Winter days 2019, Part 1

I call this "Part 1" because we're on the verge of more snow followed by a deep freeze. Don't worry, I stocked up with a full cart at Meijer yesterday morning--we're set with goldfish crackers and juice for days. The kids had two days off last week due to cold and ice. I had one extra on top of MLK Jr. Day. So we had a bonus day together at home, which was nice after I was up north for a mom-and-sisters trip.

I found my tasting niche--maple syrup!

It's hard to capture with my phone, but the moon over the lake was amazing.

Hiking

I woke up at 5:15 Wednesday morning when the text alert came in about Grand Ledge's cancellation, so it made for a long, productive day!

Indoor picnic lunch

I save up all our paperwork and bills for the year and file them in time for tax season.
I paid the girls to sort them all!

Annie's cute snowman with chocolate-chip eyes

DJ and Eddie's two-headed snow alien

Eddie fell. DJ tried to help him up and fell. Mary Cate tried to help him up and fell. 

Nellie's cow-snowgirl

Those two

It's been a blessing (and some days, a challenge) to bring Eddie and Mary Cate with me to school every day this year. I don't think I've ever seen two siblings enjoy each other's company. Mary asks every morning, first thing, if Eddie is going to school or staying with her at the babysitter's house. She cheers--then tells everyone she sees for the rest of the morning--when it's a Tuesday or Thursday and Eddie doesn't have preschool. I hope they're always friends like this!

Prepping to go out for a walk on a "warm" winter Sunday

Mary Cate practicing caring for our friend's baby

Mary and Eddie took pictures of each other in my office--
"So we can remember each other if we're not together," Eddie told me.

Mary's picture of Eddie

It's a Wonderful Life

So there's this scene in the movie It's a Wonderful Life that probably changed my life. Multiple times. It's that part on Christmas Eve when one kid's sick in bed, one's tossing tinsel on the tree and needs help with spelling, one kid's practicing piano, and one's tugging on the parents' shirt to tell them they burped. It's all quite festive and pleasantly chaotic.

When I was 20 years old really watching the movie for the first time, that scene contributed to my desire for a big family--lots of kids, lots of fun, lots of love. It seems sort of silly now to build a life around an image from a movie, but it certainly did wiggle its way into my consciousness about how I envisioned family life as my relationship with Kevin deepened.

Then it happened. I got the big family, with five kids and lots of fun and lots of love. And lots of noise, and lots of activity, and my little chaotic scene developed a life of its own. What I hadn't realized is that it's like that ALL THE TIME. So much activity, so much noise. Not usually very festive, and not always pleasant. It's a daily occurrence right around 5:30 to be oscillating between cooking, making dinner, and managing laundry. All while holding an upset toddler, helping two kids move past some squabble over a toy or game, conversing about math homework, and listening to flute practice. We're continually working with the kids on not all talking at the same time, not asking for help with one thing after another.

Confession: I don't always handle it with a smile on my face. A year or so ago, the craziness was threatening to undo me. Something needed to change. But then that image of the Bailey family popped into my head again, and I remembered--this is the family and the life I wanted and waited for all these years. I just didn't quite realize what it would look like. The every-minute-of-every-dayness of it. What needed to change was how I looked at it. So I tried, minute by minute, not just to accept the noise, activity, chaos, but embrace it. Thank God for it. Fighting it was futile. For encouragement, I reminded myself that it won't always be this way. It's a season. Things will calm down a little.

Now, with the oldest eleven and the youngest two, I find myself on the brink of just such a change. Nellie is the tiniest bit doing her own thing at home--playing her keyboard or reading in her room, emailing friends, texting her cousins from my phone. Mary Cate is the tiniest bit more independent, though she still doesn't like me being out of sight. I see quite plainly that it won't always be this way. Instead of whispering those words for encouragement, it's just fact. I can embrace, and appreciate, and value this fleeting stage. I know I'll look back on it very fondly, though I hope I don't lose the hard realities of the memories, too. Then, I can be nothing but gracious and serve others in this wonderful (season of) life.

True Nellie

A post I started on January 12, 2013--Nellie was five--and didn't post until January 2, 2019. Too funny not to share.

Nellie: Mom, I'm glad you married Kevin because I love your face.

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.