Halloween 2K15

What threatened to be a cold and rainy night turned out to be a chilly-but-tolerable, lovely evening of trick-or-treating! Thanks to our friends, John and Melanie, for hosting us. Our kids had the best time tonight! (And Neil and their son, O, continue to amaze us with their Ethiopian similarities--not that you can tell with Neil's Star Wars helmet on!)

Friends and New Years' Traditions

Today, we had our nearly-annual New Year's Day hangout with my friend, Jessica, and her family. Took the kids swimming, walked through the Skyway to lunch, and then ended our time together by going up to the 50th floor of the IDS Tower. See how tiny our huge hotel looks from way up there?!

I am so thankful for Jessica.  Our friendship has spanned almost a decade, and I am so thankful that God saw fit to cross our paths.  I'm excited to see how the Lord continues to work in our friendship as the years go on...

Later this evening, we had yet another nearly-annual tradition, hanging out with our dear staff friends, Dave and Joy, and their amazing brood.  It is a true blessing to have friends on staff who care about the same things we do, and when we think of people who fit that category, Dave and Joy sit right at the top of the list...the Packers, inner city ministry, adoption, and Jesus.  We never have enough time with them, but we're thankful whenever we do get time.  Joy says maybe we can live on the same cul-de-sac in Heaven.  I'll bet she'll have lots of neighbors.  :)

In the above picture, Beth is missing...she was feeling rather miserable, clearly fighting something, and sitting in a chair just a few feet from this circle, unable to make it to the fun.

Halloween

The American cousins trick-or-treating with the English cousins in tow. It was a drizzly-which-turned-to-full-on-rainy night, and fun and memories were had by all...

This year, we had a coyote (Tom), a princess (what-a-surprise-Beth), a Native American Chief (Neil), a slice of Pi (Rex), and a doctor (cousin M).

After a momentary afternoon panic on the part of Mama, thinking we weren't going to be able to finish the costumes on time, we pulled it out, and in the end, we really had a great time.  Neil wore a pillow case costume drawn by my mom and worn by one of us kids years ago when I was little.  The upside...it was awesome.  The downside...non-permanent marker + rain = a destroyed costume.  

Sad.  :(  At least we got pictures, and he enjoyed every minute of it.  Thanks, Grandma, for your constant contributions to our kiddos.  Maybe next year, we can borrow the Daniel Boone cap.  :)

Happy birthday again!

I do love my birthday...and I do love catching up on posts I always meant to write but never did.  After writing about Rex's last birthday, I looked back at all the pictures from Neil's birthday last year that never were shared.  Doesn't seem right. 

So again, without further ado, Neil's 6th birthday, last June, on the way to Colorado:

 Birthday pancakes at our India travel friends' house...made especially by Mr. McF!

 A little Birthday basketball while sister scootered...what a beautiful summer day!

 Birthday water gun

 A birthday dad attack!

 Birthday cupcakes

 Birthday with new friend, B

 A birthday attempt-to-get-the-siblings-to-all-pose-for-the-camera.  It didn't work.

And finally, after a fun morning with friends and a long traffic-filled afternoon, a birthday dinner somewhere in Missouri.....at the favorite fast-food place of any child in America.  Gotta love McDonald's for road-tripping!

I love you so much, Bud!  You are so passionate about whatever you do, whether playing basketball or soccer or football or baseball....or hugging your mama.  :)  I know that you think Dad is cooler, but I also know that you think I'm the "best mom in the world"....I'll take it!  How is it possible that you are now going on 7 years old?  You were my baby a minute ago!  I love the young boy that you are growing into, and I can't wait to watch and see what God is going to do with your life.  Always treasure Him above all else...

Happy Birthday!!!

It is now officially my birthday, and in honor of, well....me!....I'd like to throw up some pics of some of the people in this world whom I love the most...on their most recentest birthdays.  Odds are that I missed their birthday posts when they should have been put up originally.  Okay, I just checked, and I actually did okay on a couple of 'em.  Beth got a couple of pictures, and Neil got one plus some explanation.  But Rex?  Well, his birthday didn't even receive an honorable mention. 

So without further ado...Rex's 9th birthday, last July in Colorado:

 Birthday first day of Kids' Care/Kids' Camp

 Birthday breakfast with mom (after we dropped other kids off at said Kids' Care)

 Birthday self-portrait with Mom

 Birthday dinner with staff friends outside our apartment

And, of course, a birthday cupcake "salad"!  (That's what he asked for...it was a salad-themed dinner.)

I can't believe that you're 9 1/2 now, Bunch....just can't believe it.  I love you so much, and I'm so proud of who you are and who you're becoming.  Thank you for encouraging me and loving me....let's always keep our communication good between us, okay?  (Hey, do you know where the word 'okay' comes from??!)

Mobile Catches of the week (or two)

 

My beautiful, precious, silly, sweet little girl on her birthday...

Beth with Tom and their friend, M.  Beth and Tom have gone to M's house every Tuesday during this school year, and on Wednesdays, M comes to our house!

Rex on the way to his violin concert...

Note to self:  Next time, ask performing child which side of the stage he will be on.  This was my view of him during his duet...completely obstructed by the music stand.  Nice.  But he sure sounded good!

After Tom's diaper leaked, we exited stage left, and I changed him into the only other clean pants I had...Beth's pink capri pj pants.  Good thing I had her legwarmers, too, to keep his little leggies warm.  He was wearing a red sweatshirt on top, so he looked like a little valentine running around...and loved every minute of it.  We were a sight to see, that's for sure.  I was glad that none of my friends were around.  And darnit, but my phone forgot to capture that image.  Serious bummer.

Me and the valentine entered the scene again in the balcony where we would be a little less conspicuous...and the view was much better for us.  I was so proud of Rex!

