I hope that you and your family have enjoyed a happy and healthy holiday
season.
Until
November 16th, 2013 had been a busy but peaceful year for the four
of us: Tom worked hard, the kids played hard, and I coordinated it all like it
was my job. But on that Sunday morning, a vicious tornado destroyed the home my
little sister Sara shared with her husband, Jeff, and their two little ones.
They escaped with their lives, thank goodness, but with little else. This
crisis reminded everyone in our family that life is not about things, but
people, and this holiday season we hold each other just a little tighter.
Will, who
turned seven in early October, is an active, outgoing, independent first grader.
To hear him tell it, he enjoys school when it comes to math, science, music,
and computer lab but could do without art of any kind. Outside of school, my competitive
and athletically inclined boy loves Tae-Kwon-Do, baseball, flag football,
basketball, running, biking, video games, Beyblades, and Legos.
This fall
we saw a new side of Will, a side that tests boundaries and questions authority.
To put a more positive spin on things, he’s begun to stand up for himself, ask
questions, advocate for more responsibility, and ask for a more
heavily-weighted say in how, with whom, and where he spends his time. I see
less and less “little” when I look at him, and while it breaks my heart to bid
farewell to his younger (and perhaps better behaved) years, I love the boy Will
is becoming.
Hallie,
now four-and-a-half, is a confident, articulate preschooler with a passion for
music and dance. When she’s not performing musical numbers or tap dance
routines, Hallie spends her time coloring, painting, baking, accessorizing her stuffed
animals, and challenging herself with self-assigned math homework. She’s given
up on soccer for the time being, but she loves gymnastics and seems to have
developed a knack for running. This summer she learned how to swim (defined simply
as “make forward progress in the water”) and she’s very close to riding her
bike without training wheels.
It seems
that finally, after two long years, Hallie is…dare I write the words?...learning
to control her wildly unpredictable emotions and fiery temper. Hallelujah!
She’s a beautifully complicated blend of sweet and spicy, fueled by both passion
and reason, and I love quietly watching as she takes on the world.
This
December marks the end of Tom’s third year as a professor at Texas A&M
University. His days are long and at times overwhelming, and more than ever he
appreciates the opportunity to spend his free time (what little there is of it)
at home with family and friends, at the gym, on the disc golf course with his
league buddies, and on the baseball field as the coach for Will’s baseball
team.
I
continue to write for the National American Red Cross blog and MomsEveryday,
and still enjoy keeping up my personal blog – which in April received a
significant facelift to better serve as my writing portfolio – and our family
blog. I look forward to one day branching out beyond the writing topics and
style with which I’m comfortable, but I don’t anticipate finding the time to do
so until Hallie starts kindergarten. On the other hand, I may decide to fill my
newly-gained “free” time with a completely different kind of commitment…more
regular substitute teaching, increased involvement at the local Red Cross, or
even a new part-time job are on all on the table.
I have
many goals for our family in 2014, but the most important one is to slow our
lives down, if even just a little, so that we have more time to travel and stay
home and talk and laugh and play with one another. Time passes so quickly these
days, and my hope is that by embracing a slightly less chaotic lifestyle we can
more fully appreciate our beautiful journey.
We wish
you and yours a peaceful and joyful holiday season.
With
love,
Click here to see Will and Hallie's Santa pictures from years past.
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