A YouTube December

Our neighbor gave Charlie a bed that she had bought for her dog, but turned out to be too small.  Charlie loves it and snuggles in it every single night.  He used to spend his winter nights in a basket that we lined with blankets in the upstairs of our garage, but he has gotten so chubby, he no longer fits in it.  He really packs on the pounds each winter, and eats nonstop.  I know what we feed him, and at least what one other neighbor feeds him, and I have to wonder if any other neighbors I haven't met feed him as well.  My brother is currently working on a tracking device for Charlie, but it is not working in the cold, so it's back to the drawing board for it.  I am looking forward to seeing exactly where Charlie goes.

We celebrated St. Nick's day at the beginning of the month, and the girls left their letters for santa in their shoes and woke up to find some oranges, chocolate and a Lego advent calendar.  A few days later, Violet panicked and realized she forgot to mention a key item on her wish list, and so I hand delivered a letter from Violet to the special Santa Express Mailbox in our town.  We just made the deadline!

Homeschool in December is always a tricky thing, and every year I contemplate just taking the entire month off.  But I never do as the alternative is more school in the summer and who wants that?  We read a book about a girl Eagle Hunter in Mongolia and watched the movie, and I swear it was the most amazing learning we experienced as a family so far this entire school year.  I had some laughs when I was checking one of my kid's writing homework this past month - and in case you can't read it in the photo below, here were the creative writing prompts and their answers:

Book:  If I saw a dinosaur peeking around the corner, I'd say...

Daughter: Dad, are you in that costume?

Book:  Type of Food

Daughter: Green Beans

Book: What did it look like?

Daughter: It looked like jelly beans in a pod

Book:  How did you feel before you tasted it?

Daughter: I did not want it.

Book: Why did you taste it?

Daughter: Because if I didn't I would get constipaede (constipated)

Book: How did it taste?

Daughter: Like beans in leather

Book: How did you feel about the food after you tasted it?

Daughter: I felt like I had to go poop

Book: What did you say?

Daughter: (in squeaky voice) "thank you for dinner"

I can imagine that reading homework like this is one of the highlights of being a teacher of a roomful of kids.

We did lots of cooking this past month, and also some clean up and repairs.  In clockwise order from top left below: making apple crisp, a dessert Lucy invented, Emma flipping pancakes, a scary face that greeted me when I came in the kitchen to see if my squash was done roasting, Will repairing our old, but still fixable washer (thanks to YouTube), me trying not to cry because two days worth of breakfast in a 9x13 glass dish fell out of my freezer and shattered everywhere (I wasn't as sad about the mess as the fact that Liz of the past had gone through the trouble of making two mornings worth of breakfast for a busy Liz of the future and now it was all for nothing), and finally, one of my favorite parts of winter, homemade soup and in this case, chicken noodle with fresh parsley.

We celebrated the winter solstice, and the fact that the days would be getting lighter from here on out with a bonfire in the backyard.  The kids insisted on s'mores, and I realized that s'mores with all of the winter accessories of scarves, gloves, hats, coats, etc. is a lot more work than s'mores in the summer.  Needless to say, there was a lot of laundry after our bonfire, and despite the kids begging, I have not been convinced to do another bonfire with s'mores since.

Our adventures away from home were limited this past month due to COVID.  Our town did have a walking storybook of the Polar Express which we enjoyed doing, with a map and each destination having a page of the book posted in their window and a little treat for the kids.  We also took an emergency trip to the eye doctor for Lucy, as she started having vision problems and the eye doctor wanted to see her right away.  Due to COVID, we have no sitter, and the eye doctor is about forty minutes from our house, right by Will's work, so I loaded up all the kids and met Will at the optometrist on his lunch break.  He took Lucy in, while I did school with the kids in the car.  Let's just say that two hours later, I was ready to sign up for a silent retreat at the closest monastery.  And, the snacks that I had Lucy pack as we hastily loaded up the car were no where to be found, so I had no bribery for Opal to get through those two hours at lunch time.  Even I was pretty hungry by the time Lucy emerged from the appointment.  Imagine our disbelief when Lucy told us that she had in fact packed the snacks and pulled them out of a random bag we didn't see the last two hours we were sitting there.  At least the ride home had food!  In clockwise order below: the kids and Will pausing for a photo on our Polar Express story walk, Violet doing school in the front seat while waiting for Lucy's appointment, Emma and Opal taking a turn in the front seat as we wait, and finally, Violet, giving me a neck massage with a vibrating baby toy she found under one of the seats.  Fun times. The good news though, was that Lucy's eye sight is fine and is fixable with a new prescription and some more vision therapy.

