Snow angel.

See Brooke.

See Brooke play in the snow.

See Brooke play in the snow all by herself because no one else wants to go out.

See Brooke not caring that she is playing in the snow all by herself because she just loves to play in the snow.

All the time.

Better late than never.

So the boy has been 8 for over a month now.

So it's high time I blog about it.

We had a quiet family celebration. Andrew asked for grilled cheese sandwiches for his birthday dinner. We jazzed things up a bit at had a build-your-own panini. Several options of cheese, meat, bread and other toppings. It was our own little version of Melt, complete with a spreadsheet for people to make their choices. The Barneses brought their huge George Foreman grill over and we went to town. Yum.In December Wicked was back in town. I, of course, would be going. My original thought was to take the girls with me, but when I saw the ticket prices, I knew that wasn't going to be possible. However, I , of course, would be going. But who to take with me? Andrew happened to be the only family member who had not seen it, so I decided he'd be my date.

The day after his birthday Andrew and I got to spend the whole day together. First we went to see his friend who was at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital after a TV fell on him. Yikes. He was very happy to have a visitor and it was nice to spend some time visiting.

Then we headed to Playhouse Square. As we entered the lobby, I saw the Wicked poster around the corner. I had my camera, and I offered to take a picture of the family standing in front of it if they would take one of Andrew and me. Sure, no problem. I took a nice picture of the nice family. Our turn. Except that when I went to turn my camera on, there was no memory card.

LAME.

And a little embarrassing.

Never mind, I said to the lady.

But instead of just walking away, she offered to take our picture with her camera. Yeah, sure, if you're sure. You can just email it to me.

No, she said, write down your home address and I'll mail them to you.

Well, ok. I'm doubtful, but ok. I gave her the info and we went on into the theater.

Now I must say that for a Broadway play, Andrew isn't the best companion. A sporting event, a movie even--he's great fun. But he wasn't all that into Elphaba and Co. Oh, he watched, he paid attention, but at every pause in the action he whispered, "Can we just go home now?" Yeah it was real fun.

But you know what? Wicked is totally awesome no matter what. And a couple weeks later, guess what arrived in the mail?

(Note: this was taken BEFORE the performance. That's why we both look happy.)

The nice stranger lady even sent a couple extra pictures she snapped of the map and the trailer. How nice of her to go the extra mile. And even if the experience ended up leaning towards the annoying side, I am so grateful to have a remembrance of my day with Andrew. Thank you, random lady at the theater!

One more note about Andrew...

He's gone from this...

...to this.

Can you spot the difference?

Team Edward

...is the team my little preschool friend must be on. She has been threatening over the past little while, but luckily I have always had some sort of protection. Pants. Gloves. Today, though, she dug in with her cute little teeth. Right on the knuckle. No blood, but it definitely left a mark.

Me: "NO BITE. Time to sit."

Her: (ear-piercing screams)

We can't often tell what makes this little peanut upset, but this time I knew. I knew exactly what she wanted me to do, without a single utterance. She wanted me to hold her hands and help her jump up high. We had done this last week and she LOVED it. Problem is, it was circle time. No jumping allowed. And that was that. She screamed the rest of circle time. But at least she stayed there.

Me: "Good sitting!"

Just one question...if she draws blood, what happens to me? Do I start having meltdowns? Do I get that round little belly? Do I start shoving food in my mouth?

Oh wait.

The Evolution of a Family

Over the past ten years, our changes have been subtle ones. The children don't grow from babies to toddlers to pre-teens overnight. Yet as we look back over the past decade, that is exactly what has happened. We have experienced a series of changes that find us moving from newly-married couple with two, then three, then four small children into where we are today: More than a dozen years of marriage under our belts, all four kids now baptized, two kids on the verge of Young Women's and junior high, and one child who has lost every single one of her baby teeth. Ten years ago I was changing diapers, buckling car seats, putting on three sets of tights each Sunday, fixing three heads of hair, and not only making the food but also spooning it into babies' mouths. Today I no longer have any idea what the children's bathroom habits are, everyone buckles their own seatbelts, the girls can put on their own tights and fix their own hair, and while I am still the main chef around here, everyone can fix their own meals if need be.

Who would have thought that at this very moment the little baby on my lap would be in the kitchen making cookies by herself?

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Ten Christmases later, we are bleary-eyed and puffy after too much food and too little sleep. The PJ's you see will end up staying on for most of the day. But as we took this picture on New Year's Morning, we are looking forward to what the next decade brings. When 2019 is winding itself down into 2020, we will have three children in college and one high school senior. Our children will learn to drive, take finals, go on dates, and get jobs. The independence they have gained during this last decade will continue to increase to the point where they leave us altogether.

I'm not stressing about that yet though. It took me a whole decade to get where I am now, and it's going to take another whole decade to become a near empty-nester as well. And a whole lot longer than that to get used to the idea.

At the midnight hour...

A quiet welcoming to 2010.

'Till next time.

Finishing out the year.

The last week of 2009 was filled with family, food, games, a little bit of sickness, and a whole lot of fun.

~TWISTER~

~MOVIE NIGHT WITH LEAH'S HOMEMADE POPCORN~

~GREAT LAKES SCIENCE CENTER~

~COUSIN HUGS ON NEW YEAR'S EVE~

Thanks for a great time, Flemings!