the Wausau life of Gracie, Monkey Girl, Schmoopy and co.

Merry Christmas!

Ah yes, another year flies by, and I find myself sitting here at the kitchen computer, enjoying the peace that only occurs post bedtime. It's interesting to think about a year of time, kid vs. grownup.....it's so easy and amazing to see the obvious development in the kids over that stretch....but I don't have anything particular insightful to say about my own 'growth'!; maybe I'm actually regressing. :) Good thing Mom kept all those Star Wars figures and Match Box cars....

Lis and I count our blessings regularly. The family has been healthy and happy. Grace and Mia excel at school and are way into gymnastics and swimming respectively. Ben has been talking our ears off for months and seems to be conquering his fear of the potty. And after testing the waters last year, Lisa has gotten serious about her triathlon training - with results that are nothing short of amazing. She also continues to teach at UWSP; this year marks my eighth with the Marshfield Clinic here in Wausau. We count our blessings.

You'll soon come to the conclusion that I am a geek Dad, if you haven't already, by perusing the links below. What can I say. I'm hooked on the JibJab website and Picasa photo software. So if you want to see a slide show of our year (it's ok, it's only about four minutes...and has a great soundtrack too!) or see the family involved in goofy animated elf antics (and why wouldn't you? :) ) .....see below.

Our most heart felt wishes for a safe and happy holiday season to you all. Thanks for clicking by.

Mark

2008 slide show:


Snowball fight: http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/F8TRXeMtqyF1gZTQF0Aj

Disco lives!: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/KRevLp8gJTJamnvMtYM8

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PS: If you are puzzled by any of the shots in the slide show, ask away! But I'll touch upon a few 'events' in the show that may not be immediately obvious: Lisa's sister Linda adopted Sydney Giordano this past spring, our friends Sylvia & Emma helped collect Easter bunny eggs this year (in the snow), yes, the beach shots ARE from N. Carolina (see blog post below), no we don't own a goat (fed at Peck's Wildlife) but do now possess a dandy treehouse in the backyard, Cody is my sister's little guy, my Dad is still running tri's (go Dad!) in addition to driving schoolbus part time, and yep, Lis did grow all that yummy produce and nope, I still can't play piano. M

So we took a family vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Corolla to be specific....and don't say it like the car, it's Cor-ALL-a. :) Just found that out. We're leaving tomorrow.

It has been a wonderful trip. We're here with our friends from Ohio, Amy Jo and Norm, and their two boys. The weather has been reasonably good, despite the preseason status. We've flown kites, hiked to a beached shipwreck, fished the surf, chased ghost crabs (on the beach and OUT of the pool), inspected multiple beach carcasses, collected shells and 'sea glass', visited the huge sand dunes favored by hang gliders at Jockey Ridge State Park, passed along some camp songs about barfing up smushed bees, hot tubbed, climbed the Currituck Lighthouse, sat around, shot some hoops, passed by the Kitty Hawk memorial, found an active martin colony, spied a pod of porpoises, watched floating brown pelicans, veggied out in front of the tv, supervised super soaker sessions in the pool, and generally had a good time. Lis and Amy Jo worked magic in the kitchen on a daily basis. The house we rented was amazing. Lots of rooms; glad we don't have to clean it. Although Lis did break out the vacuum at one point. Spontaneously, Benjamin decided that "I'm Superman", which proves that you just never know what those little folks are going to come up with. Weirdly, Superman II was on TV while we were here, but we couldn't get the complex stereo sound system working, so I had to make up some dialog. :) We didn't swim in the ocean (brrrr). Grace was an amazing trooper when she endured sandal induced blisters on her heels AND a gross body hair in her Beach Cooler ice cream cone WITHOUT a fuss, both on the same day. Norm came through with surprise capaccinos. Hope my stream of consciousness report isn't too gosh darn annoying.

The kids' managed to be nearly angelic on the long travel days to get here....we're hoping for more of the same on the trip back tomorrow.

So hopefully will post some pictures soon. Hope to vacation here again some day......