We did lots of Christmas crafts this past month....

And made some fun Christmas gifts.  I sewed Opal and my god daughter aprons and play pies.  Lucy helped me sew the felt fruit to go in the pies.  Lucy and I made fire starters with dryer lint, empty toilet paper tubes and beautiful illustrations from a damaged book.  I think they turned out quite lovely, considering it was making something from what would have otherwise been garbage.

We made beaded ornaments for Luke's grave blanket...

And made sock snowman kits for our friends and cousins, and dropped them off on their porches.  Lucy made a YouTube video of how to make the snowman, and it was the closest thing we had of interacting with our friends and cousins during a pandemic when it is too cold to visit outside.  Little did we know that our friends had made us sock gnomes for our Christmas presents!

We celebrated Christmas outdoors with our families.  It was cooooollld.  But memories were made for sure.  Here we are below, celebrating a few days before Christmas with my family in my parents open garage.

My brother finally recovered from a rough bout of COVID this past month, and came to my house to drop off all of the dishes we had given him while he was sick.  I'll be completely honest and he knows this too, but since he couldn't taste anything, I unloaded freezer burned items from my deep freezer on him.  Don't worry, we made him plenty of other things including several varieties of homemade cookies when he regained his taste but was still sick.  We had to laugh when he dropped off the dishes as he almost hit his head on our porch light.  Will went to stand under the porch light for a height comparison.  Will jokes that he always thought he was tall until he met my family.  I also had an unexpected full time job for about a week, trying to get my sister and her partner's Christmas presents to them in time for Christmas in the UK without having to remortgage our house or be listed as a terrorist.  We finally found a way to do it, only to then be red-flagged because one of the gifts was a meat cleaver.  Once the meat cleaver was wrapped to their specifications, the next red flag was the neck heating pack filled with cherry pits that I had made for my sister.  In fact, the cherry pits were a bigger problem than the weapon-like kitchen tool!  Who would have thought!  Once we moved past the cherry pits and they were satisfied that we wouldn't be importing illegal fruit, they moved on to the milkweed pod ornament the kids had made for them - worried that we would be importing some kind of hazardous mildew.  FedEx demanded that we hand the package to the pickup driver (to make sure we were legit I guess?) and I took a photo of the the truck carrying away the package.  With all of the delays in shipping due to COVID, I didn't hold my breath on the two day shipping guarantee that they gave us. Imagine my surprise, relief and joy when my sister text me that they received the package two days later!  Wonder of wonders!!  Finally, in the bottom, left hand photo below, we took a walk with my parents in an effort to stay warm during our outdoor Christmas party with them.  Would you believe it started sleeting on our walk and so we returned home wet, and colder than when we had started.  But memories were made, and it sure beat risking COVID or not seeing them at all.

Several days later, we were finally warmed back up and we celebrated a garage Christmas Eve with Will's family.  The day was colder than it had been with my parents, but at least there was no sleet this time.  Will's brother and his partner were up from Cincinnati, and they brought their dog Steve too.  It was a great afternoon and again, memories were made for sure.  Here's to hoping Christmas 2021 will be safe to spend indoors!  But, with all the Christmas's we've had and hope to be blessed with in our life, I guarantee we will never forget Christmas of 2020.

Here we are below with Will's family.  Later that week my brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews dropped off on our porch a homemade cookie decorating kit for my kid's Christmas present, which I thought was a great way to give the kids a fun experience without cluttering up my house.  The cookies were delicious!  Despite COVID, there are still ways to show your family that you love them and I love the creativity that our friends and family used to show their love for us in this season.

