Sat, 04 Feb 2012
JanuaryWow. Marc just told me that he posted in his blog. Not to be outdone, I am going to write quickly also. The whole month of January I just felt behind. I didn't get my Christmas decoration down until halfway through the month. That is a new record in lateness. We usually do them on New Year's Day. Anyway, I only posted once and only took a few pictures during the month. Let me try to catch up quickly.
We only had one snowfall during the month. The kids got one day off school, but it's still looking like an unbelievably mild winter. We've had days in the 60s.
I mentioned that Marc's job funding was uncertain. It was still uncertain on the 15th and his boss was busy getting married ( and so not entirely focused on this issue), so Marc didn't want to wait until the 31st to learn that the funding hadn't come through. Although he'd liked the job, he decided to take a short term contract that came up. I think we were both excited about the adventure feel of the job that he decided to take. It is in Anchorage. The pay is real good and hopefully will be good experience for him. He flew up there two days ago. I plan to live vicariously and appreciate the adventure also. And maybe the whole family will get a chance to go visit on spring break. At least that is the current plan. So, for more info you can check out Marc's blog. He says he's going to write regularly. What else is there for him to do?
I've got a couple more really busy weeks around here and then maybe I'll get caught up and write again also.
Wed, 04 Jan 2012
The Dana-Thomas House
Marc reminded me that when I am writing my blog, since this the Internet and all, I really should include links when I refer to something. "But" I tell him, "It's so easy for someone to look things up when they want them…"
Really, I just forgot that I can do links and so I hope this one works. Check it out, but the real house is nicer.
Tue, 03 Jan 2012
holidaysChristmas was nice. Our anniversary was nice. New Year's was nice. Today is the last day before the kids go back to school. So I will write a few things about what we did over Christmas and for our anniversary. The best things are that Bryan came home and my mom came to visit. The Christmas shopping was mostly done before Bryan and Mom came, so our time was mostly spent relaxing and visiting. Yes, we played pinochle. I did get to do some shopping with Bryan for some warm winter clothes. Ad Mom and I did a little shopping together just for fun.
We baked some cookies.
On Friday, the kids finally got off school, and we went to the zoo. It was cold and we didn't see many animals, but enjoyed the chance to get outside and walk around. Mom has two new knees she wanted to show off.
Then on Saturday, we made quiche for Christmas morning.
And Marc was off work and supervised the making of chocolates.
On Christmas eve we had our traditional (sometimes, depending how we feel) dinner by the Christmas tree.
And then opened a present. This year only the younger people had presents to open. The rest of us already had too many pairs of pajamas. I guess that's what happens when you don't outgrow your clothes…
After some movies, we had hot chocolate and went to bed. Melody and Thomas in their new jammies.
Christmas morning we ate quiche and opened presents. Since it was Sunday, we went to church in the afternoon. We watched more movies on Sunday.
On Monday, we had snow! Melody had really been hoping for a white Christmas, but I guess she got her order in a little too late. Or it got lost. But we did get about an inch of snow.
It made the drive to Springfield a little prettier for Marc and me. Yes, we went to Springfield to celebrate our anniversary. 20 years really merits Hawaii, but we'll have to do that another time, when life isn't so busy. We really enjoyed the Lincoln museum.
And we also saw a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I wish I'd gotten at least one picture of the house,but pictures weren't allowed inside, so I left my camera in the car and didn't get any pictures. You'll have to check out the web site for the Dana-Thomas house designed by F.L. Wright. I really enjoyed this tour. And I liked the house much more than I expected. I decided that I wouldn't mind being rich. Except the lady who had this house built had a sad life in spite of her money.
Anyway, we had a nice little get-away, and came home to find that the kids hadn't tied Grandma up and that all were safe and sound. They'd even built a snowman in our absence.
You can see that the snow didn't stick around long. Mom and I did go on a little hike and there was no snow, but the trail was kind of muddy.
Mom left a couple days before New Year's and Bryan left New Year's Day. We just had a relaxing, quiet holiday together. It was nice.
