Christmas 2006 (Third child is born)

December 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Once again I’m trying to sneak in some time during the early morning hours to do the Year in Review from the Templeton perspective. My mornings are not as predictable as they used to be with the addition of our new baby girl. More on that later…
It’s a few days before Christmas and I’m not sure if I’m “feeling” this letter yet. I usually sit down and crank it out in one fairly brief sitting, send it off to my editor for comments and corrections (Beth), and then finish it up. Let’s see if my cup of Folgers coffee will help get the keyboard warmed up, and Ruby will cooperate.
Fayetteville Public Schools allowed Lawson to continue his education in the school system. He started first grade this year and thinks school is really cool. His enthusiasm has waned a little bit as the year has progressed but he is still interested. Every day I try to ask him what he did at school that day and his answer is usually “Same thing, over and over. Morning work, recess, lunch, math, spelling.” Sometimes there’s a new twist with art or the computer lab which generates a little more discussion. Or maybe someone was slightly injured at recess or PE, or Lawson has a new tear in the knees of his pants that needs an explanation. He seems to be a boy of few words (believe it or not) when there is some incident that occurred that he thinks might not sound so good when conveyed to his parents.
Lawson’s teacher is very good and very patient. By most accounts, it appears that his behavior is considerably better at school for his teachers than it is at home for his parents. Did I mention his teacher is patient? His school work is going well but he is a boy and is easily distracted by…well, just about anything that wiggles, slithers, crawls, creeps, moves, stinks, cuts, burns, squishes, squashes, leaks, talks, laughs, yells, whispers, cries, bleeds, rolls, climbs, flies, falls, etc. That pretty much covers anything found around the home or school.
Georgia is attending kindergarten at the same school at which she attended pre-school. Due to her age, she may attend kindergarten again next year at the public school, or she may start first grade. Beth’s decision on this changes about every 3 months or so, and with greater frequency around school registration cutoffs.
Georgia is doing well in and by most accounts is ready to lead the class. Her teacher is very good and has established some solid routines in the students’ day which seems to just flow easily (at least from my brief daily perspectives). Georgia is busy trying to keep up with her brother and the other boys in the neighborhood. We can usually count on her to provide a very detailed and dramatic description of the goings-on when the boys are playing. She won’t be left out, and follows along closely with her little pink baby in-hand.
Both Lawson and Georgia are continuing to play soccer through the city recreational league. I made the mistake of failing to show up for Georgia’s first practice and therefore I apparently volunteered to coach for the season. We had 6 of the prettiest players you’ve ever seen. Beth served as Director of Player Personnel (meaning she communicated with all the players’ agents [parents] regarding schedule and arranged hospitality events [post-game snacks]). All of the girls seemed to have fun although every once in a while they would all be very emotional about their playing time: either too much or too little, depending on the mood.
Lawson’s soccer team is now in the big leagues. No more tunnels created by the parents’ outstretched hands for the kids to run through triumphantly after every game. No way: that’s kid’s stuff. Post-game snacks, however, continue to be appropriate regardless of the increased maturity level of these highly skilled athletes.
Lawson played coach-pitch baseball in the spring. They placed 3rd in the season and 3rd in the post-season tournament. It was quite a change from last year’s “no-score, all bat” league to this year’s highly competitive “score-keeping, 3-outs, post-season tournament” league. I’m not sure if I’m up for this, but Beth and I were both in there cheering them on and quietly critiquing every call by the officials. The kids (Lawson) still try to find every opportunity to slide in at home plate.
Georgia is taking dance and gymnastics at a local studio. She is pretty cute in her little outfits. She had a dance recital earlier in the year at the end of the spring semester. I’m fairly sure this was the best performance ever put on at the Walton Arts Center.
We did work in a beach trip this year in August. We had a great week in Destin, FL. This was the second time to join the Ducketts on their annual trip to the Emerald Coast, and the first time the Hughes joined in from Tennessee. It was great to finish up the summer with such a great trip with such great friends. All of the kids had a big time in the pool and at the beach. While the girls went shopping, Lawson and I went for an all-out ride on a “personal water craft” (aka wave runner). I’m afraid he may be built for speed. He could not get enough of full-throttle, wave-jumping, head-bouncing-off-the-padded-dashboard fun.
