The Big 1-2!

Jacob turned 12, and we spent the past several days celebrating this kiddo! 

{I spy our guy featured in the weekly school announcements. For his special day, Jacob requested Dunkin for breakfast, McDonald’s for lunch, and shredded beef sandwiches for dinner. One out of three meals was not gag-worthy.}

{Jacob was super excited to open up a certain gift that he thought might be the best present of the year. Turns out it was a jumbo pack of gum. Womp. Womp.}

{The weather may have been the best birthday present. Sixty degrees made it an easy choice to pack up all the bikes, scooters, skateboards, and neighbors and head out for an afternoon at the skate park.}

{Birthday cake number one with my parents.}

{Enjoying his new VR headset, and trying his best to block the TV...}

{Birthday cake number two with Caleb’s parents. I’m sensing a theme...}

Jacob had a pretty fantastic birthday. I know this because he told us exactly that! 

Covid.

So Covid was a big deal in the spring, and then it was less of a big deal over the summer, and now it’s back in the spotlight and throwing off everyone’s plans. Positivity rates are soaring at nearly 15% in Illinois (they should be less than 5% to keep hospital beds open and available). Illinois is reporting its highest daily total of Covid cases since the start of the pandemic with upwards of 10,000-15,000 cases daily. Previously, a high number of positive tests would have been somewhere around 2,000. We were warned not to gather with anyone outside of our immediate family for Thanksgiving so as to not become a super spreader. The upcoming weeks’ numbers will detail how well those guidelines were followed. The difference between Covid then and Covid now is that we are all starting to know people—lots of people—who are catching it. It is no longer an abstract idea as friends and family are being affected by Covid. To keep ourselves safe, our family has put a stop to all indoor activities with friends and the kids are no longer involved in any sports. This pandemic is back in the forefront of our lives and is, quite frankly, a thorn in our side, but there is the promise of several vaccines in the upcoming months so we will keep on living life with extra caution for the safety of ourselves and those we love until our country can move past this. 

Covid also hijacked our district’s plan for in-person learning. The kids were set to phase back in to school at the beginning of November. That plan was scratched, and the district is now hopeful to transition back to a hybrid model (two days of in-person learning, three days of online learning) mid-January when the third quarter begins. Families can opt to remain online only until the fourth quarter, and because we just booked three weeks in Florida smack dab in the middle of winter, that’s what we will plan to do. 

Pandemic fatigue has set in as countless plans are shifted in ways that are out of our control, but as we have learned this is a marathon not a sprint, and we all need to dig in and keep our eyes on the finish line!

Thanks to the NBC for continuing to offer this daily Covid map. 

*No guarantees that the numbers I used in my post were perfectly accurate. I tried my best. But I’m a tired, old, washed up journalist who isn’t on point like I once was. 

November Bits

 The pieces of our November puzzle.

{We found ourselves a new President, and a new favorite CNN guy.}

{Seventies in November? I will take it!}

{The kids rediscovered the old wooden train tracks of days gone by, and spent the night building the crap out of them.}

{Camryn and I came across this over-the-top display of holiday cheer on our bike ride. It spans three yards and comes equipped with a sidewalk tunnel.}

{Not to be outdone, these two were busy getting our house Griswold ready!}

{Our first official Christmas light drive through of the season. My mom treated us to the Arboretum's light show where we had to stay in cars instead of walking the trails. A fine choice on that cold and drizzly night!}

{I had a colonoscopy, drank my self-prescribed prep, and came out polyp free! I get a five-year break before my next violent colon cleanse.}

{The mother-in-law demanded a picture of our family for her Christmas card. This was the best we could come up with on short notice...}

{We have an active group in the cul-de-sac across from our house. Ambulances, fire trucks, and a Chicago news crew all this month. Yikes!}

Thanksgiving, pandemic style.

With Covid cases raging (yes, this is still a thing), we had to split up Thanksgiving into shifts and spent the weeks leading up to it under lockdown because no one wants a side of the Vid with their mashed potatoes.

My parents came to our house on Thanksgiving where we dined on some of the best cooked and smoked turkey in the history of turkey. The kids made their own butter, and we imposed the three-second rule on a can of open cranberry sauce gone rogue. It was a delightful day!

