2007's Top Ten

I visited my sister Tara and her family in Arizona last New Year's and they let us in on their family tradition. They list the Top 10 Events of the year. These are not necessarily your favorite or even good, just the most significant. It seemed basic, but after sitting with them and really thinking about it and coming up with 10 things, it proved valuable. It was thought provoking, reflective and fun. So here we are, New Year's Eve 2007, and before I begin planning how I'm going to do things so much better next year, I'm going to reflect on last year...

1. Longs came home (indefinitely) from Bosnia and Eagan was born! (ok, that may be two things but it was a busy year!)

2. Our first family road trip (10 days of family fun through California in May!)

3. A visit from Andrew's sister and her family last April. Not only did we love having them here for Easter but we visited Disneyland and Sea World and therefore had passes for both amusement parks for the rest of the year!

4. Skelly family reunion in the Outer Banks, NC (1 week, 1 house, 13 adults, 11 kids under 7, priceless fun!)

5. Adam started walking (he was 16 months before he was really walking, ugh!) and talking (we are very happy to hear lots of words and even two sentence phrases after having experienced the worry and frustration of Jason not talking until 2 1/2).

6. Andrew and I both lost a Grandpa (Alton Skelly, Sr. in January and Ralph McCambridge in July)

7. I started homeschooling Stephen. (It's been challenging and rewarding and time consuming and we're barely halfway done!)

8. Our church merged with another and we now have a new name, a new location and new friends! And as great as that is and has been, there's a nostalgic part of us that misses New Harvest, the Boys and Girls Club, and the gym.

9. We weren't pregnant for a whole year (that was last year's New Year's Resolution :) giving me a chance to have two elective surgeries (a painful screw removed from my pinkie and a stapedectomy to restore hearing in one ear.) Both were successful, praise God!

10. The kid's experienced their first organized group activities (swim lessons, ballet and soccer).

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

LOVE, The Skellys

Gingerbread Houses

For over 20 years we've been building gingerbread houses with our cousins. We go to Aunt Edie's house and build and decorate houses together. It's fun to build the houses but really it's a reason to get together at Christmas time without actually getting together on Christmas, which has just become impossible with our growing family. So Thank You to Aunt Edie and Sara for baking all 13 houses for this year's event. I thought we'd never build that many but 12 houses went home (Lindsay's job kept her from finishing her doghouse). This year was particularly special because we were all there, all 6 of Grandma's grandkids (Sara, Jocelyn, Robert, Casey, Amy & Lindsay) and all 16 of her great-grandkids! Grandma put it best as we tried to corral the kids for a group photo when she said, "this is all my fault!"

For pictures of the gingerbread houses check out my shutterfly slideshow: http://skellyfamily.shutterfly.com/

Christmas Choir

Jason and Beth sang in church the Sunday before Christmas with the other 2-5 year olds in their Sunday School class. They sang Mary had a baby and Away in a Manger, so cute! It was a bit chaotic with all those kids, teachers and parents but adorable, nonetheless. It really amuses me that we as parents force our children to stand on stage so they can be cute and we can take pictures but then half of them cry, fewer than that sing and the others look around and wonder over all the fuss. The best part is that no matter what they did while up there, they always seem to be proud of their "performance" after we clap and they get to leave the stage. Some sort of performance sense of reality, I guess. I have to brag a little because Jason was fabulous. He sang out and did all the hand gestures, and standing there a head above the rest he really stood out in his shirt and tie (which he picked out himself so he could look like daddy, awww...) He is the oldest in the class so I guess I should expect him to do a good job but I was truly impressed and proud of his performance. And even though she was really nervous, Beth quietly stood next to Jason and did all the motions while mouthing the words. I wish I could upload the video I took so you could see how amazingly cute and amusing they all were but until I get a more modern video camera, you'll just have to look at the pictures and imagine :)

Christmas Anacrostic

It's really part of California from Disney's California Adventure but here's my twist:

A is for Adorable, Awesome, Amazing (my three kids)

O is for my oldest kid (and the most amazing husband)

L is for Love (do I need to explain that one?)

Big Brother

I grew up the oldest sibling, and I like it that way but this picture makes me a little jealous of Beth. She has the best big brother ever! And as Adam's growing up and becoming more interactive, he's getting into the benefits of older siblings, as well. Siblings may fight and fight and fight but they also love each other, play together, entertain each other and support each other. I love that my kids have each other. Some days when the sharing just isn't working or the tattling seems endless, I need to remind myself of these moments where I catch them casually watching TV together all curled up in one ball just wanting to be close to each other.

Days later...I actually witnessed Beth tell Jason, "I'm scared of this part [of the movie], can I sit in your lap?" And I caught the result on film again.

Thanksgiving Premiere

Thanksgiving is many people's favorite holiday. I've heard reasons like I love the food or there are no gifts, it's just about family. And while those reasons are nice, Thanksgiving isn't my favorite holiday. It just seems like another reason to get together and eat. And while I like eating and spending time with family and having my husband for a four-day weekend, I've just never felt anything particularly special about Thanksgiving. Well now that I have kids old enough to learn and create holiday traditions, I have reason to make Thanksgiving meaningful. Thankfully, my sister Casey and her family did that for me. For our Thanksgiving at Aunt Edie and Uncle Kenn's (happy turkey day birthday to you, Kenn!) the Longs put together a First Annual Thanksgiving Day performance. The boys created a cardboard Mayflower and costumes, and with Dad Stacy as narrator, they performed the story of the First Thanksgiving for all the adults. Jason and Beth were so proud to be pilgrims, and even Adam strutted his stuff as an Indian. It was an educational, funny and entertaining success. Beth still wears her pilgrim hat weeks later! And after all is said and done, I must admit that the food and hanging out time with the family was pretty special, too.

(This picture of Caleb, Tori and Beth is after the play. They created their own adventure of kings, pilgrims and indians...I don't think Pilgrims fought with swords but go Beth!)