One of the Best, Anyway

A new year is beginning over at I Heart Faces.  This first challenge of the year is a doozy...they want us to pick our best face of 2010!  I can't really do that, but I will share one of my favorite pictures that I took this year. 

I love this photo.  I love her fly-away hair, the curve of her cheek, her sweet expression.  This is one of those moments that I will think of when I am old and remember her when she was little. 

There are many beautiful entries already.  This week there is no guest judge, but the pictures which receive the most votes for being the best (objectively speaking, of course ;) ) will be featured on Saturday.  Check it out, and vote if you wanna!

Closing and Opening

Well.  An old year ended and a new year has begun.

At the end of this year we were working towards (read:  waiting on some papers to come through) closing on the new house.  We assumed that I could sign the papers from here (Florida) and then send them overnight, if need be, so that our friends could go on and close on their new house.  But a more adventurous route won out.  I actually had to fly home on Wednesday morning for one day in order to sign the papers; there was no way around it in this particular situation.  I found out about this on Tuesday evening.  I was at Wendy's house and I informed her that she might have to keep the kids while I headed home (they ended up spending the day all together, with their cousins, and then sleeping at Mike's moms, where they had been all along).  I was already feeling emotional (surprise!) about many things. 

And I still did not have a soda.  Proud?  You better be. 

I left with my mother-in-law early in the morning (early enough to see a hot pink sun rising above the horizon...wow) and arrived in Dallas at 1:30-ish.  I brought home two suitcases full of our Christmas presents, which we were going to have to ship back...in a twisted kind of way we saved money on shipping.  But, not really, since airplane tickets cost, like, three times more than the shipping would have cost.  I'm trying to think positively here, people.  At the baggage claim, one of my bags was not to be found.  And, of course, it was the bag that I borrowed from Wendy, the one which really needed to return to Florida with me.

We left the airport after filing a report, and when we got home I showered (airplanes = yucko).  We headed straight to the closing after that, and it took FOREVER to sign our life away all of the papers.  It was finally done, and we were going to go out to dinner and celebrate.  How often do Mike and I get to be home alone?!  We realized that we needed to run by the new house and get the keys and some pertinent information from our friends, the previous owners (it was now our house!), so we went on over there.  We ended up being there for about an hour and a half.  By the time we left, it was pretty late, I was running on the energy from two packs of airplane peanuts (a.k.a. NOT MUCH), I think we were both cranky and hungry, I was feeling sad about the move, and neither one of us felt like making a choice about where to eat.  We ordered a pizza from the Pizza Hut up the street from our current house, picked it up on the way home, and watched a movie we had started a few months ago while we ate.  Then we walked through the house together and Mike asked me about different pieces of furniture, different piles of stuff, and if I wanted to give him any specific directions about any of it.  It was overwhelming.  I just wanted to cry.  (And I did.) 

I DON'T WANT TO MOVE.  I DON'T WANT TO MOVE.  I DON'T WANT TO MOVE.

All right.  Just had to get that out.

I got my luggage all ready for my turn-around trip, and by the time we got to bed it was pretty late.  The alarm went off at 6:45am, and then again at 7am.  I lay in bed, thinking,"You've got to get up.  You have to get back to the airport.  And you need to at least brush your teeth first."  The phone rang at 7:18, and the voice on the other end said,"We have your bag and we need to arrange a delivery time."  I was very happy to hear that, and even happier when I told them that I had to come to the airport for a flight anyway and they responded with,"We have a voucher for you when you pick up your bag."

Sweet!

So, here is the crazy thing we did.  I still needed to have several bags for my second trip back home, in order to get the rest of our Christmas presents back, as well as what we brought in the first place.  I had one large suitcase with a medium sized suitcase inside of it (these were both new...a strange and wonderful coincidence that we got new luggage this year), and then I had our old medium sized suitcase with a carry-on sized bag inside of it.  The plan was to switch out the stuff in Wendy's bag (which needed to stay in Dallas) with the carry-on bag, so that Mike ended up with our suitcase containing Christmas presents, and I ended up with Wendy's bag plus our carry-on (which was packed inside of the checked bag).

Confused?  So was the lady at the customer service area when I tried to explain why I had two bags, but I was picking up a bag, and needed to switch the contents of two of my three bags in order to get on my flight.  After I flew in yesterday.  I'm sure it was very suspicious looking.  My armpits were already sweaty at 8:00 in the morning.

