February

February seemed to fly by!  On February 2nd we had our first and probably only snow day of the year.  At the beginning of the school year the district decided to keep snow days instead of turning those days into remote learning days.  Unfortunately, our snow day fell on an in-person day for my kids.  They were all so disappointed!!  It happened to be Groundhog Day and Lincoln and Annika's teacher had told them about the activities and crafts they would be doing to celebrate.  Lincoln and Annika decided to make their own groundhog pictures at home.  I loved their pictures, especially the shadow that Annika drew of her groundhog!!  In the picture below the shadow is the little blue guy.  Lincoln's picture was cloudy so no shadow for his groundhog.  We had a very mild February.  Joseph and I both agreed that it was probably the sunniest February we have had since moving to Syracuse, with very little snow.

Even though we didn't have a lot of snow fall this year the kids and Joseph made the most of it.  The snow fort had a sledding hill added to the side of it and the kids did a lot of sledding and mini-snow boarding off the side of the fort.  Joseph and the little ones cooked hotdogs for lunch in there one day, too.  The big kids were still inside in class.

My kids played a lot of Monopoly this month.  It was so sweet to see Annika and Eden playing the game.  When you are 6 and 4 money doesn't matter as much and you are just in the game to play and not necessarily win.  They would play for 30-45 minutes and then they would pick it all up and do that  a few times each day.  The problems arose when the big kids would play!  They were in it to win it!

Joseph and Lincoln had an ice/snow adventure on Oneida Lake.  Joseph took Lincoln out and they walked on the frozen lake.  They tried to dig down to the water, but after 6 inches of digging they gave up.  Hearing that the ice was at least 6 inches made me brave enough to go on the lake the following week with with Joseph.

For Valentine's Day I made an Oreo cheesecake.  It was good, but I'm going to adapt it and leave off the chocolate buttercream and make it again for Easter.  It was a lot of work, but I want to see if I can improve on it.  We had a nice Valentine's day.  I gave the kids little Valentine's I had colored for them, candy and everyone got a small present.  Annika loves to leave love notes for people so she had at least 1 card for everyone.

This was my frozen lake adventure with Joseph . We walked on the lake and then through a shallow stand of trees because it as prettier with the trees.  We were gone about an hour so the kids wouldn't worry too much.  

The kids had Winter Break the third week in February.  We met friends at the school playground one day for sledding on the big mounds of snow piled up from the snow plows.  We played there about an hour and no one seemed to mind the 20 degree weather.  My friend and I walked laps in the parking lot.  

Our other big outing was to the Children's Museum of Oswego.  It was a mini version of the children's museum we went to last year before Covid started.  This one was closer, but geared to kids under 8.  Rebecah was bored, but was a good help keeping track of Eden.  None of the kids stayed in the same area for long so it was nice having Rebecah to watch Eden while I took on Lincoln and Joseph and Annika were a pair.  The capacity was limited and we could only be in the facility for 2 1/2 hours but we were all ready to leave after 2 hours.

Annika and Joseph spent probably 20 minutes designing a craft while everyone else was playing with other things.  Annika loves to be crafty! The picture below is her finished project.  I believe she made a baby Jesus with an Angel above the manger.

We watched the Primary Friend to Friend and my kids loved it!  I wasn't sure how well they would sit through it, but they loved the songs, drawing, etc.  They felt the spirit during the messages and watched the entire thing the next day, too.

Friend to Friend drawing activity.

Joseph and I went ice skating at an outdoor rink.  I thought I would be freezing, and while I have my hood on to keep my ears warm, I really wasn't cold. We were only allowed to skate for an hour-Covid restrictions limited the number of people on the ice at one time.  I would have enjoyed skating longer, but I'll just have to go again next year.  

Eden really wanted to watch The Little Mermaid one day and after she finished her movie she drew her own mermaids.  She drew King Triton, Ariel, and one of Ariel's sisters.  I loved her picture.  She drew it on the back of one of Annika's school papers so the "I see the sno" has nothing to do with the mermaids.

Other happenings from the month.  Joseph, Rebecah and Kimball went night skiing one evening.  Rebecah was pretty miserable.  Maybe skiing isn't her thing. Kimball had a good time though. 

We also got word that football will start in March so we got Kimball all signed up and practices start tomorrow.  He has been living for this day ever since the season was canceled last Fall.

