Bea's Christening

Greetings! I hope the latter part of November finds you all well and good and embracing the spirit of the Thanksgiving season.

Jack and Pam at the Lake have been staying busy with annual "leaf patrol", which when you live in the woods is a lot like an exercise in futility until the limbs on the beech trees are empty. Jack and his leaf blower have made countless, daily sweeps across the yard, and our compost pile is the size of a two-car garage right now, yet we still have leaves EVERYWHERE. We'll get there - it just takes awhile. 

Little Beatrice got christened this past weekend, so we tripped over to join the family at Franklin First United Methodist Church for the festivities, and despite wet, nasty weather, it was a beautiful day. The congregation at the church is friendly and welcoming, the minister is a great speaker, and the church's gorgeous, historic sanctuary exactly what you'd expect to find in the middle of one of the most beautiful little towns in Tennessee. 

Both girls were on their best behavior, but as soon as the actual christening part of the service was over, Beatrice was tired of excitement and snugged up with Sis for the kind of power nap most adults I know can only wish to have.

Before the passing of the collection plates, I looked down at Lucia, who sitting by me, quietly playing with a few small toys provided by the church for children to "borrow" during services, and asked, "Do you have any money to put in the pan?"

Not missing a beat, she looked up at me and whispered, "Pammy, I don't have any money;" she held up a small stuffed bear and a mini Magna-Doodle. "This isn't even my stuff."

Luckily her daddy had some to spare, and she got to pitch something into the kitty.

After church we had a delicious lunch from The Franklin Chop House. To avoid waiting in line or dealing with cranky, hungry girls - present company included - we got take-out, and I was surprised at how hot and tasty the food still was when it arrived at The Baby House. My meatloaf with brown gravy was not quite as good as Jack's homemade, but it still gets an hearty thumbs-up from me, and the mashed potatoes were scrumptious. Jack gave his hickory fired pork chops high marks, and Sis' chicken fingers looked fantastic, but the next time I have a chance to eat food from Franklin Chop House, I'm going to follow Lucia's lead and go with the fried fish - and okra instead of green beans. As good as everything was, she had the tastiest-looking plate at the table.

Sis ordered a beautiful cake to celebrate the occasion, and when time for dessert rolled around, Mom and Dad's sweet "Franklin neighbors", the Covingtons, joined us. If I forget between now and next Thursday, let me just say that I am thankful that my parents have Debbie, Jim, and Matt in their lives and across the street when they're at their home-away-from-home. 

Hair down.

Lucia also drew a cake - "Happy Baptism Baby Bea" was the name of her artwork, and it was great. There were exciting candles and some most-excellent uppercase "B's". I was tasked with supervising Lucia while she used the grown-up scissors. Mom's parting words after she handed them to Lu were, "Don't you cut your hair!"

Sudden flashback to my childhood - six years old and alone with scissors and hair falling down into my eyes. I shuddered and didn't take my eyes off Lu the whole time she was working on her project. I ended up finding a pony tail holder and improvising "braid of safety" before all was said and done.

Hair back with completed artwork.

Jack and I took some pictures, and the whole set is at this Flickr link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54684154@N02/sets/72157637822801773/

Mom pointed out that the first pictures are of Lucia, even though it was Beatrice's day - and I'll explain to everybody like I explained to her that when I put photos on Flickr, I keep them in the same order in which they were taken for organization's sake. I don't intend for it to be off-putting or confusing, but it helps me keep things in order. 

Unfortunately Chris' mother wasn't able to come to Tennessee and join us - Martha, we missed you!