It's day 7, and i'm already at a loss for anything to write about....

But THIS? This is the face that Houston makes when you say "Naked." I mean, sometimes the word just comes up naturally, like, "I can't come look, because i'm getting in the shower and i'm naked," but more often, honestly, i throw it about just to irritate him. Because i'm just a brat.

Zane has a test in social studies. I have a test in patience.

Helping Zane study is like pulling teeth.

It might actually be harder than pulling teeth. It's certainly harder than pulling baby teeth that are already loose and just need a quick yank. I've never pulled any other teeth.

The thing is, even when he is amenable to studying, he's hard to keep focused. Add in two siblings, a dog, and a dad who wander around and do things like "exist" and "occasionally say words," and he's just distracted beyond all reason. Even without distractions, he often ends up sitting upside-down on the couch, with his butt in the air. (Why, yes, he is ADD. How did you guess?)

This afternoon we studied and studied and studied immigration and emailed his teacher, because he hadn't brought home his notes and i wasn't sure about which countries they were actually studying in particular, which was somewhat important, and studied some more. And then we took a break to review multiplication. And then we studied.

And he's really smart, and once he actually pays attention and gets the information into his head, he's really great at remembering it. Getting it in there, though? TORTURE. For both of us.

I brought the kids to school this morning.

I came home to the scene of a grizzly murder.

Emma looks absolutely dangerous there. As if she actually has killed Oatmeal (the snowman) on purpose.

Books, books, books

A couple of years ago, i had a GIANT list of books that i'd been meaning to read, that i wanted to read. I kept not reading it, though, because i'd finish a book and think, "What should i read next?" and then not remember what any of those books was, so i'd search Goodreads for books that looked interesting, add them to my list, and choose one of those to read. So my list kept getting longer and longer, and i was never, ever going to read them all.

And so i decided that i would stop the madness, and i made it my New Year's resolution to read (or admit that i never would read) all of those books before i added any new ones to my list. And i started reading, and first i read all of the books that i recognized the names of. And then i started re-looking up the books and trying to remember what they were, and reading the ones that immediately made me interested again. And the year ended, and i made it my New Year's resolution AGAIN to continue doing the same thing.

And in about November of this past year, i got down to about 30 books left on the list and looked at them and thought, "I just...don't feel like i even remotely want to read most of these." So i scratched off all but about 10. And then i thought, "I probably want to read these? Eventually?" But i also just really missed reading books that i really wanted to read. And so i just decided to throw the rest out for the time being. 

All through December, i barely even looked at a book. It was kind of sad. But after Christmas, i started reading again. I've turned to my "list of books that i really want to read that weren't on that list from two years ago," and i've started reading those books, and it is glorious to be reading books that i'm really excited about reading again. I look at my books and think, "I could read THIS! Or THIS! OR THIS!"

The obvious lesson here is this: I need to actually read the books on my list when i first get them, rather than adding and adding and adding.  Now we'll see how good i am at learning from past mistakes....

Our Advent Activities this year

For our Advent calendar with the activities this year, we did some of the same things as we've done in previous years, but i tried to add in some new and hopefully fun things and took out some of the things we've done year after year, that the kids have kind of outgrown. And so this was the list of activities for the month of December, leading up to Christmas:

1. Start Secret Santa
2. YouTube search "Funny Christmas videos"
3. Make snowflakes
4. Gay Men's Choir downtown
5. Put out shoes for Sinterklaas
6. An Evening in Bethlehem (a recreation of Bethlehem when Jesus was born)
7. Christmas Mad Libs
8. Make cards for teachers
9. Build a snowman (out of cups)
10. Make paper garlands
11. Curl up on the couch and watch a Christmas movie
12. Christmas Fair with Mrs. Claus
13. Candlelight Christmas service at a church downtown
14. Do a silly photo shoot
15. Fazoli's Christmas party
16. Band concert at school
17. Christmas craft
18. Sleepover on the floor while watching Christmas movies
19. Celebrate Christmas with Beth and Keren
20. Watch a Christmas movie
21. Christmas party with the cousins
22. Drive (or walk) around and look at Christmas lights or decorations
23. Open stockings
24. Celebrate Christmas with the entire family
25. Christmas!

