And so it goes....

I like to keep up with this blog because it turns into an easy family scrapbook for me.  But during this past year or so, I've started to feel like maybe I shouldn't expose my children too much longer.  I'm not under the impression that a lot of people read my posts, but even so - I started to feel like maybe I was infringing on their privacy....especially Cameron as he's the oldest.  I read my thoughts put so much more eloquently on Momastery the other day (a blog that if you haven't read by now, YOU MUST!)  Here is what she wrote....

"When I started writing, my children were babies and all my stories were their stories and all their stories were mine. We all overlapped. But now my babies are growing up. They’re becoming their own little people with their own secrets and dreams and ideas that belong to them and them alone. They have their own decisions and mistakes and plans to make. And they need their mama to be a safe person to live in front of, knowing that she values their experiences as more than a series of anecdotes. I want to respect their stories as their stories. I want to teach my kids that each human being has a story as brutal and beautiful and sacred as the next, and so we don’t tell others’ stories unless we’re asked to."

She says everything so well, doesn't she?  So, I'm thinking it may be time for me to stop our family blog and simply make a family scrapbook.  I've shared so much of our family life on here, it feels a little sad for me to end it - but I think we've just outgrown it.  That's not to say I don't love reading friend's and other's blogs, however.  I just feel that without wanting to write about my children here as they get old enough to understand it (and perhaps feel uncomfortable with it) - I don't think I'd have enough else to write.  I know for sure that I couldn't say what I wanted to say as eloquently as others in the blogging community do - so I'll leave it to them.

The Wright Stuff, signing off....

We love you, Great Grandma

                                               We love you, Great Grandma!
                                              1921-2013

Surprise Party!

A couple months ago, when we were talking about who had the next birthday, Tyler mentioned that he wanted a surprise party.  I always wanted a surprise party when I was a kid, too - so I really wanted to make it happen for him.

Of all my kids, Tyler's friends parents are the people I am the closest to and the most comfortable with - because he attended that co-op preschool and we were all there working together all the time.  His class is the easiest to organize things for since I talk with those parents all the time. 


It was surprising easy to pull off.  I texted six of his closest friends moms' - asked them if their boys could come over and spend the night this Saturday - and asked them not to even tell the boys until the weekend.  That way no one would accidentally spill the beans at school.  I didn't even tell Cameron and Elie.

Saturday night Ronny "nonchalantly" asked Tyler if he wanted to go get a pizza to bring home for dinner with him.  Soon as they closed the door I let Cameron and Elie in on the secret and told them we had exactly 40 minutes to decorate before the guests arrived.  Their reactions were almost as fun as Tyler's!  So we hung streamers everywhere and all the guests arrived on time.  Soon as the moms left (leaving no extra cars in the driveway) I texted Ronny to let him know it was clear to come home!

Now we know how Tyler would react in a shocking situation - he didn't jump or run, he pretty much just froze!  It was so fun to watch him take it all in!

It was also the first slumber party we've ever hosted - that was an experience!  We started out with six extra boys (plus our own everyday three) - by 11 pm we were down to only three extra boys for the night.  That turned out to be the magic number to get them settled down for sleep.  In the morning, Ronny made chocolate chip, smiley-face pancakes for all - and the boys turned it into a pancake eating contest.

It was super fun, and I'm so glad it was such a pure surprise for my sweet Tyler!  Happy 8th birthday, Tylerbaby!!

Christmas

You know what's interesting?  When I sat down to write about our Christmas yesterday, I didn't add pictures - only words.  When I reread it, it was rather depressing talking about how discombobulated our Christmas felt this year.  But once I sorted through photos and added the pictures today, I realized we really did have a lovely Christmas - and rather than feeling sad about the fact that it didn't feel quite the same this year, I reminded myself that same is not always best.  Still, some of our traditions remained.  We chose our lovely tree at our favorite tree farm and headed to the Big O Saloon for lunch.

One of the reasons this year felt a little off for me was the fact that I had a difficult time getting into the spirit.  I was lucky enough to get a month long sub job in my old classroom for my friend who had surgery - of which I enjoyed every moment, but it did make for a lot less time to prepare and relax into the season.  We made Christmas cookies - and although we managed to scrape out some of the traditional sugar cookies late Christmas Eve (due to an absolute lack of extra time this year) - they were not picture worthy.... so I'm including our adorable gingerbreads we made earlier in the month!

