We turned the calendar this year with hopeful hearts that 2021 would bring big changes to our world -- the start of COVID vaccinations here in the United States, schools being allowed to open up again for full-time face-to-face instruction, team sports with spectators allowed to attend, businesses of all types (including bars and restaurants ) opened to full capacity again ... and the list goes on and on. While we have enjoyed the extended time spent together as a close-knit family this year, we also find ourselves longing for the freedom that we used to have to go places and spend time with friends "outside of our bubble." We are missing a true sense of normalcy.
We spent our New Year's Eve at home -- just the 6 of us -- with a GOLD decorated table filled with snacks and special drinks. We watched football, played games and after putting Jimmy in bed at 10:00 pm, we stayed up to watch the (completely lame) BALL DROP in NYC. It was a very muted event and lacked the usual excitement and hype because of the understandable social distancing that was necessary. And then, by 12:02 am, we were all tucked into bed. Ha!
And now a bunch of randomness:
With the fire going nonstop in our back Family Room this time of year, we roasted hot dogs for dinner. Kind of like a good old-fashioned campfire, and Jimmy was pretty excited about that.
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A snow storm moved into our area on January 1st, dumping lots of fresh-clumping snow (perfect for building snow forts) and left the trees covered for the most gorgeous backdrop. The girls and our neighbor (whom we affectionately refer to as our "adopted daughter") spent hours outside the next day.
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And while the girls were hard at work constructing snow forts and sledding down the back hill, the boys were out front firing up the snowmobile.
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My kids have all been good "nappers." They would consistently, without fail, take afternoon naps up until they went to kindergarten. They always needed that time to re-charge and were in better spirits and ready to take on the world afterwards.
With Jimmy preparing to start all-day kindergarten in the Fall, I was been letting him skip his nap once in a while. Sometimes, he can handle it and make it until bedtime (8:00 pm) without falling asleep. But there are some days when I find him like this by the middle of the afternoon: