For the last several years I have sent out a Christmas letter with our cards, a sort of roll-your-eyes response to the typical brag-filled documents sent each December. Anywho, this year my mind wasn't working; I could manage addresses and stamps, but composing a witty response to "My child is wonderful and we traveled the world..." just wasn't up my alley. My one brain cell has since recovered so here goes.
Dear Family, Friends, and now, Cyber Stalkers:
Greetings once again from the Hamill home. We are so thankful to have survived another year, and honestly most of it remains a blur as we have (so far) managed to keep up with the younguns.
I couldn't be more proud of Andrew and Stephen: they are both at the top of their respective classes. I have very few complaints with their education excepting for their math teacher; I'm not quite sure about her effectiveness.
Still I've been really impressed with how they are learning to coordinate and order various items from history. During a recent discussion of our college years, Stephen remarked, "1997 was a really long time ago." Andrew piped in, "And that was when there was a Winston Cup instead of the Sprint Cup." Andrew has an uncanny ability to relate everything that ever occurs with NASCAR; he can introduce facts and figures into any imaginable conversation. Elijah taken away in a fiery chariot? "It probably was not as fast a NASCAR."
Stephen is a little in awe of his older brother and his abilities to read. "Andrew knows lots of things because he reads lots of books." I try to remind him that he will learn, too, and he has been hard at work sounding out letters and blending them. Just the other day he was proud to announce, "I can spell UPS: U-P-S." He has also mastered DHL and USA. "It sounds just like it is spelled."
Matthew has finally learned English which is a great help to us all, though at times he reverts to High Pitched Squeal, and unfortunately he is teaching this to his younger brother. Most of the year he passed as our resident carnivore, dining on hotdogs, sausage and lunch meat (at least they were no nitrate varieties). We are happy that he is once again allowed to have potatoes and corn and a few other things, and we opened a bag of chips to celebrate!
I am so happy to report that Jonathan has yet to be taken to the ER though I figure it's just a matter of time. Bedroom and bathroom doors in the house remain shut, and our kitchen chairs must be turned around backwards in order to prevent him from climbing (and falling) from the table. He is in constant motion, usually with a delightful grin on his face. Whereas Andrew never tried sweets until well into toddlerhood (he even pushed away his first birthday cake), Jonathan will not be denied: he points to the object of desire (usually with a high sugar content), wags his little finger and grunts. Heaven forbid his request not be fulfilled - he has been studying Tantrums 101.
Juggling has become my favorite activity. Laundry, cooking, schooling, tending are in constant rotation (I'm by no means an expert and at times it all comes crashing down). I'm extra thankful that my family likes quesadillas as it has been our go-to-meal 200 days out of this year.
Doug goes to work. I think the boys still think he eats cookies. Stephen did tell me, "Daddy doesn't earn money at work, at least he doesn't earn money as fast as we do." I think this was in reference for being paid $.01 for each correct question he answered in school one day.
We are looking for another wild ride in 2011 as we anticipate the birth of another little Hamill. We've decided that by now no ultrasounds are necessary to determine the gender of our children; Hamills only come in one variety.
May you have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.
With much love,
Julie (and the boys)
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