There was alot of excitement here over the Christmas break not the least of which was my son deciding to break up with his girlfriend of almost 2 years. While I did like his girlfriend I feel a little relieved to see him end such a long term serious relationship at such a young age. They both have so much of life and themselves left to discover in the coming years. I firmly believe teenage dating is about learning to interact with a woman and develop relationship skills not for finding a spouse. There is plenty of time for that. And yes I know I am married to my high school sweetheart but we started dating at 18 not 13, there is a whole lot of growing up between there.
Now that Jake is on the market we have been busy discussing what qualifies as girlfriend material and what doesn't. He has many friends who are girls and I like them all. However, I would not consider the majority of them to be girlfriend material. While there are many jokes and a tv show about the rules for dating your daughter I am realizing that somehow, culturally, we seem to think the guys are just free to run around with no rules at all. Well, while all the fathers of daughters are out worrying about what kind of boy might come knocking on their door they forgot to teach their daughters how to behave appropriately with a boy. I am here to tell you that girls are not too innocent in this whole boy/girl dating experience these days and when it comes to dating my son I have a few rules of my own:
#1--Most importantly this girl must be a Christian. She must share our faith/Jake's faith. She must be committed to a growing realtionship with Christ and encouraging my son to continue growing in his realtionship with Christ.(and, well, you know, if she was Anglican that would be a bonus.)
#2--She must be commited to remaining sexually pure until marriage. Right or wrong I believe the girl sets the tone here. I know Jake desires to wait for marriage but I also understand that men tend to start thinking with other parts of their bodies when put in compromising positions and if given the green light will not always make the right decision. I realize he is my son and maybe I shouldn't be saying these things about him but lets be real here. If I bury my head in the sand on this issue I miss so many opportunities to encourage him to make good choices.
#3--She must be interested in knowing him, what he loves, what his dreams are, what his fears are. She must be able to encourage him to try new things, see himself in the best light and believe in himself.
#4--She must make him happy. He should feel light and relaxed with her, able to be himself completely. Laugh together at life, the world, themselves, each other.
#5--She should have goals and dreams of her own. At this age it isn't about sharing dreams but about discovering who you are and what you want for yourself. Until you can stand on your own you will never be able to stand with someone else.
#6--She should demand respect from my son. I am raising my son to show respect to a woman and want him to date a girl who expects and accepts nothing less. Not a girl who defensively insists she knows how to open doors herself but a girl who can graciously accept my sons offer of assistance.
#7--And, of course, she should like Jake's parents. :) Treat them well, respect them, laught at their jokes, pretend to think they are cool. You know, the usual.
For right now Jake is enjoying being a bachelor hanging with his buddies, staying up late playing plenty of x-box live. A friend did ask him to go to the up coming school dance and I am excited to see him go. And while she is one of a small number of his friends I would approve of him dating I hope they remain simply friends. This is a great time in his life to just enjoy his friends without any pressure to turn it into something more. There is so much time in life to be a grown up and take on the responsibilities that go with that. Now is his time to just relax and have fun.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
What is Simplicity to me?
I have been talking about simplifying my life for a while. I really like the concept. I would like my life to be simpler. I love reading blogs of people who have "simplified" their lives. People who sold their homes to prioritize family, shop at thrift stores, make their own apple sauce, soap and clothes. People who live on farms and grow their own vegetables. I love reading about all that imagining that simple and relaxing life.
Lately though as I have read some of those blogs I have pesmistically wondered if those people weren't just irresponsible members of society who were living in denial of the world they live in and really just mooch off those of us doing the very things they scorn. And how long can they really live like that? Didn't the flower children of the 60's turn into the power brokers of the 80's? Eventually you realize you do have to work, we live in a culture that costs money, a culture where we meet friends out at restaurants, it costs $400 for your child to get a driver's permit and he needs money for some school activity practically every week. Are all these people dreaming of sustainable farms and simple living really just putting off the inevitable need to get a full time job and join the rest of us in our culture of consumption?
