Christmas Letter

I always archive our Christmas letter here.  So here it is...

I read a quote recently that said, “This is not the year to get everything you want.  This is the year to appreciate everything you have.”  This is so true.  Although we have not personally faced some of the same struggles or losses that many have, we have still experienced our share of 2020 disappointments.  But in each disappointment, we were able to find a silver lining and appreciate this year we have been given.

Disappointment:  We experienced sadness during our spring quarantine and beyond about the abrupt end to sports seasons, missed end of the school year festivities, decreased social opportunities, and cancelled activities. 
The silver lining:  We did not miss out on any milestone or once-in-a-lifetime activities.  Thank goodness that 2020 was NOT my year to finally qualify for the summer Olympics. (Stay tuned for news about 2024!)
 
Disappointment:  Zach has been working from home since March.  He misses the socialization of seeing friends and co-workers and gets a little stir-crazy spending hours on end in the basement by himself every day.
The silver lining:  Zach still enjoys his current job, department, and boss at State Farm.  His commute is WAY shorter, he is able to provide a mostly adequate amount of child supervision on the two days that I work at the Children’s Hospital each week, and the cats love having company in the basement every day.
 
Disappointment:  Many summer activities and events that we generally enjoy were cancelled or closed this year. 
The silver lining:  Staley still got to attend church camp, the kids got to take swim lessons, the girls’ theater group was able to resume, and we soon realized that a blow up pool on the deck can provide hours of entertainment. 
 
Disappointment:  We love to travel, but this year kept our travel options fairly limited.
The silver lining:  We were still able to enjoy two separate trips to the beach in Michigan, as well as our first ever National Park trip with the kids to the Smokey Mountains. 
 
Disappointment:  Masks and social distancing means that the school year looks different than in years past.
The silver lining:  My kids are so blessed to have made it the entire semester going to school full-time in person.  They have received much needed socialization and academic instruction, as well as a much needed break (for all of us) from home and each other.  And with them being in Kindergarten, 2^nd, and 4^th grade, we get the added benefit of having all 3 of them in the same school for the first (and only) time.
 
Disappointment:  We have reduced our extra-curricular activities and limited our social calendar.
The silver lining:  We have had LOTS of family time to introduce our kids to new things like new games (hello, Monopoly!), new hobbies (hiking, anyone?), new family endeavors (a garden?  Sure.), and new experiences (backyard camping?  You bet!)  Zach and I have also had plenty of time for running (a mental health necessity this year), and the kids have been able to explore new activities like the school news team (Staley), piano lessons (Adelie), and joining the girls in their theater group (Briggs).
 
Disappointment:  The Chicago Bears
The silver lining:  Ummmm….
 
This was not the year any of us planned.  Just like everyone else, we had our share of disappointments.  But in the midst of the disappointments, we can focus on God’s continued blessings.  We are healthy.  We have stable jobs, our kids are in school, we’ve been able to slow down and enjoy an abundance of family time, and we have wonderful family and friends that, even when we can’t be physically together, are still an important part of our lives.  (That’s you.  J)  2020 may not be the year we all wanted it to be, but there is always a silver lining.  It’s almost over!
 
Until then, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, pandemic free 2021.  Here’s hoping.
 
Love,
 
Ellen, Zach, Staley (9), Adelie (7), and Briggs (5)

Christmas

With so much time this season to count down to Christmas, my kids were more than ready for the big day to arrive.  We told them that they could not wake us up before 7:00, so they were all in our room at 7:01.  We read the Christmas story together and then headed downstairs to open gifts.

Getting a Christmas picture before starting to open gifts gets easier every year.  (I love how all 3 kids have their special stuffed animals in the picture this year.)

Stockings are obviously super exciting.  These are the excited faces of my kids when they discovered their new toothbrushes.  Yes.  Toothbrushes.  #easytoplease

My very favorite thing is how the kids all make gifts for each other.  This year, Staley wrote a book called 'Mermaid Diaries' for Adelie and a book called 'With Your Mad' for Briggs.  Briggs' book was actually a great book about tricks and tips to help him calm down when he is mad, and then Adelie and Staley made him some homemade squishies and water bottle toys to use for calming.  It was very sweet...and hopefully will give Briggs some more tools to use to help with his temper.

Adelie made this little Hedwig owl from a washcloth for Staley.  She also got Briggs a little car from the Caring Coupon Store at school.

Briggs made a book for Adelie with pictures of diggers, cranes, and dump trucks that he painted for her.  He made Staley a paper airplane.

The kids were all excited about their gifts from us.  They all got a craft project, and then Briggs got a scooter and this Lego set.

Adelie got a Wellie Wisher doll and a Garmin watch that measures her steps and activities.