 Due to the fact that I was subbing for the month, I had the pleasure of being paid overtime to watch my children sing in the Christmas program this year - that was nice!  Obviously, I was in charge of my first grade class for the evening, but luckily it worked out for me to be able to watch my own children sing as well.  Some of my all time favorite Christmas concert photos are from this night.  First of all - sweet Tyler doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing and making life easy....

 Then Cameron, who has such anxiety about the Christmas concert every year (and was extra stressed this year), made an agreement with his teacher that he would sit behind his class where no one could see him.  He did come out for his outstanding performance on the xylophone, however.  Something about having Ronny try to get pictures of our son backstage makes me giggle....

 And finally, what I think will most likely hold first place in my favorites forever, is this picture of Elie and her kindergarten class during the program.  Elie looks like she's having the TIME of her life, doesn't she????.....hahahahaha

Ronny has a new job - which is a blessing, but again - takes some getting used to. In the 17 Christmas's we've had together, neither of us has ever had to work on Christmas Eve (and now I understand how lucky that was). This year, he had to work until 5:00 on Christmas Eve and then had to help his parents after that. So that cut significantly into my family's side of traditions - which again just made it feel different and rushed.

Our Christmas morning was enjoyable with excitement pulsing from the kiddos. They woke up at 4:30 am and snuck downstairs. Well, once they saw the new snowboards Santa had put under the tree, it took a lot of convincing to go back to bed - but they eventually did. We officially started our morning at 8 and relaxed into our more traditional morning of opening in turns, taking breaks for coffee and breakfast. Those were my favorite moments of the holiday. We had the Wright side of the family Christmas later that day, which is always an exhausting marathon. 

I'm extremely grateful for my beautiful, healthy children.  I'm grateful for my supportive, hard-working husband who has been a constant source of calm for me.  I'm grateful for my understanding parents.  Finally, I'm grateful to be bidding 2012 goodbye!  Cheers!

To honor

Like the rest of the country, I'm devastated by Newtown's heartbreak.  I am not eloquent enough to put into words all of my emotions, but in the words of another blogger - I know what six looks like.  After spending the last month teaching in my old first grade classroom, across the hall from my six year old daughter's kindergarten classroom with all of her beautiful friends and her teacher whom I consider a wonderful friend - I know all too heartbreakingly well what six looks like. 

In the words of another extremely eloquent blogger - I would share my burden of their grief if I only could - but I know there is nothing I can do to lessen the pain for those angels' parents.  What I feel like we can do is help honor their children, and the heroes who tried to protect them.  After talking with my own children about the tragedy, we decided that we will perform acts of kindness - at least one dedicated to each angel.  While it can not be enough (nothing could), it is providing the kids and I with some comfort.  I look at our angel of the day, read about her or him, and then send them a prayer with our act of kindness that we've dedicated in their name. 

Wishing everyone peace and love this holiday.

2012 Christmas card

 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  It has been an eventful year for our family - both good and bad.  Through it all, our kiddos kept us laughing - hope you get a chuckle or two as well.  Cheers to a Happily Ever Laughter....

 

CAMERON - AGE 10

*After much anticipation, Cameron got a mood ring.  He put it on and sat down to do homework.  Soon after he observed- "Mom, if there was a color for distracted on here it would totally be that."
*Dad makes the kids check with me on everything, so I often have to be the "bad cop".  One morning I was muttering under my breath about it, and Cameron said to me- "well, Mom, you're kind of like the commander."
*Out to dinner one night, Cameron read the ketchup bottle.  "Mom, this says it's 100% natural.  I don't like it very much - only about 8%."
*"Mom, is there a way to sign down for football?"
*I read a great quote online - If you want your kids to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.  From behind me I heard Cameron's voice - "I read that, Mom - that's not a good quote."
*Cameron told me he could smell Dad all the way from upstairs one morning.  So I asked him what did he smell like.  He responded, "you know - hairy armpits and stuff."
*I got creative with dinner one night and cut the watermelon into a heart shape.  When I served it, Cameron said, "Wow Mom!  I didn't know  you could make dinner with style!"
*We were lucky enough to camp in Prineville this summer on our annual trip with a big group of friends.  In our group, someone's father is an esteemed geologist.  On a fascinating boat ride, he was teaching us what the land was like and how it was formed millions of years ago.  He was explaining "30 million years ago this was a super volcano, 18 million years ago this was a tropical area with camels, palm trees, etc."  Cameron finally looked at me and said, "How old is this guy?"
*After school one day I asked him how his day went.  He answered, "I don't know, mom - but I got to the end of the day and none of the teachers seemed to be mad at me."

