The First Advent

Thanksgiving is over.  We expect the first big snow storm tomorrow.  Bella started her Christmas crafts.  (So far it's been painting a nutcracker and making elves out of pinecones.)  Today was the first advent.  Let the Christmas season begin! 

Due to the impending storm, today was unseasonably warm.  We decided to enjoy it and go on a long hike in Rotary Park woods.  We haven't walked there in months and it was fun to revisit our favorite spring hiking spots.  It was so busy, though!  We weren't the only ones out enjoying the warmer weather.

In the evening we celebrated Advent with our traditional wreath, christmas music, candles, and hot chocolate.  It was nice to be together and talk.  It always goes so quickly, though.  Benjamin is always the first to jump up and want to leave.  He gets bored and antsy just sitting around talking.  I hate it because I love the peaceful time together.  However, once he's decided he's done, he'll make everyone miserable with his whining and teasing until we're begging him to leave and he gets exactly what he wants.  Once he leaves, the others will stay a little while, but it's effectually over.  I hope as they get older, maybe we'll be able to spend more time just sitting and remembering what this season is really all about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Today was a good day.  We have much for which to be grateful.  Christian and I started our day with a run.  He roller bladed and I ran and every other runner out there greeted us with a "Happy Thanksgiving!"  It was wonderful.  It always feels so good to run!  

Christian and I drew a "thankfulness tree" on our sliding glass door.  We drew the trunk and branches and then on the leaves, we drew things for which we are thankful.  We kept going and going - friends, family, church, parks, playgrounds, books, school, teachers, food, pets, running, nature, trampolines, cars, heating, air conditioning, museums, prayer, music, motorcycles, etc. etc.  We filled the whole window.  We really are so blessed.

After that we played with Peter, jumped on the trampoline and out in the tree fort, played card games and helped Kelly with his kitchen remodel.  He has been frustrated with the job the workers did on our kitchen floor about 2 years ago and so he finally decided enough was enough and he is redoing it.  So this is what our kitchen looked like today:

Our fridge leaked while I was pregnant with Peter and it had ruined out kitchen floor and the ceiling of the basement and had even dripped down onto the basement floor and ruined part of it as well.  Kelly had redone the basement himself, but the kitchen had grown mold under the cabinets during the time the leak was still unknown to us and so we'd had professionals fix the upstairs.  However, despite coming highly recommended, they specialized in speed, not quality, and they did some pretty shoddy work.  Even more than we originally thought, as we're discovering upon tearing it up.  So, Kelly took on the task of redoing it himself.  It already looks better where he's redone it.  I'm sure the whole thing will be great when he's done.  It left us without a functional kitchen on Thanksgiving, though, so a friend of Kelly's invited us to join him and his wife.  I was a bit hesitant given Covid, but it's just the two of them, and they work from home exclusively and see almost no one.  Since he's such a good friend of Kelly's and it was eat with them or have no Thanksgiving, we agreed.  It was a wonderful evening.  The food was great and the kids had a great time too.  Especially Peter.  The couple have a dog and Peter adores dogs.  He was happy and excited about the dog all during dinner and when he was done with his food, he discovered the joy of throwing leftovers to the dog and watching her eat them up.  This became his favorite game and Peter became her favorite human.  I had to refill his tray three times so he could keep feeding her.  It was adorable to watch.  The kids think we really need to get Peter a dog.  I just think we need to visit Sunny more often.  I'm sure Sunny would agree.

When we got home, I put away the leftovers and then went to get Peter to put him to bed.  I thought the kids were playing with him and keeping him quiet before bed because he'd been tired and fussy.  I came in to find this: 

Turns out they figured out the ultimate way of keeping Peter quiet and entertained with no effort on their part!  So adorable, but let's hope he doesn't think he gets a phone every time he gets fussy and tired! :)  

Finally Really Walking

Months ago Peter made us think he'd start walking any day.  However, he didn't.  He would walk a few steps if prompted, but otherwise he'd always crawl.  This week that has begun to change.  He now walks more than he crawls and he seems to really be enjoying it.  It's so fun to see him finally achieving this milestone and seeing the smile on his face when he gets where he's going.  That shirt he's wearing, btw, was his choice.  I said we needed to get him dressed and he went right over to his closet.  When I lifted him up and suggested a shirt for today, he ignored my suggestion and pulled the orange one out.  I really didn't like it much because I'm not a fan of orange.  It was a hand-me-down and I probably would never have put it on him, but he was very insistent that this was the shirt he wanted.  Once he had it on, I saw that he hadn't done too bad in picking it.  I think he looks cute.  So funny that he already has an opinion on the matter.

