Well, the biggest news of 2018, for us anyway, was the unexpected arrival of our little baby. Due Nov 11th, we announced it to family and friends via this video a few days after telling the kids.
The uncut version of us telling the kids:
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Kennedy's 12th Birthday Trip
In February, Brian announced his "idea" to the family - it was news to me too, as I don't ever remember having this conversation with him...that 12 would be the "big kid" birthday, not 13. He thought to make it special, each kid could pick what they wanted to do, and where they wanted to go - the rule was it had to be within a reasonable days drive, or a cheap flight.
Kennedy was about to turn 12, so she had to decide really quickly! She wasn't coming up with any really great ideas, I mean, what is there to do in the world when you've never done anything? Haha! She was struggling to think of what might make a good trip. I helped her out with a few ideas - not pushing one over another, just giving her an idea of what things you could do on a fun weekend away.
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| Before the cut! |
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| One of the malls we visited & shopped at in Raleigh Durham area, NC |
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| We went to Maggiano's Little Italy for lunch one day. They don't have those in our area, so it was fun to try something new (for her, I was a fan from my Chicago days) |
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| Hair and makeup done for the theater! |
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| I was 3 or 4 months (who can keep track) pregnant with Baby # 4. |
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| The Tobacco District in Durham, North Carolina |
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| Hotel lobby pic. She looked so pretty and so grown up! |
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| I re-wore my dress from Janessa's wedding in December, and broke in the shoes for Jillaine's wedding, upcoming in June. |
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| Breakfast!! |
We had such a fun weekend away, doing all the fave things and splurging on all the things we normally wouldn't. She got her fave Panera soup and bread bowl. We finally bought that Arby's chocolate mint shake we'd always wanted to try but never had. Truly a lovely time, with a lovely, quickly growing up, girl 💗
Thursday, January 18, 2018
The Comf
I recently brought up a difficult topic with Grey: His "Comf"...
This kid has been all about creature comforts since day one. And probably somewhere around that first day of his life, he decided that our 2-3 year old queen size white goose down duvet was the comfiest. This presented a real problem on going - because of babysitting extra kids, he napped in our bed - and then it eventually became very difficult to keep him out of our bed at all. When he was 15-18months, he'd join us every night. After multiple lectures and disciplines, he changed his tactic. He'd just come in and steal our duvet. Right off of us in the middle of the night. It wasn't sleeping with us that was the main appeal. It was our duvet.
Sometimes he couldn't even wait for a midnight attack. He'd sneak in and grab it right after being put down - when we were pretending not to notice in the livingroom. It was hilarious to watch him, and astonishing, because this is a queen sized, and perhaps oversized queen, goose down duvet - it's HEAVY. Like, really, really heavy. Not to mention HUGE. And that chubby little baby, who we'd eventually refer to as the Blanket Ninja, could pull it off our very tall bed, wad it up, and carry it to his room - it was definitely twice his size, and weight 😂. We tried in vain to keep him from it, we really did, but he loved it because it was "so comf" (his toddler shortform of comfy).
What made us laugh too, was that the Blanket Ninja's strength only seemed to appear at night. He could stealthily move that massive Comf all over the place under cloak of darkness, but come daylight, and he'd tug at it in a "fake show of force" kind of way, and collapse. "Too heavy!" So during the day, it was Mommy's job to return the comf to it's rightful place (on her own bed).
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| (Yes, he'd just been LICKING a handrail to the subway, in NEW YORK CITY. My pic almost caught it! Thankfully it wasn't a video, because then I noticed what he was doing and yelled STOP LICKING THAT! Kids. Seriously. KIDS!) |
One day, after seeing chubby baby, carrying a more than twice his size blanket ball of Comf "secretly" through the hall to his own bed, Daddy had ultimate pitty over the boy and much to Mommy's mouth-gaping, head nodding "no!" dismay - He said "You really like my Comf, don't you" "yeth" "What if you keep it, and I find another blanket" "okay!". And that was the end of the blanket wars. While we scrambled to go buy something else to sleep with, it ended up ok because at least we got to keep it all night 😂
The Comf has been well used. In fact, now that it's around 10 years old (!!!), it's more like a dingy beige, and it's started to run thread bare in places, and feathers come out. I've had to patch it now 3 times. Upon the last patching, I brought up the delicate subject...
Mom: Would it be ok if we bought you a new Comf? It could be just like this one, only new
Grey, casually: Oh, sure. That's fine. As long as it's comfy and cold
Mom: It can even be white!
Grey: Yah, ok. I mean, but we're still keeping this one
Mom: We...we are?
Grey, in an "of course" matter of fact tone: Yah. I could use the new one sometimes, maybe I could keep this one in my closet and only use it some of the time.
