One Down, One To Go

My middle son, Alec, turned 12 today. His sister will be nine in 2 weeks. So, one birthday done, one to go. Birthdays are kind of stressful, for some reason. This year was a quiet, less-costly (out of necessity) one which is just fine. He had a great day. Todd worked, came home this a.m., decorated the cake he baked yesterday and went to bed after Alec opened his gifts. We do this at breakfast usually, why wait, I say? Chad and Carmen decorated the dining room with streamers and balloons. All I had to do (after spending 3 weeks of "what do I get him and what can we afford?") was wrap the gifts and sign his card. I personally spent the day quietly, walked with Carmen and read a lot. Alec wanted hot dogs for dinner so that was easy. He's usually a much more demanding kind of kid but today, he was just appreciative and nice. In fact, Todd had said that we could do the cake after lunch, as usual, even though Todd would be sleeping (he works again tonight). When I told Alec this, he asked if we could wait until dinner because he wanted his Dad to be a part of it. That's not like Alec at all, to wait for anything! I thought it was sweet and Todd appreciated it, too. It did make for a hectic meal, as Todd gets up at 5:30 and has to leave by 6:30 but we did it. It was worth it. Todd, by the way, makes great cakes.

We watched a DVD that Todd's sister sent for Alec, a great documentary on whales and dolphins (right up Alec's alley) this evening. When it was over, Alec jumped up and said (for some reason), "I'm strong, I'm 12!" and dashed out of the room. We all laughed ... I think he was really happy. 12 seems to be a milestone for him. And I'm breaking all the rules here about how to write numbers in a sentence. Chad's recent grammar lesson explains the appropriate way to write numbers and I can see glaringly what I'm doing wrong. It's amazing how much I've learned by teaching my kids. Homeschooling is cool.

Drum Roll, Please ...

I have news!!

No, not that kind of news (our family is complete, thank you very much!)

This is better!

These braces are coming off - February 18, 2010!

I will probably post before, during and after photos, if Todd gets industrious (and if anyone cares).

Then comes a year in a retainer, 24/7, and then another year with retainer at night. Small price to pay. I can't wait to brush my teeth without wires shredding the bristles. Actually feeling the brush on my teeth! Never thought I'd care about that, but, oh! Oh ... I can't wait!

After Holiday Ruminating

Christmas is put away. New Year's decorations just got taken down (doesn't everyone decorate for New Year's?) The house looks somewhat empty but back to normal. Even better than normal. We hope to try and keep it looking guest-ready, for our own enjoyment. But how do you keep the clutter down with three kids at home, all day long? School papers, art projects, etc. - you know what I'm talking about. But we are all willing to try and keep the house neater.

Next - we want to tackle the garage.

Alas, we have two birthdays to prepare for, the end of Jan and mid Feb. After that, finally, there will be no more gift buying. The kids don't really want or need anything, it's a bummer to be born so soon after Christmas. Alec wants a trip to Hawaii. Carmen says she doesn't need anything. What to do?

We Wish You A ...

2010!

For unto us a Child is born ...

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and God's blessings on you in 2010!

Your friend,

Kate

This Past Week

O.k., I'm back to a pleasing shade of light-medium brown with beige highlights. The box actually says, "beige highlights that are flattering to maturing complexions", or something like that. Really. Hmm.

It is so nice to look in the mirror and not cringe. When we bleached my hair the second time, to get as much red out as possible, things got even worse. Most of my hair was a light banana yellow but still had a lot of red. There I was with braces and hair in an unbelievable shade. I was miserable.

But now that's all behind me. I am very happy with this color and, hopefully, they won't discontinue it.

On a sad (and obviously more important) note, my favorite (and last) uncle died last week. I couldn't make it to the funeral. Sometimes it's tough to be so far away from my family. With kids and all, I just can't jet down for things like that. This uncle always called me "Chatty Cathy", which was the name of a doll that came on the market the year before I was born. I actually never saw this doll until the last few years, when a company re-issued it. Apparently, it was a new kind of talking doll and when I was small, I chattered quite a bit (not unlike my own daughter). My family calls me Kathy and my Uncle Derrell dubbed me "Chatty Cathy". The name stuck.

My daughter, Carmen, was chatty all day long today and I finally asked her why she was talking so much. She sighed in exasperation and said, "I just don't know!" I said I'd start calling her "Chatty Carmen", to continue my uncle's tradition. I haven't seen him since 1999, but I miss him, knowing he's gone.

We also got news last week that the husband of friends of ours passed away this year. It's been a long time since I've received news like this so this week has been rather sober.

The good news is that after more than a week of bright sun and temps during the day of high 20's to mid 30's, with lows in the low 20's at night, we finally got to 40 degrees today! It was down right balmy! I never thought I'd be happy about 40 degree weather! I'm always so cold but after freezing temps for so long, you can really feel the difference in just a few degrees. At least I can.

Now I need to start work on my Christmas letter. Make it short, funny, informative but not too much detail. I hate writing these things but people say they want to know about the family. I got the annual Christmas letter from a dear friend of mine that usually expounds upon how brilliant her children are and how many trips they've taken but this year was different. She was rather subdued. It's been a tough year for many. Praise the Lord for keeping them afloat. Praise the Lord for keeping us afloat, as well!

Hair Of Gold?

Oh, boy. You should see me. I don't think much about posting photos (for whatever reason, or no reason) but I'm SO glad you can't see me.

Being a woman of a "certain age", I dye my hair. But this time, we (my husband is my colorist) dyed it a bit too dark. It looked o.k. but I thought it was too dark brown for me. So ... we tried to lighten it up. Twice we tried a lighter brown - didn't work. My poor hair.

The next step was to bleach all the dark out of it. What I am left with is what my dear old Dad left me, genetically. My Dad was a redhead. My son was born a redhead. And now, I am a redhead, too. Can you say "copper-top battery?" Carrot head? Look - your hair's on fire!! That's what I keep thinking every time I happen to see my reflection. It's unbelievable. Totally.

It's, like, orange-gold-unreal. I cannot leave the house. I have become another Christmas decoration, put me on the mantle. I do have a soft hat that I stuffed my hair into this afternoon because I just couldn't take seeing it anymore. When my kids first saw me, I told them to get their comments out of the way, I knew what they were thinking. Bless them, they all kept saying how nice I looked. Liars! Todd keeps looking at me and smiling. He likes it, for goodness sake!

The good news (I think) is that we will be dyeing my hair again, this time to a nice shade of light-medium brown. I hope, hope, it works. As long as my hair doesn't all break off or fall out in the meantime.