Christmas 2011

Our first Christmas as a family of 6 was splendid.  Lots of rest, relaxation, sleep, and laziness (Michael "I sleep until 11 a.m. each day" suggested the last one).  Mom spent three days with us, full of a 1000-piece puzzle, good food, and basic hanging out.  We also spent a day with Steven's family (Zoe and Niki were thrilled to explore all the nooks and crannies at Aunt Angie's and play with their 2 dogs). 
 Matthew survived his first semester at GC and is still smiling (thank goodness; that first semester can be so tough).  This year was the first year E and M created the Christmas village without any parental supervision (only one figure was beheaded, and I think that was actually Steven's fault).  E and M had lots of sleepovers and get-togethers with friends (read: Karyn made a lot of pancakes over the holidays).

Zoe and Niki continue to enrich our lives.  They loved being out of their crates all day long while everyone was on vacation and only ate 5 of the Christmas decorations.  Not bad for two puppies' first Christmas.  Mom has been slow to warm up to the puppies, but we were proud of her when she progressed to letting Zoe on her lap.  Unfortunately, Zoe thanked Grandma by licking Grandma's mouth, which made Grandma shriek. 

Thank you to everyone who sent the children gifts.  Michael loves the mini football helmets (especially when he beats me at the apparently-you-get-to-make-the-rules-up-as-you-go game we play) and the legos (who knew 1000 tiny seemingly random plastic pieces could form such coherent structures?).  Elizabeth will need thumb surgery within a year if she continues texting and game-playing on her new ipod touch at the same rate.  She was also excited to finally get the jewelry and bag she selected at a fair trade market on campus a couple of months ago.  It really was such a happy Christmas, although we missed being with my siblings and their families and hope that changes next year.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Left: Zoe, Harley, Niki

Right: JarJar, Zoe, Niki

After 2 years on the market, 100 Gateway Path is no longer ours. Yay!!!!!!   Happily, the same weekend we closed on the house, we also got our sweet little puppy Niki!!   Robin got her puppy JarJar (from Star Wars) the same day, so we met Jo at Robin's in northern Kentucky and had a puppy party. 

         Jake & JarJar              Cara & Niki; Elizabeth & JarJar            Vadim & JarJar

Jo brought the puppies' dad, Harley, who is also Zoe's dad.  The three puppies and their dad played and played (it seemed like a bit of roughousing to me, but apparently that's normal).  I swear Zoe remembered Harley and Jo - there was quite a bit of frenetic jumping involved by Zoe.  The puppies and Harley were so happy playing outside they didn't notice the cold like the rest of us did!  The pictures say it all (I assume the video footage says the same thing, but alas, I left the flip camera at Robin's) - how beautiful, how happy, how sweet they are.  And how lucky all of us are to have them in our lives.

Halloween

Michael was our superstar soccer player, Elizabeth was our superhero Batgirl.  They went trick-or-treating with friends in our neighborhood.  Steven and I passed out candy while sitting in the driveway (Zoe kept Steven warm, I had to rely on tea).  This was Zoe's first Halloween, and she absolutely loved all the children who pet her.  We were expecting hundreds and hundreds of kids, so we bought almost 1000 pieces of candy.  Apparently the throngs of children stop going door to door the street just before ours, as our street is slightly off the main road.  Oops.  My students are beginning to cringe when I walk into class with the Halloween bowl filled with hundreds of leftover pieces.  While many people stare at Steven in public because he is so very attractive, on Halloween people were staring at him because they were unnerved by his frightening wig (yes, that is him).  

We're Expecting!!!!

Although we have known for a while, surely none of you are more surprised than we were, trust me.  We were shocked when it was confirmed.  But it is true - we are expecting a little one!  Close your mouths, we are not THAT old, for crying out loud!  We cannot wait to hear the patter of little feet once again on the hardwood floors and we will not mind the middle of the night waking ups at all.  Everyone in our family is excited.  We talk about it all the time, you can imagine.  This is such a good thing for our family. We look forward to how everything will once again be different - our daily routines, our travel plans, our cart's contents at the grocery store, everything!

We just loved our first little girl so very much, right from the first instant, it seemed like a good time to have another.  We didn't think much about the decision once our minds were made up, and we have never looked back.  We talked about names forever and finally came up with one we all agreed on (for the most part, that is; read: no one responded with "I cannot stand that name," which was good enough for us).  The little girl will be named Nicky.

That's right - Zoe will have a little sister soon.  November 5th - mark your calendars!!  We cannot wait. Steven is out right now buying new leashes and toys and blankets.  Nicky is Zoe's younger sister (they have the same parents in Ohio; Steven was randomly looking at Zoe's family's website, saw that a new litter had just been born, and was immediately on the phone with Jo, the kind, generous woman from whom we got Zoe).  Zoe was born in February 2011 and Nicky was born in September.  So add another name to the list of fabulous relatives born in the fall (i.e. Steven and Laura). 

