In lieu of a Christmas letter, here are five things we each learned or accomplished this year, in our own words.
Dad: Didn't want to post a list, so I made one up for him!
1. Played a lot of softball this summer with work and city teams.
2. Polished up his photography skills and took hundreds of beautiful pictures.
3. Spent 3 weeks working in New Jersey and decided his work here was a lot more enjoyable.
4. Learned about becoming a goat farmer, built a goat pen, and purchased three pygmy goats.
5. Decided that little girls are just as much fun as little boys.
Cowboy:
- Swordfighting with light sabers.
- Darth Vader's real name is American Skywalker.
- I learned how to ride a real bucking bull. For reals, I did learn that. Well, I did ride my bike with training wheels.
- I learned to build snowmans.
- I can do flips on the trampoline.
Picasso:
Catching the bus for the first day of first grade. I'm in the white shorts.
- I ran to the cemetery and back. Three miles! In the rain!
- I ran a mile race and came in second place.
- I learned to do flips on the trampoline.
- I lost a tooth.
- I learned how to build snowmen. That's better than saying snowmans.
Farmer:
- I learned about building a Christmas tree.
- I keep fixing icicles, but they just keep breaking.
- I learned to ride a scooter.
- I learned how to fix a goat pen.
- I've been learnin' how to fix our computer.
Miss Wendy: Translated for your convenience.
- I learned how to sit, crawl, scoot, and walk. I'm working on running.
- I've successfully climbed every item of furniture in our home except for the bunk bed ladder - I've only made it to the second step.
- I learned how to find, open, and eat a package of chocolate chips.
- I've mastered the stinky-cheese-face.
- I know how to wrap grown ups around my little finger.
Mom:
Amy, Jenny, Camille, Magen, and Lisa after the half-marathon.
1. I learned that I like to run. So I ran a couple of 5-K's and the half marathon. Yes, that's 13 miles and no, it wasn't boring. Thank you to all of my fellow runners for believing in me - Kelli, Julie, Aunt Jenny, Amy, Catherine, and especially Magen and Lisa for being crazy enough to run with me!
2. I learned to knit - dishcloths, hats, scarves, a bag, baby socks, mittens...and I have a long list of things I want to make next.
3. I learned how to clean my own fish. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Thanks Dad!
4. I learned how to grow broccoli, cabbage, shallots, and onions. And I learned that those pesky little (or not so little!) green cabbage worms like cabbage better than broccoli. Which is fine because I like broccoli better than cabbage!
5. Our family worked together to create a drought tolerant flower garden in front of our home. It is lovely and will be expanded next year. I love it!
And there you have it...our year in a nutshell. We hope that you've all had a wonderful year. Merry Christmas!
This year we decided to build our gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. We had a deliciously fun time working together.
Picasso carefully decorated his cottage, a train, and even a snowman before eating the rest of his treats. Except for the peanut M&M's which I ate for him.
Cowboy ate a bunch of his treats and plenty of frosting, then used the rest to spruce up his version of "the building that touches the clouds." He became fascinated with the Empire State Building after Dad's trip to New Jersey and decided to help me construct one according to his own personal design.
Farmer and Miss Wendy worked together. She chewed up the candy to make it nice and soft, then he molded it into interesting shapes to decorate their little house.
