All the Festivities 2024

This year has gone so fast.  We definitely made the most of the season.  Things change as the kids grow and especially with Benjamin in Kansas, it felt different, but we did our best to preserve some of the same traditions and make them special for Peter.  Honestly though, it's always Bella that gets the most out of the holidays and I'm so glad she's still around for them because she makes everything more fun.  It won't be the same when she leaves.

The holidays always start with the holiday concerts. Given that my kids play saxophone, and not flute, I usually can't see them at all during the concert, but I at least catch glimpses of them when they're walking on or off stage, or happen to have a solo that they didn't even mention to me!!  I thought she did so well!

Christian's conductor asked all the kids to gather for a group photo after the concert.  What a big group of awesome musicians!

After the plushy, warm, comfortable indoor concert, comes the freezing cold outdoor holiday parade.  The kids have played in the worst of weather and it's been quite miserable some years.  However, this year it was an amazing 50 degrees and absolutely perfect.  Peter and I had a great time.  Just missed seeing Benjamin at the head of the Churchill drumline.  Not sure if that'll ever get easier.

If you can pick Bella out in this photo, you're doing better than I am.  I'm a terrible parent - I have no idea where she is in this huge group of perfectly matching saxophone players, but don't they all look good?!  I put an arrow on my best guess.

There's a group of guys in Livonia that love to dress up as the Ghostbusters, complete with jumpsuit and proton pack, every Halloween and drive their awesome ghost buster mobile around town.  But why stop at Halloween?  They have managed to make it all the way to Christmas too.  Each year they walk the parade, spraying everyone from their proton packs along with a giant stay-puff marshmallow man.  It's a blast - unless you get sprayed!  We were absolutely covered.

After listening to the amazing high school musicians, we had to hear some more - this time the professionals.  We continued our tradition of attending the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's holiday concert. It was fantastic as usual.  Santa was there again too, this time without Mrs. Claus and looking kind of bored in his big throne, unlike in past years where he laughed and joked with folks while standing by the bar.  We still managed to get a picture with him, though - it's tradition!!  Photo credit - Christian.

That same night, Bella and I went to see her friend Madison perform as the snow queen in The Nutcracker.  She was wonderful.  The lighting in the theater made for terrible photos, but everyone was all smiles after that beautiful performance.  So fun that these two are still friends since they met as 3 year olds in preschool!

That weekend we had a blast making and decorating sugar cookies.  I'm a professional cookie decorator - in my head - and I've had to come to terms with the fact that reality never matches my mental image and my aspirations will never be profitable.  Bella, on the other hand, as actual skills.  When combined with my skills at creating delectable homemade buttercream frosting, the picture perfect icing, and all the fancy piping bags and tips and colors I've purchased while nursing my dream of professionally decorating cookies, the results are spectacular.  Blast some Christmas music while doing it, and really, you don't get a better afternoon.

Christian wasn't feeling it.  He was much more interested in the football game.  He did join in for a couple, though, and he stayed in the kitchen to watch the game so he was still with us the whole time.  That was really nice.

So much fun and it wasn't even Christmas yet!  Christmas eve we invited my mom and Thea over and had spoiled ham for dinner.  Not the plan, just the unfortunate fact.  I will be demanding my money back.  Costco did me dirty, as my kids would say.  

Aside from the unfortunate ham, the rest of the dinner was amazing and the rest of the evening too.  We shared our feelings about Jesus Christ and how we've experienced Him in our lives this year.  We read Luke 2 and Matthew 2 while Christian did an impromptu one-man play of it - that was so cute.  We opened 1 present each, and we played some fun group games like Blank Slate.

Christmas morning we got to open presents with Benjamin!  He called and we face timed while he opened his presents from us and then watched us open ours.  It was the best.  Then he sent a picture of himself wearing the tie from my mom and the sweater from me.  Man, I miss that guy, but I'm so happy he's doing well.

Last night I drove Thea home and the news was on - famine amidst civil war in Sudan, war and famine in Palestine and Israel, thousands being killed every week in the war in Ukraine, etc etc.  Then I came home and placed dozens of gifts for my kids on the couch and went to bed warm, safe, healthy, and well fed.  It's crazy. How did I get to be here?

I awoke to a house full of happy people and watched them open countless presents with huge smiles and happy hearts.  My life is amazing and I'm so thankful for it.  I love these people with whom I get to spend every day.  I wouldn't want it any other way.  Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We have been so busy that time is just flying by.  Thanksgiving is already over and now Christmas is on the way!  For Thanksgiving we reserved the church again, as last year, and invited anyone who needed a place to go or didn't want to do it with just their family alone.  It was a lot of fun.  We ate, watched the Detroit Lions game, and played board games for hours.  We had missionaries join us and 4 other families.  I didn't think to take a single picture other than this one - Peter willingly playing with someone his own age!!  It took about 2 hours for him to warm up enough to talk to anyone, but then he played until we left.  It was so fun to see.

