Boys and Toys

Grandpa and Ben assembled the double bass drum pedal Ben received for Christmas. The first step in the process is: Throw away the assembly instructions -- those idiots don't know what they are doing, a real man can figure this out, never mind that he's never been within spitting distance of a bass drum, it's all simple mechanics. And fortunately, it worked. Ben can now beat his bass drum twice as fast as he could previously.
Logan's not in the picture because he's out riding his new scooter. I'm sitting in a chair unwilling to relocate just to get a photo. I'll get one of Logan another day,
We had a small select group for Christmas dinner. The meal was fabulous, thanks to Julia's help in the kitchen. The menu was a scrawny 9-1/4 pound free-range turkey that nevertheless tasted delicious, stuffing, cranberry/orange sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans Lyonnaise, Brussel sprouts with cheese, spicy carrots, crab salad, rolls, pecan, apple, and pumpkin pies, wines, and sparkling cider. I had a back-up ham in case we ran out of turkey, but we didn't. The ham has sustained us ever since: ham and eggs with Rachel and Kevin the next morning for breakfast, ham sandwiches, ham and cheese with mac and peas, and plain old ham.
We are having typically crazy Missouri weather. A few days ago the river was frozen. Yesterday was a record high 70 degrees. Today we are under a tornado watch and flash flood warning with possibility of severe thunderstorms and large hail. But tonight the temp is supposed to plummet again.