A Look Back on 2020

 Well, 2020 was a year right! Obviously, like everyone else, it held challenges, surprises, disappointments, and struggles. Some of the biggest challenges for our family in 2020 was a complete change in our schedules, shifting to home school, cancellation after cancellation, the unexpected loss of my aunt being unable to comfort my family members at the funeral, and not being able to visit family (we only got to see my grandparents one time in all of 2020). However, I feel like we fared better than so many others- we never worried about the security of Matt's job, didn't have to juggle childcare/homeschool/work because I was already at home with the kids, and had no real fears of the virus causing serious harm to our immediate family. I'm grateful for that. There were also many good things that came out of 2020- we got to take two beach trips for practically the price of one, we've had a very positive experience homeschooling this year, our kids have closer, stronger relationships with each other, and we had the forced opportunity to slow down and spend more time together as a family. I would never ask to relive 2020, but it certainly wasn't all bad for our family. Here's a look back on our year.

January

- We continued moving out the baby stage with Katherine by saying goodbye to her crib and her pacifiers. 

February

- We celebrated Valentine's Day as a family

- Elisabeth and Matt went to the Daddy/Daughter dance

- The kids got to play in one of the first real snows in years

- Nathan participated in his first karate tournament

- I turned 35

March

- Samuel celebrated turning seven with a super fun Super Mario party with his friends

- I ate lunch with him at Liberty on his last day of school on March 13. Never in a million years, did we think that would be the last time we'd be in that building for at least a year. 

- Everything started shutting down and our Branson Spring Break plans were cancelled. Matt still took off for the week and we went to the movie theater for the last time in 2020. Matt did several house projects while he was off, and we tried to keep the kids entertained with science projects, puzzles, games, and crafts

- We eased into homeschooling at the end of March and found out that school was canceled for the rest of the year

April

- We were under stay at home orders for the month of April. We settled into a homeschooling routine and had lots of movie nights and game nights. We also spent lots of time on the trampoline and at our neighborhood pond. 

- We celebrated Easter at home with just the six of us. We watched church, made lunch, walked to the Pond and watched the Jesus play.

- We took a field trip to Natural Falls State Park for hiking and a picnic

May

- Nathan turned nine, and we were able to have a very small party for him with a few friends

- The kids had their last official day of school

- We surprised the kids with a beach trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama. There was drama in finding and booking a place with all the restrictions, but we were determined to get our toes in the sand, and I'm SO glad we did! We had an incredible week.

- Elisabeth had an outdoor dance recital

- Matt and I celebrated 14 years of marriage

- Matt turned 37

- Our pool opened for the season, yay!!

June

- I felt like so many of our traditional summer activities were cancelled- VBS, swim lessons, a special date with Elisabeth. We grieved those losses but were excited about the return of play dates and sleepovers

- We spent our days at the pool and playgrounds with friends and had a few sleepovers

- Samuel took a soccer class at Soccer City that had been canceled in the Spring

- Our church started back with in person services 

- I went on my annual girls' weekend with Mindy and Erica. 

July

- We hosted our annual Fourth of July celebration with friends

- We had more play dates and sleepovers including a sad goodbye to some of the boys' best friends who moved out of state

- Samuel and Elisabeth went to a summer dance camp for a week

- We got the chance to visit Weatherford and see my grandparents for a couple of days- the one and only time we saw them in 2020

- We met our friends at White Water for a super fun day

August

- Elisabeth turned six and we had  a girly princess tea party with a special visit from Belle

- We made the decision to homeschool for the 2020-2021 school year

- We went back to the beach with Matt's parents- our favorite, familiar one this time and had such a fun week

- Elisabeth and Katherine started a new year of dance

- Matt and I flew to Ohio to visit Cedar Point- a vacation that had been rescheduled from May. We had a great week riding amazing roller coasters and spending quality, uninterrupted time together

September

- We spent Labor Day with family and the Evetts and Millers. Nathan, Samuel, and Elisabeth rappelled for the first time

- We started our new school year with a fourth grader, second grader, and Kindergartener

- Nathan started Flag Football and had a great season

- Katherine turned three and had a fun Rapunzel birthday party

- Samuel and Elisabeth started gymnastics classes at a new gym

October

- We enjoyed some Fall activities including a trip to the pumpkin patch, the Gathering Place and the zoo

- We celebrated Abigail's first birthday in Edmond

- We took a quick vacation to Branson and went to Silver Dollar City and Fantastic Caverns