Before the big day, Peter and I took part in a tour of the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade Factory.  The Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade is the 2nd or 3rd (depending on who you ask) largest annual parade in the country and the floats are absolutely spectacular.  The people who make them have set up business in an old Chevy plant in Detroit and in order to raise money for the supplies, they give tours all year round of the floats, the creative process, etc.  We went with Peter's school and I thought he'd have fun but he pretended not to know anyone the entire time we were there and spent the two hour tour begging to go home.

I, on the other hand, had a fabulous time.  It was fascinating and ended way too soon for my taste.  At the end we were all given clown noses and that seemed to cheer him up.

Bella also participated in a tour of the same facility with her school group from her graphic design class.  She loved the tour too.  I think next year we may need to rethink our Thanksgiving traditions and take a trip downtown to see the parade.

While we were downtown, Peter and I stopped at the Light the World Giving Machine our church set up.  It's a vending machine that allows you to buy things for other people to benefit local charity organizations.  We did this in Indianapolis last Christmas and it was fun to have one so close to us.  Peter selected to buy a "Safe Birth for a Mother."  I thought that was sweet.  He didn't like the idea of taking a picture, though.

Peter can be a stodgy old man sometimes, but he's also incredibly sweet.  I find notes like these all the time.

Although, sometimes notes like these:

                                    (Chris is playing too loud and I have to cover my ears)

He never calls him Chris, but I guess Christian was really too long to attempt.  This was given to me during Christian's saxophone lesson.  :)

Peter's school had the whole week of Thanksgiving off so we took a trip to the zoo one day.  The Detroit zoo is really great if you're interested in doing a lot of walking and not seeing a lot of animals.  We took comfort in the fact that it was such a sunny, beautiful day and we had the place nearly to ourselves - just like Peter likes it.  We spent the most time with the penguins and the butterflies - the animals which are enclosed and visible.  And one of the birds in the aviary dropped a large, beautiful pink feather right where Peter could grab it and that made him so happy.

Sunday was the first advent, and so, per tradition, we put up the tree and took out all the fun, festive stuff.  Bella is never happier than when we're prepping for Christmas.  She wanted to be sure to be the one to put up the star and it was so fun to see how excited she got about it.

Christian has been working so hard in everything - robotics, school, piano, saxophone, applying to MSC - the STEM program in high school he wants to enter, etc. that he hardly has time to sleep.  Not to mention keeping up with the Lions and the rest of the NFL!  :)  This was a project he did for school - a cell cake.  Make a cake that looks like a cell with all it's different structures and organelles using candy.  I had to laugh because I had done the exact same thing in Biology class when I was in school.  They chose to do a plant cell and I think it turned out really cool.  Green frosting and purple cookies courtesy of me.

Illness and Injury

 October wasn't exactly our best month to date.  Christian got sick first, then I did, then Kelly.  I had it the worst. Christian had it the longest.  Fever, muscle aches, loss of appetite, fatigue, vomiting, headache, congestion, etc etc etc.  When that started to clear, then came the cough that never quit.  Christian and I were both diagnosed with pneumonia, Kelly's lungs luckily stayed liquid-free but his cough could really strike fear into anyone who heard it.

Then, as if that weren't bad enough, on a day when I was trying to rally and be a good mom rather than a tired lump, I broke my finger.  Christian had wanted to play football and I figured  as long as I'm not currently hacking up a lung (although I did have a fever), I should go get some fresh air and toss the ball around.  The pass went wide but I went for it anyway.  Big mistake.  It hit the tip of my left ring finger, overstretched the tendon causing it to tear away from the bone, taking a little bit of bone with it.  (A textbook "mallet finger injury" leading to "bone avulsion" for any of you who'd like to google it.)  Christian has not let me live it down that I'm so weak a football broke my finger.  I remind him that I know where he sleeps and he better knock it off.

In conclusion, October has been the month of gratitude for modern medicine and good health insurance as nearly all of us have visited at least one doctor and been on at least one round of antibiotics and I'm now sporting a fancy new made-for-me finger splint and have multiple follow-up x-rays and appointments scheduled.  On to November and hopefully better things....I typed that as Peter coughed violently from his bedroom.  Great, another one bites the dust.

Some pictures to brighten the mood:

Halloween and my 47th birthday - that morning I was at the doctor getting another antibiotic, but later in the day we carved pumpkins, decorated sugar cookies, went trick-or-treating (only Peter this year - the kids are all getting so old!), and delighted in the spoils.  I coughed the entire evening, but managed to avoid it while on people's porches.

This cutie has become a reading champ.  He's reading beginner chapter books and loves to read the scriptures with us in the evening, often needing very little help when his turn to read comes around.  This is how I find him many times during the day.

His school picture wasn't worth ordering, but definitely worth downloading from their website.  (Don't mind the watermark. hehe)

He's still loving his new room and bed.  He'll frequently go to bed in the middle of the day with extra blankets and call to me, "Come take a picture of how cozy I look!"

Bella had her fall band concert.  She sounded amazing.  She always practices so hard.  I'm so impressed.  I only wish I could see her better during the concerts!

She also spends a lot of time with friends.  Here she was headed to a dance with some girls from church.  I love the athletic shoes with dresses fashion trend nowadays.  Why couldn't that have been a thing when I was that age?!  So much more comfortable!