Maybe there can be a balance. For me there will need to be a balance. As much as I like the idea of making everything from scratch, I just don't have the skill, patience or desire to do that regularly. Interestingly as I want to pesimistically say that some striving to be simple are simply irresponsible I found in trying to define what simplicity would mean to me that it was all about responsibility. I desire to be responsible with the gifts and resources God has blessed me with.
Initially as I wrote a list trying to define simplicity for me I found myself writing about an idealistic family life where we all sat around the living room each evening working on projects, reading to one another and becoming better people. I suspected my family might not be on board with that plan and when I brought it up one night they confirmed a complete lack of vision for my vision. However, I think taking responsibility for my family by prioritizing spending time with them each day rather than focusing on myself and expecting family time to just magically happen is a more realistic definition of simplicity for me.
Along with that vision I was imagining us learning new things. I gave them the vision of us all sitting around the living room with me knitting or sewing something while John was reading a book, Jake was learning to play some instrument and Isabelle was working on a puzzle. That would be our regular evening activities (because we would never be on the computer or x-box, we would want to be together and work on improving ourselves instead.) I can still learn to take responsibility for my own learning, still work on those projects I was going to do while listening to Jake play piano but instead I will listen to a cd (or I could go watch him kill things on Halo while knitting.) I will encourage my family to learn new things but won't try to remove them from the culture in which we live to do so.
I tried to sum up the family part of simplicity with this, "living a life prioritizing God and family. Helping my family and myself learn new skills, over come fears and obstacles to fulfill the purpose God has for our lives."
I also envision simplicity creating a sense of contentment with what we have in our life and valuing our possesions enough to maintain them rather than see everything as disposable. My family was with me a little more on this one. We have already begun to work on changing our attitudes in this area and be more responsible with all that God has given us. When I asked John what came to mind for him when I said simplicity his words were, less clutter and more self-reliant. I think both of those fit into this part of simplicity. Getting rid of what we don't need and doing for ourselves what we can. I believe the other side of that is hiring out what we can't. John hires people to do parts of a remodeling job he either doesn't know how to do or knows others can do better than him. We have learned to appreciate both the better turn out of a job for us and the client when he knows his limitations and the appreciation of a subcontractor looking for work. While hiring out work might not seem to fit in with simplicity and self-reliant, being responsible to know your own limitations does.
As I thought about my romanticism with the idea of making all my meals from scratch or making my own butter or soap or other staple item I had to ask myself what was the real attraction. I don't really want to make butter. It might be fun to make soap for gifts sometime but not to meet my daily cleansing needs. I realized what really attracted me to those things was the planning that went into them and the preparation it creates in your life. If you can't just run out and buy butter at the grocery store then you need to watch your butter supply and plan a day to make it before you run out. That planning is what I like. Not reacting to an empty butter dish but anticipating the inevitable need for more. I want to anticipate the fact that my family will need to eat dinner every night, my children will need new clothes every fall and Christmas will be on December 25th AGAIN. These are things I need to take responsibility for and not act surprised when they come up.
Those are a few of the ways I am going to "Simplify in 2010". What are you going to do this year to simplify your life?
Lately though as I have read some of those blogs I have pesmistically wondered if those people weren't just irresponsible members of society who were living in denial of the world they live in and really just mooch off those of us doing the very things they scorn. And how long can they really live like that? Didn't the flower children of the 60's turn into the power brokers of the 80's? Eventually you realize you do have to work, we live in a culture that costs money, a culture where we meet friends out at restaurants, it costs $400 for your child to get a driver's permit and he needs money for some school activity practically every week. Are all these people dreaming of sustainable farms and simple living really just putting off the inevitable need to get a full time job and join the rest of us in our culture of consumption?
Maybe there can be a balance. For me there will need to be a balance. As much as I like the idea of making everything from scratch, I just don't have the skill, patience or desire to do that regularly. Interestingly as I want to pesimistically say that some striving to be simple are simply irresponsible I found in trying to define what simplicity would mean to me that it was all about responsibility. I desire to be responsible with the gifts and resources God has blessed me with.
