Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tommi likes Amazon too
A short recap of 2011
January
Doug took Karys to her schools’ annual father-daughter dance on the 13th.
Doug had lithotripsy on the 27th..
The kiddos had to go to school on Saturday, the 29th.
February
Karys turned 6 on the 1st.
Karys accepted Christ on the 14th.
We signed Eliana up for Taekwondo on the 19th.
Eliana turned 9 on the 20th.
Carmi started a blog called The Confirmed Bookworm on the 24th.
Zane turned 15 on the 26th.
March
We celebrated Zane’s 2nd Family Day on the 3rd.
Doug turned 48 on the 14th.
Eliana was selected as “Student of the Month” at her school on the 22nd.
April
Doug ran a 5K on the 9th in a personal-best time of 28:38.
Carmi turned 48 on the 19th.
May
We purchased our first flat-screen HDTV on the 7th - a 46” Sony Bravia.
We went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 at the theater on the 28th.
June
Eliana tested for her yellow belt in Taekwondo on the 4th.
Eliana received her yellow belt in Taekwondo on the 8th.
The last day of school was on the 10th.
Doug ran a 5K night race on the 10th in a personal-best time of 28:13.
Karys was baptized on the 26th.
July
Zane left with our youth group for a week-long missions camp on the 11th.
Doug, Carmi, Zane and Eliana saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at the theater on the 16th.
Doug, Zane and Eliana saw Captain America: The First Avenger at the theatre on the 22nd.
Zane, Eliana and Karys started swimming lessons on the 25th.
August
Eliana and Karys participated in our church’s Vacation Bible School from the 7th to the 11th.
We vacationed in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area from the 15th to the 20th.
We picked up Eliana’s school-issued laptop on the 22nd.
Eliana received her first pair of glasses on the 24th.
School started on the 25th. Zane entered the 8th grade, Eliana the 4th and Karys the 1st.
Zane received his school-issued laptop on the 25th.
Eliana attended a pool party for our church’s Preteen Ministry on the 27th.
Zane attended a pool party for our church’s Youth Ministry on the 28th.
September
Joyful Hearts’ 9th annual Homecoming concert was on the 10th. Our special musical guests were Driven Quartet and the Reggie Saddler Family.
We attended a football game at Carmi’s high school on the 16th as part of her 30th high school reunion.
We celebrated Karys’ 4th Family Day on the 17th.
Carmi attended the formal portion of her 30th high school reunion on the 17th.
Joyful Hearts sang for our church’s 97th Homecoming celebration on the 18th.
October
We celebrated Eliana’s 9th Family Day on the 29th.
We participated in our church’s Trunk-or-Treat ministry on the 31st.
November
v6.0 of Henderson Home Online went live on the 11th.
Doug’s 30th high school reunion was on the 12th but he didn’t go.
Doug and Carmi celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on the 15th.
We had a yard sale on the 19th.
We rode with our church’s Celebrate Recovery ministry in the Christmas parade on the 22nd.
December
We watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on DVD for family movie night on the 2nd since we didn’t see it at the theater.
We hosted Christmas for Carmi’s family on the 10th.
Eliana broke her left pinkie finger in PE at school on the 14th.
Doug sold his bus on the 19th.
Doug’s family volunteered for a couple of hours at a local ministry on the 23rd.
Doug took the kiddos rollerskating for the first time on the 30th.
{extended}Friday, December 30, 2011
Rollerskating
I took the kiddos rollerskating today for the first time.
Carmi and I met at a rollerskating rink over 25 years ago. And that was probably the last time I’ve been to one.
Zane and Eliana managed pretty well for having never worn skates before.
Karys spent a lot of time on her little heiny. But big brother and sister were quick to lend a helping hand.
All three really enjoyed themselves and look forward to going back.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
New camera fun
My big Christmas present from Carmi was a new Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS. My older Canon PowerShot died back in the summer after 4 years of solid use.
One of the cool things about this camera I just discovered is that it has a “high-speed burst” setting. Which means the camera will shoot a succession of pictures very quickly.
I had me some new camera fun when the girls and I found a bike ramp that neighborhood kids had built.
A new challenge
What are we doing close to midnight?
Cleaning a few year’s worth of lint out of the guts of our dryer, of course.
Carmi needed a new challenge. Replacing an ice maker is just too easy.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
A close eye
I was keeping a close eye on the girls while they played outside this afternoon.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Recipe for disaster
Monday, December 26, 2011
Rippin’ the ripstik
Bikes are no longer the “in” thing.
Actually I’m not sure that bikes were ever “in”?
Anyways… now it’s the RipStik. And Eliana had to have one for Christmas.
I guess we figured, “Why settle for just one broken bone when your child can have two or more?”
You see… a skateboard has four wheels. But a RipStik? Only two.
O-n-l-y t-w-o.
Eliana has never even been on a skateboard.
But she’s one tough gal. And pretty much fearless. And she proved it to her scaredy-cat daddy once again.
And that’s one of the (many) things I just love about her.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas 2011 bullet train
- It was after 2:00 am before Carmi or I got in bed this morning.