First Snowfall

 Today the snow came for the first time.  We'd experienced it for a few hours up north on our Halloween vacation, but today it came to Livonia.  The older two couldn't have cared less about the snow.  They didn't even go outside saying it was "too cold."  Bella was finally pursuaded to go outside in order to squirt colored water on the snow and make some snow art as they have done every year.  She lasted such a short time, however, that I didn't even get to take a picture before she was back inside.  Christian, on the other hand, was beyond thrilled about the snow.  He played all around the backyard and when Peter took his nap, he and I went down to the park and woods at the end of our street and played in the large field together.  Despite the small amount of snow that stuck, we had a wonderful time throwing snowballs at one another, seeing who could throw the snowball the farthest, and tromping through the snowy woods.  We encountered three large deer while in the woods.  When we saw them, we stopped and observed them and they also stopped and observed us.  We stood there together like that for several minutes, just staring at one another.  Finally Christian and I started off towards the paved path and the woods' exit.  After a few paces, I noticed that one deer was following us.  He had turned off his path and was walking along ours.  We stopped and he came within 10 feet of us before stopping as well.  He was so beautiful.  Small horns growing on his head, gorgeous toned body, and bright eyes.  Christian and I whispered to one another, afraid of scaring him off.  I wanted to reach out and touch his head, but I doubted he'd let me and I didn't want to make him used to people.  He should have a healthy fear of humans.  We're not to be trusted.  In the end, it was the deer who turned and walked away and then so did we.  It was a magical moment in the snowy woods and we were so happy we'd come.  

Gotta Get Out

Christian was bouncing off the walls today after spending so many hours in online classes.  He literally was walking up the walls and bouncing off.  (His hands on the kitchen table, he was walking his bare feet backwards up the wall by the table.)  I realized we needed to get out.  Cold weather or not, we needed to burn off some of that energy.  I've been taking the boys running every morning, but Benjamin only has 25 minutes between seminary and his first class so we don't go very far.  We can't go later because Peter is up by then and he doesn't like the cold in the early mornings.  I've had to stop taking him along.  The early run with the older boys has been wonderful, though.  I get just a little bit of exercise and, most importantly, so does Benjamin, who is sedentary in front of his computer the whole rest of the day.  Today we ran 1.5 miles at a 7 min/mile pace and it felt great.  When I saw that Christian needed more exercise, I convinced him to go to the park with me.  He loves to go to the park, but he's hated wearing his bicycle helmet lately and so he's been refusing to bike to avoid the helmet.  I convinced him it was worth it and we went.  We had a great time, although Peter didn't last as long as I'd hoped.  He is just much more grumpy and difficult in the cold weather.  I bundled him up as best I could (2 shirts, sweater, jacket, and two pants) and we managed about 45 minutes.  His favorite things are always the bouncy frogs, the slides, and the merry-go-round.  Today he laughed out loud as I spun him around.  I put squeaky shoes on the him for the first time so he would squeak when he walked and he thought it was so funny.  He grinned as he noticed the sounds for the first time.  We are trying everything to get him walking more.  So far 10 steps when prompted is about his max.  I keep hoping that improves before the snow comes.

Nothing Beats a Box

 Kelly's office is the most cluttered place in the whole house and every afternoon Peter loves to go downstairs and investigate the mountains of detritus that exist there.  His favorite thing is a box that Kelly has kept near his desk for no apparent reason.  Now he keeps it there for Peter because every day he comes and climbs into it, enjoying the little play place.  Today Kelly was in a meeting and Peter was being too noisy, so he carried the box, with Peter inside, and set him in the kitchen.  That set off a stream of play ideas between Peter and Christian.  First Christian carried him around like that.  The picture makes Christian look angry, but he wasn't.  Then they sat together and had snacks while in the box.  Then Christian got his own "box."  Then Peter wanted in on that larger, softer box, so they traded.  Christian soon discovered he was far too large for the other box.  In the end, they decided to both be in the larger box.  Ultimately, Christian spent the rest of the evening in his box, even after Peter went to bed.  He did his homework in there and he pushed it into the living room so he could join us for scripture study while still in it.  He wanted to have dinner in it, but I drew the line there.  So fun how such a simple things can bring such joy.  I guess that's one of the main lessons we're learning from our quarantine.  It doesn't take much to fill a day and to make a home a happy one.

