Click on the collage to get a better look! Anne, Ashley, Alex, Andrew, Suzanne, Kalman, Kristina, David, Wade, Liz, Gavin, Sabra, Kathleen, Mildred, Randy, Cord, Mitchell and Aunt Jody, plus Tom's family -Jon, Zach, Matt, Gretchen, Sam and Kelly- ....... YOU WERE MISSED! (credit to Wade and Katie for their cute Christmas cards that helped me put together this collage.)
Yesterday, Kami ran in the house in a mini-panic!! "Mom," she shouted, "Luke is doing something!" Ok. Doing something. That could mean a lot of things. So I ran outside as quickly as I could to find out what he was doing. And what that something was.... was doing some new tricks on his bike. Riding his bicycle down our driveway on his knees or as you see here, on his feet! My motherly impulse was to scream "No! Luke, you get off your bike this very instant!!!" But I heard the voices of some of my friends with boys, like Erin, and the voice of Luke's Papa, saying to me....take a breath and see how this plays out. So, I did. And he performed these tricks for me perfectly and proudly. No broken bones or blood. But next time, this mother will make her son wear his helmet!!!
I have a good friend (Chere') who teases me because when we're out, I almost always see someone I know, and that person is almost always one of my cousins. "How many cousins do you have?" she jokes, "A hundred?" Well, actually yes, I do! My dad has 8 brothers and sisters, and my mom has 6 brothers and sisters. When we get together, we have to rent out space somewhere! There are about 60 grandkids and greatgrandkids on my mom's side of the family. Though some live out of town, many of us are here, so family get togethers are a wild tangle of loved ones, talking, eating, hugging, laughing and catching up. Here are a few pics of our Christmas party. 
Luke talked non-stop to Shea about Hot Wheels, friendship, and the latest movies he's seen. He obviously needed some male bonding time. The girls all ran around wild and free, having a blast together. But the "queen bee" was my granny, the reason we were all there. She is an angel on earth to us. She lined all of the kiddos up and had a present prepared for each one of them. 
When each child would walk up to her, she would whisper something sweet and sincere in his or her ear. The word of God speaks the truth about Grandma Ida: "Her children arise and call her blessed." -Proverbs 31:28
I can say this because she's not my baby... is she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? She is absolutely darling from that thick, dark hair to her chubby, little toes. I had the privelege of babysitting her, and I have to say I am very proud to have her as a niece!
While 99 other children sang with abandon and performed their perfectly memorized motions, Luke, well, tried his best not to cry. He wouldn't stand up and certainly wouldn't sing, and looked pretty perturbed the whole time, as you can see below. Afterwards, however, he warmed right up to his ADORABLE friend, Bonnie.
Kami had a first in her life today. Her first limo ride! By talking enough people into buying items for our PTA fundraiser, she earned a limo ride to have lunch at Mazzios. Then she and several other kids all got back in the 30 seater and were returned to class. The inside of the limousine was decorated with leopard skin upholstesry and a ceiling that slowly changed colors. The limo was absolutely huge... someone said there are only eight of these in the U.S. I don't know if that is true or not, but as Luke said, it looks like a "monster limo." Thanks to all of you who supported her fundraiser!
Kami gets a piano buck for every day that she practices piano from her sweet teacher Mrs. Sewell. Lately, she's been having trouble keeping track of her dollars... they seemed to be disappearing. I thought she had simply misplaced them until I happened to look in Luke's piggy bank today. He was so busted. In there were the typical pennies, nickels and dimes... along with about 25 of Kami's piano bucks, neatly folded so they would fit into the slot. Luke seemed more annoyed that I had found them than sorry (and probably confused why I was taking a picture of such a thing). But Kami is very, very happy to have them back!
Ellie's tooth has been loose for months now. She wouldn't let anyone but her Kiki touch it. Aunt Kiki has been the major tooth-puller for Kami, and I guess has developed a good reputation for tooth-pulling. However, Kiki was never able to get ahold of the slippery little tic-tac of a tooth and Ellie's permanent tooth began growing in behind the snaggly thing. Anyway, inspired by her friend Kyndal, Ellie gained the courage to twist, turn, push and pull her tooth until poof... she pulled it out all on her own, just like Kyndal did! Ellie was so proud of herself. Now, if she could just get the guts up to work on the other loose one!
Luke: Mom, when I grow up, I'm going to be a daddy.
Me: (surprised) Oh, really?
Luke: (with gusto) YEEEAAAAH.
Me: Are you going to have any kids?
Luke: Yep. I'm going to have two little girls.
Me: (again surprised) What will you name them, Luke?
Luke: (thinks a minute) Moses and um... Jesus.
Me: Oh, really?
Luke: Well, (changing his mind) no, I will name them Caleb Green and Spiderman.
1. He refers to himself as “Larry Boy.”
2. He enjoys playing 9 holes of golf with his dad.
3. He eats almost anything including coleslaw, black olives, brussel sprouts and macademia nuts.
4. He likes to sing at the top of his lungs and likes to make up songs including our family’s favorite song “1-2-3-4 Dinosaur.”
5. He has a good heart.
10. Luke will sit down on your lap and read books until YOU'RE tired. He is interested in so many things and asks a ton of questions.
6. He does almost everything with great GUSTO.
7. He reminds me of his Papa in so many ways.
8. He can do tricks on his Scooter.
9. He has an imaginary friend named Pop. Pop is a tiny black bug who likes to drive in fast cars. Pop goes to preschool with Luke, but his parents live in Arizona. Pop hangs out with Luke a lot.
10. He is 1000% boy in all that he does and says and God made Him that way!!!
If you look here, you can see that we had a great time sledding at Minshall park one week ago. It must have been 78 degrees. We returned yesterday to see dozens and dozens of people sledding down the snow-packed hill. We had a blast with the Smiths and Streichs, and as you can see below, Kami was quite the daredevil on the ramp that Tracy S. created. Click on her picture to get a close up of the terrified look on her face.
