Reflections on Stuff

We have been slowly working on de-cluttering the basement in preparation for the finishing project that will start soon after the new year. We went through all of the toys in November, then took time off during the busy holiday season, and now have to finish before we go back to school next week.

When we went through the toys, I thought "Boy these kids have a ton of stuff." And for the most part, they were O.K. with getting rid of a lot of it since they don't play with much of it anymore. It pained me to turn around and buy new Christmas toys, knowing that one day I would be hauling that stuff out of the basement to throw away too. But the kids are growing, and need different things at different ages, so I know its a necessary evil.

I, however, am not growing anymore. And I thought we did a fairly decent job of keeping the clutter down somewhat in our basement (at least compared to some other houses I've seen!). But every time we clean out stuff, we get rid of more and more stuff that I thought I needed to keep, and then years later realize I don't.

Examples:

Books: I never re-read a book. Never. Yet I keep every book that I bought (and compared to how much I read, I really don't buy many at all and got a lot of use out of the library before I got my Kindle). A few years ago I wondered why I kept struggling to find room for these books that I never intended on opening again. So I got rid of almost all of them, keeping the ones that were sentimental to me for some reason. Then, last month, I realized the "sentimental" books had not been touched since I decided I needed to keep them, and I didn't even know I had them. So out those went as well. We now have one box of books (disregarding the kids' books), and half of those are keepsakes like yearbooks.

Baby Clothes: Today I found several containers of "special" baby clothes. Lots of Maria's dresses, and lots of "firsts" - first pair of shoes, first snowsuit, first swimsuit, first Miami shirt, etc. And I realized that I have pictures of the kids in each and every one of these outfits. They're never going to wear them again. So I got rid of almost all of them, only keeping that first pair of booties, coming home from the hospital outfits, and baptism clothes. Each kid has one container of team shirts - from baseball, soccer, dance, etc. And I immediately gained two shelves worth of space.

Wedding Gifts: Over the years we have gotten rid of several gifts that we know we will never use. Recently we have come across lots of candle sticks - both brass and crystal. When we got married, we decided we would use our candlesticks - no need to save them for a special occasion. But after one use, we realized candlesticks can make a huge mess and are not worth the hassle (O.K. so we were playing 3-man at midnight on the patio of our first apartment in a light breeze, but still). So we quit using them, but felt we should keep them. Until last week, when we finally threw them away.

I guess the moral of the story is the older I get, the more I realize that it's the memories that matter, not the stuff. And the actual stuff doesn't bring back any memories that weren't already in my head. So on with the de-cluttering of the stuff, but hopefully not the memories!

Christmas 2009

Christmas at the Keller house was another fun-filled extravaganza this year. We again were blessed to have both sets of grandparents here on Christmas Eve and Christmas day to celebrate with us. The usual traditions were intact, including Christmas Eve dinner of minestrone soup and sandwiches, singing carols at the piano (both kids played some this year), and opening one gift (new pajamas and a book). The kids went to bed at 10:00, and were up Christmas morning at 7:00. I expected they would sleep in a little since it was so dark out, but between the crazy wind and Maria's cold, they were up early.

By 9:00 everyone was up and the unwrapping could start. By 9:30, it was all over. All of the preparation for such a little bit of time in the end. The kids seemed pleased - their big gift this year was a Play Station 3, which I think was a surprise. But they also had some other favorites - Sam's LEGO Power Miners Crystal Sweeper was a huge hit, as was Maria's new coat and Mind Flex game. They have also been playing with Shrinky Dinks quite a bit (especially Maria), and their new Play Station games - Tony Hawk skateboarding and Little Big Planet. The Wii games have taken a backseat so far - there's even one Wii game that has yet to be opened.

A great day, all in all, even though Maria and I weren't feeling our best - I've had a cold/cough for most of vacation so far, and Maria caught it too, but it seemed to be at it's worst Thursday and Friday. Today I am feeling much better. And really, we have so much to be thankful for this holiday season, that a little cold is not enough to ruin the day.

I am a little disappointed that Sam just recently told me that he "really didn't get that much for Christmas." Reality setting in, I think, that he had now played with everything and there was nothing else brand new to discover. Even though I know he's only 7, sometimes I wonder what else he could have expected - when you make a list with 20-some things on it, you're not going to be able to get everything! So I had to remind him of the good things in his life, and how Christmas isn't only about the presents - how we had all that family time together, etc. Not sure he was very impressed, though!

Zoo Lights

Wednesday night we went to see the zoo lights. It was cold, but not windy, so as long as we kept walking it was tolerable. The kids each took their cameras, so we had to stop a lot for them to take pictures as well. We stayed almost 2 hours, and saw lots of lights, reindeer, and rode the carousel. We ended the evening with a stop at Starbucks and then headed home to get ready for Christmas Eve the next day!

Snow!

One of the things I will miss most when the kids grow up is how genuinely excited they get about the simple things. Like snow.

