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.  

November

Our November was rather calm and uneventful after a busy October.  We had a mild month and we were able to get outside a few times and Joseph did a few last mountain biking adventures.  We celebrated Thanksgiving expressing gratitude and eating yummy food.  We are all ready for Christmas now and the excitement is already building in our house.

Annika and Annette being silly.

Part of remote learning is participating in the school "specials."  I really don't like having to do music and PE at home because they are boring and take too long, but we always enjoy the art crafts.  We all got involved in the fall tree project and used our creations to decorate for Thanksgiving.  Rebecah later made a picture. 

Kimball got his braces taken off last month and this month it was Rebecah's turn to have them put on!  She was sore for almost 2 weeks, but she is now doing better and being very responsible avoiding certain foods.   Here is a before and after.

Black Friday Bowling

Last year we started a tradition to go bowling on Black Friday.  Joseph had to work this year on Black Friday so we went the next day.  I was a little nervous bowling with the Covid-19 cases surging in our area, but I was really careful.  I wiped down the keypad, all of the balls and I had the kids use hand sanitizer multiple times throughout our outing.  We had a good time and I even won a game!  That's huge for me.  I scored a 125!  I found a ball that went nice and straight so I think I had 1 strike and 5-6 spares.  Kimball didn't like being beaten by his mom!

Complying with the rules to stay seated unless bowling.

Eden Bowling

October

I made my first apple pie.  That really isn't much of an accomplishment, but I don't like cooked apples...at all...so I have never wanted to go to the work to make an apple pie.  I started making Joseph apple crisps a few years ago, and decided this year I would go for the real deal.  It turned out well, but from the reports I received "the crust was the best part."  I can't guarantee I'll make a yearly apple pie, but now I can say I have made one.  And my crust recipe IS really good.  Thanks, Kristin!

We also made applesauce.  The kids really look forward to making applesauce each year so I pulled out the strainer and we got busy.  It's harder to find time for these all day tasks when we spend so much time doing school work!

Kimball got his braces off and he kept commenting on how slimy and smooth his teeth felt.  Thankfully, he is doing really well wearing his retainer.  I told him it should be a habit that lasts his entire life!  Rebecah starts with braces in November so we won't get much of a break, but she is ready for straighter teeth.

For my birthday I really wanted to go hiking.  We have had such beautiful fall colors.  Joseph suggested that we try to visit Letchworth State Park sometime this fall and I suggested we go for my birthday.  I have wanted to visit this park for a few years, but it's 2 hours away so it's an all day adventure.  Letchworth is supposed to be the "Grand Canyon of the East."  It was pretty, but we couldn't really get up close and personal with the waterfalls or gorges.  Joseph and I decided that we like Watkins Glen State Park better and it's closer.  We still had a good day with beautiful weather.  The kids did great with the hiking.  Kimball and I went on an extra hike while everyone else was at the play ground.

This was the view of the extra hike Kimball and I did.

I planned a quick dinner of fajitas because I knew we would be getting home late and I didn't want to eat out--Joseph did offer. I almost always prefer to eat at home over eating out.  For dessert we had French silk pie.  It was delish.  The only time I make this pie is for my birthday.

Eden's birthday was on the 12th and she loves hiking, too.  She is always asking to go hiking.  When we go on walks in the neighborhood it is not unusual for her to run most of the way and we usually go about a mile and a half.  She just loves to walk.  Maybe she takes after her mother.

I decided to take the kids to Green Lakes State park.  This was the original plan for my birthday until we switched to Letchworth.  The weather was a little cooler and overcast, but the day was still nice.  We had a nice walk around the lake and then the kids played on the play ground until they were ready to head home for lunch.

*I know a lot of these hiking pictures are dark, but the sun was always in the wrong position for my pictures.  I should take the time to learn more about lighting and photography, but it isn't a priority right now.  

On all of our hikes we wear masks when we get close to people.  We are "doing our part."

We love our big 4 year old.  She is sweet, snuggly and doesn't like to be left behind!

We had a short break--3 days--and then we celebrated Lincoln's and Annika's 6th birthday.  These two were SO excited for their birthday.  Once birthday week starts, Eden doesn't have to wait too long for her birthday, but those last few days were killer for Lincoln and Annika.

The kids all wanted pizza for their birthday, but Eden chose breakfast pizza and Lincoln and Annika agreed on sausage pizza.  The girls had chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and Lincoln had a cookie cake which he helped to decorate.

Birthday celebration at school.

Lincoln loves Where's Waldo books right now.  Kimball really enjoyed I Spy books at this age.  

Lincoln and Joseph are frequently found searching for different things together.

One of Annika's birthday presents came a few days late.  She was sad at first, but once she saw it and put it together she declared: "It was worth waiting for!" I love her positive attitude!

Part of our remote learning involves the "special" classes like art, PE, music, etc.  I don't really care for these extra classes because they take so much extra time, but we do them.  The art activities have actually been the least bothersome because it forces me to do crafts with the little ones.  Our crafts have fallen by the wayside since I'm so busy with other things.  The kids made bat silhouettes and we added their project to our Halloween decor.

In October I do the birthdays and then tend to forget that Halloween is coming.  Thank goodness Joseph takes over Halloween.  Like with everything else this year, Halloween was different this year, too.  Joseph signed the kids up for a few drive thru trick or treat events.  These events actually went well and the kids got a lot of candy/snacks/toys.  We carved pumpkins, but no one took pictures. 

Lincoln feeling festive.

All dressed up for the drive thru trick or treat.  

Everyone commented on Lincoln's Pharaoh costume.  

On Halloween when it came time for trick or treating, Rebecah and Annika decided they already had enough candy and wanted to stay home.  Kimball is too old to go with his family, but not too old to go beg for candy.  I just took Lincoln and Eden around and we went to the houses we wanted and skipped others when they got cold.  Our community had door to door trick or treating, but suggested guidelines for social distancing like giving plenty of space between other people, giving out bags of candy prepackaged instead of letting kids rummage through a big bowl, etc.  It worked really well and was faster.  A lot of houses just had a table or bowl of bagged candy and we could walk up and take one without having to knock and wait at the door.  We didn't get many trick or treaters so we now have a LOT of candy after 2 drive thru events, a very generous neighbor, a surrogate grandma and our own leftover candy.  The good news is that I won't have to make dessert until Thanksgiving--or later!