Breakfast Order

 Hey, Google didn't take the site down due to lack of use.  Terrific!

The other day, Elizabeth made breakfast.  Pancakes, eggs, freshly cut fruit.  It was very nice, although apparently not nice enough for Nathaniel, who in the earnestly kind and sincere way that only he can said "I don't want this fruit; I'll have bacon instead, please."  Elizabeth had not made bacon.

He wasn't wrong.

Nathaniel's Virtual Time Capsule Item

This year I got a pizza pillow. His name is Pepperoni. I got this pillow for Christmas this year and was very excited about it because it is a a fluffy and cuddly pillow! Stuffed animals and plush pillows are toys that Matthew, Thea and I love to play with and I sleep with Pepperoni too! My mom bought it on Amazon which is a store online where they deliver presents to you!

Preschool at Home: Apple and Zoo Weeks

This year is unique - Nathaniel is doing preschool at home, with Mama! Here he is on his first day (which was back in August)!

 

The first week was about all Apples: learning about the different parts of the apple, making an apple snack each day (my personal fav was the apple with caramel and m&ms, but the personal apple cobblers and cider weren't terrible), reading about apples, painting with apples, finger songs about apples, making apples with play doh, ok you get it. The week ended with apple picking and the making of a marvelous apple pie.

This week was Zoo week. More books, some search and find, counting, tracing, and Nathaniel's personal favorite - the crafts. He made a lion mask, peacock, hippo, and giraffe. 

This week ended with, you guessed it, a trip the zoo.

 

Thea's Virtual Time Capsule

Hi.Thea here. I'm going to talk about COVID-19 through 2020 -2021. I took a photo of my school tablet for my time capsule item because for school we use it to Zoom for class. Zoom allows us to see our teacher and classmates. I have school friends from all different schools because this year with virtual learning there are 5 kids kids from each of the three schools all in my class. We also have lunch bunch with Zoom where I can eat lunch and talk with my friends. We use Seesaw on our tablets for our school work and once a month I have to pick up school stuff at school, like reading and science packets. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Me at my desk in my room with my tablet

Seesaw on my tablet which gives me links to
Zoom and my school assignments

Matthew's Virtual Time Capsule

Hey Matthew again!

It's the last day of 2020! Oh! I need to say I'm 9 and in third grade. So right now, COVID-19 is a really bad thing, because it's a very new and dangerous sickness! You can also call COVID-19 Coronavirus. You can also look on the internet to learn more about COVID-19 if you like. I'm now going to tell you about my time capsule item, my mask. I picked it because I think it's a great thing for the topic. I had to wear the mask a lot (when I went to stores or saw people outside of my family) because it was a way to keep me from getting the virus.

Sweet home Chicago 🎵

We headed to Chicago in June; hadn't been there since Christmas. For the first time, we ventured the trip via car, all in one day. We started the drive at 3am and then BOOM 13 hours later we arrived.

One of the highlights of our trip was having all the foods we can't get in Philly. Matthew had done a restaurant review in school for Dear Franks so we were sure to hit that place up. He sure did enjoy it!!

Of course seeing family was the biggest reason we went and it was so enjoyed by all!

Paul arranged for professional family photos to be taken

Thea and Genevieve

Thea looooved "babysitting" Axel

Dinner time!

The kids and I also drove up to Wisconsin to see friends there via a car parade stopping at 11 different houses to see friends. The joy it brought all was a true delight! That said, this is clearly a time of adjustment. Children were thrilled to see each other, running towards each other. But then they'd stop suddenly about 6 feet apart unsure of what to do next. The transitions out of the stay at home orders of COVID are proving as challenging as going into it.

We went to a Savannah and saw turtles, an owl, red fox, bobcat and alligator.

We drove past our old house in Illinois and Matthew asked that we walk to our old playground to check it out. No one was there and there were no signs saying we couldn't play because of COVID-19 so we let them play. We then walked around a beautiful park and fed some ducks and excitedly watched some tadpoles and fish.

It was a great trip all around and may do it again come Christmas time!

Sports circa Summer 2019

Our Gymnast

Thea LOVES gymnastics! Here she is doing a back walk over:

She is insanely flexible and will do the splits wherever and whenever she can.