WELL ... did you heart stop for a moment?  Were you surprised?  Did you see the photo too soon and realize what was going?  Isn't she beautiful?  We are counting down the days until we get to see Zoe with her little sister and watch them interact. Zoe will be such a sweet, protective, loving older sister (like Elizabeth is to Michael).

Even more fantastic is the fact that Robin is adopting one of Nicky's brothers, so they will get to grown up together (sort of). We're having a puppy party at Robin's house (with Jo) the day we get to keep the puppies ... one week from today!! Stay tuned for additional photos.

Zoe with Elizabeth and Michael

Okay, so this clip is a couple of months old at this point, but I ran across it on my computer and just love it.  Puppies are so happy and they make others happy.  So make your day happier and watch this sweet little puppy running around.  Then you'll understand why Elizabeth and Michael keep asking for another one and why we sometimes consider their request.  (It's windy outside - I'm not being a creepy heavy breather.)

Random

Elizabeth let me know that it's been two months since I posted something and that is lame.  Apparently if you have a blog, you need to blog.  So here I am, without any major news, just random tidbits of family information.  Michael has had an excellent season of soccer.  Last Saturday he played offense and scored 2 of the team's goals as well as 1 assist to his best friend Stephen during their 6-2 win.  Sunday he switched to defense, and his team won 2-1.  I am thrilled to be able to finally watch him play.  Notice his cool-looking shoes, the result of an away game shopping trip after Michael realized he forgot to pack his cleats ... and shin guards.

Elizabeth is her usual social self and middle school is fabulous (she might not exactly use that term, but I'm sure her description would be close) - she joined the drama team, does a lot with the youth group at church, and last night had her school chorus recital.  $50 for anyone who can spot her in the photo.  She was the family representative and Carola's date for the Catholic Church's 50 year celebration mass last month; the next day, Mom came to Winchester to watch Michael play soccer and then we all ate together.  Only Zoe was missing. 

Steven was excited to finally convince me to get a rain barrel for our yard.  Aesthetically it may leave a lot to be desired, but Steven's joy in going green could not be denied.
I've been presenting material to various groups; this is the part of my job I love. In the past 2 weeks, I presented information to freshmen, to a women's dorm residents, and to students at UK.  Monday I give a presentation to the Women Leaders group on campus (and should be working on it now, but the guilt of no blog postings won over). And oh yeah, I got to see both Robin AND Kathy this week (insert joy and excitement here).

This photo is from Robin's house last year, but it'll stay on the blog until Robin sends me the photo she took this year (no pressure, Robin).

Zoe is as precious as ever.  She could not be more loved by our family.  I'll post a short video of her and Steven playing tug of war.  While I realize it might not be interesting for you to watch, I can't do a post without including her.  Such is the life of a parent, eh?  Okay, no time for the 5-hour loading of a video right now; maybe tomorrow.......check back - you know you want to!!  And now it's here (loaded it at work because apparently my computer at home is not as good as the one at work - who would have EVER thought THAT??).

Wish you were here - if you'd been with us earlier this month, you could have attended the Festival of the Horse Parade - lots of interesting sights and slightly frightening smells.

Lake for the Day

Elizabeth and Michael each invited 2 friends to spend the day with us at Cave Run Lake; Steven and I invited Mom, who brought great food.  The weather could not have been more perfect, and the trip was definitely a highlight of our year.  We rented the double decker pontoon with slide that we used last summer with Laura's family.  The kids entertained themselves all day, alternating between jumping off the boat (I noticed when we were pulling back in to the marina that the rules clearly stated not to jump off the top deck; enormous oops on that one; see video at the end of each child jumping off the top), playing duck-duck-duck goose [a creative game in

the boat (I was exhausted just watching them)], sliding off the slide solo or with another person; steering the boat; swatting horse flies (they enjoyed that); and having water blaster fights (the

adults were unintended? victims).  The biggest hit was when Steven would throw a soaker ball for a child to catch as the child jumped off the top deck (if you put your glasses on and squint, you'll be able to see the ball headed toward Michael's hand in the photo below). Over and over and over (Steven got lots of practice treading water). Everyone got off the boat only when Mom bought everyone ice cream - the rest of the time, we were

out in the water.  Although one of the noodles managed to get stuck under the boat, it eventually was discovered and saved.  The only casualties were my sunglasses and a big beach ball (just like last year's innertube, except this year, we couldn't catch it).  We're going next year, in case anyone wants to join us.