Christmas Night 2020 🎄🌟

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!

Christmas Morning 2020 🌟🎄

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.

Christmas Eve 2020 🎄

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.)

Gumdrop cookies

While Shecklet #2 and Shecklet #3 went to ski/snowboard, Shecklet #1 and Shecklet #4 helped me in the kitchen. We made a batch of one of my favorite cookies from childhood – my Grandma Fran’s gumdrop cookies.

Suprise Sundaes 🍨

My Aunt Ann, surprised us with a box full of sundae toppings for Christmas! The kids were SO excited to see all of the options!

We didn’t have any ice cream in the house on Monday, so they had to wait a day to make their sugary creations. I think they would all tell you they were worth the wait.

Thanksgiving 2020 🦃

Food and friends. That sums up the perfect way to spend Thanksgiving. We were grateful to have time with our KC friends. (We did pre-visit COVID testing and had negative results.) The kids picked up where they left off the last time they were together in May and the adults had time to catch up on the last 6 months of life. It was great to relax, hang out, and on Thursday, cook in the kitchen with my friend.

I am probably biased, but this meal was one (if not the) best Thanksgiving meal I’ve had!

These kids keep growing like crazy!

No visit would be complete without a photo of Shecklet #4 and her godparents.

Birthday 2020 🎂

The sun came out today. Kids decorated my bedroom door with streamers. Surprise delivery of strawberries for dipping from my godparents/aunt & uncle. Two in-person (safe) visits from friends who brought cards and gifts. Takeout for dinner. Butterfly necklace picked out by Shecklet #3 (given to me by all my kiddos to remember Astrid,) as well as a bike helmet, new sharpies, & a beautiful sweater that Jake selected. He also picked up a cake from the grocery store. Cards, texts, and other greetings from family and friends arrived throughout the day. I definitely felt loved!

Applesauce 2020 🍎🍏🍎🍏

I had a request from Shecklet #2 to make applesauce. My MIL gave us a bushel of apples from the orchard she works at every fall so I could fulfill his request.

I spent the morning chopping and now I have a very happy 12 year old. (And about half a bushel left for another batch later on.)

Shecklet #2’s edible animal cell

Science class project for Shecklet #2. It is fun to see the creativity that goes into the kids’ projects. The tasty thing about his cell is that he got to eat it – because it didn’t have to get transported to school. The four Shecklets had a piece for dessert tonight.