The Odds are Great

                Winter is waning and snow banks are draining, spring is springing and birds are singing.  Most importantly, mom lets us play outside more!  Despite the annual 3-month meteorological shutdown of the state of Ohio that lasts from January to March, we’re returning to good spirits and, looking back, realize we’ve still had quite the season.

Sunrise, and 12" of snow

                Two round-trip tickets to PA families were some major highlights of the advent season, getting to see all siblings and family members.  In honor of baby Jesus, our kids managed to all look in the same direction simultaneously for a family Christmas photo.  Our Thanksgiving visit included Erin’s 10-year high school anniversary, our primary take-away being that Elia-quotes at this point have a massive Facebook following.  So now we’re positive that she’s above-average in the ridiculous department.

                2018 was the year of the live tree; the kids booted up and suited up for a muddy tree farm hunt.  We aimed high at maximizing Christmas tradition this year by making cookies, partaking in Timken’s Breakfast with Santa, joining the Parkside seasonal choir building a gingerbread house (both IRL and in “Sarah’s Kitchen” online game!), and sitting in our van parked outside a stranger’s front yard and tuning the radio in to their musical Christmas lightshow, the creepiest new holiday tradition since Elf-on-the-Shelf, yet arbitrarily amusing.

Bay made the gingerbread man

 

                Three birthdays have passed since last update!  Sophia wanted nothing more than to go to the Children’s museum, but a change of operating hours led to a hectic change of plans, and somehow we wound up at a “Wildebear” taxidermist factory, a place where nice ladies take colorful animal pelts and stuff them full of cotton to help kids sleep at night.  Daddy got 4 birthday wishes: a happy New Years with college friends, a happy weekend with Mimi and Grandpap (the kid’s first fancy-restaurant experience together wasn’t so crazy after all), a happy birthday with local friends, and a happy birthday cake made of carrots.  Elia picked up the shattered remains of our Children’s museum dream and, with excellent timing and pre-packed lunches, we enjoyed our longest museum outing to date!

Elia's 3rd 5th birthday

Wildebear (wildabare? wieldabeer?) is how they say it

New Years with Grovers

                Elia, now 5, has bundles of energy now coupled with objective skills, preferences, and even frequent responsibility and obedience (though I keep a short tab and speak from recent memory)!  From her latest daddy-daughter interview, we learned that her favorite sport is soccer, her favorite animal is the cheetah, her favorite clothes are dresses, and when she grows up she wants to be a princess.  She’s constructed 7 wood projects at Home Depot workshops with Daddy, already finished her first season of dance, and is starting U7 soccer in a few weeks!

Mommy-daughter date

                Sophia, now 3…what can I say?  She loves devouring books but not food.  She’s uber pleasant, but her camera face is generally not.  She has the diction and softness of a princess and the walking speed and accuracy of a baby turtle.  Sophia also enjoyed dance class, but perhaps did not develop the same skill set at the older kids; she must be saving her dynamism for better future activities, like her career in unintentional comedy.  Sophia’s interview highlights: her favorite game is Go Fish, her favorite thing to do outside is lay in the snow, her favorite Bible verse is “the bread one” (Mt 4:4), and her dislike is scary bears.

Sophia the Fist

  

*Insert dank memes*

                Ezra is 1 and we thought he might stay there forever, until recent progress…the little man can walk, ascend and descend stairs, and say/sign a few random things other than just “Dada” (although I don’t understand any of them).  His most impressive stat, and I’m sure this would set a Guinness World Record, is his banana-consumption speed.  Every morning I peel him a banana, and in the 20 seconds it takes to toss the peel and tie my shoes, he’s fully ingested the whole thing.  He still likes to sleep a lot, fortunately for our parent-kid ratio.  When he’s frustrated (a.k.a. 4:30pm and 6:30pm), he does best in an elevated position.  He very much enjoys Daddy working with tools, playing with tools, or crawling through Daddy’s dusty workshop in black sweats.

Happy to be in an elevated position

Just in case of overly-frugal parents, airlines let kids under 2 fly for free

The day he learned to crawl out of his pants

The day church ran over

The day lunch ran over

                Summer, I suppose would be -1, but who’s counting?  At least they’re all evens or odds for a while.  She’s healthy and growing, for all we know, developing likes and dislikes and lung capacity, and probably enjoying her 22^nd week of life.  We’re looking forward to time in the hospital and time off work and time with grandparents that will surround the arrival of summer and Summer (more puns to follow).

God's ways are not our own.

                The kids all had good times with Oma and Opa in Uhr Blackwood Forest recently when Dad was visiting Aunt Courtney and traveling for work.  Now we’re together again until a Mom and Dad Easter getaway, so we’re right back into the thick of it!