Christmas Letter

I like to archive our annual Christmas letter on the blog, so here it is:


We have officially been members of this family for almost 18 years now and often feel a little neglected when it comes to Christmas letter updates.  Each year we wait for a little more emphasis on what we’ve been up to or a few accolades tossed our way, but all we ever get is maybe a sentence or two letting everyone know that we are still alive and perhaps a comment about napping or shedding or sitting in boxes.  Trust us, there is more to our lives than that.  So yes, the people in this house have had a busy (and NOISY) year, but this year we are taking matters into our own paws so you can finally get a deeper glimpse into our lives…the exciting lives of the family cats.


Let’s start with a little bragging…as that is what Christmas letters are all about, right??  We are now 17 years, 10 months, and 13 days old.  In achieving that ripe old age, we have far surpassed the average life span for a typical house cat.  Go us!!  We would like to credit our longevity and good health to a daily diet of those dry nibbles that appear in our bowl every day, mostly fresh water (with the occasional supplement from a drip in the faucet or the floor of the shower), and maintaining a stress free daily routine punctuated with adequate rest.  I think everyone could learn a little something from us.


We often see the people in this house staying active and keeping busy.  They are definitely not following the lifestyle example we are trying to set around here.  The big one who feeds us and changes our litter has done things called a half-ironman and a marathon this year while also helping to coordinate the St. Jude Eureka to Peoria Run, volunteering at church, and cheering for the Chicago Bears.  (Bears?  Really??  We’d prefer the Panthers or the Jaguars.  But even we draw the line at cheering for the Lions.)  The slightly smaller one who vacuums up our fur and cleans up our hairballs (not so happily, I might add) also does some running, heads up the Wednesday night kids program at church, and volunteers at the school.   Running the Eureka to Peoria St. Jude Run remains a highlight for them both.  It doesn’t seem like they ever get enough sleep, so we sometimes take extra naps just for them.


The littler, louder ones make things exponentially busier around here.  The biggest one who is always singing or reading has a multitude of interests and activities, but her first love is acting and performing in plays.  The middle one is often found climbing the doorways and hanging upside down, but she also enjoys art and reading.  Tumbling is her favorite extracurricular activity.  And the littlest one mostly likes building and playing with anything that has wheels.  It seems like they never run out of energy.  Just watching them makes us want to nap…so we do.


The volume and activity level in this house can get a little obnoxious at times, which is less conducive to the stress-free lifestyle we are trying to achieve.  We really like it during the week when we have hours of peace and quiet while some or all of the people are away.  The big one goes to work every day at State Farm.  He took a new position in an entirely different area of the company and has mentioned the decreased stress and increased happiness in this new position.  The other one works 2 days a week at the Children’s Hospital as an occupational therapist and spends the rest of the days at home with the littlest one.  The loud ones go to school (3^rd grade and 1^st grade) and the smallest one goes to 4 year old pre-school 3 afternoons each week.  We take advantage of the times that they are all gone to fit in a little rest and relaxation.


There have been several times this year when they have all gone away for extended periods of time.  We’ve heard talk of weeks in Disney and Destin and Pentwater.  We’ve enjoyed quiet week-ends while they were away in Chicago and St. Louis.  They always have someone come to feed us and check on us, so we really don’t mind the extended break from all that activity.  It gives us ample time to catch up on our napping.


We are hopeful that this Christmas letter finds you and your pets happy and healthy and getting adequate rest this holiday season.  As you can see, life here is good.  Busy and loud at times, but good.  Well, all this typing has really worn us out.  We probably need a nap.  Wishing you a fur-y, purr-y Christmas and a nap-py New Year.

With love from Jake and Elwood

If you want to keep up with this busy family, feel free to follow the family blog at ezsanck.blogspot.com.  Word of warning, though.  There are very few posts about cats.  Very few.

Merry Christmas!

Question of the Day

Where can you live in order to get snow on Halloween and 60 degree warmth on Christmas Day?

Of course, the answer is Illinois.

Home of the world's most unpredictable weather.

But no arguments from my brood as they enjoyed the opportunity to ditch their coats, play outside with friends, and break in new pogo sticks and new rain boots.

Christmas

It came.  We celebrated.  And now I post.  Prepare for photo overload as I provide a pictorial diary of our Christmas celebrations.

We kicked off Christmas a few days before the official day with Zach's side of the family.

There was good food, fun conversations, and lots of cousin play time.

One of my favorite traditions is how the cousins like to make or buy things for each other.  Staley made Olivia and Lila jewelry boxes (with Zach's help.)

Briggs made a race car out of perler beads for Cade.

And Olivia gave Adelie this little stuffed animal.

There were lots of other fun gifts.  Here Adelie is posing with her new harmonica while wearing her new rubber band bracelets that Lila made her, her new accessory glasses, and her new scrunchies.

There were sleeping bags and trains and new clothes and craft activities and running accessories and underwear.  Adelie gave Uma and Papa this picture she had painted at a painting class she attended with Zach and Staley.  She was so proud of this painting, and I love her thoughtful and giving heart that she wanted to gift it to someone else.