Staley got a new bike and some wigs for dress up and plays.

We spent the rest of the day and the next few days trying out all our new stuff.  There were Legos to build...

crafts to do...

wigs to wear...

scooters to ride...

bikes to try out...

binoculars to put to use...

new games to play...

and new pajamas to wear.  Adelie also spent lots of time running circles around the house and then updating us on the number of steps she had taken and the number of activity minutes she had.

We still have one more Christmas gathering left to enjoy, but our family Christmas this year was just like our family...a little goofy, a little crazy, a little loud, and lots of fun!

Twas the Week Before Christmas

The week leading up to Christmas is usually busy and full of final preparations, family gatherings, and last minute shopping.  This year, however, was quite the opposite.  The kids had the entire week off school.  When my running partner tested positive for COVID after we had run together, I found myself quarantining at home with my family.  Although the hospital policy allows you to work as long as you are asymptomatic, I chose to take my 2 days off work that week to err on the side of caution.  So our week leading up to Christmas was spent together...at home...much like the rest of our 2020.  It was a nice way to ease into our Christmas and we found some fun activities to fill our time.

Although I didn't get to wear my festive work shirt the week of Christmas, I did get to put it to use the week before.

We filled our days at home with play time, finishing up homemade Christmas gifts, doing Christmas cards, cleaning, and baking.  Here Adelie is acting out the Christmas story with our nativity set while Fuzzington watches.

We filled our evenings with family games, Christmas treats, and Christmas movies.

We enjoyed driving over to watch the Christmas light display at the Barn 3 one evening.  My kids love Christmas light displays and we found some new ones to add to our repertoire this Christmas season.

We made sugar cookies and gingerbread men.

And then the kids spent a long time decorating all the cookies we made.  We also made bread that the kids delivered to some neighbors and friends.

The kids wanted to sleep in a tent in the girls' room one night.  Although all 3 of them started the night in the tent, only the littlest made it until morning.  Staley woke up around 11:00 and went to sleep in Briggs' bed.  Adelie then woke up around 1:00 and ended up sleeping in Staley's bed.  Thankfully Briggs made it all night in the tent since we were out of beds as we had to move Adelie's bed to put up the tent.

And since Uma and Papa recently recovered from Covid, they were comfortable having us over for a little family time on Christmas Eve.

We enjoyed brunch, lots of family games, visiting, and play time.

We have sorely missed spending quality time with our families, so this was such a wonderful day to be together with Uma and Papa again.

My positive exposure made us rethink getting together with my family.  Instead of being together in person, we instead spent time virtually on Zoom to open gifts.  It was not typical.  It was not ideal.  But it was still Christmas with the family and we made it work.  The kids still loved seeing their cousins and got fun new things like binoculars, new pajamas, Lego sets, games, bug catchers, books, jewelry, craft supplies, Hatchimals, and clothes.

Instead of rushing into Christmas full-steam ahead, we had a week of ample time at home to ease in without any stress or pressure.  We enjoyed family time, had plenty of time to get all our preparations done, and were all ready to enjoy the big day when it arrived.

Question of the Day

We are trying to teach our kids more responsibility and self-reliance.  Since making themselves simple meals is well within my children's capabilities, we have now made it their responsibility to prepare their own school lunches.  If they choose to be cold lunch, they then are in charge of making their own lunch the night before (according to health guidelines spelled out by their mother).  So the question is:

Should I be proud that my kids have taken on the responsibility of making their own lunches?  Or should I be disappointed that the act of making their lunches has revealed a complete inability to clean up after themselves?

Take note of the open peanut butter, jelly, graham crackers, bread, cheese, and mustard spread across the counter.  Don't miss the lid to the jelly jar face down on the kitchen floor, the dirty knives on the counter, or Briggs' actual sandwich that didn't even make it into his lunch box.

Lunches made?  Check!

Now it's time to move on to step 2 in this 'learning-to-be-responsible' lesson.

Virtually Christmas

Most years, December is one of the busiest months of the year.  Amidst the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas, there are a plethora of Christmas programs, Christmas concerts, Christmas performances, and Christmas plays.  And although the kids' Aladdin, Jr. play that was scheduled for this past week-end has been postponed until they can have a live audience, most of the usual programs continued on in a virtual platform.  I do find joy watching my kids in all their programs, but I definitely enjoyed being able to do that in my comfy clothes on the couch.

The school Christmas concert is one that I did NOT miss attending in person.  It is always ridiculously crowded, hot, chaotic, and difficult to even see my kids.  Watching them at home on screen was a way more pleasant experience.

Each of the grades just sang 2 songs with 4th grade singing 3.

The camera got lots of wide angled shots, but also panned the children for up-close views of the kids.  They never got a great up-close view of Adelie, but they were able to get a few close-ups of Briggs.

