A Year In Review

2009 --

Ah, it is the end of another year...the end of another decade. Wasn't it just last year that we were all panicking about the world blowing up...or at least the computers blowing up, when the time changed to 01-01-00. The debates on how we would say the years...did anyone ever say "remember when _______ did ____ in ot5"? Or the debates on when the millenium starts...2000 or 2001. Yet, here we are about to hit 2010 (isn't there a movie titled after this year...aren't we supposed to be living in space now?).

It is hard to believe we are hitting 2010 and as 2009 comes to an end, I have received many year end letters via mail and email...all of them interesting. I hear people groan a lot about receiving these letters, but I enjoy them. I like to hear about what is going on in other people's lives. My life is an open book...especially if you are a friend of mine on facebook (I am a chronic status updater). But, this year has been a big one for the Kozlowskis here in Houston and I thought...even if you are one who groans inwardly at having to read yet another letter about another family's year, I would write it here and it could be recorded, at the very least, for my own records.

So...2009. Could it really be over?? I mean, Christmas was just yesterday and it still seems impossible. This was a year unlike any year for us. It has been almost like a rollercoaster, but I will not bore you with the dips...only the ups.

The year started with the birthday of our son, Daniel. He turned 4...stinker. You know what that means...he turns FIVE in just under 2 weeks!!!! That means he starts KINDERGARTEN in AUGUST. But, I digress...it is not 2010 I am here to discuss...but 2009. Daniel turned 4 in style...he got his very own Spiderman bike. And LOADS of Spiderman action figures!!








Matt and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary...wow...11 years. Seems crazy! Our marriage is a good one...strong and stable. My husband is a family man, through and through. There is nothing he would not do for us and he is completely devoted to us. The kids and I are VERY secure which is a sign of a good male figure in the home. He has been a rock and I am afraid I do not treat him very well. He will argue that, but I think he deserves more. BUT, who am I to argue. He is truly the best I could ask for as husband and father to my kids. This is not the best picture...but this is us before going out for our anniversary.

We had quite the adventure at the beginning of the year. We knew we wanted to go to Disney World, but could not come up with a good time to work it in with Matt's schedule. We wanted to go in January, but it just did not work out...then, the second week in February, everything cleared suddenly...Matt found out on Monday that we could go....he got online and booked it.....for later that same WEEK!! We literally booked it and left just 3 days later. We drove all the way down to Orlando. We knew that we wanted to stay in one of the resorts, but being last minute, the only resort that had any openings was The Grand Floridian, their premiere resort. We felt GRAND in this posh hotel setting with the monorail stopping right at our resort. We stayed for almost a full week and had the BEST time EVER...it was a great time of year to visit...not NEAR as busy as it had been when we went in November and certainly not as busy as SUMMER!! The nights were cool, the days were not too brutal....and the kids had SUCH GREAT FUN!!

When we got home, we only had a few days of rest before Daniel had his eye surgery. He was born with a cataract in one eye and as he was growing, so was the cataract. It got to where it was just obstructing his vision too much and everyone felt that he needed to get the cataract removed. It was challenging, to say the least. No mother wants to see her son go under anesthesia and have surgery....much less ELECT to do it. We (Matt and I) were a mess (well, I should mention that Sierra was beside herself with worry....she is VERY close to her brother and cannot handle him not being 100%). On the day of the surgery, we arrived 4 hours early (as per our instruction). We paid and got ready to wait with a very hungry boy (he, obviously, was unable to eat due to anesthesia)...but the appointment before him didn't show so they whisked him back for surgery. I cannot describe the picture of us standing at the point where parents have to stop while the anesthesiologists walked with our VERY small boy down a long hall.....it brings tears to my eyes.

The surgery went well. The challenge for the remainder of the year has been trying to strengthen that eye. It is fairly weak, though at his last visit, his vision had gotten stronger. Prayer is appreciated for his continued healing. He wears a bifocal now, and is adjusting to knowing when to use which side of the lens. lol He is a good kid, though...and NEVER complains!!

