End of the Year Wrap Up

This year I have not been as diligent posting on the blog.  Sheralie has done the lion's share of the posting, for which I am grateful.  This Sunday I am skipping my usual Sunday afternoon nap to record some final thoughts on my theme for the year:

No Shortcuts

One reason I have not done as many blog posts is that I have been training for a marathon most of the year.  Having set the goal for 2010 and finished the Baltimore marathon, I immediately signed up to run the Washington DC marathon in March with my three brothers.  I have come to really enjoy running.  It helps clear the mind and rejuvenates the body.  However, you can't cram for a marathon.  You have to put in some serious miles before taking on that commitment.  And serious miles means a lot of time.  Just a tip for anyone thinking about a marathon.

Learning another language is also something you can not cram for - it is just something you have to put in the hours of practice and study.  Learning Spanish is harder than running a marathon.  At least with running I have a good amount of feedback in terms of statistics - how many miles for how long.  I can measure improvement as my times improve.  There is no easy metric for Spanish.  You just have to keep studying and have faith that you are really learning something.

There are also no shortcuts for raising children.  I love my children a lot.  They are a source of happiness and joy.  However, they can be a handful.  I would venture to say that raising children is harder than both Spanish and running.  It is even harder to see signs of progress.  Sometimes you see signs of regression.  It is tempting to focus on things with more concrete results: work, hobbies, books, church callings, etc.  Sometimes you don't see the results of parenting for more than 20 years, until your own kids become parents.  Fortunately I have an amazing wife that helps us stay focused on teaching and loving our children.  It has been a big year for children.  James has been the happiest baby ever.  Jeffrey was baptized, started Cub Scouts and loves playing basketball and football.  Laird has learned to read and grown up so much.  Lucy is our three year old who changes clothes ten times a day.  Each brings something special to our family and we love them.

Beginning to Look A Lot

like Christmas!

The last two weeks have been a little better. There were no unauthorized haircuts from sibling to sibling, there were no car accidents involving our rental car #2, (which is a good thing since our van is still being repaired from the awful smashing), and the calendar was manageable. Whew. November was a rough one, but December is full of anticipation as we prepare for Christmas.

The children are trying to be helpful and good.

I love that the spoon is actually getting food on his face instead of in his mouth.

She tries so hard to be helpful, and occasionally it is truly helpful.

James tries to go along with the "little mama" even when she smears food all over his face.

It is getting cold, even bundled up. James is here watching me clear off the sidewalk.

He always smiles for the camera, even if he wasn't smiling before!

I personally think the cold is much more enjoyable when there is snow.

There is something so magical about snow.

Lucy thinks snow is synonymous with a winter wonderland:

"Mom, I have winter wonderland on my nose!"

All this snow makes us rather giddy. It is a huge change for us.

Some afternoons are so cold we cannot play outside.

We have taken to doing Tae-Bo together in the living room.

[Not pictured.]

Laird, of course has engineered more games to play in the house.

One such game is indoor hockey. Here you see his indoor hockey stick,

a.k.a. stick with a tissue taped on with masking tape (as to preserve our beautiful floors),

and his hockey puck obtained from James' stacking rings.

James can spend hours trying to remove the ornaments off of the tree.

Hope you are having fun getting ready for Christmas too!

Over the River and Through the Woods

Don't ever move. I really don't recommend it. This has been a hard move for me, for many reasons. We are halfway through our time here which is not helping my motivation to get settled in. Everything feels like a battle, finding a dentist, the Stake Center or figuring out how to handle the cold. The weather has dropped below freezing and I now wear a jacket inside the house. Lucy has taken layering to a new level, wearing multiple socks, shirts, pants, whatever seems prudent.

We didn't travel to Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. Fortunately, they came to us.

You can see how delighted the children are to see some of their favorite people.

James didn't remember them, at first.

Laird has his first guitar lesson.

Aunt Charity and James. Charity celebrated her birthday with us, Happy Birthday little sis!

The Celebratory Birthday Dinner.

The boys' favorite part of our Capitol Tour: the State Statues.

My favorite part of the Capitol Tour: the center of town. Thank you to Michael for getting us a fantastic private Senatorial tour.

Unlike his sister, James doesn't cry at the wind, but smiles.

Lucy was pretty pleased to put Laird in the stocks at Williamsburg.

The grounds of the Governor's Mansion are better than the tour inside.

Our favorite was Jamestown, for obvious reasons: Indian Village!

Jeffrey helped load a chicken onto the ships, and here prepares a corn cake.

A boy's paradise! And yes, this little boy is a smiler.

Thanks for the fun, Grandma and Grandpa and Aunties and Mike!