Girls weekend!

We managed to sneak in a girls' weekend to Petoskey this year for the first time since 2020! (In fact, I remember that during our last dinner together up north, there was a story on the news about an American student stuck in China because of the spreading coronavirus and I was like, "whoa, what's that?") We missed Emily :( but we packed in a little bit of shopping, a moderate amount of hiking, and lots of eating delicious food lounging! Erin also introduced us to mushroom houses and we toured some favorite spots from when we were little living in Walloon Lake.

Some excellent driving from mom back into a remote parking area!

My beautiful coffee

Snowy hiking!

Dinner at the Weathervane by the massive stone fireplace

Okay a super highlight was a solo hike - well, I thought I was solo but when I stood very quietly trying to take a picture of some ducks for Kevin, this beaver hopped out of the water onto the ice! He reminded me of Mr. Beaver from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Hand-me-downs

Clothes in a big family are an interesting thing - essential items and a shared commodity. Nellie and Annie, then DJ and Eddie, were close enough in age that I generally just shifted the clothes the older ones outgrow directly into the drawers and closet space of the younger ones. Now that the big girls and I can wear the same size, clothes kind of shift from one room and closet and laundry basket to another without much fanfare.

With seven years between Annie and Mary, we didn't save as many clothes because we didn't really think about the possibility of another girl for a good five years there. But we recently uncovered a big bin of clothes in the crawlspace that held a lot of things in Mary's size. When Annie and Mary went through it this weekend it felt like a weird time warp. Annie would pull out a dress of Nellie's (or was it Annie's, or maybe both?) and it would bring back memories of some of our favorite moments and photos from years past that can feel like another life. Bathing suits - beaches, lakes, swimming lessons, and splashpads. Pajamas - early bedtimes and Annie wearing the same PJs until the pants barely made it past her knees. Jeans, fancy dresses, jumpers, and so many leggings.

It's been fun to see the different combinations Mary puts together and what her favorites are. It's also fun to remember how different Nellie and Annie's preferred styles were! Nellie was very particular about fabrics and fit, but our "Little Miss-match" had no qualms about mixing colors and patterns. Annie, on the other hand, liked to dress up and everything had to go together just so - she's still my daily fashion advisor. Mary doesn't seem to care much one way or the other but likes the idea of hand-me-downs. Lucky girl, we will have lots!

Rocking a Dora shirt while she eats her "magic brother breakfast" from Eddie - a bagel with Nutella and sprinkles

We found the outfit to match Bitty Baby!

Winter weekend highlights

We may have started school this week, but this weekend I was reminded how peaceful these winter days can be! We stayed pretty busy, of course, but spent significant time sitting around by the fire and hanging out together. 

We introduced the kids to a couple of our old favorites - Angels in the Outfield and About a Boy (big girls only). I may have cried a little during the former...I love that movie.

The saddest part was taking down the Christmas tree. We got the tree early and kept it up late, but I still wasn't ready! The room seems too empty and dark. We did leave up our outside "winter lights," though, and I'm committed to keeping them on in the evenings because these months are so dreary. The National Weather Service is reporting that in the last 9 days we've had 5 minutes of sunshine. 

Otherwise, we had fun cheering on the boys in their basketball games (two big wins!) and going to Eddie's piano recital. Kevin took Lafayette, Nellie, Mary, and me rabbit hunting (any rabbits in the field lived to see another day), and we watched MSU beat U of M!

Here are a few pictures plus fun bonus videos of Nellie and Eddie at the recital.

Go Eddie!

Mary loved this climbing this huge flat-topped rock.

Eddie playing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Nice to meet you, 2023!

I'm not sure how many more years the kids are going to want to spend New Year's Eve as a family, but we had a fun night full of games, football, Back to the Future, snacks, and celebration! And this year, everyone stayed awake through midnight and beyond. 

Spoons - I am not good so I was out early.

Legos...

More Legos...

And the best part, a little late-night pin the ball on the tower. We were in hysterics! Each person had to spin once for every three years of age, which meant Kevin and I were just about falling over.

