It's a new year and that means a new blog (for the 7th time!). We have been doing a daily blog for 6 full years now and we feel it's time to make some changes. The daily format was really important when the kids were babies because they changed so fast. In 2015 we found that to be a bit burdensome. The kids are not changing quite as fast now and we are in a routine so there isn't always something to blog every day, but also in many ways we are busier than ever and the daily task can be a bit overwhelming. So this year we plan to post about every-day happenings on a weekly basis and then special events or things we definitely want to remember as their own posts. We think this will result in an average of several posts a week (but probably not seven), but they may not be uniformly spread out over the year. We hope you will join us on our new blog:
2016 in Pictures
This is a photo-journal for our family. We hope to post a photo each day.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Jason's Awards and Stats for 2015 in Pictures
And now it's time for our awards show! It's a little odd, because we're putting on the show, and it's about our blog, but whatever. Our blog, our rules. Or something. I'm also including some blog stats, because that's the kind of thing I care about, even if most don't. If for some reason you care to see the past year's posts, here are 2014, 2012, 2011, and 2010. There was no post in 2013, because of babies.
So here we go!
Posts by Jason: 202
So here we go!
Best Write-Up
(Tie)
Keystone Construction Workers (1/23/15)
Top 6 Best Titles
(in chronological order)
- Forget the Alamo (1/2/15) - I also wanted to forget it after the 1998 season.
- Drawers That Won’t Be Going in My Drawers (2/24/15) - I’ll never be happy that that word means anything other than multiple people who draw.
- Dominoes and Papa John’s (4/10/15) - Maybe we should try to get some brand sponsorships for this blog.
- 2015: A Spacious Odyssey (9/7/15) - This would have been better if it were also a model year 2015, but close enough.
- Glad to Live in a World Where There are Octobers (10/21/15) - I thought Meghan just called the post this as a statement, but later she explained to me that it's a very applicable Anne of Green Gables quote.
- In the Cold November Rain (11/17/15) - Guns N' Roses has finally announced they are reuniting after all these years! I guess Axl decided to quit being a selfish baby about all of it.
Top 3 Best
Photography (in chronological order)
- This picture from Sunsets and Sushi (4/29/15) - That’s a real picture that I actually took, even though it looks like it should be a postcard. #NoFilter, as the kids say.
- This picture from Inside Out, PetSmart, andMcDonald’s (8/22/15) - Taking pictures in a theater is tough, but I kept the flash off and tried to create a single picture that said “Clara watched Inside Out in a theater", and I think that did it.
- This picture from Parks and Burns (10/19/15) - I think this is a beautiful picture of Hannah that Meghan captured. The lighting is perfect.
Most Inefficient
Photography (AKA “Thankful for Digital Photography”)
An Easter Extravaganza (4/15/15) - It took me 170
pictures to get the two outdoor pictures.
170!!
Best Example of
Restraint
An Easter Extravaganza (4/15/15) - For me not calling it
“An Easter Eggstravaganza” to avoid the overused pun.
Best Google-Added
Value to Our Blog
If you take a series of pictures with your phone, and if
you have your pictures synced with Google, they will sometimes automatically
turn it into an animated GIF, turning our blog pictures into videos. Here are a few examples from this year.
- This picture from A Day at thePool (6/8/15)
- Our Little Star (10/17/15) - I can’t stop laughing at these two.
- This picture from Glad to Live in a World Where There are Octobers (10/21/15)
Top 5 Best Visuals
(in chronological order)
- Almost all of the exterior pictures from Last Day in Paradise (4/30/15), again because Hawaii is amazing.
- This picture of a congregation (yes, I had to look that up) of alligators from Alligators and Destin (6/11/15)
- Jumping Into Fall (11/8/15) - I love the leaf fragments glittering in the sun in the pictures where they’re throwing leaves into the air.
- Clara’s Fire Tree (11/22/15) – Next year I should take a close-up of it.
- This picture from Wii Wish You a Happy New Year (12/31/15) - I’m a sucker for these kid of accidentally abstract photos.
Top 4 Best Facial
Expressions (in chronological order)
- This picture of my and Joshua’s exhilarated faces from Old Settlers Days (9/10/15)
- This picture of Christine’s stunned face from Dinner With My Mom and Christine (10/3/15)
- This picture of Clara’s scary face from 3 Skeletons (10/15/15)
- This picture of Hannah’s about-to-cry face from Happy Thanksgiving! (11/26/15)
Best Deviation
From Blog Rules
The story of my job change that was significant enough (and long enough) that I wanted to cover the three main parts of it as part of three separate posts.