 

TYLER - AGE 7

*Tyler came home from school one day and announced that this is a "jump" year (instead of "leap").
*We were holding a fish funeral in the backyard.  Through his sobs, Tyler finished it off by saying "well at least it's only gonna be 15 cents to buy a new one."
*"Mom, now that I can tie my own shoes, I'm much easier to live with!"
*One day Tyler was walking around whispering the word "seeeexxxxy" over and over.  I finally asked what the heck he was doing and he responded, "look at me."
*A day after Elie's 6th birthday, Tyler found a toy.  "Mom, it says not for kids 5 and under!  Elie should NOT have been playing with this - good thing she made it!"
*We were having quite the entertaining afternoon with a lightning and hailstorm that blanketed everything completely white, and then we realized there was a hummingbird trapped in the garage.  We rescued the kitties, chickens, and finally the hummingbird - then Tyler said, "What's next?  A deer in our bathroom?"
*Having hot chocolate one morning, Cameron came up with the idea that he'll be a "whip cream" maker when he grows up, invent all kinds of different flavored cream and he'll be rich.  Tyler pipes up, "and I'll be his assistant - the whip cream taster."

 

ELIE - AGE 6

*There was a guy with an Australian accent in Ronny's shop and Elie whispered, "Mom, he has an accident."
*As I was bandaging up her scraped knee, she sobbed, "I get hurt everyday....I didn't even TRY today!"
*I realized I need to expose her to life outside of Clatsop County when Elie referred to that famous Parisian monument as the "Rifle" Tower.
*When I asked her if she thought her Nightmare Before Christmas themed birthday party would be too scary for her friends, Elie said - "No.  Some of them have even been in time out and that's way worse."
*"Mom, I'm going to draw a picture of you on a piece of paper and put hearts all around you, because I love you."
*Coming out of the shower, Elie was very concerned that I was in front of Daddy with no clothes on.  I asked her why and she responded, "because it is very inappropriate, Mom."

Love and hugs to each and every one of you!  We are so blessed to have made the friendships that we have over the years.  We think of you often and pray that you are overflowing with happiness.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

**photo credits to my beautiful cousin of AMY CLOSE PHOTOGRAPHY - www.amyclose.com

Giving Thanks

 Elie had an adorable Thanksgiving play at school.  I tried to make her look as much like an "Indian woman" as I could.  She had the opening lines and was a superstar!  Grandma and I couldn't have been more proud as she finished, "Take it away Pilgrims, Indians, and Turkeys!"

 We hosted Thanksgiving this year for Ronny's side of the family.  This was only the second turkey I've ever cooked, and well let's just say - I have my story now.  You know - THAT story - the one you tell every year about the time when.......

 I brought in the electric cooler that we bought this summer when our motorhome refrigerator blew up so that I could stick the turkey in it overnight and save room in the kitchen fridge.  I got it all dressed and ready and put it in a bag and tucked it away so it was ready for 9am when it would go in the oven.  Well, when I asked Ronny to take it out for me at 9am, he informed me that I had plugged the electric cooler in incorrectly and instead of cooling the turkey all night, it had slowly been WARMING it at about 100 degrees.  Long story short, it was fine - just maybe a little overdone since we wanted to be sure and cook anything off - and as one of my friends said, the chianti was JUST the right temperature!

After all our guests left for the evening, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Mac's house for some poker and late night turkey sandwiches.  It was a lovely holiday and we have much to be thankful for this year.