first post of 2012

we had a wonderful christmas. i missed blogging! so many times i wanted to jot down the memories, and maybe i should have. but... time. we all struggle with having enough of it, especially during the holidays. i really tried to let go of things that were not as important, hold tight to traditions that we have come to love as a family, start a few new ones... things of that sort. so i had to let go of logging our season as i felt sleeping was more important! lol.. i'll figure how to work it all some day. wait. no i won't. anyway.. it didn't seem to matter that i seemed to have a little typewriter in my head dinging at the end of a thought i would have liked to write about. it still didn't make it to the computer!

not quite back to the daily grind here yet.. the kids are off this week too. they went to school right up till friday before christmas. it was nice as it did allow me to get a little extra wrapping, crafting, gifting while they were at school. then we didn't have the lead up to christmas excitement either. it was christmas eve and it was here! liked that. then we took off for san diego two days after the big day and enjoyed the wonderful warm sunshine and beach and time with friends. it was Truly relaxing. just what we needed.

now back to the mess of a house we left. yesterday we had to dechristmas the house. i tried to be extra careful packing up everything.. we not only will not see that stuff for a year... but next time i open those red and green bins we will be in an new house and a new city. a lot will certainly transpire between now and then and i'm looking excitedly towards it. (well, not sure about that cross country drive yet. i don't travel well!) but all the same it's daunting. and it's different. and unknown. we've come to feel at home in this little town. not love it, i'm not going to lie. but definitely feel that we have carved out our spot. we spent our second quiet -just our little family- christmas here. we've made some wonderful friends... proving once again that it's not the place... it's the people!! sooooo.. i think i need to get to cleaning up this house so i can spend time with those people in this last part of our stint in Nevada. :)

here's a few cute pics of the kids on christmas...

Dec. 7th.. not 1941

when Garrett came home from school today i asked him if they talked about what "day" it is today. after we got passed the fact that the Did calendar... he understood i was talking about a "special" day.
"No. Ms Jessica didn't mention it. You know, she didn't have the little holiday tag on the calendar either.. i wonder why. Maybe she didn't know" (please take no offense to this Jessica. He frequently thinks that adults really do not know common things and he blames it on our bad teachers).

So we talked about why today is an important day to remember. I got out our Usborne book,
"the world wars" (with internet links to tons of info!) and looked up Pearl Harbor.
We read the section on it... I learning right along with him and having trouble answering some of his questions about why we were called the Allies... And who the Axis was. And.. why countries are called "her/she".

So let's be honest (as i have to admit since my sister may call me out on it!)... i think this is only the 2nd year that i actually know why today's date is important. not because i never heard of pearl harbor, i knew "generally" what happened. but the date certainly did not stick. nor did the significance. (on a side note, my sister has been quizzing me for years about this as she finds history interesting... and i just could never get it straight.. the date & it's not the same as d-day.) I swear i did well in American History... but for the life of me I can't remember even being IN that class!

I do not want my kids to be like me in that respect.

we are in fact, a military family. that has really shaped me as an adult into wanting to know and respect history. so basically i learn right along side Garrett who finds it fascinating. Not only that, but i have an intimate understanding of the sacrifices made by the brave men and women and their families. I think back and remember about choking when my mom suggested going to Washington DC, Gettysburg, Thomas Jefferson's home... (the list goes on) for vacation. The first time i remember feeling any allegiance really is during Desert Storm. I remember realizing that it was a big deal. people were dying. and of course.. the 7th grade spring choir show was dedicated to the armed forces. we sang all the branches' songs. and recently garrett's choior show for Veteran's day did just that...

I'm hoping to instil the importance of history and the respect for our country.
tonight we listened to FDR's speech after Pearl Harbor .... i don't think i ever heard it!


FDR speech
...along with many radio clips from KDKA (Pittsburgh!) announcing the news and reports from Hawaii. It is such a stark difference from what we have today, where we expect up to the minute reports. funny, it was probably more accurate then.

it was a good lesson. so the question i have is why isn't it a "tag" on the calendar charts?? lol!