Initially as I wrote a list trying to define simplicity for me I found myself writing about an idealistic family life where we all sat around the living room each evening working on projects, reading to one another and becoming better people. I suspected my family might not be on board with that plan and when I brought it up one night they confirmed a complete lack of vision for my vision. However, I think taking responsibility for my family by prioritizing spending time with them each day rather than focusing on myself and expecting family time to just magically happen is a more realistic definition of simplicity for me.
Along with that vision I was imagining us learning new things. I gave them the vision of us all sitting around the living room with me knitting or sewing something while John was reading a book, Jake was learning to play some instrument and Isabelle was working on a puzzle. That would be our regular evening activities (because we would never be on the computer or x-box, we would want to be together and work on improving ourselves instead.) I can still learn to take responsibility for my own learning, still work on those projects I was going to do while listening to Jake play piano but instead I will listen to a cd (or I could go watch him kill things on Halo while knitting.) I will encourage my family to learn new things but won't try to remove them from the culture in which we live to do so.
I tried to sum up the family part of simplicity with this, "living a life prioritizing God and family. Helping my family and myself learn new skills, over come fears and obstacles to fulfill the purpose God has for our lives."
I also envision simplicity creating a sense of contentment with what we have in our life and valuing our possesions enough to maintain them rather than see everything as disposable. My family was with me a little more on this one. We have already begun to work on changing our attitudes in this area and be more responsible with all that God has given us. When I asked John what came to mind for him when I said simplicity his words were, less clutter and more self-reliant. I think both of those fit into this part of simplicity. Getting rid of what we don't need and doing for ourselves what we can. I believe the other side of that is hiring out what we can't. John hires people to do parts of a remodeling job he either doesn't know how to do or knows others can do better than him. We have learned to appreciate both the better turn out of a job for us and the client when he knows his limitations and the appreciation of a subcontractor looking for work. While hiring out work might not seem to fit in with simplicity and self-reliant, being responsible to know your own limitations does.
As I thought about my romanticism with the idea of making all my meals from scratch or making my own butter or soap or other staple item I had to ask myself what was the real attraction. I don't really want to make butter. It might be fun to make soap for gifts sometime but not to meet my daily cleansing needs. I realized what really attracted me to those things was the planning that went into them and the preparation it creates in your life. If you can't just run out and buy butter at the grocery store then you need to watch your butter supply and plan a day to make it before you run out. That planning is what I like. Not reacting to an empty butter dish but anticipating the inevitable need for more. I want to anticipate the fact that my family will need to eat dinner every night, my children will need new clothes every fall and Christmas will be on December 25th AGAIN. These are things I need to take responsibility for and not act surprised when they come up.
Those are a few of the ways I am going to "Simplify in 2010". What are you going to do this year to simplify your life?
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Simple New Year
I love the new year, a new season, start of school, Mondays...any time that marks a new beginning, a moment to start fresh and go forward improving yourself in some way. I wrote last year on my love of resolutions...twice. As talked about in last years second post, 2009 was a theme year, the year of Africa. I hadn't really done a theme in the past but it was a special year. Of course in reading about creating goals many people suggest having a life goal or some over arching concept that guides all other goals you make. As I wrote out some of my goals this year I found myself writing at the top of the page, "Simplify in 2010" (I did spend some time trying to think of a way to make that concept rhyme but couldn't come up with anything.) I am also turning 40 this year and so am thinking about how I want to end this decade of my life and start a new one.
Actually 39 could sort of be a parallel to today...This is the last day before we go back to a new routine and official launch into life in 2010. My plan for today is to finish up a bunch of loose ends and then go to bed early so I am ready to launch into my life and discover all the new things I will learn and adventures God will take me on. If today is that day for 2010, this year is that for my 40's. Finishing up those last minute projects of my 30's and preparinto enter my 40's ready for all the new life experiences that next decade will bring me.
