Where we’ve come from…

This morning and afternoon I’ve been going back to our old perpetuallywright.com site and transferring my old posts to this blog. Boy, we’ve come a long way haven’t we? I’ve made it up to the March of 2002. This is right when Kelby relapsed for the first time.

Remember this:

These days, I have seen my fear turn into defiance in me. This will not be a worthless toil. If this scary monster called cancer should return to our home, it will not come without a fight…a battle of wits. It will not tear down my faith, my marriage, my home. We will make our Lord victorious in our lives by declaring His triumph over our Kelby whether she live or die. We will make a difference in people’s lives…as many as we can. She cannot leave this world without changing hearts and minds to face in the direction of the Lord Jesus that she’ll go to visit. I do not fear her death. I pray that this might turn us running full speed towards our God with as many people trailing behind us. God deserves every glory. He is so much bigger than anything that might burden us down here on earth. March 21, 2002

Well, God sure got us through that time and was glorified in the process! I can’t believe that has been almost 5 years since Kelby had any sign of cancer. We continue to be simply amazed. I do believe Kelby’s life and struggles made a difference. The exciting thing is to see her grow up and continue to be that miracle.

In the reminiscing, I noticed that I’m growing as writer. I’ve logged lots of hours posting to this site (and previous versions of this site.) Really it is the whole reason I got into websites at all! Look at what all I’ve learned from that difficult time in our lives.

Lately I have tended only to post the who, what, when, where, and whys of our lives. I haven’t posted a lot of deep thoughts. I do have them, it is just that I don’t know if anyone cares. I prefer to read blogs with more information than just the regular rundown of what is going on, even if it is in the form of lists or random information.

So, I’m hoping you’ll permit me to start being a little crazy in my posting. One of my favorite blogs just posts a numbered list of random facts about her days. Maybe they are more interesting days than mine…we’ll see.

1. Anika lost a tooth!

Yes, my littlest has reached another milestone. Last week when she was home from school sick, she had time to wiggle away at it. Now she’s got another one getting wiggly. I know this is the beginning of the end of the baby face! Aww…

2. I’ve been crafting more lately.

I really have cleaned up my craft room and did a few fun projects. I finished a bunch that I’d stashed away for a long time.

I bought this canvas years ago and just found this picture to go with the cute saying. I really love how it turned out! I have it hanging downstairs in the hall so I see it from my craft room. Inspiring!

Mike asked me to make this Personal Records plaque a long time ago. It has different divisions for the races he runs. The only problem is that I finished it just as he has to stop running for a time since his knee is bothering him. I think it makes him more sad than happy!

I started making these letters for Anika for the Christmas of 2008! I did them for a demonstration, but never bothered to finish them.

I had already made a chore/consequence chart out of an old magnetic chalk board. We’ve been using it since September, but chalk just wasn’t working out. Now we can write on this one with dry erase. The girls are trying to get two chores done each day so they aren’t stuck trying to finish them all on the weekend. Then if they have time to get some done on the weekend, they’ll earn extra.

3. Frustrated with the little things at the school.

Through the years, there’s always been little frustrations with stuff happening at the school, however this year has tipped the scales. The one big issue at the beginning of the year was enough, but now all the normal little things that I would have gotten over easy in the past are overwhelming me.

In December, I just squeaked in “the” conversation with Kelby before the school went and showed her the video without having me sign any kind of permission slip. This video was about the changes that the girls will be facing. I had checked out the video and I didn’t disagree with anything that was being taught, but I wanted to talk to Kelby about it first. (I can’t remember if I already ranted about this, so sorry if I did.) Anyway, I expected I’d have time once they sent home a permission slip that I was sure that they would have to send home. Anyway, I just gave her she came home two days after our conversation saying the showed the video. I ended up crying while talking to the principal about this situation…just because I can’t control my emotions when I get upset. I just don’t understand how other parents aren’t bothered by this.

Last week the fifth graders were taken to the Symphony, but the parents weren’t told at all. Apparently we signed a blanket permission slip at the beginning of the year, but I just don’t think it is right for them to not let the parents know what is going on. I feel like parents are being phased out as the kids progress in school. I know that the kids will do that on their own eventually, but do the teachers have to start so early? I know that a lot of parents don’t care, but I feel like if you don’t expect parents to care, they won’t. We always meet up to low expectations. With “parent communication” being such an important issue at the beginning of the year…and it being the reason that my kids are corralled for a misguided 15 minutes everyday to read on the floor of the gym, I expected more.

I don’t want to rant and rave, but I am going to write some letters to the school board, superintendent, and teacher’s union. I will not make a major fuss until after the levy vote. I don’t want to sabotage our district by causing the community to not support the levy. We desperately need that money. However, they better get some things fixed before next year. I will not stand by if I can’t trust the teachers and administrators to keep me in the loop in my children’s education. Is there a parent’s Bill of Rights?

4. I’m have other blogs.

Now you can go to www.smileonmyheart.com if you want to see a list of all my fancy websites that I’ve made, including my blogs. I have made a super cute one where I will soon be adding all my tips and hints for being a troop leader.

