It's Fine to be Nine and Chile

Hola!

Frank returned from his last trip, yippee! He has been in Chile and Argentina for 9 days. He's hiring a manager down there so he'll be going back to interview possible candidates, again next month. Anyway it's SO nice to have him here.

Last week was Kara's birthday--NINE, can you believe it! Sometimes other people's kids stay young in your mind, because you don't see them much. I still have her pegged at 5 or 6 years old, and I LIVE with her! Something about how adorable kids are in kindergarten, I guess, and I wanted her to stay in that grade! (She still brightens my day. She's just bigger now.)

We had a fun afternoon with some of her friends from school, playing goofy relay games outside. Run with a balloon between your elbows and sit on it to pop it...













keep an M&M on the end of a straw, run with it and drop it in the bowl at the other end of the deck...








balloon volleyball...

It was a beautiful afternoon, but don't be fooled by the sunshine. It was still super cold! The kids look outside at a sunny day, and think they can put on their swimsuits. It's only 40 degrees, for Pete's sake! One of the games was an egg toss, and the plastic Easter eggs we used had water in them. "Can we have a water fight?" one of the girls asks. I'm standing in the sun, shivering, and she wants a water fight...sigh... Then we piled into cars to go to "Plaster Fun Time," where the girls could choose ceramics and paint them. Here is Kara:

and also Teresa and Frank concentrating on Teresa's cobra:

Kara has a talent for getting along with a lot of different kinds of people. She also notices when someone is sad, and tries to make them happy.

She's an example to me, of what kind of a friend I should be.

It is FINE to be NINE!

Kara's Party Group

Happy Birthday, Frank!

Frank's Big Day was last Tuesday. Thanks for the cards, BTW! We went to dinner the weekend before with 2 fun couples. At the END of this month, he and I will have a combination b-day jaunt to Toronto, where he is attending a conference. For now, here is some alliteration in his honor:




Fantastic Father
Funny
Friend
Fast
(our) Favorite
Finally Forty (I've been waiting patiently for him to "catch up").






Ready (for almost anything)
Reserved
Rested
Romantic (sometimes :) )
Real (see "The Velveteen Rabbit").







Adventurous
Appreciative
Amiable
Awake
Approachable.








Nature-lover
Neat
Nice
Notices (details).










Kind
Knowledgeable
(3) Kids
Kaleidoscope (of personality and emotion)
Kari's.



We love you, Sweetie!

Teresa and Her Talents

Hi!

I finally got around to taking a picture of Teresa (6th grade) and her talents. She has been taking flute lessons this school year. Inspired by her aunt Kathi, she decided to try it out. And I like the fact that it is light-weight and easy to transport!

We need to figure out how to record a song and email it, like the Griffiths sent to us. Teresa really liked the piano/flute duet they emailed.

She asked the Primary leader, at church, if she could play a song in Singing Time. So a couple of weeks ago, after much practice, Teresa played "Nephi's Courage" as the opening song in Primary.

And hey, I just found 2 more things she made, so I'll include those, too! Earlier in the school year, she had 8 weeks of art. Her art teacher had them make realistic animal heads, from all kinds of materials. Her tiger was really cool, so her teacher put it up in the school hallway.











Look, his teeth are made of plastic forks from the lunch room:





The other was a clay project, depicting an aspect of Egyptian life. These are amulets of Ancient Egyptian Royalty.

These things took/take a lot of time and patience. Nice job, Teresa!

D.C. and Doors

Hello!

Here is the accomplishment for David and his mom (me) this week: David has learned how to paint doors! Ha. David's class has a big trip planned for April. At this Middle School, the entire 8th grade goes to Washington D.C. each spring. I have been assured by many that it is well-planned, security is high, activities are educationally rich and varied, and geared toward the eighth-grade learner. It is an excellent experience for everyone! Small catch: it's also QUITE expensive.

