At home on Christmas morning.
Later that day at Babi and Grandpa’s.
All dressed up!
Hairdo:
Even later at a party for friends of my husband’s family.
Dec. 26, Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa.
With Uncle:
Christmas Dinner:
Family:
Nice kids pic by the tree:
With Uncle John:
Having kids means re-discovering your own childhood at times. One of the many things we have “re-tried” with our kids this years has been roller skating. Ella was hooked. Miles was pretty happy about it too. But Ella was so smitten, she was sure she wanted her next birthday to be a roller skating party.
Here she is with her schoolmate buddy: (yes they are the same age)
Cupcakes? No problem, we can fit 7 candles on a cupcake! And look, theirs plenty of room left.
The girl of honor.
The opening of the presents.
Ella’s Uncle John and “Almost” Aunt Kris surprised Ella by showing up to skate. (Sorry no pictures of that here).
Next up was the family party at home. Lots of family, pizza, gifts and fun!
Great “action” shot of Ella and Miles with Grandma and Grandpa Whiteaker.
Goofing around with Uncle John and Kris.
Mom gets a little time with the birthday girl!
And her brother. (I’m giving him a shoulder rub)
Ella and my dad.
Miles and his Babi.
Kids with Uncle Scott and Jen.
Miles, again goofing around with Grandpa and Grandma.
This weekend was quite full of tasks around the house. Much of it was preparation for many things.
First, we have carpet installers coming today, so we had to remove breakables as well as small things scattered on the floor in all the bedrooms. Now that so much is out of the kids rooms, I feel I can breathe better. All those boxes of their stuff in the dining room and living room… I’m not sure I want to put it back after the carpet is in. I just feel like we have too much STUFF! And it feels a bit suffocating.
Jason also painted our bedroom ceiling. We had some drywall repaired and it need to be painted. We figured why not now, while it doesn’t matter if drips get on the carpet! I will be SO glad to replace that carpet. It is mauve (PINK!). It has been that way since we moved in 7 1/2 year ago. I can’t want to get replace it with a neutral.
Jason also put up out outdoor Christmas lights and we went out and bought our Christmas tree. On Sunday evening we decorated it. I had been hoping to wait on the tree, but well, now it is done! This is the fullest tree we’ve ever had and takes up quite a bit of the family room.
We are also getting carpet ripped out of half of our basement. See, we had a little problem with our dear little Paris Kitty. She had some medical (and I think emotional) problems for a while and did a number on that side… With that, another project presents itself. We will be installing vinyl “wood” on that entire side of the floor and then putting up quarter round around the trim.
Finally, I spent a few hours studying for my final exam which is this week. In reality, I don’t have to take this test. Our professor said that he will only count our top 3 tests and I did rather well on those. But I am taking this class to learn and I don’t want to just flake out on the last three chapters. They were the most interesting anyway.
Sometimes in the thick of “it”, we want out. We want change, we think our circumstance is a mistake and it should be “fixed”.
This brings me to an excerpt from one of my favorite, life changing book authors.
"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see." Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place
Sometimes we have to have faith that we do not have ultimate control and the One who has plans for us knows better for us than we do. It is up to us to trust and to listen in order to find out what we are meant to do. We can look to uncomfortable circumstances as an opportunity to build our character or we can turn our backs and grumble through them.
If you haven’t read The Hiding Place, I highly recommend it. When Corrie and her family were placed in concentrations camps for harboring Jews from the Nazis in their home in Holland, God was preparing Corrie’s heart for to reach out to help even more people. He used her sister to help build up her faith in the midst of a horrifying experience. Her release from the camp was a “mistake”, she was supposed to be killed that day, but He had other plans…
With that, what would you have done in this circumstance?
Have a little faith, and make a big impact!
"It is not so much what happens, but how we take it that is important. All our times are in God's hands, even the difficult ones." Corrie Ten Boom
Due to incompatible holiday weekend schedules, we did not get together with extended family for Thanksgiving. But we did meet up on Sunday with my parents, my brother and his fiancé at California Pizza Kitchen. My parents hadn’t seen the kids since August! It is hard to believe our school and activity schedule has been so crazy that we haven’t gone to see anyone for a while! Anyway, I think a good time was had by all. We certainly stayed there long after we were done eating!
Sorry Mom! (She doesn’t like having her picture taken).
Two days and the day before Thanksgiving I made up our meal. I hadn’t planned on it, but we changed our minds and decided to have traditional Thanksgiving fare. And just so you know, Thanksgiving food reheats really well.
