Oreos and Easy Cheese

Last summer Porter was introduced to a culinary concoction at a Scout Camp......that, well, only a 13 year old boy could love.

Oreos and Easy Cheese.

Eaten together.

Yes, a nice mound of orange fake squeeze-cheese-in-a-can, squirted onto an oreo cookie and shoved into one's mouth.....(feelin' a little sick just typing that last sentence)

Anyway, after this deliciously wholesome snacking experience at Scout Camp, Porter came home and begged and begged me all last summer and fall: "Pleeeeeeaaaaaaasssssse buy some Oreo cookies and Easy Cheese, Mom, please, please, please!", "It's sooooo good, you HAVE to try it", "I'll even buy them with my own money......"


Well, I positively refused.  (I never buy Oreos OR Easy Cheese)

And we heard nothing more of it for a few months.

 Last week, I walked into WinCo,  and right in the entrance, sat Oreo Cookies and Easy Cheese - displayed right next to each other.


Call it a sign from heaven above, (I couldn't help but smile) - but right then and there I grabbed a package of cream-filled cookies and a can of Easy Cheese (sharp cheddar) and stuck them in my empty cart.  I'm not quite sure what came over me..... you could probably call it a soft spot for a super great kid:)

I came home, unloaded the groceries, then asked for Bill to follow me down the hall, where I showed him my spontaneous purchase.  He agreed that it would make our son over-joyed, and we decided to hide them away in my closet, to be pulled out on a future date when he needed a boost in spirits.

Well, last night they made an appearance.  And it was pretty grand.

Bill and I timed it perfectly.  The girls had been asleep for a while.  It was getting to be Porter's bedtime. Bill and I were back in our bedroom,  and we knew that Porter would be coming back to ask us a question at any moment.

When Porter came into our room,  both of us sat upon our bed, with Oreos stuffed in our mouth, I holding another cookie with a mountain of cheese and Bill in the process of squirting cheese on the Oreo that he held in his guilty hand.  (Of course, the oreos in our mouth were cheeseless - we just wanted the effect of two crazy parents going to town, gorging themselves on this disgusting concoction to the shock and dismay of their teenage son.)

The reaction we got was not what we expected. (We thought he would be mad at us for not inviting him to partake.)  But rather, he came to the entrance of our door, began to ask his question, then stopped and stood there with huge eyes for a second before running and jumping onto the foot of our bed, excitedly grabbing the goods from us and exclaiming with glee, "It's AWESOME, isn't it???!!!!!" 


I think our coolness factor as parents just went up a half a notch in our son's eyes.

Eagle

Porter received his Eagle Scout Rank, on Sunday January 29.  He had about 50 family and friends in attendance to show their support.  It just so happened that his father got to present him his Eagle because Bill is the Scout Committee Chairman.  Bill also presented Porter the Eagle neckerchief and slide that his mother had given him when Bill became an eagle.

It was extra special to see so many uncles, a father, a cousin, and several mentors sitting in the Eagles Nest with him.  Pres. Kirk Kirkham, who spoke on Porter's request, gave some especially neat thoughts and advice.

The night was a sweet experience all around.  One of those moments that remind us as parents that raising kids is SO worth it.

I CAN'T believe it.

Has it been a year?

Why yes.  Yes it has.

Just finished putting the chocolate mousse inside the chocolate layer cake.  I'll frost it tomorrow for our celebration with Grandma and Grandpa:

Happy 1st Birthday to my little Margaret.  What a glorious year it has been.

Halloween

We had our neighborhood Trunk or Treat tonight.  I found a cheerleader costume at the D.I. a couple of months ago for Evelyn - only $3.  Margaret got a painted black nose and whiskers.  What a cute little black kitten.

A little enthused to go get candy:

And now to get geared up for my teenage son's Halloween party tomorrow night.  On the agenda:  "Creature from the Black Lagoon" movie with loaded nachos, popcorn and candy.  To be followed by some 'Night' geocaching and then warm butterbeer and donuts upon arriving back home.  Should be a lot of fun!

Mette

In the quest to decide on a name for our little Margaret before she was born, our family went to drastic measures.  We very much like old names, family names, historically important names, and tend to steer completely away from anything trendy or overly popular.  I liked Helen.  Porter liked Lucy.  And Bill had his heart set on Margaret.  We knew that the middle name would for sure be Deloris, after Bill's late mom. A bracket was drawn up one night (think college basketball March Madness here), with our top ten or so names.  Bill, Porter and I each filled out our own brackets, pinning name against name to see who would move on to the next bracket.  In any event, I don't really remember the outcome, just that it didn't really help much.

As time pressed on, I eventually softened to the name Margaret Deloris.  In fact, I grew very attached.  And when Margaret was born (on Deloris' 75th birthday) I wondered how I could have considered calling her anything else.

Just this past Sunday, Bill and Porter were having fun on a website where you can type in your full name and see how many people in the U.S. have the same name as you.  They typed in Margaret's name and it also suggested other forms of her name to try, like Maggie, Meg, Marjorie, and............Mette. 


Mette?

Before Bill's dad Brian passed away, he was an English professor.  He was also a playwright.  One of the plays that Brian wrote was entitled Mette (pronounced Metta).  Brian wrote this play about his Danish great grandfather Anders Nelson's first wife Mette, a stalwart, brave, faithful woman who Brian greatly admired (enough to write an entire play about her!)

Astonished, Bill went to wikipedia and typed in the name Mette.

This is what he found:

Mette: a female name of Scandinavian origin, descended from the name Margaret.

I must say, it sent chills up our arms to find this.

People have often asked us if Margaret was a family name.  We would tell them that mostly we just loved the name.  We both had Margarets in our family trees, but they were way, way back in the family lines that we didn't have any histories on them.

But now the name Margaret, the name we love, means ever so much more.  And one day, our Margaret will be able to sit down and read the incredible play that her grandfather wrote about a strong, steadfast  woman from our family history, who shares her name.