I actually just came up with that thought as I was sitting here typing this up but interestingly most of my goals for this year do revolve around finishing up or improving things I am already doing. Crafts and home projects that have been filling up my closet for years, solidifying a consistant work-out schedule, continuing with a second year focussed on prayer, finally figuring out a system to put dinner on the table for my family every night...
These are also a reflection of my desire to simplify my life. I don't want to run around trying lots of new things, making lots of changes or reinventing myself in any way. I want to simply go forward in this new year continuing to grow and become the woman God created me to be. Some years are about change and big happenings, 2009 certainly was, but some years are about stepping back and simply living your life, taking stock of how God has blessed you and reveling in those blessings. That is what 2010 will be for me.
One of the things I continue to work on is my health and healthy eating habits. As I am being challenged by my sister to begin the year with a detox, an extreme healthy food week to jump start my commitment to healthy eating, I have decided I am also going to detox from electronics in my life, no spending WAY too much time on my computer emailing, blogging, reading blogs, playing solitare, etc. Time that could be better spend working on those neglected crafts, maintaining my home or simply enjoying my children and husband. So for the next week I will be keeping my thoughts to myself, or sharing them in person. I will be checking my email as I have created a life where all communication comes through it but won't be responding unless absolutely necessary.
I am going to try one new thing, I am going to try to write a blog post and schedule it to post in a couple days. If it works out I could bang out all my thoughts once a week for you all rather than spending WAY too much time contemplating them each day. Just another way I am thinking of simplifying my life in 2010. As a teaser...you can look for a post on what Simplicity means to me later this week.
Happy 2010. Let the Games Begin!
ps I have a new set up from blogger which I mostly like but can't seem to find the spell check button, I count on that button to make me look more intellegent than I actually am. If anyone knows where it is please tell me, in the mean time, ignore the spelling errors.
Actually 39 could sort of be a parallel to today...This is the last day before we go back to a new routine and official launch into life in 2010. My plan for today is to finish up a bunch of loose ends and then go to bed early so I am ready to launch into my life and discover all the new things I will learn and adventures God will take me on. If today is that day for 2010, this year is that for my 40's. Finishing up those last minute projects of my 30's and preparinto enter my 40's ready for all the new life experiences that next decade will bring me.
I actually just came up with that thought as I was sitting here typing this up but interestingly most of my goals for this year do revolve around finishing up or improving things I am already doing. Crafts and home projects that have been filling up my closet for years, solidifying a consistant work-out schedule, continuing with a second year focussed on prayer, finally figuring out a system to put dinner on the table for my family every night...
These are also a reflection of my desire to simplify my life. I don't want to run around trying lots of new things, making lots of changes or reinventing myself in any way. I want to simply go forward in this new year continuing to grow and become the woman God created me to be. Some years are about change and big happenings, 2009 certainly was, but some years are about stepping back and simply living your life, taking stock of how God has blessed you and reveling in those blessings. That is what 2010 will be for me.
One of the things I continue to work on is my health and healthy eating habits. As I am being challenged by my sister to begin the year with a detox, an extreme healthy food week to jump start my commitment to healthy eating, I have decided I am also going to detox from electronics in my life, no spending WAY too much time on my computer emailing, blogging, reading blogs, playing solitare, etc. Time that could be better spend working on those neglected crafts, maintaining my home or simply enjoying my children and husband. So for the next week I will be keeping my thoughts to myself, or sharing them in person. I will be checking my email as I have created a life where all communication comes through it but won't be responding unless absolutely necessary.
I am going to try one new thing, I am going to try to write a blog post and schedule it to post in a couple days. If it works out I could bang out all my thoughts once a week for you all rather than spending WAY too much time contemplating them each day. Just another way I am thinking of simplifying my life in 2010. As a teaser...you can look for a post on what Simplicity means to me later this week.
