Life around here is not too exciting, but that is okay with us. We are simple people. We like to stay in our PJs as long as possible. We like to remain plan-less and just do what we want, when we want. We have enjoyed having Ethan around the house too. He lost his job before Christmas, so he has been around more than he ever has before. It was a bit of a challenge at first. The girls know what “Daddy is at work” means, but just saying “Daddy is working” was a hard concept. A child safety knob on our bedroom door and he is now able to do what he needs to do in his office with minimal interruptions. Like many other times in our life, we are praying for God’s direction and timing as we go through this transition. Trusting that more than we could have asked or imagined is around the corner.

Who doesn’t love movie night? Eating around the coffee table was the first in a long time. The idea seemed fun, but watching Audrey smear her pizza hands all over the couch reminded me why a highchair is still best for her. But then that is where having furniture that you don’t really care much about comes in handy. Oma bought the girls “How to Train Your Dragon” and that was our pick for the night. The girls had already seen it, so Ethan and I enjoyed it with a few commentators.

Next up was a little cold for this little one. She stayed home Monday from school and we enjoyed a few minutes of cuddling on the couch with a snack and Boz. Then it was mostly just me laying on the couch while she dumped buckets of toys out. I am amazed how they can be sick and still have the energy or desire to run from room to room and play. I never get that child that lays sweetly on the couch for hours.

Then today, I prepared for the snow that was coming. The girls were all dismissed early from school and I picked up Life, which I had been eyeing for several weeks. It says age 9+ and it is pretty accurate. But I thought we could still play. After 30 minutes of setup, in which time we lost Megan’s interest, we finally got started in our game of Life. It turned out to be a very good math game for Alyssa and taught a few lessons about money. Like when she had to buy a house but didn’t have any money. She said, “I really want the mansion, but I don’t want to have to have more bank loans.” In the end, she had to have a bank loan and ended up with a double-wide trailer. I giggled. In her defense, she did choose to be a teacher. After twins, a life-saving operation, cosmetic surgery, and sending my kids to a summer camp that cost $5000 each, we finally retired. The teacher did not win, but the fact that she had any money to retire on in the end should count for something.

And now it is snowing. I mean really. In less than one hour, the ground is completely covered out my front window. I think I am ready for spring.

Someone in my family has run in the Houston Half/Marathon for the past several years. My dad started running last year and agreed with my brothers and their wives to run in 2011. So it seemed only reasonable for me to run too. I got Jessica on board with me and shortly later, Ethan decided he would give it a try too. We all signed up for the lottery and amazingly, we were all chosen (by luck) for the race.

Oma flew into Nashville to stay with the girls and Jessica, Ethan and I flew to Houston. It was a wonderful weekend. I was able to spend time with my parents, introduce Jessica to Houston (I know her life is complete now), welcome a new Fetter into the world, enjoy my family and run another half marathon. It was a lot to accomplish in just 2.5 days.

I am very proud of how we all did. The weather was very sketchy, with the threat of thunderstorms and the possibility of cancellation. But we managed to run with only a little rain. Out of the 8 of us that ran, over half were struggling with an injury. I know Jessica, my running buddy, the one always at my side, pushed through the pain to finish. We ran about 10 miles together when she stopped for a drink. I hung over to the side, slowed down to wait for her, but she never emerged. Her legs had cramped up so bad when she stopped, she took a few minutes to get going again, but I had lost her in the crowd. I ran on to finish the race, as she kept encouraging me to do. My only goal was to get close to my first race time of 2:07. I realized at the 2 hour mark with 1.5 miles to go that I was not going to make that and I finished at 2:15. I really enjoyed this race. I don’t know if it was because I felt healthy and conditioned for it or the family all around, probably just the flat course, but I really enjoyed this experience. I know others struggled through it and I wished we could have all had the same experience. My oldest brother broke his hip last year, so he was fighting through the pain. His wife, tore/pulled her calf muscle a week before the race, so she was fighting. And my dad, who has had multiple retina surgeries that have left him with limited vision, was running awesome with the help of my brother to guide him. He was okay as long as no one snuck up on his blind side. And mom… she was a trooper because she sat out in the rain all by herself waiting for us to finish. She marked her spot and just waited. But unfortunately, she only saw 3 of the 8 of us finish. It is hard to pick people out of a crowd.

I am thankful for my health and that I was able to run this race. I am thankful for my friend who experienced this with me. I am thankful for my family and the time we have together. And I am thankful that Ethan was able to run with me this time and introduce him to the love of the race. He finished in 2:03 and we both decided we need a do-over to try to hit our goals. Maybe we can get another in this March.

Somewhere after 30, I began to lose track of how old I was. There was something exciting about 30 for me and I was glad to count up to it, but then 31, 32… not too much going on.  I don’t really care too much about age, maybe because people have always taken me for a high school student, but 35 seems different. So each time I was asked my age, I would think about it… “am I 34? 1976… to 2006 would be 30 then add 4. Right, I am 34.” So that means this year I am 35. As of yesterday, I am 35.

But sometime yesterday it hit me that I really do need to celebrate these birthdays now. Not to bring you all down, but I do have a lot to be thankful for and celebrating another birthday is a gift. I don’t think we were ever in a place where we thought I may not make it to 35, but you just never know. We pray that cancer is behind me.  That I never have to sit in the doctor’s office and hear him say “it’s back.” That I never have to break out my chemo hats that I just recently packed away. That as much as I long for heaven, I do get to enjoy the blessings of living out my years with my husband and my girls. So, yeah, let’s celebrate. And we did.

We took the family out for dinner, as the snow began to fall again, and we enjoyed cake back home. I had really come to a place by that time, that I was happy with my day. I had felt doted on by enough people. Then my doorbell rings and a couple of friends are standing there ready to “momnap” me for some coffee around the corner. I was surprised and truly blessed by their thoughtfulness last night.

