525,000 Moments So Dear

"How do you measure . . . a year?"

Now comes the part where I will try my best to boil an entire year down to a few dismally inadequate words. The problem with once-a-year letters is that they highlight mostly the "major" events - the accomplishments and the big transitions and the things that look good on paper, when in reality it's the everyday moments that make us who we are; it's the small "uninteresting" things that I think are really worth writing about. I love the letters we receive at Christmas and I pour over every word, because they come from those we care about and I truly do enjoy reading about the major happenings in their lives. But I often wish these missives came with a second page that expressed in vivid color the ecstasies, the challenges, the opportunities, the growth, the changes, the longings that have left their mark on each person's soul.

But enough of my philosophizing . . . I do get carried away sometimes. On to the topic at hand, which I'm truly looking forward to. After all, there's little else I enjoy more than talking/writing about my family. (The above was one of many, many unsuccessful attempts at a family Christmas picture. I included it because it made me laugh, and because the expressions on the munchkins' faces - and the kicking legs - are so true to life.)

Karis
What can I say? At 15 months she looks a lot different now than she did this time last year! Our little Kari Bou began walking in July, at 10 1/2 months of age, and hasn't stopped moving since. She's about as mischeivous as they come and NOTHING is out of her reach. Her most recent escapades have involved climbing: into the bathroom sink, onto the kitchen table, up flights of stairs, you name it. There's "child-proofing" and then there's "Karis-proofing" - two totally different things. What saves her, though, is her extreme cuteness. When caught, her favorite tactic is to smile or laugh - and she does so with her whole body - eyes sparkling, hands waving, feet moving, head thrown back. You can't help but join in. Dancing is one of her favorites, too - she'll bee-bop to just about any tune.

She loves baby dolls. Often she falls asleep with one in each arm. She's recently added the word "baby" to her vocabulary (along with "NO!" and "bye-bye" and various animal sounds). She has a little tuft of hair sprouting out the back of her head that, no matter what I do, always manages to look like bird feathers. It does suit her squawky little personality, though. She's a clown and will do anything to make people laugh (This could be scary later on). She's tough. She has to be, with fairly non-gentle sibs and a penchant for bruising her face and cutting herself up. I have a feeling we'll be pretty familiar with the ER by the time she graduates.

On a side note, her name has degenerated from "Karis" to "Kari Bou" to "Poo Bou" to "Poo Bear" to "Pooberry Muffin" since last Christmas.

Zekers
Call him "Zeke", "Ezekiel", or anything else, and you'll get the same reply: "I'm not Ezekiel - I'm ZEKERS!" (accompanied by furrowed brow and indignant voice) He's also my Budders and his Daddy's Mr. Beef.

His favorites include: being read to, playing with trains, building with blocks, playing house with Rachel, giving Mommy & Daddy a kiss or a hug, and then "nudder kiss" and "nudder hug." He's our snuggler; he just seems to melt right into your arms when he's tired, and he loves getting into bed with us in the morning (which is good, since he wakes up around 6-6:30 most days). The really great thing is, he'll play by himself for hours at a time, just creating little make-believe scenarios with his farm animals. If you ask Zekers a question, you'll get the answer in a complete sentence. I can't recall him ever answering with a simple "yes" or "no." (This makes my nerdy English teacher heart burst with pride, but I can't take credit for any of it.) He can be a man of few words, but when he wants to talk, he's quite articulate.

Zekers can count to 20 pretty much on his own; however, since he learned to do so through playing hide-and-seek around the house, his counting is nearly always accompanied by, "Ready or not - here I come!"

