Escape rooms are a family favorite. A Star Wars escape room is even more of a favorite. This one was fun, and we escaped!
The Verve hosts the Black and White dance every January. Both girls had a fun evening with their friends.
Marc has been wanting to take the family skiing. I hadn't been skiing since high school, and it wasn't my favorite thing to do. We took a long weekend and headed to North Carolina to let the girls give it a try.
The drive down the mountain was scary. The roads were starting to ice, so we needed to get out of there. Marc had to ride the brakes most of the way down, and are car started smelling as we neared the bottom. We ended up pulling over at the base and letting the car cool down and rest a bit. We started home, debating on if we should find a hotel for the night, but after talking to a friend from the area, we decided to make it around the last mountain where he said it should clear up. Thankfully we made it home safely. It was definitely an adventure filled weekend!
Brooke,
You have grown and matured so much this year. You still have an enormous amount of words to use in a day. You are creative and are always making big plans. You enjoy doing crafts, swimming, and collecting squishmallows. You live life to the fullest, love to dance, and Nutella is your favorite. I can't wait to see how you grow in your knowledge and love for the Lord this year.
Love always and forever,
Mama
1. My wife is so smart.
2. Find yourself a mechanic that will
adjust your daughter's car's Rudolph nose so that it is centered after working
under the hood. Then you know you’ve got a winner.
3. My dog is so mischievous. Also, I
have a sneaking suspicion that my dog had something to do with the freeze on
business travel at work.
4. A raptor is not just a slow-moving
Velociraptor. Also, vests that are marketed to protect little dogs from coyotes
and raptors actually aren't a joke.
5. We slept through a bomb cyclone.
Also, bomb cyclones really take the luster out of both bombs and cyclones.
6. Sometimes the most accessible
firewood isnt the wood that'll burn best. Also, the variation in flammability
of wood is amazing - some burns like dry leaves, and some burns like a pile of
rocks.
7. Hanging bicycles on the garage
ceiling will really turn your perspective upside down.
8. Pickleball isn't just for people
more mature than me. It's also for our family. Let's pickleball, y'all!
9. My work mom used to tell me that
parenting toddlers is physically tiring, but parenting teenagers is emotionally
tiring. She was right! Worth it though.
10. Professional lumberjacks are still
a thing. I think most of them work at a lumberjack show in Maine. Yo-Ho!
11. Senioritis is real but so far not
contagious.
12. If you live in a house of 4 females
that don’t like bugs, screening in a deck is worth whatever it costs.
13. Painting yourself into a corner is
the direct result of not planning ahead. Next time, wear clothes that'll be ok
when you lean against a wet wall.
14. I may have a doctorate of
philosophy, but I was not trained to teach a middle kid to drive.
15. Sometimes the encouragers need
encouragement.
16. Don’t go through life using a
chainsaw with a broken handle. Similarly, when food comes out of the oven it’ll
be too hot to put directly in your mouth for several minutes.
17. At the beach, the "keep out -
venomous snake nesting area" sign is much more effective than the typical
"help us protect our dunes" sign.
18. Playing a competitive game of kickball against a bunch of teenagers sounds fun, unless you are 43 and plan on walking the next day.
19. I had to replace two tires that
only lasted 20k miles instead of 75k miles, all because the wheel alignment was
off. Similarly, make sure that your heart and life are aligned with God's
direction for you so you don't wear out your own tread.
20. I have more fun watching my
teenage daughters coach a soccer team than I do coaching myself. And watching
them referee and hold their own with coaches who are grown men - amazing!
21. Each day matters. You can impact
those around you today – one way or another.
22. Shibumi is best translated as you-paid-too-much-for-a-pole-and-a-flap-of-
fabric-but-now-you-can't-stop-raving-about-it.
23. When your 12-yr-old daughter has
to substitute in as goalie, feigned confidence trumps experience. And
apparently posing in the goal with flexed muscles keeps the opposing team on
the other side of the field.
24. You actually can prevent flu from
spreading in your house if you stick the flu-ridden kid on the back porch for
three days.
25. I hope my girls find themselves a
husband one day that'll happily re-paint a laundry room to be a different color
so that it matches a new washer and dryer. That's some aspirational stuff right
there.
26. This year, the UT football team
beat 6 of the last 7 national champions. You UGA fans must be proud though that
this year you beat next year's national champion. Yeah, I said it.
We had a warmer day and we decided to get some pickle ball practice in.
We made it back home in time to ring in the new year in our pajamas. That's the way we like it best. Good-bye to 2022, and hello 2023
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
