Our Christmas Tree Tells a Story

Decorating the Christmas tree has always been one of my very favorite things about the holiday! I love the lights and the star up top, but the best part is unpacking each ornament and placing it on the tree!

Growing up, Mom got us an ornament every year. I would look forward to the {Hallmark} ornament catalog each fall so I could pick the ones I liked! It was fun when I was younger going through the big box of ornaments and then picking out the ones that were mine. And then for our first married Christmas, Mom gave me a box of all my ornaments so we would have some to put on our tree. I love having a tree with lots of ornaments and even more so when I know all the ornaments are special memories from years past!

My first Christmas ornament- 1984

My second Christmas

There are several ornaments in between these—but I didn’t want to bore you with photos of all 27 ornaments! This one is from 1992 when I became a second-time big sister.

My fourth grade ornament. Though I’m not certain, I am sure this was the ornament for the year because I really enjoyed my art classes!

I started playing the cello in 5th grade, so this was my ornament for the
Christmas of 1994.

I got this {non-hallmark} ornament during high school in honor of my Kirstin American doll that I had when I was younger.

From the junior year—what girl doesn’t like shopping!?

And my favorite ornaments from high school are my Mickey Mouse marching band ornaments—from Daisy as the drum major to Pluto playing the triangle with his tail! A new ornament came out each year, so this collection actually extended into my college years, which is appropriate considering I still played in the marching band in college. {keep your dumb band jokes to yourself. Marching band *IS* awesome and especially *my* high school band. We have more first place trophies than your dumb sport...}

Of course, there are several ornaments from the years from Beauty and the Beast.

We’ve continued this tradition ever since we’ve gotten married too! Some have been gifts and we’ve picked a few ourselves. And no worries, we added several Derek-friendly ornaments too—Spiderman, Donatello, a poker table.

Our official First Christmas ornament

Our fun First Christmas ornament

Our 2007 ornament—the year we got our kitty, Mia. This cat even looks like her!

Our ornament after becoming first time parents in 2008—after we experienced first hand all the demands babies have around the clock!

Our First Home ornament- when we bought our first home in 2009

Our ornament from 2010 that I picked up at the NASA visitor center when we visited Texas. I also have the ornament from Denmark that Julie got me, but I put it in a special place so I wouldn’t lose it—and I’ve done exactly that… it’s around here somewhere!

I just love this tradition SO much that I’ve started collecting pictures for the kids too! This is Jackson holding his ornament from his first Christmas. Wouldn't it be neat if I could get a picture of him holding it each year?! Hopefully I remember to do that!

I let Jackson put all of his ornaments on the tree and they all ended up in this tiny area. They, of course, no longer reside there thanks to a certain little sister who likes to eat play with them.

This is Jackson’s ornament from this year. I just couldn’t resist the red helmet! It reminds me of the Chiefs helmet Jackson loves to wear all the time.

And Belle’s. Of course, it will actually  be her picture inside once I get a few! The little tag says, “so much cute in one little package!” It’s like they knew my daughter when they designed it! :)

Does your Christmas tree tell a story? What are your favorite ornaments?

Once upon a time

Once upon a time, there were two high school BFFs who did almost everything together. They only had a handful of school classes together, but writing/passing skillfully folded notes were a daily occurrence. After school hours were spent at volleyball practices before dinner, marching band practice after dinner; FCA on Monday nights, church on Wednesday nights, competitions on Saturdays. And then there were the sleepovers, mission trips, youth events, summer camps, double dates, you name it... they did it together!

Super Bowl Party 2000

(for the record, this Rams jersey was in support for the Super Bowl only-- supporting fellow Missiourians. I, however, am a loyal Chiefs fan.)

 Prom 2002

The bad news is that high school ended. College started. Life got busy! The good news is that they still keep in touch and it doesn't matter if it's been weeks, months, or years... they can pick up right where they left off without missing a beat.

