Christmas Letter 2019

2019

“I want ice cream everyday. But I don't always get it.” – Margaret

And thus passes another year. Full of many wise observations from the kids, music making, book reading, soul satisfying food & discussion shared around the family table, exploring the world around us, farming, hard work, good rest, and God's goodness manifold in a million ways.

And even a little ice cream.

Clay took the position of Manager of Environmental Compliance at City Utilities this year.

His “free time” saw the creation of a new walnut bunk bed, aviary, whelping box, cherry end-table, school room book shelf, dining room table & benches, as well as wielding his chef knife with wild abandon, tempered with skill, as he came up with new culinary delights. Cutting firewood, fixing fence, trimming horse hooves, acting as the family teamster (driving the haflinger horse team), helping with the cattle, delving into deep philosophical and scientific discussions with the kids, and reading also helped fill his days.

The living room wall is just about filled to max capacity with instruments (though I'm sure we could get a little creative). Not satisfied with having one primary instrument each, everyone is attempting to pick up one or two extras on the side. A shiny new banjo is the newest wall hanging addition. Four of the children joined the homeschool orchestra/ensembles this fall and every Friday is a full day of music for all. Susannah (7) officially joined the musician ranks on the recorder, and after private lessons all spring & summer she is continuing her recorder studies in orchestra as well as taking private violin lessons. Elissa continues to play with the Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra, and fiddling and loud family music jams still happen whenever possible.

Everyone worked together to successfully brainwash Clyde (3) into wanting to play the double bass when he grows up. For most of the year it was his party trick to loudly announce “Double Bass!” at every opportunity. And for part of the year he even started trying to pass off his age as 9, in an attempt to be old enough to play bass. For now he plays air bass while listening in at the other kids' lessons.

Our household got a bit quieter this spring when we lost Elissa's beloved, and long-lived, pet starling, “Arlo”. Our hearts were heavy with this loss, and his cheerful conversation, that was the constant background noise in our home for almost 12 years, is still missed. However, Clay had just built a lovely huge custom-made aviary for our school room, and so, inevitably, it slowly filled up over the rest of the year. The older three kids are now proud owners of a flock of composer-themed parrots (Gershwin, Igor & Shostakovich). And one house sparrow, christened after the poet Ogden Nash, now under the alias of Ogdenissa when her adult plumage revealed her true identity. They all join us at the dinner table every night, steal food off our plates, and often perch on the music stand while their owners practice. The noise level has increased again.

Horse activities continue. The kids continue to improve in riding, or “howdy howdy”, as Clyde called it (as in: “My turn howdy howdy!!”), and it's a whole lot of fun to ride together as a family. Or jump in the wagon or carts and drive up and down the road and around the farm. William (10) fell in love with riding the foxtrotter mare Emmy Lou (who is born to run), so now each kid has their favorite steed to hop on. Elissa & Clay enjoyed horse camping for their anniversary again this year and hope to start introducing its joy to the kids at some point in the future.

Regular camping and hiking also remain high on our lists of favorite family activities (though it is so much harder to do on your own legs without equines to do all the work). However, camping doesn't always mean the most restful nights. As William explained one morning: “I was just rolling around aimlessly. In tents I have no sense of direction.” The morning campfires make up for it. We even did some city hiking when we traveled to Washington D.C. to hike the national mall and various museums with Grandpa. This was followed by beach hiking on Chincoteague Island, VA with Laurel & Charlie (accompanied with cottage living, patting Chincoteague ponies and eating clam chowder). The cherry on top was some mountain hiking in the Appalachians and a cozy North Carolina cabin before returning home.

Vocal & endearing “Mattie Ross” (of True Grit fame), a loveable red & white corgi, joined our pack last January. Ten more fluffy and ridiculously adorable corgi puppies shared our home for a time before finding their own families. Clyde summed up all of our feelings during this time by waking the whole household one Saturday morning with “WILL-UM!! WAKE UP!! IT'S TIME FOR CEREAL AND HOLD PUPPIES!!” Puppy-holding also pairs well with cups of coffee. Also, Clyde doesn't know how good he has it with an older brother who cheerfully and obligingly fetches him cups of milk, books and anything else that catches his fancy at bedtime. He is, indubitably, the baby of the bunch, and find it convenient, when caught in some questionable activity, to excuse his behavior with the profound explanation: “I'm a HOO-MAN!”

Other notables include Margaret (12) increasing her love for pottery – touring many studios while in North Carolina and getting a fun introduction to using a wheel, and then receiving her own wheel for Christmas. She also got a special birthday party at local artist Hing Wah Hatch's studio where she got to share Chinese watercolor painting with a few friends. William stays up to all hours of the night devouring hundreds of books and feverishly writing creative poetry & prose (complete with illustrations) in his “Kraken” notebook, he can cook up some mean chicken marsala, and is perfecting the usage of his new BB pistol. Amelia (8) also has a passion for artistic pursuits and is filling up her art book using her new sketching pencil set, she gained more independency in reading this year, and shows a wonderfully hard work ethic in everything she does, including helping Papa eradicate hundreds of thorn trees from the pastures. Susannah successfully mastered reading this year! and now keeps Harriet and Clyde entertained by reading to them; she also got a book light so she can join the ranks of late night readers. Harriet (5) says one of her highlights from this year was “our little house on the ocean”, and she spends many hours playing in her toy kitchen and with her dolls. Her big, contagious smile grows even bigger when she gets to ride a horse all by herself, and she and Clyde are partners in all things, crime and otherwise. Their creative games together keep me constantly entertained as I try to casually eavesdrop.

Once again we are grateful for the undeserved good gifts God has bestowed on us this year, the lessons learned and the memories made. Sending all our love to each of you and wishing you very Merry Christmas season and a Happy New Year!

As Harriet shouted out after Clay one morning as he left for work: “See you the next later!”

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Favorite Books of 2019

Margaret: Sherlock Holmes,Brian Jacques, White Fang, Call of the Wild, Trial & Triumph William: Marlfox, The Bellmaker, Fall of the Ember, Calculus Affair, Encyclopedia on Cephalopods, High King, Black Cauldron, Monster in the Hollows, James Herriot Dog Stories, Tom Sawyer Amelia: Reddy Fox, All Beatrix Potter Susannah: 10 Apples Up on Top, Green Eggs & Ham Read Alouds / Audiobooks: Lord of the Rings, Watership Down, Wind in the Willows, Around the World in 80 Days, Mutt the Dog Who Wouldn't Be, Lost World, Enchanted Castle, God's Smuggler, Swallowdale, Pippi Longstocking Clay & Elissa: Orthodoxy, True Grit, Supper of the Lamb, The Great Escape, Eve in Exile, Father Brown Stories