Christmas Cookies

Annie and I made a bunch of treats today to take to people tonight.  They look delish, don't they?

Sick Day

The germs will not leave us alone.  We've been so sick.  Annie got her very first ear infection, and we've tried two different kinds of antibiotics to kick it.  So, she has spent some time home with me.

This girl grabbed my plate when I wasn't looking and started eating the tamale she said she didn't want for lunch.

Christmas Newsletter 2014

Hello friends and family,

Christmas is coming, and that means it is time for the annual K family newsletter!  This means we get to gather our many accomplishments of the year onto a piece of paper to wow you all.  

Ryan spent about a zillion hours on homework, and earned his master’s degree in Educational Leadership the end of July.  As anyone who has earned a doctoral degree is called “Doctor,” he insists on being called Master Ryan.  He found he loved extra school work so much that he went on to do his Administration certificate to become a school principal.  His year-long principal interview internship is going very well if you ask his supervisors.  By the beginning of November, he has put in 486 hours out of the 540 required hours (he started in August).  I asked if that meant he could be done by Christmas break, and he laughed at me.

Emma is full-fledged middle schooler, with braces and a flip phone.  Emma wanted a smart phone, and Ryan wanted to get her one of those cell phones with the bag attached (think 1990s), and the flip phone was the compromise.   She is in STEM, Science Fair club, and band.  Her current form of parental torture is called the clarinet and piano.

Elizabeth is in 4th grade now.  She started raising hogs with Emma for 4-H.  We realized what a great decision that was when she had to use the nebulizer every day she was at the fair so she could breathe.  Elizabeth is excited about everything, except getting up in the morning.  But she stays in bed with zeal.  Elizabeth loves her craft projects, and joined a knitting club at school.

Annie and Maddie started kindergarten this year.  Being separated all day at school has been hard on the twins.  They are smart girls and they work together well in many ways.  One day Maddie had an eyelash in her eye, and Annie started punching her sister in the leg to help Maddie get more tears to wash the eyelash out of her eye.  Ryan and I realized we had arrived as good parents the day we heard Pherrell Williams song, “Happy” on the radio, and the twins started belting out, “Because I’m tacky….” (That would be from the Weird Al parody.)

Ryan over-estimated my enthusiasm for pulling weeds this year when he planted our garden.  This was the one year Ryan listened to me, and only planted 4 zucchini plants instead of the usual 10.  Of course, this was the year we bought the seeds at Walmart instead of Johnny’s online, and every last plant died.  We made up for this extreme lack of zucchini in tomatoes, berries, garlic, onions, potatoes, beets, pumpkins, squash, peppers, and drying beans.  And weeds.  Pulling weeds in 95 degree weather is a great way to get sunburned and covered in dirt, and get neighbors to drop by unannounced.

During our one week vacation between Ryan’s continuing education projects, we went on a trip to the Oregon coast this summer.  It was a great time to relax with the kids, and discover that Ryan and I are perhaps too old to be sleeping on the ground in a tent.  At least, not without a whole lot of padding.  Ow.  We loved freezing our feet off in the ocean, covering sisters in sand, and poking around old lighthouses.

We adopted a kitten from a local veterinarian a year ago.  They told us it was a boy, so we named him Merlin.  Imagine our surprise when Merlin gave birth to 5 kittens on Mother’s Day.  Only one kitten survived.  We named this one Emrys, and this cat really is a boy.  I wonder if anyone can guess the kids’ favorite BBC show on Netflix earlier this year?

Our poultry population is booming.  The two turkeys we had at the beginning of the year grew to 14.  Between butchering and selling, we are now down to 7 birds, plus 14 chickens.  I have learned that turkeys are almost as good as cats at catching mice.  The only downside is the turkeys leave the dead rodents when they are done playing with them- on the road, on the porch, or wherever.

We are so blessed to have you all in our lives.  We wish you peace and love and laughter this Christmas and in the New Year.

Love,  Ryan, Danae, Emma, Elizabeth, Annie, and Maddie 

Overheard

As I was making dinner tonight, Annie was sitting on the counter next to the stove.  She had a Polly Pocket sized doll with her, and she was making sure the doll was attired in her very best.  She was poof-ing out the skirt, and I heard a giggle.  Annie looked up and said, "Look!  Her bum is fat!"

Elizabeth, who was at the table doing homework (maybe), told Annie, "It's not nice to say someone is fat.  Say 'plump.'  Her bum is plump."

Yes, Elizabeth.  That will be so much better.

News Worthy Family

Ryan and Maddie made it into two local newspapers from the parade!

Lighted Farm Implement Parade

Living in a small agricultural based town is amazing.  "Lighted Farm Implement Parade"?  You would not find something like that in a metropolis.  We can boast having the first one of its kind 25-ish years ago.

With Annie sick, we weren't going to have all the kids ride on the parade float.  Ryan and I brain-stormed for a bit, and decided that Annie and I would watch at the high school, and when Ryan let off all the kids, I could take responsibility for mine and we could go home instead of waiting for Ryan to do the loop before parking the tractor.

 So, here we are waiting for the parade to start.  It was cold, but not frigid this year.

 Here come the tractors!

 And other lighted displays....  Coca Cola always does a cool truck.

 Ryan's borrowed FFA tractor.

 Emma and Elizabeth got off, but Maddie stayed in the cab with her dad where it was warm.

Cookies with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Ryan's FFA chapter put on Cookies with Mrs. Claus again.  It's quite a production, and they figured there were about 700 kids that came through in the 1.5 hours.  

Annie woke up with a fever that morning, and a good one at that.  I have decided that with two kids in kindergarten, we might as well hang the quarantine flag above our door, because we are going to get every single bug that goes through the kindergarten classes.  I don't know if they are licking door knobs or what, but gee whiz.  We get a new bug every two weeks....

Deciding that the best way to get rid of a bug is to share it with others, I took the kids to the Cookies thing anyway.  We did go at the end, sat away from people, and tried to keep Annie's situation on the down low.  I was not about to let something like germs stand in the way of a tradition! 

You can tell Annie isn't feeling her best.

Annie didn't even eat her cookie.  You can tell when a kid is actually really and truly sick- they say no to sweets.

Sorry Santa.  I assume germs go with having kids sit on your lap for a living.

I had to put the flash on for the family picture.  I guess high schoolers don't realize that there are cameras outside of a cell phone, and the flash told us all that she was actually taking a picture this time.

We stayed a few minutes late so I could take the big group photo.  Well, most of the group.  Some of the kids had to go right at 11 am.

Whew.  Another one done.  It makes it a little sad that this might be Ryan's last.  Or it might not be.  The opportunity to find a new job next year is a little nerve wracking.

Wisdom

Elizabeth was feeling very profound today.  She told me, "You shouldn't get sick.  It isn't healthy."

Mess

I think Ramona lives at my house.

O Christmas Tree

For my birthday (and after the birthday party), we got a Christmas tree.  This seems to be developing into a tradition...  It was bitterly cold (as in, I'm not sure we got above freezing the whole day) and dark, so we found a tree quickly in an obliging Christmas tree lot.

 We got the tree inside and put up, and then put the kids to bed.

Today after church, it was time to decorate.  My mom came and visited us this afternoon, so she was able to help.

 Ta da!

I may or may not have rearranged some of the ornaments.  It seems a little silly to stack three on one branch.

The actual final product as seen by my cell phone camera.