Trimming the Tree!

I just realized that I have not written an entry in 2.5 weeks.  That's a long time for me, but it basically sums up the fact that we really have not been up to much these past few weeks besides homeschool and just living our lives.  There really hasn't been much on the calendar, especially after our governor tightened things down again on November 16th.  Stores were required to go back to 25% capacity, all restaurants were closed for in-service dining, and all indoor recreational activities were forced to stop.  Sadly, that meant that Ella's ballet and gymnastics classes were forced to come to an abrupt halt which was such a major bummer for both her and me as she has been enjoying them so much this fall and doing so well.  Luckily, Lia's voice teacher continued to hold her weekly voice lesson and her two, Girl Scout troop leaders just decided to break the rules and continue to get the troop together twice a month for their meetings.  Although Logan's soccer season has been such a disappointment (with no practices all of August and most of September and NO games), his team can continue to meet outside although there is only one more practice left before his season ends.  So, we are slowly, but surely, plugging along and trying to focus on the things that we have to be grateful for...like the beginning of the Christmas season!  I can tell that we are not the only ones in this boat as I have never in my life seen so many people put up their Christmas lights and trees so early and I also have never seen so many empty aisles at stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby where there should be oodles of Christmas decorations and crafts.  Apparently, everyone is looking for a little magic and happiness in their lives during this Covid Christmas (as the kids and I started calling it a few weeks ago).

So, with that said, we headed out to the tree lot and chose our Christmas tree yesterday morning.  After showing up to the same lot where we have purchased a tree for the past several years, we learned that their entire batch of 7 to 8 feet trees sold out in one day after their delivery on Friday morning (yet another sign of this Covid Christmas).  As as result, we drove down the road to a smaller, Christmas tree lot that we have driven by every year on route to our usual one.  Luckily, they had just gotten a batch of trees in that morning and we were able to purchase a beautiful one that I have now declared as one of my all-time, favorite trees that we have ever bought.  After Ron helped me put it in the stand yesterday, the kids and I put on our Christmas music this afternoon and decorated to our hearts' content.  In addition, the children were able to put all of their own ornaments on the children's Christmas tree that I had purchased a few weeks earlier online.  I had decided last year that the time had come to make this investment since the kids now have so many ornaments that it was taking over our family tree in the Living Room.  The children's tree is nestled in the corner of our foyer and it looks so cute there.  We were all so pleased with the finished products and can't wait to chase Emmett in the days and weeks to come as he continues to take ornaments off the tree and throw them like "balls."  Oh dear.  The joys of celebrating Christmas with an almost-two-year-old!

The three bigger kids decorating the children's tree.

Logan hanging one of his ornaments on the kids' tree.

All four kiddos and I posing in front of the family tree.

Logan hanging an ornament.

Ella showing off a miniature wreath ornament before putting it on the tree.

Lia hanging another one up high.

After dinner was over and the kids were all ready for bed, Logan and Ella asked for permission to set up a little game around the base of the Christmas tree.  I thought that it was so cute that I couldn't resist and gave them permission to play with their toys in the glow of the Christmas tree.  Now that's the magic of Christmas right there.

Veterans Day at the Zoo!

Normally, I have a day off from school planned days in advance with some sort of family activity scheduled.  I can tell that this school year is a different type of year as I am so much more busy homeschooling the kids that I just don't have the time to plan things like I used to do.  It wasn't until Monday evening that I realized that we should try to do something fun on Veterans Day which was only one day away.  After thinking about how it is really too cold to do an outdoor activity and so many of the indoor activities are closed due to Covid-19, I realized that taking a trip to the zoo might be one of our only options.  Luckily, we haven't been there since Spring Break of 2019 when Emmett was only three months old.  As a result, it had been long enough to be a fun activity for the older kiddos and like a first time activity for Emmett since he obviously doesn't remember anything from our last trip there.  After proposing it to Ron and getting his stamp of approval, I bought our tickets online for a specific time which is now a Covid requirement for Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m.  After a rushed morning today, we headed out to Tacoma at 9 a.m. and had a really fun time exploring the zoo for about two hours.  Emmett absolutely LOVED every animal, bird, and fish that we saw and we all just got the biggest kick out of watching him experience everything for the first time.  Although the play area and the carousel were closed, every indoor and outdoor exhibit was open and we had a great time walking around together enjoying this favorite, local zoo of ours.

The girls and me all masked up and ready to start out trip around the zoo after walking through the main entrance.

Although the amazing playground was closed, Logan and Ella were still able to climb inside this giant-sized, sea anemone.

Ella on her own.

The kids and Ron checking out the massive elephant we found walking around behind them.  Emmett enjoyed making elephant noises after getting over the initial shock of seeing a real one.

The gang hanging out at the tiger observation deck.

The massive tiger relaxing on the grass in all of his glory.

The monkeys put on a great show for us and swung right inside the room after we got there.

Cute Emmett pointing out the monkeys while in papa's arms.

The kids and I standing next to another tiger inside the glass cage.

Ella hanging out with the penguins.

Logan standing in front of one of the massive, jellyfish tanks--one of my favorite exhibits of any aquarium.

