New Years Eve

Rebecca, Dave, Drew, and Gabi came over for New Years Eve. We ate lots of good food and had fun laughing and playing games with them. The kids all had fun playing various games together, too. Gabi and Maelle even put on a little play for us about Ludwig von Beethoven. It was a very fun evening catching up and ringing in the new year with great friends! Happy 2018, everyone!

Plowing

Chris plowed all day today. When he got home Clive had taken the kids to get pizza and see the new Star Wars movie. Chris asked me if I wanted to run to the store with him to get some salads. He asked if I also wanted to sit in the truck with him while he plowed our driveway and Our neighbor’s across the street. I said yes, given how little time we’ve spent together over this break. While we were plowing his plow was having issues. He got out to try to fix it, to no avail. We came back to change cars and then went to get our salads. 

Wii Sports

It’s been a while since we played Wii as a family. Our old Wii remotes died a while ago and we just got some new ones for Christmas. We love Wii Sports. We started out playing frisbee. Then we did cycling, basketball and archery. We will definitely be playing again soon. 

Moving Day

The kids and I drove to Highland, and then to White Lake to help Mark and Cheryl move into their new house. Did I mention that the temperature was below zero for most of the day? Last time they moved there were several inches of snow. At least there wasn’t any new snow today. I mainly helped pack up and unpack kitchen stuff. I carried a few things out or in (depending on where we were at the time.) The kids were a little bit helpful. Mostly they were all running around entertaining each other. I’m happy for Mark and Cheryl. They will be so much closer to school and work. It is also a really nice house, and I’m anxious to see it when it’s all put together. 

Chillin

It was a nice day. I did some laundry and cleaned my room a bit. Chris and I went and bought a chest freezer to hold all of the pork we’ll soon get back from the butcher. We had leftover turkey for supper and then hung out in the kitchen with Clive and Gloria. I’d say today was the perfect mix of productivity and vacay chillin. 

Cousins Christmas

Justin, Lindsay and Nathan came over today to celebrate Christmas with Clive, Gloria, and us. We opened presents and the kids did lots of playing. We booked a delicious turkey with mashed potatoes and stuffing. We played Euchre and Trivial Pursuit. It was great to spend time together! 

White Christmas

Many people dream of a white Christmas, and I can certainly understand why. It certainly made for a beautiful sight. Chris was called in to work early this morning. When the kids woke up they opened their stockings and then we ate cinnamon rolls. We all decided that we wanted to wait for Chris. So we watched A Christmas Story and Elf. We also watched the beginning of The Santa Clause. The kids were so patient as they waited. Finally Chris made it home and we opened presents. We spent the rest of the day hanging out together. It was one of the best Christmases we’ve had. It was so nice to have Clive and Gloria with us this year. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Eve

We drove home from Dayton today and got ready for supper and church. Maelle was singing in the choir. After mass we came home and ate pork Carnitas tacos. We also made chocolate chip cookies for Santa. Grandma and Maelle prepared our cinnamon rolls which will be our breakfast tomorrow. The kids got to open new pajamas and new books before it was time for bed. Now we are just waiting for Santa. Chris may pass him on his way out to plow tonight. Hopefully he’ll be home relatively early tomorrow. We are looking forward to a magical Christmas Day. Merry Christmas Eve, one and all!

Christmas in Dayton

We made it to Dayton after a slight delay. It was snowing this morning and Chris got called in to work. I was planning on going without him and then having him drive down later. It was snowing pretty hard so I waited a couple of hours for it to stop. Then I decided to just wait for Chris. We left at about 1:20 and arrived at my parent’s at 4:20. We opened gifts, ate, and played games. Now we are eating cheese and watching football. It will be a whirlwind trip, but it was fun to spend a few hours with everyone. 

Farmers

Chris taught Clive the ins and outs of feeding the pigs today. Clive will be looking after the pigs tomorrow while we are in Dayton. He said the hardest part may just be putting Chris's chore boots on. I'm sure he will do a great job. 

Home Alone

My favorite Christmas movie! Probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Watching it with Grandma Gloria and the kids. Reminds me of watching it over and over with my friend Kasey when I was a kid. "They didn't go to the airport!" Great memories! 

Jeopardy

Growing up my family watched Jeopardy every night at 7:30. Benny has discovered it himself and really likes to watch it. We all gathered tonight to watch it with him (except Grandpa and Maelle because they were at gymnastics).

Grandma and Grandpa

We are all really excited that Grandma and Grandpa (aka Gloria and Clive) are staying with us for Christmas. They arrived this afternoon and Chris went to pick them up at the airport. They all arrived home just in time for supper. We are thankful that they were able to make the trip and are all looking forward to our time with them. 