The story of my job change that was significant enough (and long enough) that I wanted to cover the three main parts of it as part of three separate posts.
Beginning of an Era (10/4/15)
The Golden Years (10/5/15)
End of One Era, Start of Another (10/6/15)
Most Words
1650 Words – Champions! (11/1/15)
Fewest Words
29 Words – In Our Christmas Jammies (12/3/15)
Most Pictures
27 Pictures – Nick’s Pics (12/29/15)
Most Prominent Non-Alive Family Member
Chicken Baby. Chicken Baby has been Hannah's favorite baby doll for over a year, as she was a constant companion even in 2014. When I was going through the blog, I noticed her appearing a lot, so I started over and went through and tagged her in the posts. She's in 38 posts! She's pretty much part of our family at this point, so she earned inclusion into our tag list.
Stats and Stuff
On that note, here is the count of the number of times each person appeared in a post. Sometimes they were the subject, and sometimes it might have been just a hand in the picture. But if a person had any part of themselves in a picture, including intentional reflections but not unintentional ones (like in our fireplace glass, for example) they were tagged in the post. Google nicely counts them up for me (though I have to sort/order them), so here are the totals for all people (or pets or Chicken Babies) who appeared at least two times:
Chicken Baby. Chicken Baby has been Hannah's favorite baby doll for over a year, as she was a constant companion even in 2014. When I was going through the blog, I noticed her appearing a lot, so I started over and went through and tagged her in the posts. She's in 38 posts! She's pretty much part of our family at this point, so she earned inclusion into our tag list.
Stats and Stuff
On that note, here is the count of the number of times each person appeared in a post. Sometimes they were the subject, and sometimes it might have been just a hand in the picture. But if a person had any part of themselves in a picture, including intentional reflections but not unintentional ones (like in our fireplace glass, for example) they were tagged in the post. Google nicely counts them up for me (though I have to sort/order them), so here are the totals for all people (or pets or Chicken Babies) who appeared at least two times:
217 – Joshua
208 – Clara
202 – Hannah
136 – Jason
52 – Meghan
38 – Chicken Baby
20 – Benjamin
20 – Natalie
12 – Halie
12 – Joanna
11 – Ron
11 – Peg
9 – Julie
8 – Brent
7 – Andrew
7 – Christine
7 – Jean
6 – Bob
6 – Hayden
6 – Kirk
4 – Barb
4 – David
4 – Elle
3 – Abby
3 – Alex
3 – Jim
3 – Mark
3 – Matt
3 – Michael
3 – Nick
2 – Donna
2 – JasonKeeler
2 – Jeff
2 – Michelle
2 – Steve
And we have a lot of posts with pictures that weren't taken in Kansas, because we go on vacations and I go on work trips, and because Missouri is right across the border, and it has things like the zoo, the K, the Hansons' house, etc. For those posts, we try to tag the state in which the picture was taken. So here are the number of posts that included a picture that was taken in each non-Kansas state:
22 – Missouri
10 – Florida
7 – Hawaii
5 – California
3 – Texas
2 – Illinois
2 – Massachusetts
1 – Alabama
1 – Indiana
1 – Minnesota
1 – Nevada
1 – New York
1 – North Dakota
1 – Utah
Posts by Jason: 202
Posts by Meghan: 154
For the first time since 2010, I had the most posts. But that's mostly because so were so far behind (usually 2-3 weeks) for the second half of the year, and it was always because we were waiting on me. So when I finally had time, I would do a bunch in a row so we could get somewhat caught up. This year for the first time we relaxed the rules, so although we tried to have a post every day, on days where it just didn't work out, we just let it go instead of trying to force something. This left us with 356 posts, meaning there were 9 days where we didn't have a post, which isn't too bad. Still, though, it was a little too strenuous, so we'll be making slight changes for next year to ease the burden on us while still making sure we have a lot of great pictures on the blog.
So that's it! I spent way too much time doing this post, but I love it anyway. Thanks for reading!
So that's it! I spent way too much time doing this post, but I love it anyway. Thanks for reading!