I already write weekly for Girl Scouts of Western Washington. I got my first comment today, and I’m so excited. About my idea to make “homework hangers” out of decorated clipboards, someone said:

good idea!

Submitted by Anonymous on January 26, 2010 4:30pm

that idea was adorable & my troop LOVED it!Very crafty!!!Please post any other crafts like that because my girls use it everyday & adore it!thank you so much... ,GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA!

I love comments...They really can make my day.

5. I didn’t take very many pictures of the kids in the last couple weeks.

It has been a pretty low key couple of weeks. We haven’t done anything exciting as a family, I guess, so we don’t have a lot of pictures. I’ll have to work on that.

Question of the Day: Will the kids ever hate me for all that I’ve revealed on my website?

Not much happening

Well, I’m so thankful that December is over. It was a good month, just a busy one. I’m so happy to be settling into a new grove once again. I have even been tinkering in my craft room and that brings me great pleasure.

I finished converting our ladies’ ministries’ website to a new format. I taught myself how to build Joomla sites. I LOVE this new way of doing websites because while it takes a while to set up, the upkeep is really easy and I can add all kinds of useful tools like event registration,  calendars, and the ability to send newsletters. I can even allow others access to login and change content. They don’t need to have fancy web skills to change the content. Check out the new site at www.hisplaceladies.com. I didn’t design the layout/color scheme, only the logo. The rest of it is a “theme”. If anyone wants to pay me to build a site, I think I could pull it off now with these new “skillz".

 

I’m still up to Girl Scout stuff. We’ve had a couple meetings this month and a special swim party for Sedro-Woolley troops.

 

The Kelby and Tegan loved it, but Anika didn’t get to go. She had an icky bug with a fever. She had to miss three days of school and is still coughing. No one else has gotten, thank goodness. I wonder if it wasn’t the same bug we all had before.

Of course we are trying to sell our Girl Scout cookies. I’m trying harder to sell more this year since I’m a troop leader and I see how much we need the money to do cool stuff with our troop.

Other than that, there isn’t anything exciting. Just regular life, which is actually super exciting to me. I’m laying low and relaxing. I’m even reading lots of books and magazines. Peaceful and content times for us here. The weather has even been terrific.

The tragedy of Haiti has us counting our many blessings and wishing we could do something to help.

Jumping into 2010

* Beware, this is a long post, but at least it has a lot of pictures!

Wow, this has been a rollercoaster of a Christmas break and mostly super fun!  I don’t feel like we’ve stopped for a minute. The girls have been like jumping beans…but only because we gave them a trampoline for Christmas. They love that thing! So much so that it was hard to peel them away from it even while my parents were visiting.

Let me share just how fast and furious our last ten days as been.

We enjoyed sledding so much on the 24th. It was the perfect weather and wonderful time for us. When we got home we had a dinner of appetizers. We had what I call “crab pops”, coconut shrimp, and mozzarella cheese sticks. I put a few carrots out to balance it all too. Not a very healthy dinner, for sure, but we only do it on Christmas eve.

We stopped by Gramma Debbie’s at 6:00 so the girls could open their annual pajamas. They loved them! It is always nice to have something new and cozy to sleep in while trying to get to sleep and waiting for Santa.

After that short stop we went to the Christmas eve service at church. It was a really good service. The church has finally settled into a nice groove, so we know what to expect when we go. It used to be that they did really big, creative things on Christmas Eve, but now they have a simple message, music, and glow sticks. I’d prefer real candles, but the glow sticks are nice and safe. The girls really got a lot out of the service this year. The pastor said there are really two celebrations going on during this season: Christ-mas and Santa-mas. Santa-mas isn’t necessarily bad, it is just that it often crowds out the Christ-mas we are celebrating. That point kept coming up over the next few days from the girls, so I was delighted to see that sticking in their brains.

On Christmas morning, we got up around 6:00 am. First the girls opened their stockings…to find pretty good stuff this year. There was very little candy and better than “dollar store” stuff this year like a digital timing watch, an umbrella, and a card game. Kelby got a camera this year from “Santa” and Tegan and Anika got MP3 players. I think that is about all the technology they’ll need for awhile now.

 

 

Then we enjoyed our simple, traditional Christmas morning breakfast of scrambled eggs, Little Smokies (with cheese!), and a cinnamon pull-apart bread that I make. The bread is made from frozen bread rolls that are sweetened and left to raise overnight. They are ready to pop in the oven in the morning for a perfect sweet treat.

We were able to take our time through the few presents we had under our tree from us to the girls. I had made them snuggies, so that was my favorite present they got. You know, those blankets with sleeves. They look ridiculous, but they are oh so comfy. I think they like the specialized fabrics I was able to choose rather than the brown or blue of the store-bought variety. They also got new robes, so I think they’ll be cozy.

The big surprise was, when all was said and done, and they seemed to be satisfied, Mike said there was one more surprise we forgot. They had to go look out the back room window to see it. It was the trampoline! They were so surprised and excited. From that point on they just wanted to jump and nothing else!