She recently participated in a cartwheel-a-thon to raise money for the gymnastics program in our community (that has won state 11 of the last 13 years, including this year).* She was asked to have people pledge per cartwheel (up to 200). We had no idea what to expect, but we should have known she'd do 200 in 15 minutes. She raised the most money of all the gymnastics so next month she'll be receiving a trophy at a banquet and will get a week at gymnastics camp this summer courtesy of the community gymnastics program.

*Those other two years? They came in 2nd.

I guess I have a lot to say about teeth

Two years ago, Thea was told she had two wiggly teeth but that it was going to take awhile for them to come out. This last Saturday, 4/13, two days after her 6th birthday, Thea lost her very first tooth! She pulled it out at gymnastics, which makes it that much more fun for her since that's her most favorite thing. She was beyond excited and we were too. Mike was maybe a teensy bit less excited since he had a just been diagnosed with a nasty case of strep.*

Thea's tooth pillow made by Grammie

It's a good thing that on Thea's birthday, Mommy had the repair man over (to finish some dry wall work above our microwave) who just so happened to fix Thea's door that couldn't be closed without being slammed.

The tooth fairy was thrilled! She gave Thea a note that said "Finally! Hooray!" with her signature (a tooth with fairy wings) as well as a 50 year old half dollar coin.

Okay, now it's time for me to go to the dentist. Woot! Woot!

*Remember that time that 3 straight Fridays in a row, the boys in our house took turns getting a high fever at 6pm and then strep the next day? Yeah, I do. Cause that was this time. Here's to hoping the girls in the house stay strong and healthy tomorrow.

A Wild and Crazy New Year's Eve

Got wild and crazy this New Year's Eve by taking the kids to the dentist. Matthew had 2 cavities that needed to be filled. They used laughing gas which had him talking up a storm. The staff brilliantly told me my other children were not allowed to watch (so as to avoid inducing fear). So there I left him alone getting his teeth drilled. He rocked it! He chose an orange mask (no surprise) that was orange scented. The actually fillings took 5 minutes and Matthew came out saying it was no big deal and the smell was so good he'd like to do it again! Um, doctor, you've successfully made this painless which is fabulous, but let's hope he keeps brushing his teeth, okay? Super grateful for our pediatric dentist and his team.

Thea had her teeth cleaned while at the dentist and later took a turn at cleaning teeth:

Nathaniel had nothing done to his teeth, but he picked a funny treasure box prize:

That evening we celebrated with blowers and root beer floats! Mike was the only one that made it to midnight. Poor Mike.

Heavenly Places

We're still dreaming and talking about our trip to Estes Park, CO. Here is the trip in review via pictures:

The sunrise from one of the 3 porches of the house we stayed in.

Morning nature walk

Thea with the cutest little bunny that lived nearby

Why don't we live here?

One of Matthew's favorite parts of the trip: picking wildflowers

Not many places better than this one to get a little coloring done

Painting at the YMCA

Spinning endlessly at the YMCA playground 

Dinner at a family favorite: The Dunraven Inn 

Bear Lake, a multigenerational family favorite:

Grandma had the kids doing a "skill" at every trail marker
and they LOVED it! Highlight of the trip for the kids!

Matthew was introduced to Monopoly and had such a good time planning with his Dad. Can you guess who won this round?

Dinner on the porch

Free mini golf at the YMCA. The course was very age appropriate and all had fun getting in a round.

Another highlight of the trip: bumper boats! All of the kids went
and were all smiles, except Bubba. He was all giggles. The whole time.

First go-kart race

Excited that passed all other drivers on the track

Extreme trampoline = extreme smile

New CO gear found in town

Visiting Mom's former work place: Jackson Stables

Nathaniel LOVED riding Buttons!

Matthew rode Alladin and did AMAZING pulling up the reins when his horse tried to eat grass.
So well, the horse stopped trying to get the grass! Thea and I rode Thunder. This was very fun
to share with them. Some of my best memories in life are horseback riding with my family.

The last day we had planned to go fishing (which we've never done) but since it was cool and looked like it might rain, we chose to drive up Trail Ridge Road. Glad we did because wow, mountains are majestic!

Our last dinner together in Estes at a Mexican restaurant. It was our first time there and it satisfied Mike's deep craving for some Mexican food (which was delicious!).

They sure do looooove their Papa!

This trip was just so good. Wonderful family time, beautiful place, filled with relaxation and fun. Couldn't ask for anything more. Except that we do it again.