Skating Through February

For the past thirteen years, February has been a difficult month for me due to the memories and anniversary dates of Luke's death and birth.  This past February was perhaps the most happy February I have had since Luke died.  I attribute this not to me moving on emotionally, but to the fact that we embraced the weather in February like I haven't done since I was a kid.  I've always found it interesting that the hardest month weather-wise of the year was also the hardest month emotionally for me as well.  I wonder if the weather wasn't so brutal if my feelings wouldn't be so dark as well?  Due to COVID this year, we stuck to outdoor visits only, and because of that, we were outside a lot, despite below freezing temperatures.  And amazingly enough, despite the courage needed to go outside each day, when we came back inside, our perspectives were fresh, the house seemed cozier, and we were all just happier.  There is something to be said for going outside despite the temperature and COVID made that possible this year, for lack of anything better to do. 

I am so glad we had snow.  Snow gives us a reason to play outside when it is cold.  If there is no snow when it is cold, it is much harder to get outside and stay outside.

With no place to go, snow became a happy event.  We didn't care if the roads were bad - we could embrace the joy of snow.

This winter we finally got all four girls on to the ice as well.  The older three kids have been to indoor ice skating rinks in the past, and no one really enjoyed it, especially me, with an aching back trying to get skates on everyone and then hauling them around the ice as they were still wobbly on their feet.  And Will has proclaimed that he has washed his hands of skating, as to him the work isn't not worth the outcome.  But I have such great memories of skating when I was a kid, from the local pond to a few winters that my dad made an ice rink in our backyard, that I am determined to trod on through the challenges and get my kids confident on the ice.  Whether it was a combination of age or the thrill of doing something, anything, during our COVID shut-in, the girls finally took to the ice.  Yes, the first few times they were still wobbly and hesitant, but with my commitment to giving them the experience of some of my favorite childhood memories, I was determined to stick it out despite cracking and bleeding fingers from tying so many skate laces in frigid weather and encouraging them to not be afraid to fall.

We met friends at the ponds, and the socializing combined with the freedom of no time constraints and an activity that embraces cold weather - the colder the better for solid ice - we had a happy and memorable month.  And, I'm happy to report that the two oldest can now put their own skates on too.  

We also continued sledding with friends, and when we knew the weather was finally warming up, we had a memorable last skate of the season with a gorgeous setting sun to illuminate our final skate.

I can't wait until next February when hopefully the weather will be good for ice again!  Since then, we are enjoying the thaw, and a bit more understanding that each season brings it's joys and challenges.  No season lasts forever, so we will continue to try to soak in the joys that each one brings as much as we can.  

Charlie is approaching middle age, and this winter he decided that he did not prefer to walk on snow.  So whenever we were outside, he rode on my shoulder like a parrot.  Of course, if I had invited him, he would have preferred being carried like a baby, but if I didn't invite him with open arms, he climbed me like a tree and sat atop my shoulder like he owned the place.  What a cat.  In the below photos in clockwise order from top left:  Charlie surprising the girls when he came out of their snow fort, Charlie climbing on top of my stomach as I attempted to make a snow angel in the backyard, Emma and Violet giving Charlie snuggles, Charlie on my shoulder, Charlie on my shoulder again, and finally, Charlie sitting outside on our dining room window sill, watching us eat with beggar eyes.

Homeschool plugged along steadily this past month, with efficiency in the morning fueled by the thrill of being done with school in time to hit the local sled hill or frozen pond.  In clockwise order from top left below: Violet giving me her signature "I don't like this" look when I told her what she needed to do for school that day, Opal playing in the tub while I held office hours in the bathroom for the older three kids, Emma holding a pillow she sewed all by herself for her new bedroom, and the three youngest doing yoga in the living room.

There was still plenty of indoor play this past month despite our frequent skating and sledding.  In clockwise order from top left below: a Lego Princess segway that Violet designed, Violet looking cute with an armful of stuffed animals, Will enjoying a "picnic" with girls and cats, and finally, the girls playing Jenga with Opal wearing noise canceling headphones so she would be ready for the inevitable crash.

