Last week we went to the Homeschooling EduFair, the brainchild of Pamela Cooper, one of the homeschooling moms in our community. Pamela (who, I might add, gains nothing financially by doing this) organizes Field Trips for homeschoolers, as well. One never has to look far to find an educational outing to parks, factories, retail stores, government offices, etc. Pamela planned 3 Edufairs this year in Springfield, Monett, and Seymour, recruiting vendors and volunteers to bring resources to all who are interested in home educating.
As we were driving to "South Park" in Seymour, I was coaching the kids regarding their behavior. I asked Littlewho to please NOT say "Son of a..!", which he is in the habit of doing at home. He said "OK, I won't". Then I asked him to remember his manners and if he became upset to avoid performing any Karate kicks on any of the kids. He agreed that he wouldn't do that. I then asked the kids to participate in the Mad Science presentation that Pamela had scheduled and to try to do so with ENTHUSIASM! Suddenly Sisterwho started laughing hysterically and I couldn't understand what all of the carrying on was about.
When she was finally able to speak clearly, Sisterwho said "I was just thinking of that joke book you have". You see, I have a book entitled "The Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons" by Todd Wilson, a homeschooling dad. We bought it at the Homeschooling Convention this year and have been able to relate to the way the cartoons poke fun at what is a reality in our lives.
One of the cartoons has a picture of a mom driving a minivan with the reflection of her face in the rear-view mirror. She is looking back at the kids with eyebrows furrowed as she is lecturing them. The caption at the top of the page reads "You know you're a homeschooler when...." and there is a conversational bubble indicating the words she is saying:
"Now don't mention that we didn't get up till 9:30 or that your little brother can't read...or that we buy our bread from a store...or that you've seen Disney movies...and whatever you do, try not to say the words Batman or Power Rangers...and for goodness sakes try to act SMART!!!!".
The bottom of the page follows up on the previous caption with "...you panic when your kids go to other homeschoolers' homes."
We had a good laugh and for the record, the kids didn't let me down.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Kindergarten Dropout?
This morning I was listening from the other room as Dh and Littlewho were "doing school". Littlewho was sluggish and not very cooperative after staying up too late the night before.
Dh said "Alright, tell me the U.S. Presidents you know about." Littlewho sighed and started reciting (very slowly and with no enthusiasm), "Washington, George, wife was Martha *sigh*; Adams, John-2nd president; Madison, James-father of the constitution *bigger sigh*; Andrew Jackson-Old Hickory, 7th president. Dad, do I HAVE to do this?".
Dh said, "OK, let's do something different", and he had littlewho start writing his letters and it was immediately apparent that he was in no mood for assistance or correction. After a few minutes he threw down his pencil and said "I can't do it!".
Knowing how frustrated he was getting, Dh said, "Why don't you be the teacher? Teach me something". Littlewho eagerly said, "Do you know why God made the world, I mean, the grass and the trees and the flowers and stuff?" Dh replied "Well, I guess he was bored." Littlewho laughed and said "No silly, he wanted it to be nice and pretty for the people to live and be happy."
"Oh, I see", replied dh.
As I'm thinking about how sweet and angelic this child is his next question to dh was "Do you know why God made serial killers?".
Oh boy, new subject, please.
They went back to working on letters and their sounds; Littlewho still not in a good mood and I could tell by the tone of his voice he was getting really exasperated. I was getting ready to rescue him when I heard dh say, "Let's draw a picture-you draw a picture of me, the teacher, and I'll draw a picture of you, the student."
Littlewho loves to draw and was happily and intently keeping his work hidden from dh. When he was done and it was time to compare photos, I heard dh burst out laughing. While he had drawn a picture of a cute little boy with dimples and cowlicks, Littlewho had drawn a picture of his daddy with horns and fangs.
Dh said "Alright, tell me the U.S. Presidents you know about." Littlewho sighed and started reciting (very slowly and with no enthusiasm), "Washington, George, wife was Martha *sigh*; Adams, John-2nd president; Madison, James-father of the constitution *bigger sigh*; Andrew Jackson-Old Hickory, 7th president. Dad, do I HAVE to do this?".
