, gently patting and saying "Mama's baby."

We are considering doing FLOR carpet tiles for the new baby's room. We are trying to find someone else that may have used these carpet tiles. I am specifically interested to know if, when vacuumed, they pull up off the floor, possibly separating from each other over time. It is a relatively inexpensive product and the patterns are really cute and bright for a child's room. If anyone has FLOR tiles in their home or knows if they wear well with hardwoods and vacuuming, please let me know!

As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Mosses this year, we give thanks for all of our family and friends! We wish you happy fat bellies stuffed with turkey and all the trimmings, and happy endings to all your holiday football games.