We accomplished our mission, however, without attracting too much attention, and Mike and I parted ways so that I could return to Orlando to finish out our vacation.  He went home to pack up our chaotic life and try to move it to another location.  Minus the chaotic part.  Poor Mike. 

I made it back to Florida just fine (flying makes me very nervous) and the kids barely knew I was gone.  I'm happy that they are so comfortable with family.  Michaela and Eliana came with Diana to pick me up and they were crowing like roosters when I got in the car.  (The girls were crowing, not Diana.  Although that would have been darned funny.)

So, Mike and I are now home-owners again.  I'm scared.  I'm nervous.  I'm excited.  I'm sad.  I'm grateful.  I'm a mess, as usual.  There will be a lot of changes once we get back home.  I mean everything will be changing.  The time we get up in the morning, when I go grocery shopping, getting Christian to karate, managing to walk with my friend, how we take the kids to school, how we pick them up from school, how we get them to choir, Bible study, piano lessons...it's all going to be different.  I know God doesn't leave us to manage all these things on our own...I just need to trust him, and also be willing to do my part to make these changes lead to a healthier family life and a better way of living for everyone. 

The end of the year.  I can't say this has been a great year, in many ways.  I, personally, had a very hard year.  The beginning of 2010 was rough.  I struggled through a very dark time, a pretty deep depression that was (and is still) kind of unexplainable.  It affected every aspect of my life, and those around me (obviously).  We lost a pregnancy.  This is still something I think about all of the time.  I would have been about seven months pregnant right now.  We decided that we would buy our friends' house, after not even two years in this one.  As I've said before, this decision has created quite a myriad of emotions in me (and the kids). 

Then there is the beginning of the new year...the opening of all kinds of new doors.  Literally, the door of our home.  As well as the door to a whole new way of living.  So, while we have closed on the house, and will soon close the door for the last time to our home up the street from the church, we are walking together through the door of a new home.  Together one step at a time, right? 

Together one step at a time.

Christmas in Florida-Part Two

Christmas traditions are so special, aren't they?  Michaela already loves traditions, from getting hot chocolate at the same tavern in Colonial Williamsburg, to the Christmas Eve Eve party that Diana (Mike's mom) has each year. 

On the 23rd of December, Diana has the family over for dinner and a family picture.  Anyone who is in town, comes.  Her husband, Mr. Bob as the kids call him, has two children with families, but only one of them lives in town.  This is Mr. Bob and his son Robert.

Christian and Robert's son enjoyed the big cousins' (the teenagers) iphone games.

Pool is always a hit.  Doesn't Michaela look striking?  (Hey.  That was supposed to be a funny joke.  But...strikes are in bowling, not pool.  So...I'm not clever and witty, after all.)

The kids got to decorate a little tree downstairs.  Too cute.

The big tree stood in its usual place, stately as always.

A big hit in a tiny package...peppermint ice cream in mini-cones.  (This is the oldest cousin...he was four when we got married.  Now he's getting ready for college.  Aaaahhhh!)

This is Bobby and Wendy (I have to say I wrote Bobble.  It made me laugh.  I love Bobby.  He is great.)...what can I say about Wendy?  She is awesome.  She takes care of me.  I'm like the seventh child (remember, we have six kids between the two of us).  She has brought me a little sweet tea each day, to help me with my no-soda-drinking.  The sugar in her tea is much less than in the five cans of Pepsi I was drinking a day (at least, I think that's true) (that was a joke...of course it's true).

Everywhere we went there were kids (big and little) with the games on the phones.  Christian is with Mike's oldest brother.

This is Mike's other older brother, with their mom.

The evening was fun.  These glamour girls enjoyed every minute of the night, in their fancy Christmas attire.

We spent Christmas Eve with Mike's dad and his wife, and many other family members and friends.  I did not take my camera to that party...Bobby may have some pictures that I can add at some point.  It was a fun evening and we got to open our presents from them (Lance and Susie).  Mike and I got new luggage, which was very exciting (isn't it great to be in your thirties?) since I have been talking about getting rid of our old luggage (which has seen better days) the entire month of December.  A true and fun coincidence. 

We spent Christmas morning with the kids and Grandma and Bob.  Michaela, Christian, and Eliana opened their presents from us.  It was so much fun to see them get excited about our gifts.

Yes.  Yes, that is a Snuggie.  That is what Michaela asked for, and that is what she got.

Christian is happy with almost anything Star Wars.  This is a fancy puzzle tin.  He said,"This.  Is Awesome."