Dh said, "OK, let's do something different", and he had littlewho start writing his letters and it was immediately apparent that he was in no mood for assistance or correction. After a few minutes he threw down his pencil and said "I can't do it!".
Knowing how frustrated he was getting, Dh said, "Why don't you be the teacher? Teach me something". Littlewho eagerly said, "Do you know why God made the world, I mean, the grass and the trees and the flowers and stuff?" Dh replied "Well, I guess he was bored." Littlewho laughed and said "No silly, he wanted it to be nice and pretty for the people to live and be happy."
"Oh, I see", replied dh.
As I'm thinking about how sweet and angelic this child is his next question to dh was "Do you know why God made serial killers?".
Oh boy, new subject, please.
They went back to working on letters and their sounds; Littlewho still not in a good mood and I could tell by the tone of his voice he was getting really exasperated. I was getting ready to rescue him when I heard dh say, "Let's draw a picture-you draw a picture of me, the teacher, and I'll draw a picture of you, the student."
Littlewho loves to draw and was happily and intently keeping his work hidden from dh. When he was done and it was time to compare photos, I heard dh burst out laughing. While he had drawn a picture of a cute little boy with dimples and cowlicks, Littlewho had drawn a picture of his daddy with horns and fangs.
Garage Sale
We had our first garage sale yesterday on Blackberry Hill. We didn't advertise in the paper, it was one of those spur-of-the-moment, "we need to get rid of this stuff" decisions. The kids wanted to make some money and they decided to do most of the work. Sisterwho did the planning; she considers herself a professional garage-saler after spending so many weekends with Grandma and I have to admit, she knows her stuff!
The day before the sale, they cleaned out the barn, fashioned tables out of plywood, hauled boxes out of the shed and the basement and set everything up. Dh and I told them to price everything cheap; the idea was to get rid of things we don't want while recycling it by keeping it out of a landfill.
Since we are out in the country on a dirt road, we didn't know how many people would show up. Ds19, who is very artistic, prepared 24 great-looking signs indicating the sale would be TH/FRI and we placed them far and wide to direct people to our home. When we arrived home from putting up the signs at 8 pm the day before the sale, there was a truck pulling out of our lane-someone had already stopped to shop!
At 6:30 am on Thursday as we were eating breakfast, our first customer arrived. The kids hurriedly got dressed, inhaled their breakfast and went to attend the sale. From that point on, it was a constant stream of people. The kids met many of the people who live in this area and heard stories from older folks about the people who built our house (Mennonites). We sold a wooden sign that said "ROMANCE" and the man who bought it was born in Romance, MO. And not a person who stopped didn't comment on the views from the top of our mountain. The kids really seemed to enjoy talking to everyone and learning more about this area. Oh, I mustn't forget, a couple of people informed us about the bears and mountain lions that had been spotted in these parts-YIKES!
By 1:30, most of what we had was sold, excepting a few books and misc. items. We decided to forego the sale on Friday and went to take down the signs. We have never had such a good sale, even when we lived in the middle of the city!
The day before the sale, they cleaned out the barn, fashioned tables out of plywood, hauled boxes out of the shed and the basement and set everything up. Dh and I told them to price everything cheap; the idea was to get rid of things we don't want while recycling it by keeping it out of a landfill.
Since we are out in the country on a dirt road, we didn't know how many people would show up. Ds19, who is very artistic, prepared 24 great-looking signs indicating the sale would be TH/FRI and we placed them far and wide to direct people to our home. When we arrived home from putting up the signs at 8 pm the day before the sale, there was a truck pulling out of our lane-someone had already stopped to shop!
At 6:30 am on Thursday as we were eating breakfast, our first customer arrived. The kids hurriedly got dressed, inhaled their breakfast and went to attend the sale. From that point on, it was a constant stream of people. The kids met many of the people who live in this area and heard stories from older folks about the people who built our house (Mennonites). We sold a wooden sign that said "ROMANCE" and the man who bought it was born in Romance, MO. And not a person who stopped didn't comment on the views from the top of our mountain. The kids really seemed to enjoy talking to everyone and learning more about this area. Oh, I mustn't forget, a couple of people informed us about the bears and mountain lions that had been spotted in these parts-YIKES!
