New Porch and Deck Reveal

BEFORE

 AFTER

 

Welcome to the Year 2016

I had not recovered from our trip to OK by the time New Year's Day 2016 arrived.  We did very little that week except purge, unpack, take down decorations, and begin a long list of home improvements.  The kids were still enjoying all their new gifts and riding the Christmas high while going on plenty of play dates with hospital school friends.

We did take a break from all the home reorganization and redesign on New Year's Day to take the kids to see the Chinese Lanturn Festival.  While I still think the tickets were terribly overpriced (particularly after paying ticket master, handling and processing fees), the displays were very impressive indeed.  Many of them reminded us all of their paternal grandmother we had just visited in Oklahoma.

When we brought Orwell home after our trip, he started puking out of both ends, and while he can use the litter box, he cannot use the bucket.  I kept wondering what all those rank smells were that kept occurring throughout the house.  It took me a day to discover that our kitty was sick and leaving presents no one wants about the house.

Then our son started throwing up as well, so the 2nd week of winter break wasn't exactly what any of us would have wanted.  Yet there were twinkles of happiness in my life during the sicknesses, for my husband's shoulder had finally healed up enough for him to assemble an install a light fixture I had purchased for our master bath last summer to spice it up a little.

That labor of love probably reminds him of James 2:3-4, for assembling all these chandeliers (which are only "affordable" because they arrive in a gazillion individual pieces and take all day to assemble and install) has been a trial he fell into unexpectedly. (How could he have known that the left-brained, low maintenance tomboy he married would develop such a zest for whimsy in her 40s?) But the testing of his faith through such trials has produced steadfastness, that he may be complete, lacking nothing. And watching him work has produced in me enormous gratitude for him and insight which I will share now. "Some assembly required" + affordable pricing = costly retrofit kit and an extensive array of tools required + wearing white gloves while hanging every crystal one by one overhead after the ceiling plate is installed. Ladies, don't do that to your man. It took me three chandeliers to finally figure that out. I sure do love the way they splash rainbow twinkles all over the room, though. 

Both kids are better now...unless you consider the back-to-school blues. I always thought cats seriously lacked empathy, but Orwell sure seemed to commiserate with our daughter during her post Christmas break back-to-school blahs.

We've also been gradually preparing for an upcoming trip.  I wish I had known that American Express exchanges money into all currencies without a fee before I made this exchange.  

Money comes and goes without any true lasting value, but the price paid on our behalf in the land of the shekel completely transformed the lives of both believing Jews and Gentiles forever. 

My workout regimen has fallen apart as I find very little time for weights, and it finally grew too cold after Christmas for biking.  It did warm up enough for me to bike to the lake for this sunset this past weekend, though.

I have a lot of before and after pictures to share in future posts for our many house projects undertaken this month.  I'll post them once it all nears completion.

 

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Specs

Our son recently experienced a growth spurt.  He is almost as tall as his sister.  He moved for the 20-25 percentile range on growth charts where he has consistently stayed his entire life to the 37th percentile in a short period of time.  He's still short, but we'll take it.  As his body grew, however, his cornea changed shape.  He went from 20/20 to 20/80 in each eye (20/60) with both eyes over the past year.  So, as soon as we returned from Oklahoma, I took him to the eye doctor.  She prescribed glasses as needed at school.  He was so precious when he put his prescription lenses on for the first time as he marveled at how much clearer the world looked all of a sudden.

December 30, 2015

It pained me to cover up those beautiful eyes of his, but he's cute in specs, too.  The blue color and the Nike swoosh he selected were to much to his liking, so he doesn't think glasses are so bad after all.  The glasses certainly aren't keeping the girls away from him on the playground either.

3rd Grade December Highlights

Here are a few December highlights from our son's class.

The parents(facilitated by hard working room moms) host Rock Day each year for third greaters, and it's very much like STEM class with interactive, hands-on activities.  The kids love it, and I know hte teachers appreciated the much deservedbreak from teaching.

2015 Christmas Celebrations #6: Christmas Day

Christmas Day in Oklahoma

Even with a severe case of the foot, hand, mouth rash, Sophie was the most adorable Darth Vader ever.

We received possibly the most amazing gift that day from my mother-in-law. Best Christmas Present Ever!  This multimedia painting of our kids and our pets by my husband's mom is absolutely amazing! We are so overwhelmed by this remarkable labor of love in which countless hours, unmatched attention to detail, unique creativity, and extraordinary talent were poured out into such an incredible gift. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are truly blessed.

Gift of the Year Right Here!

Orwell could not have selected a more perfect card for me

Speaking of Orwell, he made himself at home at a friends' house.  They have a black cat named "Boo", but Orwell seemed more comfortable there than Boo did at first.  Boo and Orwell eventually become good friends who had lots of entertaining wrestling matches.  They missed Boo terribly when he left and have agreed to keep him when we travel to Israel.

Later that day, my husband pulled out his pistol and all the new ammo he got for Christmas and set up a target and shooting range for the family.  Apparently he wasn't the only one because it seemed as though all of Oklahoma sounded like the 4th of July today as happy gift recipients tested out the new guns they got for Christmas.  ‪#‎Boom‬ ‪#‎ObamaGunStimulus‬

I find it amusing that our 9-year-old was the best marksman in the family that day, but don't tell his competitive sister I said that.  Apparently his arsenal of Nerf weaponry is actually teaching him some skills.