Probably the biggest thing of the year happened in March. As a short background, you may not know that I was estranged from my mother and her children since I was very small. I was raised by my father (a situation that I was appreciative of). For most of my adult years, I have tried in vain to find my mother and her children (my other siblings). Matt found out a couple years ago (using his work connections) that my mother had passed away. I figured that that was the end of my search, though I still did searches on facebook, people searches, and any other venues. I sent letters...made phone calls...EVERYTHING.

Well, in March, I checked my facebook for updates (probably my hundredth check of the day...Yes, I am obsessed) when I saw I had a little number 1 next to my inbox. I found this odd as most people just email through my regular account. The subject line said "could you be my husband's little sister?" (I have kept the email in my facebook account this whole time as well as copied and pasted the content into a word doc.) Through this email, I was all the sudden back in touch with my brother, John and his wife and their son. I cannot tell you the pitters and patters that were happening in my chest...I could not believe after ALL THOSE YEARS, it came down to a simple facebook email (I had sent similar emails to facebook users that bore the same name as siblings...to no avail). In that same moment, I discovered my sister Carolyn, who had just created a facebook account days prior.

Throughout the rest of this year, I have built a relationship with both of these siblings (I still have not spoken with the rest of them...in time). Carolyn even came to visit us (she lives in California) with her husband (Don...an INCREDIBLE man) and her two kids Nate (future president of the US...military bound...HS track star) and Sami (a super sweet daughter whom became best of friends with Daniel). It was such a short, but incredible visit. Carolyn and I have a lot in common and spend as much time as we can chatting online (though, sadly for me, haven't been lately with busy schedules). This was a HUGE thing for me after SO LONG of searching....especially having lost my father just months prior. This has been the pivotal part of my year.

For Sierra's part...she turned 10 in May...double digits...the beginning of the end. She also completed her last year of elementary school. Her summer vacation was the busiest it has ever been. She spent many days, weekends at friends houses....went to Splashtown lots....movies...mall trips...Galveston...it FLEW BY. She also went to summer camp with our church kids group. I was SO excited about this as our church runs the whole camp...it is not run by outside people. They rent the grounds and the people who run the camp provide the food and activities (The Blob, fishing, etc), but Woodsedge does all the worship and devotionals. It was dedicated to Jesus and they spent more time in small groups and worship than playing. Sierra came home GLOWING from her experience and she rededicated her life to God.


She also participated in the church's summer music program and performed in their production called "Shine!". It was a beautiful performance....and her grandparents even came down to see her!! *Her hair is sun and chlorine bleached...lol*








Sierra also started Intermediate school this year...and is LOVING every minute of it. She is doing VERY well in her classes...she is in the best hall and has the very best of teachers. She is in Student Council...on the Environmental Committee...and is in Choir. She LOVES school more than she ever has and we have seen a lot of growth in her since starting. Her teachers have all told me how great she is and how she enhances the learning environment for the whole class. She just adores them and it is amazing the opportunities she has had in this school.


Here she is with her favorite teacher...her social studies teacher...who said to her on meet the teacher that it was his goal to make Social Studies her favorite subject by the end of the year...and he has SUCCEEDED!!


And than there is the hair....I had about 13 inches cut off and sent to Locks of Love...and you know what...I like it better. You may notice the change from the anniversary pic to the last pic shown. It was hard to do....getting all that hair cut off. I did have a pic of the braid, but cannot find it now. The upside of long hair is less need to get haircuts (cheaper). I went from getting my hair trimmed once or twice a YEAR to getting it trimmed once every 6 weeks or so. Sierra also got her hair cut shorter and we have started going together. But, as hard has it was to do, I REALLY do LOVE it!