By 1:30, most of what we had was sold, excepting a few books and misc. items. We decided to forego the sale on Friday and went to take down the signs. We have never had such a good sale, even when we lived in the middle of the city!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Back to School....at Home
Today was our official first day of school. After weeks of preparation and hours of writing lesson plans, I was finally ready and Sisterwho even asked if she could do math (wait, is the sky falling??).
We are studying modern history for a term and then we'll go back to ancient history for the rest of the year. World War II is dh's favorite subject so he will be able to share his wealth of knowledge about Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Truman, etc.
We are reading The Hobbit for literature, along with Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale". I would love to find a Shakespeare play to see this fall but after looking at all of the local college's fine arts schedules, there doesn't appear to be a production.
Geography is a study of David Livingstone's "Missionary Travels in Africa". We are learning about him as one of the great abolitionists and his work among African nations earned him tremendous respect there and in the United States. My friend Kim (what would I do without you) gave me the name of a game that facilitates the learning of the geography of Africa--10 Days in Africa--and the kids have already played it several times since it came in the mail yesterday. I just ordered more of the "10 days in ______" games. Currently available are 10 Days in The United States and Europe and they are working on "10 Days in Asia" to come out later this year.
Poetry, Latin, Foreign Language, Theology, Nature Study, Plutarch, Natural History, Composer and Artist studies round out our schedule. Dd and I are also doing a bible study together titled "Beautiful Girlhood".
LittleWho is officially of Kindergarten age but school for him is pretty much doing what we've been doing for the past 5 years; reading quality literature, counting everything that occurs in multiples like fenceposts, trees, stars, raisins, etc. and spending time in nature and cultivating his natural interest in whatever it is he seems to want to know about. Reading is something he hasn't shown particularly great interest in yet, and *gasp*, he doesn't even know his ABC's but according to language expert Ruth Beechick, there is no need to know the alphabet or even the names of the letters to begin reading. She recommends working on the letter sounds first, the rest will come later. Maybe I could convince him that in order to be a Ninja, he must sit still for a few minutes and meditate on schoolwork......
The 2 big boys, Ds21 and Ds19 are in the Blackberry Hill College of Real Life. They are both reading all of the books on my classical booklists, grabbing everything they can get their hands on; both of them are such voracious readers! We are enjoying being together as a family and spending time learning from each other, working on the house and the land and, hopefully, they will carry the practical knowledge with them into their adult lives.
We are studying modern history for a term and then we'll go back to ancient history for the rest of the year. World War II is dh's favorite subject so he will be able to share his wealth of knowledge about Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Truman, etc.
We are reading The Hobbit for literature, along with Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale". I would love to find a Shakespeare play to see this fall but after looking at all of the local college's fine arts schedules, there doesn't appear to be a production.
Geography is a study of David Livingstone's "Missionary Travels in Africa". We are learning about him as one of the great abolitionists and his work among African nations earned him tremendous respect there and in the United States. My friend Kim (what would I do without you) gave me the name of a game that facilitates the learning of the geography of Africa--10 Days in Africa--and the kids have already played it several times since it came in the mail yesterday. I just ordered more of the "10 days in ______" games. Currently available are 10 Days in The United States and Europe and they are working on "10 Days in Asia" to come out later this year.
Poetry, Latin, Foreign Language, Theology, Nature Study, Plutarch, Natural History, Composer and Artist studies round out our schedule. Dd and I are also doing a bible study together titled "Beautiful Girlhood".