Same Old Same Old

 Not much new to report around here.  All the schools are closed now so no one goes anymore, not even Christian.  We all just stay home and do the same things every day.  I volunteered our family to help an elderly woman from church clean her yard.  Partly to serve and partly for an excuse to get out of the house and off the screens.  The kids grumbled and complained the whole day before and the whole way there.  I wouldn't let them off the hook, though, and in the end, the kids had a great time, despite all the work.  Christian and Bella had so much fun jumping into the leaf pile.  Benjamin did it once and stopped.  He's too old to act so silly. ;)  It is a massive yard, but we did the whole thing in 90 minutes thanks to teamwork.  I was going to take a picture of everyone in front of the giant leaf pile in the street but I realize I'd forgotten my phone at home.  Such a bummer.  However, this picture from the internet is a nearly perfect match for what Christian looked like jumping in.  He would take a running start, leap head first into the pile and completely disappear.  The pile was so big that it always swallowed him whole, feet and all.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then comes Christmas.  Our Christmas packages arrived this weekend and Peter was so excited!  He climbed on and off of the box over and over again while I made dinner.

Christian had an art project from school that required drawing on aluminum foil as part of the process.  As he was coloring, Peter wanted to do it too.  It was so cute to see them coloring together.  Peter struggles knowing which part he should use to color - the marker or the cap.  He often rubbed the cap all over the foil and then stared at the blank space perplexed.  I was so happy to see him enjoying some art.  Up until now every attempt has been a failure.  He would scribble for a second and then be completely uninterested in continuing.  Today he seemed to enjoy it for a little bit. 

 

Metal Mouth/Brace Face

Look who got braces this week!!

 He's quite the sight with the hair that he refuses to get cut, the teenage acne, and now braces.  Amazingly, I still find him handsome and endearing and his new braces-induced way of speaking is cute.  He's also got "bite turbos" behind his top front teeth that keep him from biting the brackets off until his bite gets adjusted.  However, those turbos also keep his back teeth from touching, so he can't chew anything any more.  The orthodontist told us those would be on for a month and that seemed like forever, but when they were on and I went to schedule his next appointment, he told us that it would be at least three months before they came off.  Lousy liar.  I brought up the discrepancy and he insisted I must have misheard him.  Benjamin is my witness, though, that he said 1 month.  I even had him confirm that because I knew such an apparatus would be incredibly awkward and I wanted it gone asap.  He comes highly recommended and I've really liked him so far so I hope that this isn't indicative of future trends.  I hate when people refuse to accept that they made a mistake and blame you for the error.  We all make mistakes, I get it, just own it!!  Don't push it off on me!  I feel bad for Benjamin watching him swallow all his food whole.  I really hope things get better after they've been on a while.

We had sushi the other night for dinner and Bella decided to put her soy sauce in one of Peter's bowls.  When dinner was over and it was just sitting there, he saw his bowl and grabbed for it.  It was just the dregs of the sauce, so I assumed he'd put it right back down after seeing what it contained but he licked it and discovered the he loved soy sauce!  He proceeded to lick the whole bowl spotlessly clean like this! I guess he likes the salty flavor.

Christian is the best big brother.  He's patient and fun and adores Peter.  He babysat for me tonight for 20 minutes while I drove the other two to a church activity.  When I came home, I found them taking selfies together.  So cute.  I had him pose for a shot by me as well.  Such a cute pair.

Not Much Going On

Every day I've been asking myself if I should write a blog entry and every day I conclude that I have nothing to write about.  Life has been pretty boring this week.  I guess the country as a whole has been tumultuous, considering the election this week.  However, if there's one thing I've seen time and time again, it's that my daily life changes very little regardless of who is in the White House.  I didn't really care who won because I hate both Trump and Biden.  I actively researched all the third party candidates naively assuming that there must be a quality individual among them.  I wanted desperately to find someone I could actively support.  After spending hours researching, I came to the conclusion that they would all be terrible presidents.  There wasn't one single person I could feel good about voting for.  So, the election held little interest for me and my life went on as usual.  Christian's teacher actively involved the class on election day and had them watching the polls online and following the trends.  Consequently, Christian had it pulled up on his laptop for two days straight, filling me in whenever a state declared they'd counted 100% of the votes or when a candidate gained electoral votes.  I was happy to see him so interested in current events and it made for some good conversations.  However, I think the thing I liked best this week was the letter Bill Clinton received from Pres. Bush Sr. in 1993.  Bill read it on the news this week and I thought it was wonderful.  

Jan 20, 1993

Dear Bill,

When I walked into this office just now I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago. I know you will feel that, too.

I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some Presidents have described.

There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. I'm not a very good one to give advice; but just don't let the critics discourage you or push you off course.

You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well.

Your success now is our country's success. I am rooting hard for you.

Good luck — George

If only Trump had half as much grace.  I mean, actually there's been far less violence than I thought there'd be if Trump lost, but I hate that he can simply never admit that he's wrong or that he lost.  I see large Trump supporter rallies on the streets and, of course, the internet is aflame with calls for a recount.  I guess we'll see how long this lasts.

