Merry Christmas!

"He's not a bad guy, he's just very naughty."
-Isla

There was a lot of cooking leading up to Christmas, mainly of sweets.  The kids made gingerbread houses, cookies, and other sweets to leave for Santa.  I think Santa got the much smaller share though.

 

This the first year in many years that we did not go to Joe T. Garcia’s for dinner on Christmas Eve.  We did the next best thing by picking it up and bringing it home, and other than the nachos not being as good the rest of the food was great.  Afterwards the kids opened up their bags with their Christmas pajamas and books.  Getting them to pose for a picture was difficult since excitement for Christmas was building.

Christmas came as it always has with kids bouncing on the bed and demanding we go downstairs to see what Santa brought.  This was followed by an unofficial competition to see who could open presents the quickest, with a bonus given to the one who made the largest mess of the wrapping paper.

We didn’t gather at the grandparents houses like we normally would, but that didn’t stop the grandparents from making the rounds to see the kids and give them yet more presents.  Uncle Scott joined us as well, and it was great to see everyone even under the circumstances.  We’re definitely looking forward to getting back to normal for next Christmas since it still felt more subdued than normal.

 

This year hasn’t been the best for the world, but there were bright sides to it.  We spent a lot more time with the family, found new ways to have fun, and stayed relatively healthy.  We look towards 2021 with optimism, although we know it will still be six months or more before things start getting back to normal.  Still, if we’re going to get stuck at home at least we all have each other.  And that’s something worth celebrating.

Pre-Christmas fun…

"It's not my fault I like to play with stuffed animals."
-Isla

End of year Christmas parties were remote this year which was definitely a different experience from previous years.  Isla’s teacher sent packages to all her students with crafts and treats to make the most of it, which was a nice gesture.  And because the parties were remote, the kids got to peek in on the events for each other’s classes.

With school ending this week the kids needed to find new ways to entertain themselves.  A few highlights included more outdoor soccer, learning to cook, and building an exercise regimen.

With all the families and kids getting negative COVID tests, they were able to get together for a secret Santa gift exchange.  The kids had a lot of fun seeing their friends again and they stayed up way too late playing.  With all the isolation we’ve been under lately, it was good for them get out for a bit and let off some steam.

Fun while on lockdown…

Mommy: "What are you doing?"
James: "Laying on the couch because Ashlyn is trying to kill me with science."

The weather at the beginning of the week was fairly mild which meant we could kick the kids out of the house to play.  Since we’re on lockdown and the kids can’t go to sports, even playing outside for awhile was a luxury.

Isla is still reading whenever things get quiet.  Her love of books and learning new words is fun to watch and we’re encouraging her as much as we can.  She is well past the the reading level goals for Kindergarten and will likely be past the 1st grade end of year level when they do mid-year testing.

This a week for playing games.  Board games, card games, twister, and dress up all took place after the weather got too cold to play outside.  The best part was the kids playing well together and teaching each other how to play.

The beginning of super quarantine…

"For the first time in history we can save the human race by laying in front of the TV and doing nothing.
Let’s not screw this up!"
-Unknown

As much as we tried to keep the ongoing pandemic away from our house, it found it’s way in.  So the blog may be a little lighter over the next few weeks.  That hasn’t stopped the kids from getting up each morning and opening their advent calendar surprises.  Between that and finding the elf, each morning leading up to Christmas will be fun for them.

We took some time to get out of the house and go see a light show in Grand Prairie.  Taking any pictures of the event was difficult, but it’s a slow week so we’re willing to use them.  The kids thought all the displays were pretty neat, and it was good to get out of the house for something different.

The day after the light show we had to go on lock down, so things around the house got pretty slow.  Reading, writing, cooking, and playing became the norm.