Meghan and Jason's Year in Review
From Meghan:
This year, instead of choosing the top ten, I chose my favorite post from each month. So in chronological order:
Poor Handsless Natalie (1/7/15) - I love this post because Hannah doesn't do this anymore, which is the whole point of the blog. She does frequently ask to go to the store or tell me to put things on the list, but only reasonable things now. So it makes me a little sad because she's not a baby anymore, but it's such a cute memory and I don't think I would remember it without help.
Helping with Hooty (2/3/15) - This is a good memory for me because, though it is time-consuming and sometimes frustrating, I really do like cooking with my kids. And Joshua has grown a lot this year in that area. He has gotten to the point where I can add his onions and garlic directly to a pot without re-cutting them. Also, though we are generally happy with our new preschool, it's not Christian so I do miss some of these sweet things they did with the kids.
Three Little Leprechauns (3/17/15) - I like this because one thing I really like to do is make small holidays fun and this is a good example of a fun St. Patrick's Day we had.
Last Day in Paradise (4/30/15) - This specific post isn't that special, just the entire trip. Jason and I had so much fun as a couple being able to get away. We love Hawaii and it was really awesome that Jason earned us a trip there. And after this trip, everything changed. His sales rep Jim had a stroke and will not be able to do a job with travel for a long time and maybe ever, so he isn't in that role anymore. Actuate is gone so there will probably never be an Actuate-only trip like that again. And if there were, we wouldn't be invited because Jason doesn't work there anymore. So it was an awesome trip, but also the end of many things.
My Tough Triker Girl (5/18/15) - This post is so Clara. Clara is so determined and she just achieves things at a level that a lot of other kids wouldn't because of that. This has been a big year for her and she has learned to do a lot of things. She doesn't give up. So this is a good snapshot of her just riding her bike (which is one of her favorite things to do. Her calves are amazing in the summer) for a really long way because I told her if she wanted to take her bike, she had to ride it the whole way.
Birmingham or Somewhere in that General Vicinity or At Least in the State of Alabama or Bust (6/2/15) - I like this post because of what it represents. People act like it is firstly crazy to take kids on long road trips generally, which I definitely disagree with. But also that women can't drive by themselves or that it is too hard for a mom to go somewhere with just her kids. I prefer to drive with Jason, but it felt really good to do it by myself and I'm really glad I went. And the kids were actually really great, as they almost always are on a road trip. So it was a good trip and also felt good to do it on my own.
Date Day at the Farmer's Market (7/25/15) - This was a really fun date day for Joshua and me. It wasn't that special in terms of the activities, but he's a kid who loves veggies and playing outside so it was a great thing to do with him and it was just really fun.
Dad and Kids Night at the Pool (8/17/15) - So it may seem weird to choose a post where I wasn't even there, but it's more because of what it represents. Last summer we spent a ton of time at Deanna Rose, but this summer I felt comfortable taking the kids to the pool by myself so we spent all our time at the pool. It was so nice being able to go frequently and we had a lot of fun over the entire season.
Halie's Bad Bye (9/3/15) - Of all the things that happened this year, the biggest for me was deciding to quit my job and stay at home full-time. I have no regrets about this decision and am happier than I have been in quite some time. However, Halie leaving definitely was the really sad part of that decision. We try to get together at least monthly and the kids still love her, but it's not the same of course. She was such an important part of our family for the past two years, so it was definitely hard for that to come to an end.
A Toy Story Halloween (10/31/15) - I love Halloween and this year was especially good. My only disappointment was we couldn't go to Enchanted Forest as we have in years past because Jason was on a work trip. But we had such a fun time, the kids are at an age where they are excited and love Halloween, and I love dressing up so was happy with our family theme. I am not sure how long the kids will be fine with letting me choose a group theme, so it's possible this is the last year for that. We'll see. I also made Hannah's costume completely from scratch, which is the first time I have done that and I taught myself to use my serger in the process, so it was a good project that I was happy with the results.
Slumber Party (11/27/15) - This is my favorite new tradition of this year. The kids get to sleep in Joshua's room together on holidays and they are so excited. Since this post, the girls got sleeping bags for Christmas which they are super excited to use on slumber party days and also any day. Clara has yet to make it through a sleepover, but they seem to enjoy it anyway and I hope that when they are older they will look back on these as really fun.