Flashback: It's 2001. Legally Blonde hits the theaters. I have no idea if we saw this movie together, but I have my guess that we did. We, of course, then are in agreement that we will become lawyers and we will do so wearing pink.

Fast Forward a few years: We are both still studying our undergrad (which both happen to be marketing degrees) and MTV broadcasts the Broadway debut of Legally Blonde: The Musical. I looooove it!

Fast Forward a few more years: We're both in grad school (Casey is still on track with the law school plan; I am totally not). Legally Blonde: The Musical comes to Kansas City. I love it even more in real life. And I called Casey the next day and was all like, "OHMIGOSH! You've GOT to see this! You are going to be just. like. Elle!"

Fast Forward again. It's been ten years now-- it's 2011. Casey just graduated with her law degree- woo hoo! I'm a mom with two kids and an estimated graduation date of NEVER with my Master's Degree that has nothing to do with law. But we both do still share a mutual love of the color pink (it's the important things that bind us!). So, I somehow figure out that Legally Blonde: The Musical is passing through St. Louis, so I called and said, "We have to go!" and we made tentative plans.

Then this Monday comes along and it dawns on me that the play is happening THIS WEEK! I called Casey and (because of my wonderful mother who watched the kiddos) we totally put together a plan to go the very next day (yesterday). I drove to Columbia to meet up with Casey. We headed out for St. Louis, ate at Olive Garden, enjoyed the show from the free seats at the Muny, and then got in the car to drive to Columbia laughing at our pathetic selves for being so tired at 1am when we used to stay up that late listening to the Backstreet Boys years ago! She got up this morning to go to class (to get ready for the Bar) and I drove home.

It was a super fun, whirlwind of a trip! Makes my life feel kind of interesting actually. Totally worth the eight hours of driving there and back to see a silly musical. But it wasn't just about the show (which is fabulous), but it was wonderful chatting with such an old friend.

Our lives are so totally opposite now, but no matter how different they might become, nothing can change the fact that we were once two high school BFFs that did everything together. And that is just enough to ensure a friendship forever!

Homecoming Festivities!

Homecoming festivities have been happening here for the past couple of weeks.

Spirit week 

(actually two weeks due to snow days!)

Pajama Day!

 The Basketball Game

Go Mustangs!

Grammy helped Jackson show some spirit. Yea, Julie!

Homecoming Court

Julie was nominated as a candidate for queen!! 

(I was privelaged to escort her during the ceremony- I am like, twice as wide as she is!!!) She didn't win, but she came home and said, "I'm glad Diana won. She really wanted to win." She truly meant it too. No wonder the kids in her class love her!

(side note: Derek was Homecoming King back in his high school days)

Homecoming Formal

 Isn't Julie just b-e-a-utiful!?!?

The kids got all fancied up last night to go to dinner and a comedy club. Julie said it was so much fun.

 Oh! And here is how her Matt asked her to homecoming... so cute!

The 5k at 5 months pregnant

So, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Today, I participated in a 5K as a fundraiser for Julie's school. Of course, I didn't have a spectacular finish time (1 hour, 9 minutes), but I finished! Being 5 months pregnant and pulling an extra 60 pounds in a wagon while walking up and down hills, over bumpy sidewalks, and across the field-- I think finishing in itself is quite the achievement! And I've decided that since I did the walking for four persons, that I actually get to divide my time by four, so that turns out to be a pretty awesome time quite actually!

Not that my husband is impressed. I sent him a text message and the one I got in response:

I ran 3.5 miles today too and didn't break a sweat.

UGH, Jerk!! Who cares what he thinks anyway!?

I hadn't been planning on participating because I didn't really know how I was going to be feeling, but I woke up feeling pretty good and I really wanted the chance to help out the school. Not only is Heartland High School the one that Julie is attending while she is living with us, it is the high school that Derek graduated from several a few years back.

The school offers an outstanding education in a Christian environment. I am friends with several of the teachers and I can say without a doubt that they invest so much in all of the students! Several of the teachers have even volunteered their evenings and some weekends to come and help Julie with some homework. How much more involved can you get?!