Anyway, the bigger news around here is that the leaf trucks finally came through today and cleaned up the leaves. :)  I've been starting to wonder if they'd ever come.  The piles in the street always turn our street into a one lane road and it was getting difficult to drive.  I had been in the back yard with Peter when I heard them and so I wheeled him in the cozy coupe around to the front and we watched the trucks for about 30 minutes.  It was  a thrilling show for him.  He loved it and was riveted the whole time.  Several neighbors came out to watch too.  The ones across the street brought out lawn chairs.  Everyone was out watching like it was the 4th of July parade.  It was a block party and it was a fun, Covid friendly community gathering.  It was also a very telling indicator of just how unbelievably bored and stir-crazy we all are.  

There is nowhere to go nowadays thanks to Covid, so I am stuck at home A LOT with Peter and sometimes I just get so bored!  Every day we read books, play piano, play playdoh, and play in the backyard.  Then it's time to repeat it all again.  Some days I get depressed and antsy and want to cry for the way things used to be.  Friday, to combat the depression, I took Peter to Meijer's toy department and let him play to his heart's content.  They discourage that sort of thing nowadays, but I didn't care. He was so cute.  He found a couple ride-on toys and spent the entire trip on one or the other.  He loved them.

Any day that the weather is still good, I take Peter out for a run.  Today I took Bella and Christian out too.  They didn't want me to run, though.  They just wanted to walk. So we walked the path through the woods at the end of our street.  It was really nice to be out together.  Now that the middle and high schools have shut back down due to Covid, I hope to get Bella walking with me more often before the snow comes.

Later God blessed me with the discovery of a new forest area.  I was watching a sermon from a local mega-church and the pastor was broadcasting from a forest.  He invited his parishioners to join him in the woods behind the church after the service for a walk and discussion.  I had no idea there was such a large section of woods behind that church.  After I was sure the church group had cleared out, I took Christian and Peter over there.  I was amazed!  15 years I've been scouring this area for hiking trails and I was certain I'd found them all.  What a wonderful gift.  There were miles and miles of trails and it was such a perfect day. 70 degrees in November!?!?  We had a wonderful time. Christian had a story going the whole time about how a queen had sent us on this quest and we had to ...... I'm not sure of the rest.  In any case, this little lean-to structure fit right into this story and he proceeded to climb inside and "mine diamonds."  Peter was more than happy to help.  Together they constructed the ultimate weapon which he used all along the trail to fight various goblins and ogres and to repair bridges that would have surely collapsed as we crossed.  In the end, we completed the quest and saved the kingdom.  And we did it all before the 5pm sunset deadline!  We rock.  

Fife Lake....Again

We just can't get enough of our little cabin on Fife Lake.  Kelly and I decided to spend my birthday weekend up there and escape the crazy Covid Halloween.  From what I heard from others, Halloween turned out okay after all, but we didn't mind missing it.  We had a wonderful time as our favorite get-away.  The boys spent most of the days motorcycling while Bella, Peter, and I hung around home playing games, visiting the library, going for walks, watching Jeopardy, and playing at the playground.  Bella made all the meals on Saturday so I wouldn't have to and that was probably my favorite part.  I love that she enjoys cooking.  She made eggs and sausage for breakfast, mac'n cheese for lunch, and stuffed peppers with roasted potatoes and squash for dinner.  Kelly helped at each meal, but she worked hard.  I can't wait until I can count on her to make more and more of our family meals.

The weather was wonderful during the first couple days.  The colors of the leaves and the perfect lake view made the whole thing magical.  

Christian joined me and Peter for our trip to the playground.  It was the perfect temperature and Peter had a wonderful time on the slides.  Christian and I created obstacle course races around and over the structures and Peter watched from the tree stump.  I never thought he'd stay put, but he did.  He found us entertaining enough, I guess.

The library in the small town was open and still had all its board books and puzzles and toys out so we were able to actually take advantage and enjoy a library for the first time in 9 months.  It was glorious and I was so sad when it was nap time and we had to leave.

We spent some time at the beach on our last afternoon, although, it was a very different experience from when we visited in August.  So windy!!  High wind advisories went into effect a few hours later but the wind was already starting to really gust by that point.  We left and headed south again just in time.  In fact, the morning we left, we woke up to a snow storm.  The kids had a snowball fight while I packed up.

We debate all the time whether we should buy a place up at Fife Lake.  We'd love it, but we wouldn't love the maintenance and taxes and the need to always go there.   We still have so many other places in Michigan left to explore.  It's such a gorgeous state.  However, when we just want a quick place that's guaranteed to be perfect, we love our little home away from home at Dave and Colleen's.