Learning to Serve God by Serving Others (12/24/15) - We do a lot of fun things during Advent and I am happy with most of what we do. However, this is the second year we have delivered food and presents for City Union Mission and it is really one of my favorite things. It's not maybe the most acutely needed service opportunity, but my kids are really young so there isn't a lot we can do as a family. This is something we can do and is a tangible way for them to serve. My biggest goal for my kids is not just that they have a strong faith, but they live an active and sacrificial faith and I hope this is only the first of many service opportunities we do as a family, but it's really core to my parental mission.
This year in some ways wasn't a huge year. But in other ways, Jason quit his job of 12 years and I don't have a job for the first time in a long time, so it was kind of big. I love being able to look back on it all and also am excited to see what 2016 holds.
From Jason:
Meghan and I actually intentionally do these completely separately, and only after they are completed do we get to see what posts the other person chose, which is always fun. Usually there are a couple overlaps, and this year is no exception. But she always gets hers done first, and she'll tell me how many she did. I had planned on doing a Top 10, but when she told me she had done one for each month, I figured I would match her in amount (if not in concept), So here are my Top 12 favorite posts, in chronological order:
Poor Handsless Natalie (1/7/15) - All of our kids have their moments where they crack us up, but I’d say Hannah does so the most. Sometimes she’s trying to be silly, but mostly it’s just her being her. The conversation in this post makes me laugh every time I read it, as it’s just so Hannah. She’s demanding and bossy in a way, but it’s an adorable way. But I also like that she noticed a problem and came up with what she thought was a reasonable solution.
Keystone Construction Workers (1/23/15) - There are a lot of rewarding things about having kids, but an underrated one is the sheer entertainment they provide. I really think we have to get more entertainment than most parents because our kids are so young and so close to together. They are always interacting with each other in hilarious ways, and the situation that was covered by this post is a prime example of that.
Sunsets and Sushi (4/29/15) - I really could have chosen any one of the Maui posts, as it’s really about the entire trip, and all the posts are packed with great pictures. But I thought this one best represented the best part of the trip to me, because it really highlights the beauty of Hawaii and the pure relaxation we had while in paradise on an amazing vacation.
Father’s Day: Kids, a Bike Ride, and Great Food (6/21/15) - Father’s Day is really great every year at this point. I have three little kids whom I love and who love me back unabashedly. At some point they will be teenagers who might be hesitant to show their emotions or they will just want to go play with their holograms or whatever we have at that point, but for now they all excitedly adore me, and I adore them back, and it’s wonderful.
Gymnastics, Waffle House, Shopping, and Sonic (6/27/15) - I really love my date days with the kids. Sometimes things are so busy and chaotic and home that it’s hard to really connect one-on-one with each child, and the date days ensures that we have time to do that. Hannah is so easy and so fun to take anywhere because she’s so accommodating, and on this date day we had a great time going to all of our different destinations, even though there was no particular major activity.
Inside Out, PetSmart, and McDonald’s (8/22/15) - This was a really fun date day with Clara. I was excited to take her to her first theater movie and was really pleased that she enjoyed it. We just did so many fun things on this date day, and I feel like we ended up with a lot of great and very cute pictures.
The Golden Years (10/5/15) - This post is really significant for me because it captures so many years of memories and positive experiences and packs them all into a single post. And with that comes the emotions tied to it all, of all the happy and fun times I had with great friends and colleagues (and even with Meghan, thanks to Club) to the sadness that was the end of the Actuate era, and the end of my time with the company, even after the acquisition. It’s a lengthy post, but I wanted to try to capture as much as I could to help me remember those things and those people when I look back on this post in future years. I can’t think of another post I’ve done since we’ve started this blog that was filled with so many memories and emotions all in a single post.
Champions! (11/1/15) - As I mentioned in the post, it’s a sports fan’s dream for your team to win the title, and that happened in amazing fashion for me with the Royals this year. The whole run through the playoffs was thrilling and filled me days with anticipation and happiness, and to have them finish what they started last year was an unbelievable feeling. I hope they do it again next year (and if not, I sure hope it’s the Cubs), but it could be years or decades or never again, so I cherished everything about it.
Tossing Around the Purple Pigskin (11/15/15) - I certainly love doing activities with all of my kids, but there’s something extra special about doing sports with them, and especially with Joshua. I love sports, of course, and sharing that with them, and especially as part of the Father/Son dynamic, means a lot to me. And when Joshua is specifically requesting to do it with me, it totally warms my heart.