LittleWho is officially of Kindergarten age but school for him is pretty much doing what we've been doing for the past 5 years; reading quality literature, counting everything that occurs in multiples like fenceposts, trees, stars, raisins, etc. and spending time in nature and cultivating his natural interest in whatever it is he seems to want to know about. Reading is something he hasn't shown particularly great interest in yet, and *gasp*, he doesn't even know his ABC's but according to language expert Ruth Beechick, there is no need to know the alphabet or even the names of the letters to begin reading. She recommends working on the letter sounds first, the rest will come later. Maybe I could convince him that in order to be a Ninja, he must sit still for a few minutes and meditate on schoolwork......
The 2 big boys, Ds21 and Ds19 are in the Blackberry Hill College of Real Life. They are both reading all of the books on my classical booklists, grabbing everything they can get their hands on; both of them are such voracious readers! We are enjoying being together as a family and spending time learning from each other, working on the house and the land and, hopefully, they will carry the practical knowledge with them into their adult lives.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Cree Proverb
Only when the last tree has died
and the last river has been poisoned
and the last fish has been caught
will we realize that we can't eat money.
Youn Wha!
Little Who had his first Tai Kwan Do lesson today. He has patiently waited for several weeks for this day to come, practicing his kicks and spins with the zeal of a true martial artist.
He wants to learn how to hunt and subdue serial killers. Yep, you heard me correctly, serial killers. For months that is all he has talked about and every move he makes is a step to prepare him for his job as a serial killer killer.
Being the martial artist that he is, he has worn a headband (made of gauze that I brought home from work) every day for a very, very long time. It's dingy and dirty but he takes great care to put it away at night and in the morning when he comes out of his room in his undies, the headband is always on his head. The other kids cringe when we go anywhere because it has become rather embarassing to be seen with Captain Underpants. Not only does he wear a headband but he has a belt, holster, and gun strapped on his waist in case he runs into a serial killer trying to abduct one of us out here on the farm (well, ya just never know!).
As we went into the "Y" for Little Who's class, sisterwho asked him to take off his headband. He said "Are you kidding me, I can't do Karate without this!". He didn't care and lucky for us, there was only one other child in the class, a 5 year-old chubby little girl who thought the headband was pretty cool.
He wants to learn how to hunt and subdue serial killers. Yep, you heard me correctly, serial killers. For months that is all he has talked about and every move he makes is a step to prepare him for his job as a serial killer killer.
Being the martial artist that he is, he has worn a headband (made of gauze that I brought home from work) every day for a very, very long time. It's dingy and dirty but he takes great care to put it away at night and in the morning when he comes out of his room in his undies, the headband is always on his head. The other kids cringe when we go anywhere because it has become rather embarassing to be seen with Captain Underpants. Not only does he wear a headband but he has a belt, holster, and gun strapped on his waist in case he runs into a serial killer trying to abduct one of us out here on the farm (well, ya just never know!).
As we went into the "Y" for Little Who's class, sisterwho asked him to take off his headband. He said "Are you kidding me, I can't do Karate without this!". He didn't care and lucky for us, there was only one other child in the class, a 5 year-old chubby little girl who thought the headband was pretty cool.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Happy 60th Dad! (aka Papa, Indian, Butch or Paul)
Dad's birthday party is over and I confess, I'm exhausted! Planning it was difficult for me because I am unable to make a decision. I debated whether we should have it at his farm, our place, the "lodge", a restaurant, or a bar. I thought if we had it at a bar or restaurant, the kids wouldn't have anything to do. If we had it at any indoor place, it would be smokey, which wouldn't be good for the kids. If we had it at our home, Dad's friends wouldn't know how to get here. I was driving everyone crazy trying to figure out where to do it! Then I spoke with my brother about my dilemma and he said, "Oh, we have to have it at Dad's, he wouldn't want it anywhere else". Gee, I wish I'd spoken with him first!
So, with that major decision out of the way I now needed to decide what to do for food and drink. Grinny (dad's S.O.), Shawshe (my cousin), and I labored over whether to have the party catered, have everyone bring a dish, or do it all ourselves. We decided against the catering because we weren't sure how the caterer's would survive our rowdy crew. It would have been too difficult for everyone to bring something because many of our relatives were coming from out of town. Therefore, we decided to do the food preparation ourselves.