M

hmmm. this looks like fun. thought i'd add my thoughts on 2007. to avoid redundancy, i thought i'd list our family member's accomplishments (as i see them) in order of age:

mark: helped get a simplicity/sustainability group off and running
made our own house more efficient and "green"
lisa: learned how to make a pastry crust
finished her first triathlon
grace: perfected a back walk-over
learned to ride a two-wheeler
mia: graduated to a big girl bed
started preschool
benjamin: learned to walk
learned to talk
(wow, i think he wins!)


overall, it has been a great year. we've been healthy and happy, and are learning to find peace amidst the craziness of life.

i will ask mark to post pics of our remodeled house. although we hope to have a big party to celebrate its completion so hopefully many of you will get to see it first hand.

peace.
lis

Merry Christmas! I think I got an early gift with the discovery of this seemingly ancient blog. Being untouched for over two years in a google memory cache somewhere, it feels almost fossil like from a techie view. But here it is, and here I am, typing a post in a holiday mood; need to get some holiday 'energy' to go with that, but hey, that's why they make coffee, isn't it?

I hope this finds any potential readers well. I hope this holiday season allows people to find some peace and calm. And of course, I hope you enjoyed our kids' Christmas picture mashup. Lis and I thought that was a good representation of our awesome but crazy lives at the moment.

The kids are GREAT. Grace is our seven year old second grader who shows aptitude for school, gymnastics, singing, cooking and just about anything else she focuses on. She's also our high achieving worry wort at times. Gracie is really cute in glasses, newly acquired this fall. She picked them out herself too, honest. Although a bout with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the tender age of one had us in a tailspin (gosh that seems like ages ago), she has been in remission for YEARS now and just has to have eye exams routinely (that sound is me knocking on wood).

Mia is our little China girl. Born in the year of the monkey. Although she is somewhat into bananas, her parents really beam when considering her consumption of the English language after a 14 month delay -- it's unreal. True, she said nothing but 'eh' for what seemed like a year, but she is an amazing little girl. Engaging, bright, cute as a button, unbelievably adept at putting puzzles together and taking her brother's toys when he isn't looking, AND when she winks (newly acquired skill) I think she kinda looks like Popeye.

Benjamin is the Schmoopster. Schmoopy boy. Schmoopy - doopy! (and so on.....c'mon, it's cute, isn't it?) . He will be two in March and is a little Mommie's boy. He sports almost pony tail length, almost curly, almost blond hair and bright blue eyes. They get Mommy every time. I really have little additional resistance to the toddler charm, which makes it difficult when it comes to nuky (read: pacifier) patrol. It's supposed to be just for bed / naptime so his teeth don't go completely wacky, but it's like his favorite thing EVER. Neenee. Yes he is now talking up a blue streak -- we were a bit concerned there given his need for tympanic tubes, but it has been smooth sailing since. Other Ben interests: Beh! (Bear in the Big Blue House), Papa! (pizza), Joo! (juice), Saha! (Santa). On the latter, let's just say I've heard Jingle Bell Rock emanating from the swinging hips of an eight inch St. Nick replica more times than I'd care to and we still have two weeks to go.....

Lis and I are doing mighty fine as well, but we don't get out much (see above). Not that we could anyway given the fact that we decided it would be fun to be general contractors and start four major house projects all at the same time while still working our regular jobs (Marshfield Clinic rehab doc and UW-Stevens Point Women's Studies prof) and being the best parents ever (:)). In case you were thinking about doing something similar, the truth is, general contracting really isn't as much fun as it sounds. It turns out that keeping track of the workers is akin to doing MORE parenting / babysitting in that the guys get their own 'ideas' which need to be 'modified', have to be told things over and over, and make big boo boos. But unlike the kids, you can't give them timeouts. Furthermore, you have to pay them lots of money. But other than that......:)
The projects WILL get done, hopefully this month, and will be awesome. Ironically, the kids are a driving force behind the changes, with the addition of a major mudroom/pantry, and a low maintainence recycled plastic decking re-do to get better access to our newly re-landscaped back yard. We are very lucky to be able to do this and are thankful (.....and you gotta know there is now NO WAY that we are ever going to move. :)) We have been in Wausau now for seven years; come to think of it, Lis and I have been married for 12 years -- it has been very cool. The honeymoon phase is SO way done, but other unbelievable stages follow. Honestly, you know what I gave Lis for her birthday this year? A fully plumbed, flushing toilet -- and she loved it! It doesn't get much better than that.

I wonder if I will post again before 2009?

Best wishes to you all,

Mark

Graffiti on the Great Wall of China! I asked a local about this one....he says it reads "867-5309 Jenny" !

OK, here!

Not close enough for ya?

"What stinks?" in urban China, you have many always varying choices...

:)