One of the biggest potential changes for the year was our almost move to North Carolina. Matt posted for a job change to Charlotte, NC and he came very close to getting it...so close, that I proceeded with making some improvements on the house to put it up for sale...he ended up not getting the change. It was a disappointment, but we had put it in God's hands and felt it was not our time. We have made it our goal to move to North Carolina and hope to make that move over the summer...if he can get a job move there. Matt's parents are moving there early in the year and his grandmother lives there. Matt has always wanted to move to the east coast.

So, it is the end of the year. Matt is working very hard at Hewitt. He is on a new team that is proving to be challenging, to put it nicely. The job is not much different, but the boss is a lot different and I will stop there to keep the tone of this light (if you get my drift). Sierra is half-way through 5th grade and Daniel is getting ready to read and start school. I have had a year (or so) of inspiration from crafty friends and have built up a lot of crafting toys (cricut expressions, bind-it-all, rotary cutter, and a number of other treats!!). I have enjoyed making many things and new challenges....it is fun!!

So, what is in store for 2010. We are planning our vacation for Spring Break this year. We will, probably, head out to California....fly to San Francisco, see the sites there, rent a car and drive the pacific highway down to L.A. and do all the touristy stuff there, and, if we can manage it, head to San Diego for a couple days before flying home. That is our plan...we'll see. I am hoping to plan on having jaw surgery at the earlier part of the year. My headaches have increased and after trying to get around having surgery, we have concluded that we have reached that last resort of surgery. We will see Daniel turn 5 (he is SO excited about it). We have it in our plans to move to NC, but that will depend on Matt's work. Daniel will enter Kindergarten (sadly). I, under order of the kids and my husband, will remain at home (well, not literally). I will have to figure out what I am supposed to do without any kids to care for during the day. I am not sure if there are any other goals. I was going to say one of our goals was to eat better...lose weight.....HOWEVER, my WONDERFUL husband bought me a KitchenAid for Christmas......which means I will have to play with it....which means baking!! YAY!!! BRING ON THE POUNDS!!

I hope 2009 brought you great joy and growth and that 2010 will continue to be a blessing to you all.

Rock and Roll Monkey's Christmas Party

Christmas Decoration

Sierra and I try to have a girl's club meeting every two weeks...sometimes we make it every two weeks, sometimes we don't. Tomorrow night, Tuesday November 17th, we will have such a meeting. At these meetings, we do a craft and while the girls craft, they talk and laugh and have a good time.

Tomorrow night, this is is what the girls will be making!


I used the following:
My cricut machine to die cut the letters and all the layers for the penguin...as well as the circles for the cds.
laptop
big bite
Scrapbook paper
mod podge
simple elmer's glue
Martha Stewart's glitter (fine for the letters and coarse for the penguins)
old cd's

First I cut out all the shapes needed on my cricut. I decided to use the word JOY as it is a nice, simple, 3-letter word. I first cut it in shadown and than normal mode in order to create an outline on the letters. Also, I chose the penguin cause he was cute and it only took 3 layers of cutting and pasting together.


Next, I added glitz to the letters and penguins in order to give it a cool, icy look.


Next I started piecing it all together. I put mod podge on the cd and than put the round paper on it. When that dried, I put another layer of mod podge on the top of the paper. When that dried, I used regular elmer's glue to glue the shapes on. I also used my big bite to cut the holes into the cds. After everything was dried, I used ribbon to tie the cds together including a loop on the top to hang up on the wall.


Cute Huh!

Cloudy With a Chance Of Meatballs

We have yet to see this movie. Ok, so it only came out on Friday, but if you know us than you know we tend to watch movies the first weekend they come out. This movie has been a long time coming! They have showed previews for what...5 months? or more.

We have been anxiously awaiting the release of this movie that has had it's preview in front of, it seems, EVERY summer movie...as well as on numerous commercials.

