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You are here: Home / Our Cozy Family Life / Around Our Home This December




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Around Our Home This December

December 21, 2018 by Sallie Borrink
8 Comments
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Last Friday morning we went to the periodontist where Caroline had dental surgery done. We’ve had to take her to the ER a few times for various things, but this is the first time she’s been sedated. I was totally fine while they were getting her prepped, but once she was under and I had to leave the room… I lost it in the bathroom.

It was strange for me to be on the other side. I’m almost always the one in our little family undergoing the procedure. Watching my child go through everything hit me much harder than I anticipated.




Gingivectomies and a Frenectomy

She had a situation where two upper adult teeth in the front had dropped (years ago) but did not break through the gum. Her particular situation was apparently quite unusual because when I went back after the surgery, both the anesthesiologist and her nurse were animatedly discussing how genuinely interesting it was to watch this particular procedure. There was a membrane wrapped around each tooth so that it was encased. The periodontist removed the membrane with a laser. Caroline also had a frenectomy (upper) done.

Thankfully it all went well and Caroline has fully recovered after being really out of it and in a fair amount of discomfort for four days. The surgery should have a very positive impact on her life and for that we’re thankful. She has been through so much dental stuff this year (in addition to previous years). I’ve lost track of how many teeth she’s had pulled this year and the build up to every appointment is exhausting for everyone involved for weeks beforehand.

Frederik Meijer Gardens Christmas Display

Last week we went to the Frederik Meijer Gardens for the Christmas display. There are many trees decorated to represent countries around the world. Caroline especially liked the Iceland tree.

Caroline in front of the Iceland tree

We hadn’t been in a few years so it was nice to see it with fresh eyes. These were some of my favorite ornaments on the Hungary Christmas tree.

Ornaments on the Hungary Christmas Tree

More from the Hungary Christmas tree




Ornaments on the Hungary Christmas Tree 2

This is part of the Victorian Garden. The wooden structure on the left is for the train that travels all over the garden.

Meijer Gardens Victorian Garden at Christmas

There is a large area filled with miniature buildings made completely out of natural materials. Most of the major buildings and landmarks around Grand Rapids are represented as are buildings from Grand Rapids’ sister cities around the world. We think this one is from Poland.

Meijer Gardens Village

This is the Meyer May House in Grand Rapids (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). We’ve been on a tour of the real thing. You can see the leaves that cover the roof.




Meyer May House at Meijer Gardens

Another building with amazing detail

Meijer Gardens building

Some more shots at the garden. You can see the train traveling behind us. Little kids just love the train! LOL!

Sallie and Caroline

David and Caroline looking very Christmassy. You can see some of the different buildings behind them as well as the elevated train tracks.




David and Caroline looking very Christmassy

Who Took My Seasons?

I don’t know what your fall and holiday season have been like, but I’m still waiting for autumn after our horrid summer. I feel totally out of sync with the months this year. Our weather has been so off all year that it’s like my brain can’t grasp that today is December 21st. I’m still waiting for a nice autumn Saturday with the windows open and Spartan football on the radio in the afternoon.

The entire year has just been off. All the benchmarks I rely on to feel the rhythm of the year and seasons totally went out the window. The Spartans got bumped early from the NCAA basketball tournament in the spring. Many of our Spartan football games were at weird times like 10:30 p.m. in Arizona and Friday nights. We have had zero rhythm with our homeschooling and co-op this year with dropped and added classes, multiple dental procedures, sickness, weather cancellations, etc.

We went from winter to summer in the “spring” and summer to winter in the “autumn” in like seven days each time. I never even had to wrestle with transition clothing this fall because we went from short sleeved shirts to turtlenecks in one week. It was insane. We’ve had almost no snow in December. We had a stretch of weather in November and early December when we received a total of 6.5 hours of sunshine in 18 days. That’s 6.5 hours spread out over 18 days. I like a mix of clouds and sun, but this was nuts.

What Happened To My Holidays?

I think this is the first year since I became a teacher that I didn’t pull out my autumn picture books. Ditto with Thanksgiving. Due to a series of events we never even celebrated Thanksgiving this year so we had no Thanksgiving meal. (Well, I don’t get to eat the Thanksgiving meal due to my EoE, but David and Caroline do.) I’m doing all my Christmas stuff the week before Christmas which is unusual for me.

We were supposed to visit my parents for a few days before Christmas but put it off until after Christmas because Caroline was not feeling well after her surgery. Then I hurt my back. And now our “better” car (our cars are 20 and 15 years old) has developed a problem that makes a long drive unsafe. So we’re officially going to be home for Christmas after having to adjust our plans multiple times.




It fits with the entire year of 2018. I hate to complain because I know things could be much worse, but this has been a challenging year for our family for so many reasons (most of which I haven’t elaborated on here). Most of the challenges weren’t majorly difficult if they were isolated happenings, but it has been one thing after another all year. We’re all weary and I think we are going to do a slightly modified version of our hibernation homeschooling this winter. Not quite as extreme as that year, but a version of it. I’m thankful that we already live a simplified and cozy life which gives us a basic steadiness in the midst of it all. But still. I’m hopeful for 2019 to be filled with many good blessings and positives.

Caroline Is Growing Up

On the plus side, Caroline is now old enough to be such a huge help. She’s doing a lot of the gift wrapping this year and I truly appreciate it. (It is more special seeing packages wrapped by her anyway.) When we were decorating, she knew where things went based on previous years so she was very helpful. I’m thankful for the young lady she is developing into.

