The Jillian 500

The caution flag was raised!

Jillian let off the "brakes," hit the gas full speed and began walking at my mom's house over the holiday.

Food persuaded Jillian to walk. Mom, Laci and I were sitting in the living room enjoying some oatmeal raisin cookies and chatting. Jillian was fussing for a piece of cookie, so Mom just held some out to her as she kept talking, not intentionally trying to get her to walk.

Jillian walked a step and stood between me and my mom and waited patiently until we finally noticed she was standing on her own! She then gave a grin and walked a couple more steps to mom and took her piece of cookie.

Confidence does wonders. Once Jillian realized SHE was in control of walking she cruised everywhere, slowly taking more and more steps each "trip."

Jillian walked the latest out of all four children, at 16 months old! Madalynn was 15 1/2 months when she walked, Dawson was 14 1/2 months, and Justis was 14 months. I remember PRAYING that the Lord would cause Madalynn to walk before Justis was born. She began walking only two weeks prior to Justis's birth. All of our children learned to walk in Kansas, Travis pointed out!

Madalynn, Santa's Helper

"You can get me one of these for Christmas this year," Madalynn said as she pulled a couple of advertisement clippings out of her backpack today.

I stopped rinsing dishes and stepped over to get an up-close look at what she had.

Two neatly cut pictures of Hannah Montana dolls were on the table side by side.

"I don't think they would cost too much money," she said. "This one said, 19, and that one said it was 10." One of the clippings advertised a Hannah Montana doll for $19.98, the other Hanna Montana doll was 10% off.

Almost sure my sister or my mom helped her clip some things she liked out of the paper, I asked her, "Madalynn, did Grandma or Aunt Laci help you pick some things and cut them out."

"No. I did it myself. I kind of like this one, because it has a purse, but this one is good, too, because it looks like it has more stuff. I'll leave these right here on the counter so you can see what to buy me on Christmas Eve. I would like either one. You choose." Then she walked away.

Madalynn is about as up front about things as I am most of the time, so I was not surprised she had her gift request in photo form with options. Santa's guesswork is done! :)

Oh, if any of you are wondering why she brought the clippings to me, instead of sending them to Santa Claus, she knows St. Nick is dead!? She matter-of-factly told the kids and I, "Santa doesn't bring our presents, our parents do. St. Nicholas was real and he did give gifts to kids, but he died. Now mommies and daddies give Santa presents."

Thanksgiving, The Chadd Family Way!

I finally realized, at age 21 or so (when my family expanded), that not every family celebrates Thanksgiving with the same foods or traditions! This year we had a Chadd family Thanksgiving in Ulysses at my parent's house.

Mouth watering, Travis sat down at the table for his first Thanksgiving meal with my family about six years or so ago. I will never forget that day, and neither will my mom or Travis. All the delicious things my mom had made were passed around the table, and Travis politely took some of everything. Mom had prepared the "traditional" Thanksgiving dishes, or so she and the rest of us thought, because those are the only dishes we'd ever eaten for Thanksgiving.

Travis finally said in a concerned voice, "Marsha, I think this apple salad might be fermented or something." Mom, making sure she had prepared it right, took a bite of the apple salad to ensure all was well before the rest of us ate some. We all watched as she ate some and said, "Well, it tastes okay to me." She then started laughing, realizing Travis was tasting the vinegar-based dressing on the salad. Travis was embarrassed, but the rest of us just laughed and laughed.

Even stranger was the fact that Travis had never eaten egg noodles for Thanksgiving!? Mom offered him another helping, and when he declined she asked, "You don't like noodles?" Travis explained later that he liked noodles, but was accustomed to mashed potatoes and gravy, instead.

Travis and Mom still joke about that first Thanksgiving together, but she now makes noodles AND mashed potatoes and gravy. Travis eats the apple salad now without blinking an eye.