A Hunger Games Date Night (11/20/15) - Meghan and I intentionally waited five years into our marriage before we even considered starting a family, because we really wanted to build our relationship with each other and have time to do things that you can’t so easily do with kids (like travel spontaneously, go on exotic vacations etc.). We did that, and I think it was one of the best decisions we ever made. We enjoy each other so much, and those five years (it turned into more than that due to our initial troubles getting pregnant) were so fun and I think so great for our marriage and relationship. Now that we have kids, we absolutely love our family time. But we also still love having time with just the two of us. Unfortunately, I think a lot of couples seem to lose their ability or desire to have a great time with just each other once they have kids. But that’s not us, and we really cherish the times we get to be together by ourselves and to go on date nights. We are so thankful to have Mom and Ron close to us and for them to be willing to watch the kids overnight once a month to give us time to go on dates. This post exemplifies that, as you can see how happy we are to be on a date night together.
Christmas Pug (12/9/15) - This post is one of my favorites, but it’s also one of the saddest, in a way. For so many years our family consisted of me, Meghan, Terrance, and Natalie (and later Alex). For awhile we wondered what it would be like to have kids, and it was almost hard to imagine how we could love them more than we loved the dogs (not surprisingly, once we had kids, it turned out there was a whole other level of love that we didn’t know existed). We lost Terrence last year due to cancer, and Natalie is pretty old. She rarely shows much energy, except at mealtimes, but she’s still a super sweet dog who loves us, and we love her. It’s a little sad seeing her by herself without Terrence, but getting a puppy now would not be good for her (she would be crotchety with it, I think). We know we probably only have a couple years left with her (it could be more, but it also could be less), so we’re really trying to enjoy our time with her. I love seeing our sweet little nugget Natalie sleeping under the tree in these pictures.
Learning to Serve God by Serving Others (12/24/15) - It’s critical to me and to Meghan that faith in God is central to what our family does and to who we are. We actively work to instill that in our children as well as to help them grow up to be strong in their faith. And specifically within that, we want to emphasize action and service and compassion. We want to show God’s love to others and be witnesses for him. We plan to be active in that way with our family, such that we are going out and serving. So although the kids are very young now, we are already starting that with activities like the one we did in this post.
This year, instead of choosing the top ten, I chose my favorite post from each month. So in chronological order:
Poor Handsless Natalie (1/7/15) - I love this post because Hannah doesn't do this anymore, which is the whole point of the blog. She does frequently ask to go to the store or tell me to put things on the list, but only reasonable things now. So it makes me a little sad because she's not a baby anymore, but it's such a cute memory and I don't think I would remember it without help.
Helping with Hooty (2/3/15) - This is a good memory for me because, though it is time-consuming and sometimes frustrating, I really do like cooking with my kids. And Joshua has grown a lot this year in that area. He has gotten to the point where I can add his onions and garlic directly to a pot without re-cutting them. Also, though we are generally happy with our new preschool, it's not Christian so I do miss some of these sweet things they did with the kids.
Three Little Leprechauns (3/17/15) - I like this because one thing I really like to do is make small holidays fun and this is a good example of a fun St. Patrick's Day we had.
Last Day in Paradise (4/30/15) - This specific post isn't that special, just the entire trip. Jason and I had so much fun as a couple being able to get away. We love Hawaii and it was really awesome that Jason earned us a trip there. And after this trip, everything changed. His sales rep Jim had a stroke and will not be able to do a job with travel for a long time and maybe ever, so he isn't in that role anymore. Actuate is gone so there will probably never be an Actuate-only trip like that again. And if there were, we wouldn't be invited because Jason doesn't work there anymore. So it was an awesome trip, but also the end of many things.
My Tough Triker Girl (5/18/15) - This post is so Clara. Clara is so determined and she just achieves things at a level that a lot of other kids wouldn't because of that. This has been a big year for her and she has learned to do a lot of things. She doesn't give up. So this is a good snapshot of her just riding her bike (which is one of her favorite things to do. Her calves are amazing in the summer) for a really long way because I told her if she wanted to take her bike, she had to ride it the whole way.
Birmingham or Somewhere in that General Vicinity or At Least in the State of Alabama or Bust (6/2/15) - I like this post because of what it represents. People act like it is firstly crazy to take kids on long road trips generally, which I definitely disagree with. But also that women can't drive by themselves or that it is too hard for a mom to go somewhere with just her kids. I prefer to drive with Jason, but it felt really good to do it by myself and I'm really glad I went. And the kids were actually really great, as they almost always are on a road trip. So it was a good trip and also felt good to do it on my own.