The next day, we celebrated Beth's birthday, since Daddy had been out of town on her actual day.  And I made....the cake!

 I feel quite domestic when I make my kids' birthday cakes.  Mom always made ours, and it's a tradition that I enjoy keeping up.  It won't always happen, and they certainly won't always be this elaborate.  But whenever possible, I want to use my creative side and make their cakes really special.  I was really happy with the way it turned out.  (A big thank you to Tang, who helped with problem solving when we discovered that the cake itself wasn't high enough and that half of Barbie's legs were still sticking out.  We ended up channeling our inner cake bosses and built up the dress with oreos underneath the icing.  The result was pretty nice, I think!)

And Beth loved it!  The look on her face when I brought it out was priceless!

 

When Daddy got home, I added his dirty clothes to the stack and came up with 9 loads of laundry to wash.  How does that happen?!

 Folded and ready to be put away!  Mount Washmore, I would appreciate it if you go away and never come back.

 

Yesterday, Neil read a story to Tom before his nap...these are some of the priceless moments that we are getting now that Neil is home with us two afternoons a week.

This week, Neil was Student of the Week in his class, so we had to make a poster.  On it, he explained his whole name, told about some of his "favorites", and displayed a bunch of pictures that he picked out.  Today, he stood in front of his class and described his poster.  He did such a good job!  Afterwards, I stayed and listened as their class practiced their lines for their upcoming play about Betsy Ross and the American flag.  Neil will be playing the part of George Washington!  He asked me yesterday if we can make his hair white.  By George, we'll see what we can do!  :)

Christmas at 2319

We have a tradition.  Each year, we start our Christmas morning with pancakes (made lovingly from scratch a box by the Daddy) and presents, with just our immediate family.  And then around lunchtime, our invited guests show up for Christmas dinner (usually a mid-day meal) and watching a movie, usually The Sound of Music.  Somewhere in the evening, our guests return to their homes, and we finish the day off with a few minutes of just us again.  It's a nice tradition.

Last year, we had to change our plans because we weren't in our house due to the boiler saga.  This year, things were a bit different again, but this time because we spent Christmas morning at my parents' house with my extended family.  So for our Christmas tradition, we celebrated again....on New Years' Eve!

This year, we only had one guest for lunch/dinner.  Shirley has been part of the tradition for many years now, and we were glad that she could join us again.  Hoffbeast met Shirley at our local Starbucks a number of years ago, and it has been a joy to have her as part of our annual celebration ever since.  Deshawn joined us later for the movie, this year a showing of The Nativity Story.  After everyone left, it was just us...and then after the kids were in bed, Tang came over and joined us for ringing in the new year.

We are usually at Christmas Conference on New Year's Eve, so this was very strange.  Our first time being home since 2005, just before leaving for Ethiopia to meet Neil.  A ball drop, praying together, and about 100 gunshots later (a strange and not-so-wonderful tradition here in the central city), the new year was here!  Welcome 2012, and Merry Christmas to all!

(The start of January hasn't stopped me from playing Christmas music and lighting candles at night, as I sit and read, write, and ponder in front of the Christmas tree and all the lights.  Hoping our tree will last for another month or so...)

The Great Happy Little Fleet Christmas Extravaganza, Part 2

So we were still quite wet...us and the camera.  But we were back in the van, and we were glad to be in a heated vehicle where the possibility of drying out was on the horizon...

Part of our annual tradition is going to a small town for pizza after getting our Christmas tree.  Traditionally, Hoffbeast and I have found that small towns have some delicious pizza offerings.  Granted, this particular small town (which will remain unnamed so as not to incriminate) did not have the greatest of fares.  The pizza reminded us of...other not-that-great pizza that we've had before.  But it doesn't really matter...the tradition was carried on, and the adventure continued!  It was fun, and the kids did well...lots of silliness, including an entire video made where people were doing their best "stink eye".  See Kara's attempt further down...

Next, we were on our way back to town, where we dropped their tree off at the girls' house and then headed to our house for tree decorating, chili dinner, and watching Wisconsin take on Michigan State in the Big 10 championship game.....go, Badgers!!!

The Great Happy Little Fleet Christmas Extravaganza, Part 1

It was a wonderful day!  We all started out loaded up in the van...

...but then we realized that somebody should ride with Daddy in the big truck.  It was Tom's first ride, and he was pretty excited!

 Upon arrival, we were met with quite a surprise, and not a good one.  Our favorite place to go to get our tree had moved...down the road...because some zoning situation had shut down their old place, including the beautiful old barn all decorated for Christmas and complete with the delicious lemon bars baked by the ladies down the road and the yummy apple cider.  Gone.  None of that.  We were kind of disappointed.

 And a little miserable.  Because it was wet.  Very wet and very muddy.  We're pretty sure that there hasn't been this much rain on one of our tree-cutting-down adventures before, and this tradition dates back to our first Christmas as a married couple.  Beth was cold and wet, so we went in the little trailer to get warmed up a bit before doing what we only do in inclement weather---settling on a pre-cut tree.

With renewed vision and an attitude of "This is all part of the adventure!" we headed out to find the perfect (pre-cut) tree. 

All Neil wants for Christmas is his two front teeth!

 Tom wouldn't have survived if Kara hadn't carried him.  He enjoyed his first Christmas tree hunt about as much as...I can't think of much he has enjoyed quite as little, actually.

 Tang and Bridget posed with the Christmas tree that they and Kara picked for their house...

 This is how Neil smiles most of the time these days.  We rarely see the hole where his baby teeth once were.

Most of our pictures have raindrops on the camera like this one.  It was wet, but by the end, there were smiles...and a beautiful tree!