(If you haven't seen the "Scared of Santa" website, it's here.)

Our boys are still young enough that so far they haven't made lists of what they want for Christmas. I don't expect this to last too much longer. This year whenever anyone asked Benjamin what he wanted he said, "Whatever Santa brings me is what I want." He told this to the Christmas tree lady at Home Depot, and to one Santa (he has seen two Santas so far). One friend of ours thought we had taught him to say this, and would ask him whenever she saw him just so she could hear that response. I think he is catching on now, though. Maybe he has learned that this isn't an acceptable answer. But he is easily influenced. Alex wants something remote controllable, so now Benjamin says, "A remote control thing." And today he listened to the Chipmunk Christmas song and as a result he thinks he wants a hoola hoop.

Thanksgiving activities

I'm thankful for preschool Thanksgiving Feasts:

Cousins playing hockey:

Good music that makes you want to perform a lip synching/air guitaring/air drumming concert:

By the end of this "concert", the other cousins had joined them onstage.

Talented sisters-in-law who transform me into a redhead (changing my hairstyle is becoming a Thanksgiving tradition for me):

But really, it doesn't get better than enjoying good food while surrounded by wonderful family. Especially when all I have to worry about is showing up with a jello salad. I don't have any pictures of the actual Thansgiving meal, but it was scrumptious, and contrary to what I wrote earlier we did not in fact eat Nancy.

Did anybody see this? It was on right after a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving the other night. I don't know if they usually show it but this is the first time I've noticed. I watched it yesterday (I was a day late) and I have to say I was impressed. They even mentioned John Howland, the guy who fell off the Mayflower during a storm. Supposedly I'm related to him. Most of us can probably find a connection since he's so far back, actually. Anyway, I learned a lot. We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Ryan's parents, and before we ate Nancy (Ryan's Mom) gave us a little quiz about the first Thanksgiving. Sam had mentioned that he knew a few of the answers from watching this. Now I understand. And now I know that the pilgrims were taught to plant their corn alongside dead fish for fertilizer.

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but . . .

One of the Baer family's favorite Christmas albums was Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration. A lot of the songs sound dated now, but this one still gets me moving. Plus, it has Chaka Khan. I think this was the era of silky shirts for guys, which brings back memories of Church dances. Silky shirts plus a sweaty teenage boy doesn't make for a good combination, especially during the slow dances when I had to put my hand on their shoulder. Anyway, I remember telling Joel that this was the song that I wanted to have playing when I die and (knock on wood) go to heaven.

keith morrison snl skit

This made us laugh.

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I wanna be a cowboy

Well, it has happened. The cowboy blood that runs deep in Ryan's veins is starting to surface. Recently we adopted Grandpa Haslam's horse Socks. A friend in our ward was nice enough to let us rent out a place for him to stay. Socks is somewhere around 30 years old so we don't know how long the fun will last, but for now Ryan is going almost daily to see to his needs and ride him a little. The boys are getting the hang of using the reins.

Charlie had a fit when I took him off the horse.

Not the best pictures, but I'm sure we'll have many more opportunities for better ones. It's fun for me to see the cowboy hat, Wranglers, and boots side of Ryan. Especially the Wranglers side. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Question of the day

From Benjamin:

Do monkeys make good pets?

(This is not the first time he has asked.)