Mason, Rylan, and Elli
We got through 2020! In our country, the year seemed to end worse than ever, but at home we were able to end the year better than we started it! We had a good holiday season from our fun night with friends in October all the way to New Years Eve. Here are some of the things we did.
The presidential election happened right at the beginning of November. Joe Biden won, but there were some legal challenges afterwards to make sure everything was above board, which caused people to go crazy for the next two months (well three months really- I’m writing this at the end of January and I think things might finally be settling down on that front.) We were going to color in states on a map for the electoral college as they came in, but the results were way too sparse and unreliable to do that on election night. The results were coming in for a week or more after the election. There was a lot of mail-in voting this year because of Covid, so, like all of 2020, election night was also abnormal.
It was really warm for a while in November. We played badminton one Sunday and Poppy and I beat the family record with 300+ hits back and forth….I can’t remember the exact number though!
The Steelers had a great record for most of the season this year, and even though we didn’t watch the beginning games, we started watching a few weeks in. Boys you really got into it, and your favorite players were Ben, Pouncey, and T.J. Watt.
Daddy’s birthday was in the middle of the week in November, and y’all had fun making him cards and helping give him his presents.
We went to Pennsylvania for a weekend in November to celebrate Daddy’s birthday. I went to a craft show with Grandma and Aunt Hilary in the morning on Saturday. We ended up eating at Uncle Levi’s that Saturday because Daddy and Pap were helping Uncle Levi on a project at his house. You 3 loved being at their house, playing in the yard, and playing with all of their toys! There was a lot of stress about school with another executive order from the governor that weekend, and that was incredibly not fun. Also, when we tried to go to church that weekend in PA (the church is in MD), we got to the parking lot, and no one was there. We then found out that they were closed that week because of Covid.
Since the Turkey Trot was Covid-ized this year, we did our own Gobbler Trot at home with the three of you. Elli, you didn’t make it , but the rest of us all ran a mile. (Poppy came over and did it with the 5 of us.) At Thanksgiving we had Aunt Karen, Luke, Mandy, and her boyfriend. We played football after we ate, and since it was a nice day, Aunt Michele and Uncle Wesley came over to sit outside and talk to Nonni and Aunt Karen and Elli while we played.
Boys, you helped Poppy bring their Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving night while Elli worked on a craft, and then you all three helped decorate the tree. We finished the night with some impressive comb playing and “Name that Tune” with the combs.
The night after Christmas we did our Fall Closing Ceremonies. We picked out all of the papers that we’d put in our thankfulness jar and read over them together while we ate Canelitas (Mason said he didn’t like gingersnaps so we found something new) and vanilla wafers with apple cider.
The next night we did a combined Christmas Opening Ceremonies with Shabbat. We decorated the house for Christmas and listened to Christmas music during the day. Then we watched Little House on the Prairie before supper and had our Shabbat meal, then we switched back to Christmas mode and drank hot chocolate, ate cookies, and watched Rudolf. Mason, you had a bad headache that night and you only started feeling better a little before the movie was over. You drank your hot chocolate for breakfast the next morning.
Elli, you had a tea party with Nonni at the beginning of December, and you LOVED it. You had snacks, a pretty dress, tea, barbies, and an art project. You brought a baby doll to the tea party, and I was there too. You talked about it for a long time.
We had a couple little snows in December- the first one was even smaller than the second. Elli, you and Daddy threw snowballs at the back door, and you made a tiny snowman, but he fell apart when you brought him inside for a picture.
We had 3 different cookie making days again this year. The first one, in the middle of the week, was the biggest day of work. Teresa came and helped again this year, and the boys were at school most of the day. Elli you were a big helper! We had Dominos that night. The second day was a Friday, and we ended that day with me making pizza for all of us, and then we watched the Grinch afterwards with Nonni and Poppy. (Daddy was on a route all through Christmastime where he left home around 5:15 pm and got home around 7:45 am. Monday-Friday).
That Saturday we went up to PA for the Christmas meal with Mr. Carbaugh. We stopped at a little diner in Dayton on the way up that was really good and fun. The three of you all played basketball for a while at Grandma’s house, and a lot of the rest of the weekend was spent in the shop. We had the meal in there because of the PA governor’s restrictions on restaurants. We were able to go to church that next day, but Elli was too scared to go to her class (she tried, but then she cried and they had to come get me). The boys stayed with us in the service too. We had another meal in the shop before we left for home Sunday afternoon. I had to get home to a baby shower for Miss Jill, since her baby was coming right after Christmas.
The second snow we had caused school to be canceled on the half day before Christmas break. It ended up not really snowing the whole day- it was just sleet and ice- until after it was dark. When we woke up the next day, there was actually real snow to play in. But before that, you boys found out how fun it was to sled down the hill in front of the house on sleet.
The 4 of us (not Daddy) went out again this year and looked at Christmas lights at least 3 different times. The first night we went to Gypsy Hill Park, and other times we drove around different sections of Stuarts Draft.
Grandma and Pap came here the Saturday before Christmas. They spent the night and left Sunday morning before church. We opened presents, read books, and played some games. Daddy and Pap worked on putting different lights up in the shop too.
Mrs. Dedrick spent one Sunday with us at Nonni’s and then went to life group with Nonni and Poppy that night.
That same Sunday night, we went to Nichole’s house for a Christmas fun night. We ate supper, played on Harley’s new hover board, played a video game, and watched part of a Christmas movie.
Right before Christmas, Rylan, you decided you were ready to give up your race car bed so we could redo your room. So we quieted the whole room, got rid of things and rearranged things, started ordering new things, and got about half of the room done before New Years. Next month I’ll show you the pictures of the finished product! We took some pictures of the stuff on your special shelf before we took things off of it.