Melody and I decided a couple days ago to try to crochet some of the cute winter hats that we've seen in the stores. We had fun doing this. Melody made the two on the left, and I made the others. The one without pink or obvious purple is for Thomas. He says he is brave enough to wear it.
Maybe we'll feel creative in 2012.
Wed, 21 Dec 2011
MiscThat last post was a little rushed because I needed to go and pick Melody up for her orthodontist appointment. She's been wearing her new retainer, but it is not a good fit and keeps falling out. So they took a new impression and are making her a new one. So, just when we thought we were done with orthodontist appointments, we get to keep going. At least she can earn another McDonald's milkshake out of the deal. I might consider braces just for the yummy milkshakes…
I did have a couple other pictures to post. One is of Christmas decorations. I really love all the lights in the house at this time of year. I like to go sit in the front room or the family room in the dark, just to experience the lights.
I also was going to post that Marc has been awfully busy at his job. And also going to school. Here is a picture of him studying for a final.
We had a roller-coaster of a week last week. First, he was told that his contract had been renewed for another year. The next day, he was told that there was no budget for him. Then he was told that they found enough money for him until the end of January. He's extra busy now because he's looking around for a different job, which is too bad because he has liked it where he is.
I have just been busy getting Christmas shopping done, and then making Christmas goodies. We've sent out a few packages, and received a few. The kids like getting them. It's like, well Christmas.
When I went to take these pictures off my camera, half of them were Lego pictures that I did not take. Thomas has been using my camera again without asking, but I guess he's been proud of his creations and wanted to document. He's been building lots of castles lately.
And Melody has been sewing. She made these pajamas in her limited spare time.
So that was all really disjointed, but I was trying to get something written before heading out again.
I do like the extra time that we get to spend with family this time of year. I still plan to get some kind of Christmas newsletter sent out, but have been hoping that I'd get a chance to take a picture together as a family some time during the holidays. There's always a reason to put it off. But I'll get around to it. We've enjoyed getting cards and some letters from friends and family.Merry Christmas to you all.
winter
Yesterday Marc commented that I hadn't updated my blog for three weeks. Now, I think that is a little harsh. First, it has only been two and a half weeks. Second, I posted several entries last time I posted. Third, Marc's last blog entry was in February of 2010. I do appreciate the polite nudge however, and it is probably better that I write something before Christmas.
Bryan came home two days ago. It is very good to see him. We've missed him. He seems to have had a good semester at BYU. I'm glad he is enjoying himself. I will have to take a picture of him soon and post it, but haven't taken any yet. We ran errands yesterday. He needed to renew his driver's license, and I wanted to buy him some warm clothes. We didn't do that before he left this summer. This morning we made bagels together and also made cookies. I am in a cookie making mood and the weather is wet and dreary so it feels like a baking day.
We've also played several games of cribbage. I finally won the fourth game. 
Melody and Thomas are still in school today and tomorrow. What a drag. Melody has been SO busy with end of the semester projects, speeches, and now finals. She spent a lot of time (mine and hers) on a speech about the escape from Alcatraz. Here she is making a visual aid for that speech. She also did a speech with a Power Point presentation on Lincoln's assassination. She hates speaking in public, but did well on both.
Now I need to end this so that I can pick Melody up for an appointment. Then we get to go pick Mom up at the airport. It will be fun to have her here for Christmas. And I'll try to take a few pictures and post again before the end of the year. Merry Christmas.
Sun, 04 Dec 2011
more morning routines
Have I mentioned that Thomas is hard to wake up in the morning? Really hard. The other morning I was trying to get him up. Marc had awakened him before I got home and I'd already been in his room at least once before trying to gradually wake him up. But now we were getting down to the last minute possible to get up.
Me: Come on Thomas, are you awake?
Thomas:
Me: Thomas. It's time to get up! Are you awake?
Thomas: mmabfuilersrks
Me: Thomas. You really need to get up now. The bus will be here in 15 minutes. YOU NEED TO GET UP NOW!