The view out of the master bedroom windows is always lovely, even when it isn't covered in winter snow or springtime colors.

2015 Christmas Celebration #5: Christmas Eve

My husband's family has lots of wonderful Christmas Eve traditions.  We all attend Christmas Eve serve at his parents' church (though I usually have to watch it from the overflow room because the music is deafening to my overly sensitive ears).  We usually pose for a photo at the church. 

Homemade soup and sliders are the traditional meal followed by birthday gifts for Jesus.  My mother-in-law makes a charitable contribution in honor of each family member (and because of Jesus's gift to us) to the non-profit ministry that is most meaningful to each family member based on his/her life story.

Then we read the Christmas story, sing a worship song (I think?), and open our matching Christmas PJ's.  This year, Kate selected the PJ's, and she went with a Star Wars theme since everyone was so excited about the release of Star Wars 7 that week.  Most of us were Storm Troopers.  Sophie, the one-year-old got a Darth Vader suit and Grandpa represented the Light in his Obi-Wan PJ attire.  The older girls got Princess Leia PJ's, so Grandpa wasn't the only one representing the good side.

The Oklahoma sunset was gorgeous that evening.

 

2015 Christmas Celebration #4: Travels and Pre-Christmas Traditions

We tried to book our tickets to Oklahoma for Christmas too late this year. The price to fly one person was more than the cost to drive all four of us out there, so we loaded up the new van and drove straight all the way through the night, stopping only for 30 minutes at a rest stop for a quick power nap.  It only took us 18.5 hours to drive over 1250 miles there.  When we have driven during peak hours 8 years ago when the kids were still babes, it took us 22-24 hours of driving plus a few hours spent at a hotel unable to sleep.  But after doing that straight through drive both outbound and inbound, the all nighters had completely messed up my sleep schedule. My body wants to go to bed around 7am, so it's been a huge struggle to adapt.  I've averaged four hours of sleep ever since when I know I should be resting more (not hardly at all) for our upcoming dream trip overseas.

Despite the sleep issues for me, the car ride was not so bad.  The van provided a much smoother ride, and the kids had their books, laptops, and ear-phones. Mostly, we all listened to some action packed audio books (Babylon Rising series) that we had listened to before but still found so exciting and relevant that we could not sleep while the CD's were playing.

 

At approximately 1:30 in the morning during our journey to Oklahoma, we stopped for another bathroom break and gas refill at a truck stop.  I took my son into the adjacent Wendy's restaurant for a middle of the night frosty because it's never too late for chocolate.  I was informed that they don't serve frosties at that hour, however, so we decided to try again at 4:00 am.   While I understand very well through past experiences working at ice-cream and yogurt shops that the soft serve machines must be cleaned and sanitized every night, it still seemed all kinds of wrong that I could not fulfill my late date frosty promise to my favorite son and rack up some much needed mom cool points.

When we arrived, all the old traditions began.  We can always count on my husband's family to make our visit extra special with every tradition from the schedule of events to the meals served each day kept consistent.  On the first day we were there, the guys and kids and one gal went to see Star Wars 7.  I slept most of the day after the road trip and enjoyed Wild Horse Mountain BBQ, which is probably the best BBQ in America.  They have to travel several hours to get the take-out BBQ, but it's a tradition (since the family lived only 10 minutes from the restaurant) and a family favorite, Wild Horse it is every year we come to OK for Christmas.

The next evening was a little different but something I hope can become a new tradition.  Usually my husband's parents will keep all the kids while the couples go out for a date night.  This time, the guys played laser tag and went out to eat while the girls got manicures/pedicures and went out to a fabulous sushi restaurant.  They all live close and know each other well, but I was thankful for the opportunity to get to know my sisters-in-law better without the guys around.  The one unmarried brother FINALLY proposed that day, so we wanted to celebrate with his fiance' - yet she ended up picking up the tab for all of us.

One night every Christmas, we all go to the home of the brother who married first.  He now has four kids and works as a physician just like their father and grandfather.  He's a fabulous cook, so he always prepares a taco bar (steamed chicken, pork, beef) and homemade chocolate chip cookies at their parade of homes builder's showcase home. The home is so gorgeous that each time we go, I come home with lots of inspiration to improve our home as well.  This past January set a record for extreme makeovers in our house after visiting this house.

After dinner, everyone goes upstairs into their music room and forms a family band.  They trade instruments and just have a fun time.  My father-in-law played in rock band during high school and college, so it's fun to see him strumming the guitar with his grandchildren.

Speaking of inspiring....I'm always inspired by the gorgeous artwork and extravagant Christmas decor (as well as modern decorating style) we find out Grandma and Grandpa's house.  She's the daughter of a famous sculptor, and I can really see his talent passed down through her.

 Grandma's critters are always fun for the kids.  She only had one critter in rehab that week.  Our daughter taught me how to feed her.

Grandma's fat and furry, feathery critters

So which is crazier about this photo of our dashboard when we returned?

1) The fact that we traveled all those miles (2352.7) in just two days of travel without stopping at a hotel during either leg of the trip with two kids (and a bunny during the last hour of the trip).

2) That the temperature was 78 degrees on December 27 when we arrived back home

 One of our son's closest friends and his parents recently moved here from South Africa.  His mom posted pics of the temperature here where it is supposed to be winter, and the weather there where they should be having summer.  It was warmer here than there. Too crazy.

Here vs. There