Staley was front and center, so there were plenty of good views of her during the program.

We have not been attending our church throughout this fall/winter, but the kids were able to still be part of the church Christmas program by submitting a video of Staley and Adelie reading Bible verses that were included during the hybrid in person/virtual Christmas program this year.  I think it helped them to watch the program and realize that we are not the only family choosing not to attend church in person at this time.

The girls also got to perform in the NTA Christmas Cabaret with their Broadway Dance class.  Although this is generally a fun in-person performance, the pre-recorded virtual fundraiser worked well and was really fun to watch.  We especially liked that we could pause and rewind and watch the girls' dance several different times.

We have enjoyed our more relaxing, laid back Christmas season.  And although the Christmas programs this year were not typical, there was definitely something pleasant about watching them on our own time, in our own home, as a family.  No crowds.  No time crunch.  No having to change out of my comfy pants.  The kids still got to be a part of their Christmas programs while we got to enjoy the programs in our own way.  In some ways, I wouldn't mind keeping it this way every single year.

He Says...

Aunt Melissa was texting the other day, asking a few questions about some of Briggs' favorite things.  First she texted to ask what his favorite animal is.  When I relayed the question to him, he replied, "Baby chicks and giraffes and all the animals, even unicorns."  When I asked him to choose his most favorite, he responded, "The prettiest unicorn in the whole entire world." 

Aunt Melissa then asked about his favorite movie or TV show.  He said, "Probably Thomas, but I have lots of favorites.  Like a thousand."  

I'm assuming for Christmas, Aunt Melissa will be getting Briggs the prettiest unicorn in the whole entire world and a thousand different movies and TV shows.  Fingers crossed!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

In the midst of a global pandemic, there are plenty of dark points.  But when things are dark, it just makes those bright spots that much more hope-filled and uplifting.  With Christmas less than 2 weeks away, we have been filling our early December days with the hope and light of the Christmas season.  We have stocked up on Christmas books from the library, enjoyed Christmas movies on family movie night, worked hard on making Christmas gifts for others, played for hours with the Christmas train, and rejoiced in the fact that one of our favorite Christmas time activities (driving around to look at Christmas lights) is perfectly suited for pandemic life.

We went on the day after Thanksgiving to pick out our tree.  There is nothing like the smell of a fresh evergreen tree to make the house feel full of Christmas cheer.

The kids were very helpful in getting the tree and the house decorated for Christmas.  

We've enjoyed some Christmas "recitals" of Christmas songs on the piano.

We have also had recitals of non-Christmas songs by the newbie who hasn't quite advanced to playing Christmas songs yet.

There have been dress up days and festive activities at school...

filming of various Christmas programs for virtual viewing...

and the purchase of a new train Christmas decoration that has been the highlight of the season for one certain member of the household.

In the midst of dark times, I am so thankful for the light and the hope that the Christmas season brings.

Question of the Day?

Zach got a handwritten thank you note from Fleet Feet with a $25 gift card to thank him for "all his support" over the past several years.  So the question is:  What is the dollar amount that a person has to spend at a given store in order to end up on the short list of handwritten thank you notes?  And how concerned should I be that my husband has now officially made that list? 

Sleep Walking

We have experienced some of the childhood sleep issues that many parents face.  We have had infants who didn't sleep well at night.  We have had nap-time issues.  We have had kids that had difficulty falling asleep at night.  We've had night waking.  We've had night terrors.  Now we can add another sleep-time issue to our list.  We now have a sleep walker.

Over the past 2 months or so, Briggs has started sleep walking.  Thankfully this usually occurs about an hour or two after he falls asleep when Zach and I are still typically awake.  It does not happen every night, but has been about once or twice a week.  Briggs has wandered downstairs one time.  He fell partly down the stairs another time, as the thump alerted me that someone was up and I found him curled up on the landing of the stairs.  He has wandered into our room a few times. Once he walked into the girls' room, curled up on the end of Adelie's bed, and went to sleep.  Once he walked into our room, curled up on the floor, and went to sleep.  The other night I had just checked on the kids before getting myself ready for bed.  Everyone was sleeping soundly.  I went into the bathroom to use the restroom and brush my teeth.  Upon coming out, I realized that the light was on in Briggs' room.  I went into his room and Briggs was standing in the middle of his room, putting on another pajama shirt over his current pajamas.  I asked him what he was doing.  He replied in an exasperated tone, "I'm doing THIS."  I helped him take off the second shirt and walked him back to bed.  As he was climbing into bed, he murmured, "This is boring.  This is boring."  And then he fell back asleep.  Briggs never remembers these excursions in the morning.