Michael got me a Kindle. I realize it is a true luxury and I am spoiled rotten. I wasn’t even sure I would like reading my books digitally, but I LOVE it! It is groovy because it has a free cell-type service for purchasing books, but you can also use it for going on the internet. That means I can check my email, post on Facebook, and read my favorite blogs from anywhere that has a reasonable cell-reception.

Near noon we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Wright’s house. We had a soup potluck which turned out to be the perfect meal for the day. The kids opened more presents there and spent the rest of the day enjoying their cousins. I even got people to play my game “Ticket to Ride” with me!

That evening we came home and I set up Anika’s room to host my parents. They were flying in late that night which turned out to be REALLY late that night. Their plane landed at 12:30 am and we got home and settled in bed around 2:00am. The kids and Mike had gone to bed long before so they were up and at-um right away in the morning. We enjoyed another Christmas breakfast and more presents with my parents. That evening we made a turkey dinner. By “we” I mean, my mom. She did most of the work. It was nice and tasty. We also had a photo shoot with Grampa Santa before he shaved his beard.

 

 

On Sunday the 27th, we had some fun with my parents. My dad took the girls to Alvin and the Chipmunks – the Squeakquel at the theater and Chucky Cheese while I went shopping with my mom. We watched the movie “Up” together that night. I just love that movie even though it makes me cry.

On Monday it was Anika’s birthday. I spent a bunch of time preparing for Anika’s little birthday party, but it ended up that only one friend came over. She was a little bummed, but my mom and I joined the teddy-bear tea party and enjoyed the scones and tea cakes to make it up to her. A December birthday is so hard!

Anika is now a 6 year old. Time does fly, doesn’t it?! She’s old enough now to want the real deal for a birthday party now too. I’m going to have to convince her to have a party in January next year.

After the party fun we decided to go find some fun away from the house so we could peel the girls away from the trampoline. We all went bowling and had a great time. Mom had the best score of 141, but the girls and I really stunk it up!

That evening Debbie and George joined us for pizza to make Anika’s birthday dinner even more special. We had a nice evening playing a fun Wii game until we sent the girls up to their rooms to get ready for the next day.

Tegan came down distraught because the hamsters were missing. We went upstairs in her room to find the cage open on the ground. Moments later she found them in her closet, dead. It was just awful. Tegan was especially heart broken.

It was a perfect storm of events that brought about their demise. The girls had cleaned out the cage that day and instead of leaving them in Kelby’s room high on her dresser, they put them in Tegan’s room on a lower table that was only in there because my parents were staying in Anika’s room. Kelby normally keeps her room door shut, but Tegan doesn’t. We also normally put Hercules in his crate while we leave, but forgot when we went bowling. Apparently dachshunds are bred somewhat as rat dogs, so it was only in his nature to be overwhelmed with intrigue in these little creatures. He must have pulled the cage down and when it broke open, that was that.

It was so sad to see these girls so upset. Their hearts were broken. I was surprised that they forgave the dog quickly enough. Tegan saw the dead hamsters, so she was especially affected. She didn’t want to go in her closet or go to sleep and continued to cry off and on the next day. Finally at lunch she said, “I’m not going to be sad anymore” and she wasn’t. Kelby kept her emotions a little more buried, but they come out when she is tired.

On Tuesday we went to the Build-a-bear store in Bellingham because my parents had gotten the girls each a gift card there for Christmas. They had so much fun on their shopping spree.

We had to drop my parents off at the airport to go home that afternoon. As if that wasn’t enough activity for the week, we drove home, picked up Dad and some stuff and drove down to Bellevue for a little family stay-cation. We stayed at an Embassy Suites where our room had a door between the girls and us and the hotel had a full breakfast, manager’s reception with free drinks and snacks, and a nice pool. FUN! We went out to dinner at Red Robin and swam that night. Mike even got the Wii to work in our room, so they played games too.

On Wednesday we went to the Seattle Center to go to the Pacific Science center. We looked at bugs, watched an IMAX documentary, and saw how animation works! Now we have a membership, so hopefully we’ll go down again soon.

 

Tegan’s touching a sheep brain here!

Afterwards, we rode the monorail over to downtown Seattle, then walked to the famous Pike’s Place market and down to the water to get some fish and chips. The girls were getting tired, but were happy with plenty of energy to swim once we got back to the hotel.

The next day they swam some more until check out. Then we started home with a stop off at the Alderwood mall to buy more Build-a-bear stuff and have lunch at PF Changs.

That was on New Year’s eve, but by the time we got home, there was no way we were going have the girls stay up until midnight. We were all pooped from non-stop fun. I was so disappointed to realize there was no way I would be able to thaw my prime rib in order to cook it for the fancy family dinner I had been planning for New Year’s Day. I can’t believe I forgot to take it out of the freezer! Zach and Melissa saved the day by inviting everyone over there for a taco bar and Heather still brought the ice cream cake for Anika. I think we’ll save the roast for Easter dinner instead!

 

Okay, so that was Christmas break so far! Something was going on every day. Today it is noon and I’m still in my pajamas writing this blog post! Love it! I might go get dressed here in a minute, or I might keep reading my Kindle. We’ll see. I hope that everyone else had a good holiday season too! You can be sure I’m looking forward to that regular routine again!