Oh Hey 2021

 So... I dropped off the planet there and that's maybe okay. The world has enough going on that my ramblings or lack thereof aren't going to influence it. 

We've had some snow. And a lot of ice. While I would love to tell you that I am here for it... apparently, snow and ice are my breaking point and mostly, they have brought out my grumpy side. 

Except for the other day, the sun finally came out. And the trees were so beautiful. It had been foggy for 3 days solid and the fog froze on the branches. (It's called rime... in case you didn't know. Different from hoarfrost.) 

This was simply a picture snapped from my cube window, but it sure was a bright spot in the cloudy yuck. 

In other news, I won my fantasy football league. 

I'm pretty darn impressed by the whole thing. Perhaps I will retire and go out on top. I mean, probably not. But until August, bragging rights are mine!

Work has been going well. I am right on top of that Rose! My mom got me this awesome vinyl sticker for my Yeti. It sure makes my coffee taste more fun. 

Work is going well. I am enjoying it and I think I have learned a lot. The learning curve was steep but I think that I've held my own. I can't wait to see where I am in a few months! 

Husband and I had an at-home date night. We streamed a concert, ate some food, had a drink and played Bananagrams. It was much needed and wonderful!! 

I mean, I still can't wait until things open up and we can go to actual establishments and hire babysitters again. But in the meantime... this works for us. Bonus points for not having to wear shoes! 

In kid news... they're good. School has been back from break for nearly 2 weeks. I don't take for granted their 5 day a week, in-person learning and they're rising the occasion. It's been SO good for them! 

M has been doing a good job with the learning to read program, and she got to watch The Duck Song as a reward. After a comic book stint that I wasn't a huge fan of, C read a whole decent length chapter book in one day so I am super excited about that. 

I've been reading up a storm, though the latest Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick Outlaw was NOT one that I enjoyed. This is odd since I typically think Reese has great taste, I hope this is a fluke and not a sign of things to come. 

And that's all I know. Have good weekends everyone! 

See Ya 2020

 I mean, let's be real. 2020 was not without challenges. 

But there was a lot of good stuff that happened too. 

Family time. My kids both got rid of training wheels. We baked. We played. We swam. We snuggled. I got a job. The kids have been at in-person school for months. (And it looks like that should continue.) 

We got some fun new stuff for the backyard. We even got to spend some time with friends. Perhaps not as much as we would have liked but still. There were pumpkins and strawberries and even apples at the last minute. 

We had a very Merry Christmas. 

Don't get me wrong. I love a good New Year every bit as much as you do. But there's still been a lot to be thankful for in 2020 and for that I am grateful. 

Enjoy this holiday kickoff to what's yet to come! May it be wonderful and just how you like it!

A Christmas Scavenger Hunt

 Our Parish planned a scavenger hunt for families to celebrate the season. No big Christmas party but we could certainly all celebrate together anyway. It was so well organized, everyone was given a list of where to start so no one place was too crowded. 

There was a combination of places to do activities and games and places that were just photo ops. 

When we did encounter others it was masked and outdoors. (Except when we went to church and even then, masked and distanced!) It was so fun and really felt almost normal. 

A big thank you to all 11 homes who opened their yards and driveways to a lot of carloads of people. 

The funniest part of the night was when I guided Husband incorrectly and we drove by a house with a bunch of people in front of it and luminaries. I said it was a good thing we didn't crash that party. Turns out... it was the next house on the map! 

We really had a nice time! Prizes are being awarded this week sometime, but even if we don't win... I am pretty sure we won in our hearts. 

'Tis the Season

 We have been trying to keep all our traditions alive. We kicked it off last night with our typical Family Movie Night pizza and our annual viewing of Elf. This year I got us all Elf shirts. 

Then today we made some of our cookies. I decided to break up the cookie making into two weekends. 

C made Peanut Butter Blossoms. 

M made Molasses cookies. 

And there were smiles all around. 

And we rounded out this evening with our first time watching Christmas Chronicles. It's the talk of the town these days and we haven't seen it before. So we needed to remedy that situation. 

Christmas movies and cookies? It doesn't get much better than that!!

Fri-Yay!

 This gal had a half-day of work today. Which was excellent. Ultimately, it was because we are getting a new server and we couldn't be on our computers for a single second today. We had training on the new server yesterday... 

And it was long and boring. And I had to have my phone to my ear the whole time. I sent myself the video though because they are realistic. 

Anyway, we went in this morning and tackled the file pile... and we finished it!! 

For sure took a picture to prove it happened!! :) 

This made me laugh out loud. So I am sharing it with you. 

This also made me laugh out loud. I am for sure one of those "never call me" people. Getting phone calls at work is still the worst and I seriously pray that no one calls me daily. Send me an email!! A text! Why do you need to talk to me? 

And that's about what I know. Happy for the weekend and some special time with the family. More on that soon! 

Whisk It Up

 Well, you probably know that St. Nicholas visited on Sunday. 

At our house, he always brings a pair of Christmas/holiday/winter pajamas. This year he also brought the much sought-after Thermos. It was a hit. 

M was very excited because her pajamas had a baking theme. And we were listing the items that were on the pajamas as we were telling my parents and mentioned how they have whisks on them. They asked if she knew what a whisk was. And she said "I know about Whisks. It's for when you circle up pancakes." And she mimed whisking pancake batter. Circle up = mixing

It was for cute. 

M asked to make brownies on Monday afternoon. This morning we told her she could! She wore this mask today made by her friend's Grandma. Isn't that so sweet? 

During the day I realized that today was actually International Brownie Day! Isn't that crazy?! I had no idea. But it made for good timing! She came home and got to work. 

And here she is about to put them in the oven. They turned out super tasty too. 

So whatever you're baking this month, I hope you whisk it up like my girl. 

Gingerbread 2020

In a year with many changes and compromises, I am so grateful we could still make Gingerbread Weekend 2020 a great one. I am exhausted right now, I am not going to lie. But it was fun. And every year we get a little better at planning ahead and that makes the whole thing so much fun for us! 

What's undoubtedly enjoyable is that the kids have very specific ideas in mind now which is helpful! 

C picked a white, red, and green theme. I love it!

We ran out of gummy bears to keep the pattern going. I honest to blog almost ran to the store to buy some more for him but ultimately he went with a whole 4 bars of mint Kit Kat for the other side. (Don't be surprised if you see another gummy bear roof in the future, I love it!) C loves all things sour, gummy, and minty. Which is pretty much what his house is made of! 

M had a very very specific plan for her house this year. She had sketched it out about a week in advance. She really wanted pink frosting. 

So pink frosting she got. Please note the Tootsie Roll "curtains" over her Starbust "windows." She spent a great deal of time and care getting her house just right. 

And then the adults. I was ADAMANT that we were going to plan in advance this year and keep the actual Gingerbread weekend slightly less stressful. I only partly won. We did talk through it and sketch it out last weekend. But our cardboard model didn't get built until Friday night. 

I had done some more research this year of techniques I wanted to try and I ordered the sheets of gelatine to use as windows ages ago. And I'm not going to say it wasn't stressful. It was. I have absolutely no chill when it comes to Gingerbread house. 

But it turned out alright. As it usually does. And we ended up with this monstrosity. 

As always, everything is edible except for the lights. And by edible I mean you could eat it. But you wouldn't want to. 

Things to remember for next year: make the royal icing with the paddle, not the whisk. Buy more brown gel food coloring. Buy some bigger piping bags and the clamps once and for all. And take a deep breath, it's probably going to be fine. 

Gingerbread is one of my favorite traditions and I am so so glad to be able to share it with my family.