There is a little concern over this new phase of sleep-time issues.  I worry that Briggs will fall down the stairs or walk into something or wander somewhere in the house without us realizing it.  I am thankful for our home alarm system that should alert us if Briggs goes downstairs after we are in bed or if he opens a door.  If Briggs indeed thinks sleep walking is boring, maybe this will just be a short-lived phase.  Here's hoping. 

He Says...

Last night at dinner, I told the kids that hot lunch at school for today was going to be quesadillas.  Adelie quickly informed me that she was going to be cold lunch, while Staley decided she wanted to be hot lunch.  As this was Briggs' first opportunity to make this decision, he went with Adelie's advice and determined that he, too, would be cold lunch for today.  I said, "Are you sure you want to be cold lunch?  You like quesadillas and Staley thinks the school quesadillas are good."  To which Briggs replied, "I don't trust Staley."

When it comes to school lunch decisions, I guess you have to be certain about whose opinion you trust.  Apparently Staley doesn't make Briggs' list.

Full Day

Briggs started off his Kindergarten journey as a half-day Kindergartener.  With the uncertainty of everything going into this school year coupled with some of Briggs' difficulties at home with emotional regulation, we felt that half-day Kindergarten was a nice option to bridge the difference between preschool and full day grade school.  We thought that, if things were going well at school, we might change him to full day for the second half of the year.  

That transition came a touch sooner than we had anticipated.  Briggs had a student teacher whose last day was the Friday before Thanksgiving week.  She was having a pizza party over lunch for her class and Briggs wanted to stay for the party.  We just had him stay for the rest of the school day and picked him up after school with his sisters.  As soon as he came out of the door from school that day, he said, "I want to be full day all the time!"  We said that maybe we could start that after Christmas, to which he replied, "No!  I want to start tomorrow."  Since tomorrow in that scenario happened to be Saturday and the following week was only two days long before Thanksgiving break, we checked with his teacher and school and made the determination to start after Thanksgiving break...which was today.

Briggs was so excited to get out his new lunch box and pack his lunch for his first official day of full day Kindergarten.  He is excited about getting to do music and computer lab and all the afternoon "specials" that he has missed for the first half of the year.  Although I will miss having that hour and a half of Briggs time each day, I know he is ready for this transition.  And honestly, now that the weather is getting colder, having one less walk to and from the school each day won't be all bad.  I think both Briggs and I needed these first 3 months of half-day Kindergarten to ease us into this transition to school...

...and at least one of us is ready to move on to the next phase.

Full day Kindergarten, here he comes!!

Truth

Chutes and ladders might just be my least favorite family game.  There is no decision making, the game board is confusing and chaotic, and the game goes on forever.  My favorite part of the game is when it is over.

#nevermychoice
#usuallytrytotalkthemoutofit

#somanybetteroptions

Good-Bye, November

Most months I have an accumulation of pictures of all the things we've done, places we've gone, people we've seen.  My end of the month posts lately just give a glimpse of what life looks like for us right now.  Not a lot of places to go.  Not a lot of people to see.  And the things we've done...well, they might not seem overly exciting, but they are filling our days and keeping things fun around here.

Zach has this forever-long strategy war game called Axis and Allies.  I've never had the patience to play it with him.  With nothing but time these days, Zach talked Staley into learning how to play.  They have put in a few sessions of play.  They are about 5 hours in...and still going.

We've filled our days with lots of play time.  Sometimes it is Barbies and dolls and figurines and trains and Magna Tiles.  And sometimes it is riding down the stairs in laundry baskets or bumper ghosts (which is where the kids put blankets over their heads and walk around bumping into each other.)  No matter the game, I'm glad that my kids always seem to find ways to amuse themselves.

Reading and doing crafts fills a good number of the hours of our days at home.

We play lots of family games.  And sometimes when the 5 year old gets tired of Monopoly, his game morphs into entertaining himself with all the houses and hotels and game pieces while the rest of us continue to play.

Briggs and Adelie decided they wanted to have a sleepover in Briggs' room over Thanksgiving break.  They spent a long time setting up their beds, playing sleepover games, and reading books together.  Once the lights were out, however, the sleepover portion quickly lost appeal and they decided they just wanted to sleep in their own beds.

We had 2 cousin birthdays to celebrate in November.  Although there were no parties or festivities, we stopped over to give Lucy her presents and enjoyed a little outside play time one week and then did the same thing with Elliott the next week.  The kids loved having the opportunity to be together with their cousins.

Cuddling on the couch for family movie night is something the whole family looks forward to.

Although our weeks and months look different than past years, there is beauty to be found in the every day.  And whether that beauty is a snuggly movie on the couch or the giggles of kids playing with a laundry basket or the surprise of a rainbow after a storm, it is there.  It is up to us to find it.