Letters

Dear Fall Weather,
Thank you for easing me into winter. You make leaving the summer more bearable. And I am loving the chance to sit by the fire and read to the kids. It was really very thoughtful for you to stick around a while.

Dear Annie,
I love that you sing things more than you say them. I love the words you get confused...like calling tomatoes potatoes and potatoes tomatoes, and then, since you got tired of asking me which was which, you just started calling them tah-pay-toes. Please don't ever learn the right way to say it.

Dear House,
Where's my nesting energy now? All I want to do at night is sit around. And it shows. Well, you were clean for a little while. A very little while. Maybe once I get enough enthusiasm for Christmas decorating, you'll look pretty once again.

Dear Wheat and Dairy and Sugar,
I miss you. Not nearly as much as I feared I would, but still, I do miss you.

Dear Tyler,
Even though I sometimes act frustrated, I actually really love how you can get so wrapped up in a book that you honestly can't hear a thing I am saying when I'm two feet away. I love how you will finish one book when we're at the library, another one on the way home, and two more before you go to bed--if they're about 100 pages or so--if they're any shorter, you'll read a lot more. I love that I just found a huge list of books to fill your appetite for reading, and I love that they have almost all of them at the library! Thank you for sharing your love of reading with your brothers and sister and for being so excited to read your favorite books out loud to them too.

Dear Laundry,
There's just so much of you. And you never stop needing to be washed. And dried. And folded. And put away. Is it really too much to ask for you to all be clean at once? Or for you to wash yourself?

Dear Thanksgiving,
Who knew that you would be more fun when I was doing all the planning and the work instead of just enjoying the food? I never would have guessed!! But last year was great, and I sure am excited for you to come again this year!

Dear Robby,
Do you know that I've never seen another kid who will sit and hold a baby for as long as you will? Even when Annie was born and you were only three, you would just sit and hold her and stare at her for so long. Thanks for being so willing to hold Luke so often and for loving him so much. You're going to be such a great dad!

Dear Running,
Welcome back! I know we're going much slower and shorter than we used to, but at least we're going! It's nice to have you back.


Dear Luke,
It still amazes me how absolutely irresistible a baby's smile can be, and a baby's smell, and a baby's soft skin, and even a baby's frown...especially yours. Thank you for staying small longer than any of your other siblings. It means so much to me. Thank you for being so sweet and sleeping so well and staying so calm through all of our craziness. Are you trying to avoid being the youngest child? Because right now you're doing a pretty amazing job of convincing me to have a dozen more babies just like you.

Dear Christmas,
How has it possibly been a year since you were here? You are my favorite holiday. And so I am working hard to really, really enjoy you this year. I know I always say this, but I am going to keep things simple this year. Really, I am. Now I just have to decide which things to cut out. Thank you for being the highlight of winter-time. I'd like it if you stayed around a little while longer. I think maybe we should start celebrating you now, and continue on through January (because-- don't tell January--but it really is kind of a let-down after December).

Dear Andrew,
I miss you. Las Vegas can't possibly be more fun than me, can it? Please come home. Five days is five days too long to go without seeing you.


With Love,
RMP