- We enjoyed several Halloween activities including hosting a homeschool party and our traditional trick or treating with the Shondelmyers

November

- Elisabeth got her ears pierced

- We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents and decorated for Christmas

- Matt resumed traveling for work after over  year of not having to travel

December

- We visited Matt in Memphis for a few days and had fun at the Children's Museum and Zoo

- We had a small Christmas party with a few friends

- We celebrated Christmas with friends, family and presents

- We ended 2020 with a fun New Year's Eve celebration with the Shondelmyers

New Year's Eve

We spent the week after Christmas cleaning up, packing away Christmas decorations and trying to get life back to normal. Then we couldn't wait to celebrate the New Year with some of our dearest friends. 

Brooke and I each made some appetizers for dinner, and the kids played, the adults visited, and we all ate dinner.

We've noticed lately that these two kids have started to play together more. It's adorable and a friend/play relationship I never thought about. Keaton is such a sweet, laid back kid and will happily put up with all of Katherine's play demands, ha!

All week, my kids were asking when it would be New Year's Eve and what time their friends would be over. It's a rare treasure to have so many strong friendships among our kids and among us parents too.

The kids had a Lego Master's competition. They each had to make a Christmas scene with Legos, and we threw in a twist in the middle of the competition that they also had to include a present. 

I thought they all did a great job. 

Nathan and Wyatt built some of the things they got for Christmas.

Keaton and Katherine made blue Christmas Trees

And Samuel, Elisabeth and Kaydence built a snowy Christmas Tree forest. 

We awarded prizes for most detailed, most unique and most festive. Everyone was excited to win an award, ha!

Then the kids continued playing while the adults played board games. 

These girls are always drawing and crafting when they get together. 

We took a break for hot chocolate. 

We had planned to stay up until Midnight, but as the night wore on and the adults grew more tired, we decided to celebrate with the East Coast at 11:00. We poured sparkling grape juice and toasted to the new year.

 

I can't think of a better way or better people to celebrate the New Year with. It was a great night. We all crashed hard after our friends left. Here's to 2021!

Christmas in Edmond

The day after Christmas, we headed to Edmond to celebrate with Matt's family. Everyone couldn't wait to play with Cousin Abigail. 

Elisabeth wouldn't let her out of her arms :)

The kids got even more great stuff at their third Christmas. 

Katherine got a new dance leotard and wasted no time putting it on. She wears it ALL the time. 

It was a pretty day, so we went for a walk after lunch and presents to a neighborhood park. 

We came back and played with the kids' new presents. 

We got Abigail some of the beloved stacking blocks that all our kids have loved. We all had fun building towers for her to knock over. 

We also got her a band in a box- because we're aunt and uncle of course 😉

Sunday after lunch, we said goodbye to Matt's family and drove to Frontier City for the afternoon. I was glad that the weather was sunny and not too cold for a Sunday in December. 

Elisabeth took her high heels and they gave her enough of a height bump to be able to ride the Brain Drain and the Silver Bullet. I'm still impressed with her bravery. Matt and I aren't fans of the Brain Drain, so she rode next to Nathan, and she loved it and couldn't wait to ride again. 

Katherine showed her bravery too and rode and loved the Steel Lasso. She kept asking to ride the blue and orange ride again. 

We spent the afternoon riding all the rides. There were virtually no lines, but a few of the rides were closed- we'll have to catch those next time. 

Nathan said once while we were walking around that he couldn't believe we could come back to Frontier City as many times as we wanted. My kids LOVE amusement park rides and roller coasters. They always surprise me with their stamina, excitement and courage.  I think everyone is happy about their Christmas present. That day at Frontier City felt like a teaser of the fun to come next Spring and Summer. 

Katherine finally crashed about 4:30 on Sunday afternoon. She asked me to hold her- it was our first trip to an Amusement Park without a stroller which is still crazy to me that we're moving out of that season of life! I picked her up and carried her, and I looked down and she was fast asleep. Poor Baby- the late nights, early mornings, no naps and crazy schedule of the last several days had caught up with her. 

I sat down and snuggled her while the rest of the kids rode the roller coasters. 

Everyone was cold and hungry by around 5:00 that afternoon, so we called it a day, ran to get some dinner and drove home with some VERY tired kids! Elisabeth and Katherine fell asleep as soon as we left OKC and slept all night until the next morning. And Nathan slept in until after 9:00 on Monday. Goodness, I'm just so grateful for all the fun memories we had celebrating Christmas this year!