- Both of us were up by 6:30.
- We could see a nap in our future.
- The kids were up by 7:15.
- Gifts were opened by 8:15.
- We were at church for the day’s one service at 10:00.
- I sang “Sweet Little Jesus Boy”.
- My family came over to the house for brunch following the service.
- Carmi and I napped. But not before our guests left.
- The kids watched Mr. Popper’s Penguins and Kung Fu Panda 2.
- We at Chinese for dinner.
- This was one night I’m glad the Chinese don’t really celebrate Christmas.
- I just wasn’t in the mood for Waffle House.
- Carmi’s big gift this year (which is actually kinda small) was a Kindle Fire.
- I may never see my wife again.
Merry Christmas 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Christmas Eve tradition
If these crazy excited kids of ours asked about presents once today, they asked about presents at least a dozen times.
As in… when do we open presents at Gran’mommy’s house?
Especially that little monkey on the left.
And Eliana came in a very close second.
And Zane? He asked a few times himself. So I think with this being his 3rd Christmas home, he’s finally getting into the spirit.
We did exchange gifts with my immediate family tonight as has been our Christmas Eve tradition since the beginning of time. Or at least as far back as I can recall.
Friday, December 23, 2011
A family of volunteers
This morning, 14 members of my family went to a local ministry and volunteered for a couple of hours.
Carmi and Eliana worked in the free store. They moved and sorted clothing, linens, house wares, toys, appliances and other goods that were donated.
Zane and Karys and I worked in the food pantry. We stocked shelves with non-perishable food items and put together small boxes of groceries to be handed out later in the day.
There was a big African-American guy working at the ministry named “Bubba”.
Before we left, Bubba commented that it’s hard to get volunteers during the holidays because, well, people have a lot of other commitments.
He said he dreaded coming to work today because he just knew they would be understaffed.
So imagine Bubba’s surprise when our crazy bunch came walking in.
Needless to say, he was delighted. Which delighted us.
In fact, he wants us to come back next week. :-)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
You are not normal
The kids and I ate lunch at mom’s today.
Somewhere along the way, the topic of food preparation came up and I overheard Eliana say, “I’m not gonna cook.”
“You’ll need to learn to cook sometime,” I interjected even though I wasn’t part of the original conversation.
“Unh-uh. I don’t want to cook.”
Then Zane piped in. “Normal girls learn to cook, Eliana.”
“Nope. Ain’t gonna. But if I do, I’ll cook everything that mom doesn’t want me to eat right now.”
“I said n-o-r-m-a-l girls learn to cook, Eliana. You are not normal.”
{extended}Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Not the least bit bitter
Rain kept us inside most of the day. Except for a quick trip in the early afternoon to pay a deposit on our new vinyl windows for the house.
I was really tired of the television noise. So around mid-afternoon, I turned the tube off and pulled out ye old Monopoly game.
We started with 4 players - me and the 3 kiddos. But Karys’ was quickly banished due to a very short attention span.
Gotta say, I was feeling pretty confident at the outset. And then Zane decided to show up and play.
Just look at him. Doesn’t he strike you as being all sweet? And innocent? And cherubic?
Uh-huh.
He’s calculating. And ruthless. And malicious. And vindictive.
And I am NOT the least bit bitter just because he was whuppin’ our behinds.
But the game’s not over.
We finish this thing tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Hongry
Karys crawled out of bed this morning around 10:30 and managed just fine watching cartoons with Zane and Eliana until 11:00ish. Right about the time I sat down at the computer and started typing this long, very important email to Carmi.
Karys rounded the corner into the bedroom. “Daddy, I’m hongry.”
“Let me finish this email to mommy, sweetheart, and I’ll get you something to eat.”
25 minutes later, I finally had all the thoughts out of my head and in the email and clicked ‘send’.
As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, my cellphone rang. It was the vinyl window salesman scheduled to come by our house at 12:30. He finished early with his prior appointment and wondered if he could come by sooner than we had originally planned.
“Let’s make it 12:00,” I said. “I have 3 kids I gotta get dressed.”
When I closed the phone, Karys was standing at me looking all pitiful. “Daddy, I’m hongry.”
“Let me clean the house just a little bit, sweetheart, and I’ll get you something to eat.”
All four of us busily started picking up and when the last piece of clutter was finally put away, the doorbell rang.
“Daddy, I’m hongry.”
“Oh, shoot. Let me speak with this guy, sweetheart, and I’ll get you something to eat.”
The salesman and I stood in the foyer and chatted for a while. Once the conversation started to drag, he said he needed to walk around the house and sketch the window locations. I stayed inside.
“Daddy, I’m hongry.”
“He won’t be here much longer, sweetheart. As soon as he leaves, I’ll get you something to eat.”
He came back in, walked through the rooms of the house measuring our windows and then we sat down at the dining room table for the nitty gritty.
Karys kept coming in trying to talk. I kept shooing her away.
Towards the end of his presentation, he paused and smiled while looking at a spot behind me.
I turned around and this is what I saw.
