2009 Kimball Family Year in Review

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a year of growth for the Kimball family: growing a toddler, growing a blog, growing out of our house.

We’re working on putting our house up for sale and are nervous at the prospect of getting rid of half our stuff…and slightly more nervous that we won’t miss it at all. Anyone know someone looking for a great starter home in Grand Rapids? We’re staying in the area, just moving “up”.

It’s amazing, really, how much children can grow and develop in one year. God’s works are something to wonder at! We’re honored to have co-created with Him and to have the responsibility of caring for two of His children here on Earth. We pray daily that we don’t mess it up!

Here’s what Paul has been up to in the last year:

Started a one-day-a-week religious ed program based on the Montessori method (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd). He loves seeing his friends and having a teacher other than Mom. His teacher thinks he’s something special.
Christmas gifts from both sets of grandparents included lessons: ice skating and gymnastics. Lots of fun to watch him try his hand at both!
Tried downhill skiing in February at Boyne (northern Michigan). He blew us all away with how quickly he picked up on the method, got over his fears and even figured out how to cut back and forth and stop on a dime! We were so impressed, we took him on the chair lift. Oops. That hill was taller than it looked for all of us, and there were some tears shed…but then he was game to try one more time!
Summer = “Can I go outside and play with my friends?” We are so blessed to have older kids who don’t mind playing with a 4-year-old in our neighborhood. They played lots of sports, caught lots of bugs, and got wet when it was warm enough!
Swimming lessons this summer were very successful. Paul is a hard worker and good learner and isn’t afraid to try something new, so he picked up a lot. He’s not quite a fish without a flotation device yet!
Caught his first fish with Uncle AJ up in Rogers City! It was nice to have 3 little perch for lunch, but even nicer that Paul got to spend time with his uncle doing something special. See some photos at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/08/12/wordless-wednesday-sons-first-fish/.
The training wheels came off in September with a victorious ride…and then they went back on. “I’ll ride a two-wheeler when I’m 5,” he says.
Back to school meant a loss of all the big kid friends, but Paul and the little 4-year-old girl from two doors down struck up a great friendship and can play “doctor” all day. Am I wondering about that? Uh, yeah. At least I have the kid who teaches his friends about Jesus and the saints!
When the cold weather came, we found ourselves indoors a lot more. We’re doing a little school…sort of…unschooling, I suppose. Paul has latched onto coloring as a favorite activity, can listen to music and dance all day long, and is reading entire books without (much) help. It’s exciting to watch that little brain go! His favorite activity is probably anything with his dad. He just lights up when he gets to spend special time with Kris, and his mood for the morning is pretty much dependent on whether he gets to see Daddy before Daddy leaves for work, or not. Which has all changed in the past week…see Kris’s section for more!

Little Leah has grown from a barely crawling baby to a walking, talking, sassing, problem-solving little girl. Her pigtails stay in only as long as she wants them to (she likes to hand the hairties to me with a knowing smile), she eats great at the time of her choosing, and she gives herself time outs when she hits her brother and I don’t catch her. But she doesn’t stop hitting the brother. She has all Mommy’s Polish stubbornness and a good dose of winning personality to go with it. Highlights include:

