New Year's Eve 2010

I am glad to see 2010 come to a close, only because I don't think we could cram anything else into this year.  I'm not going to rehash everything because it's all on the blog here somewhere.  I'm really glad to have the record of our amazing year because many things seem like a blur only a few months out, so I know I'll forget so much as the years go on. 

Yesterday we took the kids rollerskating.  We went last week too and Tinsaye and Solomon picked it up immediately (one more new American thing they've mastered).  Yesterday as the kids were skating around like maniacs and Brian and I were sitting on a bench like a couple of old fogeys, we had kind of a simultaneous premonition of our life in years to come.  The kids were doing their own thing, totally independent of us, solving their own problems and having adventures without us, while we happily rest and watch them with pride as they soar off on their own.  For now we only get glimpses of that life, and then it's back to our current reality ("mom, my skate came undone, I lost my quarter, can we get a pretzel?).  We are trying hard to remember to appreciate these years and be grateful for all the blessings along the journey.  

Speaking of blessings along the journey.... Brian and his dad have been working on installing a new garage door opener (our died last week) for the past 5 hours and 20 minutes.  They ran into some major problems followed by minor problems followed by interruptions which are now causing them to miss Notre Dame's bowl game.  Brian just passed by on his way to get another tool and said, "Did I ever tell you how much fun it is to be the dad?"  to which I replied, "Almost as much fun as it is to be the mom!"  I spent my day vacuuming petrified french fries out of the minivan, buying $180 worth of groceries and then putting them all away, applying an ice pack to a suspected concussion, and feeding four Baert kids, one neighbor kid, two angry men, and myself.  Although I have a strong suspicion our lives will be on this track for a while now, I wouldn't trade it for the world.