December Wrap Up

A few random pictures from December, pre-Christmas to write about. 

-Going to the store with four kids in a pandemic feels like a new level of crazy. Everyone has to wear masks (except Lucy, who also apparently wasn't wearing socks. Where are the footie jammies when you need them?) - but they all did a good job with them. It was a quick trip, but worth noting! I let all the kids pick a treat while we were there because going to the store is such a novelty. Austin chose to spend extra of his family economy money on ... candy (what else) and he was SO happy. 

-We finally finished a cushion for this window seat and it's turned into a favorite reading spot, like David and I have always envisioned it being. We love our home. 

We live right on a bird migration path and each fall there are a couple of days where we have birds swarming all over our yard. When they land on our roof it sounds like - I can't even describe what it sounds like to have hundreds of birds on your roof chirping and flapping then pushing to take off again. The kids thought it was great. 

Austin and Caleb. We love this balance game. 

The best part of getting Amazon packages? Jumping on air-poppers. Caleb would stretch them out into a long line, start at one end and hop one by one until they were all popped. 

Caleb is also at a funny stage for bedtime. He sleeps on the top bunk of the bunkbed and after we read books at night, he has been requesting that we swing him into his bed. He lays down and David grabs his arms while I grab his legs. This would be humorous as is, but it gets better. Not only do we need to swing him into HIS bed. But there is a specific process we are expected to follow. 1st, swing him three times and land him in Lydia's bed. He then says, "This is not my bed, this is Lydia's bed!" 2nd, we swing him three times and land him in Austin's bed. He laughs and replies "This is not my bed, this is Austin's bed! My bed has dinosaurs". 3rd, we swing him three times and on the 4th swing, we lift him up and over the rail into his top bunk. He laughs and says "THIS is my bed!" Life lesson: Don't try to skip any of the steps or you'll have to start at the beginning again. I know that things like this are just small stages. Pockets of funny that bring joy into life, so rather than fighting against it (it's quite the process every night), we will enjoy it for the days/weeks/months that it brings HIM joy until he grows into a new stage.

Lydia earned a giant candy bar at her virtual-piano-lessons and she was so pleased. Also, you can see our note on the front door. It reads "Merry Christmas: We can't come to the door because we are quarantining before Christmas. If you need to talk to us, please call: (my phone number)." It was such a weird thing to be in quarantine and not be able to open the door when people knocked.

Austin's favorite thing to do is slide down the rail of our stairway. We've had to make rules about not standing on it or putting his legs over the edge (because I would hate for him to fall off the tall part) but he's safe as he does it and he enjoys it, so we allow it. It makes me smile to see that part of his personality. He will probably grow out of this (see "enjoy the fun pockets of time before the kids grow out of them instead of worrying that it will never end") but even as an adult, I will sometimes sit on a railing down a set of public stairs and slide down - and it makes me smile to think of a grown-up Austin who still occasionally slides down a banister and that that may bring cheerful memories of his childhood. (I'm probably reading way too much into this, I'm just trying to say he loves it, we don't mind him doing it, and I want to remember it.) 

Austin is a cheerful, happy boy, who finds delight in simple things. He also has big emotions and feels strongly about doing the things he wants to do when he wants to do them. Childhood is ups and downs and we do our best to celebrate the ups and love each other through the downs. 

I just wanted to include this last thing about my writing. I love to write. Sometimes I write well, sometimes I write with little concern for much more than just getting my thoughts down on paper. I recently downloaded an extension on my computer called Grammarly, that analyzes your writing and gives suggestions for improvement. It's basically a step up from spell check. 

In this blog post, it has notified me that I sound: Cheerful, confident, and admiring. That sounds about right! It also gives me 34 advanced issues including punctuation in compound/complex sentences(23), word choice (4), wordy sentences(5), more... (2). Ha. That sounds about right, too. (That's information from the premium subscription that you have to pay for, so I can't see what they would recommend instead.) I'm not too worried because I know I have a specific delivery/voice that is pretty unique to me - but I had to laugh when I was writing an email and it said "Correctness: looking good. Clarity: Very Clear. Engagement: A big bland. Delivery: Slightly off." Yep! That sounds about on par. But as long as I'm being clear - I don't mind if my delivery is slightly off. Ha. 

I consider myself a good writer, although I know I'm sometimes wordy and I have a unique delivery. I'm grateful for this blog where I can write the words on my heart and mind and use those words to journal our life as a young family.