December 4, 2009:
Dear Diary, We’ve officially lost our minds. We’re three weeks away from Christmas and have decided to rip the wall paper out of the foyer, paint the living room and hall and install a new front door. Adam just came home from the neighbor’s house (who have their tree up and adorned) and said “hey mom, where’s Christmas in our house?” My only response was “uh……under the painting tarp?” As a result, we have purchased 4 small trees for the kids to decorate (one for each of us) until we can get the family tree up in the living room IF the paint ever dries. I have no time to write a Christmas letter because I am too busy vacuuming and dusting away all of the dry wall sanding dust that is a result of this little pre-Christmas remodeling project. I have decided to take the easy way out and use diary entries from this year for my letter. Please forgive me dear readers……
January 20, 2009:
Dear Diary, Today we took the kids to St. Louis. James and I took the kids to Forrest Park and Alex learned to ice skate. He’s not in love with the sport but can now check that off of the child hood “to do” list. Adam sat inside with me and critiqued the other skaters……an easy job when you’re not the ones skating and subsequently falling all over the ice. Did I mention the hot chocolate was excellent?
March 21, 2009:
Dear Diary, Today is Alex’s 9th birthday. I had a meeting in Washington D.C. and brought Alex with me. Dad and Ginny joined us for an extended weekend and we saw nearly everything our nation’s capitol had to offer. Alex was exhausted from all the walking and claimed the subway gave him a migraine. He spent the night before his birthday sick in the hotel room and when asked what site he was most excited to tour he said the hotel game room.
May 13, 2009:
Dear Diary, Today a tornado hit Kirksville. We were very lucky in that we live in the South part of town and it touched down in the North. I spent the evening with the kids and dog in our basement (the goldfish were on their own) while Alex hid under furniture and prayed. (Have I mentioned he is studying to be the first American pope?) Adam and I hid under a blanket as the weather man SCREAMED warnings at us from the T.V. and tried to guess when the next alarm would go off so we could scrape ourselves off the ceiling from the jolt of the siren. Adam spent his time asking me things like “Mom, do you think the fridge will make it because Dad just made my Kool-Aid!” James kept watch from under his friend’s car which was parked in our garage so he could work on the brakes. He told us he would come in if it got “real bad” which I guess meant having the tornado travel down our street and pass in front of the open garage door for his own personal viewing.
Memorial Day weekend:
Dear Diary, This weekend is Adam’s 5th birthday. In true Melissa fashion we had a blowout, over-the-top birthday party. We rented a giant slide that measured taller than George and Carolyn’s house and invited the four and five year old crowd to come and party. Not to be out done by his younger brother and seeing as how we rented the “slide of death” for two days, Alex had the nine year old crowd over the next day to party. When sliding the regular way became too boring for them, they all donned swim suits and held the hose on the slide to create a giant slip and slide. (Did I mention the slide spit the rider out in the direction of the street?) I don’t have many pictures of that day as I spent most of it on the phone with my home owner’s insurance representative who just LOVES me…….
June 13, 2009:
Dear Diary, Today is my birthday and James surprised me by renting a limo and inviting George and Carolyn, Amy and Jerry, Joe and (can’t remember the name of his wife—too many adult beverages) to the Pear Tree for dinner and then on to Boonville to Harrah’s. WOW, did I have a good time. I mean a REALLY good time. It was my first real ride in a real non-funeral limo and I can’t remember EVER laughing so hard with my friends. I have GOT to make this up to him somehow. I must think of a plan……
July 4, 2009:
Dear Diary, We spent the weekend in Iowa with aunts Polly and Sherry. Mom and Bob joined us and we went to the
parade, the pool, the farm and the fireworks display. Maddie especially likes visiting Iowa because as Adam puts it “she can visit all of her doggie relatives.”
The next week: (Too busy to note the date)
Dear Diary, Today James’ brother and sister visited us along with some of their kids. We had a BBQ in the driveway (have I mentioned that after we completed the addition on the house we never got around to building a deck so we celebrate everything in true NE Missouri fashion---on lawn chairs in the driveway). It was very nice to see everyone and it was rewarding for Alex and Adam to reconnect with their Texas and Michigan cousins.
Later in July: (Too tired to note the date but have a firm grasp of the month Thank God)
Dear Diary,
Well, I rewarded James with an equally cool birthday present. James and my dad went deep sea fishing off the Florida Keys for an extended weekend. They were on a lovely yacht and caught tuna, red snapper and yellow tail. He had a BLAST and best of all, the kids were not hanging on his ankles begging for his attention. He got to enjoy his time and loved it! Woooo Hoooooo! (Did I mention we need to thank the inventor of motion-sickness patches?!)
August 13, 2009
Dear Diary, We had a major cancer scare with mom and we’re all still shaking. The good news is that with surgery, the doctors think they were able to remove all the cancerous tissue. We have a lot of prayer warriors to thank for that! While I hung out in Peoria with mom at the hospital, Alex and Adam went on vacation with James as previously planned. They went to Hot Springs Village to spend time with dad and Ginny in their new retirement home. While there, Adam Robert Hendler (remember the slide party? He’s only 5!) successfully got up on water skis for the first time. I have a picture of both boys skiing behind dad’s boat at the same time. It’s so cool!
September 14, 2009
Dear Diary, I’ve been prepping James for two weeks and have finally done it. I had all of my long hair cut off! It’s so much fun to wear earrings! I’m now constantly freezing but maybe Santa will bring me a scarf.
November 28, 2009
Dear Diary: We spent thanksgiving in Illinois and Iowa. Today was especially fun since Mizzou beat Kansas in the last minutes of this year’s game. (Thank goodness too because if not we would have been stuck with James in a rotten mood! Thank you Mizzou!)
December 9, 2009
Dear Diary: Today the boys had a snow day. When I left they were all outside in snow suits wreaking havoc on the neighborhood. Did I mention the extension ladder is strategically placed on the steps over the landing (remember re-model in progress?) so once it’s swung open someone is gonna end up in the hospital. I’m considering just phoning the ER now and obtaining precertification for everyone since this scenario is a medical deductible in the making!
December 17, 2009
Dear Diary: Last night was the boys’ Christmas pageant. Alex was a soldier and had one whole line to deliver: “At Ease.” He was brilliant. The critics are still raving. Adam was dressed as a giant Christmas present in a big blue box. I spent hours hot gluing a giant blue bow to a head band so that his outfit was topped off perfectly. He got 4 seconds into the song and his blue bow slid down in front of his face. He was unable to lift it back up because his arms were pinned out ward like a giant cross from the box so he sang his little heart out from behind the bow. I had mascara running down my face and spent the rest of the show doubled over in laughter. On another note, the entire remodel is done with the exception of the front door which has not yet arrived. The “other” news is that we lost the Christmas tree stand and the entire town of Kirksville is sold out of artificial tree stands. The substitute tree stand causes the tree to lean and threatens to fall when we walk across the room. While gazing at the leaning tree the family snacks on my fudge which did not set up so we eat it from spoons out of bowls. Finally, due to stress overload, I’ve planned on serving chilli dogs and mac-n-cheese for Christmas Eve dinner. Perhaps we’ll have KFC on Christmas day. One never can tell in our house!
Blessings all! With much love from, Melissa and the boys
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