Summing Up 2006

Every year, in January, I write and send our family newsletter. I do it in January because I figure everyone is busy enough around the holidays (including myself) to sit around and read a boring homespun editoiral of the past year of our lives. Un fortunately for my blog fans you are not getting the full effect of the letter due to my privacy complex and the fact that I still can't post pictures. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy.

Parentisms: Words and/or situations that apply to you simply because you are a parent.
Autorockus Calamitus – The clothes dryer is continuously clanking due to the pockets full of Hotwheels and “pretty” rocks which are added to each cycle.
Whinintoafiticus – When your child realizes whining isn’t working and he decides to throw a fit instead. All children are born knowing that this works especially well in a public setting.
Noddis Oftenidae – A condition where one’s head will continuously drop in a nodding fashion while the eyelids close in a weary manner, often caused by lack of sleep due to early mornings and/or wakeful nights.
Pottytalkuscannotavoidicus – A condition where a persistent stream of potty talk (not to be confused with filthy language) flows through your home. This condition is unavoidable where there are two or more children in diapers and at least one in the midst of potty training.
Forcedum Procrastinatious – The act of being forced to appear as if you are procrastinating when the truth is that you simply do not have the time or the energy (or the brain cells) to complete projects by an expected deadline.
e.g. Your Christmas decorations will be doubling as your Easter decorations.

Dear friends and family,

Is it 2007 already? I don’t even know where to start. I seem to be suffering from a loss of time, lack of energy and fading creativity. As our good friend HC put it, “You used to be funny.” I am definitely suffering from Forcedum Procrastinatious. My Christmas decorations are still up. I’m aiming to have them down by Valentine’s Day…Easter at the latest…Definitely by the Fourth of July. First things first, though, I have to get the news letter done.

M(named after her Grandpa M) was born on Tuesday, October 3rd at 11:50am weighing in at 7lbs 15ozs and 20 inches long. She came into the world with dark hazel eyes and a head full of thick brown hair (Finally one that at least looks related to me). God has been merciful to us in that she has been our easiest baby so far. She took right to sleeping at night and fell into a nice routine during the day. She just loves the swing and with her being #4, I use it without guilt. At four months she is smiling, flirting and ahgooing with anyone who will stop to ahgoo back. She hasn’t given us that first laugh yet but Mommy can tell she is right on the verge. We are praising God for such a happy and healthy little girl.

If E had anything to do with it, M would have laughed the day she came home. E is two years old as of the 28th of January and loves to be the ham in every situation. She puts Shirley Temple to shame with her head of bouncy blonde curls and the ability to put a smile on our faces. Her favorite word is fhieee(fly) and she will repeat it continuously until Mommy scoops her up and flies her around the room. Now, along with fhieee, she knows pin(spin), trow(throw), dump(jump), shing(swing) and up…up…up…Needless to say, Mommy has very tired (but strong) arms. When she isn’t trying to get a laugh or “fhieee”ing E is climbing. Climbing the chairs, climbing the couch, climbing Mommy (who is climbing the walls)…if it will hold her weight, E will climb it.

Being all boy J also loves to climb, and, being all boy, he must then jump from the top of whatever he has climbed. Not only does J love to climb and jump but he also loves to talk. He is very inquisitive about everything from what cars eat to what birds talk about. At three and a half he can out talk any one I know even when he is pretending to be a crocodile. One morning K and J were playing in the girls’ room and I heard K scream and start to cry. She informed me that J had bit her. I asked J if this was true and his reply was a very matter of fact, “Well, I am a crocodile.” Mommy just couldn’t argue with that logic. J, even though a rambunctious boy, is still my most sensitive. He often asks, “You’re happy Mommy?” and no matter what I reply he always says, “I love you, too.”

Besides avoiding bites from local crocodiles, K can be found dressing her Polly Pocket, coloring, or putting together puzzles. Puzzles are K hobby of choice for the moment. She is very good at them and rarely needs any help. K also loves to do school, which is great since she will be officially starting kindergarten this fall (home school of course). K is so grown up now being all of five years old. She even had her first real birthday party with five of her friends. I tried to talk her into a princess party or Tinkerbell or even Hello Kitty but she would hear nothing of it …She wanted Dora the Explorer. Dora decorations, Dora cake, Dora presents… I even persuaded My Love to dress as Swiper the Fox to try and foil the treasure hunt, but he was run off by all the girls yelling, “Swiper no swiping!” It was a blast! In addition to loving puzzles, school, and Dora, K loves to help with M and I love having an extra set of hands when I need them.

In addition to caring for the kids I still squeeze in some time to help at Campus Life. I bring snacks and host staff meetings, although, we have switched from home cooked meals to pizza (What a lifesaver, thanks S and A). One of the highlights of my year (besides giving birth…again) was entering some projects into the county fair. I entered a poem, a children’s story, a toy I made from felt and a scrapbook page. Everything I entered placed and the scrapbook page even took best of show. It felt good to get so much positive feedback and to reaffirm that I still have other skills besides changing diapers and constructing Mega-Bloc towers.

My Love has gone back to school. He is enrolled in Colorado Technical University online to earn a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. The good thing about him being in school online is that he is home and he will be done in one year. Once he is finished he hopes to find a job in code enforcement or something similar. The bad thing about him being in school online is that it consumes a lot of time. His days are very long usually starting at 3:00 in the morning. By the end of the day he is exhausted but he is maintaining a 4.0 GPA and we are praying that God will make all his hard work and effort worth it in the long run.

In the pet department Flip still takes the lead closely followed by the Three Whiskerteers (Our cats, Booger, Daphne, and Twigs). This year our furry pet family was joined by three corn snakes: Red, Candy, and Mocha. Red is all red and orange, Candy is white with red and orange markings, and Mocha is grey with brown and black markings. They are beautiful and they each have distinct personalities but are all very curious and enjoy being held. They are each about three feet in length and are about as thick as a man’s thumb. Fully grown they can reach up to six feet but usually not in captivity. Ours have about another year of growing to do. Flip and the cats watch them intensely as they slither around their cage and the kids love to hold them, with our help still of course. (Right now, as I write, I am smiling while wondering how many of you are squirming just thinking about snakes living in the house).

2006 held many adventures for our family. Starting in January we began attending a Reformed Baptist home church. It is small and intimate and full of people who love the Lord and want to know His Word. Someday we hope to be large enough to require a building, but for now the leaders are satisfied with spiritual growth. In May we took our annual trip to Fort Bragg and decided to swing by Oregon on the way to see Grandma V and Grandpa P. While visiting we dragged them with us to the Portland zoo. It was the kids’ first zoo experience. We had a very full day of dodging raindrops and looking for sleeping animals. After Oregon we met up with my parents in Fort Bragg. We had a great time, as always, playing in the sand and chasing waves. We also saw plenty of waves in June while camping in Tahoe during Crossway Fellowship’s (the name of our church) first annual family camp. Family camp will probably replace our annual trip to Bowman Lake (Sorry J, M, and D…We have to go where the plumbing is. However, we will make our best efforts to eat SPAM at least once a year in your honor). Later in the summer K and J both took swimming lessons. Everyday for two weeks they had a great time wearing down the patience of their swim instructors. After that the rest of the year was a blur until M was born. Once we settled into our new routine, K started attending Awanas. Whew…just writing about it makes me want to wipe my brow and take a nap.

2007 is upon us. And only eleven months to go! Time sure does fly when you’re having babies. Please pray that each day our strength in Christ will be renewed, and as we busy ourselves with kids and school and life that we will be able to enjoy it, and occasionally have a chance to catch our breath.

By His Grace