Annie, insisting she’s a bunny named Candy Cane, wishes you a Christmas with, “two ‘turtle-dogs,’ and a partridge in a pear tree.” Ha!
And as our holidays are full of music both in the home & in t he car, we know for a fact that our two girls will probably never make it into Furman Singers. (Ha!) They do, however, have so many other talents, that we have been truly blessed.
Leia Rose just turned eight & is in second grade at our dear Immaculata Catholic School which is inspiring great faith in Leia who continues to look forward to her First Eucharist this spring. I am happy to report that Leia has nixed her frustration with math (& resulting disrespect to the teacher) & replaced it with a new determination. She is still learning to manage & organize her studies by herself (which is a result of an over-active Mamma at home). After taking the part of a little Colonial girl on historical day, we rewarded that effort with a trip to Williamsburg with Mamma to cement her knowledge of the Revolution (& the American Girl Felicity books). Further, Leia Rose has graduated from the fun of pre-ballet to being a “real” ballerina in the disciplined Ballet I. This summer Leia Rose quickly learned to ride a bike (due to our huge porch that allowed her to practice). In fact, the first time she truly tried at Etowah Park, she just got on & rode! Leia continues to foster her love of both kitties & Star Wars, … & I get a kick out of knowing that both of the girls have crushes on separate boys BOTH named Logan! Ha!
Speaking of little just-turned-four-year-old Annie (who is already writing her name), she is getting a great start at Mountain Sun Community School, a fabulous Montessori program. This continues our tradition of starting our girls in the Montessori method in order to foster both independence & love of learning. Annie absolutely ADORES school & named it as one of the things she was most thankful for this Thanksgiving. It is wonderful to see Annie, although still a loner (& a thumb-sucker & a bunny-lover) at heart, learning to interact & make friends with children her own age. Brian & I laughed heartily when, at teacher conferences, her teacher’s first comment was “Annie is a healthy eater.” It seems that, not unlike a hobbit, Annie prefers her breakfast, second breakfast, & elevenses (before lunch). Ha! Yes, for our littlest one, this year was the year of the bunny. It began around Easter when Annie confiscated the bunny ears & wore them every single day for months (until we conveniently “lost” them). Annie’s greatest joy was when we adopted our newest Holland lop named Ollie who, because he was adopted on 9/11, was named after one of the first tower victims named Edward Oliver. Another thing to mention (other than Annie’s love of rhymes which culminated in “Annie’s Book of Rhymes” which we created together), is Annie’s unusual prayers (the latter also ending with a rhyme). She began the year always ending with, “& for the world to be seen” which always boggled our mind & then ended the year, “for our new bunny & old bunny, Peri & Ollie. And Ollie’s a ballie.”
As for the busy lady of the family, I was fortunate enough in my work to get a promotion to Staff Review Editor at eNotes, shifting my focus from working with students to working with teachers to organize and write lesson plans. But of course my main vocation continues to be that of a Mamma, so a main portion of my time (in addition to trying to go to daily Mass more) still is figuring out cool projects to do with the girls when we have our special time together, everything from creating bunny & alphabet books with Annie to finding new outdoor adventures for the family. We have gotten into lots of awesome outdoor activities this year like biking on the Eastatoe path , tubing on the Davidson river, water sliding along Sliding Rock, skiing on Lake Murray, hiking the Dupont State Forest, traversing “Compare Falls” behind my parents new home, allowing the girls a ride up four stories in a cherry picker, but our crowning achievement would be continual kite-flying along the Blue Ridge Parkway which was featured on News 13 out of Asheville. Ironically, all this while I have been nursing a severe injury to the arch of my left foot which took a full year to heal, but with everyone’s prayers is finally mended enough for me to do regular exercise again. As for this Christmas season, I have actually been able to enjoy it immensely as a result of the decision of the Asheville Ballet to raise the age of Nutcracker performers. Another irony is that one of my greatest joys this year has been the creation of what I call my “Mamma Drawer,” which is simply a little drawer in my bureau where I place all of the little natural “gifts” that the children give me when I am outside with them. It began with a rock or two, but now it is full of dried flower petals, weeds, stones, pinecones, seeds, acorns, grasses, & tiny clods of mud: all things that I would have thrown away. Many evenings I open that drawer & just look at its contents: evidence of unconditional love from my children. My Mamma Drawer: my most special Christmas gift. My latest treasure, a little rock that Annie gave me saying, “Here, Mamma. It’s not very pretty, but it’s still for you.”
Brian has thrived this year as well. He is loving his job more than ever. The company that has contracted with Pharmagra to attain Brian’s chemistry services has been amazed & happy with his work. As a result, Brian is looking forward to an amazing performance review with both a raise & a bonus. Although we are still nowhere near the figure our family made at GSK, Brian has added a second job as math & science Super Editor at my same company “in order to earn a car payment.” I couldn’t help laughing that within one minute of telling my boss about Brian, my husband had attained my title as well as my same pay rate (something that took me years to achieve). Must be that pesky Yale doctorate degree. On a different note, Brian has rejoiced in becoming an uncle this year! Brian’s brother, Alan, & his wife Cassie have added a sweet baby boy named Zachary to our family! This means that Leia Rose & Annie now have a cousin!!! (& may I add that Zachary has made Leia Rose into a mega-nurturer! When Leia’s not holding Zachary, she’s sulking that someone else is getting to do it!) But most importantly, Brian continues to be a fabulous husband and father, sharing all of our adventures and our joys.