Trash Can Supper
I have an Amish cookbook and had seen a recipe for a "Trash Can Supper". It is just exactly what the name implies, food cooked in a trash can. It sounded like fun to me but the recipe was pretty sketchy and I wasn't sure if I could use any type metal trash can, how much water to put in it, how much of all of the ingredients to use, etc. I looked online, asked everyone I knew, and couldn't find much about it. The recipe said to layer corn-on-the-cob, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage and polish sausage--in that order--put it in a trash can and cook it over a fire. I decided to go to the Amish store and ask if they knew how to do the trash can supper so Shawshe (who stayed with me all week to help with the planning) and I headed out to do just that.
Beautiful People
On our way to the Amish store, there was a sign out in front of a house on the highway that said "sweet corn for sale". Knowing I would need a lot of corn, I pulled in to the house. An elderly gentleman came out and with a smile and a handshake said, "Hi, How have you been?" (I'd never seen him before in my life). I asked him how much his sweet corn was and he told me $2 a dozen and after I told him I wanted 3 dozen I said, "by the way, have you ever heard of a trash can supper?". He smiled and said "Sure, we have them all the time at the lodge". I explained that I was going to have one but that I didn't know exactly how so he (Forrest, I can't remember his last name, all I could think of was "Gump") invited me into his home to call his friend who was the chef at all of the "trash can suppers".
I spoke with Mr. Carpenter on the phone and he gave me all of the missing details I needed. He then told me I was more than welcome to use his 60 quart pot instead of a trash can because galvanized steel will leak zinc into your food. Dh was in Springfield at the time, trying to locate a trash can so I told Mr. Carpenter thanks and that I would call him if I needed his pot. He gave me directions to his house just in case I needed to come pick it up.
I thanked Forrest and his wife for their hospitality and sweet corn and left. On my way back to town I called dh and told him that Mr. Carpenter had offered to let us borrow his pot and dh said "go for it" so I drove to Mr. C's house. He not only gave me his pot but also his propane cooker and a full tank of propane and loaded it into my car and the dear man had just had eye surgery that very day. I was so touched by his generosity. I told him that since he had no idea who I was, I would leave him my 5 year old son as assurance that I'd return his stuff. He said "I'll take my chances!".
Shrimp Boil
Now I was getting somewhere but all I could think of was "Are we gonna have enough food?". We had a guest list of around 60 people. Dad is blessed to have a multitude of friends and they are all the type who want to share in his celebration so I had no doubt that most of them would come. Shawshe suggested we have a shrimp boil and red beans and rice, along with the trash can supper. It sounded good and easy and she and my cousin "Pooh" said they would do the cooking.
Keg
I have 4 precious brothers and they aren't much into party planning but when a keg was mentioned, they were happy to oblige! I was just happy that they all said they'd come. My youngest brother volunteered to get the beer--that's right--we had a kegger for my Dad's 60th birthday party. I told you he was a cool guy!
Miscellaneous
The other boys said they'd bring cake, drinks, plates and cups and utensils so it was all covered. I spoke with my oldest brother (who is 11 months older than me) and jokingly said, "I'm doing all of this by myself with no help from you guys!". He replied, "So.....that's how it's always been". I love my bros but one sister would have been nice. Honestly, though, everyone pitched in (sisters-in-law included) and made it a great day for Dad.
Party Day
The day of the party, we all converged on Dad's farm early. It was to be a surprise party scheduled to start at 6pm. My cousin Rick was to arrive at Dad's house early and drag him off on a hunt for a new seat for his truck (currently being held in place with a stump, yep, that's my Daddy). The catering crew (me, dh, Shawshe and my youngest brother) arrived at Dad's house and guess what? He was still there. My Dad doesn't do anything very fast and Rick hadn't been able to get him away from the farm. So, we just started unloading pots and pans, slow cookers, lawn chairs, etc. out of our cars while Dad stood there scratching his head. He knew something was up but no one said a word. Dad knew he better go ahead and leave with Rick so off they went.
