A very covid Christmas

Okay, to clarify, no one actually had Covid on Christmas, praise the Lord! But unfortunately, our household saw more quarantine than not in the month of December. On December 8, Mary complained about having "fire swallows ALL DAY" when we picked her up from school. I thought surely it was the beginning of a cold or maybe even strep, but nope - when we gave her a rapid test at home just to be on the safe side and to keep the boys in school - surprise! It was covid. 

After nearly two years of worrying and wondering and avoiding, our five-year-old came home with covid. There was definitely a sense of, "wow, this is happening" when I saw that positive test. We went into a flurry of testing everyone else (all negative), figuring out how to isolate her as much as possible, calling the school nurse, and negotiating work schedules for the next couple of days.

Eddie tested positive two days later, and DJ three days after that. Thankfully, their symptoms were manageable. DJ did lose his sense of smell and discovered it in a rather hilarious way. After petting Chief, he asked me to smell his hand. "Mom, I just petted Chief for like two minutes. I should smell like stinky dog, but I don't!" His hand did indeed smell like stinky dog. So DJ ran around smelling candles and garlic and couldn't. It was much more of a curiosity to him than anything worrisome, and he was relieved to be able to smell again to eat Chick-Fil-A yesterday in honor of MSU at the Peach Bowl.

Grandma Linda sent over some of my dolls for Mary!

Mary's "PCR face"

The quarantine period was a little intense, though. When Nellie and Annie were home everyone wore masks in the house and the covid kids had to stay in the family room. I slept with Mary on the couch for ten nights so she wasn't sharing a room (and germs) with Annie. In all, DJ was quarantined for 15 days and all three kids missed their Christmas parties and chapels and performances. They were very disappointed for a little while, but for the most part they settled in and enjoyed the very extended break. Annie was pretty disappointed that vaccinated siblings didn't have to do remote learning. They did get tired of each other, and may have hit their limit on screen time. 

Watching the kindergarten program on Zoom

Thanks Grandma for the Flour Child decorate-at-home cookies!

For Kevin and me, the logistics were complicated, of course. I tried to minimize my time at school, which meant a lot of driving back and forth and teaching remotely. I found that teaching remotely to high schoolers in school while the three youngest kids are learning remotely and the rest of their classes are at school right before Christmas is the most challenging combination I've experienced yet! Oh yeah, and I fell and tore my meniscus the second week and had to try to take care of that. BUT - it was also nice to spend more time at home. We listened to a lot of Christmas music, watched a lot of Christmas movies, and generally enjoyed lots of quiet Christmas break days leading up to Christmas. We owe a debt of gratitude to our gracious coworkers, especially my amazing office-mate Katherine who managed my class while I taught from home.

And by some Christmas and Pfizer/Moderna miracle, the rest of us stayed covid-free! DJ was out of quarantine on Christmas Eve and we were able to host visitors and go to family parties! So the timing, while difficult, was also graciously perfect for celebrating Christmas. 

DJ, age 10

This one snuck up on me - it's hard to believe DJ is already 10. So grown up! He's still super into sports (as you'll read all about!) and loves to read. He has a contagious laugh and wishes sometimes that he had an older brother to play football with. He can't get us to play catch with him quite as much as he'd like! This year, DJ has turned into a night owl and tries to stay up as late as he can get away with watching football with Kevin or reading in bed. (He's sitting next to me arguing that it just naturally happens.) 

We have a lot to be thankful for - DJ is happy and healthy and has a wonderful teacher and great friends at school. We love him so much and can't wait to see what the next year holds!

What was your favorite memory from the last year?
I really liked March Madness. It seemed like there were a lot of teams that weren't usually in the tournament. And I just like watching basketball; it's a fast-paced sport.

What is one way God's been working in your life this year?

Getting covid. He protected me from getting super severely sick. I could still get out of bed and play basketball.

How do you feel about being ten?  

I feel like this year went by faster than expected. [Double digits! What do you think about when being 10?] It's cool, I finally get to be 3 years older than Eddie again.