This is a screenshot of a midnight sparklers routine. :)

And now here we are, 2023. Over a "fancy" dinner based around our new pasta-of-the-month (thanks to John!), we chatted about what we've learned over the past year, favorite memories, and what we're looking forward to.

Mary learned the entire Christmas story by memory! She is most looking forward to going to Disney World and Florida.

Eddie's favorite memory is covid (?) - wearing masks and stuff. He's most looking forward to being able to write "23" as the year. He likes the number 23.

DJ learned that the Lions aren't total losers (his words). His favorite experience from the last year was soccer and he's most looking forward to baseball in the new year.

Annie learned that time always passes, so whether you're looking forward to something or dreading something, it will eventually come and you'll get past it. Her favorite memories were any vacations we took and time we spent together.

Nellie learned this year how to balance her various responsibilities and relationships, and that sometimes you will let people down and that can be okay. Her favorite memories are encompassed within "band," and she's most looking forward to going to Disney World.

Kevin has a lot of memories of extra time spent at the lake this summer, and especially our last weekend of the summer with brats on the grill, multiple ice cream trips, and boat rides. Our trip up to the U.P. was another highlight, although Nellie couldn't be there. He's looking forward to the Florida trip as well!

I have learned that I have learned more from the people around me than I had previously realized, and that's part of how God has equipped me to do some things I didn't think I was capable of. I'll have to keep thinking about that one for awhile. My favorite memories from 2022 are mostly the things others already said, but I'd add our snowy spring break trip to Petoskey. Next year, I'm excited for Florida as well, but also for the kids' new adventures with DJ moving to middle school and Annie moving to high school - and who knows what else is in store?!

Christmas 2022

 A few Christmas memories from this year:

• No covid this year, but Annie, Eddie, and Mary were all down with the flu for the first few days of break. It was a little sad, but provided a couple of quiet days to rest, regroup, and start to prepare for Christmas at the beginning of break.
• We had some weather! A snow and wind storm came in Thursday afternoon (Christmas was Sunday) and left the roads somewhere between iffy and treacherous through Tuesday! Knowing it was coming, we invited Pam to come Wednesday and stay through Christmas. It was a fun adventure (you can ask Pam for her perspective!) to have a guest for a week. And I love a good winter storm, so I was happy to be snowed in.
• The kids only got a couple of presents this year, because we're going to Disney!! The kids found out Christmas morning that our travel is booked to drive to Florida for a couple of days in Disney World and a few days at the beach.
• Florida's great, but the kids were mostly excited for the used Wii Kevin found on ebay to replace our ancient broken one. 
• Most of the rest of the break was spent playing in the snow while it lasted, celebrating birthdays, visiting with family, and playing Wii, ping pong, foosball, and board games.

Our quick makeshift "curtain" to cover the window to Pam's room for the week!

My annual early-morning Christmas trip to Meijer. I didn't know they opened at 6...Christmas + blizzard = line to the back of the store by 7:30am

Here comes the SNOW!

Cookie making and decorating - Ethan's dad kindly braved the blizzard to drive him over to join in

Okay, better late-ish than never...we finished hanging lights Christmas Eve

We were able to attend church for the first Christmas Eve service in years!

Ready for Christmas morning!

Waiting on the stairs

We forced a "good" picture before present time

Reading the letter from Santa

One of my favorite gifts - a pillow from Mary

The best waffle

Presents for a crowd!

The crowd!

Sibling picture at the Wacyk party

Goodbye Aunt Pam! We'll miss you!

Genny convinced us to go out sledding...without sleds. The yoga mats worked, though!

DJ, age 11

DJ's "birth day" lives so vividly in my memory, it's hard to believe it was 11 years ago! He is growing into this thoughtful, serious, hard-working kid and we love him so much and who he's becoming.