The awesome jellyfish aquarium/water feature inside the jellyfish exhibit.

Emmett loved watching the sea lions swim by the large window we were standing next to.  He starting saying "woosh" every time they swam past us after hearing me say it a few times.

One of the graceful seal lions swimming by us.

Ella posing next to one of the adorable sea otters who was relaxing on the surface of the water.

Logan and Ella climbing one of the massive rocks on the way to the walrus exhibit (where were surprisingly empty)!

The massive muskoxen grazing in the grass as we stopped by this exhibit before heading to the gift shop and then to our car to head home.  It was the perfect way to spend a holiday morning as a family!

22 Months Old Today!

This busy boy just turned 22 months old today.  He's just two months away from his second birthday and I just can't believe it.  I have never had a child reach his or her second birthday so fast.  It's just killing me!  Emmett continues to just grow and progress every month.  He is so busy and active during his waking hours of the day and really just wants to be doing what his older siblings are doing most of the time.  He has totally fallen in love with choo choos, trucks, and cars and can be found pushing them around the house on his own every day.  He also has started bringing one of us over to the area where he is playing, patting the ground next to him, and saying the word, "play," which is just the cutest thing.  Emmett also makes a really great truck noise (much better than me) and started making this noise whenever he sees a big semitruck while we are driving in the car.  He also has discovered Elmo and has totally fallen in love with him which is exactly what Logan did at this age.  He now points out Elmo wherever he sees him (on plates or on a toy, etc.) and enjoys watching short video clips of him on YouTube before losing interest and wandering off to somewhere else in the house.  Emmett has also started copying his older brother and now insists on bringing all four blankets from his crib with him whenever we take him out in the morning.  He tries to carry all of them with him which is almost impossible as this blanket bundle is practically as big as him.  Normally, they end up scattered all over the house and I have the good fortune of picking them up and returning them to his crib on a daily basis with the exception of his favorite blanket which gets carried around with him throughout the day.

Emmett has also started folding his arms (on his own) during meal and family prayers which just melts my heart and he also has totally figured out how to play the game of hide-and-go-seek.  He will now play it with his siblings and is really good at staying still and quiet in a hiding spot for a long time.  Whenever he is finally found, he always has this sneaky smile on his face--especially when he doesn't respond to his older brother or sisters calling his name after they have given up looking for him.  It's rather impressive.  Although the cold and wet Autumn weather has totally arrived, Emmett still loves going outside at any chance that he is given as he misses the long, outdoor play sessions that he had on a daily basis this past Spring and Summer.  To help make outside play time a little more pleasant this Fall, I purchased a pair of adorable, dinosaur-themed rain boots for him which he loves wearing both inside and outside of the house.  Emmett also continues to eat like a champ and faithfully take a 2 to 3 hour afternoon nap each day after lunch.  Although I decided not to have him "cry it out" again last month after some really bad nights' sleep, he is basically hit or miss with his nighttime sleeping.  Most nights, he still wakes up 1 to 4 times a night and requires either a pacifier plug in or a rocking in his recliner chair.  We have never had a child struggle with sleep like this at almost two years old, but it is what it is, and I am just trying to deal with it and be grateful for the nights when I only have to plug him back in one time.  I don't know what is causing this, but I hope that one day, sooner than later, Emmett will grow out of it.  

His vocabulary development has also really taken off this month as he learned the most amount of words in one month so far in his life.  Here is a running list that the kids and I kept throughout the month:  play, crash, me, push, back, off, walk, box, more, off, snack, rock, shoes, boots, spider, cheese, gosh, the truck sound, choo choo, more, Elmo, walk, pumpkin (pronounced pumpkee), block, up, trash, fish, wash, brown bear (from the children's book),"hut toop" (he says this when marching like a soldier), and the most exciting one of all--LOGAN (actually pronounced Wo-gee).  After months and months of waiting, Logan finally got to hear his little brother say his name.  I don't know why learning Logan was so much more difficult than learning Lia or Ella, but poor Logan had to wait many months longer than his sisters did to hear Emmett say his name.  So, we are all glad to say that the wait is finally over!  Overall, we just continue to love and adore our Emmy Bemms and just think he is the cutest thing around.  We are so grateful for him in our lives and are looking forward to watching him experience his second Christmas season in a few weeks.  Oh, how he is going to freak out when we pull out the lights and decorate the tree!

This was the common scene that occurred multiple times while trying to get Emmett to sit still on the brown chair and smile for me today.  He is nonstop on-the-go these days!

Exhausted.