David and Caroline in December 2018

She’s also funny. She has an excellent sense of humor and is clever with words in ways far beyond her years. We’re truly blessed to have Caroline as our daughter.

David and Caroline in December 2018 2

Improving My Website

I’m spending the holiday season working and restructuring everything here. Hopefully you noticed the lovely new design. I’ve been working behind the scenes since mid-November fixing all the SEO-related issues with categories and introducing tags to make things easier to find. I’ve spent months this year educating myself about SEO (search engine optimization) and starting to implement what I’ve learned. It’s really fascinating when you dig into it. It’s very much like a game you try to win or a puzzle you try to solve.




I think I’m going to change the service I use for subscribing on my site and sending out emails so I’m working through those decisions and details. I need something simpler. ConvertKit is fantastic, but I’m not using all the features I’m paying for so I’m not sure it’s worth it at this point.

And, of course, I’ve been posting all the components to A Quiet Simple Life Planner & Guidebook. I truly hope using these printables will bring more peace, understanding, joy, and beauty to people’s lives in the days ahead.

So that’s our December so far. Probably not the post full of cookies and lights and such that you would get on most sites. We simply roll differently around these parts. LOL!

Around Our Home This December

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Category: Our Cozy Family LifeTag: Families Celebrating Christmas

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Comments

  1. Marilyn

    December 21, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    Sorry to hear of Caroline’s dental surgery. Hope the new year brings you joy and blessings. Caroline is a beautiful young lady. We enjoy your blog and the posts. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Blessed 2019. God Bless.
    Joan,Marion andMarilyn

    Reply
    • Sallie

      December 21, 2018 at 10:58 pm

      Hi Marilyn (and Joan and Marion),

      Thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad you enjoy visiting here. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.

      I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too!

      Sallie

      Reply
  2. Brenda Nuland

    December 21, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    The weather has made it crazy here as both of us are experiencing allergy symptoms during times of the year that we normally don’t. We have had near record cold temps and near record warm temps in the same month.

    Christopher was about the same age when we went through a couple years of homeschooling mainly staying at home. It was just the circumstances at the time (including a move to Detroit) that brought it about. Fortunately, we are both introverts so it wasn’t a problem as long as we could walk to a few favorite breakfast/lunch places in Detroit (Pete traveled a lot so our car was usually at the airport). We never walked any place at night there!

    Reply
    • Sallie

      December 21, 2018 at 11:00 pm

      Hi Brenda,

      I’m not surprised you have had crazy allergy stuff going on. This has been such a crazy pattern and you aren’t that far away from me (relatively speaking).

      Caroline is an introvert who likes to get out at times, but mostly putter around the house doing her own thing (like her mother). She’ll rarely pass up an opportunity to go to the mall, bookstore, or craft store though! LOL!

      Is your hubby hopeful about the Boilermakers this year?

      Sallie

      Reply
  3. Judy

    December 21, 2018 at 8:56 pm

    Thank you for this post. It felt good to realize that I’m not the only one who feels “off” this year. Your daughter is lovely! Last year we went to Meijer Gardens at least every week in the summer, sometimes twice, and enjoyed the trees and train with family at Christmas time. This year? Twice in the spring. That’s it. The summer was too hot! Right now it smells more like spring outside than it did in the spring! We are finally getting work done around our house. New windows and doors on a porch, new kitchen floors, and soon (after the holidays) new carpet. Of course I am thrilled to have this done, but having my routine messed with causes me a horrible amount of anxiety. Today we had a piano tuner appraise our 100+ year old piano. Too expensive to repair just for me to play for fun. I’m sad, as it is a beautiful instrument. But, it IS the season of JOY, and I’m headed off to find some. Thankfully, the reality of Christ is that the joy isn’t just seasonal, it’s available year ’round, even on the shortest, gloomiest day of the yea! Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family!

    Reply
    • Sallie

      December 21, 2018 at 11:06 pm

      Hi Judy,

      Thank YOU for telling ME I’m not the only one in West Michigan who feels out of sorts with this weather. LOL! One season being weird is one thing. An entire year is really wearing.

      David received a membership to the Meijer Gardens for his birthday and we went once in April, fully expecting to take advantage of it all spring, summer, and autumn. Never went back again until Christmas. Absolutely crazy.

      We did get a dusting of snow tonight which was a pleasant surprise. It only stuck to the grassy areas, but we’ll take anything at this point.

      Your home improvements sound exciting! It’s amazing what a difference some things can make. But living with the DIY is so tough for people who like order and rhythm to their day and week. After five months of DIY last year I told David we cannot do this again. It’s either hire it out or buy a brand new house because it’s just too much now. We’ll have done two homes and that is enough for me. Maybe I need to start playing the lottery so we can buy an all new home. LOL!

      Sallie

      Reply
  4. Cristy S.

    December 22, 2018 at 6:47 am

    Merry Christmas, Sallie and David and Caroline!

    Our year has been “off” as well. It is in these seasons I am so grateful to be homeschooling; it affords us so much flexibility.

    The website and the photos are WONDERFUL. I expect 2019 to be a banner year for the self-employed, me and you all included!

    Again, Merry Christmas!

    Reply
    • Sallie

      December 24, 2018 at 12:57 pm

      Merry Christmas to you as well, Cristy!

      I appreciate all the contributions you make to our discussions. Thank you for the time you invest here in order to encourage other moms and me.

      Merry Christmas!
      Sallie

      Reply

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