Being a private school, the students pay tuition, but the school has never declined a student for financial reasons. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are allocated each year to allow every student the chance to attend. They even offer free tuition to all students of a family member deployed in the United States military as a service to them for the sacrifice they make.

I'm not trying to sound like an advertisement here, and I am definitely not getting any sort of compensation for the post. I just want to share about this wonderful ministry and why I decided to walk a 5K at five months pregnant!

Here are some pictures of Julie starting the race. Of course, she finished a long time before me, so I wasn't there when she finished.

Okay, now that you're already impressed and everything... I have to admit that I am so completely sore and achy. I chilled out on the couch with a heating pad for an hour and half this afternoon!!

My school pictures never looked like this

Julie was so excited to show me her school pictures that came in today! At first, she said she didn't know if they were good or not. I said, "Are you crazy?? These are great!!!!" And now she just can't wait to share them with friends and family.

The night before the pictures were taken, Julie tried on every single one of her uniform shirts to decide which one would be the best (seriously, having a teenage girl in the house is so much fun) and I am so glad that we chose the bright pink. It's a fun color and it totally matches her personality.

Isn't she just so pretty? As part of the picture package, there was a touch-up option, but she didn't even have to order it... her skin is just naturally perfect! I like to think that she gets her good looks from me... but aside from the fact that I have never had good skin complexion in my life, if there were any claim to genetic inheritance from this host family, it's the chin-- just like Derek and Jackson.

First day of school

Today was Julie's first day of school! 

She's definitely not a fan of the uniform (khakis and polo shirt), but I assured her that it could be worse! That, and we reminded her that everyone else would look just as silly as she did. It was only a half day, so she came home and said, "I've got to change. I just can't do this."

She has a couple of friends over now until volleyball practice starts at 3:30. Look at them doing their homework like good little high school students!

And I definitely can't forget to mention that Julie had volleyball tryouts yesterday and totally made the varsity team!! How cool is she?!

We had a back to school night at the school last night. Goodness gracious do we have a crazy, busy year ahead of us! I went out to purchase a planer today just to keep track of it all! Working volleyball concessions here, weekend trips there. Midterms, basketball, and fundraisers... oh my!!! We're going to have so much fun!

Dear Laura

I spent almost an hour searching for the perfect graduation card. I ended up buying one, but as I began to write in it, it just wasn't what I wanted. (I thought you were supposed to be the indecisive one.) No card captured what I wanted to say, so I decided to write one myself.

Congrats on your wonderful achievement! Everyone is so proud of you. There was a point in time when I wondered if this day would ever come-- i.e. the double-spaced-incident and the closed-until-spring-incident too, but you've proved that despite some of your airheaded moments that you really do have a good head on your shoulders. Especially since you graduated with academic achievement. Way to go!

More than that, I am so proud of the person you've become. You are so kind, so thoughtful, so compassionate. Truthfully, you are just the kind of person who's fun to be around, which probably has something to do with getting voted the "Girl Most Likely To Make You Laugh" in your graduating class. It was no surprise that you were nominated as Homecoming Princess and Prom Queen because you are nice to everyone you meet.

I treasure our friendship. When I answer the phone, "What. Do. You. Want?" when you call me at some ungodly hour at night, deep down (or not so deep) it makes me feel good that I am the person you call. And even though I continue to tease you about the time we drove home from Grandma's and you spent the entire 75 minutes filling me in on the drama about your junior prom that went a little something like this:

Well, so-and-so is clearly trying to sabotage the evening because we had already decided as a group go to such-and-such a place for dinner and then he called and made plans elsewhere. He is trying to RUIN EVERYTHING! So-and-so is going with so-and-so and she doesn't even want to go with him. It is just going to RUIN EVERYTHING!

I did actually care because it was important to you. I loved helping you with graduation announcements and with your party. Even more, I love when I come over sometimes and we just sit and talk for awhile. It seems that the older we get, the age difference gets smaller and smaller.

