Chauffeur Duties

OK, my friend just reminded me of the importance of ... journaling, actually, and how you forget about the little things and if you journal, you can go back and remember them. So now and then I may post a small post, just to remember a little thing.

CHAUFFEUR. I never really knew what that word meant until this period of my life. Each child wants to be involved in different things, at school, church, or in the community. I am grateful that there are so many choices of activities, and so many opportunities for them to experience.

David's been going to the Robotics group--NASA has an annual national competition where high school students can create a robot to complete different tasks. They meet almost every day.

Teresa is in this year's musical at the middle school: "The Wiz." As the performance gets closer (March), they practice more and more.

Kara is in Destination Imagination (like Robotics, a little, or Science Olympiad), and she's in a gymnastics class this term.

They each also have church activities and meetings.

These are all good things. Here's my point: I am in the car a LOT! No, really. A LOT. And we even live close to schools and the church.

So, I am thankful for transportation, and that we have the funds to pay for the gas it takes to get places. I go crazy with calendaring and pick-up times and trying to arrange carpools.

People say I'll miss it when I don't have to do it anymore! (Well, they also said that about the little-kid messy-runny-nose-no-attention-span-preschool-stage-where-you-wonder-why-you-go-to-church-each-week-stage. I have yet to cry that those days are past...) I think I'm more of a "enjoy today some, and look forward to the next adventure" type person. I rarely become sad because stages are over.

OK. Having said that, I think I WILL be sad when each child leaves for college, and they're not in our house all the time anymore.

I'm rambling now. More thoughts later, Kari

You Really Should See This

Hi!

Well we got yet another snowstorm last night...that makes one storm per week, for 3 weeks now! 15 inches two weeks ago, then 8 more last Wednesday, and last night another 8 inches. Our house total is 31 inches.

The thing is, it doesn't melt in between! Ha. You get to a point where...there's NO PLACE ELSE TO PUT IT...??!?

Here are some photos to try to give you an idea of the volume. (We are not even close to Vermont and Maine, however...their average annual snowfall is just ridiculous.)

You can only reach so high, when you shovel. Great loads of thanks to our fabulous neighbors, of course, who ease our burdens by clearing the driveway with their snowblower. We kind of "share" our driveway (it makes kind of a "V") and they clear the whole thing with it.

That "only" leaves us the walkway, the deck, the sagging awning, and...the dreaded ROOF. Yes, another New England thing, I think I've mentioned before. Sometimes the snow on the roof melts a little in the sun, then that freezes, then more melting, and it creates "Ice Dams." The water then pools, and seeps in, and starts to leak into your house.


So now (after one leak 2 winters ago, in Teresa's bedroom), we Rake the Roof, too. Here's a photo of the house--I did the whole back side of the roof, up on the ladder, and decided that was all I had in me...I only did half the front.

I will say, it is usually Frank who does this! He doesn't pawn off the hard stuff on me. But this morning I felt energy (don't worry...it's gone now), and I got in some snow-clearing.



Anyway, it's a drop-dead gorgeous day.

Happy Weekend coming up!

SNOW Thoughts

Well, Hello!

I have to say that last winter, it was a little wimpy in the area of snow here, in the Massachusetts part of New England. Teresa (then 12) was disappointed with our lack of the white stuff last winter. We only got a "real" storm, where there was accumulation over 3-4 inches, once or twice. No snow days where school was closed last year.

THIS WINTER. Okay then. Let's fast-forward to January of 2011. Can we all say "WOW! LOTS OF WHITE STUFF!" Last week a big storm that closed school and gave us 15 inches.

Now, TODAY, we have another storm going through! And yes, because of the timing of this storm this early morning from 2:00 a.m. on today, we have yet ANOTHER snow day with no school! We will probably only get 6-8 inches this time...

Teresa (13 now) is not complaining these days. :) Hot-blooded as she is, she only wears snow pants and her orange sweatshirt! (I, on the other hand, wear 25 layers and STILL end up cold...??!)


It is hard for me to capture the peaceful, big flakes you see as you look out the window...it's really beautiful.

And we have a nice fire inside, to warm our "refrigerator room" -- that's the "sunroom," 3 sides windows, with no heat! It has a wood-burning stove to keep it warm in winter. And when the sun is shining, it really does warm it up some afternoons pretty well.



MAILBOX RESCUE. Here is my accompllishment, however: LAST storm, the snow-plowers successfully plowed the street, but piled snow 5 feet in front of our mailbox.




I very literally dug out the mailbox, because the snow-plowers buried it! After an hour of my digging (and some new muscles the next day moaning about it), we can now receive mail! (I took this photo yesterday, before today's storm.)