Thomas: (his eyes finally open)
Me: Good, You're awake. I have a question for you. Are you planning to go shopping with Melody and me after school today?
Thomas: mmm you know how to operate the magic closet….
Me: THOMAS!
At this point I decided to physically pick him up and set him in a vertical position on the side of the bed so he would wake up. What am I going to do when he is too big to pick up? I'm thinking that he needs a better alarm clock for Christmas, but the only thing I think will work is a Wallace and Grommet-like device that will slide him out of bed and into his clothes and drop him at the breakfast table. Has anyone seen something like that for sale? I think it would be a real hit.
The other funny/annoying thing about that morning, is that I did re-ask Thomas that question about shopping with Melody and me later when he was sitting at the breakfast table. He answered that he did want to shop with us. So we waited for him to get home from school before we went to do the shopping, but when he got home, he denied any knowledge of the question. But we made him come with us anyway. Ah, there are so many barriers to communication.
And we've laughed many times about operating the magic closet.
daily routines
I write this blog for several reasons. First is to communicate with family that is far away. This has developed in place of family letters because the letters took too much time to write to each person. Phone calls take the place of individual letters and this way I can send the pictures that don't go into the phone calls.
Another reason is to have a place where I can look back and realize that we do have a life. Generally I complain that we never do anything interesting. When I feel that we "never do anything as a family"I can come to my blog and realize that we do other things besides chores and homework and watch movies. It helps my sanity. And some day when my kids are gone and I wonder where all my time went, I will have this as a reminder.
And I hope the kids will someday want a copy as their history. So in that vein, I sometimes write about mundane routines. That is what this entry is.
I was thinking about how our morning routine has evolved this year. When Bryan went to seminary, I tried for the first couple of years to get him to eat breakfast before he went, but he just doesn't like eating breakfast, so finally I gave up and he didn't eat in the morning. So I wondered how this was going to work for Melody because she has always been a HUGE breakfast eater. But how do you balance the desire to sleep as long as possible with the need to eat? Here's our current morning routine.
Melody gets up at 5:15. Sometimes a little earlier, but this is when I get up to make sure she is up. Sometimes she is. Sometimes I get her up. I go back to bed until 5:30. At 5:30 I get dressed and go downstairs. Usually she has packed her lunch the night before. If she hasn't had time, I'll quickly pack that. But I don't have to do that very often. Then I start on her breakfast. When she comes down, she gets her backpack ready and helps me with her breakfast. We have gotten pretty good at working together to get everything ready. Let's see…
Two pieces of toast in the toaster. Meanwhile, crack an egg into a bowl, add sausage, milk, beat and microwave for 50 seconds. Add cheese and put on toast that has popped up. Place on a napkin. Also warm up water for hot chocolate or hot cider and make either in the thermos. Use the cup that was warm to put on top of the thermos to drink from later. Add another item. Usually banana bread or yogurt or something similar. Then we can go. Melody eats the egg sandwich as breakfast on the way to seminary and has second breakfast (just like a hobbit) on the way to school after seminary.
I walk with friends while she is at seminary and then drive her to school after this while she eats second breakfast. Then I go home and do the breakfast routine with Thomas. He is more like Bryan and if left on his own, would skip breakfast. So I often make him an egg sandwich also so that he goes to school with breakfast. Sometimes he eats his egg sandwich at the bus stop. And if he is running really late, I give it to him in a baggy so that he will eat it at school after he gets off the bus. You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and all that.
destruction and construction
A couple more odd notes this week. We've been watching the library being torn down. I've mentioned before that it has been closed to move things into the new building. Well, they had a sale which was a feeding frenzy of shopping. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that all the library furniture was being sold until most of it was gone. When I drove past and saw people walking down the street with furniture, I stopped in time to get a couple little things. Oh, it would have been nice to get a few bookshelves…
And the next day destruction began. When that is finished, they will make a parking lot and the new library will open. We are excited for that day. Notice the new building behind the old. It makes our old library look tiny.
