2012 in brief moments

Blogging has been sparse in these parts.  But our year has been filled with important moments for our family.  Here are some brief snippets of 2012 moments our family won't soon forget . . .

 

Chris was awarded the Diamond Award for teaching.  He and another teacher were honored at a full banquet at the Hilton.  He gave a stirring speech on education . . . and life in general.  People cheered and I cried.  It was my proudest moment - ever.

One of the last moments pregnant with Grant.

 

Daddy and his boy.

Claire turned 3!

We lost my maternal grandmother.  We traveled to the funeral where Chris spoke and I sang. 

Our sweet boy was blessed on my Dad's birthday.  He was three months old to the day. 

 

Our home was filled with the strong smell of smoke and our hearts were heavy when we watched our city, and people's homes, burn.

Our sweet girl started Kindergarten and never looked back!

Our other sweet girl started preschool.  For a variety of reasons she ended up staying home with me later.  But it was a great month filled with growth for her.

Hallie turned 6! 

 

Two witches and an adorable pumpkin went trick-or-treating!

We had a nice Thanksgiving with both Chris's mom and dad. 

The turkey took 2 hours longer to took than we had planned.

We snuck down to California and had a taste of Disneyland at Christmas! 

Meanwhile, Hallie had a taste of stomach flu and strep throat while we were visiting.

 

Granters celebrated his first Christmas. 

He attacked the train under the Christmas tree approximately 482 times.

 

Thank you 2012! 

Thank you for adding precious memories and a very precious member to our family!

 

Our kindergarten girl

It came!  We blinked and our little girl is moments away from six and already attending school.

Chris and I spent a long time debating what school Hallie should attend.  We really couldn't lose - both the public school and the charter school locally are highly-rated.  We have friends that attend both and their parents praised both schools.  After much prayer (and two years on a waiting list), we selected the charter school.  One of our top reasons was half-day kindergarten (which is great for Hallie) and the other was uniforms.  After wearing our Sunday best weekly for our entire lives, Chris and I felt that official clothing would help set the tone for learning - at least for our girl. 

  Hallie decided she wanted her hair curly on the first day of school, so she went to bed in rag curlers the night before.  The kindergarten girl got to pick her breakfast.  She chose bagels and fruits (with her ultimate fav - blueberries).

Hallie asked me at breakfast "What if sharks just swam in chocolate milk?"  True to Hallie form, she was super-animated and waving her arms around to paint the scene.

About two weeks before school started, I started coaching the girls on what our new nightly and morning routines would be.  The day before we even did a dry run complete with a drive to school (and pictures).

Even after all that, on the official first day, Hallie was kind enough to let me do a full photo shoot. 

Bless her.

   

   

family prayer

We were so lucky that Daddy could be there for the first day too.  It made me way less emotional.

For the record, both Chris and I were the teeniest bit misty at times.

  

Brave Hallie was the a teeny bit teary too.  But as she told us later, it was "only just for a teeny-tiny little bit" and then she was so happy because of all the friends.  Three hours later, we picked up the most enthusiastic little girl.  She was eager to tell us every detail.  And we ate it up.

When we told her she could pick a special place for lunch, she gave us three nano-seconds before squealing for Red Robin.  So, Red Robin it was.  One bowl of spaghetti and about three tumblers of chocolate milk later we headed home where she partook or her ceremonial first day of school cookie.

And, since we are such suckers for tradition, we had our first back to school family dinner that evening.

You know I wouldn't miss the chance for a themed meal.  So we dined on:

• school time subs
• vegetable ABC soup
• alphabet crackers
• grapes (no real theme there)
• and school book ice cream sandwiches 

After dinner, Chris gave both the girls father's blessings to prepare for the school year.  I'm so thankful they have such a thoughtful, invested dad.

Hallie went to bed eager for another school day.  And Chris and I fell into bed grateful - and exhausted.

Now Claire waits eagerly for "pre-cool" to start in several weeks.  Here we go again - happily.

Claire's Minnie Birthday Party (2012 edition)

Last year, Clairey loved Minnie so much there was no way she was having a birthday theme other than Minnie Mouse.

This year, Clairey loved Minnie so much there was no way she was having a birthday theme other than Minnie Mouse.

Since we traveled to my Grandma's funeral on Claire's actual third birthday, we celebrated with a family birthday when we returned several days later.

Since Claire was in charge of picking her birthday meal, you would think we would dine on typical 3 year old fare.  Mac and cheese? Chicken nuggets? Mini corn dogs? Cheese pizza? A classic PB & J?

Nope.

Claire picked steak.  Steak, baked potatoes, rolls . . . man food.

We didn't complain.

Waiting to open presents took extreme patience.  But, she made it!

Daddy "helped" Claire blow out the candles. 

We laugh so hard every time we see this picture.

What a fun night for our favorite three-year-old!