And, as usual, Jill and I gave each other gifts that we also bought for ourselves.  Here we are posing in our matching sweaters.

Of course, no family get together is complete without some sort of performance.  (You'll notice Briggs playing with his trains in the background, oblivious to the singing and harmonica playing occurring right next to him.)

What a wonderful way to kick off our Christmas celebrations!

The kids were so excited about Christmas day that the girls had a hard time falling asleep and Briggs was up for a few hours in the middle of the night.

Since Briggs had been up for awhile in the night, we let him sleep in a little while the girls cuddled in bed with us to read books.  When I finally let them wake Briggs up, we read the Christmas story together before heading downstairs for presents.

Stockings are always so much fun.

Toothbrushes, ornaments, shoelaces, scrunchies, socks...what's not to love about that??

My kids always love to make gifts for each other.  Briggs made Adelie this little Ariel mermaid out of perler beads and he made Staley a perler bead basketball.  This was the first year that he really made presents for others, and he worked really hard on his perler bead creations.

Adelie made this homemade train puzzle for Briggs, and she worked with Zach to make a necklace holder for Staley.

Staley made a book for Briggs titled "Radiator Briggs" about Briggs' toy cars coming to life.

Staley also worked with Zach to make a jewelry box for Adelie.

Each kid also had one gift they put at the top of their Christmas list this year.  Briggs wanted this metro train set.  (He calls it his L-train, like the Chicago trains that Uncle Ethan rides.)

Adelie wanted an American Girl doll that looks like her.  She named her Adeline.

Staley wanted a telescope so she could look at the moon and the stars.

I love the idea of giving our kids experiences instead of things, so we also planned a week-end in St. Louis with tickets for the girls and I to go see 'Wicked' at the Fox Theater...

...while Briggs and Zach will take a ride on the Polar Express.

After gifts, we spent the rest of the morning playing with new toys...

putting together new telescopes...

eating cinnamon rolls and playing family games.

We then headed over to my parents' house in the afternoon for one last family Christmas.

There was play time with uncles.

There was reading time with Grandpa.

There was more good food, fun conversations, and play time with cousins.

And, of course, more gifts like pogo sticks, ozobots, CDs, clothes, books, American Girl clothes, jewelry, more trains, and more running accessories.

And more gifts my kids made for cousins and grandparents.

It was a long, fun, full day we had celebrating the birth of our Savior.

I am always so thankful for the blessings in my life and my family tops that list.

What a wonderful Christmas we had!!

Frozen, Jr.

This past week-end, we ended our string of Christmas festivities and performances with the fall semester Stage Kids production, 'Frozen, Jr.'

Both girls were excited about doing Frozen, and Staley's excitement turned to ecstasy when she was cast as Olaf.

Adelie was initially a little disappointed when she did not get a speaking role, but she was excited to have 4 ensemble parts that required 4 different costumes.  Adelie was a townsperson, a coronation guest, a summer dancer, and a hidden folk.  She was adorable in all her roles!

Staley did an incredible job as Olaf.  She had lots of lines and her first ever solo for an entire song.  She practiced so much, and was a true highlight of the show for many.  The sheer joy she has on stage was a perfect fit for the happy, bubbly personality of Olaf.

After the show, Staley had some little kids she didn't know come up and want to get their picture taken with her.  She was on cloud nine.  Of course, this little kid was pretty taken with his big sis too.

I'm always overwhelmed by the support that my kids get at their shows.  I didn't even get pictures of everyone who came to see them, but they can always count on having a large contingent of family and friends in the audience.  Grammie and Grandpa are always there.

As are Uma and Papa.

There are great-aunts...

and cousins...

from both sides of the family.

Since Uncle Ethan is an actor (and a favorite uncle), both girls were so excited that he came home from Chicago to see their show.

I love the support and love from my girls' teachers.  Mrs. Doty had both Staley and Adelie in Kindergarten and still comes to all the shows with her daughter.

Adelie loved having Miss Malcom, her teacher, at the show and was even more excited that Miss Malcom brought her flowers.  

Staley's teacher, Mrs. Hitchins, also came and brought Staley a little Frozen gift.  How lucky we are with the amazing teachers my girls have!

Some of the high school girls from our church (one who was also in the play) are so sweet and supportive of my girls.  I did not get pictures, but our neighbors who are like family, a friend of Zach's from work with her boys, and a friend of mine with her little boy also came to see the show.  So much love and support!!

And, of course, the girls group of friends from Stage Kids just continues to grow and flourish.

Friendships that started at Stage Kids have turned into some of the girls' closest friends.

I love how my girls have so many friends and people they want to get pictures with after each show...and how many friends want to get pictures with them.

It warms my heart to see friends, big and small, supporting my girls and showing them so much love.

Each show brings new opportunities and new friends.

And I love how the cast becomes a family.

Big roles or small, I'm always so proud of my kids.  My favorite thing is just watching them on stage and seeing the joy it brings them.