One thing that has come from this is Daniel has been in overload with his imagination. It occurs to me that he is no longer a baby (ok, he probably passed that phase LONG ago, but he is MY baby). His imagination is HUGE as is his vocabulary. We were just hanging out in the living room at talking about what we wished it would rain. Here are some of what he wished it would rain:

ice cream
flowers (for mommy)
leaves (for mommy)
pillows, but not cushions
balls
blocks
movies
popcorn
grape juice
strawberries

Among so many other things. He thinks about this a lot. I told him I wished it would rain chocolate. He said, everything would be brown. I said, yes, but I could eat it all. I told him I wished it would rain cheesecake. He said, cheeeeesecake, in a dreamy voice. lol

Can't wait for Saturday when we will FINALLY see this movie (YES, I do mean FINALLY).

Spiritual Housecleaning

Have you ever done a spiritual housecleaning?? We have and tend to do it often. We will go through our movies and come up with "good" excuses as to why we hang on to this movie and that movie and convince ourselves that they are fine. A couple months later...all the sudden what seemed "good" and "fine" all the sudden isn't all that good or fine.

I was talking with Matt one day about housecleaning and we were talking about music. Now, I pretty much only listen to Christian music...but this is a personal choice and not one I would put on anyone including my husband.

But, I was discussing his music on his ipod. He tells me, my songs are clean...nothing bad. And I ask him, how can he listen to music from bands who live and breathe bad lives. Case in point...he LOVES Motley Crue (flashback anyone??). Well, I am sure you have, at some point in your lives, seen videos from Motley Crue with half-naked women prancing around and blatant sexual content. I am sure you have heard of the drugs and sex that occured (occurs, now) with this band. Well, a couple years ago, Matt was excited to go to a Motley Crue concert...which he had to attend himself cause I sure as heck wouldn't go. He had to leave the concert shortly after due to the PORN they were showing on the big screens as they sang!!!!!

So, I ask him, how can you listen to them?? He says, well, I do not have those bad songs...only their positive ones. Well, it is my opinion only.

Recently, he was thinking on his life and thinking that he needed to do some housecleaning and that was one of the first thing to go...music that he deemed as inappropriate to own.

But, what about music that may have been illegally obtained?? How many of us have copied music from websites that are not authorized?? How many of us used to do the Kazaa thing years ago before iTunes?? We did. We know people who still do!! But what about the morality in that?? We are supposed to respect and follow the law and isn't it stealing to take music and movies to add to our library without paying for it??

And think about it...when I take a song or movie illegally, as thousands (millions) do and the artist or movie maker loses out on that money...what happens?? Prices go up! Who am I to complain about a rise in movie prices when I am contributing to the rise????

So, here is Matt...deleting music that is objectionable and/or illegal. How proud am I?? VERY!! But, it does not stop there!!

Matt begins to think about how we are supposed to be good servants of our time, money and body. Ok. Here we are spending loads of time (and money...we do not illegally download movies...we are one of those consumers who pay for movies that go up in price due to.....) on a somewhat large movie collection. Matt says...let's think about this. We have an account with Netflix that we pay a monthly fee too and thus we can have delivered any movie we want and it is delivered to our door (ok, mail box at the end of our street in our case)....and we use it a lot. We rarely watch many of the movies in our collection. He says...that is it. We need to sell what we find morally objectionable or wastes of space. GOOD GRIEF!! We ended up selling WAY MORE than half our collection (he kept Star Wars and Indiana Jones, of course and I kept my Jane Austen movies and Steel Magnolias...kept our Pixar movies and other such movies).

So, we have cleaned out our music...our movies... We have set an example to our kids on being wise in choices both spiritually and economically. The result:

I feel so FREE! I feel closer to God. In thinking of how to be good servants of our time, I have spent less time on this computer and on watching tv and more time in study of his word. I found a great bible study podcast and have been doing a verse by verse study of Romans which is facinating. I am also doing a study of the apologetics. We have included Sierra in all these decisions and she is loving the changes. We are doing devotionals after dinner each night.

All those things were like heavy pieces of iron...weighing us down.

Sadly, being a good servant of our time can be SO MUCH HARDER. I have taken to getting to Sierra's school EARLY each day to pick her up so I can sit and do my Romans study. I am working on keeping my heavy foot off the pedal of the car to even do a small thing like not breaking the law in speeding. Are we getting legalistic?? I don't think so.

