So Long 2014

 

 

We said goodbye to 2014 with a journey down Church Street in the Dragon Parade.  Anders was underneath the dragon with his friends and Kuba led the dragon with a bunch of lantern carrying first graders.   We then had a small family gathering at Grandma and Grandpas.  Anders and Kuba were determined to meet the new year head on and stay up until Midnight.  Anders made it, but Kuba fell asleep with Grandpa and didn't wake up despite the loud ruckus made by the noisemakers honking and our exuberant  shouts of  "Happy New Year!"   

It was a mixed year this one.  Many good moments, many new and exciting adventures, but mixed with it was some extra special stress.  Anna's business HINGE opened in August and with its arrival ushered in a whole new family rhythm.  For nine years Anna was the flexible mom who worked from home, managing family schedules, shuffling children here and there, and pretty much holding down the fort.  Well, she has been consumed and wrapped up with her new business so this has been a 6 month period of refiguring out routine, chores, and rhythms.  I'm not sure it has been all that smooth.  I keep watching the boys looking for signs of wear and tear, and they seem to be good as gold.  In some ways I judge the effects on our life by how they are functioning...and if they seem to be off it's a big yellow flag that we need to pay attention to.  I am marveling at how steady they are when it certainly feels overwhelming to me! 

Some other highlights of the year besides HINGE, have been our family vacation to Matinicus in July; first and fourth graders; the arrival of a new nephew and a new great niece any day now; graduation from the Snelling Leadership Institute; Kuba and Anders becoming beekeeping apprentices with our neighbors; Anders first soccer league; both boys starting music lessons in piano and Anders also starting violin; and a bunch of other low key but lovely family moments.

All in all there is much to be grateful for, however I cannot help but feel a certain sense of good-riddance to a highly stressful, ultra busy year.   With its exit, I hope enters a more profound sense of peace and serenity for the mom's in this family, with not so much hard work and a more relaxed rhythm. May we also get to school on time more often, have a cleaner home, laugh a whole lot more, and truly enjoy this time we have together on this big beautiful planet earth in 2015. 
(and perhaps get a wee bit thinner says the author of this post!) 


 

Skating

Today we went roller skating for the first time.  All four of us on bright orange wheels.  Some of us did better than others of us, but I am not naming names. 

Uncle Claes

Anders got a beetle bot from Uncle Claes for Christmas.  Here they are putting it together.

Bedtime

Games

You can give me a gaggle of kids who play well together anytime.  It's fun to watch the action, the fluidity of play, the mixing and re-mixing of ages.  It was that kind of night tonight.  Six kids ranging in age from seven to twelve and the playing was smooth.  The groups kept changing,  the games kept shifting, but the ease and pleasure in playing together remained.

H O M E

We are home again!!!   Best thing ever - to return to our home, the place we love the most.
The kids had a great Christmas with their cousins, but honestly, the sound of them in the bathroom right now while one takes a bath and the other plays and sings on the floor in there is more centering than all five days away.  Dinner is cooking on the stove, the sun is just going down, and the first part of the holiday is a wrap. 

Some of the low points of the holiday were that by Christmas day I had a raging cold.  I slept most of Christmas day - which was the best gift I could have given myself - and highly unusual.  I pretty much bounced back after that.   Next low point, Anna's brother pulled out his back, so he was down for the count for most of those days as well.  Anna was a bit disappointed because he is such an active outdoorsy kind of uncle and she was looking forward to him motivating the clan to go outside.  Luckily Anna jumped in and led the pack, hide-n-seek in the woods, and an assortment of invented games made up by (her!).  Everyone else filled the time well and of course the kids just have a ball no matter what.  

It seems as if Anders has come down with the same cold I had and he slept most of the way home today.  Hence why he is taking a long hot bath right now - we are hoping to steam it out of him and get him ready for round two of the holiday week happening right here in our neck of the woods.  There's no place like home. 

Is Everything

I saw this painted on the side of an old blue pick-up truck this afternoon when we were out trucking around Conway, NH.       

Love is everything.