Chadd family Thanksgiving includes hunting and the Thanksgiving meal, of course. Here's what WE had for Thanksgiving this year:

Turkey

Noodles

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Broccoli/Bacon/Cheese Salad

Rolls

Crock Pot Creamed Corn

Sweet Potato Casserole

Cranberry Fluff Salad

Pumpkin Pie

Banana Dream Pie

Sex in a Pan

Mom worked hard planning and coordinating the meal. She, Laci and I followed and prepared the family recipes, Jeff cut the Turkey, Travis and Dad helped with clean-up, and the kids ate to their little hearts' content.

The twelve of us don't all fit around the dining table, so the five oldest grandkids sat at a fold-out camp table in the living room (with a plastic tablecloth underneath them, of course!). My sister, cousins and I all ate at the same sort of camp table at Thanksgivings at my grandparent's house growing up.

We thanked God for all He has blessed us with and enjoyed the fellowship of family. And, no, Travis and I didn't announce another pregnancy at this year's meal! ;)

Snowflakes!

God sent us an early Christmas present this year, SNOW!

Preparing my children for the likely possibility of not seeing snow this winter (because we now live in Louisiana) was a bummer. Sledding and building snowmen are staple winter activities in Kansas because of the snowy winter weather. Their hopeful hearts must have prevented their ears from hearing they may not see snow this winter, however. No matter how many times I would tell them, they would say something like, "On Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa Davis will come to Louisiana and it will snow and Santa will visit!"

I knew Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Chadd's house would be their only chance for seeing snow, unless God decides to defy weather and make it snow in Ponchatoula.

God knows the hearts of every one of us, and I believe that includes the desires of my children and husband to experience snow this season!

I was thrilled on Wednesday when I opened the door to see snow spitting through the air. I announced to the kids and Travis that it was snowing and they came running and giggling. The snow didn't fall long Wednesday, but we were all so happy God made it snow, we didn't care how much fell.

God always puts the icing on the cake however, and goes one step further than we can ever imagine.

BIG snowflakes started flying out of the sky this morning around 10:00! There's a trace-1" on the ground right now, and it keeps snowing on and off. The kids will not only get to see snow this Thanksgiving, they will get to bundle up and go play in it, too!

Thanks, God! Even though summer is my favorite season (I'm fine with 80 degrees in November), I am so thankful it snowed while we're here!

Hunting Buddies

Hunting is one of Travis's favorite hobbies! A lifetime hunting license for the state of Kansas is one thing Travis purchased before we moved to Louisiana. I'm sure he will get his money's worth and more out of the license. He's already been busy using it. Travis has lots of hunting buddies and got to hunt with quite a few of them this year.

My dad, Tony, and my dad's friends are the ultimate pheasant hunting guides for southwestern Kansas. Travis and my brother-in-law, Jeff Brown, look forward to hunting in Ulysses over the holiday season with them every year. The pheasants are usually plentiful, and the hunting is free since my dad and his friends know the right people. They often hunt from shortly after sun-up until sun-down! They did exactly that one of the days of our trip already.

Doug Kirk is one of Travis's hunting buddies whom lives in Wichita, KS. They like to hunt everything together, but especially ducks! Travis drove to Wichita Sunday night and so they could both be positioned in their duck blind near Cheney Lake before sun-up (when the ducks start flying)! He stopped in and saw his friend Aaron Wallace at work before eating supper with his parents and returning home Monday night.

Justis and Dawson got in on the hunting Tuesday, before it got cold. Travis and Dad took them out to walk a field Tuesday morning and came home around noon with two pheasants. ALL the boys had a blast!

Dad, Travis and Jeff went hunting Wednesday all day and are out again today trying to get their pheasant limit.

Travis hasn't yet figured out all of the seasons and animals to be hunted in Louisiana. It's only a matter of time, I'm sure, before he's out in his waders in the swamp hunting whatever hunters in Louisiana hunt!

The Trip from Ponchatoula, LA to Ulysses, KS

The road trip began about 2:15 p.m. Friday, November 16. We arrived in Ulysses at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, November 17, 16 hours and 1,011 miles later!

