Merry Christmas, 2013!

Merry Christmas 2013

Oh my, what a year it has been! I don’t even know where to start! You know, eight years ago I was a newlywed and thought I would figure out parenting as it came along. Boy was I right… except the part about figuring things out! I may get more efficient, I may have done “that one” before, but every day with my children shows me just how much I have to learn. They are all so different and every day is different. At the beginning of this year, Carolyn was a new baby still, Jordan 3 1/2, Maggie 3, and Anna 5 1/2. I think the biggest thing that strikes me as I review this year… is how quickly time passes.

Eating out as family

In January, I became a full-time glasses wearer and oh boy, did that ever make me happy! It was high time. 🙂 We lived at our beautiful rental home in Vancouver and had no plans to move soon. We dreamed about buying a house, but only did a little online shopping for fun. I began homeschooling for the first time… a few learning blocks each day for Anna only since she was in her Kindergarten year. Jordan was attending a preschool part time and it was working pretty well.

I made notes in February that Anna lost her first tooth and that Carolyn found her feet. 🙂 We also started going to a homeschool co-op once a week, which was good… but incredibly stressful. It really isn’t worth it to go with three 3-and-unders just so your Kindergartener can get out. There has got to be a better way. (I had to help while I was there – signed up for the 3’s room, but STILL!) Let’s see… our chicks which we bought when Carolyn was born began laying their first eggs.

Sisters

In March, we took a break from J’s preschool… and we also went on a big family vacation to a rental flat near Mount Hood and played in a hot tub and then in the snow at Timberline. Gotta say that my favorite part was eating at the buffet at Timberline and all the kind staff there. You know, Brian and I are outnumbered two to one by very irrational and demanding little creatures, right? So grateful for wonderful times together when the people around us are kind and charitable. It really was a special trip. The kids watched their first movies too… like, first REAL movies, since they are scared of pretty much any kind of bad guy. (I don’t mind!) We watched Peter Pan and Jungle Book. Maggie was so funny during and afterwards: during, she was a tight bundle of nerves, her face half hid in a blanket. Afterwards, she was triumphant, marching around with occasional explosions of “He won! He really always wins! Peter Pan always winned!”

Ready for church!

Ah, April… the winds of change were blowing. We had been looking at a few houses and running the numbers. We thought that maybe we COULD buy a house this year. By mid-month, Anna had her sixth birthday and we’d made an offer on a house. Also during this month, I decided to clip Razzie’s nails right before the social worker showed up for Jordan’s post-placement report. I hit a quick badly and the quick-stop didn’t work. So we were running around with a poor bloody dog looking for what would work to stop the bleeding. I haven’t clipped nails since. I couldn’t even watch Brian do it for months. I wonder what the social worker thought. (So happy to not have to do that day again!) It was also during this month that we met a very encouraging presence, and Jordan and my favorite OT. (I can highly recommend Joanna Blanchard, both as an OT and as a person to invite to your home!)

Biking like pros

So May came and we were doing homeschooling, packing boxes and doing all our usual stuff! June first was our move date and I am SO GLAD to be settled. I hope we don’t have to move again for a good long time. All this having babies, moving, packing, move-out inspections and stuff are tiring and uncomfortable and did I say tiring? Must be close to my bedtime. Hmm… only 7:30pm. Almost bedtime? So we moved… and summer came. And this summer was beautiful. The kids spent so much time outside, exploring our new home, playing with our (wonderful) new neighbor friends and the weather was wonderful. On days when it was too hot (and I was too cheap to turn on the A/C below 78 or 80), I set a kiddie pool on the back deck and we cooled off there.

My kids love each other so beautifully!

It was about when we moved that my parents dropped the bomb that they were going to Uganda for “about” a year. We spent every minute we could with them over the summer, though it wasn’t a whole lot, since they are well-loved, had jobs and much to do! Still, mom came to the county fair with us, they helped us move, we spent time at their house over Independence Day, and they spent several days with us just before their flight in September.

Father’s Day fun

Trying to keep up with our new lawn

Baby fence city!

This picture’s for you, Mom and Dad… wildflowers of the Northwest.

In August, we got to go to Camp Attitude in Oregon for a whole week. What a treat! Probably the moment that sticks with me the most wasn’t even one of the (many) organized events. It was standing off by this fence with a Bible verse printed on it. I didn’t realize just how deep the meaning of the name “Camp Attitude” went. I thought it was just about kids with special needs having an attitude and being proud to be themselves or something. It was better. It was about the attitude we ALL should have. I can’t remember how much of this passage was painted there:
Philippians 2:1-11 “1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Happy Fourth of July!

Camp Attitude! (Can you find us?)

I also remember that we had a private yurt, but that I felt terrible, because Carolyn screamed for extended periods at night. And I was grateful my other kids slept. And I wished I could do more of that myself. My second most memorable moment was taking Carolyn for a walk about 1am the first night but getting too cold and giving up.

Lydia’s family got to visit, all the kids except Carolyn got to take swimming lessons, we found our new church home, and I dried a bunch of plums. 🙂

My dad.

My mom.

Goodness, we really know how to cram a lot into a year!

So September came and we are doing better than I had expected with school! Anna is doing first grade level work and Maggie is doing a smattering of preschool work. We have an OMSI membership and we go about ever 3-4 weeks. Brian took his Professional Engineer’s exam after studying daily for months after the kids went to bed. I turned 30 years old, we got to visit great-grandparents (except you in Arizona! Glad you came and visited us earlier!) and the holidays are wonderful and with far less stress and more merriness this year than last.

Maggie’s 4th birthday with Grammy and Pappy here

School day?

School day

Carolyn’s a busy, walking one-year-old and she and Jordan have the most adorable relationship. Most evenings these days I can be found underneath both of them as they “wrestle” with me while Anna and Maggie read the Bible and practice AWANA verses before bed. Our neighborhood went caroling and had a potluck, so it’s good to be in a neighborhood where people like each other! 🙂 We have some really nice plans to spend time with family over the holidays, although I’m missing my parents more than ever over the holidays. You are irreplaceable, Mom and Dad and I miss you. We finally found two renters for our shop, so hopefully that will work out well. We had rather gotten used to having lots of shop storage space, but we are looking forward to the bit of additional income too.

Thank you for the great annual pictures again, Aleah! Anna lost her other front tooth, so I think she would definitely not smile if we tried again on pictures. haha She is cute with no front teeth.

So to sum up, Anna’s a reading, homeschooling pro. Jordan runs all over the house, wrestles with his parents and is a J.O.Y. Maggie got her first real hair cut in her life at 4 years old and continues to be a kick in the pants. And Carolyn, my night-waking darling is the sweetest little bundle of big smiling cheeks you’ve ever seen. Brian and I are very much in love and so happy to be settled and raising our kids. We look forward to what adventures the new year brings!

We do indeed wish you a Merry Christmas… and a Happy New Year!!! May the Lord bless you.