So, I say hello to the “toward 40 years”. And gladly say good-bye to the things that we endured at 34. Thank you for all my birthday wishes. How would all those people have ever known without FB?

With all of the “at home” time we have had this last week, it forced me to get the kids restarted on chores. Like most of the stuff I do, I have a very relaxed agenda when it comes to chores. Do what I tell you to do when I tell you. For the most part, my girls oblige me, but I want to get in the habit of listing some items for them to take care of each. Then maybe on Saturday, we all chip in and get a lot done. (Wishful thinking)

I found this great idea for chores. We seem to always have extra wood around, so after showing the idea to Ethan, he decided to help out by cutting wood in the garage in the 20 degree weather. Ok, maybe I encouraged him a bit. Either way, an hour later, I had 5 nicely cut and sanded pieces of wood to use. I simply Mod Podged scrapbook paper and vinyl letters  to finish it. I love the way it came out. Alyssa likes to see what her chore/s are for the day and then seems to rearrange them to her liking. Audrey is stuck on “Pick up toys” because she hasn’t mastered that one well. I have already noticed that I need more sticks and duplicates so that both girls can pick up or fold clothes. I am in the beta testing of this idea still. Does anyone have a good way that they get the kids to help out?

Yep. 4! I enjoyed playing a game with Alyssa each day after we got the call about school. I would give her this somber look and say, “I’m sorry honey…. NO SCHOOL AGAIN!” I loved how excited she was each time. I definitely missed out on some normalcy this week, but the girls got to play together and enjoy some snow so I won’t complain too much. We played in the snow, watched movies, had warm chocolate, went to bed late and slept in. By Thursday, we were all completely out of whack. School resumed Friday, just in time for MLK holiday.

Our sweet friend, bought us our first sled before the snow hit. We were so excited to finally have our own to go sledding. We played in the yard for a bit, built a snowman (that is still standing) and attempted some sledding on a wimpy hill by the house. I finally took the girls to the school for some real hills but our timing was off and most of the snow had been plowed over by other sledders.

Audrey didn’t particularly enjoy the cold, so she sat in the car and watched Boz while me and the big girls played. I can’t really blame her, since we never have the proper snow attire. At least this year, I managed to have all of them in boots of some kind. Megan’s rainboots from 2004 count, don’t they? But jeans and cotton gloves just don’t keep you warm. Maybe if we stick around TN for another winter, I will invest in some snow clothes. At least for Alyssa, then I can pass them down.

The girls had fun all week and I still love to see the snow fall. It put a bit of damper on my running, and the little girls have been in school only one day since Dec 15, but I am thankful for a place that sees the snow. It was beautiful around here last week. More

Months ago, we thought it would be so fun to surprise the girls with a trip to the Texas Great Wolf Lodge. Megan talks about it weekly and wants to know when we can go back. We planned to drive through Ft Worth after our Austin trip and stay one night. The great thing about this place is you can pay for one night, but use the waterpark for both days. After the short drive from Austin to Ft Worth, we pull up to the giant building and the girls are clueless. I tell Alyssa to read the building and she just matter-of-factly says, “The Great Wolf Lodge. Is that a different one?” Yes, I say. To my disappointment, Megan had no reaction. Alyssa calmly say, “Can we go in?” Like a trip inside the lobby would be enough for her. We drive up and I casually ask if they want to play and then it hits, the excitement comes out and we are in for a fun day at the waterpark. We play all day, spend one night, play till noon, then hit the road for the 12 hour trip home.

Am I the only mom who is fed up with buying gifts for their children? I don’t know if it is the lack of commercials so they really don’t “want” anything or their lack of playing, but I try to think of something fun or useful for them each year. I don’t want to just buy junk or presents just for the sake of opening. I think I am doing well, but every Christmas Eve start to doubt myself and worry that they will not be satisfied. That maybe I didn’t get enough. That maybe my home-made gifts aren’t as good as the scooter that they wanted. But that is not really what Christmas should be about. Next year, I want to do a better job with them as we buy gifts for others instead of just doing it myself, so they can share in the joy of giving. Yes, I want to still get them something fun, something they want, but I don’t want their day to be determined by a gift.

We did gifts and breakfast Christmas morning with my parents, shared the day with my brother and family, and then drove on to Austin to enjoy the Whaleys. It has been a nice break from things going on in Nashville and always fun to be around family.

Every Christmas holds activities for our family. Some are traditions, some we make up as we go. This year I decided to make Christmas PJs. Actually, when I think of it, the fabric was bought for Christmas skirts for a family picture. When making clothes for 12″ stuffed animals became a Christmas request, clothes for the girls was delayed. So I decided to use the fabric for PJs.

While we were in Houston, we continued in the long-lived tradition of baking and decorating cookies. The girls did a good job helping Mom and I with the dough and decorated at least 2 cookies before they began eating more than decorating.

Another activity that was a first and a last time, was a Christmas Train in Alvin, 45 minutes away. It sounded like a fun thing to do with the girls, but when we arrived at 7pm, bought tickets and realized our Brown train didn’t leave for another hour and 45 minutes, we really questioned if the 8 minute ride was worth it. After popcorn and cotton candy we made it on the train and saw their display of Christmas lights. I think we had more fun trying to take pictures of ourselves.

My grandfather bought dresses for the girls, so we dressed them up for Christmas Eve service and managed to get a decent picture. I remember a purple dress that he gave to me as a child and my uncle said that he use to buy all Nanny’s dresses for her too. I think he did a pretty good job picking them out.

This was our first trip back to Houston in 18 months, so it was nice to see some friendly faces at church and spend time with family.