I continued to plug away at my new business, Wildflower Moon, and have employed the three older girls, complete with time sheets.  So far, they keep buying stuff and then having to work it off, so I have yet to officially pay them.  Ah, the American way!

We did an outdoor social tour one day when the weather was warmer and visited a long-time friend in her driveway that we hadn't seen in over a year.  Then stopped by a friend's house and then my parents house.  The kids built a snowman on my parent's back patio and my mom said it made her so happy to see that snowman every day for weeks since the weather stayed cold.

We had a quiet Valentine's Day and made each other homemade cards.  Will picked up donuts before he went to work that morning so that we all had a treat when we woke up a few hours later.

We celebrated Luke's 13th birthday, and it was a lovely day.  I received a beautiful rainbow sun catcher with Luke's name engraved on it from a dear friend, and another sweet friend dropped off a gorgeous yellow tulip wreath on his birthday.  Several other friends and family sent me loving notes and text.  I felt unworthy of so much love.  I am so grateful for the friends and family I have in my life.  Truly, there are no words and I strive to be the kind of friend and family member that they have been to me.  This is how you overcome tragedy.  With the love of others lifting you up.  It is a very humbling and incredible experience.  I did have a moment at the cemetery where I took a photo of Luke's four sisters standing at his grave and it occurred to me that this is the only time I will physically have all of my kids together on earth.  The finality of this fact physically hits me hard in my gut.  But.  BUT.  Look at my four beautiful girls.  I am so grateful.  It is possible to be amazed with gratitude while also having a permanent hole in your heart.  I am both pain and gratitude.  And the depth of both is more than I ever knew I could feel.

Perhaps this February was easier on me because we had some major distraction happening as well.  We have talked about busting into a wall in the girls bedroom for years and putting in a built in bunk bed.  But the dimensions are so close to making or breaking the possibility of a functioning bunk bed that we kept hesitating.  That, and the fact that it would be a major, house disrupting, project.  We finally decided to go for it.  The first step was cutting a small hole in the wall to determine what was back there.  We always hold our breath when we do this, as we have no idea what we will find - dead bodies, treasure, or serious structural issues.  We found a few clothing tags, a button or two and a penny.  The space used to be a closet, and for some reason, a previous owner decided to seal it off.  We were good to go.

After confirming that we could make the bunk bed, it was time to move the girls into Opal's bedroom, a room that is barely large enough to hold one twin bed.  Thank goodness Opal was still in a toddler bed, as we put her bed on the smallest size, and added in a twin bed for Lucy and the bunk bed that Violet and Emma sleep in.  You could no longer access the closet in the room, but it worked for temporary housing.

Will is good at many things, and his craftsmanship is top notch.  He does NOT excel at cleanliness while he works, and the drywall dust was EVERYWHERE.  It was very hard for me not to lose my mind completely during this process.  I spent so much time mopping, dusting, vacuuming and just trying to maintain a sense of normalcy with the mess and the furniture from the girls room placed in random places throughout our house.  This project was intended to be done over Will's winter break - a four day weekend.  We were crazy to think it could be finished that fast.  It was well over a month of chaos, but the end results was totally worth it.

Emma was Will's right hand helper, and absolutely loved everything about the construction process.

We wanted to put a time capsule under the bunk bed before it was sealed up, and so we took a few photos of the girls, Will and I, Charlie and our house with the bunk bed and also put in a few 2021 coins, a small American flag, and some poems and blessings as well as a letter to whoever finds it in the future.  All of this went into one of my old Harding Honey jars.  Our house is 100 years old, and we would have LOVED to find something like this each of the times we have busted into the walls of this old house.

Below are some of the photos that went into the time capsule.

The night that the girls moved into their new room, Will's Aunt and Uncle dropped off new bed sheets for all of the girls, amazing chocolate cupcakes and a new bedtime story to celebrate their new room.  This was such a great idea, and it really made the first night in their new room even more exciting.