Celebrated her first birthday with all her grandparents. She thought sweet frosting was curious and odd and tore up her cupcake instead of eating it. But give the girl ice cream and she does a happy feet dance! Chocolate was one of her first 20 words. Both kids’ birthdays are highlighted at http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/07/10/finer-things-friday-kiddos-birthdays/.
We weren’t sure Leah would be alright with swimming this summer, but it turned out she is a fish and LOVES it. She’d stay in the pool until she chattered and turned purple and then hit the wall and screamed to get out and get warm! (If only we had some 90-degree days so she could be warm AND swimming…)
If anyone remembers how much Paul loved fruit when he was this age, Leah is giving him a run for his money. I have never seen her voluntarily stop eating fruit. Here are some fun photos of some blackberry picking on a walk (http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/07/15/wordless-wednesday-guess-what-we-found-on-our-walk/), and we also braved strawberry, blueberry and apple picking with her. She loved every minute and was always eating! You can see photos of the apple picking here: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/09/25/5-reasons-i-love-apple-season/.
Leah went camping for the second time in her life, and she became one with the dirt. Not in an existential weirdo way, but in an “I-love-to-play-with-sticks-and-dirt” way. We had a lot of fun even though it was 42 degrees when we woke up and a hopeful 70 for a high. You can see lots of photos and stories here: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/09/04/finer-things-friday-family-camping-trip/.
Sometime this fall she grew from a baby into a little kid wanting to be a big kid. If she could do every single thing her brother does, she’d be happy! She loves to climb up on a chair at the kitchen table and just “be”. It makes her feel older, I think. Her “problem-solving” skills become evident when she routinely drags said chair across the kitchen to the counter, climbs up and presents herself ready to help Mommy work. It’s cute, but not if you’re working with raw meat or just can’t accept the help at the time. She has already learned to sort silverware out of the dishwasher into its proper places in the drawer. That was Paul’s chore, so now he needs a new daily opportunity. Any ideas?
Leah has a fascination with the potty and has actually had some successes hitting the mark! We’re not expecting her to be trained within a week or anything, but it’s exciting that no diapers may be around the corner someday. However, if she’s clearly making a big stink, and you ask, “Leah, are you pooping?” she vehemently shakes her head and says through pinched mouth, “Nooooo.” “Do you want to put it in the potty?” “Noooooooo!” If you’re rocking her down at bedtime, on the other hand, she will pat her diaper and claim triumphantly, “Poo poos!” Of course she wants to go the potty then.
Halloween = introduced to the joys of candy. She didn’t know it existed until then (other than chocolate chips), and now she’s hooked on “nan-ee”. Drat. She was awful cute in her ladybug costume though!
Leah received some baby dolls for Christmas last week, and doggone is she in love with “Bay-Beeeee”. She could carry one of them around all day. She’ll cover them with blankets, feed them, take them to the potty…Kris says, “Did Paul do this at his age, or is this a girl thing?” Paul takes care of her babies now when she throws them on the floor.

You can pretty much figure out what Katie’s been up to by visiting www.KitchenStewardship.com. I really enjoy blogging and the online community I’ve found, but it’s stressful in its own right and takes too much of my time (because I allow it to). I’ve changed the way we eat quite a bit in the last year, get raw milk and grassfed beef right from the farm, make sourdough bread and lots of other things from scratch. It’s quite an adventure, and one that will continue for quite some time, I imagine.

This summer the kids and I went on a city bus trip just for the experience, something that Paul and I had been talking about for months. I blogged about the day here http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/08/07/finer-frugal-things-friday-city-bus-field-trip/ and because of that, I was invited to be on a local TV news show to publicize the city bus system. It was a real treat to get my 3 minutes of fame!

In my other spare time, I’m still enjoying weekly Bible study and monthly book club, try to hit a daily Mass once a week and chase after the kids until I get really, really tired. Wink

We had a little scare with Kris’s mom this summer, as she had a surprise double bypass. We supported her through her rather quick recovery and continue to see the Kimballs once a week for a (healthy) dinner and playtime with the kids.

Kris has been focusing on health for the past year or so and started the P90X exercise program in June. It’s a 90-day intensive workout system…and he’s still working on it. It’s impractical for a dad of young children to work out every single day, but I’m always blown away by his dedication. I do a yoga or kickboxing workout with him every so often; they’re incredibly challenging!

Pretty much every minute of Kris’s life has just changed last week. His company, which has been downsizing like they’re on Weight Watchers, finally did something other than let someone go – they sent everyone home. His physical office building is now closed, and the employees are working at home. We curtained off one end of our basement room, but there are some adjustment pains as we figure out how to keep a playroom and a home office separated by a piece of fabric.

That, coupled with choosing a school (out of 7 choices!) for Paul’s kindergarten and windows that are having issues are pushing us to look elsewhere for our “forever” house. We don’t want to have to move again, ever.

Blessings for all of you for a holy Christmas season, which, contrary to cultural belief, actually is just starting on the 25th and runs through January. Pray for us that we don’t get caught with two mortgages or living with the in-laws for too very long!

Love,
Kris, Katie, Paul and Leah

***To see photos of all this hooplah and more, click the "Pictures" tab on the left side of the screen back near the top.