2011

As I have been thinking over the year that was 2011, I've had a lot of emotions flood through me. I remembered tonight, as we rung in the new year at Julee's last year, someone saying something along the lines of "good riddance to 2010. " Many of those that were present and heard the comment agreed. Some made comments about what difficult times they or someone they loved or knew had been having. 2010 wasn't particularly horrible for us, but it certainly wasn't any picnic. Don't get me wrong there was plenty to be grateful for, but it still had been tough.

Enter 2011...pretty sure the hardest yet. So many nights I cried myself to sleep. So many prayers for more faith, patience, and reprieve I uttered. So many times I fought back emotions as I tried to explain, answer questions, and make sense of what I didn't understand. I hate remembering those really hard days. It's just so hard to go back there. To think about how scared we were nearly every minute of the day. How unfair it was! How when things would start to get better they almost always got way worse. Sometimes life is just h.a.r.d. and really unfair. Period. And it's ok to acknowledge that. It's not our job to "fix"it and try to reason the pain away.  I try to focus on the incredible progress that Will has made, and how much we love being together and going and doing things.

So it is that I'm a little weary to send this year off with a  "good riddance." I hope I have learned what I needed up to this point, and pray that next year won't be a refresher course or an advanced level class. I am sad to see it go. It has ended on such a high, high note with so many hopes and expectations of all the good that awaits our family. I feel like we are living again and not just surviving. And while things are not perfectly perfect if there is such a thing, we are together.

Real Quick

I just wanted to make a quick note before I go to bed of a couple things I am thankful for.

1. Something that was wonderful today was watching Will and Jack play together and love each other. They truly enjoyed being brothers today. I am so thankful I got to see that, and hear them laugh together at each other's silliness.

2. Again I am amazed at the good man I married. He is certainly not perfect, but he is one incredibly patient, loving husband and father, who puts up with me, a certainly imperfect woman.

Today has been good.

Christmas Morning

Will woke us up around the usual 6:30 a.m. time. He was very excited to go see if Santa had eaten the cookies and milk, and to see if he'd left anything for him. Santa doesn't wrap the presents he leaves at our house so Will was pretty excited and content to look through his stocking and play with the 2 toys that were left for him, and the two for Jack.

Jack hadn't been feeling that well so we just let him sleep while we got ready for church. Will exercised some pretty incredible patience for a 4 year old since we didn't want to open up the presents from us until Jack was awake. Jack finally woke up a little before 10 with a fever and pretty runny nose. Great. He was definitely not feeling the Christmas spirit even though Will was trying his hardest to get Jack excited about it finally being Christmas.

He cheered up a tad to open his presents, but soon relented to just being pouty and really hard to get along with despite all our efforts. He just felt pretty rotten most of the day, poor guy, but the rest of us enjoyed being together. Due to the fever, we weren't able to make it to church, so we spent the day working on puzzles, watching some Christmas movies, and just playing.

Will's been wanting one of these for a long time. He was so excited. It was so much fun to watch him unwrap this.

Jack's trusty steed, "Cracker Barrel."

Probably Broccoli

While shopping at Wal Mart, we went to pick up some broccoli. Will and Jack eagerly grabbed a crown to place in the bag I was holding. An older couple walked by admiring them and started to ask if they liked broccoli. Will shook his head yes, while Jack stared at them looking very bored. The older lady said to Jack, "I think broccoli looks like little trees. Don't you think it looks like a tree?" Jack replied matter-of-factly, "uh, et's pro-blee broc lee." I don't think she heard him, but I thought it was funny.

Spoon Anyone?

Will was getting ready to eat soup when Patrick asked if he wanted a big spoon or little (children's) spoon. Will said, " I want a man spoon!"

Patrick's Birthday

 Thanks to Patrick's very kind and generous boss, we celebrated Patrick's birthday with tickets to watch the Predators play the Red Wings, and thanks to my very kind and generous Mom we were able to go. We were 2 rows from the ice, right behind the Predators bench. It was a very exciting game with the Predators scoring with only 2 minutes left. It was so fun to be together. Happy birthday, Honey!

All Tuckered Out