This morning we woke up to maybe 2 inches of snow on the ground. But it's the first snow of the season, and when they went to bed last night the weather was fine, and I'm sure it helps that Christmas vacation just started so they're in a pretty great mood overall. When each of them got out of bed this morning and looked out the window, "Wow! Look at the snow!" could be heard throughout the house.

The older I get, the more I really don't like the snow and cold all that much. So it's good to be reminded how beautiful it can be - especially when it's enough to look pretty but not screw up our travel plans! And some day, probably when they start driving and have a real sense of how snow may interfere with their social plans, the snow may not seem as magical to them. So I'm enjoying it while I can.

And I'm thankful that they each actually have boots AND snow pants that fit - I'm on top of things this year!

Sam's Gingerbread House Party

Today the first grade had their annual Gingerbread party. They spend three weeks working on a Gingerbread unit, and then invite parents for a program and craft this afternoon to end the unit. Luckily, it started at 1:45, and my plan period is 2:05 until the end of the day, so I was able to get another teacher to cover me for 20 minutes and be at the party with Sam from the beginning. They started by showing a video of the different classes doing different Gingerbread activities throughout the unit, which was actually difficult to pay attention too, even for me. Live entertainment would have been much better, but would have taken much longer to prepare, so I understand why they did it this way.

After the video the parents were supposed to help their child put their Gingerbread house together - it's a foam set so that makes it a little easier. And it was interesting to watch Sam, because he is all business. He wants to make certain he is doing the house exactly as the directions show, and he is very focused on accomplishing this task. If he is always like this at school, I can see why his teacher commented a while back that he is so serious she can't tell if he likes school or not.

But we had fun, and the Gingerbread house looks awesome. I just hope the glue stick holds well enough so I can keep it for a long time.

Art Show

Tonight was Ben's band concert, and the art classes always put on an "Art Show" for parents to look at before the concert. Maria's class were told they could make something for it if they liked, so one day after school last week she created her "Christmas Star" in less than an hour and brought it in to her art teacher. She had no idea that there were awards given, and was thrilled that she got first place for 3-D art in the elementary school.

Then today after school we got a note from Sam's art teacher saying one of his creations had been chosen by her to be displayed. The kids and I hadn't planned to go to tonight's concert, but I wanted to see their artwork. So when Sam and I picked up Maria at the elementary from Destination Imagination, we snuck onto the stage during basketball practice so we could see their work. It was pretty dark, and that's why Sam's picture is slightly out of focus. His is a "Self Portrait."

Anyway, I thought I would share their creations with you.

Miami vs. OSU Hockey

Last night we went to see the #1 ranked Miami Redhawks beat the tar out of the OSU Buckeye hockey team 6-0. We met the Caseys, the Owsleys, and the Smiths there. And we let the Smiths sit with us even though they had on their OSU clothes. We all had a blast - of course it's more fun to win, and especially to beat OSU so badly in their own arena. Sam and Maria really got into it and participated in all the Miami cheers, and Sam had so many questions about the game. He started out sitting by me, and I was doing pretty well until he asked why a guy got a penalty and I wasn't paying attention, so then he sat by Ben who could keep him informed. That allowed me to socialize with Lisa and Linda, so it was a win-win situation for everyone. Ben really enjoyed hanging with the kids at a sporting event - he is working at all Fairbanks football and basketball games, so he isn't able to do that very often. We got home around 10:00, and the kids went straight to bed. Today is a very busy day, so I hope they're well-rested!

Sam's Christmas Program

Thursday night was Sam's elementary school Christmas program. Each grade level (except 5th grade) sang 2-3 songs, but all the kids get dressed up in their holiday clothes so it's really cute. We had a family Christmas picture taken before we left since we'll probably not see Sam dressed up again for a while.

Finally Vaccinated!

Yesterday I finally got the kids in for their H1N1 vaccinations. It has been pretty frustrating for us, as I mentioned in an earlier post, since they only hand out tickets from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., which meant that we could never get any. But yesterday they weren't handing tickets out until 2:00, so I left school during my plan period, around 2:30, and booked it to Marysville prepared to wait in some huge line in hopes of getting two tickets for the kids.

And when I got there, I wondered if I was in the wrong place. It was deserted, except for all of the health department workers wandering around with nothing to do. If the kids had been with me, we could have walked right in and gotten the vaccinations. But since they weren't, I got two tickets to come back between 5:00 and 6:00, before their piano lessons which were back to back this week.

When we went back, we again walked right in. There was maybe two other people with kids getting shots at the same time.

Ben and I had talked to Maria and Sam about the vaccinations a few different times, so they knew we felt this was important. Neither one complained or said they didn't want to get a shot - they just accepted it as something they had to do since we said so (we have such good kids). And I think Maria has some knowledge of the situation with all the Swine Flu stuff that was in the news lately. But still, they weren't thrilled about getting a shot, and their fear showed a little when we actually got to where they were giving the shots.