Date Day at the Farmer's Market (7/25/15) - This was a really fun date day for Joshua and me. It wasn't that special in terms of the activities, but he's a kid who loves veggies and playing outside so it was a great thing to do with him and it was just really fun.
Dad and Kids Night at the Pool (8/17/15) - So it may seem weird to choose a post where I wasn't even there, but it's more because of what it represents. Last summer we spent a ton of time at Deanna Rose, but this summer I felt comfortable taking the kids to the pool by myself so we spent all our time at the pool. It was so nice being able to go frequently and we had a lot of fun over the entire season.
Halie's Bad Bye (9/3/15) - Of all the things that happened this year, the biggest for me was deciding to quit my job and stay at home full-time. I have no regrets about this decision and am happier than I have been in quite some time. However, Halie leaving definitely was the really sad part of that decision. We try to get together at least monthly and the kids still love her, but it's not the same of course. She was such an important part of our family for the past two years, so it was definitely hard for that to come to an end.
A Toy Story Halloween (10/31/15) - I love Halloween and this year was especially good. My only disappointment was we couldn't go to Enchanted Forest as we have in years past because Jason was on a work trip. But we had such a fun time, the kids are at an age where they are excited and love Halloween, and I love dressing up so was happy with our family theme. I am not sure how long the kids will be fine with letting me choose a group theme, so it's possible this is the last year for that. We'll see. I also made Hannah's costume completely from scratch, which is the first time I have done that and I taught myself to use my serger in the process, so it was a good project that I was happy with the results.
Slumber Party (11/27/15) - This is my favorite new tradition of this year. The kids get to sleep in Joshua's room together on holidays and they are so excited. Since this post, the girls got sleeping bags for Christmas which they are super excited to use on slumber party days and also any day. Clara has yet to make it through a sleepover, but they seem to enjoy it anyway and I hope that when they are older they will look back on these as really fun.
Learning to Serve God by Serving Others (12/24/15) - We do a lot of fun things during Advent and I am happy with most of what we do. However, this is the second year we have delivered food and presents for City Union Mission and it is really one of my favorite things. It's not maybe the most acutely needed service opportunity, but my kids are really young so there isn't a lot we can do as a family. This is something we can do and is a tangible way for them to serve. My biggest goal for my kids is not just that they have a strong faith, but they live an active and sacrificial faith and I hope this is only the first of many service opportunities we do as a family, but it's really core to my parental mission.
This year in some ways wasn't a huge year. But in other ways, Jason quit his job of 12 years and I don't have a job for the first time in a long time, so it was kind of big. I love being able to look back on it all and also am excited to see what 2016 holds.
From Jason:
Meghan and I actually intentionally do these completely separately, and only after they are completed do we get to see what posts the other person chose, which is always fun. Usually there are a couple overlaps, and this year is no exception. But she always gets hers done first, and she'll tell me how many she did. I had planned on doing a Top 10, but when she told me she had done one for each month, I figured I would match her in amount (if not in concept), So here are my Top 12 favorite posts, in chronological order:
Poor Handsless Natalie (1/7/15) - All of our kids have their moments where they crack us up, but I’d say Hannah does so the most. Sometimes she’s trying to be silly, but mostly it’s just her being her. The conversation in this post makes me laugh every time I read it, as it’s just so Hannah. She’s demanding and bossy in a way, but it’s an adorable way. But I also like that she noticed a problem and came up with what she thought was a reasonable solution.
Keystone Construction Workers (1/23/15) - There are a lot of rewarding things about having kids, but an underrated one is the sheer entertainment they provide. I really think we have to get more entertainment than most parents because our kids are so young and so close to together. They are always interacting with each other in hilarious ways, and the situation that was covered by this post is a prime example of that.
Sunsets and Sushi (4/29/15) - I really could have chosen any one of the Maui posts, as it’s really about the entire trip, and all the posts are packed with great pictures. But I thought this one best represented the best part of the trip to me, because it really highlights the beauty of Hawaii and the pure relaxation we had while in paradise on an amazing vacation.
Father’s Day: Kids, a Bike Ride, and Great Food (6/21/15) - Father’s Day is really great every year at this point. I have three little kids whom I love and who love me back unabashedly. At some point they will be teenagers who might be hesitant to show their emotions or they will just want to go play with their holograms or whatever we have at that point, but for now they all excitedly adore me, and I adore them back, and it’s wonderful.
