The always shy Gabrielle folks...

Well it's time to catch you all up on the Christmas/winter season and I hope to do so in one entry. There hasn't been much house progress of note, but what is of mention is the amount of time I've been blessed to share with Ellie. THis is what all of everyone's efforts have been for and I'm more than simply 'happy' that it's coming to be a reality.

It's been a somewhat liberating winter as I was laid off from Meredith back in November. That has really allowed me to take some time for the house, but more importantly for Gabrielle. To give you a short recap, I was asked to the meeting room, and as I was walking down the hall I said to myself, "If there's someone from HR I know that it's not going to be good." Unfortunately not to my surprise, there was an HR rep and it wasn't good. I can only say that my boss is someone I will truly miss as she was a great person to work for, nearly every single person I worked with at Meredith - from everyone in the Books Group to those in MIM and the SIP group - all were a blessing to me. The co-workers and bosses that I enjoyed to work along over the past three years were true professionals as well as friends. It's an extremely rare situation that someone could say that for their place of business and I consider myself truly fortunate to be in that small group. Although my end was abrupt, my friendships and great connections will continue to last for many years to come.

The extra time allowed me to buckle down and work on a lot of little items on the to do list around the house. A few items were installing the master bathroom vanity, sinks and toilet. (Yes, I can actually USE my bathroom now.) I have completely rearranged the master closet and put my clothes IN DRAWERS - it's crazy but true. Doors were hung almost everywhere - there are still 4 to go but it's a start. Painting, continual cleaning, installing lights, installing switch and outlet covers and a bunch of other random jobs fill out the list. It really hasn't been an every night or even an every week thing, but I've tried to just stay focused on the task at hand. I would show a few pics, but I think the ones coming up are a bit more interesting and meaningful.

With all the time everyday to work on the resume, meet with potential bosses and a random todo item, the evenings have opened up for Ellie. Add on top of that the holiday season and it really made for a great time to play, sing and just finally be a fulltime Dad to Ellie. I can't tell you how much this has changed me. It had been two long years really working on the house in a state that required me to focus on the house before Ellie. While I'm not ashamed of that, nor would I ever have done it differently, I am most definitely happy the lion's share is over. I now get excited about playing dress-up three times a day, or dancing in the kitchen, or playing E BAke Oven AND then cleaning the dishes. We're still kind of working out the kinks of the schedule to include dinner and play time in the evening, but we do have a scheduled 'movie night' every Sunday that only requires handmade popcorn in the Whirly Pop, a small candy selection and a movie of Ellie's choosing. It's something that I adapted to the way that Leslie and I often spent our Sunday afternoons - relaxing, enjoying each other and the day that the Lord made for rest. While I might sneak in a load of laundry or a small todo project every once in a while, the majority of time we're chilling out and enjoying our time together.

One area of relaxation this time gave us was to play in the snow! I bought the snow blower attachement to the riding lawn mower instead of the blade due to the size of my drive way and Ellie has helped me on more than one occasion clearing the snow this winter. The greatest fun though was spending the day in Pella with the Van Hemerts and sledding in the small park accros the road from their apartment.

We had just gotten another 4-6 inches of 'fresh powder' and we all decided to hike out to the park with sleds in tow. It was a fantastic afternoon, right around 27 or so degrees but the kicker was no wind! IN Iowa, that's the deal maker/breaker. The sun was out and the skies were clear. The hill was only about 30' but I'm sure it seemed like a mountain to someone just over 3 feet tall (although I think she only went up the hill on her own feet twice). I got the inaugural ride with Ellie down the hill and then that was about it for the day. It turns out that she was more interested in the playground at the base of the hill, and then the playhouse on the other side. All in all the day was amazing and I'l let the photos speak for themselves.
All bundled up for the first snow/Head to toe

Taken by Ellie!/Buddy's not so syre

Bundled and ready to go

Russ tests the sled - success/Ellie tests my pulling ability

We head down/And enjoy the ride

Aunt B tries it out/Then goes vert

Ellie likes snow angel making/Brit not so vert anymore

Russ and Caryn buddy up/ROLLING down the hill

Russ tests gravity/Brit goes ol' school

Ellie sees the next thing/then tells everyone to follow

It's the sell/And we're off!

Brit's not giving up on the sledding

Russ is in for more too/Then buddy ride

Ellie finds the slide/Then a game of tag

Now follow the leader/Grandpa makes it harder

Grandma and Ellie/Oh the rough life

Ellie and Brit/PILE ONNN!!!!


We also had a great Christmas (make that about 4 Christmases) that was a landslide of gifts for Ellie. Our house is a bit more full after season, and unfortunately so are my pant sizes these days. As I introduced in the last entry, I'm trying to make me smaller. I thought I was going along smoothly until just about a week ago I actually stepped on a scale (my scale is still in a box in the 3-season porch). It turns out that I'm in a much worse place than I thought when I began. I am officially the heaviest I have EVER been. There is a lot of shame running through me these days and my physical condition is right there at the top of the list. If anyone has an idea for a 'jump start' plan, please let me know. I'll keep pushing and not get discouraged just yet, but I do have a mountain to climb. Thank you all for keeping me in your thoughts, I appreciate it more than you know. See you next week.