The Guests arrive
We had not requested RSVP's from the invitees, that's not really our style--as my cousin Pooh said, it was "Hillbilly Heaven"--so we weren't sure how many people would show up. Well, I should have known that when everyone heard "kegger" they would show up in droves. We invited around 60 people and no less than 60 people showed up. Several of our Aunts, Uncles and cousins came and Dad's friends did not let him down. He was very surprised when people started coming by the carloads.
The food was great! Several people said it was some of the best food they'd ever eaten and I was surprised at how truly easy it was to pull off. There was no shortage of food, either! We sent trays home with several people and still had enough to feed everyone who stayed all night and into the next day.
Afterwards, we had cake and homemade ice cream and Dad opened presents including a bed pan, laxatives, preparation H, and a rubber ducky (of course)! Mostly, he just got 12 packs of beer.
Fear Factor
I won't implicate anyone by naming names but some of the guests had a little too much fun! Many of us stayed the night at the farm, some brought campers and we just crashed on the couches, the floor, and even in the backseats of cars. Early Sunday morning as everyone was slowly coming back to life and sitting outside drinking coffee, my little brother (R) was telling a story that had everyone in stitches. Apparently, he had picked up a large Cicada and a person who was a little, ahem, well, DRUNK, said "Feed it to me!". R said "What??", and the person repeated "FEED IT TO ME!!". R says he pleaded and begged for ? not to eat the bug but he held his hand up to the mystery person's mouth and R saw the cicada disappear, except for a couple of wings that were sticking out the sides because the bug was too big to be consumed in one piece.
The Party's Over
We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the mess and then took a break and went to the creek for a swim. It was a wonderful time and Dad said it was the best birthday party he'd ever had. He also said, "Gosh, I wonder what my 100th birthday will be like!!??". I can't wait but when he's 100, I'll be 80.....it's wearing me out just thinking about it!
So, with that major decision out of the way I now needed to decide what to do for food and drink. Grinny (dad's S.O.), Shawshe (my cousin), and I labored over whether to have the party catered, have everyone bring a dish, or do it all ourselves. We decided against the catering because we weren't sure how the caterer's would survive our rowdy crew. It would have been too difficult for everyone to bring something because many of our relatives were coming from out of town. Therefore, we decided to do the food preparation ourselves.
Trash Can Supper
I have an Amish cookbook and had seen a recipe for a "Trash Can Supper". It is just exactly what the name implies, food cooked in a trash can. It sounded like fun to me but the recipe was pretty sketchy and I wasn't sure if I could use any type metal trash can, how much water to put in it, how much of all of the ingredients to use, etc. I looked online, asked everyone I knew, and couldn't find much about it. The recipe said to layer corn-on-the-cob, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage and polish sausage--in that order--put it in a trash can and cook it over a fire. I decided to go to the Amish store and ask if they knew how to do the trash can supper so Shawshe (who stayed with me all week to help with the planning) and I headed out to do just that.
Beautiful People
On our way to the Amish store, there was a sign out in front of a house on the highway that said "sweet corn for sale". Knowing I would need a lot of corn, I pulled in to the house. An elderly gentleman came out and with a smile and a handshake said, "Hi, How have you been?" (I'd never seen him before in my life). I asked him how much his sweet corn was and he told me $2 a dozen and after I told him I wanted 3 dozen I said, "by the way, have you ever heard of a trash can supper?". He smiled and said "Sure, we have them all the time at the lodge". I explained that I was going to have one but that I didn't know exactly how so he (Forrest, I can't remember his last name, all I could think of was "Gump") invited me into his home to call his friend who was the chef at all of the "trash can suppers".
I spoke with Mr. Carpenter on the phone and he gave me all of the missing details I needed. He then told me I was more than welcome to use his 60 quart pot instead of a trash can because galvanized steel will leak zinc into your food. Dh was in Springfield at the time, trying to locate a trash can so I told Mr. Carpenter thanks and that I would call him if I needed his pot. He gave me directions to his house just in case I needed to come pick it up.
