Christmas 2020

 Another two weeks has flown by, and I'm just not doing a good job of keeping up with my blogging. These past couple of weeks have been filled with Christmas activities and have flown by. 

On December 15th, Emma and I made brownies to celebrate her half birthday at school. Since she is a summer baby, she never gets to celebrate at school. She had a lot of fun making brownies and getting to wear her birthday hat at school since she usually doesn't get to do that. 

We also spent a lot of evenings over the past couple of week watching classic Christmas movies. We watched Home Alone, The Polar Express, Elf, Jingle Jangle, The Grinch, and Rudolf. It was really fun to watch these movies with the kids, and they really enjoyed them. We also had some great evenings filled with Hot Cocoa and Christmas crafts. I really love the Christmas season. 

On Sunday, December 20th, we had the Children's Christmas Program. Because of Covid, we could only have immediate family there, but both kids did a really good job. They both knew their parts, and all the words to their songs and sang nice and loud. Elliott looked really sharp in his Suit and tie, and was not nervous at all being up in front of church. Emma looked beautiful in her dress, and did a really great job up there as well. After the program, we rushed out to Jim and Barb's house for supper and to drop the kids off for the week. The kids had the next full two weeks off from school, so we packed up their stuff and sent them to Grandma and Grandpa's for the week. 

John and I spent the week running errands, buying last minute Christmas presents, and eating out for supper. We really had a pretty busy week even without kids. We missed them, but it was nice to just be able to get done what we needed to without any whining or complaining. 

On Christmas Eve, I worked for a couple hours in the morning, and then we headed to Jim and Barb's house to have Christmas with the Nelsons. The kids were every excited to see us, and asked about every 5 minutes when we could open presents. Once Jeff and Sam arrived, we opened gifts. Everyone got spoiled, and had a really great Christmas. We all got Carrhart stocking caps, and of course some cash. Barb also went a little crazy and made ham, Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, creamed peas, and like 8 different desserts. It was all really good, but just way too much food. 

The kids had a great time playing with their new toys, and we all had a good time playing a new game called "Throw, Throw, Burrito". We left around 7:30pm. We put the kids in their pajamas and they were asleep about 5 minutes into our drive. 

Christmas Day was another whirlwind. We went to church in the morning, and then we had our family celebration at home and let the kids open our presents for them at home. They had a blast, and got way too much stuff. After some lunch and packing, we hit the road and headed to Minnesota for my side of the family Christmas celebration. We got to my parent's house around supper time, and enjoyed a quiet evening of visiting and playing some games with the kids. We also got a phone call that Jeff and Samantha had gotten engaged on Christmas Day. Very exciting!!

The day after Christmas was our actual Christmas celebration with the Kieckers. We watched some old family videos in the morning, and then everyone arrived in time for dinner. And, Ryan brought a girlfriend, Emily, to Christmas. We were all pretty surprised, but very happy to see Ryan with a girlfriend. It was a big holiday for our brothers! We had a great dinner of Meatballs, mashed potatoes, squash, corn, and a salad. Then, we opened gifts. Again. The kids loved everything they got, and had fun trying out their new toys. We spent the afternoon drinking wine and playing games. Emily was pretty quiet, but she seemed to have a good time and tolerated us crazy Germans pretty well. We ended the evening with some Sheepshead and called it a holiday. It was definitely weird to not see extended family or do the normal Christmas celebrations, but it was still a good holiday. 

Sunday was a clean up, pack up and head home kind of day. We finally got home at around 3:00pm, and just felt like we had a holiday hangover. We spent the day cleaning, unpacking, settling in, and getting back to normal. The kids headed out to Jim and Barb's house on Monday morning, and they are still there until at least Thursday. It's been a a crazy couple of weeks, I miss my kids, and I'm about ready for the normal routine and school and homework and everything. 

This week John and I have had a quieter week. I've been going to the Gym, getting the Christmas decorations cleaned up, and just enjoying quiet evenings at home. Tonight, we are going to have some Chipotle and watch Die Hard. I'm pretty excited. 