March brought some unexpected yet exciting news when “the test” came back positive. We spent the next several months trying to figure out how a couple of 40-year olds were going to manage a zone defense with a third child on the way (patience and practice), how old we’ll be when she’s graduating from high school (59), and how we’ll pay for college (Wal-Mart greeter until mandatory retirement age, or lottery winnings). The kids were excited to hear the news and indicated they had wanted a baby for a long time. Georgia exclaimed: “I saying one word: I’m holdin’ it!”
Ruby McCollum Templeton was born on October 23rd weighing in at 9 lbs 6 oz. She is full of energy and all those other things that baby’s are full of. The zone defense thing has been tough: 2 on 3. Luckily, Lawson and Georgia change teams from time-to-time and help out Mom and Dad…but then change back to the other team without warning. Both of the kids were quite shocked to learn how a newborn baby is fed by their mommy, and many new questions surfaced. Lawson was grossed out, and Georgia emphatically declared she was going to tell her teacher how Beth was feeding the baby. Several times Georgia has reminded Beth that she knows more about babies than Beth does.
The kids really like Ruby and like taking care of her, unless she’s crying (which she’s about to do right now). She is a very good baby whose only real troublesome characteristic is her lack of desire to ride in the car. That’s going to be tough on her and everyone else considering the older kids’ activities. She generally doesn’t complain about much unless there’s a tangible problem and solution: food, diaper, or nap. She’s sleeping most of the night most of the time at only 2 months old. She must understand that her parents are of “advanced maternal / paternal age” and can’t work the 2:00am shifts like we used to.
In November we had my two roommates from college and their families over for a two course meal: pizza and birthday cake. Mike had recently moved to Fayetteville and Ken was in town visiting family for Thanksgiving. We all took a break from turkey and dressing on Saturday to celebrate Mike’s 40th birthday. I think this was only the 4th time since graduating from Hendrix that the three of us were in the same room at the same time: the other 3 times were each of our respective weddings. It was quite a scene to have everyone’s families together. All of us were a bit nervous worrying about which of the three might break the vow of silence we have regarding any and all events during the college years.
Our Christmas celebrations included the Templeton families in Fayetteville over the course of the weekend, wrapped up by a trip to Russellville for the McCollum/Haney clan on Christmas night. As always, it was great to see family that we don’t always get to see often through the year.
Georgia finished up the year with her church choir’s performance in “Big Church”. She was really belting out the lyrics and all the motions for the songs. There’s nothing quite like a pack of 5 year olds singing about God and Jesus Christ to help remind you about the importance of the Season and the important stuff in life.
The business in Tulsa is going well. We have been open almost a year now and generally have over 125 private parties every month. Our location has highest average party counts for new Pump It Up franchisees open less than 12 months. The upcoming 12 months will be just as critical but we’re off to a good start.
The Suds Car Wash business also is going well. We have slowed down our growth plans after getting 8 locations on line by the end of this year. We are looking for some snow/ice this season to get the cars really dirty out there. Car washes are the ultimate “silver lining to the cloud” business. Bad weather generates subsequent days of lots of cars washed. Please remember: a clean car is a happy car.
In addition to our business and family obligations, we are trying to be involved in other local activities. Beth is currently serving on the Board of Directors for The Creative School, where Georgia attends kindergarten. I am serving on the Finance Committee at our church and the Elizabeth Richardson Center (serving disabled children and adults). These obligations sometimes seem to consume more time than originally anticipated, but we do hope that our service will benefit the organizations and the communities they serve.
So we’re finishing up 2006 with a lot of changes in our lives. It’s pretty crazy here at the Templeton house this time of year and the other 11 months of the year, as evidenced by the fact that while I was writing this letter an entire week has passed from when I initially sat down. This means, of course, that you are reading this sometime around the New Year, and my coffee is way cold. We hope your 2006 has been blessed, and that 2007 brings blessings again. Our contact information is below and, for the second year in a row, has not changed from the previous year.