Year End Musings from the Curtis Home 2007
As for the leaders of our little tribe (Bethany and Randy), you can read the 2006 letter and all still applies with nothing significant to add, Although never particularly wild in our younger days, we’re certainly not now, We’re completely domesticated but generally happy with our child-centric lives,
(There were turtles too but the pictures didn’t come out so well) (as the center of attention)
After receiving inspiration from some “bland but well seasoned” friends (☺), we’d hoped to turn a simple event into a thought provoking and heartfelt metaphor for the year and our lives that would make for some interesting reading in the rather well trod year-end letter terrain. Failing that, Cate at least provided us with a cute story from early December, when she snuck some scissors upstairs and tried her hand at self-cosmetology. Perhaps she had some inspiration from the lunch lady on the recent edition of Survivor but she ended up with a pretty fine looking mullet. She tried to be cool and pretend nothing was awry but immediately broke down in tears when Bethany noticed. She was so upset with herself; we really didn’t have the heart to discipline her further, especially after we had to cut it fairly short to even it up. It probably will be awhile before anyone confuses the girls for twins (of course she did this the week before our family Christmas picture so you can see the before and after shots on the picture collage we mailed out). Kind of a “Leave It to Beaver”-ish tale without the mother vacuuming the house in a dress and pearls or the sage fatherly advise but as close as we could come up with in the metaphor for our lives department. In the grand scheme of things (not that there is one - Randy), a golden age of television sitcom is pretty good place to be. Anyway here’s our year in review (for additional details and pictures se
individual quarterly blogs Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall).
Jane and Cate both attend preschool at the Webster Groves ECEC in separate classrooms and love it, It is Jane's third year there, having missed the kindergarten cutoff date by 5 days, We’ve convinced ourselves that being the oldest in her class will be for the best, even though Bethany and I were always among the youngest in our classes and did rather well anyway (although just think would we could have achieved if we’d been the oldest…), Based on the daily mentions of it for months afterward, the highlight of Jane’s summer was riding the Screaming Eagle, She didn’t like it but did relish in telling peers of her bravery, Her favorite foods are doughnuts and bacon, which remains her stated reason for loving camping (we’re not above using food to insure a pleasant camping experience for all), She started ballet/dance lessons this fall, which seems to have coincided with a reduction in an interest in being a princess (perhaps wishful thinking), Jane is widely inquisitive, rather opinionated, has a razor-sharp memory and to our delight still values her books over most toys (Bunny still reins supreme, though).
As for Cate, in January she hit the milestone of being potty trained and the broken Diaper Genie went out with the recycling (yay!), Sure, it happened at the 34-month mark but we can beam with pride that she was 2 when it happened (while Jane was 3 years old, or 40 months when trained – never too early too set the sibling rivalry in motion, right?), Like her sister, the “terrible twos” were more prevalent during the threes, and she perfected the art of throwing tantrums about going to bed for a few months there, We’d say we’re on the downward slope of them, except out of fear of jinxing it, Cate is keen on doing most things her older sister does but continues to display a greater sensitivity and love of animals, She has an infectious smile, quite the stubborn streak, and has a knack for knowing just when someone needs a hug, She’s also the one with the stronger mischievous streak and is fond of hiding things (Daddy’s belt, her sister’s Bunny, Mama’s makeup, the hair she cut giving herself a mullet, etc. )
Aside from the mission of molding the breed, we consider our travels among our more exciting endeavors for the year, As typical, most of the trips were “inspired” by travel required for Randy’s job, In February, Bethany joined Randy in Hawaii leaving the girls with Gramy and Gral, We stayed on Waikiki beach most of the time except for three days on the Big Island of Hawaii where we got to visit rainforest and active lava flows, The rest of our trips involved packing up the minivan with kids and gear, We visited Chicago for a cold spring break, and in early May we made a trek to Destin and Panama City, Florida for 5 days at the beach, In October, we made our annual pilgrimage to Pittsburgh in order to attend Bethany’s 15-year college reunion in Washington, PA, We visited with Aunt Katie and Don’s family in Pittsburgh, and then headed north for Jane and Cate’s first international destination: CANADA (Niagara Falls and Toronto with new passports in time!), On the trek home we stopped in Dearborn and then on to Indianapolis for what was by far the girls’ favorite part of the trip: the sleepover with their cousins (“sleep” being a bit of a misnomer as all 5 cousins stayed up ‘til midnight when the adults called it a night).
We do have one bit of big news: Lilly, our 5 month old dachshund, She’s a very sweet, playful and loving puppy, but elements of potty training her are taking some time, Maddie likes to sleep and prefers not to be bothered by her perky little sister, which is how she’s viewed the girls all along so no surprise there, Our happiness over our new puppy is tempered with the passing of our cats Bert and Brazil this year (thyroid and kidney disease), There is a season, turn, turn, turn…
Well that’s a thousand words or so, which is more than enough.
As always we wish you and yours Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, etc., and a Joyful, Peaceful New Year!
(along with Maddie and Lilly)
PS> Given the fashionableness of being “green” this year, we’re going to cite the reason for blogging our latest year-end letter as being earth friendly, but it’s just as much a function of being thrifty and not having them ready to go when it was time to mail the cards! s