Mom: Ohhhh, welllll...
Grey: I mean, maybe like, on my birthday, I'll use this one or something. But we have to keep it, you know, for the memories
Naturally - the memories. Of a chubby little boy toting around a queen sized duvet. 💙
My only thought is of storing having 2 unwieldy blankets, but, I guess we can just be glad we didn't have a King.
(all pics are from the 15-24 month range, except the last few, taken last night. I got to thinking that maybe we don't have any pics of him, and his Comf. So I took some for "the memories")
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Highlights of 2017
As Kenna recently said, "isn't it weird how 2017 just flew by when 2016 stuck like glue?" Uh, yeah, it felt that way to me too! Here are just a few of the notables that come to mind from 2017.
Jan - I finally consented (after constant badgering from Brian), to get a puppy. (We still have our 3 cats). We started looking for either German Shepherds, or Norfolk or Cairn Terriers. I was a fan of small, Brian always likes Shepherds. The year started out slow, but good. Then it started gaining traction...
Feb - We told the kids we'd start looking for a puppy. They were beyond thrilled. We found a few litters locally and went to look at them - we found the one we wanted and paid the deposit. Naming the dog became Mom's job because the kids had *terrible* ideas, including Tiramisu (Terry for short), and the typical Brownie etc type of dog name. Front runners from Mom included Nash, Solomon, Gideon, Justus, Samson & Ranger.
Mar - We brought home our little baby puppy Solomon Justus. The kids played baseball, and Brooks is now old enough for kid-pitch instead of coach-pitch. He usually played first or 3rd, and was the backup pitcher. Kenna played on a girls softball team, and Grey did coach pitch for the first time! Solomon loved coming to the games and practices with us.
April - I started working at the Woodard Group (Brian's company) one day a week. Super fun. Basically just getting familiar with the environment and doing odd projects for Brian. I will eventually be there full time, but waiting on timing for a few things to fall into place first. It's now been a year since Brian scaled back his weekly hours and involvement in the company (by about HALF!), and it's been a really nice and much needed change for our family. We are all enjoying our "new normal" and having evening and weekends together.
May - I can't actually remember anything significant occurring in May. I think it was just a normal month with school, music, baseball, and me working p/t. Ann's husband Jake came to town, so we did a lot of "family nights" until he left in Aug (with Dale & Lauren too). (His visa for Belgium was messed up and he was waiting on a new one, so Ann was in Belgium, he was not). Our renters at Hugo gave their 30 day notice...
Jun - Jun 1 arrives, and the renters are gone...but they left everything! They do not respond to my calls or texts, and I have no idea where they went to...I ended up throwing out a ton of stuff, and selling a 40+gal fish tank on Craigslist, as well as their mission style table and chairs...but they left a Harley Davidson! I was sure they'd come back for that eventually. We traveled to DC with Dale & Lauren for a U2 concert (bucket list item for Brian). The kids and I didn't go to the concert, but it was a really fun trip! We finished up with May-May, she will go to Kindergarten in Sept, so we'll have no Extra Kids in the house for the first time since 2007! The kids did worship camp again, and I worked while they were there.
Jul - our yearly trip to Ontario! This year one of my sisters (Jillaine) from SK came out too, and that was fun! We always have a good time with our cousins and extended family there. My sister is a great host - the kids naturally want to live with her, and eat her cooking year-round;-) We had a few surprises this month that kind of put us to the test, and affirmed our faith yet again - He is God, I am not, His ways are not mine, He is good in all things.
Aug - we went and saw Goo Goo Dolls in concert (with Philip Philips). And on the last day of August, Solomon got hit by a car. A huge F150, actually, and almost died. As a result of that, he continues to recover with a limp in his front left leg from damaged nerves.
That same day the dog was hit, Brooks got to go down on the field with the Norfolk Tides (our local triple A team) because his baseball team won 1st in their league in the Spring. Lauren and Dale saved the day by taking the kids to the game, so Brooks could go line up on the field with the players for the anthem. Brian and I sadly had to miss it, because we were stuck at the vet hospital from 3:30pm to 10pm:-(
Sept - We started a new school year, and a brand new curriculum - online video school for all! We've started making slow preparations for my going back to work. Even though it's not "right now" we want everything to be in place for a smooth transition. The Harley is still at the rental house, and there is no word from the renters. I went into DMV to tell my story and see what could be done about this. I got started with the abandoned vehicle process.
Oct - Working out the "kinks" in the new curriculum pretty much took up all of Sept and Oct. Daily timed tests, learning to use computers and learning to type etc. It was a pretty big learning curve for the kids, but they started getting a handle on it, and really liking it, in Oct!