Opal is now bunking with her sisters, and her sleep is slowly improving.  She has still not slept through the night a day in her life, but with baby steps, I know we will get there.  Lucy has been a team player, and a lot of times will either lay with Opal in her bed when she wakes up in the middle of the night or even bring Opal to me if she can't console her.

My favorite part about this set up though, is that when I go to check on them before I go to bed each night, I get the pleasure of seeing their sweet sleeping faces all together in one room and it fills my heart with amazement, love and gratitude.  I know that this phase in our family's life with them all happily together in one room will be short, but I am so happy to be in the midst of it right now.  My little women, who show me the benefits of sisterhood each and every day.  Mama loves you!!!!

Opal at 35 Months

Opal has such a personality, and it is a shame that the pandemic isn't allowing others to appreciate her in all her glory.  She is still quite shy around others, and I feel like a liar when I tell people she actually talks non-stop when she is not being shy.  

She loves playing with her big sisters, and is so happy when they include her.  

Usually, Opal's older sisters spoil her and let Opal boss them around.  This worries me, and I never knew that the hardest part of parenting the youngest of a passel of kids would be keeping the older kids from negatively influencing her.  But, there are plenty of good ways that they influence her too, so I hope it balances things out in the end.

Lately Opal has been upset about her lack of hair.  She wants to look like a girl she tells us, and she wants to do her hair like her sisters.  Here she is below, sporting a tiny pony tail.

Opal loves working next to me on her play laptop, and she also loves to bring me play food treats that she made in her play kitchen to tide me over as I work.  What a sweetie pie!

Opal gets to watch her shows on the laptop when her sisters are watching something that she finds boring, like the show Liv and Maddie, which Opal refers to as "chicken patty."  She will say, "I hate chicken patty!" if the girls are watching it and demands to watch something else.  I'm not sure how parents with multiple kids did screen time before families had multiple screens to work with.  I do remember lots of pouting while my brothers kicked me off of watching My Little Pony so they could watch more masculine shows.  Here Opal is below, snacking on some baby carrots while she watches Elmo, wearing her blue light blocking glasses.  I'd say she's winning at life here.

Opal is very open to trying new foods, and has no hesitation taking at least a bite of something.  If she likes it, she happily asks for more.  If she doesn't like it, she tells us, "I'll probably like it when I'm older." Yes, Opal, I have no doubt that you will!  She seems to have sophisticated taste, as she loves putting garlic and basil pesto on her cheese pizza or sandwiches to add more flavor.  She says, "where's the green stuff?" if we forget to add it on for her.  I wonder if her excitement with flavors has anything to do with the nine months I was pregnant with her and so sick I could only eat twelve different foods.  She's just so excited to try everything, and if my theory is correct, I really can't blame her!  I do remember my other kids being more adventurous eaters, and then somewhere around three that disappearing for several years.  Time will tell with Opal, as she will be turing three very soon!

Cautiously Optimistic in January

We had high hopes for January of 2021 although we didn't dare write New Year resolutions or goals, as we learned in 2020 that life mostly has other plans.  We decided to approach the new year cautiously optimistic and try to be as flexible as possible while hoping for the best.  On New Year's Day we had a peregrine falcon, which we've never seen in the almost eleven years that we have lived here, swoop into our chicken run and kill our chicken named Ivy.  We were all traumatized, and although Will scared the falcon away, it stalked around our coop for days, waiting to try again, since it's first attempt at a meal was thwarted.  Our surviving six chickens were also traumatized, and did not leave their coop for at least a week.  We decided to string lines across the top of their run and I found my fiercest fabric - a cheetah print from an old Halloween costume - and cut the fabric into strips to tie on the line.  This seems to have done the trick and we haven't seen the falcon since.  Either way, I couldn't help but feel that this was not a good way to start our New Year.

A few days later I was taking a bath to help ease a low back ache I've been dealing with and Will sent me the below photo. Somehow the tub had sprung a leak and was leaking through a two story wall straight into our basement - water was pouring by the gallon from the basement ceiling.  We had a contractor out and a mold remediation company and the good news is the leak was a once time occurrence and Will was able to fix the plumbing issue himself.  Of course this happened on a weekend and so we didn't know the outcome until Monday and we really were bracing for the worst financially and as well as what would be involved to fix the problem.

