Christmas Letter 2009

Due to the overload this December with adoption stuff on top of all the regular Christmas craziness, I was feeling super stressed about mailing Christmas cards.  Then I realized, "Who needs cards when you have a blog?"  So here's our annual letter... technologically new and improved for 2009!

Of course, the adoption is our biggest thing going on this year.  The other big thing for our family has been Brian's work situation.  He started his own video editing/production business in March and it is really taking off.  He is the very proud President and CEO of Riveting Media Inc.  He has purchased the gear he needed and learned a new editing program.  He has one long-term client with ongoing work for him as well as several other smaller projects in the works.  He also does freelance editing and post-production facilities around Detroit.  Now that he feels like he has a handle on his new system, he intends to rachet up the marketing and seek more clients.  He works out of the house and it has been the greatest thing ever for our family to have Dad around to get the kids on the bus, volunteer at school, and be home for dinner every night.  We love how much less overwhelmed we all feel. 

My job is pretty much the same as always.  I was having trouble with my singing voice in the winter and was diagnosed with vocal nodules.  I went on vocal rest for 10 weeks, if you can believe it.  I couldn't teach or talk for all that time!  It was excruciating.  It was also in Jan-Feb-Mar when it was cold, dark, and miserable outside and Brian wasn't working and we just stared at each other all day and tried not to throw ourselves off a cliff.  It was really a horrible time, but as always, those dark times pass and you can appreciate the good times even more.  The nodules resolved and now I am much more careful with how I use my voice.  I wear a headset mic in class all the time and I try not to talk much or too loud ever.  It will always be an issue for me now and I'm considering getting into administration and out of the classroom at some point, but right now I just want to keep things as stable as possible while our family is changing.     

Thomas is a fourth grader this year and having a super year in school.  His whole third grade class stayed together and their teacher came with them up to fourth grade, which made for a great transition with no down time.  In fact, he and his (fantastic) teacher emailed back and forth all summer to practice his writing and typing.  He played basketball and took swimming lessons last winter, had a great baseball season (with his dad as the head coach), and played flag football in the fall.  His biggest passion is probably football.  Every recess every day is football and as soon as he gets off the bus and inhales a snack he's back outside to find some kids to play more football with.  He desperately wants to play tackle next fall, and I guess we've held him off as long as we can.  We made it this far with no broken bones (which is more than I hoped for) so we'll cross our fingers and hope to stay out of the emergency room.

Meredith is a first grader now.  She's also working hard in school.  Her reading astonishes me sometimes... she loves to snuggle up to me while I'm reading my book and she will start reading out loud whatever I'm reading (which is awesome, except I had to give up the trashy romance novels!).  She is endlessly creative and spends a lot of time thinking up and trying out new hairstyles (right before she's supposed to be getting on the bus), giant multimedia art projects (that involve the hot glue gun, sequins, and mom whenever possible), and "forts" (that require every blanket in the house and cover most of the basement).  If her new sister or brother is anything like her, we may never be on time anywhere ever again. 

We didn't take any major vacations this year, but we love to spend as much time as we can at my parents' cabin on Lake Charlevoix.  Thomas is a kneeboarding maniac, Meredith mostly likes to watch and jump in when the boat stops.  They also like to take the canoe along the shore and have adventures in the woods.   We all went to a Tigers game in July with Brian's parents and a Red Wings game in February as well as a weekend at Kahihari Waterpark in Ohio.  We spent a lot of time with our families, our friends, and our neighbors.  We had a big neighborhood Halloween party at our house and I think that kind of summed up our fun stuff this year:  we enjoyed simple activities with people we care about and had a great time.

Whenever I look back on our year to write my Christmas letter, even this year which has been difficult and crazy, I just feel overwhelmingly blessed.  We hope you see the blessings in your lives and may 2010 bring you and your family joy and peace!