Happy 2010. Let the Games Begin!
ps I have a new set up from blogger which I mostly like but can't seem to find the spell check button, I count on that button to make me look more intellegent than I actually am. If anyone knows where it is please tell me, in the mean time, ignore the spelling errors.
Friday, January 1, 2010
A Hope Filled Year
Happy New Year! I love a new year. Another of many opportunities throughout the year for a fresh start, a time to take stock of what you have done and what you are going to do. We all heard alot about "change" in 2009 (and 2008) but what I have heard a couple times in the media about 2010 is the word, "hope". I like that. A year of hope, where we dream our dreams and believe they are possible. We have hope that this year will be better than next year.
Of course the word "hope" has meaning to me because many years ago I felt hopeless when it came to thinking I would ever have a second child. Then one Sunday morning I was in church singing, "I put my hope in your holy word." As I asked God to help me understand what that was and to revive in me the hope I could get pregnant, He helped me understand that I was putting my hope in the wrong thing. We can't put our hope in people, things, family, politics, money, a baby, etc. Our hope can only come from God. My hope wasn't to be that I would get pregnant, rather it was that no matter what happened God would be there holding me, caring for me and directing me. My hope came from knowing and believing that whatever plan He had for me was the best plan for my life. And now having that second child I prayed for in a way I never would have planned myself I can assure you it is true, God's plans are best. And so as I make plans for a hope filled year I place them at God's feet knowing that ultimately he is in control and my joy will come from following Him.
Of course the word "hope" has meaning to me because many years ago I felt hopeless when it came to thinking I would ever have a second child. Then one Sunday morning I was in church singing, "I put my hope in your holy word." As I asked God to help me understand what that was and to revive in me the hope I could get pregnant, He helped me understand that I was putting my hope in the wrong thing. We can't put our hope in people, things, family, politics, money, a baby, etc. Our hope can only come from God. My hope wasn't to be that I would get pregnant, rather it was that no matter what happened God would be there holding me, caring for me and directing me. My hope came from knowing and believing that whatever plan He had for me was the best plan for my life. And now having that second child I prayed for in a way I never would have planned myself I can assure you it is true, God's plans are best. And so as I make plans for a hope filled year I place them at God's feet knowing that ultimately he is in control and my joy will come from following Him.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Driving Miss Crazy
I am like a sit-com mom in the car! Ha ha ha!
I brought Jake to get his drivers permit Monday afternoon, he got 100% on the test. Actually he finished the classes last Wednesday night and John drove through a snow storm to bring him for the test on Christmas Eve only to discover they were closing early and wouldn't let him take the test. It was imparative that he get his permit by Monday so that he can take the test for the license on his birthday. Monday was exactly 6 months away from his 16th birthday. We wouldn't want to do anything in a rush, why plan ahead when you can do things at the last minute?
I brought Jake to get his drivers permit Monday afternoon, he got 100% on the test. Actually he finished the classes last Wednesday night and John drove through a snow storm to bring him for the test on Christmas Eve only to discover they were closing early and wouldn't let him take the test. It was imparative that he get his permit by Monday so that he can take the test for the license on his birthday. Monday was exactly 6 months away from his 16th birthday. We wouldn't want to do anything in a rush, why plan ahead when you can do things at the last minute?
Being very excited to see this boy drive I then decided to bring him over to Wooddale Church where they have a large parking lot to drive around. He drove at about 10mph around the building several times. I told him he could maybe speed up to 20mph but then I started panicking when he did that. In my defense it was like a skating rink in the parking lot, very icy. Finally I suggested that he could go out on the road so I let him turn right out of the parking lot, right onto the road about ½ a block down and then right back into the parking lot again. Then I had him go around the building again, which was feeling safe to me, while I calmed down from that foray into the real world. After another loop around the church I let him get back on the road and head to our house using all back roads (let the drivers ed instructor introduce the freeway, isn’t that what he gets paid for?) I was only minorly hysterical the entire drive home. I have never been so happy to see our home and garage in my life. That said, he did fairly well. He did struggle with a couple things but they seem to be the things most new drivers struggle with: 1--he kept driving too close to the right side of the road. This time of year it means snow banks. The right lane doesn’t always get fully plowed so it is a little more narrow anyway right now and he is hugging the snow bank. 2--he didn’t seem to understand the need to slow down quite significantly to turn. If we didn’t have a stop sign at a turn he would barely touch the brake before trying to make the turn. Making a left into our neighborhood almost put me over the edge but I think was a good learning experience for him because he saw how crazy the turn was.