I have to mention what a good aunt you are to Jackson. I always knew you were excited to have a nephew (not as excited as if he had been a girl, but excited nonetheless), but I had no idea that you'd be so crazy about him and especially not so quickly. He was barely two days old when you told me that nearly everybody at your school had seen the pictures of him and you came down to visit just so you could hold him. Now that he's older, I know you have fun taking him over to see your friends just to show him off. I hear about "Worwa" all of the time. He just loves you.

So congratulations on your high school graduation. Your whole life awaits you. You will have a blast at Mizzou. I'm not sure they are quite ready for your dedicated levels of team spirit and spunk, but campus will definitely be a happier place with you there.  Continue to love the Lord, work hard, remain happy-go-lucky and you will succeed. And you will make the world a better place as you do.

Love you!
Your Big Sis, Amy

P.S. When did you get so gosh darn pretty!?!

Thankless Jobs

Though I have no experience as being either, I have concluded that being a soldier is a little bit like being a parent of a teenager. I am a civilian and I was once a teenager- and as both, I have taken my privileges and rights for granted.

As a teen, do you really realize how much effort goes into raising you? And did you ever, EVER thank your parents for their hard work during your teen years? My parents were always there to support me, to encourage me, and to cheer me on despite the fight that happened the night before, or the inconveniences of taking me to the places I needed to go, or the simple fact that I, at times, was a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment. Needless to say, I hear it is a pretty thankless job.

While soldiers today aren't treated with such disrespect as they were in the Vietnam era, I am still fairly certain that it is also a thankless job. Some may get some praise and support when they leave for deployment and possibly receive a grand welcome home party upon return. What about all of that hard work and dedication to serve (even in pink boxers) in the hundreds of days in between? What about the soldiers who don't have support from loved ones at home?

This picture made the cover of The New York Times earlier this year.

The reason this is on my mind today is because a friend is leaving today for his training to be deployed to Africa next month. Here is a picture of Rich with his kiddos home from leave during his last deployment in 2008 (Emma was a student in our Sunday school class at the time. Connor will be in the class next fall.)

Rich is so fortunate to have such a great family that supports him along with friends and his church. Not everyone is so lucky. So, how can we be grateful, thankful citizens and let all soldiers know that we stand behind them?

• We should pray for them daily.
• Go out of your way to say "thanks" when you see a soldier in uniform.
• Send an encouraging note or a package of goodies to a soldier (don't know one personally- check out www.AnySoldier.com. You can browse through hundreds of Unit Leaders who have registered and requested specific requests for their groups. The leader will deliver the packages to soldiers who do not receive packages from friends and family at home.
• Say something encouraging to the families of soldiers. They will find comfort knowing you are praying too.
• Do something special for the families of the soldiers. It's hard to be a soldier living in the desert. It's also hard to be a wife of a soldier with a 2 year old and a newborn to take care of all by yourself. (You did a great job, Jessica!) Offer to cook a meal, watch the kids, take the kids to karate lessons.
• Donate time or money to an organization that sponsor's soldiers and their families. http://troopssupport.com/ is a great place to look for opportunities- they have several organizations listed, so click on one that interests you. From being a greeter for soldiers coming home to working with the kids of deployed soldiers- there's something for everyone!

Just like we all can't be doctors and we all can't be President- we can't all participate in every single one of these activities. But if we could all do a thing or two, once or twice a year imagine what it could mean to our servicemen and their families. It may not make their deployment shorter or the conditions less harsh, but feeling appreciated can make a world of difference in anyone's job- especially a soldier.

This past fall, our Sunday school class partnered up with the Women's Bible study class to send a package to several soldiers. The kids painted signs for each package- a simple gesture, and the moment our friend Josh received the package, he hung up the poster and posted a picture- and it remains his profile picture even 6 months later.

To all of our soldiers and veterans: Thank you SO much for your service. Thank you for sacrificing your standard of living, time with your families, and most of all your lives to protect our freedoms and to uphold our Constitution.