Four animated kids six years old and under and two equally animated adults is an interesting mix to throw into a 16-hour minivan ride! God kept us sane and safe for the trip, however.

We immediately had a 1 1/2 hour setback at the start of our trip. We were rerouted (along with thousands of other drivers) immediately after crossing the Mississippi River bridge in Baton Rouge. A huge natural gas leak had forced closed I-12 from Baton Rouge clear to Lafayette, Lousisiana. We crawled on the alernate route (Highway 190) for over 45 miles. Thankfully we were still in good spirits since we were only in the first several hours of the trip.

We drove 500 miles (8 hours) to Denton, Texas and stayed in a Motel 8 for the night. We woke up Saturday and drove the remaining 500 miles.

A few observations.

#1 No one observes the speed limit in Louisiana. The minute I crossed over the Texas border, drivers generally observed the speed limit within about 5 mph and continued to do so through Oklahoma and Kansas!

#2 Every bridge through Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma has a "Caution, Bridge May Ice in Cold Weather" sign. I always thought this information was a given. Kansas either doesn't have enough money for these signs or assumes (like I do) that when it's cold, drivers know how to slow down to cross a bridge (or at least stop breaking and accellerating) so they don't go flying off.

#3 Oklahoma has some of the nicest four-lane highways going from nowhere to nowhere that I've ever seen!

#4 Louisiana has alligator farms, Kansas has wind farms.

#5 A Texas road sign alluded to mountains!? Everyone knows everything is bigger in Texas, but does that make hills mountains?

#6 Cow manure smells good if you're used to the smell of feed lots. Dawson squeeled in delight and said, "I smell stinkin' cows!" when we passed our first roadside feed lot in Oklahoma. The rest of the kids welcomed the smell as a sign we were getting close to "home."

#7 The person who invented portable DVDs needs to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize. Who cares about nuclear energy. If my family is entertained long enough to make a 16-hour trip bearable, the prize needs to go to the maker of the portable DVD player!

#8 Separating the two squabblers BEFORE the beginning of the trip saved our sanity and eardrums.

#9 I brake too abruptly and Travis tailgates.

#10 The sixteen-hour drive was worth every minute!

Frosty Thanksgiving Forecast

Travis and the kids started rejoicing tonight when I told them the forecast calls for snow in Kansas for Thanksgiving!

Travis loves the cold weather and snow is essential for the children, because they like to go sledding and build snowmen. I like the weather here in Louisiana. I've always been a summer girl. I am certainly willing to endure the cooler climate to see my family, though. Funny to point out, is that 80 degrees is forecast for Ponchatoula on Thanksgiving Day, but it's only supposed to get to 37 degrees in Ulysses, with snow showers! What a difference a 16-hour drive makes in the weather!

Ulysses, KS, my hometown, is where we'll be spending Thanksgiving this year. We will gather at my parent's house and meet my sister Laci and her husband Jeff, along with their children, Chadd and Cole.

The countdown to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house has been going for about three weeks now. Dawson has cried every time we've gotten in the car these last two weeks, because we were running an errand and NOT on the way to Kansas! We're going to get out the portable DVD players and head out Friday afternoon.

Travis can't wait to go pheasant hunting! He's not been hunting since we've been here, mainly because their hunting seasons are completely different down here. People also hunt some different animals in Louisiana, too.

I'm looking forward to spending time with my parents, spending time with Laci and her family, enjoying my mom's cooking, AND eating authentic Mexican food! Mom and Dad have put LOTS of effort into rearranging their house to accommodate my family and my sis's (10 extra people!). I can't wait to see what they've done!

Travis's parents, his sisters Holly and Rebecca, and Rebecca's husband, Seth, will all graciously be making the trek to Ponchatoula for Christmas. The kids have a countdown going for Christmas already, too. I think they are more excited for the visit from family than for a visit from "Santa." (Quick funny. Madalynn told me that St. Nick died and now kids' parents fill in for Santa. I asked her not to spoil it for anyone else and keep the info. to herself! ;))