Nov - We learned that my sister Janessa was engaged, and getting married in Dec! We went and saw comedian John Crist perform stand up, locally (very funny). We traveled to NY and spent Thanksgiving there with Brian's family (and brought the dog), it was a really fun trip!!
Dec - The abandoned vehicle process is now complete, and I have a Road King Classic Harley Davidson in my name!! We're going to try to sell it! The kids got to go to Busch Garden Christmas Town with Dale and Lauren for the second time, and they loved it (Grey was tall enough to go on the rides this time). I sang in the church's Christmas concert, which was so so fun! We hosted Christmas this year at our house, and then I left for SK on a whirlwind trip there-and-back for the wedding. I got to be a bridesmaid for the first time since Lauryn's wedding in 2008. Basically, I felt old, HAHA. And cold. Because it was about -30something the whole time I was there :-) Brian and I rang in the New Year in his car, waiting on my suitcase to show up in baggage claim. He brought roses, chocolates, and a bottle of sparkling cranberry, and it was the perfect end to a very busy and crazy year!!
2018 started out with a BANG - Winter Storm Grayson knocked out our area for a loop. Lots of snow days and time off so far!
Jan - I finally consented (after constant badgering from Brian), to get a puppy. (We still have our 3 cats). We started looking for either German Shepherds, or Norfolk or Cairn Terriers. I was a fan of small, Brian always likes Shepherds. The year started out slow, but good. Then it started gaining traction...
Feb - We told the kids we'd start looking for a puppy. They were beyond thrilled. We found a few litters locally and went to look at them - we found the one we wanted and paid the deposit. Naming the dog became Mom's job because the kids had *terrible* ideas, including Tiramisu (Terry for short), and the typical Brownie etc type of dog name. Front runners from Mom included Nash, Solomon, Gideon, Justus, Samson & Ranger.
Mar - We brought home our little baby puppy Solomon Justus. The kids played baseball, and Brooks is now old enough for kid-pitch instead of coach-pitch. He usually played first or 3rd, and was the backup pitcher. Kenna played on a girls softball team, and Grey did coach pitch for the first time! Solomon loved coming to the games and practices with us.
April - I started working at the Woodard Group (Brian's company) one day a week. Super fun. Basically just getting familiar with the environment and doing odd projects for Brian. I will eventually be there full time, but waiting on timing for a few things to fall into place first. It's now been a year since Brian scaled back his weekly hours and involvement in the company (by about HALF!), and it's been a really nice and much needed change for our family. We are all enjoying our "new normal" and having evening and weekends together.
May - I can't actually remember anything significant occurring in May. I think it was just a normal month with school, music, baseball, and me working p/t. Ann's husband Jake came to town, so we did a lot of "family nights" until he left in Aug (with Dale & Lauren too). (His visa for Belgium was messed up and he was waiting on a new one, so Ann was in Belgium, he was not). Our renters at Hugo gave their 30 day notice...
Jun - Jun 1 arrives, and the renters are gone...but they left everything! They do not respond to my calls or texts, and I have no idea where they went to...I ended up throwing out a ton of stuff, and selling a 40+gal fish tank on Craigslist, as well as their mission style table and chairs...but they left a Harley Davidson! I was sure they'd come back for that eventually. We traveled to DC with Dale & Lauren for a U2 concert (bucket list item for Brian). The kids and I didn't go to the concert, but it was a really fun trip! We finished up with May-May, she will go to Kindergarten in Sept, so we'll have no Extra Kids in the house for the first time since 2007! The kids did worship camp again, and I worked while they were there.
Jul - our yearly trip to Ontario! This year one of my sisters (Jillaine) from SK came out too, and that was fun! We always have a good time with our cousins and extended family there. My sister is a great host - the kids naturally want to live with her, and eat her cooking year-round;-) We had a few surprises this month that kind of put us to the test, and affirmed our faith yet again - He is God, I am not, His ways are not mine, He is good in all things.
Aug - we went and saw Goo Goo Dolls in concert (with Philip Philips). And on the last day of August, Solomon got hit by a car. A huge F150, actually, and almost died. As a result of that, he continues to recover with a limp in his front left leg from damaged nerves.
That same day the dog was hit, Brooks got to go down on the field with the Norfolk Tides (our local triple A team) because his baseball team won 1st in their league in the Spring. Lauren and Dale saved the day by taking the kids to the game, so Brooks could go line up on the field with the players for the anthem. Brian and I sadly had to miss it, because we were stuck at the vet hospital from 3:30pm to 10pm:-(
Sept - We started a new school year, and a brand new curriculum - online video school for all! We've started making slow preparations for my going back to work. Even though it's not "right now" we want everything to be in place for a smooth transition. The Harley is still at the rental house, and there is no word from the renters. I went into DMV to tell my story and see what could be done about this. I got started with the abandoned vehicle process.