My brother and sister-in-law who live in Florida, who we have not seen now in over a year due to the pandemic, shipped some awesome snow toys to our kids for Christmas.  Snowball makers, inflatable sleds and a super cool beginner's snowboard were amazing gifts to get through COVID winter - especially since sleds became as valuable as toilet paper in the weeks after Christmas, and were priced to reflect their demand as well.  Just like backyard pools and sidewalk chalk in summer, I wish I had anticipated the sled shortage as I could have had a nice little side business going.  Or at least bought stock in it!

We came home from our outdoor celebrations with Will's family and launched into our Christmas eve traditions.  It didn't feel quite like usual, without going to Christmas Eve mass, however we made the best of it and I did enjoy the non-rushed and comfortableness of staying in flannel pajamas, cuddling on the couch with Christmas books with the girls, and leaving out milk and cookies for Santa.  The girls, Will and I also put out our gifts for each other, and it was amazing how they filled up the space under the tree before Santa even got a chance to come.

Christmas morning was a relaxed affair, since we had no place to go later that day.  The only other times we have spent Christmas day at home was with sick kids, so it was nice to all be healthy and to just bask in the relaxation of the day.

Relaxation with a mix of chaos, but it was all happy chaos.

The kids got what they had hoped for with some great surprises thrown in there too.

Emma was having a hard time coming up with what to get her family for Christmas this year, so Emma and I came up with a gift together - "real" blue light blocking glasses to replace our current orange safety glasses that I require the kids to wear when they are on technology.

The glasses were a hit, and Emma and I felt accomplished.

Lucy got the entire season of I Love Lucy and half of the Harry Potter books, Emma got the other half of the Harry Potter series as well as a Hermione Granger outfit for her American Girl doll, Violet got a make-up and hair-styling doll head and a doll that pees complete with it's own little potty, and Opal got her wish, chocolate, along with her own American Girl doll from her sisters (refurbished from eBay so they could afford it).

We have so many Legos, but there is nothing to compare to the silence and peace that comes from our kids building their new Lego sets.  Ahhhhhhh.  During the peace of the kids playing with their new toys, Opal discovered that Violet's new baby doll had actually "pooped" in her doll potty.  Will had taken some of Opal's new PlayDoh and formed a life-like turd and placed it under the doll while the four girls were happily distracted.  The best part was that Opal was the one who discovered it and in her adorable two year old voice, described to Violet what she had found.  "Violet!  Look!  Your baby has a turd!"

Violet had procured earrings for their American Girl dolls for presents this year.  We found some on Facebook Marketplace, and another friend gifted some to Violet from her daughters who had outgrown dolls.  Violet was so proud to give this gift to her sisters, and so a few days after Christmas, we watched some YouTube videos and Will commenced to pierce all four dolls ears with his power drill and a 5/16th bit.  I bet Will never anticipated piercing dolls ears as a skill set he would one day have.

We spent lots of time indoors this past month, and in the photos below in clockwise order from top left: Violet and Emma having a bow and suction cup arrow fight, Violet giving me snuggles, and all four girls having a dance party.  We have had so much dancing as a family to JustDance videos on YouTube this winter.

Violet got creative with all of the boxes from all of the packages we had delivered this past month, and with a little help from Will, made a Barbie swing set and doll bunk bed.  The kids did some painting, and also had fun doing my hair at their beauty parlor in the basement.

We enjoyed some movie nights and some movie mornings, as well as lots of game playing.  In clockwise order from top left below: treats to go along with our first official family viewing of Home Alone (which took months to get from the library, as there was a long wait list), watching a movie, playing a game, and finally, my favorite memory, having donuts for breakfast while watching a morning viewing of the newest Little Women movie with my little women, while Will worked on a Christmas present project in the garage.  What a great girls morning that was!

We tried to get outside every single day, despite the weather.  In the center, top photo below, Will found a metal "ring" from the pop top of a can at the river, the same river that he lost his wedding ring in over ten years ago now.  He presented it to me as, "Look!  I found my ring!"

Some days were milder than others for our outdoor excursions, but no matter the weather, we were always glad we had ventured out.  For surviving life during a pandemic with four kids - getting outside despite the weather is our biggest lifeline.

