Belated Merry Christmas and How Things Have Changed

Merry Christmas to you all! I am completely enjoying vacation. My brother came home on the 22nd and left yesterday because of the weather. I am napping, reading and hanging out with my kids. They are so much fun to be with. The kids had a good Christmas, got a lot of gifts and are tolerating each other well. I got a Kindle, which is super cool and spent Christmas at- wait for it... MY DAD'S!! We went out there on Christmas day for lunch. It was the most delicious meal I have had for as long as I can remember. During vacation I've noticed some things that have changed over the years.

1. Apparently "sick" said like, "Si-ick!" means "cool, or great". When I was a teen "si-ick" meant stupid, corny, dorky, throwing up, having a hang-over or a fever. Noah declared all of his Christmas gifts as "si-ick and I don't think they qualify as what I called "si-ick."

2. Awesome. Awesome is an over used word and it makes me cringe as much now as it did when I was in college. In the mid-90's people said "awesome" to over emphasize they are too enthusiastic, therefore making them "si-ick" (dorky). I vividly remember one professor who would say "awesome" all of the time and she was a huge kook! Now, grown-ups, kids, and grand-parents say "awesome" all of the time. I hate the word "awesome".

3. Leopard print leggings. Three years ago if I told you, "the woman was wearing leopard print leggings..." What would you picture? Truly... Don't be all politically correct. You probably are picturing a trashy woman who is dressing "fancy" or a person much too heavy for leggings making them look like tights. I know I am too heavy for leggings, therefore I do not attempt to wear them. I also know I am not a fashion template by any means, but even I know if you weigh more than 105 pounds and look younger than 30, you should never, ever wear patterned leggings. Today I watched Regis and Kelly, and guess what's hot for the new year?- Yep- Leopard print leggings. Guess those girls really did hit it big.

4. Walmart still makes me go "hmmm" I know the dropping prices are tempting, but I found a lot of items are the same or even cheaper at Target- and made with better quality. Sometimes I wonder if sock companies have a "Walmart" way of making them and the "everyone else" way. I bought 2 package of socks, one for Ethan and one for Noah. Both were Fruit of the Loom, but Noah's was from Target and not worn out, Ethan's was from Walmart and came out of the package half way worn out. Also, Walmart 'managers' are scared to work. I asked someone to open the game case to get one and she had to track someone down and apologizing profusely for making that person walk all the way over- six feet- to the game aisle. Later my checkout lady noticed someone left her bag and the lady left to track them down. The 'manager' was standing three feet away and wouldn't finish checking my items. Weird huh?

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and the New Year Brings you everything you want!!

Merry Christmas Letter

Someone- who shall be nameless, but he's a grown-up, said, "That Christmas letter is stupid." So to avoid judgement from some people AKA- My dad's wife- I will put it on my blog so the people who love me and are judge free can enjoy...

Tis the season! I’m a little bit surprised I got Christmas cards out on time. It took a lot of bribing and begging to get the kids to “dress up” also-known-as “getting out of your Jammies”. This year was pretty good to us. We took a family trip to Wisconsin Dells in early June. My brother Paul came home for about three weeks during the summer to help celebrate my dad and step-mom’s 75 birthdays. It was fun to see my cousins at dad's party as well as Henrietta’s kids. Apparently my step-brother and I are running in the 2012 Presidential Election. We are sponsored by the Miller Brewing Company. My sister Debbie came home for a week in September just in time for Ethan’s birthday. Noah is in the fifth grade at Robert Asp. He’s busy with K-Kids (a service learning group), and his various sports. He played Babe Ruth, as well as Traveling Baseball last summer. Paul happened to be home during Noah’s first tournament. It was raining, 60 degrees, and a 35 mile and hour wind. Paul made the comment if it was raining, or a 35 mile and hour wind in Arizona people would lock themselves in their homes. In Minnesota we say, “Rain, 60 degrees, and 35 mile and hour wind? It’s TIME FOR BASEBALL!!” I spent much of that tournament searching for a Scheel’s to buy jackets and sweatshirts. Noah also played football in the fall, and now he plays on a traveling basketball team. I personally prefer basketball the most. Ethan is in second grade. He loves school and his teacher. He played t-ball last summer (actually played- didn’t write his name in the dirt or make sand piles!)And flag football in the fall. Thankfully he didn’t break any bones this year, but those experiences didn’t slow him down any. One day I came home from school and noticed a bright pink highlighter on the roof. I asked Ethan why there was a highlighter on the roof and his answer was, “Well, I had to get my backpack down SOMEHOW…” Scott is still at the RDO business office doing the accounting for several stores all over the USA. I am still holding out hope he can be in charge of the Hawaii store so we can have a reason to go there. I switched schools this year. Roosevelt, in North Fargo, is experiencing dropping enrollment, where as Kennedy is busting at the seams. I elected to go to the school that has a more consistent enrollment, and had a third grade opening. This also means a much bigger class size than I am used to. At first it was a bit of culture shock. I went from having 8 teachers total at my school, to more than 65 teachers. I still see people at school and wonder who they are and what they do there. Sometimes for fun I just make up jobs for them in my head. It’s kind-of weird, I “created’ about six new third grade teachers, but my class size hasn’t any gotten smaller… Because change is never easy, the beginning of the year was a little hard. I was pretty worried that my class would chip away at all of my hopes and dreams, but after a lot of hard work they’ve really turned out to be a great class! Abby is still a beautiful princess. She had a bought of running away every Sunday, but has decided to stay home. Max is still a good boy. He is scared of everyone and is pretty sure he’s not a dog but a real boy. Sam broke his foot on Thanksgiving and is all better now. He’s the smartest one of them all. Who knew? At this point I wish I could freeze time. I’d keep Noah a responsible 10-year-old, and Ethan as a sweet 8-year-old who thinks his family is his hero. We are truly blessed. We hope 2011 brings you joy, good health, and happiness!

Love,

Scott, Sara, Noah and Ethan Fairifeld