When we got home John was completely excited as well and took him out again about an hour later. They went back to wooddale and practiced sliding on ice and whatnot so Jake would know what to do if the car started sliding. Plus more regular driving. Apparently Jake tells me that Dad is much calmer than I am which is funny because John usually doesn’t have a lot of patience when teaching Jake things so I figured he would get frustrated quickly with him. I guess we are both just so excited to have him driving.
Then last night I let him drive again to meet a friend somewhere. He did much better and I tried not to continually give him direction but just wait to see if he already knew what to do. And I tried to tell him far in advance where and when to turn. He was appreciative of both those things. I can see that I will probably start relaxing in a few weeks. He will have to learn the highway soon though since practically everywhere we go in our life requires us to drive on it. I might need medication before we do that!
When we got home John was completely excited as well and took him out again about an hour later. They went back to wooddale and practiced sliding on ice and whatnot so Jake would know what to do if the car started sliding. Plus more regular driving. Apparently Jake tells me that Dad is much calmer than I am which is funny because John usually doesn’t have a lot of patience when teaching Jake things so I figured he would get frustrated quickly with him. I guess we are both just so excited to have him driving.
Then last night I let him drive again to meet a friend somewhere. He did much better and I tried not to continually give him direction but just wait to see if he already knew what to do. And I tried to tell him far in advance where and when to turn. He was appreciative of both those things. I can see that I will probably start relaxing in a few weeks. He will have to learn the highway soon though since practically everywhere we go in our life requires us to drive on it. I might need medication before we do that!
When we decided we needed the mid-life crisis there were a few things I was dreading doing again, potty training, tantrums, school projects...now I think there is a new thing to add to the list. But I am also thrilled and excited to continue driving with Jake and see him learn this skill and gain independence from us as well as become an even bigger help to us. I am sure when Isabelle is 15 I will be excited for her to drive as well. I guess this is just one more of the many reasons I am glad my children are almost 11 years apart. As fun as this is I think I will need to be in recovery for the next 10 years before I will be ready to train another one.
The big fall
It is important to have a few interesting Christmas stories to keep the conversation going each year... "remember the year when Michele and I knocked over the Christmas tree while fighting..." or "remember that year we abandoned the family for Wisconsin Dells..." or "remember that year when 88 year old Grandma Dorothy slipped on the last 2 steps and broke her ankle..." OH WAIT, that was this year!
There we are enjoying a lovely Christmas eve gathering at my parents. Because of the snowstorm and late night my parents had picked Dorothy, an adopted grandma and close family friend, up earlier and planned for her to spend the night. We had been enjoying conversation and a delicious meal together upstairs but could hold the kids off no longer, it was time to open presents. My mom had decided to open up the gifts downstairs this year which seemed like an exciting idea as we had always opened up gifts in my grandma's downstairs on Christmas eve growing up. My Grandma had always made Christmas eve special and now after she is gone we still try to hold on to some of the many traditions she brought us on this holiday. Dorothy had been present for all those Christmas eve's as well.
I go downstairs and start passing the gifts out. My dad has just asked Dorothy if she needs help and has been assured that she is fine. As I am standing around the corner I suddenly hear a fall, rush around the corner and see Dorothy sitting on the stairs. "Are you OK?" I ask. The correct answer was supposed to be, "Yes I just slipped" but instead she answered, "I don't think so." She indicated her ankle and as I looked down I knew it was broken. That is not the normal way an ankle looks even if it is swollen and that was an awful lot of swelling to occur within moments of the fall. By this time my mom, dad and husband have arrived and I gladly step back to let them assess the situation. There is a reason I never considered going into the medical field, just that little interaction was all I could handle.