I used the Christmas break to make a years worth of herbal soap for our family and for selling.  I made lemon balm, garden mint, chamomile and lavender.  I think I made 6 batches all together, with a batch a day.  I feel like making soap is like riding a bike, once you learn, it is a step by step process that I can't forget, despite only making it once a year now.

I also used Will's time off to move forward on my new business, Wildflower Moon.  I had been putting off the final details of the bracelet I want to include in the care kits I will be selling, and so I used the break to finalize and figure out how to pull it off from a production standpoint.  I am satisfied with my results and Lucy and Emma are able to help me with a lot of the production.  My brother Mike also used his expertise to design and 3D print a special tray for filling small glass bottles for another product I am making.  I love that he was excited to help, and that his ideas will really make a difference for me.

On Christmas Eve the girls put on a recital for family and friends on YouTube.  All of our practicing and best laid plans could not prepare us for going live, and having a toddler in the equation.  Near the end of the performance, Will ended up tossing Opal into the kitchen as she kept talking and knocking into the recording laptop.  This hurt her feelings, and she loudly cried broken-hearted sobs as I took her into the basement to console her and get the sound away from the performers.  We had hoped that Opal could do some dancing while the girls played the piano, but she refused to wear any pants and instead wrapped a play silk around her legs which she then repeatedly tripped on.  I think our friends and family enjoyed the piano playing and poetry reading, but I have to say that I felt underwhelmed and disappointed that it had ended with a sad Opal and a frustrated Will.  I guess this is real life, and my hat is off to the girls piano and dance teachers who pull off performances so seamlessly.  It is not for the faint of heart!

We rang in the new year with a picnic dinner and a family-favorite movie - The Greatest Showman.  An oldie but goodie.  Notice our new and classy blue light blocking glasses.

After writing this blog, I now realize what a big role YouTube plays in our life from learning how to fix our washing machine, to staying in touch with family and friends, and finally to getting exercise during a pandemic winter.  So, thanks YouTube, and Happy New Year to all of our family and friends.  Here's to a healthy new year!

Opal at 33 Months

Opal is slowly adjusting to pants.  But only outside.  And not a second longer.  I'll take it.  She is also slowly adjusting to a jacket.  Also only outside.  And not a second longer.  In fact, as I type this, I think we are through the worst of that phase.  What a relief!  She is learning to self regulate too - see how I found her one morning after I told her 'no' to something she wanted.  After searching for her, I found her in her room in the rocking chair, using my jade facial roller on her face.  Another morning she woke up in a bad mood because she was sad that Will was at work.  She told me, "I need to FaceTime daddy so that I can feel happy again."  

Opal loves learning whatever her sisters are willing to teach her.  Violet taught her "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" complete with hand movements and it was adorable.

Opal loves her sisters and her sisters love her, unless she is messing up their Legos, or hogging the TV with Barbie or a show called "Shimmer and Shine."  Opal's big sisters are on a Netflix binge of Liv & Maddy, or as Opal calls it, "Chicken Patty" and she loves the songs in that show that they call "Pink & Blue" and "Froyo Yolo" and Opal can sing all of the words with hand movements as well.

Opal's favorite things to ask this past month are: "What's that sound?" and "What's that smell?"  Usually she is asking these things because she doesn't like the sound or the smell, but sometimes (on very rare occasions) it is because she smells chocolate on my breath.

She is still a loyal caretaker of our friend's stuffed kitty, and in the photos above, she is feeding her Meow Meow "blueberries" for a snack, and below that photo she is feeding Mama kitty a pancake that her older sisters keep sneaking bites of in order for Opal to believe that the Mama kitty is eating it.

Opal's favorite thing to do on our daily walks is to throw rocks into water.  In the above pictures, she is throwing a stroller tray full of rocks into the river by our house, but she will and has settled for puddles and sewer drains.  She loves the splash that rocks make in water!

Opal, you are the spice that gives our family flavor, and we love you so much!!!