Cozy Christmas

I love this room when it's all decked out for Christmas. It's hard to believe there is only a week until Christmas. I have a few more things to wrap, but overall I'm ready. Merry (early) Christmas!

Caroling

Maelle's Sunday School class visited one of our local nursing homes to sing Christmas carols this afternoon. They did a great job and the residents looked very happy. After they sang they each took one of the residents a card from one of the kids at church. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. On the way home Maelle told me that one of the ladies there reminded her of Lainey and another reminded her of Mimi. That was very sweet. We should find more opportunities to visit these beautiful, special people. 

She's Gone

Michayla left this morning. We were all pretty sad to see her go. Winston really didn't want to see her go. He chased her up the driveway. However, the good news is we will see her again in a week for Christmas. Yay!

Goodbye Michayla

Michayla's semester is over. She's leaving for home tomorrow morning. We wanted to give her a proper send off, so we went out to eat. We tried to go to Tecumseh Brewing Company, but it was really crowded. We ended up at Ember's, and it was pretty good.  We will miss Michayla very much. It has been so nice having her here the last few months. We wish her well in all of her adventures in Costa Rica in a few weeks. 🇨🇷 

Shooting Star

This morning Chris left early to plow. I had to get up and feed the pigs. We ended up having a snow day. While outside at 6:45 this morning, I saw a shooting star. It was a beautiful, but cold, morning. Later in the day I was reminded how precious life is. A friend from college lost her little girl. Sweet Lila was an angel on earth, a miracle, a true blessing from heaven. She was so strong and overcame so much during her 8 precious years. My heart is breaking for her family. May you rest peacefully In God's loving arms, sweet Lila. 

The Little Things

I found this paper while going through Maelle's folder this afternoon. I didn't know what it was, and I almost filed it away without reading it. Thankfully I stopped to look closer at it for some reason. I noticed the third column with the heading, "Mom." I was touched and honored and humbled by the list of words she chose to describe me. Later when I asked her about it, she described the assignment and read the list to me. Then there were lots of hugs and kisses. I love this sweet girl! What a sweet surprise. 

TSO Holiday Concert

Tonight was the TSO 5-8 concert. It was really good. You can tell they have been practicing and learning new skills. My favorite part was when all of the groups played Canon in D together. That was great! Benny seems to have enjoyed the concert too, so that's good. We are looking forward to the next performance in February. 

Little Free Library

I found out today that our friends have set up a Little Free Library in their yard. We stopped by this evening and picked out a few books. The kids were so excited about all the cool books, and they can't wait to go back. As we pulled into our driveway we toyed with the idea of building our own Little Free Library. Wouldn't that be fun!

Gymnastics Meet

Our busy weekend continued into today. I subbed for Benny's Faith Formation teacher this morning. In the afternoon Rebecca came over and we wrapped presents. Then we had to leave for Maelle's gymnastics meet in Novi, which started at 6:30. We weren't thrilled about the late Sunday evening start, but it wasn't too bad. It ended up being a great meet for Maelle. She got all blue ribbons for the first time. She was very proud. She has been working really hard and did really well. We were afraid we wouldn't get home until really late, but we pulled in the driveway a little after 9:30. We were all ready to crawl into bed by then. Overall, it was a busy and fun weekend. 

Basketball

It was a busy day. Chris got called in to plow at 6:00 AM. I had a retreat at church, so Michayla helped us out by driving Maelle from choir practice to gymnastics. When I got home we had to leave for Benny's basketball game. It was a tough loss. There were some really good players on the other team. We just couldn't get our baskets to fall. After that we went straight to church. Homemade pizza for dinner. I'm ready for bed. 

Lucky Little Boar

This cute little fellow went to his new home with his new family on a farm in Indiana today. He will be living the good life for years to come, lucky guy. We wish you the best, little boar. We'll miss you. 

Champion of Character

Michayla had her Cross Country awards banquet on Sunday. She was the recipient of a Champion of Character award. I know this was well deserved. Michayla has impeccable character. She is such a good example to our kids. Having her here has been such a blessing to our entire family. We will miss her when she leaves at the end of next week.

Leotard

Maelle got her new competition leotard tonight at practice. It looks really nice. The only downside is that it has to be hand washed. She did well at practice and is looking forward to Sunday's meet. 

Haircuts

It was time. Both of the kids were overdue for haircuts. We stopped at Great Clips after school and got in and out fairly quickly. I got a "before," "during," and "after" picture of Maelle, but only the "after" of Benny. I think they both look great!  

Weasleys

We were visiting the Saline library yesterday when I noticed this cardboard cutout of Ron Weasley. With Benny's long hair, I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between the two. I asked Benny to come pose with Ron, and in "normal Benny fashion," (That's a new saying around our house) he was happy to oblige. I guess we've got ourselves a Weasley.  

