December is my favorite time of the year, even though it is full of chaos. We cram so much fun into the holiday season, which leaves me depressed in January. There is nothing more depressing than taking down Christmas decorations.
We made a lot of memories during December; some good (such as more family time during the break from school) and some not-so-good (such as cold-weather illnesses). Here's a recap of the moments that weren't included in the past couple posts:
Roy couldn't wait to start his cute little boy in violin lessons, so Ryan got his first violin at age 3. For the next 10 years, Ryan obediently practiced, endured lessons and played for crowds at many different events. But then he became a teenager who was interested in sports and Roy's dreams flew out the window.
Ryan has always told me about his violin-playing days but has never picked one up since we got married. When his parents came to Missouri for Thanksgiving, they brought his old violin. After we got home from our Thanksgiving meal together, Ryan got the rusty violin out of the box and began to play. The kids and I were in awe.
Illness hit our house. There were fevers and puking and sore throats ("oh my!" - Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz). Bella knew the kids felt rotten, so she comforted them.
I love how my kids take care of each other. When one of them is sick, the others make food, bring drinks, cover them in favorite blankets, write notes, play games . . . anything to put a smile back on the sickos face. When Brynlie came down with the nastiness and had to miss the staff party with her dance studio, Brevan tried to console her while Lindsey filled the bathtub with warm water so Brynlie could relax. Filling the tub apparently requires a swimming suit and cap.
Brevan and Anthony have become close friends over the past couple years, and I've been wanting to see one of Anthony's cello performances with the Kansas City Youth Symphony (yes, he's that talented). On a Sunday afternoon, Brevan and I drove to this old War Memorial building to see a production. I'm so grateful Brevan has found responsible, fun, kind friends.
LoganPotPie performed with the other 1st graders in a Christmas music program at the High School. He absolutely HATES performing in front of people, so he was dreading the day he had to "sing baby songs" and begged us to not make him go. We enjoyed watching him in the fun program, and giggled when he rolled his eyes while doing the hand actions.
We attended a live nativity that was held at a small farm in Liberty. The production was adorable and helped us feel the true spirit of Christmas. Napiers (as well as many other friends) attended the event on the same cold, rainy night.
Bella has endured the frigid winter weather by sneaking treats out of the kid's stockings and jumping INSIDE the dryer when we open it to retrieve the warm load. This goofy dog makes us laugh every day.
When people asked what we did over the three-week Christmas break, I respond by saying "not much, and it was fabulous." We played for hours everyday on the new Wii (and the kids busted up laughing as some naughty words slid out of my mouth when I lost a game), watched every Christmas movie that was on TV, dug out the board games, argued when boredom set in, and entertained themselves in the most silly ways, such as:
- being Home Depot thugs who lived in the kitchen remodeling area
- thought it was hilarious that this store collects "cash for God."
- spent hours doing various crafts, including this day when I walked into the dining room to see Lindsey and Logan paper mache-ing balloons.
- had arm-wrestling and push-up contests
- and made plans for a New Years Eve bash. They invited the Napier girls over for KFC, treats, games, and a countdown to midnight. Lindsey spent the day decorating (but obviously not cleaning, so ignore the messy house in the pictures). The best part of the night was watching the girls copy the terrible dialogue and dance moves on the old High School Musical movie they watched. Has it really been that many years since they loved that movie?
And I leave you with my thoughts on winter . . .
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