First up is a flash back from 2012. Ryan had this picture pop up on his Facebook feed and he sent it to me. This is our little family the day after Emilee was born. This is the first time Allison and Matthew saw her. Pictures are so awesome. Literally a frozen piece of time that you can look back at and remember forever. They remind you of all kinds of other moments at the same time also. This was a fun day. Those days were physically exhausting but sweet and gone to fast. The picture next to the hospital one is fast forward eight years to Emilee mucking up horse stalls. Ryan was waiting in his car for her to come out because he was cold and it was almost thirty minutes past time for her lesson to be over. He went into get her and she was just helping get the barn shut down for the evening. The girl will go to any lengths at home-including going to bed at 5:30 in the evening to avoid chores but will happily freeze her bum off to shovel poop and dirt because it belongs to a horse.
November 2012 
November 2020
The girls and I were comparing our genetics the other day. Being able to roll or wave your tongue (I have since learned it is called a clover leaf tongue) is a genetic trait. All of us can roll our tongues, the girls can make the clover (Matthew can do both as well), I can’t. A lot of people in my family can also roll their tongue but no one else can do the clover. The girls don’t share any DNA with Ryan’s side of the family because he is adopted but I don’t think any of them can do it either. Ryan can not do either one. So most likely it comes through my side of the family, I just got the rolling but not the clover gene, or my tongue has not reached its full genetic potential. Fascinating stuff here!!
In addition to a report on our tongue rolling skills, I have some more exciting news!! Allison found my bells in the closet and got them out the other day. She has been playing them a lot. She really likes Christmas music so there have been a few very good performances with the bells the past few weeks. Emilee and Matthew will join in sometimes but Leah and Allison have been the main players. When they get together they practice a few songs and then perform them for everyone. My hopes of a Terry Family Bell Choir have been renewed! I was a little ambitious in getting it started years. Now everyone is old enough to play and most of the time I would say half of us are willing to participate without coaxing. The other half can be bribed to play for 5-10minutes. Woohoo!
The past several years when I have asked the kids if they want to go see Santa at the Bass Pro shop, Matthew has rolled his eyes, Allison said “meh” , Emilee tears up and asks if she has to talk out loud or touch Santa, and Ryan says, “I don’t think the kids really care.” This year events unfolded a little differently so my girls were happy to go and I got a cute picture of them with Santa. First, their cousins invited them which makes everything more fun. Second, their brothers stayed home so there wasn’t a constant stream of snarky comments from them. Third, “thanks to COVID” instead of talking to Santa and sitting on his lap, there is a giant clear plastic screen between you and Santa and you get to ‘touch fingers’ through the screen then sit in front of the screen and take a picture. The screen makes it pretty hard to hear so most people just leave a letter or mime what they want to Santa, or just skip the talking part all together. It sounds ridiculous but my girls loved it, and honestly I think Santa loves it too. He seemed more authentically jolly then in past years.
I was thinking of waiting to put decorations up for Christmas after Thanksgiving but I didn’t make it. After all the stupid COVID crap this year I think I needed Christmas to come a little earlier than usual. If I remember right I have put my decorations up mid November for three years in a row so maybe it is just my new normal. This year I don’t think I am alone though, Christmas lights and decorations started appearing several weeks earlier around town and our neighborhood then they usually do. I have spent many a night reading a book snuggled up by my fireplace with just the Christmas lights on. My mom helped me redo my tree decorations when she was here for Thanksgiving. I’m feeling the red this year so I went to a red and white and I LOVE IT!
Allison had one of her big 5th grade projects this past month. They have to pick a Native American tribe to research and write a report on and then build an example of their homes. She picked the Anasazi Tribe. Allison is very detailed and willing to focus as much time on a project as she needs when she gets focused. She had a vision in mind and didn’t care how long it took to make it happen. She did this ALL on her own and did a great job. Her report was VERY THOUROUGH and researched too. It took a few conversations and showing her emails from her teacher for verification to convince her she didn’t need three separate sources to verify ANY fact she put in her report. There are some time management skills that need some polishing with that girl-she will not be rushed- but her creativity, attention to detail, and building skills are pretty great!
