January

January has been a big month around here, even coming off the holidays.  We celebrated Steve's birthday on the 8th with a cake he had to buy himself because I spent the day before sick in bed. Luckily it was just sinus related - not the flu - and I bounced back pretty quickly.

The biggest development is that Sara got braces!  She has brackets across her front six teeth on top, as well as a pallet expander.  All of this metal will be in place for 12 months, and after that she'll wear a retainer until all of her permanent teeth come in.  At that point, the orthodontist will determine if more work is necessary.

 Steve took her to the long appointment to have the braces and expander put in her mouth, and he said she did a great job.  She didn't whine or squirm or anything, just took it all like a champ.  Eating and talking having been an adjustment, and her nightly mouth washing routine has gotten longer, but she's doing a great job.  In recent months Sara had started making comments about not liking the way her teeth made her look, so I'm excited for her to gain the confidence that comes with a straight smile.

Later this week I'm heading to Signal Mountain to celebrate Grandma Lou's life and to help my mom finish cleaning out her place.  It'll be emotional, but I'm looking forward to the time with my sister, parents, and cousins I don't see often.  I'm also looking forward to going back up the mountain - not sure when I'll ever be there again after this.  First, though, it appears that winter is coming to North Texas.  Fire is going, chili is cooking, and all signs point to icy roads in the next few hours.  We have provisions and are prepared for anything!

Christmas

By the time Christmas break rolled around, we were ready for it!  Festivities began with school parties. It was fun being able to pop into Emma's party since she was just down the hall; it was the first time I'd had that opportunity.

We had a couple days of break before the actual holiday.  The girls and I went to see "The Greatest Showman", which was SO good.  Highly recommend.  We spent Christmas Eve with the Brittains and had Christmas Day at home.  The girls woke up and were so excited to get to their presents, and in my efforts not to miss it, I managed to not take a single picture of the Christmas morning excitement.

 On the 26th, we headed to MN to continue our celebration.  Melissa, Adam, Steve, and I enjoyed a night out at the Wild/Stars game.  After the game we went to a bar that had a place to shoot pucks.  Melissa and I attempted to show off our shooting skills (which are pretty decent, by the way), but we both strained some rarely-used muscles in doing so!

 Todd's new band, Triggerfish, had a gig while we were in town.  The band is really good, and it turned into a fun night for all!  Sara and Emma were the life of the party.

 The girls spent a night at Melissa and Adam's.  They baked, played games, and watched a movie.  Meanwhile, Steve and I enjoyed a short pseudo-date over Minnesota Mules (my parents were a few tables away with some friends!).  We all met back at Melissa and Adam's the next morning to watch the Cyclones win their bowl game!

 At one point during our visit, Sara hooked up with a friend she'd made over the summer, so the rest of us took Emma to Charlie's.  It's a favorite summer spot on Prior Lake - we can boat up and eat outside.  Obviously this time we drove and stayed inside, but Emma enjoyed looking at the frozen lake, spotting fish houses and cars all over it.  Definitely not something she's seen in Texas!  Of course Emma would order ice cream when we're all frozen ... she remembered getting ice cream at Charlie's in the summer and was determined to repeat in the winter.

 We couldn't miss the chance to hit the Mall of America for rides, shopping, and food.

We were at MOA on New Years Eve during the day, and they were busy prepping decorations for the evening's festivities.  We left before the craziness started and enjoyed a quiet NYE at home - dinner, toasts, and watching the ball drop.  The girls made it til 11:00.

We always love to have a puzzle going while at my parents' house.  The one this year was SO hard, but we managed to finish it with just a couple of hours to spare before we had to head back to the airport!

 The weather this year was COLD ... multiple days of below zero temps.  One day it got to about 15 degrees, though, so we bundled up to play in the fresh snow!

 The girls had the best time sledding.  We left the hill with super rosy cheeks and cold toes, but it was completely worth it.   I always love for the girls to have the opportunity to see and play in the snow! 

We returned to warmer-but-still-cold temps in Dallas, and then jumped back into our school/work routine.  All the more reason to be thankful for a fun and relaxing winter break with family.

Peter Pan

I'm still working on recovering from the holidays, which means the blog has been pretty abandoned for a while.  However, I'm committed to catching up with this three-day weekend upon us!  Instead of the-longest-post-ever, I think I'll divide it all up into a few different posts ... starting with Sara's first play!

Just before winter break, Sara was Michael in "Peter Pan" at a local children's theater.  She had fifteen lines, and delivered them perfectly. The entire cast was made up of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders from Sara's school.  Most of the rehearsals took place at school in the afternoons, but the production itself was at the theater.  The stage and lights provided an exciting new experience.

 We were super proud of Sara's performance, and she was pretty proud of herself, too!  I hope there will be more theater in her future.

Of course we celebrated at BWW, Sara's pick!

 (not sure what Emma is doing here ...)

Merry Christmas!

Grandma Lou

My Grandma Lou passed away overnight, in the very early hours of this morning.  She was 93, and except for a stroke that came out of left field, she was healthy and living life to its fullest.  She was still very active in her community, participating in water aerobics, attending various events, eating out with her friends.  She will be so missed on Signal Mountain, and especially in our family.