If I could go back, I would figure out which kid would go first before we got there. As it turned out, the nurse left it up to them, and neither of them wanted to go first, so I played the "Pick a number between 1 and 10" game. Which would have gone better if I had worked out ahead of time if the "winner" went first or second. Maria guessed closer, so I told her she had to go first, but she said if she won, why did she have to go first. Good point. So then Sam, who thought he was off the hook, ended up having to go first.

He was brave even though he felt he was cheated out of going last. The worst part about it was that he was so curious, he wouldn't look away from what the nurse was doing. And she was very strict that he look away while she gave him the shot. But he wanted to watch. We finally got him to look away and he only flinched a little when she stuck him.

Then it was Maria's turn. She sat in the chair and dutifully looked away. Sam, however, was right there by the nurse asking her questions as she was preparing Maria's arm for the shot. I was proud of his curiosity, but I don't think the nurse was thrilled about it. So Maria flinched a little too, and that was it. I think the anticipation of the shot was worse that the actual shot for both of them.

Children 9 years and under have to get two doses, so Sam has to go back after 21 days have gone by, but Maria is done. He didn't seem to think that was very fair, but I told him I'll wait to get mine until then and we can do it together - healthy adults are allowed to get them starting next week. And neither child suffered any side effects, other that a little burning where they got the shot, which ended after about an hour.

Letters to Santa

The kids wrote their letters to Santa tonight, so I took a picture of them before they go into the mail. We were going to see Santa at the mall on Saturday, but neither Maria or Sam was thrilled about spending time in line so I told them a letter would do the trick.

Where is She?

You're probably not going to believe this.

Today was the annual Marysville Christmas parade. Each year Maria participates with the dance studio, and Ben's band used to march in the parade but haven't for the last few years. Maria got to dress up as a toy soldier this year so she was especially excited.

This was the first year that Ben was going to be able to watch with us, to help drop Maria at the parade line-up and deal with all of the traffic there. It may not seem like much, but as a band director's wife, I go to 99% of all parades as a single parent, and I was looking forward to going as a family today. It was made better by the fact that the Smiths decided to go to, in part to see Maria.

I have not had great Christmas parade experiences in the past. It used to be just Sam and I, and neither of us enjoyed being cold and so I can't say it was much fun waiting for the parade to start. Then there was the year that Sam (I think he was 4) had to go to the bathroom right as the parade neared us, and we had to dash to the library on the next block and rush back, but we made it in time to see Maria. My personal favorite is the year when Ben accidentally put Maria on the wrong float at the parade line-up (in his defense, she was with 2 of her dance friends, but they were on the Wal-Mart float, so she rode with them even though she was supposed to be on the dance studio float).

So traditionally I do not like this parade. But today would be different, I hoped.

At 1:15, Ben dropped Maria and I at the dance studio, where she dressed in costume, and then picked us and two of Maria's friends up to drop them off at the parade route. We then drove back to town, parked, met up with the Smiths, and began the long wait in the cold for the parade to start.

When the parade finally started, Sam, Mason and Lindsey focused on getting as much candy as they could. Ben was taking video and Andy was taking still shots. Soon came the dance studio group - with toy soldiers holding a banner both in the front and back. And Maria wasn't any of the soldiers. After they passed, the four adults looked at each other and said things like "Did you see her? I didn't see her," etc. I was a little panicked, wondering what happened to her. Ben convinced me that maybe she traded outfits with someone at the parade route - after all, her teacher waved to us so if there was a problem she would have said something to us.

There were seven of us there to cheer for Maria, and not one of us actually saw her in the parade.

So at the end of the parade we rushed to the dance studio to pick up Maria, and I was relieved when she was there safe and sound. And she told us she carried the banner in the front of the group - somehow we all missed seeing her. She looked really cute, and we have no pictures. Unless Ben happened to get her on video (she was on the other side of the street, so we probably wouldn't have gotten great pictures anyway, but still). But Maria had fun in the parade, and the other kids had fun watching the parade, so I guess that's all that matters.

Smart Boy

Last night Sam and I were dropping Maria off at dance and then headed to the library. On the way, Maria and I pointed out (to Sam) a house covered in holiday lights that the two of us had seen on the way to the Christmas Walk Monday night. He liked the display, and then said, "Oh, I get it. It's supposed to be a Gingerbread House." And he was absolutely right.

The sad part is that Maria and I never saw that at all. Once Sam pointed it out, it was obvious he was right - lights made to look like candy, single strands around the windows and doors, and a lighted up Gingerbread Man off to the side. But Maria and I just thought it was cool - we didn't see the big picture. This is the first time that I remember Sam being the first one to pick out something like that, and I was so proud of him.

We could analyze the differences in male and female perspective, how males look at the big picture and females pick out details, but I just prefer to think he is very smart. Which makes me feel better about the concerned e-mail from his teacher Tuesday detailing how Sam was choking himself in music class. But that's another story for another time.