2008 in review

I know that 2008 has been over for a while now, but I really feel like I need to bring a little closure to it before turning fully to 2009. So here they are – the highlights of the year gone by.

**My sweet Jonah transformed from a cuddly, smiling baby at the beginning of the year to a walking, climbing, and talking (a little) toddler. When I look back at how much he changed this last year, and then think forward to how much he is going to change this year, my heart clenches up a little bit, and I feel the beginnings of panic over “losing” my baby. Fortunately, my own wise mama reminded me that my mama self will grow up right along with him…

**A new baby was born! Adelyn Ann was born on May 10 to my brother and his wife. I had the great privilege to be able to visit them right after Addy’s birth and see her wonderful newborn self in person, and then to visit three times after that. She is such a sweet little person – I only wish we lived closer! (Thanks to her talented mama Kelly for letting me post her photo here.)

**Our family gained one more member when my beautiful sister married Joel. They had a lovely wedding in September – and Katie even wore my mother’s (slightly remodeled) wedding dress which my grandmother made for their wedding back in 1973! (Another Kelly photo – thank you!!)

**All four of us traveled to Fargo for Christmas. This was the first time I had been with any of my family for Christmas since before I was married, and what a joy it was! It was quite the journey getting there – think Minnesota weather in December – but it was worth every minute.

** I made many new mama friends! This was a special blessing for me because at the start of 2008 I didn’t really have any other mamas as friends – and they all have filled a special place in my heart.

Okay, I guess that’s it – or as close to “it” as is possible in five bullet points, that is. I look forward to the yet-unknown joys that 2009 will bring!

Halloween

I hope you all had a fun Halloween!


We had a low-key but nice day around here, and the 75 degree day didn’t hurt, either. Jonah and I started off by meeting a group of friends at the Children’s Museum in the morning. They have a big Halloween event with outside booths for trick-or-treating, games, pumpkins and hay bales for the little ones to climb on.




Jonah got one package of candy corn and one dried fruit thingy which was just about the right amount of candy for him. Mostly, he enjoyed the hay bales. After a couple of very stimulating hours, we headed home, ostensibly to take a nap (mama really could have used one!) however due to all the fun we’d had, the nap just didn’t happen. Sigh…

Once home we had a slightly disturbing revelation. Willow, my goofy deaf cat, is apparently a hunter!! Don't be deceived by her cozy sleepiness (although we certainly were) - she is a force to be reckoned with.
True to the spirit of Halloween, she happily deposited a bloody, headless mouse on our back step. (Don’t worry – I didn’t take any pictures!) Now I guess I know where the occasional dead mouse I find is coming from. Poor Alex was quite upset when he got home (“Why did she have to kill it?”) but was slightly impressed at the same time.

Okay, back to Halloween. Well, Alex had declared a couple weeks ago that he didn’t want a costume this year. Of course, the night before Halloween he changed his mind. After discussing why he couldn’t wear a gruesome costume like some of his friends, he decided he would be a ghost. So, Friday afternoon at 4:00 we headed across the street to the ARC in search of a ghostly costume. 20 minutes later we emerged with a white thermal shirt, a pair of baseball pants, and a sheer curtain panel – ah victory!! Once home we tied a dish towel on his head, pinned the ghosty curtain to his head and drew on a couple eyes, and, voila! He was in such a hurry to get going I only managed to get one (blurry) photo before he and his dad took off. (I like to think the blurriness adds to the ghostly-ness.)

Oh, yeah, somewhere in the middle of all this we carved our pumpkins too. It was quite a night! Poor Jonah passed out at about 5:45, but Alex and Matt had a fun time going around the neighborhood with the neighbor boys. All in all, it was a rousing success.