Father’s Day 2021
Celebrating this guy today.
And gathering with family to also celebrate Dave’s birthday. (Missing Aunt Bri – Uncle Jason made a solo ling weekend trip this time.)
Tag: Shecklet #3
Summer cut – #3
Shecklet #3 is the third kid in about two weeks to update their hair. She wanted to go short, but not as short as her sister. She trusted me to do the chop and this is what she ended up with! (Her last cut was in March 2020 😳.)
We survived distance learning!
What a year! Such an understatement.
It’s hard to sum up all of the thoughts and feeling I have about what took place during the 2020-2021 school year. The kids were resilient and grew in ways that Jake and I are so proud of. They tried new things, were flexible in numerous areas, and handled frustrations and challenges better than I ever expected.
Today was spent doing “fun” things – Shecklet #4 had a virtual dance lesson, award ceremony, and watched a movie. Shecklet #3 ended the day with making play dough. Shecklet #2 was effectively done yesterday because his teachers said he didn’t have to log in today. But I asked him to pose for a last day photo for me and he willingly agreed 😊
All three of these kids are looking forward to going back to school in person in the fall. I hope for their sake it can be as close to normal as possible for them. 💛
2021 Nissedalen fun 2021 – 1
Work and play day at the lake. Super hot temps meant the water felt extra refreshing today. Aunt Kristin took the kids tubing, I brought Grandma Lois to pick out flowers and then helped plant them, there was a group effort to blow up the water trampoline, and Jake and the boys helped install a new antenna.
Shecklet #4 asked me to take a few photos of just the two of us.
Blowing up the trampoline.
The Shecklets love their great grandma!
Jake grilled pork chops for us and tenderloin for Grandma Lois & Uncle Steve. His grilling post to FB was pretty funny: “In Nissedalen I like to be even though there is no charcoal. Made a little porkpourri.”
Finished tie dyed shirts
The colors are so much fun! We have extra dye, so I need to find some other ways to use up our supplies.
Update: 6/2/21 – the Shecklets dyed four more shirts last night. Here they are today.
Tie Dye Sunday night
Aunt Larissa always brings the fun. Tonight it was color. Lots of color. Can’t wait to see how everyone’s tie dye shirts turn out!
May Day
It was a gorgeous day today – full of activities, family, and friends.
Shecklet #1 went north last night and has been working at Nissedalen – doing with manual labor. Grandma Patti has kept us in the loop by sending photos of their progress.
The girls had track meets this morning and did a great job! The weather was a million times better today than last week. It was so much fun seeing the encouragement the girls had for each other as well as the fans in the stands cheering for the kids as they ran towards the finish line.
After track, Shecklet #4 went to her Aunt Larissa’s for her birthday overnight. (The kids look forward to this opportunity every year!) One of their projects was a fairy garden 🧚♂️
Shecklets #3 and 2 hung out at home while Jake and I attended the First Communion mass of our goddaughter. It was so good to see her and her family! It had been about a year and a half since we last saw them in person.
On our way home, we picked up take-out from a local Mexican place. Delish! And so nice to not have to cook or clean up any dishes!
I had a nice call with one of my aunts this evening – we got caught up in life and tried to solve a few of the world’s problems in the process 😊
Today has been a great start to May!
Healed!
Great news from the orthopedic doctor this afternoon! Shecklet #3’s shoulder has healed and can resume her normal activities (and activity level.) She is really happy to be able to bike and play frisbee again with her siblings.
2nd park day
Two days. Two parks. Two moms. 8 kids. The fact that this group of kiddos get along so well is a rare feat we don’t take for granted!
The last time this crew was together was back in July 2020. Needless to say, they’ve all grown a bit since then!