Los Flemings

Heartwood's holiday celebration includes a yule log celebration. Each class gets to add a log with three wishes attached for the new year. A lot of the wishes were for an end to the drought which got some chuckles since it was drizzling when the celebration started.

On Tuesday Sam had a collision with one of his classmates on the playground while playing tag. They just didn't see each other. Sam came out unscathed, his buddy on the other hand lost three teeth. The picture below is from Wednesday when he'd had a chance to recover. Meanwhile, Sam's classmates are convinced his head is made of steel.

Here in Cary we are hyper-aware of the approaching holiday. The morning ritual currently includes removing a link from a paper-chain counting down the days until Christmas, opening one Advent calendar from Aunt CC, checking off the day on a holiday calendar made at school and finally opening another door on the LEGO Advent calendar from Dandy.

(by the way, only 15 days to go)

The unseasonably warm weather got us motivated to get out to the park this afternoon. On the way out the door we asked Sam if he was ready to try biking on two wheels and he agreed. So we took along a wrench and on the flats we let him loose minus his training wheels. A few wobbly attempts and he was off and running. Starting and stopping are tricky but he does fine in between!

Grandaddy Frank's mother, Helen, passed earlier this week. Fortunately, he and Donna were able to travel up late last week when she was hospitalized to be with her and the family.

She was a remarkable lady. I remember when I first met Frank hearing stories about his parents, who were approaching 80 at the time, going out cross-country skiing.

Here she shares a laugh with Fred, her husband of 60+ years, at his 90th birthday celebration in July 2006. The following is a her obituary from the Door County Advocate.

Helen Day Lockwood passed away at home in Sturgeon Bay, Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, after a brief illness.

Helen was born in Evanston, Ill., Sept. 5, 1914.

In Evanston, she graduated from Roycemore School, Northwestern University (Bachelor of Arts in statistics in 1936) and Garrrett Theological Seminary (Master of Arts in Christian education in 1965). While at Northwestern, she was a varsity athlete in field hockey and named “woman athlete of the year” in 1936.

Her mother was Mary Thayer and her father was Stephen Day, U.S. representative to Congress from Illinois. Her grandfathers were Judge A.A. Thayer, Ohio, and William R. Day, Ohio, who served as U.S. secretary of state under President William McKinley and also was a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

In 1942 Helen married Fred Stark Lockwood, an attorney who has been a member of the Chicago Patent Law Association since 1939 and practiced intellectual property law for over 60 years, retiring in 2000.

Helen was active in community affairs, serving as a Girl Scout leader and Sunday school teacher when her children were growing up. She served as a director of Christian education at the Community Church, Barrington, Ill. Always interested in volunteer work, she spent most of her last years working for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She helped found NAMI National in 1979, worked for NAMI of Greater Chicago and, in 1992, was a co-founder, past president, and active member of NAMI Door County. Helen was a member of Hope United Church of Christ, retired member of the Door County American Association of University Women and the Memorial Society of Wisconsin.

She is survived by her husband, Fred; one sister, Stephanie (Samuel) White; four children, Frank Lockwood (Donna Ross), Margaret Lockwood (Allin Walker), Catherine Whaley (Donald, deceased), Susan (David) Morgan; 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

A private memorial service is planned. Instead of flowers please send memorial gifts to NAMI Door County/JAK’S Place, PO Box 273, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235.

Huehns Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Sign online guest book and offer condolences at www.huehnsfuneralhome.com.

The leaves finally came off last week and we took some time to enjoy them before bagging them up. After jumping in and tossing around the pile, Sam and Xander decided to make a fort.

Friday night found us at UUFR for a tree trimming event for families to make decorations and add them to the Angel Hope Tree. Along with the decorations we made the tree is decorated with cards that include a wish from a child in need. Members of the fellowship take a card, purchase the item and return it to the Fellowship to be distributed in the community.

As a side activity to making the decorations the middle school youth group dressed up as elves and took dictation from the kids to create lists that they would pass on to their boss at the North Pole. A copy was given to the parents, here's what we got from Sam:

1. Wings
2. Books
3. Legos

Perhaps a childrens book about Icarus and Daedalus would be in order?