The Humor Games

Our niece Lindsay was the lead in her school play, The Hunger Games. We drove up to Whitmore Lake to see it this afternoon. Upon arrival, Chris read the sign out front of the school aloud, "The Hunger Games. Sunday 2:00 pm." I thought he was joking (like he sometimes does) because it was 2:30. I thought the play started at 3:00 and that we were early, not 30 minutes late. Even thought we missed a good bit of the play, we got to see the end. Lindsay did an amazing job! We were so proud of her. We got to hang out with her for a little while after the show was over. That was the best part! 

Oh, Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree today. It's become our family tradition to serve hors d'oeuvres and eggnog and listen to Christmas music while we put the ornaments on the tree. It was nice to have Michayla with us this year. 

December's Here!

Christmas will be here before we know it. Our Elf, Punkin Head, arrived today. He was sitting on the mantle along with his special book. When Punkin Head first started coming Maelle was a baby. Now she can read the book to herself. In other Christmas preparation news, I got our Christmas tree today from Lodi Farms since I was in Ann Arbor for training. We've gotten our tree from Lodi every year since we've been married. I was able to chat with one of Chris's old work buddies, Aaron, as he securely tied it to the top of my car. After supper we watched Elf. The kids hadn't seen it. We all laughed and laughed. So much Christmas fun!

Buddies

I'm sure I've said it before that Michayla is one of Winston's favorite people. He was excited about the rare opportunity to go into her room and lay down on her bed. I think she enjoyed his visit too. 

Gymnastics Guest

Michayla went with me to pick Maelle up from gymnastics. I hadn't realized that Michayla had never been to one of Maelle's gymnastics practices before. Maelle was so happy that Michayla was there and so proud to show her skills. She has been working really hard to get to level 4. She has he first meet of the season on December 10th. We are all anxious to see how much she's grown as a gymnast. 

FAME Team

I had another great evening with this awesome group of teachers and women. We met downtown and talked about teaching and assessment. I really enjoyed getting to know each of them even better. It is always refreshing and inspiring to hang out with these ladies. 

Because Science

Our new favorite show is Because Science. The kids have to stay up past their bedtime to watch it, but it's so interesting, it's worth it. The last one we watched was about putting fake memories into people. Fascinating! We also watched one about air getting sucked out of the earth's atmosphere through a portal and how long it would take for all of the air to get sucked through. Anyway, it's a good show. 

Solitaire (Sort Of)

While shopping for family games on Black Friday, I bought a four pack of playing cards on a whim. Benny promptly took one to carry around in his pocket for doing magic tricks. We opened another one and Maelle asked if you can play that solitaire game from the computer (phone) with those things. Chris showed her how to set it up and away she went. Tonight we opened the other two decks and all played Solitaire together. Michayla used one of her decks so all five of us could play. Maelle and Michayla both ended up winning. It was fun!

Turkey Sliders

Benny really wanted to have turkey sliders for supper tonight. We stopped at Busch's to get buns and then went home to pull out the leftovers and make them. I think they were a big hit. I opted for a traditional turkey leftover feast. It was delicious again. I'm sure we'll get sick of turkey at some point, but not yet. 

Black Friday

As is our tradition, my friend Rebecca and I braved the crowds for some Black Friday deals. We didn't leave until about 7:30 AM when the real Black Friday diehards were likely already done shopping and hopefully snug in their beds. We also went out for lunch at Red Lobster, another tradition. I think I am just about done with my Christmas shopping, so that's good. It was a fun way to spend the day with a good friend. 

Turkey Day

We had an amazing Thanksgiving. I guess it's because we have so much to be thankful for. I am thankful every day for my wonderful family and for our health and happiness. Just being together with them today playing games and laughing would have been enough. On top of that we had a feast fit for a king. Literally the drumsticks on this turkey were something out of King Arthur's castle. We are so thankful for this life that allowed us to grow our own 30 pound turkey. It was delicious. We are also thankful for all of our family and friends. We hope you had a blessed day too! 

Ready

Today I had to go out and do the last minute Thanksgiving grocery shopping. Me and everyone else on the planet. Thankfully I was able to find everything we need for the big day. The only problem is that at about 5:00 we realized that our turkey is way too big for our roasting pan. Chris had to go back to Adrian to look at every single possible store. He finally found a pan that is long enough at Big Lots. We are so excited for our home grown turkey feast and our family day tomorrow. Now for some sleep. 

Conferences

Chris and I went to the kids' parent-teacher conferences tonight. Everything is going well for both of them. They both love school and are doing well in all areas. Benny needs to focus a bit more on the task at hand (instead of reading all the time) and Maelle will be happy to know that she is going to get more challenging math to work on. We are very proud of both of them.