 

Christmas Day

We headed over to my parents' house around 11:30 for more presents and Christmas fun. The kids couldn't wait to open more presents at their house. 

They all got some great stuff!

Elisabeth has been asking for a gymnastics bar, but she also mentioned several times that she didn't think she'd get one because they were too expensive. She was pretty excited to open it!

But not quite as excited as this boy opening his Mandalorian Lego Set. This kid is the definition of Christmas excitement. I love him!

Elisabeth was especially spoiled this Christmas with a bar and a new bike. She's pretty much outgrown her old bike, so she's been needing a new one. 

The Dino Wild Paw Patroller was pretty much the only thing Katherine asked for this Christmas. It was her go to request when anyone asked her what she wanted. 

After all the gifts were opened, we started playing. Samuel got a microscope and a coding Osmo that we played with. 

Elisabeth and Nathan both got new versions of Ticket to Ride, so we spent some time playing them. 

I had to show off my new Apple Watch. Matt and I were spoiled by my parents with a new ice cream maker, carpet cleaner, and power washer. Adulting is fun!

We ate steak for lunch and had Samuel and my chocolate pie for dessert. 

Then we spent the rest of the day playing with all our new toys. Nathan started his Lego set, Samuel and I played his new coding game, and we all played some of our new games including Pretty, Pretty Princess, Ticket to Ride and Apples to Apples. We had a great Christmas 2020!
 

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started early in our house as usual. 6:00am is our hard line for when the kids can get up and apparently Nathan had been awake in his bed since 5:20 waiting for the clock to strike 6:00, ha! He woke up every other person in our family right at 6:00. Elisabeth was so tired she came down crying that he had woken her up. She recovered pretty quickly.

These girls got some wake up snuggles from Daddy. Katherine was pretty out of it. She still doesn't have a full grasp on what Christmas morning means. 

The first things the kids opened were their stockings. I try to keep their stockings pretty inexpensive and practical- socks, underwear, bandaids, toothbrush, art supplies, favorite candy, and one or two other surprises. The girls got some lip gloss and chapstick, Samuel got a joke book, and Nathan got a card game. 

After stockings, the kids took turns opening their presents. 

They each had three presents from me and Matt, a gift from Momoo and a gift from their cousins. Then Matt and I had an extra surprise for them. 

Amelia and Emmeline always gift the kids books for Christmas, and they always pick awesome ones. Samuel devoured this series including additional ones from the library. 

Nathan got a couple of new Harry Potter Lego Sets.

I got Matt a new game, and some tools/equipment for an upcoming home project. He got me the pots and pans I asked for and surprised me with an Apple watch. 

There were also two extra presents for each kid under the tree. One was a piece of paper with a clue on it, and the other was a puzzle the kids had to solve to find a location for another present with a clue. 

Katherine did a puzzle that showed her where to find her other present. 

Samuel decoded a puzzle to find his present in the secret fort. 

Elisabeth solved her puzzle and found her present under the upstairs Christmas tree. 

And Nathan had to break out his math book on Christmas morning to solve some long division math problems to find his gift in the garage next to the bikes. 

Finally, when they had all eight clues, they solved the puzzle and found out what their big family gift was. 

I think they were pretty happy with their surprise :)

We are certainly looking forward to a fun Spring/Summer adventuring as a family. 

The aftermath of Christmas morning. It's a sure sign of a successful morning. 

Samuel told everyone that he got five gifts on Christmas morning and aside from books, all his gifts were building toys. 

Momoo got Elisabeth some dangly earrings for Christmas. She couldn't wait to wear them. 

After all the gifts were open, the kids got to playing while I cooked breakfast. 

We had our traditional breakfast of waffles with ALL the toppings and bacon. Samuel got me the tablecloth from Dollar Tree during our Christmas Eve gift exchange. 

I sure love these people. There's no one else I'd rather spend Christmas morning with than these five. 

After breakfast, Matt cleaned up the kitchen, and I took my turn playing with the kids. Katherine and I played castle and had a wedding at the castle. 

Elisabeth and Nathan ran upstairs to start on their Lego sets. They both had a walkie talkie and could call each other to check in or if they needed help. It was adorable and one of my favorite moments of Christmas morning!

We played until around 11:00 and then got ready to head over to my parents' house for more Christmas fun!