First Grade

My determination to post here more frequently has not been very successful. Between bouts with the flu and a less than cooperative computer, my blogging capablity has been severely challenged. But I'll keep trying.

When did first grade become so hard? My dim, distant memories of first grade are of Mrs. Stokes class where we laboriously printed our letters and went outside for recess. Milk in glass bottles at recess are a great memory, too. I don't really remember what my kids did in first grade; simple reading, I guess, number order, counting to 100, getting used to a full day at school? And maybe a little bit of homework.

First graders now work hard! A homework folder comes home every week with math pages, writing projects, word sorts, 20 minutes of reading. And if someone's been goofing off in class (do I know anyone who would do that), there's a stack of extra work to be made up. Then there are special projects like gluing 100 objects to a poster board to celebrate 100th Day of School and a Valentine box to be covered. First grade is really wearing us out!

Anyway, that's life at our house right now. Kenzie is chomping at the bit to get into kindergarten. I'm afraid all I see is more homework ahead of us!

And #2

"Spiky, gray, grim," a quote from the Amazon review. Not an easy read, but well worth it.

Book #1 is Up!

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

This looked like a good start to the year, as well as finish to the old year. Known for my cheerful disposition (Dad called me Grinch, remember?), it seemed the time was ripe for self improvement. I liked this woman's approach - the changes are in little things that finally come down to attitude. So if you see me being more polite, more organized, less critical, you can blame it on the book.

A Movie Recommendation

Stone of Destiny.

We watched it on Netflix. You'll love it.

Christmas Memories

Kenzie crying when she realized the preschool Santa was Grandpa.
The Christmas tree with all the ornaments at the bottom.
Cuddling with Kenzie as we watched the Nutcracker on the portable dvd player.
Giving in and letting the kids decorate Christmas cookies.
The homemade labels on my jars of peppermint schnapps.
Watching Christian and Kenzie dance to the Wii.

A very nice Christmas.

Yesterday

Christmas just doesn't come without the bittersweet anymore. I've gone back and forth about writing this, but I can't seem to let it alone. Yesterday Matt dropped in on us out of the blue. We knew he was in jail - he was there about a week. We were both pretty much on our way out to work. We gave him food - breakfast and a bag of portable stuff. We gave him money that we'd set aside for his Christmas. We gave him the new shoes his grandma had bought him for Christmas. We let him take a shower and gave him a bag of toiletries. Then Jim drove him to his probation officer and went on his way.

He doesn't seem to have changed. It wrenches my heart to keep him so much on the outside of our lives, but he only brings chaos when we let him in, and now we have small children in the house that don't need to witness it. Matt can make better choices, but I'm afraid those choices won't be available to him too much longer. And he doesn't seem inclined to do one thing differently. He needs or prayers, but I think that's all the support we have for him now.

In the meantime, Jim and I spent the day feeling wounded and wishing there were another way of handling it. The good news, I guess, is that we did handle it and went on with our lives. Thanks for being there, everyone.

Quiet Christmas

Christmas day is drawing to a close, and I think it was one of the most peaceful we've ever had. Not everything was perfect. There were members missing from the family circle. Little kids got cranky and a little overexcited. But it was nice. Each of us ended the day feeling like it had been wonderful. No thoughts of unfulfilled wishes and a lot of understanding that Christmas is for being together and appreciating what we have.

Mike and Scott, we missed you. I hope your day was also filled with joy and peace. Know that you are loved.