Tomorrow, we plan on getting the kids settled back at home again, and getting them ready to think about school again on Monday. 

Happy New Year. Good Riddance to 2020. 

Christmas Festivities 2020

Jeepers, it's been about 3 weeks since I last blogged. Time is just flying around here, it's hard to believe that Christmas is only 12 days away! Yikes!

A couple weekends ago, we headed out to Jim and Barb's house to celebrate Elliott's birthday. They were finally released from their covid quarantine, so we were able to get together and celebrate. Barb actually did really well with the virus, and ended up getting an antibody infusion which seemed to help to speed up her recovery. 

Both kids ended up getting a Christmas-themed hat, and Elliott also got a Pokemon ball game and a hot wheels track. He was one happy little 6 year old. Emma got her big-sister gift which was a play-doh set, and then Barb also bought a large Christmas lego set that everyone had fun building with for a while. It was a fun evening, and the kids really enjoyed it. 

Both kids have Advent calendars this year, so that has been a big deal around here for the last 13 days.  Every morning, Elliott opens one of his compartments on his Pokemon Advent Calendar. And it's very exciting for him. He has gotten quite a few Pokemon figures, and he is always wondering what he is going to get the next day. Needless to say, it has been a big hit. 

Emma has a slime Advent calendar. I really hate this calendar. Emma loves it of course. She has gotten many different colors of slime and then slime add-ins like glitter, foam balls, charms, etc. It's kind of a nightmare though. She has gotten slime on the couch, on her clothes, and pretty much everywhere. I'm tolerating it until Christmas, and then they are going to slowly disappear. She wanted more slime for Christmas, but I said no to that. Slime is really the worst. Note to self, no more slime. 

They both also have some cheap chocolate Advent calendars. So, every morning, they eat a piece of chocolate as well. Our children are really suffering this Christmas season. 

The coronavirus is really pretty terrible right now. We have about 3,000 people dying per day across the nation, and here is South Dakota we are having about 30 people die a day right now. Luckily, they just approved a vaccine, and they plan to start administering it as soon as tomorrow. But, it's going to be a while before everyone can get the vaccine, and there are many people who don't "trust" the vaccine, so I'm hopeful that it will help, but I guess time will tell. For now, we just have to try to get through these next few months, and then hopefully we can see some sort of normal return. I think everyone is ready to say goodbye to 2020. 

The kids are still in school, and they have one week left until Christmas break. For Christmas break, they have a full two weeks off, so they are going to be spending some time with Grandma and Grandpa. I hope that we can get through this week without any issues, and the kids can have a nice relaxing break. 

Our weekends have been pretty low-key. With the virus surging right now, it's hard to do much of anything. We have gotten our Christmas shopping done, and just enjoy time at home with kids playing games and hanging out. 

This past Wednesday it was 60 degrees outside (yes, on December 9th), so I took the kids to Falls Park right after school, and they loved it. It was so nice outside, and they just enjoyed climbing on rocks and running around. We stayed at the park for about an hour, and then we headed to the Candy Cloud Factory, where the kids got to pick out their favorite cotton candy flavor. They were flying high. After sugaring up, we went downtown to do a mini sculpture walk, and then check out the light outside the Washington Pavillion. It was a pretty special night, and the kids loved it. They did not want to go home when it was time. It was a great way to take advantage of a beautiful December day in South Dakota. 

This weekend was pretty tame. We did some shopping yesterday, hit up the gym, and did some typical cleaning yesterday. Today, we had church and Christmas Program practice, so it was a longer day at church. While the kids were practicing, John and I had a lunch date at Chevy's. It was delicious, and so nice to eat out. It probably wasn't the smartest place to be with the virus. but it was a nice little lunch date. In the evening, Jim and Barb stopped by and Jim helped us fix our entry way light and we put in a new thermostat. That was satisfying. We have been complaining about our thermostat for 9 years, and we finally got a new one!! We capped the night with some Fizolis, and now we are getting ready for another week. 