Because of "no school," I also did not go in to tutor this morning. Now you know where I got the time to do this post!

I guess I could be cleaning the bathroom instead...BAHAHAHA! Just kidding. I lost myself there, but only for a moment. (Tee-hee. I really DID put in a load of laundry, then was GOING to clean the bathroom...then I remembered I had to take a few snow pictures.)

Happy Friday! Kari

Winter Wonderland

Hello!

Just a quick paragraph or two--


I'm afraid I'm following the example of the White Rabbit:


"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get--!"


I can't believe it's the 13th of January tomorrow...wasn't yesterday New Year's Eve?


NEWS OF THE DAY. To the joy of all school children in this neck of the woods: SNOW DAY! Everything cancelled while it snowed, snowed, and snowed some more. We measured 15 inches in the front yard and driveway. Teresa, of course, is in 7th heaven. For those who shovel and "rake the roof" (new terminology we learned in New England), well...not so much heaven. It is with even more joy that I report that we had electricity all day. (Some people were without, and that would have made the day a little more stressful, to say the least.)

The roads, however, are now clear and drivable. One day reprieve was all we had, and it's business as usual tomorrow.


CROWN. My Christmas present this year was...a new tooth! (Yippee-ai-kai-ay-kai-oh. Spelling may be a little off on that one.) A few days before Christmas was Appointment Number 1, to get rid of the old filling that was no longer doing its job after roughly 30 years. Take a mold for the new crown and put on a temporary one. Yesterday was Appointment Number 2. Now it is permanent, hopefully really permanent. In the last 4 months I have replaced 3 fillings and now this crown. Let's all hope that's it for a long while...? We have to wonder why a person would go into dentistry: everybody hates coming to see you!! That has to cause a lot of stress.

RELIEF SOCIETY. I had to chuckle when my sister Kim said she was now a counselor in her women's organization at church, the Relief Society. Because guess what, so am I-! I taught Sunday school last week for the last time, and now I will serve in the Relief Society as Education Counselor. It's a really neat group of women. I look forward to getting to know people better.

Well, my allotted 15 minutes has expired.

Happy Thursday tomorrow! Love, Kari

Chocolate Fountains & Snow

Happy New Year to all!

Yesterday the date was "1-1-11!" Isn't that cool! I actually forgot about those cool numbers until today, so I kind of missed it...

BUT I have another chance in 10 days, when it is: "1-11-11!" AND Teresa's birthday this year is "11-11-11!" (She is not turning 11 on that day--somebody is, though. It's still a fun birthday.)

Here is a Chocolate Fountain post! For whatever reason, David has had that on his "Christmas list" for a couple of years now, and he finally got one.

So on Christmas Day, when Frank's cousin and her family came from Providence to have dinner with us, we tried out the Chocolate Fountain for the first time.

You can dip anything in chocolate, of course, but what we had on hand included marshmallows, bananas, pineapple, and cake. We thought pretzels would have been awesome. Or strawberries. Next time.

Otherwise, during the week we had 8+ inches of snow! I think Boston actually got more...it was SO WINDY, it blew around SO much, that our yard probably measured less than actually fell. Boston recorded 18 inches in some parts.

Teresa LIVES for snow--it has been a wonderful break for her. No photos from this time around, so here is what she does in snow (from last winter).

Well, the routine resumes tomorrow--I can't believe the break is over! It seems to have flown by. Speaking of flying, Frank is in Miami this weekend. There are multiple Virginia Tech alums in Frank's family, his dad included. Virginia Tech had a good season, so tomorrow they play in the Orange Bowl in Miami, against Stanford. The siblings' treat for their dad was to chip in for Frank to fly down to FL and take his dad to the Orange Bowl game tomorrow!

Hopefully it will be a close game. And also, hopefully Virginia Tech will win.

Have a great week! Kari

Holiday Traditions

Hello!

One friend asked about our holiday traditions, and I thought I'd post a blog about it.

CHRISTMAS CARDS. Each year we send out a Christmas card to friends and family out-of-state. Since we are the only ones living in Massachusetts, that would include ALL of our family, and since we have moved 8 times in our 18 married years together, we send a lot of cards to friends in different states. I think our total was 125 or 130 cards this year. At any rate, we usually send a card, a family photo, and a Christmas letter. We try to be at least a little creative, and some years I have made the cards with the kids.