January/Rebecah's Birthday

Happy New Year!!   Joseph worked New Year's Day and that was the extent of our holiday.  We had a bigger celebration for Rebecah's birthday.  I had forgotten to buy balloons and she seemed disappointed so I quickly ran out to the store the morning of her birthday to buy some balloons.  I think she was happy I put forth extra effort for her.  Rebecah turned 11 and in the world of Harry Potter age 11 is when you are eligible to attend Hogwarts.  We gave her a Harry Potter themed birthday.  

I typed up her Hogwarts acceptance letter!  She got a big smile on her face when she realized what it was.  Every Harry Potter loving kid deserved a Hogwarts letter!

For dinner she had pizza and a frosted chocolate chip cheesecake.  I thought the cheesecake was super yummy!!

Lincoln had some blanket fun this month.  He wrapped up in Kimball's Browns comforter one morning and then He and Kimball joined forces later in the month.  

I make private blog journals for my kids so they can have pictures and a record of their life.  I then turn them into books.  It's expensive, but so worth it to me.  This year the company I use had a really good sale on books, lucky for me since I had 3 to print. I print them books every 5 years.  They were so happy when their books arrived!

In our area Covid cases really increased at the end of 2020.  In order for the schools to stay open 20% of the school staff and students had to be tested for asymtopmatic cases.  All of my kids except for Eden had to go through this.  Kimball said it was awful, but I think since he is older he got the real test. For the younger grades they did a less traumatizing test.  Annika was nervous about having a Covid test.  I gently explained to her if students didn't signed up for tests then there was a chance that they would close the school and she wouldn't be able to see Mrs. Corl even 2 days a week.  That was enough to win Annika over for testing.  Annika loves school and her teacher so much.  She makes her teacher notes almost weekly.  Their teacher sent me this picture after they had their testing.  Lincoln said it was "no big deal."  What Troopers!!

Kimball was ordained a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood.  We went to the Church one evening so he could be ordained.  Here is a picture from his ordination two years ago. He has really grown in the last two years.  

Joseph made his annual snow fort/cave.  Since these pictures have been taken he added a sledding hill to one side so the kids can sled and mini-snowboard off the side.  They love it!  Joseph is currently working on a tunnel in the front yard. 

Other news from the month:

The first two weeks of the year the kids had fully remote learning.  After all of the holiday togetherness the Covid cases were too high to allow the kids to go back to school.  Everyone was disappointed to stay home another two weeks.  When the little ones were finally back at school Annika thought it was just for 1 day and she would have to return to remote learning.  The principal at the elementary school had the teachers submit names of students that did really well during the remote learning and then the principal drew names for prizes.  Luckily Lincoln and Annika both won a prize!!  It was a highlight to our day.  We were able to watch a video of the announcements when their names were drawn.  The principal sent them each a hand written letter congratulating their efforts and gave them a coupon for a free ice cream at Burger King.

Our year is off to a good start!

December/Christmas

December had fewer activities and concerts than previous years, but it was still a month full of the anticipation and excitement of Christmas.  We tried to keep most of our family traditions to make the month feel as normal as possible. 

We went to a drive-thru community Christmas event and it was a bust.  We had to wait a really long time to drive through and see Santa.  The kids got grumpy and then the promised goody bag was a disappointment.  We got one bag with only 1 packet of hot chocolate, 1 candy cane, etc.  The kids weren't happy!  They were excited to see Santa though.

We had some really mild days in December and the kids brought the sidewalk chalk back out.  This is Lincoln's depiction of Grinch mountain and Whoville. He did another drawing a few days later with more detail that took up more of the driveway.  I thought his drawings were very clever.

I said good-bye to another friend this year.  Our church congregation tends to be fairly transient, but this year I lost a lot of really good friends.  It has been hard to be socially distant from them and then realize that we won't be together once we can get together again.  I did give my friend a big hug goodbye and we are looking forward to a visit maybe this year at their new house on the Maine coast. 

I love Lincoln and Annika's teacher.  She is really doing her best to teach the kids this year and still do fun activities with them.  They made these Grinch faces in school and Lincoln had me hole punch eye holes in his face so he could wear it as a mask.  