So, the big deal this school year has been: what jobs can David do to earn extra money for this D.C. trip? David has, quite literally, done all of our family's laundry since about last November. He has shoveled walks, ours and our neighbor's, vacuumed not only his room (his standard 'chore'), but the area rugs in the whole house quite a few times. He has moved wood, cleaned baseboards, dusted, and raked snow off the roof of the house.

THIS week, we decided all these doors that we replaced months ago, need to finally be painted. (Background: I, myself, have thrown in the towel on painting. Burned out. Done. No more. Enough. Eagle project of painting last summer, then taking on the Master Bath in this house: painstakingly scraping off hideous wallpaper/1 coat primer/2coats regular paint--I never want to pick up another brush. Placed on my shoulders, there will be NO more freshly painted ANYTHING in the Whitesell household, anywhere, anytime. Raw wood or old paint look beautiful! Stunning!)

So when Frank suggests, "Why don't we pay David to paint our doors?" I groan just a little inside, since I know I'll be teaching and supervising CLOSELY in the beginning. But okay. Day 1 we are at it about 6 hours, to get through primer on the edges and 1 coat of regular paint. I did not paint anything, though--David did all that! From Marilee I was warned NOT to remove the doors. Once they are hung well, don't ever take them off!! You'll sand forEVER, trying to get them to close/hang correctly again!

We learn about prepping, cleaning, taping hinges, watching for drips, amounts of paint in the brush, using both rollers and brushes, AND I pass along tips from our great handyman who did all that work on our kitchen, who also paints professionally. Not that I know that much about it. But I told David all I know.

Currently, after 4 days of work, we have 8 out of 12 completed doors. (Then David came down with the flu--we gave him a break to lay in bed and read...)

Our doors are on the way to looking beautiful! Thanks, David!

Winter Wonderland

Hello!

Happy Valentine's Day yesterday!

For our special V-Day outing, we all went to the "mountain" (no offense to New Englanders, but the term is used very loosely here) and enjoyed a day of skiing!

The kids took lessons for about an hour and a half, on the bunny slopes while Frank and I remembered what it is like to be up on skis. I think it's been maybe 3 or 4 years since we went.

I couldn't get their attention during the lesson, so you don't see their faces. Here is David, then Teresa and Kara's backs as they wait to ride the painfully slow "Magic Carpet" (moving sidewalk up the hill) for beginners.

I say "painfully slow" because it all but crawls upward.
The kids were a little bored near the end of the lesson. We upgraded their tickets to include "all lifts" and they were able to do some bigger runs, greens and blues, in the afternoon. That was a little more exciting for them.

Here is David on the lift, with an "Unknown Hero" he rode up the mountain with...(ok, it was really Frank...)
The weather was beautiful, but pretty cold in the morning with the wind. (That's why Frank has the face protection on.) In the afternoon there was less wind, so it was pretty nice.

Here was the view from one lift:
...that's a lake in the distance, by the way...
and our view from the lift, looking straight down:
...those are our skis, by the way...

The kids came away in tact, no injuries, and smiling at the end of the day. Success! Teresa, of course, wants to go again tomorrow.

The kids get this whole week off, and another week in late April. Kind of a "winter break," and a "late spring break." That's why we go to school so late into June here.

Happy President's Day tomorrow! Kari

Thanksgiving Post

Hi!

I'm kind of looking around, wondering what to blog about today...how about things to be thankful for? Yes, this can be a Thanksgiving Blog, even though it's February.

I am thankful for...

computers




donuts

sunshine

transportation





warm clothing

washing machine

running water

inspirational speakers

talents of others



music


piano

flute

cameras

dark chocolate

a comfortable bed



Frank






good friends

email

blogs

the telephone

online shopping



great kids





good books





drivers who let you in

people who show up on time to appointments

fresh snow

snow gear that lets you have fun in cold temps

elliptical machine

motivation to get ON the elliptical machine: 24



electric lights

board games

A daughter who still asks, "Mom, will you play a game with me?"




biographies

our Founding Fathers



Just a short list, and far from comprehensive, but a good reminder for me! Hopefully it reminded you of some things YOU are thankful for, too. Have a great week--Kari :)