DJ, age seven

This has been a big year for DJ! He started at a new school and has learned lots of important new things--he learned how to ride a bike, read, tie his shoes, and swim. DJ has really come into his own as a thoughtful, independent kid. He hasn't had the easiest year, but he's coming through more confident and aware of who he is and what he stands for.

How do you feel about being seven?  

Good.

What kinds of new things do seven-year-olds do?   
They can build bigger Lego sets and build robots, and help Dad build fires.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?
The trip to Florida.

Who are your best friends?

I don't know...[How can you type and stuff so fast, Mom? You've been practicing?]...Bennett, Charlie, Alexa, Otto, and Eddie.

Who are your favorite people to play with?
Otto, Eddie, and Bennett.

What kinds of things are you good at?

Legos, swinging, tricks like a flip on the bar or going across the balance beam sideways or backwards.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Either a policeman or an astronaut.

Why do you want to be a policeman or an astronaut?
I want to be a policeman because in the movies they look really, really cool and I want to be an astronaut because I just kind of want to see what it looks like inside of a real spaceship.

What’s your favorite song?   
The Weekend Whip [by The Fold--it's the Ninjago theme song]

What's your favorite food?
Macaroni and cheese

Favorite movie?
The Lego Ninjago movie

Favorite book?   

Mo Willems books

Favorite color?   
My favorite colors are blue and green.

Favorite place to be?

Meijer, because you can get fun stuff.

What are your favorite things to do?   
Go to Impression 5, play in the basement--Ultimate Beastmaster--and play Ninjago with Otto outside.

What is your favorite birthday present that you received?
My 200-piece Lego set.

And a cool video to show off his climbing moves:

Christmas 2018

Some favorite memories:

• Six parties in six days
• Playing Christmas-themed pictionary and singing rock songs together at Erin's house
• Mary Cate played with Steve, stayed overnight at Grandma Lisa's, and hugged my dad. This is a big deal given a child who has gone from screaming in the face of any approaching human to jabbing me in the chest saying, "MY MOM," to any approaching human to giving the stink-eye to everyone not in her immediate family.
• Lots of quality family time, including cousin sleepovers, hanging out with Dave, Laurel, and Roger, hosting John, Sue, and Pam over Christmas. It was especially nice to spend time with Sue and get to know our new bonus mother-in-law!
• I planned a big family dinner on Christmas for the first time and decided on Swedish meatballs. I whipped up the sauce before starting on our waffle brunch Christmas morning...and realized I'd forgotten to buy the meatballs. So Kevin, Pam, Sue, and I made up our first-ever batch of homemade meatballs. That might be our new Christmas tradition!
• Sweet homemade gifts from Annie, thoughtful gifts Nellie bought with her own money, and a new mug from DJ.
• Making Christmas cookies at Mom's house
• Our second year of dressing up as a reindeer and elf Christmas morning
• Annie - Spending time with the family and watching my sibling's and other people's reactions when they opened the presents I got them--especially DJ and Eddie's faces when we got the new climbing rope wall.
• Nellie - Grandma Lisa's Christmas party, which was really fun with the cousins and we were surprised being able to open our presents that night instead of waiting until the next day
• DJ - When I got a lot of fun presents, like Legos and a new Nerf gun
• Eddie - my new Power Rangers sword
• Mary Cate - snuggling with Mommy
• Kevin - Playing his new Punderdome game with Nellie, Annie, and me. His particular favorite moment was when Nellie and I came up with puns so bad, he won with "nothing."

And nobody threw up the whole break (so far)--counting that as a win!

Some favorite pictures:

Present time at Erin and Steve's

Grandma Lisa's Christmas Eve

All Mario

Classic Christmas apple and orange

Everyone got their favorite drink...Nellie's was gone in minutes

Laughing with my helpers about all the plastic bags around my gift from DJ--a flamingo mug. He picks out the best mugs!

Annie's gift from DJ

Matching shirts! We are so tired.

Mary and her lotion

Waiting for presents at Grandma Linda's house

Girls' weekend

We had lots of relaxing fun at my mom's condo on Crooked Lake this December! It was the girls' first trip there, and we spent our time shopping, eating, playing games, and watching movies. We even introduced them to Hallmark Christmas movies. They weren't impressed, but we pressed on anyway. 💓🎄

Mostly, I loved sharing the Petoskey area--my first place--with Nellie, Annie, and Mary Cate. I lived there until I was four, and it's still one of my favorite places. I sometimes wonder if I just romanticized my life there, but no, it's just that great. On the way home, my mom drove by our old house and told stories about her life when we were babies. We're all hoping this was just the first trip of many.

A wonderful moment--Annie getting a ukulele lesson from a couple I've known my whole life.

Annie and Mary Cate were best buddies.

The girls loved these natural drinking fountains

Matching overalls. I will die happy.

Church Children's Concert

Tonight will probably go down among my favorite parenting moments. All the kids were in the show this year for the first and probably the last time. It was Mary's first year in the little kids' choir, and although it's technically a PreK-5 show, Nellie was asked to do a reading. They all did a great job, though it wasn't exactly DJ's idea of a great time. (We had fun reminiscing about the year he threw a fit, refusing to go on stage, and another when he stood up there but just soundlessly opened and closed his mouth the whole time like a fish.) I loved every minute of it.

So here's a Christmas challenge for us all...

May we gracefully accept each opportunity and responsibility that comes our way this season like Nellie;

may we share the good news of Christ's birth with sweet confidence like Annie;

may we carry on diligently when we face holiday trials of any kind like DJ--whether it's beating the crowds at Meijer, surviving a family get-together, or holding up the letter "S" even though people will be watching;

may we watch for and quietly meet the needs of others like Eddie;

and may we draw near to the Lord with even more adoration than Mary Cate has for her brother.

Karaoke Tuesday

I married up. I mean, how else can you explain these kids' dance moves?

Nellie's ability to tune everyone out, though--that's all me.

It's the holiday season

After a rough week--which started with a blessed post-Thanksgiving snow day, but went downhill when Kevin came down with strep and I got to single parent most of the week with a dead car battery thrown in there somewhere--we had a great weekend together.

Kevin was finally well enough to get out of bed, and we had a rare 48 hours without a single plan. We filled it up with some of our favorite things: Pumpkin-dark-chocolate-chip pancakes, Chinese take-out, fires in the fireplace, Christmas movies, online gift shopping, church, and Christmas tree decorating. 

Annie made up and hosted a Double Dare-esque game for us called "Wernet Wonderland." It involved trivia on energy, heat, and motion (using a Jeopardy review game from her last science test!), some blind pictionary, a few rounds of Heads Up, and everyone's favorite--obstacle courses in the basement. It's a miracle Kevin and I didn't hurt ourselves. Team Booger Assassins (DJ and I) narrowly beat the Pine Tree Tyrants (Kevin and Nellie).

As we move into the break-neck pace of Christmas celebrations and preparations, it was a nice little window of relative peace and quiet.

A talented student painted this ornament--it made my week!