I thanked Forrest and his wife for their hospitality and sweet corn and left. On my way back to town I called dh and told him that Mr. Carpenter had offered to let us borrow his pot and dh said "go for it" so I drove to Mr. C's house. He not only gave me his pot but also his propane cooker and a full tank of propane and loaded it into my car and the dear man had just had eye surgery that very day. I was so touched by his generosity. I told him that since he had no idea who I was, I would leave him my 5 year old son as assurance that I'd return his stuff. He said "I'll take my chances!".
Shrimp Boil
Now I was getting somewhere but all I could think of was "Are we gonna have enough food?". We had a guest list of around 60 people. Dad is blessed to have a multitude of friends and they are all the type who want to share in his celebration so I had no doubt that most of them would come. Shawshe suggested we have a shrimp boil and red beans and rice, along with the trash can supper. It sounded good and easy and she and my cousin "Pooh" said they would do the cooking.
Keg
I have 4 precious brothers and they aren't much into party planning but when a keg was mentioned, they were happy to oblige! I was just happy that they all said they'd come. My youngest brother volunteered to get the beer--that's right--we had a kegger for my Dad's 60th birthday party. I told you he was a cool guy!
Miscellaneous
The other boys said they'd bring cake, drinks, plates and cups and utensils so it was all covered. I spoke with my oldest brother (who is 11 months older than me) and jokingly said, "I'm doing all of this by myself with no help from you guys!". He replied, "So.....that's how it's always been". I love my bros but one sister would have been nice. Honestly, though, everyone pitched in (sisters-in-law included) and made it a great day for Dad.
Party Day
The day of the party, we all converged on Dad's farm early. It was to be a surprise party scheduled to start at 6pm. My cousin Rick was to arrive at Dad's house early and drag him off on a hunt for a new seat for his truck (currently being held in place with a stump, yep, that's my Daddy). The catering crew (me, dh, Shawshe and my youngest brother) arrived at Dad's house and guess what? He was still there. My Dad doesn't do anything very fast and Rick hadn't been able to get him away from the farm. So, we just started unloading pots and pans, slow cookers, lawn chairs, etc. out of our cars while Dad stood there scratching his head. He knew something was up but no one said a word. Dad knew he better go ahead and leave with Rick so off they went.
The Guests arrive
We had not requested RSVP's from the invitees, that's not really our style--as my cousin Pooh said, it was "Hillbilly Heaven"--so we weren't sure how many people would show up. Well, I should have known that when everyone heard "kegger" they would show up in droves. We invited around 60 people and no less than 60 people showed up. Several of our Aunts, Uncles and cousins came and Dad's friends did not let him down. He was very surprised when people started coming by the carloads.
The food was great! Several people said it was some of the best food they'd ever eaten and I was surprised at how truly easy it was to pull off. There was no shortage of food, either! We sent trays home with several people and still had enough to feed everyone who stayed all night and into the next day.
Afterwards, we had cake and homemade ice cream and Dad opened presents including a bed pan, laxatives, preparation H, and a rubber ducky (of course)! Mostly, he just got 12 packs of beer.
Fear Factor
I won't implicate anyone by naming names but some of the guests had a little too much fun! Many of us stayed the night at the farm, some brought campers and we just crashed on the couches, the floor, and even in the backseats of cars. Early Sunday morning as everyone was slowly coming back to life and sitting outside drinking coffee, my little brother (R) was telling a story that had everyone in stitches. Apparently, he had picked up a large Cicada and a person who was a little, ahem, well, DRUNK, said "Feed it to me!". R said "What??", and the person repeated "FEED IT TO ME!!". R says he pleaded and begged for ? not to eat the bug but he held his hand up to the mystery person's mouth and R saw the cicada disappear, except for a couple of wings that were sticking out the sides because the bug was too big to be consumed in one piece.
The Party's Over
We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the mess and then took a break and went to the creek for a swim. It was a wonderful time and Dad said it was the best birthday party he'd ever had. He also said, "Gosh, I wonder what my 100th birthday will be like!!??". I can't wait but when he's 100, I'll be 80.....it's wearing me out just thinking about it!
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