   When "Dawson's Creek" became my television obsession in the late '90s, I started calling Grandma Lou "Grams", like Jen did on the show.  She loved the name and it stuck.

 I had the opportunity to say goodbye to Grams on speaker phone last night.  I told her that, of all the great memories I have with her, my favorite is the fact that, as an adult, she became my friend.  She supported me and always had my back.

Grams was an incredibly strong woman who asserted herself as the matriarch of the family.  She was opinionated, open-minded, and funny.  She had a story for everything (some of which we heard many times over the years).

 I'm so glad that my girls got to know their Grandma Lou.  They use her place mats to eat on, and the sweater she made for me when I was young has now been worn by both girls, too.  Every night, they sleep with the blankets she weaved for them.  I'm so glad to have those pieces of her in our house.

 She would always ask for "just half a beer in a glass" because she said couldn't drink that much.  Yet we all knew that, before long, she'd be back for the second half.  Never failed, and always made us laugh.

 There were a few years in my life, a long time ago, that felt almost defined by significant loss. This isn't new territory for me, but it's sure hitting hard.  As much as I knew she wouldn't be, I guess I just thought she would always be around.

 The girls have been asking a lot of questions, and I'm trying to navigate through answering them.  Emma asked if Grandma Lou was like a robot without batteries, and then asked if her heart is her battery.  Not sure where that came from, but I thought it was an interesting connection.

 Then they asked to look at pictures of Grandma Lou ... so we started looking through those taken in most recent years.

Grams saw a lot in her lifetime. She grew up near Purdue, went to college, was an Alpha Chi Omega, and had many stories to tell about her high-society social life over the years.  I think everyone who met her loved her.

 There was rarely something we'd all be doing that she wouldn't jump in on (eating a suitcase of White Castle burgers included).

 Although we lived far apart, Grams always seemed to be there.  Just last weekend, she called to wish Sara a happy birthday as we were on our way out to dinner to celebrate.  Sara was the last person to receive a birthday card from her, with $17 for 2017 (she'd made a note in the card that next year, Sara would get $18).  Grams still had plans.

 She was such an important and stable part of our family.  I am grateful to have had her in my life for nearly 37 years.

 I've kept this email she sent me a couple of years ago after a terrible Cyclones football game.  It makes laugh.  I've also kept the last voicemail she left me, and I'm glad I did.  Like all the others, it starts with, "Hi, Katie, this is your Grandma..." and ends with, "I love you."

We will love you and miss you forever, Grams.  Cheers ... to you for a beautiful life, well-lived, and to those of us who had the great fortune of being part of your journey.

Nine & Feelin' Fine

 

 Sara is NINE today ... last year in single digits!  She shows more and more signs everyday of entering tween-dom.  Sara loves 3rd grade and says her favorite subject is science.  She's still really good at math, too, and she loves to read.  This past year, she has gone from allowing us to read chapter books with her once in a while to wanting to read on her own all the time.  She always have at least two or three books going at once.  We are also so proud that she is a shameless Cyclones fan!

 Sara enjoys being involved in Brownies, and soon will be in her first play, "Peter Pan."  She is Michael in the play, and has been busy practicing her 15 lines.  We're excited to see her on stage!  Of course Sara also loves her phone (which, to her dismay, is closely monitored by her parents).  Sara still loves to draw and do projects, and can spend lots of time just quietly creating.  She has recently shown an interest in learning to play the piano.

We celebrated over the weekend at Benihana, her request, and had a great time enjoying the show and the delicious food.  Sara ordered hibachi shrimp and fried rice, and then rainbow sherbert for dessert.  She left with a fully belly and a big smile on her face!

We are so proud of our smart, funny, helpful, kind, opinionated, greatest-ever 9-year-old!

Thanksgiving Break

We had a great Thanksgiving break!  Although we squeezed in a dentist appointment, the rest was mostly just fun.  We had a fun time visiting Kansas family for Thanksgiving.  Too much to eat and drink, but lots of laughter and memory-making ... perfect visit!  We made it back yesterday evening, and then spent today hanging our outside lights and preparing to head back to school tomorrow.  We cheated a little bit by putting up our tree and inside decorations before leaving for Kansas, and I also took the girls early last week to see Santa.  That's not something I usually do before Thanksgiving, but the idea of beating the lines was just too tempting.

We like going to see Santa at Willow Bend, where they have a fun snow globe for the kids to play in and stuffed arctic animals to look at on the way to see the Big Guy.

 Emma really wanted me to take this pic of her winking.

 They let me put them in matching outfits.  It was a pre-Christmas miracle.  Let's hope we have a repeat for other upcoming holiday events.

 Willow Bend will be getting a Crayola Experience this spring.  Sara went to the one at MOA with my mom and sister, and I'm excited to take both girls here when it opens.  In the meantime, there's lots of advertising for it at the mall, including a life-sized box of crayons!

 Silly faces!

 Cute pic with Santa this year.  This one was the first picture they took.  Emma asked for a pop-socket for her phone, and Sara asked for the book Wonder.  My plan to beat the long lines worked: we were through the snow globe/polar bear paws in ice + other such attractions/Santa visit + pic/picture purchase in under twenty minutes.  Win!

The next few weeks will be exciting and busy.  We have Sara's birthday, a visit from my parents, and of course lots of shopping to do.  I love this time of year!