National Pie for Breakfast Day

And now--with the newsletter at the printer, one final given, a few papers graded, and one sleepy boy upstairs saying over and over "good night, don't let bed bugs bite"--I think I have a minute to finish a post I started right after Thanksgiving.



As good a day as Thanksgiving is--and I do LOVE Thanksgiving--this year, I found myself really looking forward to the day after:  National Pie for Breakfast Day.  And then on Friday I had pie for breakfast and regretted it all day.  We were trying to leave for Sulphur Springs all morning, but I felt so awful that it took us a while to get on the road. 

Another way of telling this story would be that after what seemed like two-weeks in the clear, morning sickness reared its ugly head once again.  I still don't know which one it was--pie or morning sickness-- but I don't think I've said yet on this blog that we are expecting another baby, so there it is!  He or she is due May 23, and we (me and JB) are filled with a complex of emotions of about it that happy or excited or anxious does not seem to do justice to.  This is what we wanted, and we are looking forward to having another child, but I just remember how hard those first few months were.  Right now May seems too far away to think about it too much.

JB didn't have to work the week of Thanksgiving, so we did some traveling.  We had a great one-night camping trip to Colorado Bend State Park in the Texas Hill Country, we had a delightful Thanksgiving day at Neil and Christy's house, and we eventually made it to Sulphur Springs for a few days with JB's family. 

I think Benjamin enjoyed just about everything about camping.  The tent, his own little sleeping bag, the campfire, the freedom to play all around our campsite, the river, and even the hiking.

Benjamin pretending to sleep in our tent 

The Colorado River 

Our campsite is in the background--you can see our tent through the trees.

We did end up going on one hike that was a little harder than it looked like it would be.  Normally, it would not have been a hard hike at all, but for a pregnant mama, a daddy with a bad knee, and a 2-year old in a backpack, it was a little rough.  This is our new normal, at least for a while, and we just need to get used to it.   The hike was just 1.5 miles to a 60 foot waterfall, but we didn't account for having to climb down to the bottom of the waterfall at the end.  And then we had to go back. It was a beautiful hike, but would not have made the choice to do it if we had known. 

Thanksgiving moves right along into Christmas, and this year, Benjamin is into it.  REALLY into it.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went with JB's parents to a little Christmas in the Park celebration at a heritage park near their house and I think we were all amazed at how much Benjamin loved it.  He is transfixed by Christmas lights and was of course delighted that there were cookies to eat at almost every old house that we walked into.  He still talks about and imitates the handbell choir playing Christmas Carols and the blacksmith hammering on metal.  And the real surprise to me is that he remembers the name of the woman who handed us popcorn at one of the houses.  Whenever we have popcorn now, which has been a few times, he says "Mary Lucy!  Mary Lucy gave us popcorn!"

So now we're back in Waco, trying to enjoy the beginning of advent while hurriedly finishing up final grading.  Benjamin helped set up our tree.

And we are reading a book for advent with our small group called "Silence:  And other surprising invitations to Advent" by Enuma Okoro, which focuses on the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah.  It's been a great source of discussion and inspiration so far this season.

Raking leaves and putting up Christmas trees go together in Texas.