And as we wish you the many blessings that Christ’s birth can undoubtedly bestow upon your family, we want to end our annual letter with some laughs, so enjoy this Christmas gift of laughter:
· Leia, upon creating a new nickname for Annie:"Annie, you're a physical bean! . . . No, you're a legume!" Ha!
· Annie, upon hearing Leia profess her love of Logan: "I love Logan, too! . . . but I also love crayons." Ha!
· Leia, upon finding some algae on a pond: "Look Mamma, ALLERGY!!!"
· Annie, upon waking up: "Hmmm, Mamma, I think I'd like eggs for my breakfast protein."
· Mamma: "Hmmm, Annie's only three. What could she give up for Lent? How about Tantrums! Annie, want to give tantrums up for Lent?" Annie: "No WAY!" Ha!
· Annie: "Mamma, which way is up?" Ha!
· Leia, upon seeing the rowdy teenagers in E.T.: "Look at those ranktious boys!" Ha!
· Annie, upon hearing Mamma & Mrs. Scott talk about the breadwinner of the family: "I’M the breadwinner in our family! I LOVE to eat bread!" Ha!
· Annie: "Mamma, I just love everyone in our family! I love Mamma. I love Daddy. I love Papa. I love Grandma and Grandpa. I love Oma & Papa." "But, Annie what about your sister?" "Hmmm,… I don't know about Leia." Ha!
· Annie sighed, put her head in her hands & said, "I'm SO expensive!" Ha!
· Annie: "Mamma Mia, Mamma Tortilla, I just can't do this!" Ha!
· Annie's joke: "Mamma, why did the frog go to Prague? To get a hot dog!" Ha!
· Leia: "Mamma, I"m so fantatious!" Ha!
· Leia upon pondering how Logan is now “just” her friend: "Mamma, I think we're secretly in love." "How do you know? Did he tell you?" "I can just feel it!” Ha!
· Leia: "Thank you God for the things we can do. [Do you know why I'm saying that? Because I can hula hoop while hopping on one foot!]" Ha!
· Leia insists that "cous cous" is called "goose goose." Ha!
· Annie : "We're gonna go shopping?!? Can we buy a CAR?!?" Ha!
· Leia insists Kung Fu is really called “Tongue” Fu. Ha!
· Annie insists on calling a spatula a "speciala." Ha!
· On July 4, Annie waves her "kamerican" flag, asks for us to play "the south america songs" like "stars & stripes for everybody"! Ha!
· Annie, upon realizing she needed some summer relaxation: "Mamma, I need to put on some ‘sunscream’ and 'belax'!" Ha!
· Annie, upon being asked if something was a necessity: "Yes, it's a nes-sesame street."
· Annie, upon getting tired of Mamma laughing and making up silly words, waved her magic wand & said, "Mamma, I'm gonna disappear your jokes!" Ha!
· Annie, upon being asked what cake she’d like me to bake for her birthday, “Something simple, like a jackrabbit hopping over a rosebush." Ha!
· Annie's combination of "discovery" & "explorer" as we played a new pool game of "Ex-covery Bunnies.”
· At Back to School Night most second grade students’ thought bubbles attached to their self portraits professed love for their parents: What did Leia’s say? "I can't wait for Labor Day!" Ha!
· Leia, upon considering why it was called a biplane: "Is it called a biplane because it flies by?" Ha!
· Leia, upon considering the meaning of the word “dude”: “A dude is like a friend, except that's the way surfers say it, or cool guys.” Ha!
· Annie upon being told she needed to learn to control herself, "I don't WANT to control myself. I want to control MAMMA!" Ha!
· Annie: "Mamma, I won a gold medal for counting! I went all the way up to 13 & 2nd!" Ha!
· Leia: “Mamma, today we played boy chase! & I LIKED it! Oh no!”
· Annie upon getting a "dud" (or a bunny that didn't hop in the bunny hopping game): Mamma, I got a ‘frud.’”
· Leia, upon hearing Mamma's newest rendition of "On Top of Spaghetti": "Mamma! You've got to write that down on a piece of paper & make it famous!" Ha!
· Annie: "Mamma, I had a bad day at school. I was standing behind Dylan, & he said I had a beautiful face! [Harumph!] Mamma, I did NOT smile at him." Ha!
· Annie, upon seeing a goat craning his neck to get some food: "Hey Mamma, look! A little teeny giraffe!"
· Annie, upon seeing the simple “no smoking” consisting of a rectangle “cigarette “with a line through it. "Mamma, look! No burning pencils, Mamma. You’re not allowed to burn pencils here."
· At recess, Leia and her friends created a new game called "Cheeseland" where the kids all took names of different cheeses (Leia was Mozzarella & her friends were Cheddar, Pepper Jack, etc.) & spoke in "Cheese Language" calling Valentine’s Day "Cheese-n-tines Day." Ha!
· Annie, upon being asked if she’d like a chicken drumstick at dinner: "Yay! YAY! Meat from the BONE!" Ha!
· Leia, upon playing a few of the more active games on the Wii Fit Plus: "I really like these exercises where I'm learning how to beat up boys." Ha!
· Annie, upon hearing me count “one, two, three, GO” while we were leaf sledding: "Don’t count to three, Mamma. Count to four because I'm four now!" Ha!
· Annie's new song about God: "God is so smart. God is so pretty. He's my Jesus, lily mine." Ha!
With Love From Noelle, Brian, Leia, and Annie
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