Once they moved her to a chair I knew what I could handle...taking pictures!
There we are enjoying a lovely Christmas eve gathering at my parents. Because of the snowstorm and late night my parents had picked Dorothy, an adopted grandma and close family friend, up earlier and planned for her to spend the night. We had been enjoying conversation and a delicious meal together upstairs but could hold the kids off no longer, it was time to open presents. My mom had decided to open up the gifts downstairs this year which seemed like an exciting idea as we had always opened up gifts in my grandma's downstairs on Christmas eve growing up. My Grandma had always made Christmas eve special and now after she is gone we still try to hold on to some of the many traditions she brought us on this holiday. Dorothy had been present for all those Christmas eve's as well.
I go downstairs and start passing the gifts out. My dad has just asked Dorothy if she needs help and has been assured that she is fine. As I am standing around the corner I suddenly hear a fall, rush around the corner and see Dorothy sitting on the stairs. "Are you OK?" I ask. The correct answer was supposed to be, "Yes I just slipped" but instead she answered, "I don't think so." She indicated her ankle and as I looked down I knew it was broken. That is not the normal way an ankle looks even if it is swollen and that was an awful lot of swelling to occur within moments of the fall. By this time my mom, dad and husband have arrived and I gladly step back to let them assess the situation. There is a reason I never considered going into the medical field, just that little interaction was all I could handle.
Once they moved her to a chair I knew what I could handle...taking pictures!
Initially Dorothy was hiding her face from me but eventually I got her to smile for me. This is how she handles everything in life, with a calm smile. Ankle broken in 2 places and dislocated she sit here smiling while we wait for the paramedics to arrive.
While the paramedics were checking her out and preparing to bring her upstairs She and my mom were deciding what she needed to bring in her purse, wondering if she should change her clothes and in general planning for her hospital stay.
They wheeled her up the stairs on this chair and then out to the ambulance where my dad rode with her to the hospital.
The moment she got to the top of the stairs Isabelle looked around and said, "NOW can we open our presents?" That's my girl.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Family Christmas
We are blessed to have our families close by for the Holidays. After 19 years of marriage with various Holiday arrangements and many changes to both our families we have hit on a schedule that seems to work for everyone. Christmas eve with my family at rotating homes and Christmas day with John's family at his brother Mike's home.
We are all working on creating traditions and memories. There are still lots of little kids on my side of the family which means we are always wondering what we can do on Christmas to make it special for them. Should we try a craft, sing songs, read stories, a little of everything? With 5 little kids in town our holidays are all about them. There is alot of excitement to Christmas through the eyes of a child.
We are all working on creating traditions and memories. There are still lots of little kids on my side of the family which means we are always wondering what we can do on Christmas to make it special for them. Should we try a craft, sing songs, read stories, a little of everything? With 5 little kids in town our holidays are all about them. There is alot of excitement to Christmas through the eyes of a child.
The Minnesota Grandkids
With Grandma and Grandpa
My Brother's Brood
Our Family
In John's family Isabelle is the only grandchild under 13 and our holidays have become more relaxed as the kids have grown and become part of the adult mix. We don't have to entertain them but can just sit and enjoy them. It is a little harder for Isabelle since there isn't much child proofing or kids toys laying around anymore but on the other hand she has no shortage of people to love her up and play with her. Of course Mike and Dara now have a 1 year old grandson in the mix which I suspect will mean some changes as their family continues to grow.
I wanted to get a picture of all the activity going on at once. This big room is why Mike and Dara host every year.
Mike and I telling everyone where to stand for the family picture. They all like to act like they don't want a family picture and then thank me later for making it happen.
I only got them to stand for 2 pictures. Luckily this one is just about perfect. Dara's eyes are closed but were open on the other so we just have to work a little photo shop magic. Anyone out there that can do that for me???
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