The third cookie day we had was with the Erdmans when we made and decorated sugar cookies. You three had a lot of fun. We ended the day with Ciro’s and caroling at the Robb’s house (Nonni’s idea).
On Christmas Eve, Daddy was actually the one that was there for the meal. Poppy had a crazy misload situation that caused him to get home really late. But we ate and then watched a Superbook about Christmas and The Little Drummer Boy.
On Christmas morning Daddy slept past 9 because of his crazy work schedule and constant sleep deprivation. When he got up we opened stockings, and you 3 each got your final Christmas presents and the final family gift. I forgot to mention that we did that present opening thing that we started last year - all the kids opened one present a day starting about 8 days before Christmas (just a random number) and one family present together each day. That way the presents were spread out and you could play with and appreciate each one every day. It also keeps us from being so rushed on Christmas morning. It was still a fun tradition this year!
After Mommy and Daddy opened our presents too, we went to Nonni and Poppy’s to FaceTime with Aunt Heidi’s family. Then we ate lunch, then opened presents, then FaceTimed with Uncle Tony, then ate supper. It was strange not going to Aunt Michele’s house, but we still had fun and had a good meal.
The Saturday after Christmas, we went to Mr. Larry’s house to deliver the sugar cookies we’d made at Nonni’s. They ended up inviting us in and we stayed for quite a while. They showed us their Christmas decorations and told us interesting things about their lives.
The Sunday after Christmas we went to Aunt Michele’s house where they made a scavenger hunt for us outside with a treasure chest full of money at the end! It was very exciting and fun. We still have to decide what we’re going to spend the money on….we’re thinking of a little weekend trip somewhere. When we got back to Nonni and Poppy’s, Mason you played the part of “the Gambler” with Poppy with the treasure chest money. You were very hilarious and stayed in character all night long.
On New Years Eve we had a 2 table night of Spades. With Nate and Abigail playing, we were able to fill the two tables with them, Miss Ashley, and Miss Lisa. It was fun. Daddy got last place and won some Lucky Charms bars. Elli, you finally passed out around 9 or 10 on the couch and stayed there for the rest of the night. We must have been too casual about having so few players this year, because we ended up finishing really late still! I think it was at least 3 before I was in bed at home. But in good news, EVERYONE slept great on New Years day for maybe the first time ever.
Mason, you’ve come so far this year; looking back, I’m so thankful for Miss Tricia and how she’s helped us/you by giving you “strong water” (homeopathy). Things are so much different in our house than they were a year ago.
Although you stand firm in your “school is terrible” slogan, you still enjoy what you’re learning and talk about how you want to tell Mrs. Riddle things when you get to school. You also love playing football and arm wrestling friends at school. At home you play with Rylan and Elli all the time, you still love to listen to all the things (Adventures in Odyssey, Jonathan Park, and Disney tunes being your favorites right now), and you love playing baseball with Daddy. You have also started to enjoy reading ON YOUR OWN. What you really love right now is Garfield books from school. It’s fun to watch you enjoy reading things.
Rylan, you don’t cry when you go to school anymore, and you seem to love everyone in your class including Mrs. Gingerich. (You gave her two Christmas presents this year; one that you saw at the store with Nonni and insisted on buying for Mrs. Gingerich— Dr. Seuss socks— and then you insisted on giving them to her the next day even though it was a couple weeks before Christmas break and we still had another present to give her later.) You have fun with both Mason and Elli at home; you like playing with Canaan and Micah Hartt at church. You like soccer and baseball and anything that seems fun. It’s easy for you to be excited about things, and that makes the people around you smile. You are doing great with all of your academics in school. You love to make things out of trash, or recipes out of random foods, and you still love all things soft and cuddly. You went through a time for a couple months where you were so excited to wrap presents up for people — things we already had, like toys from the toy box. Mason wasn’t super encouraging about it, but it didn’t seem to discourage you, and you kept wrapping things up. The best was when you wrapped something up for yourself, put it under the tree, then told me to give it to you. Then you started bouncing up and down saying, “I wonder what it is!! I wonder what it is!!”
Elli, you are cute and sweet, and you’re also sassy and independent at times. You have become scared of going to sleep in this last month and then wake up in the middle of the night screaming. So we’re working on that problem. You went through a full month where you made me do “happy thoughts” every single night before bed. You like to do puzzles and are starting to play a few games with me. You say sweet things when Daddy leaves, like, “I hope you’re really safe and are careful when you’re driving! I’m going to miss you!” You had a belly problem in November- we even went to the doctor to get it checked out- but it got better on its own. You were crying almost anytime food went into your mouth for over a week. We doubled up on probiotics and yogurt, and things seemed to settle down. Your diet is still not the best, though. You are obsessed with having snacks and act like I’m giving you a punishment when I say it’s meal time, not snack time. You like to sing, and you love to listen to Adventures in Odyssey in your bedroom during rest time (which has been a hinderance to you actually falling asleep).
Here are the quotes from the month:
“When I wake up, I see the moon and the sun - like being friends.”
“Elli, someone could put you up on their ceilings and use you as a fire alarm.”
“I want to fly to the car but the wind won’t do that.”
“Can you read me this book?”
”I’m not sure you’d really understand it. It’s a big person’s book.”
”I’ll understand it. ....Is it SPANISH???””
“I wish Ben Shapiro was at our house cause I love him!!! And why does he talk fast?”
“Pancake is my best girl in the whole world!”
“If you WANTED someone to ‘mind you, you should ask ME!”
“What does that even mean?? I am getting frustrating and mad!”
“Let’s go, let’s go, Daddy-G-I-O!!”
“There’s a life lesson for ya. Never ask a gambler to pray. He might say bad words.”
Ok that’s it!