Did you see it?  Did you see the Christmas star?  I guess it's better known as the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, but I was really excited to see this astronomical event.  No surprise, but it's frequently cloudy in Syracuse, but on Friday, December 18th we had a clear evening and we were able to go outside and see the conjunction.  I realize the peak day was December 21st, but it was cloudy that day.  We made a big deal about this with the kids.  We sat at the end of our driveway in the van watching the "star" above our neighbor's house.  In the second picture the moon is on the left of the picture with the star above the point of our neighbor's garage.

The last two days of school were supposed to be in-person learning days for my kids, but with the rise in Covid cases in the area the school moved to full remote learning.  The kids' teacher still tried to make things fun over class Zoom meetings.  Her college-aged son was willing to dress up as Santa and visit the class.  They kids were SO excited and he was a perfect Santa.  Lincoln knew it wasn't the real Santa though because Mrs. Corl and Santa "weren't wearing face masks!"  I thought his reasoning was hilarious.  

Annual Gingerbread House decorating.

I bought gingerbread house kits last year after Christmas 50% off.  It was SO nice to have the kits ready to go this year without having to make the house pieces.  I already bought my discounted kits for next year.  Sometimes I just need to simplify because it makes for better memories.

Eden's house quickly fell over, but she took it in stride. Lincoln's house didn't fit in the above picture so his is pictured below.

Christmas Eve

The morning started with a Monopoly game.  The kids played a lot of Monopoly before Christmas and most of the games ended well without too many tears.  I have no patience for games that take hours of my day, but I'm glad the kids enjoy these games. 

Our annual re-enactment of the Nativity was fraught with fighting over angels, Mary, etc, so the three little ones and Joseph were the only ones willing to participate while I read out of the Bible.  Rebecah did a video recording.  

Mary and Joseph lovingly looking at Baby Jesus.

For Christmas Eve dinner we ate dinner in the family room while we watch The Nativity Story.  A friend told me about this full-length movie depicting the birth of Christ so we watched it.  It was interesting and I enjoyed it. To end our evening the kids opened presents from "Grandma" Bev.  She always puts together fun gift bags for the kids.  She scored a HUGE win with Kimball this year giving him a package of 2020 football cards.  I looked multiple times at multiple stores for football cards for Kimball for Christmas and couldn't find any.  Bev just happened to look at Target and she was there at the right time and found a box of cards for Kimball.  It was probably his favorite gift. 

Christmas

Christmas morning before the kids came downstairs.  

Kimball had a disappointing Christmas not getting exactly what he wanted or thought he would get.  He is finally at that age where he really needs to be consulted on his gifts.  I guess it's a trade off...be surprised but disappointed, or know what you are getting, and be happy.  I would always choose the latter.  Kimball and Joseph made a few returns the day after Christmas and bought other things and then everything was okay. 

The rest of the kids were so happy with all of their gifts.  I did make one "oops" on a coloring book for Annika.  I admit that I can't keep up with all of the coloring books that enter our door and I picked out a coloring book that she had bought with birthday money.  Her facial expression was great.  She looked at me with eyes that said:  "Are you serious or is this a joke?"  I realized I had goofed and asked her if she had that one already.  We just made a return and let her pick out her own coloring book.  Annika LOVES to color and she and Rebecah spend a lot of time coloring out of adult coloring books.  My faux pas was not to be taken lightly!  

I found this Harry Potter 8-disc set a few months ago for a bargain.  Rebecah was SO excited.  She thought owning the movies was only a dream...now it's a dream come true.

Scooters for the little ones.  They have loved riding in the basement!  

Dear, dear Joseph loves cherry pie, but he is the only one.  Annika and Rebecah each had a small piece of the pie, but decided other pies were better.  Since the pie was left for Joseph to eat, he ate it in style!  I actually think he ate that large wedge over the course of a few days, but it makes for a good picture.  At least the crust didn't have a soggy bottom!

We had a quiet New Year's Eve and New Year's day.  Joseph worked both days. We had fun appetizer food for dinner on NYE and we watched Soul.  The only one of us to ring in the New Year awake was Kimball and even he set an alarm to wake up at 11:55 pm.  

We had our first big snowfall the evening of December 28th/29th.  We were supposed to get 1-3 inches of snow and we woke up to a foot.  The kids enjoyed building forts and having snowball fights.  Eden doesn't stay out long so she was my inside buddy.

We received word that our school will continue with remote learning until January 19th.  I'm pretty bummed!  The kids need to be in school and remote learning just isn't the same.  The holidays over the last few months have really caused the Covid cases to rise in our area.