And in the midst of all this destruction, Melody got her braces off this week. Do these things go together? Well, they happened the same week, and her teeth were "constructed" or her braces were "destructed", or, anyway I'm putting it in the same post. And here are her before and after pictures.
Christmas music
December is always busy. We put up our tree on Thanksgiving day and then got around to decorating it a few days later. Melody would like to have a showcase house.That's just not me. Someday I look forward to visiting her in her house that probably will be beautiful and organized, just like Melody. But in the meantime, she settles for helping me put up our odd assortment of sentimental ornaments and decorations. Yesterday was warm outside, so we hung some ornaments outside like we usually do. As far as I'm concerned, that finished the decorating.
I've been shopping, and am almost done with that also. Soon I will be able to enjoy the parts of Christmas that I like best. That is the baking and visiting. And maybe making some crafts or something. And the music. Bryan will be coming home for about ten days and my mom will fly out also. It will be nice. I got us tickets for a Messiah sing-along on the Friday before Christmas and we will have choir music on Christmas Day because it is on Sunday. Of course Marc always has Christmas music streaming in the house too. That's one thing I like about December.
We listened to orchestra music this week because Thomas had his winter concert. It was good, but especially nice to see the improvement between sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The eighth grade was obviously the best. I really prefer to hear Thomas play individually. I think he is good, and the cello is such a beautiful instrument.
We also had music at out ward Christmas party this weekend. Melody and some other youth were asked to sing carols in the foyer as people were arriving. I always love to hear my children sing. Mostly because I'm so impressed that they can. And they didn't get it from me. Thank you Marc.
I hope you get to hear lots of music this holiday season.
Sun, 27 Nov 2011
Thanksgiving 2011Thanksgiving was different this year. I got this horrible cold and felt pretty icky until Wednesday. The friend who was going to come over made other plans. I totally understood, but it was disappointing to have our smallest Thanksgiving ever. Only four of us. Of course we missed Bryan, but were glad that he got to spend the day with extended family in Utah.He will be home at Christmas and we are looking forward to that.
Anyway, since everyone has helped with dinner the last two years, it has been easier on me and more fun. Melody made pies with me the day before. She made a delicious apple crumb pie all by herself.It was very good. I made two pumpkin pies while she did the apple.
Melody also did the rolls. I should have let her make them on Thursday morning, but didn't think we'd have the oven space. They were good, but not as good as the ones she made last year.
Marc ate the rolls. Must have quality control.
Thomas was in charge of the mashed potatoes.
I guess those are the yams he is peeling, but he also peeled the potatoes. And cooked and mashed them.
Melody also made the Watergate salad.
Marc did the yams.
Melody set the table.
I did the rest.Turkey, stuffing, and gravy.
Dinner was good.
The weather was sunny and nice for Thursday and Friday. We used the opportunity to get out and rake some leaves. OK, a lot of leaves. Thursday we did the front yard and the side yards, and Friday we did the back yard, which hadn't been raked at all yet this year. Unfortunately, there are still leaves on the tree in the back, so we will have to rake it again before Christmas.
I do like getting out and raking leaves when it is warm, but we really have a lot because of all the trees in the greenbelt that blow their leaves our way. A retirement condo is looking good…Melody helped with the leaves on Thursday, but was doing homework most of Friday. She was assigned a big family history project in school and it has taken a lot of her time.
On Friday evening, we also went over to some friends' house to eat pie and play games. Then Melody had a friend sleep over. They did homework together on Saturday morning. Oh the joys of being in high school. Thomas and I braved the crowds at the mall to get his Christmas shopping done. And then Melody and I went out later to do some more.
I was really thankful this Thanksgiving to be healthy and able to cook and eat dinner with my family. I am grateful for all their help. We had fun together. I'm grateful for the Hall family who took Bryan in and treated him as one of their own. I'm glad that he can have the opportunity to be away at college, even though we miss him.
Jan Dill Hall St. Peters, Missouri
Page created: 09 November 2008
Page modified: 31 December 2009
