I have tried to establish a variety of family traditions related to different holidays and birthdays, but thus far we haven't done anything for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. The only one Paul and I celebrated over the past 16 years was our first one as a married couple when we were visiting Chicago. Otherwise I usually go to bed at my usual time on December 31. A lot of people in our area have a tradition of eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day, but Paul and I have never done that. This year we planned to go to church and then celebrate Christmas with Paul's family on New Year's Day, but those plans have been postponed (much to the dismay of Nadia and Ian) because of the stomach bug they caught from their cousins. Ian threw up again yesterday morning, but he seems to be fine now. Oliver threw up just before bed last night, and Nadia started throwing up around 5:00 this morning. We shall see if Paul and I can escape the bug. Because I thought we would be at Paul's parents' house today, I didn't have a menu planned. If the restaurant is open, I think I'll get take-out pizza to try to make the day a little bit special.Paul and I always used to go to his aunt's annual Christmas party, but it's been several years since we've made it there. I thought Paul went on Friday night, but he skipped it due to not being able to leave the plant soon enough to make it down to the party. Because we usually get sick during the Christmas gathering in Maryland, we often have had to cancel our plans to go to her party (which is always held a few days after Christmas).
I have always been more susceptible to respiratory bugs than stomach ones. I have lived in PA for 20.5 years, and during that time I've had a stomach bug three times. The first was when I was single and living in my apartment. I remember my secretary coming and bringing me crackers and Ginger Ale. The second was in 2007 when I was newly pregnant with Nadia. I caught the bug in Chicago when staying with Wendy, and I lectured at 8:00 am with the bug because at that point I thought it was morning sickness. Oops! The third time was two years ago. I caught it in Maryland at our Christmas gathering, and I remember throwing up while I was in the PICU with Oliver. Although stomach bugs are a lot messier than respiratory ones (thankfully Nadia has been making it to the toilet in time), one plus is that they don't last as long as respiratory ones. Hopefully in a couple of days we'll all be healthy again. Maybe we'll exchange Christmas gifts at Paul's parents' house on Paul's birthday, which is on Tuesday. In addition to tending to sick kids, I know we'll be watching two football games even though neither of our teams need to win today.Although I have written a goal post every year for several years, for the past few months I had decided not to write one this year because so many of the goals weren't met last year. I am accustomed to not achieving all of the goals, but it was discouraging to see how many of them weren't achieved. For example, instead of losing weight, I gained weight. Lovely. But yesterday I changed my mind and decided I would still write some goals for this year, and hopefully we'll have more success in 2017 than we did in 2016.
House - I want to stain the deck and do some exterior painting (posts on the front porch and the new door that Paul installed on the side of the garage).Ian - learn how to tie shoes, eat his dinner faster, learn how to cut his food, obey the first time I ask him to do something, decrease the whining and complaining, less of the "gimmes,' learn to shower and shampoo independently, and learn to read chapter books silently
Nadia - get in habit of having a daily time of prayer and Bible reading, focus more with her on creative writing, practice cursive writing more, become less sensitive to sights, sounds, and smells, be more aware of the tone of her voice, be more honest, and smile when singing
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| Showing the new color of our living room walls. Quite a change from white! |
Math - Nadia and Ian master their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts; Oliver learn to count to 20 and identify the numerals 0-10 accurately.
Ruth - lose weight, try at least one new recipe a month, continue to hone my photography skills, floss more regularly, dust the house more regularly, drink more water
Art - Complete six more Beginners projects from Creating a Masterpiece with Nadia and Ian by the beginning of June
Bible - start a prayer journal with Nadia and Ian, read I Chronicles through Malachi to Nadia and Ian by the end of May
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| I still can't believe I picked this color, ha ha! It only cost $21 for the paint, tape, and roller brush. Big Change! |
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