To round out the trifecta of struggles this past month, on his way home from work, Will's car dropped the exhaust pipe - but the muffler was still attached - and so was dragging metal from the bottom of his vehicle.  He had to pull over into the nearest parking lot and figure out how to get home.  He ended up walking a ways to a Target (after a closer attempt at a JoAnn fabric resulted in him trying to use jewelry wire to tie the car part back on but the result was too flimsy) and bought some ratchet straps.  Keep in mind it was about 22 degrees Fahrenheit that day.  The ratchet straps did the trick, but he had to get into the driver's seat from the back door.  Thankfully, this turned out okay too, as the auto shop at his school was able to fix it for minimal cost the next day.  

All in all, we were a little battered and bruised this past month.  So, we did what we could to take good care of ourselves.  First up was a shopping trip to a real mall.  I haven't been inside of a mall since the pandemic started, but there were essential things that were adding up on a long list of things we needed that are just easier to purchase in person than online.  So, after a dentist appointment of Violet's, with Will off work for the day to watch the other kids, Violet and I went shopping.  It was so nice, despite Violet not appreciating this excursion like Lucy would have.  I made it up to Violet by buying her (and her sisters at home) some hot pretzels on the way out of the mall, and I made it up to Lucy by taking her to a greenhouse by our house.  It was a cold and snowy day when we went shopping for plants, and it was comical to see all of the other customers also using the warmth of the greenhouse and the green of the plants as therapy on this winter day too.

In fact, shopping for plants in January made us so happy, that I am going to plan on doing this every January.  Snuggling Charlie is also top on my list of things that make me feel better.  I swear a cat's purring is therapeutic and someday (if this hasn't been studied already) I think they will find that the vibration that purring cats give off IS in fact healing.  In the top left photo below, Charlie is in his favorite spot when we aren't cuddling him - on a table outside our front window with a good view of the TV.  He especially enjoys the shows that Opal likes.

We did some crafts this past month, which is always therapeutic.  In the bottom, right hand photo below, Emma has zipped herself into a sweatshirt of Will's that was hanging on the back of a chair.  Maybe the straightjacket feel was therapeutic to her?

Games and yoga were also great ways to find joy...

As was a warm and sweet cup of hot chocolate after playing outside in the cold.  in the bottom left hand photo below, Emma is offering me a blue PlayDoh cake.  

In the photos below in clockwise order from top left: The girls cutting out rolls of kraft paper to determine where some new desks we are hoping to get for them will go, Violet and Opal with an art store set up in their play tent, Emma with some dominoes, and finally, the girls with construction paper hats that they were inspired to make after watching Gabby's Dollhouse with Opal on Netflix.

We got outside almost every single day, and loved the fact that there was snow to play in, as going outside without snow when it is bitter cold is just not fun.  In the bottom, left hand photo below, Emma is sliding down a hill on a hike, hoping her snow pants keep her gliding.

The girls made a huge snow fort in our backyard, and also froze ice balls by filling balloons with water and food dye.  We do this every year, and it is something to look forward to when the weather is super cold.

My kids discovered a super fun sledding hill with friends, and we tried to get out there as much as we could.

Will built me a shelf to go under the desk we made a few years ago with butcher block wood from Ikea and two metal filing cabinets.  The shelf looks so great, and has really helped me find space for all of the homeschooling materials we have.  The photos below in clockwise order from top left: the shelf Will built for me, a giant batch of zucchini muffins I made for the freezer to set up me with some easy breakfasts during the school week, two forks linked together in the clean dishwasher, and when I found them I called all four girls into the kitchen to see if any of them knew how this came to be and Emma answered, "There's where my band-aid went!"  And finally, Lucy with a chicken shaped waffle that had a little batter that cooked in exactly the right spot to make a rooster plume.