{My mom and kids sitting on the kitchen floor atop a fur coat shaking cream into butter. That’s a weird sentence. Not pictured: Mason. Because that kid refuses to work on holidays.}

{The annual homemade pumpkin pie. Not because anyone loves to eat pumpkin pie. Carrying on my grandpa’s legacy with this old family recipe...}

Then we headed out to Iowa where we spent the weekend with round two of Thanksgiving. Same menu, different family, but just as great!

{We took advantage of the perfect weather to go on a two-mile hike around the lake at the state park while waiting for the turkey to cook.}

{Hats off to these chefs!}

Covid has done an amazing job of forcing us to reimagine everything. And we are doing an amazing job of knocking that challenge out of the park! 

What’s Up, Doc?

This girl’s new favorite snack: raw carrots. The bigger the better. Bonus when carrot can be used as a karaoke mic.  

See Santa. Check.

If there is one thing that we have learned in the last eight months it is that we need to be flexible with everything. And that includes how we have our annual chat with the Bass Pro Shop Santa. Our reservation with the Claus was last night, and precautions were taken very seriously. Santa was sitting behind a layer of plexiglass and was wearing a face shield. The kids were allowed to take off their masks for a hot second. And there were not more than 40 people in the whole building, none of which were standing anywhere close to us. It might not have been the “usual” experience we know and love, but 2020 is not usual. And these pictures will definitely be one for our family’s history book!

 {You can’t see any of the barriers in the original picture. The shine in this photo is from my phone.}

{I have learned that masks are a phenomenal way for this trio to take pictures. No weird smiles, and everyone looks perfect on the first take!}

{The kids call these 4-wheelers. I call them dreams.}

Score One for the Pandemic

When weather temperatures on November 9 are pushing 80, then one must take full advantage of remote learning. Not pictured: Jacob. Because that kid checks into school at 7:55, and doesn’t emerge from his room until all class work is completed. 

While the pandemic is providing us with a set of circumstances we probably would not have otherwise chosen, the unlikely memories we get to take away from this will certainly last a lifetime. And for that we are grateful. 

October Bits

The things that filled our October. 

{Cosmos. Planted by seed in May, and decided that October 21 would be a good day to bloom.}

{And at the same time: fall in full bloom.}

{I love this girl's creativity. She often picks make believe over tech devices, and that makes my heart happy.}

{Busted! Caught this guy asleep in his bed with his laptop rolling. Not as sneaky as he once thought!}

{80's girl wannabe. Straight down to the crimped hair!}

{Enjoying the last of the warm weather!}

{Neighborhood watch. We are still uncertain as to why three cop cars decided to park in front of our house and hang at the neighbors' for a bit. We do have some theories...}

{Pumpkin carving with the crew. Fun times!}

{And because things are still weird.}

Oops, we did it again.

These cute little puppies, Patch and Max, got to hang out with us for 10 days before heading to their fur-ever homes! Patch was a snuggle bug and super playful. Max was a little runt, and definitely had short man issues. He was a feisty little brat! They slept well at night and were so very excited to be freed from their crate each morning! Neither of them cared if they peed on the floor, and they fought over toys as brothers tend to do. But they were both super cute, and we had a blast playing with them during their time here!

{Max and Patch arrived at our house around 9:00 on a Sunday night with big fat bellies full of worms. Yuck! But by the next day their medications had kicked in and they weren't waddling around with their tummies dragging on the ground any longer.} 

{Camryn LOVES to snuggle puppies. It's almost a violent kind of love, and Max stopped tolerating her affection at about Day 4. Small guy with a mighty growl!}

{Mason loved seeing the puppies every morning before immediately becoming sidetracked with his iPad.}

{Puppy snuggles are the best!}

{These two would play a little, fight a lot, and then cuddle up with each other and sleep. Sounds oddly similar to my tiny humans!}

{Super cute fellas!}

And now that the weather is turning to cold, I am putting a temporary hold on fostering dogs as I don't go outside if it's cooler than 50 degrees. We will give it another go around once the weather warms back up!