Our nephew is gaining a co-pilot later in the year and we are SO excited!
The news was shared with us at my MIL’s birthday party dinner tonight. First we saw our nephew’s shirt and then later, he gave Grandma Patti a flower with a little balloon that says “Baby Girl” along with an ultrasound photo on pink paper.
This trio isn’t ready to give up their winter sports quite yet, but with the temp hitting 50 today, they were ok busting out their scooters to enjoy a ride around the block and do tricks in the driveway.
The local paper was at our parish tonight and took pictures of parishioners receiving ashes on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday. This year was unique in that the ashes were distributed using q-tips. The online article contained a gallery of 10 photos and one of them was of three of the Shecklets!
It’s freezing here in MN. I know that’s not surprising. However, when the high temps are in the single digits and the “feels like” temps are below zero, there’s not much that you can safely do outside. (Jake and Shecklet #4 went skiing last night for a couple of hours before the temps really dropped and it was 🥶.)
I told the kids today was going to be a “screen break day,” so not to ask me or their dad to watch movies or play video games. They asked if we could invite one of their aunts over, and I told them they could see if she was free. She was. And she brought over some of her her craft supplies.
The kids made perler bead creations and did a few projects with the Cricut, including a super cute birthday banner for Shecklet #4’s upcoming birthday. I sorted a new batch of perler beads throughout the afternoon/evening while the crafters worked. At the end of the night, we finished sorting the whole bucket of 8,500 beads!
Here’s what was made today.
The Shecklets’ got a sewing craft as a part of their “share” gift for Christmas. They started making their donuts. Shecklet #4’s is completed, two are in progress, and one hasn’t been started yet.
The kids are learning how to backstitch, whip stitch, and stuff. It’s fun to see some of their creativity come out in their designs.
We went to visit Great Grandma Lois and have pizza (her request.) She us had visits from family throughout the month and we were the last ones on the list.
Shecklets #1 & #3 spent the night at their aunt’s house and rung in the new year with cookies, movies, and confetti poppers!
Shecklet #4 went to Grandma and Grandpa’s for the night and sledded on New Year’s Day.
Shecklet #2 stayed with Jake and me and hung out with our friends for the evening. We had a delicious smoked chicken dinner with salad, cheesy potatoes, and dessert. So good! The adults played a game while the boys all watched a movie. We ended the festivities around 10:30, but the three of us ended up making it ‘til midnight once we got home.
We went to Jake’s parents’ house for Christmas dinner. Two of his sisters, one BIL, and our nephew were able to join us there as well. The ham dinner was delicious and afterwards we played a few games before opening presents. It was so much fun to have a toddler in the mix again – they bring such joy to the holiday and are very helpful with tearing wrapping paper.
Shecklet #4 gave out massage certificates at the end of the night. They never expire and can be used an infinite number of times!
The Shecklets were up before the sun this morning and discovered the surprises in their stockings. After a breakfast of eggbake (Grandma Patti’s recipe,) muffins, and juice, we opened gifts as a family.
It was a snowy, chilly Christmas Eve. We finally received a substantial amount of snow yesterday along with strong winds. Today the whiteout conditions subsided enough for us to have one of Jake’s sisters join us for the second half of the day. We went to 5pm mass and then came back to the house for pizza soup (Grandma Fran’s recipe,) garlic bread, cookies, and a movie – Elf. (The church was almost empty so we took the opportunity to take a few pictures – masked and non-masked.)
Shecklet #2 went skiing for the third time in two weeks. Today, Shecklet #3 joined him and Jake, but instad of skiing, she chose to give snowboarding a try. She loved it! And unsurprisingly, made a friend while practicing on the bunny hill after her lesson.