I've been pretty consumed by my new business, and my family has heard me talk about it non stop.  The other day I excitedly told Will I had an idea (in the blue convo below) and he panicked I was talking about another new business idea when in fact I was talking about the shelf I wanted him to make me.  Needless to say, he was relieved it was a shelf and not something needing another website.  Sometimes I wonder if my time would be better served in a Think Tank, as I love coming up with new ideas but definitely don't have the time or resources to execute them all.  Below are some of the bracelets for the care kits I will be selling, a rice-filled heat pack I will also be selling, and my notes that I am organizing for a chapter in the book I am writing.  

Sometimes I feel insecure about the ideas that I have and how to execute them, but I am trying to remind myself that it is better to put your ideas out there than to never try at all.  The point is in the making, and not in the end result.  I hope that my kids never hold back on their dreams because of the fear of failure, and I hope that if failure happens to me or to my kids, that we take the lessons we have learned, treasure the joy we had in the creating, and move on to the next creative project.  For me, life without creativity is life without joy.  And so I create, and I try to focus on the process and not the end result, and as I launch each project out into the world, I pray my feelings of vulnerability will not outweigh the joy I had in the creating.

January had it's way with us it seems, but all things considering, it could have been worse.  February has historically been a tough month for me since Luke died, so I am hoping all other aspects of life go easy on me as I navigate the month that holds so many significant dates for Luke, the boy I will never stop missing.

Opal at 34 Months

Opal continues to keep us on our toes, and bring laughter and frustration to our days.  She knows what she wants and doesn't want, and she talks non stop with us, but only says "mama" when she is being shy with people outside of her home.  A friend of ours had fun with her the other day when we were playing outside and started asking her questions like: who's your favorite person?  To which Opal responded "mama."  After a string of mama answers he asked her, "Who's the worst cook?" and my smart and sweet girl looked at him with her mouth tightly pressed shut.  She knows who feeds her!   

I'm worried that her shyness could be a result of her being quarantined for more than a third of her life.  Here she is above, at the Chiropractor with Will.  Besides doctor appointments, she really doesn't go anywhere inside.  Here she is below, waiting in the car with Emma, Violet and me while Lucy was at an eye doctor appointment with Will.  She got quiet, and so I looked behind me to see her sniffing empty sucker wrappers.  

Maybe the young kids of COVID will be the kind of people who find joy in even the smallest things, like sniffing empty candy wrappers while waiting in a car for two hours.  Really, is this such a bad consequence of quarantine?  Here Opal is below, helping Will read a story for his school district's social media.  I am hoping online socializing doesn't leave lasting scars for this generation.

Opal loves playing with PlayDoh, and I am a lover and a hater of PlayDoh.  It is never just a quick thing - it is a time investment for sure.  The reason I love it, is that PlayDoh can keep Opal happy for at least an hour, sometimes more, in educational play.  The reason I hate it though, is that the mess feels like it takes at least an hour to clean up.  No free ride!

You might know Opal is the youngest of a brood of kids by the way I use snacks to keep her happy and keep her quiet.  I would have never parented Lucy or even Emma and Violet like this - snacks were at set times and only at the table.  Opal snacks around the clock and there is evidence of that in the appearance of our carpet and the wrappers left in random places like the empty yogurt tube I found on the couch the other day.  She loves these organic yogurt tubes from Trader Joe's and refuses to eat any other brand or kind.  A true foodie.  We put it in the freezer, and then they don't make a mess when she squeezes the yogurt out.  The only mess then being, the wrappers left in various locations.

Favorite phrases heard from Opal this past month:

A loud crash came forth from her sister's room and Opal from her bed, when she should have been sleeping, yelled out, "That didn't sound good!"

When I need to get something done with minimal interruptions, I will assign one of the older sisters to "Opal Duty" without giving much thought to how that may make Opal feel.  Well, I shouldn't worry, as the other day I heard Opal entice a reluctant Violet to play with her by saying, "Violet, you are on Opal Duty!"

When Will comes home from work, Opal will talk nonstop to him about her day and he always asks the questions, "Did anyone talk to her today?"  To which we all respond, "Alllllll day."  

Opal, we never smiled nearly as much until there was you!

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!