Gymnastics, Waffle House, Shopping, and Sonic (6/27/15) - I really love my date days with the kids. Sometimes things are so busy and chaotic and home that it’s hard to really connect one-on-one with each child, and the date days ensures that we have time to do that. Hannah is so easy and so fun to take anywhere because she’s so accommodating, and on this date day we had a great time going to all of our different destinations, even though there was no particular major activity.
Inside Out, PetSmart, and McDonald’s (8/22/15) - This was a really fun date day with Clara. I was excited to take her to her first theater movie and was really pleased that she enjoyed it. We just did so many fun things on this date day, and I feel like we ended up with a lot of great and very cute pictures.
The Golden Years (10/5/15) - This post is really significant for me because it captures so many years of memories and positive experiences and packs them all into a single post. And with that comes the emotions tied to it all, of all the happy and fun times I had with great friends and colleagues (and even with Meghan, thanks to Club) to the sadness that was the end of the Actuate era, and the end of my time with the company, even after the acquisition. It’s a lengthy post, but I wanted to try to capture as much as I could to help me remember those things and those people when I look back on this post in future years. I can’t think of another post I’ve done since we’ve started this blog that was filled with so many memories and emotions all in a single post.
Champions! (11/1/15) - As I mentioned in the post, it’s a sports fan’s dream for your team to win the title, and that happened in amazing fashion for me with the Royals this year. The whole run through the playoffs was thrilling and filled me days with anticipation and happiness, and to have them finish what they started last year was an unbelievable feeling. I hope they do it again next year (and if not, I sure hope it’s the Cubs), but it could be years or decades or never again, so I cherished everything about it.
Tossing Around the Purple Pigskin (11/15/15) - I certainly love doing activities with all of my kids, but there’s something extra special about doing sports with them, and especially with Joshua. I love sports, of course, and sharing that with them, and especially as part of the Father/Son dynamic, means a lot to me. And when Joshua is specifically requesting to do it with me, it totally warms my heart.
A Hunger Games Date Night (11/20/15) - Meghan and I intentionally waited five years into our marriage before we even considered starting a family, because we really wanted to build our relationship with each other and have time to do things that you can’t so easily do with kids (like travel spontaneously, go on exotic vacations etc.). We did that, and I think it was one of the best decisions we ever made. We enjoy each other so much, and those five years (it turned into more than that due to our initial troubles getting pregnant) were so fun and I think so great for our marriage and relationship. Now that we have kids, we absolutely love our family time. But we also still love having time with just the two of us. Unfortunately, I think a lot of couples seem to lose their ability or desire to have a great time with just each other once they have kids. But that’s not us, and we really cherish the times we get to be together by ourselves and to go on date nights. We are so thankful to have Mom and Ron close to us and for them to be willing to watch the kids overnight once a month to give us time to go on dates. This post exemplifies that, as you can see how happy we are to be on a date night together.
Christmas Pug (12/9/15) - This post is one of my favorites, but it’s also one of the saddest, in a way. For so many years our family consisted of me, Meghan, Terrance, and Natalie (and later Alex). For awhile we wondered what it would be like to have kids, and it was almost hard to imagine how we could love them more than we loved the dogs (not surprisingly, once we had kids, it turned out there was a whole other level of love that we didn’t know existed). We lost Terrence last year due to cancer, and Natalie is pretty old. She rarely shows much energy, except at mealtimes, but she’s still a super sweet dog who loves us, and we love her. It’s a little sad seeing her by herself without Terrence, but getting a puppy now would not be good for her (she would be crotchety with it, I think). We know we probably only have a couple years left with her (it could be more, but it also could be less), so we’re really trying to enjoy our time with her. I love seeing our sweet little nugget Natalie sleeping under the tree in these pictures.
Learning to Serve God by Serving Others (12/24/15) - It’s critical to me and to Meghan that faith in God is central to what our family does and to who we are. We actively work to instill that in our children as well as to help them grow up to be strong in their faith. And specifically within that, we want to emphasize action and service and compassion. We want to show God’s love to others and be witnesses for him. We plan to be active in that way with our family, such that we are going out and serving. So although the kids are very young now, we are already starting that with activities like the one we did in this post.