It was a great stress-free family day. I was Thankful for the opportunity to serve others, to serve my family and to end the day with a feeling of peace. I think the rest of the family felt it too.
I have wanted to serve those who otherwise wouldn’t have a Thanksgiving Day feast for quite a while. I always imagined doing this at a soup kitchen in the city (Chicago), but last year we heard of a wonderful opportunity to do something similar very close to our home. So we signed up to serve. The turnout was huge - almost 200 Navy servicemen and a few homeless as well. It was our privilege to serve these young (very young) men who have committed to serving and protecting us. I tried my best to make sure everyone at my table had what they wanted. It was a pleasure to wait on them. They were very polite and respectful.
Miles wished each man a Happy Thanksgiving and made a few friends.
People behind the scenes have very important jobs too.
I hope that my family will always have giving hearts.
(Miles has taken to giving this goofy smirk during pictures!)
Both kids had the week of Thanksgiving off, so on Tuesday I took them down to Chicago for a day of museums. There are three museums in extreme close proximity in the city, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. On Tuesdays both the aquarium and planetarium are free.
I didn’t take any indoor pics (besides in the cafeteria) because it was so so dark.
Planetarium
Telescopes on the perimeter of the cafeteria at the planetarium were of a great deal of interest to Ella and Miles.
On the steps of the aquarium.
In front of the Chicago skyline right outside of the planetarium.
Wherever you are, whatever you do, may the blessings of Thanksgiving be with you.
Ella loves to dance. I have no idea where she gets this from. ;-) We now have her in TWO recital classes, Ballet/Tap and Jazz/Hip Hop. She was in cheerleading this fall and insists that she wants to do poms next year. Not that she didn’t love cheer. And not that she wasn’t a good cheerleader. She just knows she will like poms better. I think she is right.
A few weeks back we enrolled her in a Pom Clinic at the “other” high school in our town (Grayslake North – we live in an area that feeds into Grayslake Central, the older school). Last week we got an email inviting her back to perform with the others at the clinic at a competition at the school on Sunday. Considering she learned the routine a few weeks back and they had only a brief time to review it that day, I don’t think she is that terrible… If you don’t know what she looks like, she is wearing black pants and has her blond hair in a ponytail. Enjoy!
Here is the other dance that they did at the clinic. This one is from the actual day of the clinic.
Later that day (this past Sunday) we went to a very cold and wet Super Bowl game for the little league football that Ella cheers for. It was officially her last game. I can’t even find her in this group!
As usual, I’ve been moving things around in the house. Hey, what can I say, it’s free redecorating! Since I moved my sewing machine up to the guest room, I hadn’t moved my “Red Thread” (by Modern Art Everyday) print from the basement up to the guest room until recently and realized I’d really like another print to go next to it. That week I saw a photo of a sewing room on a blog where someone had framed some fabric which I recognized (otherwise I wouldn’t have known it was actually fabric). I knew right away what I’d do. I’d pull out one of my favorite scraps (meant for a bib, but oh well) and frame IT! I knew it was in the right color family. So why not enjoy it everday. I bought the frame with matte included, at Walmart for a good price. Viola, there you have it.
Here it is next to Red Thread. Please forgive the sewing mess, I’m working on finishing up some slipcovers made from a drop cloth. I’ll show you them when I’m done!
A few weeks ago I stopped by a garage sale in our neighborhood. She had some pretty embroidered linens. I could not resist this pillowcase for Ella’s room. It has the perfect colors and such delicate handiwork. How often can you find something like this anymore?
Today was an amazingly beautiful day. 66 degrees for the beginning of November. Not too shabby!
I felt the best I have in weeks, though not 100%. I’m going to the doctor on Wednesday to see if she recommends any testing. Some issues seem a bit troublesome and just being sick for so long is not preferable either.
On another note, as much as I was worried about taking an online class, I have been really enjoying my online Statistics class. I thought I’d miss that classroom time. But really, for math, I think I’m better without it. I can read the text and practice problems on my own. And honestly, taking a test at home alone in peace and quiet (when kids are at school) is much easier for me than sitting in a class with others under the buzzing fluorescent lights and (to me) a greater feeling of pressure. That being said, I took my 3rd Exam today for this class and got another 100%! It was the toughest exam yet and I was prepared to not have a perfect score, but boy was I shocked and pleasantly surprised. 1 big project, 1 smaller assignment, a bunch of intermediate homework and 1 more exam and I’ll be done. Hmmm, still sounds like a lot to me!
