Sunday, January 1, 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Novemeber 6.

The date of the last post I wrote.

The last day of the last time I was in Indiana for 7 days straight.

There is no way to catch you up fully, so we'll just do it in photos!

The day before the stitches came out.
 Since the concussion and the stitches, we haven't had to go back to the ER. Sure, he had 2 incident reports sent home from school in a matter of days, both for hitting his head quite hard, but no more trips to the hospital.

The view from our hotel room.
After the month and a half we had had, a trip to paradise was much appreciated. Bryan and I took off for a few days in St. Martin. He had booked it back in August, not knowing October would be so brutal. It took us a day and a half to relax, but once we did, it was bliss.


We won!
We made an nontraditional exit from Ohio the morning after Thanksgiving in order to make it back to Indy for our kids' high school's  state football game in Lucas Oil stadium. We know most of the kids who were major players, and we didn't want to miss it.


That tree looks a whole lot bigger in our living room.
Christmas preparations were in full swing. The shopping, the volunteering, the decorating...all wonderful, fun, time suckers.

We have another driver in the house!
 I couldn't be happier that her driving lessons are finally over. Just in time for Star to start his classes in 2 weeks.

At least I'll have another way for him to get there now.

Does he look tough or what?
At the school's football banquet, our Turken was giving the Mental Attitude Award. According to the head coach, "For being one of the smallest kids on the team, Turken played as if he was one of the biggest kids on the field. Every practice and game, Turken gave us 100% effort and was the only kid on the team that didn't complain once." The assistant coach added, "When you get stung in the ear and keep playing, you are guaranteed the mental attitude award."  It seems all these years of wrestling teenagers is paying off. :)



Two days after football was over, 3rd grade basketball started. Gym space on the south side of Indy is rare (our only two public facilities were purchased by Sky Zone and Zip City), so coaches off all court sports are getting creative. Turken's coaches tracked down an OLD facility downtown. The boys have to walk past the door to a bar (right next to where Turken is in the photo. (Folks in the place were singing karaoke one night.)) and climb rickety old stairs in order to reach the original court space. Many of the 3rd graders' grandpas played basketball on this very court when they were in grade school. I love, love, love this building.

The annual new Disney pjs from Grandma photo.


 As always, Christmas was celebrated in Ohio.

Not pictured, because I didn't take a single photo, are the days spent in Ohio for Thanksgiving, the long but short trip to Memphis, TN, for Giant's soccer tournament, the three-day weekend spent in Columbus, OH, for Phoenix's volleyball tournament, and the day in Lousiville, KY (and the harrowing drive back that night in a terrible storm which covered the roads with ice!) to celebrate Christmas with my siblings, nieces, nephews, and parents.

We've also hosted a Halloween party for 50 or so teens, a Christmas gathering for Buttercup's friends, a New Years shindig for Phoenix and his friends, and random kids here, there, and everywhere.

Basically, life has exploded in myriad marvelous ways.

My dad now introduces me as "Crissy, She Used to be a Blogger".

It doesn't seem that 2017 is going to calm down any, seeing as how a high school graduation will be added to the mix of our usual spring madness. Lots of big plans for the coming summer as well.

Because of this, I have made the sad decision to not be a TToT cohost anymore. I just can't give the hop the attention it deserves. As much as I've loved being a part of the group, getting to know everyone and sharing our many ups each week, you all should have someone who can commit to it. To hopping around and actually writing and reading.

I'll join in when I can.

I'll keep up as much as possible.

Keep counting those thankfuls!

My prayers are with all of you as we start the new year!

Have a lovely day!

14 comments:

  1. ° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
    ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
    ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚| 田田 |門| ˚Happy New Year
    * Joy to all! ♫•*¨* Peace on Earth ♪♫•*¨*

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thank you! I do love these little artwork things you put into comments. :)

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  2. I'm selfishly sad for your decision, but at the same time fully support it. You are a wonderful example of a mom who has her priorities straight--and family must come before blogging. :-) I'll miss you as a co-host, but look forward to seeing you around as time allows. Happy New Year!

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    1. I am quite sad about not being a co-host. I'm going to miss the co-host family fun we've had over the years. I'll join in when I can, but it won't be the same.
      And thank you for the support. :)

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  3. Your kids are growing up fast, and this is the time to share all these experiences. There will be plenty of time for writing and reflecting in the not too distant future, but I suspect you'll miss the madhouse level of activity you are experiencing now. This life, life always trumps blogging. Stop by and update us just like this now and then, it's fun to hear what you all are up to! XOXO

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    1. I will miss it terribly, for sure. I love having our house full of kids and teens. We are now in the year when our first will move on to college. A short 8 months from now. Ugh. and every year after that, for three more years, another one will go. There will be plenty of time for blogging when there are only 2 kids left in the house!
      I'll be writing some, don't worry. :)

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  4. I'm glad I already had the head's up on this. It's the right thing to do, though....

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    1. It is. But I don't like it. I enjoy blogging and keeping up with my friends, but sacrifices must be made.

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  5. Happy New Year to you and all your family. To be honest I really thought you'd given up blogging as it's been so long since you posted anything - I've really missed reading about your family life, though it sounds like it's just as busy as ever.

    The view from your hotel room looks gorgeous, I hope you had a lovely break. With a view like that I don't think I'd want to come back home :)

    Congratulations to Buttercup on getting her license, and a big 'well done' to Turken for getting the Mental Attitude Award - praise indeed from both the coaches, you must be really proud of him :)

    I hope you had a lovely Christmas and I'll look forward to reading another post when you have time to write one. Incidentally, I started a new blog a while ago to keep myself occupied during my non-camping months - https://mousehouselife.wordpress.com/ Do check it out when you have time and post me a comment, it would be great to hear from you :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I don't know if I'll ever be able to give up blogging for good. I do enjoy it so much. But, screen time is limited with all that is going on. Thank you for all of the support and encouragement you've given me over the years. I'll still be writing, just not as often.

      It was a fantastic break. It makes us look forward to Bryan's retirement, when we can take trips like this much more often. :)

      Turken has the best coaches we've had. And we're lucky enough to have them now as basketball coaches. It meant a lot to Turken, and of course we were thrilled for him. He works so hard.

      I will check out the new blog for sure! Can't wait to see what you're writing besides camping posts.

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  6. Holy cannoli! You have been busy and perfectly understandable that you have been away from the computer. There were 7 kids in our house growing up, plus mom and dad of course, add to that all the immediate family of 300 - we're Italian - plus friends, and all of the activities involved. I can close my eyes and know your home. :) How very, very nice that you and the hubs got to get away. You deserve it. It is not easy what you all do as a team and the coaches definitely need their time too. And if you ever doubt you're getting it right Christine you just look at those phenomenal kids of yours, there's your answer... So wonderful to witness if only over the inet. I look forward to any of your posts. The happiest of New Year's to you and yours. :)

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  7. OK, I read this post several days ago and now I'm back but I SO didn't see the part about not co-hosting. I completely understand. I hope your year ahead brings you and your family all kinds of wonderful and deepens what you already have.
    Sad sad sad to see you not co-host. But you make a wise choice. I definitely hope to still keep up with you!

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  8. I really hope you do find time to still blog - I completely love reading about your wonderful houseful of people and all the malarkey, mischief, and marvels that happen with you all. SO thankful for the time you've been with the TToT as co-host, and I really hope to sometimes see you still around the Blogosphere, maybe even joining in if it's still running :)

    So glad your world is so full of goodness and wonderful plans :)

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Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!