Now...to work on being a good servant to our bodies. lol Well, maybe we should get over these other hurdles first.

Addendum to the part about movies:

Let me clarify. We are not STOPPING watching movies...we LOVE movies. We are just not going to possess any illegally downloaded movies OR possess movies that we watch less than once a year that just sits on our shelves. We recently listened to a very good podcast (a three parter) about how we as Christians can go to the movies and learn how to take away key points. One thing that he said was that we cannot just give a blanket statement about not watching an R movie. Yes, most are bad and should not be watched, but there are those few that are very cultural. One he mentioned was "Schindler's List" and another was "American History X". I agreed with him....these are 2 HARD movies to watch. I have seen them both and will probably never watch AHX again (not because it offended me, though it had HARSH language and violence). I also, Stacie (in case you are reading), am going to watch "Slumdog Millionare". He talked about being wise in our choices. A good example of this being the choice of watching movies like the Narnia or Lord of the Rings movies vs. watching Harry Potter. While all 3 series has magic, 2 of the series uses it as allegory to scriptural events and message while the other is just magic.

OK...this is too long. Fact is, we are not shunning Hollywood and all it produces. We are always (or at least try to always be) wise with our choices of movies...

BTW...if you are interested in the podcast series on movies go to http://www.biblestudypodcasts.org/. We found it very insiteful and found little wrong with what he said. I liked what he said about NPAA ratings and how you cannot go by that alone.

Another Dad Post

My dad has been on my mind a lot lately...this time not because of bad things going on, but good things.

The other night, we were doing our nightly routine...probably the best part of each day. The whole upstairs is filled with laughter as the kids play around together as they are supposed to get ready for bed. Daniel will run into Sierra's room with just his underwear on proclaiming himself "Captain Underpants" at which point Sierra will start chasing him around both yelling (yes, this is joyful). They brush their teeth which often includes Daniel playing in the water (he gets so proud when he fills the sink right to the edge).

Than we all go into Daniel's room where Matt and Sierra will lay on the floor as I crawl into bed with Daniel and read him a story (if it is a new story, than Sierra squeezes herself in to hear it to). The book Daniel has chosen lately is a Maisy book (have you heard of these?). This one has Maisy going to bed...which has a part where Maisy and her stuffed Panda uses the potty (complete with picture of Maisy and Panda sitting on potties). This one portion gets Daniel into the giddiest of laughs and it is hard for me to continue to read as I laugh at him laughing.

When the story is finished, he takes the book and attempts to hit his sister with it (lol...this is funny as Sierra always runs for cover). Than Matt does a "spinny spinny" which means he tosses Daniel in the air as he spins him around...than gets on his knees and tosses him higher in the air....than flies him like Peter Pan across the room to "rescue his elephant"...and than lands him in the arms of ME...where I get first dibs or nighttime hugs and kisses...followed by Sierra...and than Matt.

Next it is to Sierra's room, where I crawl into bed to read to her while Matt tends to collapse on the bed in our room and snooze for the 20-30 minutes it takes us to get through 2 chapters (currently reading book 2 of "Limeny Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"). Than it is a little talking time (whatever Sierra wants to talk about (tonight it was about her sunburn). Than kisses all around and we (Matt and I) are free. (At least until Sierra's first trek downstairs of the night...she has always been our problem sleeper).

What does any of this have to do with my dad, you may ask? Well, it was in the middle of one of our typical nightly routines the other night that I thought about him. You see, my dad always had this idea of what kind of woman I should become. He felt I should be a teacher (he and 2 of his siblings were teachers and I think he thought it was in the blood). He wanted me to be a teacher and told me the only way to survive financially in the world is to have 2 incomes. He raised me to be a career woman.