The kids are in bed, football is on, and now we are just ready to relax until bedtime. I'm not really ready for another week in the main OR, but I guess I will take it. We are employed, healthy, happy, and it's the Christmas season. I really don't have anything to complain about. Bring on the week! :) 

The birthday boy

Christmas Pots!

Sunrise before school 

Sunset with Emma 

Falls Park in December 

Sculpture Walk 

Washington Pavillion 

Elliott's Pokemon Birthday Party

 This past weekend was pretty exciting, we had Elliott's birthday party with his friends. We have been counting down the days for a few weeks now, so both kids were pretty excited when the day finally came to celebrate. 

Elliott was up at 6:30 am, wondering if it was time to go decorate for the party yet. He was pretty disappointed when I told him it would be a few hours before we would have to leave. 

We had his party at Bethel School in the gym, which was the best idea ever. The mess, and the noise was all there, and the kids all had a place to run around. We ended up inviting Elliott's entire classroom, and we had 15 kids show up. So, we had a pretty good party. 

We got to the school around 10:00 to set up. The kids helped us decorate, set up tables, and hide Pokeballs. They loved every second. 

The other kids started showing up around 11:00, and we go the party started. We started the kids off with coloring Pokemon characters and just running around the playing until all the kids showed up. The first game we played was where the kids had to find hidden Pokeballs, and then whoever found the most won. Hannah T found 6 and was crowned the winner. All the kids really enjoyed that activity. 

We threw some pizzas in the oven and had some lunch. And then it was on to Pokemon Charades (which was a pretty big hit) and then we had a Pokeball Punch activity where the kids could punch a part of the ball and then they got to keep the Pokemon figures that were inside. That lead to a lot of trading and playing going on. This was all followed by cake and ice cream. 

The last hour consisted of opening presents, and just letting the kids play. It got really loud in the gym, and there were some tears, and John and I were just ready for the party to be over at this point. But overall, it was a great party and all the kids had a really good time. Elliott had such a fun time, and it felt great to be able to give him such a great party. 

We were pretty much shot after all the festivities. We cleaned up, and then headed home to relax for the rest of the evening. We made it a movie night and watched Home Alone 3. And also let Elliott open up some gifts and play with them. He got a dinosaur smash egg, a ton of Pokemon cards, and some other odds and ends. He was definitely treated well by his friends. 

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day. We went to church and the kids sang in both services. After that, we were pretty much content to stay at home. We finished putting up Christmas decorations and watched some football. It was really a nice day. And the kids were content to play with new toys and just relax and be at home. 

Today, I got mandated off of work, which was a surprise. So, I've had a nice day of dropping of the kids at school, going to the gym, catching up on some blogging and TV, and cleaning the house. I haven't had a week day at home without the kids for a while, so it's been kind of nice to be able to catch up on things. And it's Thanksgiving week, so I'm only working tomorrow and Wednesday, and then I am off for the holiday. So, not a real stressful week at all!

Thanksgiving is going to be kind of weird this year. We are going to Minnesota on Thanksgiving, and just hanging out with mom and dad and Ryan. Rachel and Carlos are skipping it because of the virus, and no extended family because of the virus. I really am tired of this pandemic. 

On the Covid-19 front, things are still pretty bad right now. The numbers are still atrocious, the hospitalization rates are out of control, and many people are dying everyday. The CDC is recommending that people stay home for the holidays, which they probably won't do. We are still going to mom and dad's house, but only if we are all feeling well, and it will be a gathering of less than 10 people which makes me feel that the risk is pretty low. And we haven't seen them for like 5 weeks, so I do believe that we still have to live our lives a little. 

Barb tested positive for the virus last week, so we are waiting another week before having Thanksgiving at their house just to be extra safe. So, just another thing to make the holidays different. There is some news on vaccines, and they hope to be giving them to healthcare providers and high risk people by the middle of December. So, there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel, but it will be a while until everyone can get the vaccine. 

However, we still have a lot to be thankful for, especially during this Thanksgiving week. So, I look forward to a couple days of work, and then some extended family time. I really do love the holidays, even when they are disrupted by a global pandemic. 

Our Christmas Tree 2020 

The Birthday Boy 

The Birthday Party Crew