What are you most looking forward to in the next year?
Baseball season - to play and watch.

What new things or skills are you learning?
I'm learning how to do like tricks in video games and stuff. Like combos in Mario Tennis. I can dribble two balls at once with my eyes closed in basketball. I don't want to write about writing, because I don't like writing. [Okay, how about other subjects?] I like math. I've learned long division and triple-digit multiplication.

Who are your best friends?

Wesley, Ira, Brendan, Otto, Colin, Collin...

What kinds of things are you good at?

Basketball, soccer, math, baseball, ignoring my siblings, flag football, at recess when people get mad and leave the game, I'm good at talking to them and getting them to come back in the game.

What careers are you considering?

Paleontology, forestry, eye doctor.

Why are you interested in those things?

If I was a paleontologist I'd like finding new things. Forestry I think it would be cool to take a walk in the woods and know what all the plants and trees are and write notes about it. I'm not good at writing reports and stories. I can't come up with good ideas to write about.

What’s your favorite song?   

Help by the Beatles or Mr. Blue Sky from Guardians of the Galaxy.

What's your favorite food?

Chicken pot pie and those carrot things. [Sliced carrots with cinnamon. :)]

Favorite movie? Or just a movie you like. 
The Sandlot.

Favorite book you've read this year?   

The Unflushables, Who Was books, The Hobbit, and Holes.

Favorite color?   
Light green.

Favorite place to be?

In my bed. I'm joking. The basement; it's fun.

What are your favorite things to do?

Watch sports. Play sports. Play video game sports. I like reading. I like doing Legos.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you as a ten-year-old?   

No (laughing).

Christmas 2021

 After last year's Christmas of being careful - everything over Zoom and/or masked - it was so nice to be together with family this year! It was still different, with regular covid testing (especially with us JUST being out of quarantine) and no big parties. We really missed seeing some of our out-of-town family but enjoyed each moment with those we did get to see! We had to hold on until Christmas Eve when everyone was clear and covid-free, but we hosted Lisa, Sarah and Alex's family, and my dad on Christmas, which apparently I have NO photos of (the waffle party is always a bit of a whirlwind!) then the Stepeks hosted the first party at their new house the next day.

Super hero girls

Mom and siblings

Cousin picture! DJ was intentionally covering up Eddie because he'd taken off his "nice" shirt.

How many people fit on Erin and Steve's couch?

Rare family photo

I'm sitting with Eddie and Mary Cate (and Lafayette, who loves the new electric throw blanket) right now as they practice blowing bubbles with Kevin's Christmas bubble gum. I asked about their favorite things about Christmas this year. Eddie said time with cousins and Mary said guessing at what her presents were. I agree with Eddie that family time was great, and with Mary that gift-giving was fun this year. A highlight was getting a toaster oven/air fryer from Kevin Christmas morning. When he commented that I didn't seem all that excited, I had to reveal that it was only because I had gotten him a toaster oven/air fryer for his birthday and I was trying to figure out what to do! We really did need a new one. :) The girls knew about it the whole time and didn't reveal anything. Another favorite this Christmas were all the thoughtful gifts from the girls that they bought or made completely independently. Mary followed their lead and the results were delightful.

Kevin's record from Annie

Comic bookmark from Nellie about "Piece of the Earth"

Mary made me my favorite snack - a Cheez-it! - out of popsicle sticks

Mary's book for Annie, in which she wrote the whole Christmas story

All in all, Christmas was a little quieter than usual, but all the opportunities to visit with family felt especially precious. We ate lots of amazing food, including french dip subs courtesy of Nellie's successful hunting this year, Swedish meatballs, brussel sprouts, and LOTS of cookies and ice cream pie. We were able to enjoy the Christmas Eve service remotely (again) and experience Christmas anew through the eyes of the little ones. The not-so-little ones are getting older - it's a continued shift to gifts of clothes and electronics instead of dolls and Legos. But Christmas is still a little magical and a lot of fun. Here's the photo evidence:

The girls got to make cookies with Grandma while the others were quarantined!