"When he is good, he is very very good, and when he is bad he is horrid." That magical age of 2 1/2 hit him full force. Zekers can be the most pleasant child in the world, and often is; but in many ways, it's been a challenging year for us with him. We're just hoping that by God's grace we'll be able to somehow channel his stubborn streak, which has grown more pronounced in the past 6 months, into some kind of good thing one day! We've learned with him that parenting isn't as cut and dried as we once thought. He's also made it very clear that he won't be using the potty until he's good and ready, which apparently is no time in the forseeable future. I guess the most important thing raising him has taught me is to just let him be who he is and not to try to make him who I think he should be. He loves routine, and he prefers being at home, and he doesn't respond well to change - pretty much the opposite of Mommy! But he can also be the sweetest little boy in the whole world.

We're still trying to figure out where he got his blonde hair . . .

Rachel
At the age of 4, she is maybe the best debater in the family - and that's saying a lot if you know her daddy! She's reached the age of arguing and questioning. And she has a ready answer for everything. She's sharp and quick and a great conversationalist. This is probably just part and parcel of being a 4-yr-old girl, but it's all high drama in her world. Emotions come and go at breakneck speed. I swear she can conjure up tears on demand.

We haven't sent her to preschool - I wanted to keep her home with me for just one more year! I've been working with her several times a week, though, while the younger 2 are napping; we're going through some basic preschool workbooks, which she really enjoys. Just this week she wrote her name completely on her own for the first time.

Rachel had her first "friend birthday party" in August. There really is nothing cuter than nearly a dozen little girls playing together in full princess regalia. And it HAD to be a princess party. She is all girl and loves everything princess and ballerina and fru-fru. She is a very nurturing person and will sit perfectly still for 30 minutes at a time if it means she gets to hold an infant. She took ballet lessons over the summer, and skill-wise was somewhere in the middle, but she loved every minute of it. Another highlight is going to Cubbies and eating SNACKS! (Oh, yeah, they also do Scripture memory, Bible stories, crafts and puppet shows.)

When it comes to pain, she's just about as wimpy as they come, which makes me think that athletics, for her, will be just another social event. She gets her energy from being around people - a true extrovert. Every day, the first thing she asks me when she wakes up is, "Mommy, where are we going today?" or "Mommy, who are we going to see today?" She loves playing make-believe games with her friends and has an (overly?) active imagination. It's pretty common for our living room to look like a mini-hospital: dolls and stuffed animals covering nearly every square inch of the floor and furniture. Each is wrapped in a "blanket" - a towel or wash cloth from the kitchen or bathroom. And each is lovingly tended to according to its needs.

We've had to start being much more careful what we say around her, as she apparently has tape recorders for ears, and has been telling people that Zekers got his blonde hair from the mailman (something Danny joked about one time when she was in another room). That's our Shrum.

The Rest of the Story
This year has seen our church move into a new building and grow in size. Danny's role has transitioned from Youth Pastor to Teaching Pastor; this has brought many new challenges as well as really cool opportunities - for our whole family. It's a tremendous thing to see him doing something for which he's so perfectly gifted, and to see his heart for people. He also had the chance this summer to speak for 2 different youth camps - one outside Columbus and the other in Wisconsin. Both times the entire family was invited to come along, which made for a nice getaway. We went through a helpful marriage study this summer - "Love and Respect," and currently have the privilege of facilitating a small group weekly in our home.

I have thouroughly enjoyed coordinating nursery and 2's-3's this year and singing/ playing guitar on a worship team every third week. Both of these committments have stretched me in different ways. But what I keep thinking about is the question Danny asked at our last communion: "How have you changed to become more like Christ in the past 6 months?" It's a haunting thought - do I look more like Christ? I'd like to think so. And I guess what He's been pounding into my thick head these past 12 months is that I need to be so vigilant - on a daily and sometimes on an hourly basis - to guard my attitude and my heart. I'm learning to nip in the bud those little thoughts that lead to discontent, and worry. I'm leaning on Him instead to teach me to trust and to be completely satisfied in Him.

That's it, for now. Our year in a nutshell. I thought I'd close with a good picture of our family since the first one had some disturbing issues. Enjoy the Christmas season!