Friday, November 26, 2010

After Thanksgiving Catch-up

Thanksgiving is over for this year and we hope that it was a pleasant holiday for everyone. Helen and I had a quiet day which was very nice. The day before Thanksgiving we had our son, P.T., and his sons, Keaton and Kyle over. It also turned out to be a very pleasant day, except that Keaton beat me very badly at the game Connect Four.

When the kids came over we saw an odd reaction from Sandy. We really don't know her yet and are careful about her interaction with our grandchildren. She didn't react in any way we expected. When Kyle came in, Sandy cowered and started shaking badly. Then she ran in my bedroom and jumped on my bed, something she has never done. Jodie and Coco are regulars on my bed and I have placed Sandy there a few times, but we could never get her to jump up on her own. Kyle really terrorized her! It's particularly amazing because of all our grandchildren, Kyle is the mildest mannered of them all.

Jodie and Coco made the most off all the attention they got from P.P. and the kids and hovered over them as long as they were getting all the attention that they crave. Poor dogs hardly get any attention from Helen and me. Ha!!! When everyone was involved in other projects Jodie and Coco hid out in my bedroom. You'll see that Coco has designs on my pillow. I hope she doesn't drool.

Although a certain amount of time was spent playing Connect four, there were other things that had to be done. Keaton brought the supplies to build a bird house to qualify for a Boy Scout Merit Badge. P.T. and I gave him a few pointers, but he had to do all the work. It is preferred that he use hand tools rather than power tools and I'm more set up for power tools. I had two hand saws, but you couldn't even cut yourself with either one, so Keaton and I went up to Lowe's and bought a new one. The two old ones went out in this morning's trash. Keaton got all the pieces cut and the bird house is ready to assemble at next Monday's meeting.

While we were working on Keaton's project, Kyle was inside helping Nana with her project, which was getting ready for the feast. Helen put him to work breaking up the bread for the stuffing and Kyle did and excellent job. Later on, Nana took him to see the latest Harry Potter movie while the rest of us stayed home. Keaton conned me into a game of Connect Four and he beat me badly. He tried to get me in another game, but I'm not in his league. Sometimes we older folks will "throw" a game to make the kid feel good. That was not the case. And as I continued to fall behind I tried all the harder to close the gap. Losing is one thing. Losing very badly is quite another. Keaton has always impressed me with his prowess. Years ago he saw me using a pipe cutter and he wanted to try. He did a perfect job on his first try based on seeing what I did.

The kids are getting much bigger and it was a real joy having them for the day. We're going to make an effort to do this more often and I'm thinking of another project for Keaton.




P.T., Kyle, and Keaton playing Connect Four



Still at it.



Nana's helper, Kyle, helping prepare stuffing.



Birdhouse Project



Making a birdhouse must be hard work!!!



Escape from the mayhem.



More of the same.



Oops, is this your pillow?



The real P.T. (Paul, Jr.) revived.

With Thanksgiving over, Helen was determined to use some coupons at Bealls. It was going to be hard enough to fight a sea of aggressive women, but first she had to get ready. Jodie was sticking with her to the end. Helen couldn't get her shoes on as Jodie hung in to be scratched. She was careful to keep her head up as failure to do so generally gives Coco the opportunity to quickly slip in and slobber the face with her tongue. I sat on the floor laughing and keeping my eye on Coco. sandy walked over and "washed" my face while I avoided Coco. I can see that Sandy is part of the pack and the three are in cahoots. One will distract me while another sneaks in for the kill.



Helen, trying to get ready to go shopping.


With things back to normal, sandy can relax.

OK, that's my blog for today. Be careful if you go shopping. Be careful even if you don't.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like a good Thanksgiving Day at the Tempesta's House, I have to wonder what caused Sandy's anxiety, I wonder if a young person hurt her at her old house, very rare in a lab to be afraid of kid's, you did the right thing to let her sleep, maybe later if she's Jodie & Coco playing with the kid's she will relax and realize there is no danger.Be Safe out there. Sam & Donna...

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  2. Hi guys its Donna.
    I had a neighbor once with out of control kids.
    My shepherd who loved everyone was terrified of these kids. Then one day I found them hanging on fence and hitting him with sticks. Really hard for me to control myself and not take the sticks and beat the holy crap out of them. After that he was not fond of children, until new neighbors moved in with 2 boys and they were dog lovers. I explained to them what happened and to keep the boys away from the fence. They started coming over and walking from the house to the back yard. Slowly but surely Sir Coal got over his fear of kids, it just took time and two patient and loving little boys. He finally realized not all boys are bad. As Sam stated possibly she was abused by a boy about the age and size of your grandson. I'm sure with Jodie and Coco's support she will eventually come around.

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