Well, as you may have noticed, I did not become what I was trained to become. I tried to become a teacher....but HATED the idea of it with every fiber of my being. You may say...well, you were a Children's Pastor. Yes, true, but I only had kids twice a week (Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights). The thought of teaching frightened me (and from the stories Sierra tells me about the classroom...I was RIGHT).

So, that out the window, I decided to be a career woman as long as it was in administration. My strengths were in working with my computer and programs and thus a good fit. BUT, it is a wonder what pregnancy will do to you. You get a little baby growing in you and the brain says....YOU MUST WORK....but the heart says.....AND LEAVE THIS PRECIOUS BEING GROWING INSIDE OF YOU AT DAYCARE, ARE YOU NUTS!?! In the end, the heart won and out went the career.

So, here I was...in my son's room. Sure, we could be living a "better" lifestyle if I worked as I had been raised. BUT, here are these two kids (two kids who have changed my life for the better) who are so well rounded....loving...

And I got to thinking of my father who tried to instill in me these values he felt so strongly about............and started thinking of the pride he had for me and the life I have built. I remember the first time he held my daughter and the smile that was so wide and the eyes that were so bright. I remember when he first saw my house...you would've thought we bought a palace and not the modest home we inhabit. His excitement at that moment is one I will never forget...and hearing him tell others about what I have become. And, I remember when he first held my son...whose name is Daniel...my father's middle name.

So, as I lay on my son's bed as he joyfully looked for a book to read that night...and my husband and daughter laying contentedly on the floor...I could not help but smile as I thought of my father who was proud of me throughout my life........but became most proud when I did exactly the opposite of what he thought I should do.

I love my dad...I miss him terribly for as I thought of this I also thought of how much he thought my daughter was the most beautiful girl he had seen and how he had barely been able to see my son.......and as I look at my daughter now 10 with those long legs, lean body, blue eyes, and winning personality....and my son with the kind of personality that makes all who meet him laugh.....and I have sorrow that he cannot share in these milestones with me. BUT, I can say with confidence that if he were here........his grin would be big and his eyes would be shining and I would feel like a success.

So...there you have it. I could not meet my dad's expectations as he thought it, but I could exceed his expectations past his own vision for my life. So, even in the sorrow of his absense, I can feel comforted.

Facebook Status Updates

Recently, Matt, Sierra and I went a few days without technology (ok, Matt HAD to use his computer at work, but did not do any surfing or anything like it).

I am such a big status updater, I thought it would be funny to tally what my status updates may have been during this time.

* Daniel is doing such a great job wearing his patch.

* starting an interesting, in-depth study of Romans today. (Thursday)

* our hearts grieve over recent layoffs at our church -- praying.

* had fun without computer distractions...made cards to put in the decorated tin for my sister's birthday...now well over 2 weeks late.

* loving the drop off for Sierra's new school...less than ten minutes round trip.

* another task complete w/out computer and tv distraction....craft room cleaned up.

* helped Daniel pick out toys to sell in our Saturday garage sale...his money to go towards a cool new toy. (addendum...Daniel got to buy himself the black spider man suit).

* loving the constant sound of my ipod on shuffle...though one of David Crowder's songs has played and replayed about 5 times.

* finishing a book that is not too interesting, but I have to finish to see if I am right. (I was)

* having sweet times praying for those in community, nation, church family and friends.

* shopping for houses in North Carolina. No, we are not moving...yet....though it is not outside the realm of possibility.

* is so proud of my budding missionary who loves church both on Sundays and Wednesdays and wants to go spread Jesus around.

* watching my husband nod off as I write this.

* is proud of my daughter who wants to extend our little fast past these few days. (no, it did not last)

* finding it funny that Daniel has to watch movies on our little portable dvd player to avoid distraction for us.

* looking forward to getting my and Sierra's hair cut on Saturday followed by lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

* finally mailing my sister's birthday present on Friday...AND finally mailing my 12-inch long braid to Locks of Love...AND mailing Sierra's best friend who lives in Africa the DS games she left in our car. (YES, I did it...I mailed all the above).