ADVENT CALENDAR. We put up an Advent Calendar each December 1st, and the kids rotate turns on choosing an ornament out of the numbered pockets. This tree-with-elves design was the one I grew up with. My sister Kathi made one for Kim and I (sorry Kris--I think you were still young and disinterested that year), one year for Christmas. So now I still use the same advent calendar that I used as a child when my sisters and I would take turns.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE. Each year we see one of these yummy-looking houses on sale at the grocery store or craft store, and we pick one up. This year Kara and Teresa decorated the gingerbread house. The icing was a little runny but the roof stayed in place, and the windows weren't too bad.

ZUCCHINI BREAD. We also make little mini-loaves of zucchini bread, to take to the neighbors and give out to teachers at school. This year, Teresa and Kara had their own lists of people they wanted to give to. I bought the ingredients for their bread, but they made the bread! They were willing to work for the gifts they would give. It was very nice for me!

STORY-A-DAY-UNTIL-CHRISTMAS. We read an inspirational Christmas story each night of December. Some of them are religious, some of them are just nice stories. They make you thankful and make you want to be a better person. We also read a scripture a night along with the story.

NATIVITY SCENES. We collect nativities, often looking for "different" ones from different countries. We don't put them all out every year. Here are some we put out this year.

CHRISTMAS TREE. Frank grew up with a real tree. I grew up with an artificial tree. In Michigan, we had room for 2 trees, so we had both. Most often, we only have space for one, and it ends up being the artificial one. I like them: they are symmetrical and clean, and you don't cut down a tree every year to use 2 weeks and then throw away. Many have arguments for a real tree: the wonderful smell, nothing like going out and picking/cutting down your own tree as a family. To each his own on this matter! We normally decorate our tree with ornaments with some meaning or memory; here is one we got the year Frank and I were married.

Here is what David looked like at 4 yrs old, in the year 2000.

(One tradition I am trying to change is staying up too late on Christmas Eve. I get tired and grumpy.)

Merry Christmas! Kari

'Tis the Season

Well! Hard to believe it's the 20th of December. To say this month has flown by, is quite an understatement.

Here are some highlights of the month thus far (you can double-click on photos to enlarge them):

KARI VISITS GRANDMA. My Grandma turned 100 years old this month! Yes! So much has happened in the last 100 years. And that's just in this country. I went to Arizona for a few days, to catch up a little and wish Grandma a Happy Birthday.

HOLIDAY CONCERTS. We've gone to Kara's chorus concert, and her band concert in the last week or so. She's been playing the saxophone for this school year, and is doing a really good job. There is also a "5th grade chorus" that meets weekly before school to practice. They did great with their holiday songs.

Teresa also had a chorus concert, at the middle school. As an 8th grader, she is in the "7th and 8th grade chorus", and also "Select Chorus," for which she auditioned.

WINTER GALA. Parexel had its holiday party, which is certainly not a "given" every year (last year they didn't have one), but this year they did. Lots of good food, and it gives me a chance to rub shoulders with some of Frank's coworkers. Dinner and dancing, and this one had a casino theme so we all got some "chips" to play with. We mostly stayed at the Roulette table, and Blackjack 21 (?? is that the name of it? You get two cards, and try to get as close to 21 as you can. Ask for one more card, or stick with your two. Add them up, and if you are closer to 21 than the dealer is, you win.).

A NIGHT IN BETHLEHEM. Our family got to take part in the Christmas Story, as our church Christmas party was called "A Night in Bethlehem." We followed the scriptures as Luke told of the shepherds (Teresa was one of them), and the Wise Men (Frank). David was a centurion guarding King Herod, and Kara was one of the angels singing! It was a nice evening, with good food, good company, and a really nice production of the Christmas story.

I could go on and on about how much baking has happened in our kitchen, as Teresa and Kara have lists of friends and teachers to whom they want to give gifts. Also class parties, and shopping for Secret Santa gifts. The best part for me is, THEY are planning and carrying most of it out! I chauffeur, provide the ingredients and offer tips here and there, but they are doing most of the "work." They bake and wrap and think of the gifts. The kids are having a lot of fun.

We are of course looking forward to Christmas at the end of this week. This is my favorite holiday, my very favorite time of year. I read inspirational Christmas stories that make me cry. I vow to do better -- to value people over things and to-do-lists.

The Christmas program at church was full of beautiful music and scriptures and messages. We have a lot of local musical talent, including instruments and vocal musicians. There was a 15-piece orchestra including a cello and a harp, playing for the choir up on the stand.

I'm afraid I'm going to blink, and Christmas will be over! Here's wishing you a peaceful and joyful holiday. (Note to self: Slow down and smile...breathe in and meditate upon the beauty of the season.)

Kari