Dane: He turned 11 this month. Wow! He’s going to his first Scout meeting tonight. I just finished putting his uniform together. He also recently got his first suit, so he can look more like the deacons. He gets to attend his first Klondike Derby in latter January. Were did all the time go? He and Toren go off track after next week for the remainder of January. They are hoping for snow. Dane received a new aquarium for Christmas and he and his Dad have had fun getting it all set up. Dane was also excited to find an electronic projects kit at D.I. that was “better” than his old one because it has a meter. Hmmm, I wonder where he gets that from. Dane also got a model rocket for his birthday, which they put together that night, but have been unable to launch because of consistent winds and frequent rain since his birthday.
Brigitta: She turns 14 the beginning of January. Now I do really feel old. Less than 2 years until she has a learner’s permit. Grandpa T. helped her out over Christmas break. He let her back his car out of the driveway, after she complained of being “bored”. She thought that was the best thing she did over Christmas Break. Her Dad was worried – he had the “Over the River and Through the Woods, to Grandmothers house we go” line going through his head while she was practicing. Brigitta also tried the “bored” line on Grandpa W. — but she didn’t get to back out of his driveway. Brigitta is done picking out, and returning, and picking out new clothes (we think). She seemed to be excited about Dane’s fish, and so Dane bought her a Beta and Beta tank for her birthday – she was excited about that. She had a beta when she was younger, but it suffered an untimely demise.
Sorina: She kind of had a hard month. She kept opening her presents, and then cried when they were taken away. She cut her toe on a piece of chimney pipe that she knocked off the desk. She got five stitches and it was not a pleasant ER visit. She still needs “a Dora Band Aid and medicine” on her toe that the doctor hurt. She was traumatized that she could not take a “tubby” for 10 days after she got the stitches. Then she got an ear infection over Christmas. So Grandma and Grandpa hardly saw the whites of her eyes Christmas Eve day. We had to coax her into opening presents Christmas Day and she slept through Sacrament Services. She didn’t get back into the swing of things until the Tuesday after Christmas. And we watched a lot of Dora the Explorer, too much if you ask the rest of the family. Sorina is still our self-proclaimed princess – and she chooses to dress how she wants, from an all out Princess Ensemble, from the crown to the shoes, to a 70’s Go-Go Girl (Dora panties on backwards, too small shirt and high heel shoes) to a Roarin’ 20’s look (cotton decorated slip and headband). She has definite style of her own. It’s sad the she is only 2 _ and I do not still get to dictate her wardrobe choices, and actually have not for quite some time.
Toren: He got a pair of Heeleys for Christmas. He is working on his balancing. And sometimes I think the wheels are out of the shoes more than they are in the shoes. He is improving in his reading and starting to read everything around him. It’s fun to watch a new reader interact with theenvironment. He is looking forward to playing with friends and hopefully in some snow when he goes off track. Toren and his dad caused another boy to hit his mom the other day – honestly, you can’t take them anywhere. Shawn had taken Toren for a medical exam and, while waiting, Toren (who is somewhat physical) playfully smacked his dad on the arm. His dad just smiled, but ignored him otherwise. So Toren hit him on the arm again, then his dad backhanded Toren on the chest, and then they go going back and forth a few times, then stopped. Shawn noticed a little (5 year old about) boy sitting across the room had taken interest in this. His mother missed it all because she was reading a book. Well, the boy smacked his mom on the arm (with about the same playful force Toren had used). She didn’t look up, but said stop that. He waited a few seconds, as Toren had, and then he smacked her again (like Toren had). Well, she was not too pleased with him the second time. Shawn had to explain that they had probably incited the behavior in her son. Toren has shed his bike riding during the winter for playing X-Box games. I am amazed at how well Toren can play the snowboarding game and the new Star Wars game. One of Dane’s friends was over, and did not like the snowboarding game anymore after Toren significantly outscored him.
Family: Late December/Early January
Update: Our furnace went out on the 14th of Dec., the coldest week of the year so far, but Shawn had us back up and running by the afternoon of the 17th. We all got to camp out with sleeping-bags in the basement for 2 nights as it was warmer there and that also seemed to be the best place to run an electric heater. We managed to keep the house in the mid-to-upper 50’s, so it was just like spring camping. I think the kids actually enjoyed it.
Our Christmas decorations were down by Dec. 28th (in time for Dane’s birthday) and the outside lights were down on the 5th of January. And I did manage to get some Christmas Cards out just prior to Christmas. And since Sorina was so miserable at Christmas, maybe it was good that she had fun opening a few presents early. Our tree never recovered, but it did look better with a few presents stuffed underneath.
We had a nice and quite Christmas. We really enjoyed attending Sacrament Services on Christmas Day--we would love to do that every year. It’s nice to bring the Savior back into the center of the sometimes “frenzied” Christmas Day activities.
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