Eliana opened some Dinosaur Train toys.  It was really cute.  She was very happy to have them.

The most bestest, though, was the present Michaela gave to me.  She took the time to draw something, just for her mommy.

She is one very special girl.  Don't you think?

Each year we give the kids an ornament that commemorates an aspect of the year for them.  Since this was Eliana's first year in big-girl school, Mike had the idea to give her a school related ornament.  She didn't quite get it at first.

When I told her what it was, she liked it and hung it on the tree.

Later in the morning, Wendy, Bobby, and the kids came over for brunch and present opening.

I cannot imagine having six children at any given time, but especially when taking pictures...

The cousins do a gift exchange each year.  This year Michaela and cousin C. had one another.  Michaela received a journal (which she has written in each night since then, and is really loving) and cousin C. received a guide to fixing her dolls' hair.  They were both thrilled.

The boys opened K'Nex from Grandma and Mr. Bob.

The big girls opened new babies.  (Now that's a way to get a new baby.  No labor, no pushing, no hospital food.)

And of course, there was a pooping reindeer (and penguin and polar bear).

If you've never seen someone eat jelly beans out of the bottom of a plastic reindeer, well, all I can say is you haven't really lived.  I highly recommend it.

We still have a few days here.  Mike is home, packing up our house for the move (I have a story about that for another post).  We'll join him next week, in our new home.  I already sense that 2011 will be an adventure.  It's a good thing I have a blog.

Christmas in Florida-Part One

Each year we switch with whom we spend the winter holidays...Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the Webbs or the Walkers.  This year Thanksgiving was with my family, and Christmas was with Mike's family.  I cherish all of the moments we spend with our families and feel very blessed to be able to say that not only do I love being with my own parents, but also with my in-laws.  How wonderful is that, to be a part of two loving families?!

It has been non-stop since we arrived here in Florida.  The kids got to playing right away, and the weather was beautiful the first day.  They did everything from tree-climb to play tennis.

with a little skateboarding and bike riding thrown in...

(I thought it was pretty cool that he was on his dad's skateboard.  He thought it was cool, too.)

We always spend a lot of time with Mike's sister, Wendy, and her family; the cousins are about the same ages and it is a lot of fun (excluding the more-dramatic-than-a-soap-opera moments).  Wendy and I got very brave (or desperate) this year and actually tortured took all six of our kids shopping.  More than once.  We also took a trip to the mall with just the girls.  We discovered a gorgeous, ginormous Christmas tree...

I didn't take my camera to Kohl's, but if I had you would see a lot of pictures of blurry blondes, since the boys raced around the clothing racks as though they were a set of little train cars.  The girls did what they do best and tried on several things and couldn't decide which thing was the one.  The best part was watching two employees take a dress off of one of the manequins in the girls' department.  One of them was a male and he said in a low voice,"I feel so uncomfortable." 

Aside from the shopping expeditions, the kids played outside. 

Or pondered the meaning of life as the sun set.

The boys were probably trying very hard to resist the temptation to take Grandma's rocks and toss them into the lake.

 

You just can't keep boys from being boys.

And girls?  Well.  Girls will be girls...

They couldn't even keep their pouts.

One year, too soon, they will decide that it is not acceptable to match any longer.  I will cry.

Here is someone who knows how to pout. 

Mike was able to take the kids to a Magic game.  How funny, they were playing the Dallas Mavericks. 

Michaela dutifully held up her Orlando noisemaker...

but deep down she didn't want them to win. 

I'm pretty sure she rooted for Dallas on the inside.  They won.

That was just the first week.  Closer to Christmas we had many parties, matching jammies, and pooping reindeer.  Can't you just wait to hear about all that?!

A Couple of Quotes, Plus...Merry Christmas

As my grandma used to say, I feel like a fart in a whirlwind.

It's been a busy couple of days.

But as Arnold said, I'll be back.

Often Christmas brings us blessings in the form of material things that are given to us...things that we may or may not need, and things that we may or may not be able to provide for ourselves.  Either way, gift-giving and receiving can be a tangible expression of an invisible reality.  Ultimately, the thing we need most, reconciliation and relationship with our creator, is something that we can never accomplish on our own.  Christmas is all about how he gave us a gift.  He gave us something we needed that we could never provide for ourselves.  And now we are called his children.

May you be blessed this Christmas, and on into the New Year.

Love, Me (Christina) (in case you didn't know who wrote on this blog)