November 2020

Oh Charlie, remember that time you snuck in the house and no one noticed?  The bottom two photos below show him hanging out like he owns the place and no one is the wiser.  The top two photos show HIM none the wiser, as he sleeps in the leaves outside, and in his blankets in his favorite spot in our garage.  The funny thing is, if anyone but Will opens the door to the house, Charlie will do his best to sneak in.  If Will opens the door, Charlie runs the other way.  Charlie knows who the alpha male is.  

With our free time this past month, thanks to our laid back COVID schedule, Lucy and Emma sewed clothes and accessories for their American Girl dolls.  I love how the girls don't use any instructions and if they need to know how to do something they have envisioned, they gain the necessary skills via YouTube.  I am just in awe of their fearless learning and vision.  We all made sock snowman from a fun tutorial and supplies that Will's aunt gave us.  

We had a gorgeous buck by our bee hives this past month.  I got a blurry picture through the window and it sent chills up our spine to hear the clip clopping of his hooves on our driveway.  Will harvested the last of our honey.  It was a small harvest, but it was enough for family and friends.  The kids jumped in and helped me finish a new product - well, modified new, as this is the upgrade on the canvas outdoor garden flags that turned out to be not weather resistant.  To save all of these beautiful canvas signs, I had Will cut down and drill dowels and the girls helped me string them so that now these beautiful signs can be indoor banners.  I also ordered a 40 pound bag of cherry pits to product test another new product.  Turns out I think I am allergic to the cherry pit dust, but I still want to love them because it is such a clever way to make the stuffing for heat packs - utilizing something that would otherwise go in the trash.

Will finished up his electrical project this past month, and removed the eyesore of a pole that the original electricity fed into our garage from.  It looks so much better now that it is gone.  Now, to hopefully soon deal with the rest of our eyesore of a garage - the peeling and rotting wooden siding and ancient and ugly windows.  Baby steps!  Will also finished the fall leaf and kid clean up.  There he is in the photo below, dragging the leaves and the kids to the compost pile.

The week of Thanksgiving is a short school week, and so I've built it into our school timeline to use the three days before the holiday to finish up miscellaneous projects.  This usually means catching up on half a year of the girls scrap book journal.

The girls enjoyed lots of indoor play this past month as the weather continued to get colder.  In clockwise order from top left below: the girls coloring holiday pictures, fort building, Emma reading Violet a bedtime story (when I found them like this, my heart melted), Violet with a creation from some magnetic toys we have, Emma with a fake mustache made out of a hair net, and Emma, yelling for me because she got her leg stuck in our play mailbox.  I can't make this stuff up.

We had a few bonus warm weather days this past month where I tried to take full advantage of being outside as much as possible.  My kids did too - note the sun dresses.  No one was happier than Opal who didn't have to wear sleeves or pants.  Some of my favorite seated activities for my kids to do outside are "science experiments" where they basically pour colored water back and forth between containers, and PlayDoh.   Both of these activities keep them happily occupied for hours.

We were also able to have an outdoor yoga class with our friends and yoga teacher.  We built a snowman with Will's aunt, and had a picnic and hike with my parents.  COVID has caused us to look at the weather, and plan our social visits accordingly.  I rather like it - I've never been outside more than I have this past year.

So we had sun dresses and snow pants all in one month, and fully enjoyed both extremes.

COVID has changed so much about our lives.  Below is my drying line in the basement - lined up with freshly laundered face masks, and the photo below that is the way we now make Sloppy Joes.  Thanks COVID.

Holiday baking has started in earnest this past month, as we made pumpkin and apple pies from scratch for Thanksgiving, and Lucy made coconut and Hershey Kiss cookies for our turkey day dessert as well.

Emma tried her hand at baking apple crisp one night when I was working, and it was delicious and marvelous to enjoy it warm, over cold vanilla ice cream while feeling like I have finally arrived.  Homemade baked goods from scratch that I didn't have to make?  Yes, please and thank you.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving with just the six of us, and it was cozy and lovely.  I am so grateful to be quarantined with my favorite people in the world, and I understand that this window of time in my life is not lined up for many other people who are missing loved ones through COVID.  I promise you I am not taking it for granted, but I also will be honest and tell you that sometimes I dream about being quarantined ALONE for just one day.  Either way, I'll take what I got, and thank God that my nest is full during COVID.

