Jam-Packed Hiatus! The 2012 Edition

A few posts ago I promised that we would never again go that long without posting again.  Then life happened!

Let's see, it looks like the end of 2011 is where we left off.  It's safe to say the Chopins have had some visceral life experiences since then.

Jo-Jo came into our lives on March 20, 2012.  He was a healthy 6 lbs 4ozs, and other than not really wanting to eat, he was just as healthy as any other Chopin baby.  We were surprised to have a blonde-hair child, especially since Cindy and I have such dark hair.  But, his appearance certainly favors the Chopin/Theriot side of the family and is a nice contrast in a family full of darker-haired children.  He has certainly brought us some joy.  Although his sleeping patterns have been anything but typical Chopin child, we love him all the same.  And so...table for 7 now!

So, a family of six was difficult enough to co-exist in a 3BR, 1,700sq ft house.  It was a huge push into us starting the search again for a new house.  We had been looking since 2008 for a larger house after James was born.  After literally looking at over 100 houses (God bless our wonderful realtor--Donna Christianson) and only putting offers on two of them (both of which did not go through), we were starting to wonder whether we would find anything that would fit our needs of a growing family and a functional house for a home-schooling family.  It was the third day of the new year and our realtor said she had a hunch about a house in Bendel Gardens, which was our first house to view.  I was immediately skeptical.  Bendel was never on my list of potential neighborhoods.  I remember years ago Cindy and I were driving around Lafayette trying to find a neighborhood for us to roost and she suggested, "What about Bendel?"  Deflated, I told her that she could pick the ugliest, smallest house in Bendel and it would be light years out of our price range.  Don't you love it when you try to set parameters on God's blessings?

Well, the house we looked at that day was pretty close to what I thought it would be--well out of our price range with still a tremendous amount of work that needed to be done.  A lot of work!  Fortunately for our family, I am married to the world's greatest optimist.  And even though I don't consider myself a prototypical pessimist, I am a realist by trade.  It's very difficult for deals to work exactly how you need them to work--anything can go wrong.  I won't bore you with the long details, but God made it happen!  He used great people in our life to help us along the way--Les Pitre, Clint Baer, Brett Bayard, and many other friends and family who donated their time and talents.  We have a house for our family that works!  And although the stress of buying, remodeling, selling our existing house, paying two mortgages, balancing a sleepless newborn and just general worrying sent me to the cardiologist, I must say....God is so faithful to us!  We don't deserve His goodness to us, but it is nice to know that He never fails us.  So we accepted his gifts of new home-ownership....and in a great location!

So here is what the rest of the kids did in 2012....

Gus tried his hand at a new (or gently renewed) sport this year--soccer.  He had not played organized soccer since he was five years old, but played with the HFHE-organzied soccer practices.  He has speed, endurance, ability and drive.  He just needed confidence.  Suffice it to say that soccer has truly helped develop his confidence.  Gus developed into quite the well-rounded soccer player, playing mostly goalkeeper, midfielder and forward.  He earned the moniker of "Mr. Clutch" because of his uncanny ability to make a goal or stop a goal when the pressure was greatest, usually at the end of a close game.  He quickly became a leader on his team and really helped to foster some self-confidence.  He's got the soccer bug and I don't see him getting rid of it anytime soon.

Another athletic feat Gus accomplished was running his first 5K in late November.  After training only 10 days on the tales of an ending soccer season, Gus ran it in under 25 and a half minutes, beating yours truly by about two minutes.  So bragging rights belong to Gus (and he does remind me from time-to-time).  It is undeniable that Gus is a child who needs physical activity, both for his physical and mental health.  We saw a lot of smiles from Gus in 2012.

Super Beedle soared in 2012 in what he loves most--Christian Youth Theater.  Beedle was in two performances in 2012--the winter performance of Willy Wonka and the fall performance of Peter Pan. Beedle was James, Charlie's friend, and an Oompa Loompa in Willy Wonka.  He enjoyed getting to sing a solo in a bright yellow shirt, and then don a florescent-green wig in the second act to be the smallest Oompa Loompa in the cast.  As for Peter Pan, Beedle was casted as a pirate, which he enjoyed performing with his best friend, Aaron.  The two of them had terrific comedic timing as young zany swashbucklers-in-training.  Beedle also served as the understudy to young Michael.  In preparing to be the understudy, Beedle had to practice the "stunts" that Michael did.  This involved flying on wires--a first for CYT and, more importantly, our safe-ground-loving son.  I'd love to tell you that he couldn't get enough of being hoisted into the air and swung across the stage.  But that didn't happen.  It took a whole lot of baby steps, coercing and comforting, but eventually he became comfortable enough to rehearse a few scenes.  Fortunately, his ability was never tested in a live performance.  But for Beedle, even the mere attempts in rehearsal, was quite an accomplishment for him.  Beedle continued to take three semesters of classes to help blossom his creativity and help him gain more confidence in performing.  Oh and I think he spent the rest of the year reading and playing Lego's.  That's Beedle for you!

Gracie spent the year doing what she does best--dancing!  She has really enjoyed being in ballet and has done quite well.  The year 2012 was a non-performing year but she still put in a lot of time and effort into improving her skills.

James spent 2012 being adorable and perfecting the art of playing well with others.  James has always been our most agreeable and lovable child.  He's unflappable, generous and kind,  He spent the greater part of his year playing with others, learning to how to be a big brother for the first time and being a connoisseur of mix-matched pajamas.  I think he was successful!  We are certainly proud of the good-hearted boy his is becoming!

    As a family we took our bi-annual trip to Petit-Jean Mountain.  Of course, we went when it was very cold, so we could truly enjoy the mountainous setting.  While there we discovered some new trails, went on some old ones and just relaxed in our favorite family vacation spot!  Here are some scenes from the trip:

   We rounded out the year with a wonderful Christmas season.  It was a perfect time to be reminded just how blessed the Chopin family truly is!  There were highs.  There were lows.  There were breaking points.  But never were we without God's providence and faithfulness.