Oct - Working out the "kinks" in the new curriculum pretty much took up all of Sept and Oct. Daily timed tests, learning to use computers and learning to type etc. It was a pretty big learning curve for the kids, but they started getting a handle on it, and really liking it, in Oct!
Nov - We learned that my sister Janessa was engaged, and getting married in Dec! We went and saw comedian John Crist perform stand up, locally (very funny). We traveled to NY and spent Thanksgiving there with Brian's family (and brought the dog), it was a really fun trip!!
Dec - The abandoned vehicle process is now complete, and I have a Road King Classic Harley Davidson in my name!! We're going to try to sell it! The kids got to go to Busch Garden Christmas Town with Dale and Lauren for the second time, and they loved it (Grey was tall enough to go on the rides this time). I sang in the church's Christmas concert, which was so so fun! We hosted Christmas this year at our house, and then I left for SK on a whirlwind trip there-and-back for the wedding. I got to be a bridesmaid for the first time since Lauryn's wedding in 2008. Basically, I felt old, HAHA. And cold. Because it was about -30something the whole time I was there :-) Brian and I rang in the New Year in his car, waiting on my suitcase to show up in baggage claim. He brought roses, chocolates, and a bottle of sparkling cranberry, and it was the perfect end to a very busy and crazy year!!
2018 started out with a BANG - Winter Storm Grayson knocked out our area for a loop. Lots of snow days and time off so far!
Healing Balm
2T organic beeswax (buying pellets instead of 1oz bars making this easier to measure)
2T coconut oil (cold pressed, unrefined)
1T raw unfilted shea butter
1/4C jojoba oil
15 drops frankincense
25 drops lavender
15 drops helichrysum
20 drops tea tree
Melt beeswax in a double boiler, then add all except EO's. Let cool a bit (cooler, but still liquid), add EO's, and pour into "lip gloss" containers (Amazon).
This balm is *amazing* for healing skin issues of any kind - dry, rough patches, soften callouses, cracked or dry lips, even acne spot, hang nail or cuticle issues, or dry hands. Good for literally everything!! Could even put it in a little 'pot' kind of container, but I love the squeeze and go portability of this kind of container.
I think this recipe filled about 10 of this size container.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Ornaments
Some people in recent years started having a "word" for the year. I started having a theme. Something the Lord puts on my heart that typifies my journey for that year. I decided to put each theme yearly, on an ornament. "That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in times to come, saying, what do you mean by these stones? Then you shall answer them...And these stones will be a memorial for the children...forever" (Josh 4:6-7)
Because I think it's important for people to remember all the great things God has done in His great rescue of us. And its also important to share these things with the next generations, so that they can see the struggles and the victories that come with living the life God gave us.
My Grandma Shantz gave me an ornament each year, from 1979 to 2015 (making them ahead, as she passed in 2010). Every year we take them out, hang them up and talk. Stories about her, about life, about what I was doing that year...in 2016 I was a little battle-weary, you might say. It wasn't the year I wanted it to be in many ways, & yet it surpassed expectations in other ways. And there was no new ornament from Grandma to mark the season. So I made my own.
'Tis mercy all, so rich and free...That old hymn had been on my heart all year, and spoke clearly to summarize the ups-and-downs. Because His mercy to me was evident in my brightest day & in my darkest night. Unshakeable goodness, even in circumstances I wouldn't have imagined, but also wouldn't change, for His loves display was so sure. Could I see that it was ALL a mercy of God? Truly?
My theme for 2017, summarized "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert". This year, this verse has been on display in my livingroom & always close to my mind. He has forged so many "new things", and, instead of my tendency to not pay attention, I was watching & waiting & seeing all the ways He was working and changing me. And that was worthy of another ornament, I thought.
Because I think it's important for people to remember all the great things God has done in His great rescue of us. And its also important to share these things with the next generations, so that they can see the struggles and the victories that come with living the life God gave us.
My Grandma Shantz gave me an ornament each year, from 1979 to 2015 (making them ahead, as she passed in 2010). Every year we take them out, hang them up and talk. Stories about her, about life, about what I was doing that year...in 2016 I was a little battle-weary, you might say. It wasn't the year I wanted it to be in many ways, & yet it surpassed expectations in other ways. And there was no new ornament from Grandma to mark the season. So I made my own.
My theme for 2017, summarized "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert". This year, this verse has been on display in my livingroom & always close to my mind. He has forged so many "new things", and, instead of my tendency to not pay attention, I was watching & waiting & seeing all the ways He was working and changing me. And that was worthy of another ornament, I thought.
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Family Picture Day 2017
Here is the video from our family picture day this year: https://youtu.be/KIIWIIWYS30
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