2015, in lists

Five states we visited:

1. Colorado

2. South Dakota

3. Kentucky

4. Ohio

5. Florida (Well, only me, but i'm still putting it on the list!)

Four special destinations therein:

1. Tony and Meloni's wedding

2. Mount Rushmore

3. The Badlands

4. Harry Potter World (Only me. But STILL.)

Eight of the books i read to the kids:

1. Harry Potter books 6 and 7 with Katrina

2. Harry Potter book 3 with Zane

3. Furiously Happy (with me editing out the swear words)

4. Let's Pretend This Never Happened (again, with me editing out non-child-appropriate parts)

5. The Bridge to Terabithia

6. Hyperbole and a Half (mostly - we have a few chapters to go)

7. The Last Present (from the Willow Falls series)

Six (groups of) far-away people we saw:

1. Tony and Meloni

2. Karen D

3. Juanito's family in Kentucky

4. Rick and Ashley and their kids

5. My South Dakota relatives

6. Sam and Shelbi and their family

Ten fun places we went:

1. Detroit (and, briefly, Canada) with Beth

2. The Pirate exhibit at the museum

3. I'm putting the U2 concert on the list, even though i'm the only one who went. Because it was amazing. 

4. Camping with my parents

5. Kalahari with my entire family

6. Great Wolf Lodge with Karen D.

7. Houston and Katrina went to Winter Camp

8. Juanito took a trip to Detroit with his scooter

9. Balloon Festival

10. Shipshewana

Fourteen random things we did:

1. Houston got a concussion

2. Katrina got her hair cut short

3. Juanito was an artist in ArtPrize

4. We all got used to having a dog again

5. Katrina ran in three 5Ks.

6. The kids got to see the king and queen from the Netherlands

7. The kids got multiple hermit crabs, all of whom eventually died

8. We watched a house on our street get completely demolished

9. Katrina finally got a door on her room

10. Houston made himself a tabletop out of bottle caps

11. Visited ArtPrize a ton

12. Juanito and the kids dressed up as zombies and scared people for the Zombie Dash

13. Zane was in Boy Scouts again, and loved it

14. Houston learned to crochet, and Katrina learned how to knit on a loom

Eight things we loved:

1. Juanito loved Zumba...

2. ...and building his speakers and amplifiers

3. Katrina loved running

4. Zane loved listening to books on audiotape, especially Percy Jackson and Harry Potter

5. Houston loved Doctor Who

6. Zane loved riding his bike

7. Houston loved chickens

8. Katrina loved drawing, especially girls with fashionable clothes

Happy New Year + bragging a little about Katrina

It's January 1, 2016, and i feel like i should be doing a whole "This is what happened in 2015" or "This is what i want from 2016" type of post, but the idea of doing a "This is what we did all year" post is exhausting and overwhelming, and i'll probably just end up not doing it at all, and the idea of doing a "These are all my hopes and dreams for the next year" is also just exhausting and overwhelming, and so i'm just going to skip the entire New Year's thing.

I COULD do a whole, "This is what we did all of December," since - geez - i didn't post, like, at all, all month. And i might do that, tomorrow. Or the next day. Or ... eventually? Maybe not.

This is what i AM going to do today: I am going to start blogging again. I skipped a couple of times, and then a few more times, and then i just completely got out of the habit and got overwhelmed.(Apparently i get overwhelmed easily? And completely overuse that word?) I think that i have to remember that i'm blogging because, years from now, i'll want to remember what we did. What life was like. It seems like i'll always remember, but my memories from the kids' early years are already hazy and faded, and i'm so absolutely thankful that i have my blog posts from back then.

So this is just me, getting back into the habit. And as a bonus, i'll post something i've been wanting and meaning to post for a could of weeks. Katrina got the "Be Nice" award, which is something to be really proud of. They only give it to one kid per grade per month, so only nine kids from the sixth grade will get it this year. The teacher writes about the student and reads it at assembly, and this is what she wrote about Katrina:

To be yourself in a world

that is constantly trying

to make you something else

is the greatest accomplishment

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Katrina, it is a true honor to be your teacher. You are a student who always give more than is asked, always remains optimistic even when those around you are not, and always shares your true self with everyone. You embody what it means to notice, invite, challenge, and empower your peers.

You notice when others around you need help, peers and teachers alike. You offer your time, your thoughts, and your encouragement freely and willingly.

You are open and inviting to others. You never complain, and your cheerful attitude is contagious.

You empower others when you share your ideas, concerns, and your heart. You empower them to be themselves.

Katrina, the thing that impresses us the most about you is your fearlessness. You are comfortable with who you are, you are secure in what you think, and you are not afraid to stand up for what is right. What's so impressive about that, you ask? You do it without requiring the accolades that others fight over. You don't ask for anything in return. You just do it because that's who you are. And that's why we always want you to remember:

You are 

BRAVER

than you believe

STRONGER

than you seem

SMARTER

than you think

& LOVED

more than you know

- Winnie the Pooh