Mom and I agree that they are very helpful bakers - they've surpassed our skills!

Gingerbread is an all-day labor of love...but we do love it.

Sisterly peace

The big gift

The best moment - waiting to be called down on Christmas morning!

Tried for the classic tree picture. Here they are yelling "ho ho ho!"

The family room post-present hurricane

They like it.

Helping with Legos

It wasn't a white Christmas but the snow came soon after!

A different sort of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was a bit bittersweet this year. Kevin left for deer hunting on December 12, but before he could get a deer, he got covid. Although it was a hard decision, it made the most sense for him to quarantine with my dad which meant his four-day trip turned into fifteen days away. The kids and I were happy to have a much-needed break and spend Thanksgiving with Pam as planned, but it was sad (to say the least) not to be together! In spite of the circumstances, we know we have a lot to be thankful for - not the least of which is that Kevin and my dad are recovering well, Kevin is HOME, and we did have a lovely time away.

Artwork by Eddie and Mary Cate

Happy to be at Pam's house for the holiday!

We are thankful for Zoom and the opportunity to share a fun dinner with Kevin from Pam's house

Annie makes delicious pie!

Winter sunrises are a blessing

We "opted outside" on Black Friday for a hike with Erin and Steve and their kids 

The happiest reunion!

We had an unanticipated 3 inches of snow Saturday night - meet Snowy the Snowman.

Fall 2021

Well, hello. I've been a slow writer this fall. After a reprieve from almost all activity in 2020, everything picked right up this fall with the added layer of Nellie starting high school. That meant our nights and weekends were filled with football games, cross country meets, musical rehearsals and performances, soccer (x2), and flute and piano lessons. Never before has managing schedules been such an event in itself. Our weekly family meetings were a flurry of logistics planning.

Normally, my favorite fall pastime that gets me through are slow weekend mornings reading and working and watching football by the fire. That was a thing of the past this year - weekends were full of activity. I'm finding th

at at this stage of my life, I've really needed to coach myself into a new way of thinking about kids' stuff. I need to convince myself that watching soccer and going to concerts and driving kids around town is super fun and relaxing and there's nothing I'd rather be doing. I'll sit at soccer games and tell myself, "This is so fun. Isn't it great to be outside, sitting in this cozy camp chair with Kevin and without any responsibility other than yelling, 'good job, honey!' every now and then?"

Which has worked, sort of. I don't want to sound like I'm just complaining about parenting. I mean, I am the one who signs the kids up or lets them commit to all their things. But also, I really am proud of them for being "tryers." I was definitely not that way at their age. Where they are willing to jump into new activities, I was always keenly aware of whether or not I would be naturally good at something and if not, I wouldn't dream of signing up. The kids are making friends and learning skills and it really is amazing to watch them work wholeheartedly and then enjoy the outcome. If it means spending every last minute navigating schedules and driving around, I suppose it's worth it. But as the calendar turned to November and we started slowly wrapping up each activity, it was delightful to find some space in our lives again.

Here's a collection of fall fun that wasn't related to sports or music!

We spent a weekend up north with mom at the end of the summer - the girls' birthday present was ziplining - we survived!

MY favorite thing - coffee!

After a long break, we are so happy Sandy is back!

We took a fun fall camping trip and spent most of our time mushroom hunting and sitting by the fire

Camp momming so hard

At the pumpkin patch - why is Eddie wearing shorts?!

We went to Gull Meadows to celebrate Pam's 70th!

Happy birthday, Pam!

Pumpkin carving

My little baristas

The littles have picked up chess, which is super cute. I have no idea if they really know all the rules.

We had a long weekend in early November and we spent our day picking out books and drinking coffee. Oh yeah, DJ drinks coffee now.

I don't even know where this is...last soccer game maybe?

Trying to be good at the eye doctor

Bonfire with Erin and Steve

Annie and I ran the Woldumar 5K and most of our families came out to run or walk! They are amazing...Xander and Annie took 1st in their age group and Otto was close behind!