This picture perfectly sums up how I feel right now.  I am exhausted.  Exhausted to the bone.  This homeschooling thing has been unbelievably difficult this school year due to juggling a very active 11/2 year old while trying to teach a 1st and 3rd grader who need lots and lots of help.  In addition to this consuming the first half of my day, we are now involved with afternoon activities every day Monday through Thursday and every other Friday.  So, we now have very busy evenings again complete with an activity, dinner, dishes, and bedtime.  By the time my head hits the pillow every night, I absolute crash.  In addition, Emmett does not sleep very well most nights and so I am woken up for several pacifier plug-ins and rockings in the recliner chair that cause me to wake up in the morning feeling very unrested and tired.  On top of all of this, I am still trying to do everything that I normally did to run a household that I used to do when I was at home for 6.5 hours a day with just one child.  I have really dropped very little from my life and the combination of all of the above have left me feeling totally drained and exhausted by this past Saturday when Emmett was woken up an hour into his nap due to the roofers nailing felt paper to the roof directly above his bedroom.  I tiredly left the project I was working on in the kitchen to go to his bedroom to rock him for a few minutes in the recliner in order to calm him down before I took him downstairs for his afternoon snack.  Much to my surprise, a few minutes later, Emmett fell back asleep.  After realizing that I would need to hold him for several minutes to get him to fall into a deep enough sleep to transfer him back to his crib, I decided to pull out the footrest of the recliner and just close my eyes.  Before I knew it, I had totally fallen asleep with my baby in my arms and didn't wake up until almost an hour later when the last roofer pulled out of our driveway in his loud, Diesel truck.  It was such a shock as I rarely ever take naps during the day and, when I do, it is a planned thing.  However, it was just the energy booster that I needed to get through the second half of busy Halloween evening.  As unflattering as this picture is that Ron took of me, I decided that I just had to include it in my blog as it perfectly sums up how I feel at this time in my life--exhausted and drained with two knee injuries that never seem to fully heal (as demonstrated by the knee brace on my right knee).  I am so grateful to be alive and to be a mom at this time in my life, but most days, I wonder if I will survive this pandemic due to the extra stresses and strains that it has put upon me.

Getting a New Roof FINALLY!

After years and years of putting it off, Ron and I finally bit the bullet this past weekend and hired a roofing company to replace our roof.  Although we have known for years that we were in dire need of a new roof, we never managed to save up enough money before we spent it on another major purchase in our lives.  But thanks to the pandemic this year, a few things happened that allowed us to save enough money sooner than we had planned (a cancelled trip to Hawaii, an extra stimulus check from the government, and not spending as much money on a monthly basis).  After we had a pretty bad rain and wind storm a few weeks ago, the rotten and broken shingles blew off of our roof like confetti all over our yard.  After I had the pleasure of picking up all of these shingle pieces in our front and backyard, I decided that it was time to finally make this a priority.  So, while homeschooling last week, I started the daunting task of calling several roofing companies and scheduling a time when they each could come over to look at our roof and write up an estimate.  After the fifth and final bid came in last Tuesday night, I placed a few phone calls and texts and hired a company this last Friday that was surprisingly available to start the very next day!  Within an hour, a giant dumpster was delivered to our driveway and the entire crew of roofers were waiting in front of our house this Saturday (Halloween) morning before 8 o'clock.  I couldn't believe how fast it all happened!  We were blessed with sunny and dry weather all Saturday and Sunday while they ripped off our old roof and put down the new, felt paper everywhere.  Although the crew waited for FOUR hours for the new shingles to arrive today (yes, I was going crazy waiting inside my house for this delivery as I hate wasted time--especially on the last sunny day for the next several days), the delivery finally came around 11:45 this morning.  The kids and I were all blown away by the elaborate and complicated system that was used to deliver the shingles to the top of our roof on a conveyor belt.  It was quite amazing to watch--especially for Emmett!  As the bundles of shingles hit our roof, the roofers immediately started nailing them down.  By the time they packed up this evening, the entire backside and a portion of the frontside of our roof was done.  And although I had really hoped for the entire project to be completed in dry weather, the crew will finish tomorrow by lunch time even though heavy rainfall is predicted.  Oh well.  At least we were able to get it done before the thick of the wet, winter weather hits which is a blessing as our roof was truly on its last leg!

 

Celebrating Papa's Birthday!

After a week of homeschool and hosting a party on Friday night and trick-or-treating on Saturday night, I was looking forward to a "day off" on Sunday before putting on Ron's birthday on Monday evening.  However, after he requested that we move up his birthday celebrations to Sunday so that he could enjoy his special day on a nonwork day, I didn't have the heart to say "no."  As a result, I picked up my tired bones today and powered through wrapping gifts and making him a dinner and dessert.  As exhausted as I was by this evening when the last dish was washed and all of the mess was cleaned up, I was glad that we celebrated today so that Ron could enjoy the freedom to have a slow morning at home and to watch a Seahawks game in the afternoon.  We enjoyed eating a steak dinner in the living room with banana cream pie for dessert and watching Ron open up his cards and gifts in the living room.  His big present had to be getting a brand new snowboard as he bought his old one in Japan twenty years ago.  Needless to say, he is very excited to hit the slips this winter and try it out!  

Logan and Ella had fun wrapping a few other gifts of "things" they found around the house.  Here is daddy opening up a gift from Ella.

Emmy had fun riding around on his Radio Flyer while Ron opened up his gifts.

Logan wrapped up a "Best Dad Ever" trophy that he had made out of magnetic tiles.  Here he is showing off his awesome creation after Ron opened it up.

The kids watching Ron read our card to him.

Papa and his brood gathered around the banana cream pie before we sang "Happy Birthday" to him.