Wii Wish You a Happy New Year
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Last year and the year before Meghan put together an elaborate set of activities for us to do with the kids. This year, we scaled it back a bit. We still had our traditional fondue, though, which is something I always look forward to. As an activity, we thought it would be fun to break out the Nintendo Wii. I’ve had the Wii for years (maybe seven?) and I used to play it occasionally before we had kids. But when you have kids, your free time diminishes, and that was one of the casualties. But I’ve kept it around hoping that some day the kids would be ready for it. This also gives me a free opportunity to play it, so everyone wins! Joshua previously had a brief experience with real video games, and he likes playing the little kid games on his Kindle Fire, but this was really the first significant exposure he’s had to a video game. Wii Sports is the game that comes bundled with the Wii, and it has bowling, golf, tennis, baseball, and boxing, and we chose to go with bowling. I made a Mii for each kid and helped them bowl. They had fun, especially Joshua. It was a little hard for them to learn the motions and the buttons you have to press and release, but Joshua and Clara mostly got it. We then also played MarioKart, which is one of my all-time favorite games. They all liked it quite a bit, though they really struggled to not only stay on the track, but to go the right direction. When initially choosing characters, Joshua recognized Mario but couldn’t quite remember his name, and called him Remargo, which was really cute. After I later told him it was Mario, I guess he didn’t quite hear me right, because Joshua liked to be “Baby Marro” (there’s Mario and Baby Mario in the game) until he discovered Bowser, which was then a way cooler option, apparently. Hannah liked to be “the one with the bow” (Baby Peach), and Clara liked to choose various different characters without really having a favorite. Meghan and I helped coach them (which mostly consisted or repeatedly telling them they were going the wrong way and that they should turn around), so we didn’t play much, but it was still a lot of fun for everyone.
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Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Sand That's Not From a Beach
For Christmas from Sam and Michelle, the kids received some Sand. That might not sound like a very good Christmas gift, but not that I said "Sand", not "sand". It's a big difference, in that regular sand could never be used indoors at a kitchen table, but Sand is a product (by Brookstone, although Kinetic Sand is another brand) that is basically a cross between sand and Play-Doh. Like sand, it's fine grained, but like Play-Doh, it's mostly cohesive in that it sticks to itself. It's moldable, cuttable, shapeable, etc, but it won't break out into individual grains and make a big mess. It's a lot of fun to play with, and the kids (well, and the grown-ups) really like it. So we are appreciative they sent us Sand and not a box of actual Florida sand.
Joanna is in town for the Christmas season, and when she is, we always try to get together for a lunch. We went to Chili's this time and had a good meal, although as always I ate way too much chips and salsa, but that meant I got to take home half of my meal for leftovers. We always enjoy spending time with each other, so I was thankful we were able to make something work with both our schedules before she flies home tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Nick's Pics
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Monday, December 28, 2015
First Time Sledding
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Yesterday I bought sleds, as we previously had no
sleds that we owned. I love sledding,
and I think the kids are old enough to enjoy it too. I bought two saucers and a toboggan. Hannah, being Hannah, needs something a
little more low-key and secure, so I bought her a “baby sled” that goes slower
and has a seat with a chair-back to support her, and it has a seatbelt strap as
well. That seemed more her speed, and
she was pretty pumped in the store when we got it. In Kansas, you never know now much snow you’re
going to get in the winter season.
Usually we get a handful of decent snowfalls, but with my travel
schedule, it’s possible I won’t be available during future snows, so I decided
to make sure to take advantage of this one and take the kids sledding. So after
nap today we packed up and I drove to a nearby hill, which was really just a
very small incline next to a neighboring subdivision. But it was perfect, because no one else was
there, and it wasn’t too tall (maybe only a 15-foot elevation difference) and
was a gentle slope. Joshua loved it. I
showed him how to do it the first time, and them he took over from there going
up and down as many times as he could on his saucer. Clara liked it a decent amount and was able
to bring her sled back up the hill, though it wasn’t easy for her, so I helped
her when I could. Hannah kind of liked
it, but it was cold, and we had some mitten issues, so that made it less
fun. But she did really like the safety
and security that her baby sled provided.
I also let her ride with me on the toboggan, and she thought that was
fun too because I was able to hold her and keep her safe. I only went once or twice by myself since I
was mostly helping the kids, but it was still really fun and made me wish I
could go down a big hill by myself, but that doesn’t really happen in my life
at this point. They were cold at the
end, and we went home, but until that point they all had a lot of fun, and our
first family sledding experience was quite a success.
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