Another year has flown by, with its own slew of changes to keep up with. Among our challenges have been trying to decide who is going to be Elsa, not calling Davis a baby, managing personal and vehicular energy and pressure levels, and the last of the major household projects for a while.
The kids were definitely caught up in the Frozen frenzy, which has changed their wardrobes, the games they play, and the music they listen to. There's still room for the old favorites and sometimes painful injections of pop music when they're playing, listening to music in the car or for one on Moira's many self-produced dance recitals. Walker avoided Frozen until October, when he finally watched it with the kids in exchange for them watching Princess Bride while they were sick. For Moira, Princess Bride ranks up with Nightmare Before Christmas, receiving a "Never Show Me That Again" rating.
Overall, raising the children has gotten a little easier over time, but not as much as we'd like. Moira has always been motivated by having people read stories to her. Bath time, washing hair, brushing teeth and flossing all happened smoothly with a reminder that these things needed to happen in order to have bedtime stories. Davis, on the other hand, has been a tougher nut to crack. Since Moira still gets her story, skipping a story for Davis doesn't do much. So, now there are funny noises in public at times to get him to eat, not to mention a barnyard full of the sounds of the animals living between his teeth. Moira gets jealous of this at times. There's some hope, though - since she's beginning to lose her teeth, there's room for more things to hide.
This year's vacation was down to a resort in Oregon Shannon used to visit with her family, where Davis discovered a love of mini-golf which carried on into his birthday celebration. So far, the improvised course we made in the newly finished back yard was comparable to most of the courses we've seen in the Pacific Northwest. Apparently this region has something against windmills.
We've had some changes in the household with roommates moving on, which has left an opening in the cooking schedule which Moira was eager to fill. Her skills have gotten a lot better, and she's even starting to branch out from cookbooks featuring Disney princesses. She's also branched out into acting with a program for kids run by the Seattle Children's Theater.
Shannon and Walker have generally been at the same old things, having held out a long time against everything being about the children. They've stopped trying to keep up with the endless tide of LEGO-based co-op games, have driven contractors from the house (at least for now), and do manage to get a few hours off each week, away from the house, without the kids, sometimes together even, that they then proceed to squander by talking about the kids anyway.
Hoping for a peaceful 2015,
Walker, Shannon, Moira & Davis