Sports are still pretty much top on DJ's list of things to do, watch, and to think, read, write, and talk about. If he plays a video game, it's a sports game. I love that I can ask him details about specific plays or players and he either has the answer or is willing to chat about it. When there's no baseball, football, or basketball to watch and he's in the mood to watch sports, he can get into a softball, water polo, or world tag (?) game just as much. He plays baseball, soccer, and basketball on LCS teams and loves just about every minute of it. DJ's greatest sorrow is we don't like to throw the football around at home nearly as much as he'd like.

But DJ also enjoys reading, math, and putting stuff together, whether it's Legos or a new tabletop foosball table. He has delightful friends at school and is working hard at getting along with his siblings. It's exciting to think about what the next year holds as we look forward to MIDDLE SCHOOL!

Birthday haircut

He's been waiting two years for the Guardians of the Galaxy ship Lego set. It's mostly for him, but a little bit for me.

Blowing out his (two) candles...one thing I forgot in the many Christmas/birthday shopping trips. This year, Grandma Linda made him an ice cream pie at his request.

Birthday bowling

What was your favorite memory from the last year?

Improving at soccer. We didn't win a single game last season, then this fall we were almost undefeated! 

What is one way God's been working in your life this year?

He's helping me get better at things. Like in the baseball hitting league, it felt impossible to hit the pitches that were coming at 50 mph. I was pretty scared at the beginning. But after the first one or two games I was able to get multiple hits in each game and even get some home runs.

How do you feel about being eleven?  

It's nice, I feel like last year went way too fast. Nine to ten was a really long year, but then ten went really fast. Not in the moment, but looking back it was super fast.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?

Baseball season, playing with the older kids this year. We just have a better team, we're able to win more games. Wesley might come back to the soccer at LCS this year. Going to Florida and maybe visiting Roger!

Who are your best friends?

At school, Caleb, Wesley, and Ira. In the family, Otto, Roger, Xander, and Eddie

What are your strengths?

Baseball, reading, soccer, math, FIFA '23 (Nintendo Switch game). I'm good at doing chores; I've gotten a lot better at doing chores without complaining. [I would agree!] I'm good at making cold brew coffee. I know what I'm not good at...thinking of things that I'm good at. I'm good at being polite.

What careers are you considering?

Like a pastor, a paleontologist, an athlete. I think I'd like engineering or building things. I like the idea of automotive or aeronautical engineering.

Why are you interested in those fields?

I don't know, I mean, I'm a good athlete and I think it would be cool to learn about fossils and look into our past, and I think being a pastor would be cool because you get to write sermons and travel. You collect stories and connect them to the ideas in the sermons. I really like Legos, so I think I'd like engineering.

What’s your favorite song or type of music?   

"Help" by the Beatles, and my favorite type of music is Beatles music.

What's your favorite food?

Chicken pot pie.

Current favorite movie?   

The Sandlot or Back to the Future.

Current book you're reading?

The Tripod Series at school and comic books at home. Far Side, Garfield.

Favorite color?   

Light green.

Favorite place to be?

Usually I would say Aunt Pam's house, but...Petoskey or Papa John's house.

What are your favorite things to do? 

Read, play/watch sports, I like playing video games. I like traveling, being in different places. 

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?

I've had two cups of coffee and it's only 11:45 in the morning. Ah! I just got coffee in my eye! I'm only 17 years away from my golden birthday.

Christmas break kickoff/Anniversary celebration

It's beginning to be something of a tradition to visit Kalamazoo before Christmas as a family anniversary celebration. Kevin proposed at Bronson Park when it was lit up for Christmas, and it's a fun place to take the kids now.

This year, we spent some time downtown, ate pizza at Bilbo's (where Kevin and I went for one of our first dates and Nellie discovered this spring when she went for a band trip), and spent the night with Pam at her new condo! Eddie, Mary, and Annie started getting sick while we were there, but a good, Christmassy time was had by all.

Things were pretty sleepy on the way there after a long week at school

A fun find at RocketFizz, our favorite downtown store

In front of the nativity

Candy Cane Lane! 

Loving the fireplace at Pam's new place

Bilbo's

Nellie doing Nellie things