Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I panicked earlier this week...convinced Christmas would be non-existent this year in the Kline household. I really have no Christmas spirit and don't know why. But that's a post for another day. I did manage to pull together Christmas, however! We put up a small tree. Aaron pronounced it a "pretty tree" but not a "Christmas tree." I guess he doesn't get the white tree/purple decoration theme.

I considered skipping the Christmas cards this year. But, frankly, the best part of the holidays are the many pictures I take trying to get the perfect one for the Christmas card. As always, we had a great time and there were many shots to choose from. Then I talked to my friend Tina and stole her idea to get the picture turned into a card. [$15.99 at Costco for 50...and in just over 24 hours!]

And...I did the family missive for the first year. I've avoided it in the past because..well, I'm not sure why. So I reviewed the ones we got so far--and I've enjoyed every one!--and took off. The letter is below.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

It's cold here in Illinois! So darn cold! When it got into the 20s today we were ecstatic!

The boys are done with school for the year as of today--Tuesday. I wish they would get fewer days off during the year so they could get out earlier in June. It seems to get later and later each summer before vacation begins!

Jeremy and Jermaine are now thirteen years old and in the seventh grade. They love school--for the social aspects, of course. Neither one is too concerned about grades at this time. They have grown a lot--both are over six feet tall and not showing signs of stopping.

Last spring they played baseball. Their regular season little league team won first place and were undefeated. It was an exciting season. They had the best coach and learned a lot. Both boys made the tournament team and played throughout July. They played against some tough teams.

Now the twins are playing basketball at school and park district games start in January. I think I get as excited about their games as I did when the Bulls were in the play-offs so many years ago! Amazingly, they aren't the tallest kids in the league--almost every school they've played has someone close to or even taller than them.

Aaron started first grade this fall and turned seven earlier this month. He loves school, but is struggling. He has a learning disability, but with some parental intervention and a great special ed teacher, he is coming along. Being born so pre-maturely has dealt him some tough knocks when it comes to learning. Luckily he wants to learn to read and wants to please his teachers, which makes him motivated!

He's also growing so much! Pretty soon, I will be the shortest in the house. I don't think I will like that at all! He's still thin as a rail and is eating an outrageous amount of food. Jim was commenting that he doesn't know how we will continue to feed him!

He played tee ball in the spring. I have to confess, that tee ball is the most painful sport I have ever watched. I am the mom at the early games of the season pointing out the rules that say the games should only last an hour. No one listens to me though!

He is also playing basketball and just finished up a basketball skills class at the park district. He will start playing games after the first of the year. He likes basketball and seems to have picked up a lot of tips from his brothers…mostly hot dogging the ball on the court!

Jim continues to keep busy with work and still runs every day. He helped coach the regular season baseball team with a great guy and will do so again this coming summer. He also co-managed the tournament baseball team. When they were looking for basketball coaches at the park district he kept a low profile! Most of his "free" time is spent keeping the house and yard in shape.

We had sad news this summer when Jim's dad passed away in August. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer eighteen months earlier. He was still golfing well into the summer and attending the boys' baseball games even in the sweltering heat we had this summer. We miss him terribly. Life just isn't the same without the Dudley-isms he was known for and his straight-forward, to the point comments.

This summer we vacationed in paradise. OK, we went to Omaha, Nebraska, and Pittsburg, Kansas. In Omaha, we spent time with Aunt Darlene & Co. Boy, are they the best hosts ever! They made us feel so at home and kept us plied with plenty of homemade chocolate chip cookies. The boys still talk about those cookies! Aunt Darlene and I stayed up well into the night talking. We laughed so hard! I also got to go shopping with Aunt Darlene, cousins Jeanne and Marcy. Again, we laughed so hard. I don't get to do that a lot here…I just can't convince the boys that going to the mall and trying on hats and shoes would be fun. Boys!

In Pittsburg we celebrated Gramma Hazel’s 90th birthday and my brother Aaron's 50th. Gramma Hazel's party was at cousin Susie's house which is very beautiful. The kids enjoyed the day in the pool and the adults spent the day visiting.

I'm keeping busy even though I now have the whole school day to myself. I don't know what I do all day--because nothing seems to ever get done like I want it. I guess all those trips running errands really eat up my time. Oh, and lunches with my girlfriends. I'm still playing poker once a month and welcome the break from reality. I can't play poker worth a darn, and regularly lose money, but the stomach aches from laughing so hard are well worth it!

This fall I took a drawing class at the county art league and look forward to more in the coming year. I had a great teacher and learned a lot.

We all look forward to a busy 2006. Baseball registration is in January--after basketball is volleyball...then track...baseball...summer...Time will fly by, I am sure!

Hugs from all of us!

Jim & Susie
Jeremy, Jermaine & Aaron

PS If you're keeping track, that is a new dog in the photo. We picked up another pet along the way this year--a Pomewawa--half Pomeranian, half Chihuahua. We named her Roxy and she weighs about three pounds right now. She'll get to about five. She's a terrible purse dog--hates the purse and would rather be out checking things out. Luckily she gets along with the other animals--you should see her with our seventy-pound dog! Roxy terrorizes the cats something terrible, but they tolerate her. I'm just glad there's something else female in this testosterone village!