Opal, Pantless at 32 Months

Opal still hates pants.  But, she has added another article of clothing to her dislike list: jackets.  October weather was confusing to a toddler as some days no jacket or pants were needed at all, and then others only pants were needed to add to her dress or shirt when playing outside.  The key to toddlers is consistency, and October weather just wasn't consistent.  So, some days were bonus days and I would explain to Opal that it was warm enough outside that she didn't need any pants or a jacket.  Other days I would explain what extra clothing she needed and brace myself for the fallout.  Here she is below, in a compromised jacket and compromised pajama pants at the park.

Most girls pants these days are leggings, which fit snuggly.  I can see how that may not be a good feeling for her, so I am okay with her wearing looser pajama bottoms - really, I'm just happy she has pants on at all.  Don't worry though, she has me take them off her the SECOND we are back inside.  Here my little pantless wonder is below, wearing one of Violet's old dance costumes with her Meow Meow dressed in a costume too.

She loves Meow Meow so very much and brings him with her everywhere.  She informed me the other day that his real name is Charlie but she calls him Meow Meow for short.  A good friend of ours knows of Opal's love for her little black kitty, and decided one afternoon to give Opal her favorite stuffed kitty from when she was younger.  I remember this special stuffed animal of hers, and when I saw her give it to Opal, I kept asking our friend if she was sure, as I know how much that stuffed animal meant to her.  She assured me that she wanted Opal to have it.  I couldn't believe the sweet generosity, and was so humbled by it.  Opal was sooooo EXCITED!  She takes Mama kitty, as she calls it, with her everywhere in the house and not only makes sure that Mama kitty and Meow Meow eat at every meal, but also get tucked in every night.  Our friend certainly found a good home for her Mama kitty.

Opal said some pretty funny things this past month.  One of them I am not proud of, and fortunately I haven't heard her say it since (I've since cleaned up my under the breath mutterings) so I can see the humor in it more now, and will relay it here so I never forget that they hear everything I say, no matter how mumbled I think it is.  The other day I told Opal it was time to go, and to go get her pants at the backdoor.  Opal then proceeded to stomp to the back door and I heard her say under her breath, "For **CK Sake."  Let me go on record by saying that when you are quarantined and your husband is a saint who never swears, that I knew exactly where she learned this from.  

After eating candy one evening, Will asked Opal: "Why do you have chocolate coming out of your nose?" Opal responded: "Because it's Halloween time."  Duh!

I came home one afternoon from running errands and Opal greeted me at the back door by saying, "Miss me?"

Opal loves music and dancing.  She loves using song lyrics in every day conversation, which is something positive I am hoping she learned from me.  Or it is just genetic.  Either way, the other day, she called to the girls that it was lunch time by singing, "When you're ready, come and get it, nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah."

She loves the new song "Faded" and the lyrics say "where are you now" and so now she looks for me in the house by singing "where are you mom."

Will is famous for his home improvement projects that involve multiple trips to the store to complete.  During one of his standard projects, Opal asked him: "Dad, why you keep going to Home Depot?"  To which I looked at Will and asked with my laughing eyes, "Yes, why is that?" I've been teasing him for years on his disorganized project completion.

I was working on my computer while Opal was watching TV with a giant bag of pretzels.  I asked her if she could bring me a pretzel and she told me, "You have to be patient and give me a moment."

When Opal is feeling loving towards a member of her family she will say, "I love you too."  She believes that speaking love is a four word statement, not three.

And finally, she believes that love is not only words but deeds as well.  The sisters know they are in her favor when they do something nice for her and she tells them, "You can sit next to me in the car."  The three older sisters never sit in the seat next to her without her blessing, which is hilarious to me.

Opal really is a snuggle pants, despite not liking pants.  It's hard to believe the baby of our family talks in complete sentences and even makes us laugh with her humor.  In the below photos in clockwise order from top left: Opal wearing pants in the car, Opal and Meow Meow snuggling me before bed, Opal with curls springing out on the back of her head after her first haircut this past month, and finally, Opal two fisting it with scissors.  This girl LOVES cutting paper with scissors.

Opal, our pantless wonder, we love you so much!