Oh hey. What can we say about this year that hasn't already been said a million times? Nothing. It hasn't been too bad for us, other than not seeing friends and loved ones as much as we'd like. We've been healthy, the kids being able to go to school has been the best thing ever, and life generally feels normal. We're all used to wearing masks when we go places, which is the biggest change of all. Not too shabby.
Being self-employed is the best, and I say that with a heavy dose of cautious optimism. We're mostly having a great time coming up with ideas. It's a lot of work, but it's nice that it's ours.
Nils has never gotten more sleep than he is getting right now, haha. He's always had so many things going on at once that he hasn't had time for sleep. I challenged him to work out 5 days a week for 4 weeks back in November, and he's still going strong. We often work out together, and it's just a barrel of laughs, jump squats, and sweating.
We were recently called to teach youth Sunday school together. We teach the 14-17 year olds, and so far it's going fine. Teaching over Zoom is a little crappy, but the kids are mostly good. We're bribing them to participate with full size candy bars, so we'll see how long that lasts.
Well, December starts out with Ava's birthday. She's 11?! Currently Ava loves watching YouTube, doing crafty stuff, reading graphic novels, and playing with friends. As the youngest of 4, she gets away with staying up late and being quite independent. A few weeks ago she asked for a haircut, and it didn't go great. I was tired and not concentrating hard enough, and end up cutting one side about an inch shorter than the other. This resulted in a much shorter cut than she bargained for, and I feel bad. It looks cute, but it's not what she wanted. Good thing hair grows back, and good thing MomSalon is free. Also, these pictures are pre-haircut.
We had our first annual company Christmas party. We got food at Culver's and had a gingerbread house contest. 'Twas fun. Nils and Anders won the contest and got a $25 Amazon gift card. Next year we'll all have to be on our A games.
Aani had a Christmas orchestra concert that we were actually allowed to attend. It was during the middle of the school day, which wasn't a problems because WE DON'T HAVE JOBS.
Trying to figure out a thumbnail, and Anders interrupting. Thumbnails are life on YouTube. Also, the bangs are still not my favorite but there's nothing I can do about that, is there.
I spent an entire Saturday making gingersnaps for the neighbors for Christmas. There were about 300 gingersnaps. I made a list of those I considered "gingersnap worthy" because I was feeling a little miserly after making that many cookies and not being able to eat any due to their glutenousness. Everyone loves these gingersnaps, I'm telling you.
Christmas was a success! On Christmas Eve, we played bunco with my mom and niece, which was fun. We missed the normal big crazy party, but we had a good time.
The kids were all happy with their spoils on Christmas, which I was honestly a little surprised by. I do 99% of the shopping (and 99% of that online), and they were all really pleased. Thanks, internet! We're definitely out of the toys phase in our house, so there are a lot more clothes involved. Addie got a record player, and a weighted blanket. Aani wanted clothes and makeup, so I threw in a Caboodle. Anders wanted Jazz merch, Stance socks, and a nice coat. Ava didn't tell me one single thing she wanted, so I had to guess. She got some books, Legos, a stop motion Lego movie making kit, snow boots, and some other stuff I don't remember.
We drove a few miles away to see the Christmas star. It wasn't that exciting. The magnificent pictures that people were posting online are not the same as what we saw. That didn't stop Nils from fiddling with this crappy telescope for 45 minutes, though. The kids came because we promised them Wendy's. :) It got us out of the house and we got to spend some quality time together.
Whelp, I think that's about it. Thanks, 2020, for being super weird. The year of meeting friends in parking lots to eat take out in camping chairs. The year of book club on Zoom. Church at home and all the screens in the house being used all the time. It is what it is! Go easy on us, 2021, we're a little crazed.
