A COVID Christmas

Nothing like waiting until nearly Presidents Day to post about Christmas. I have a very well-established pattern at this point of being late to the blog. In trying to figure out why, I realize there are two main reasons: first, it is a huge chore to go through the pictures and pick out the right ones. I have well over 100 to sort through and those don't even include Jason's. Second, everything feels repetitive. I'm about to show you the same pictures as last year, the year before, etc: us getting our tree, the boys leaving cookies for Santa, and all the in-betweens. If you add the constant activity around here and the fact that we don't have an office, there also isn't much quiet time to sit and type. 

But, here we are, and the one main difference this year of course was COVID-19. We knew we would be celebrating just the 4 of us but Jason and I vowed to still make it as special as we could. Miraculously, Ashton still seems to believe in Santa so of course we played that up. Pete came as usual, we did the holiday crafts as usual, and the house looked very festive. We got a great tree and we way overbought on the Christmas presents. Like there was a WALL of gifts, it was actually ridiculous. 

So this was going to be in two parts - most of December and then December 24 and 25th, as those magical days deserve to be on their own. But then I decided, you know what? It's bloody February, let it go Elsa. Blurry photos of opening presents? Gone. Shots of Jason cooking all the things? Gone. There are 12 days of Christmas - can I post about it in 12 photos?! Pssssh. Buckle up ya'll.  

1) Getting our tree obvi. We take the same photo every year (hopefully 2020 will be the first and last one with masks!)

2) Our holiday card. 

I'll admit, I realized the irony after I mailed these out. No one is holding anyone close right now except for those in their immediate household. If you listen to your governor. But anyway, it was super sticky and humid out, we were late for the photo shoot, and we had never used this photographer. All signs pointed to disaster but, I love this photo :)

3 and 4) This is super funny. There's only so many places you can hide presents after your kids learn they can look for them. We actually stuck most of the boys' gifts in the downstairs shower, literally 2 feet from where they go to the bathroom like a thousand times a day. 

Muah haha. They never suspected.

5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) We do try and make things festive in December. This year, with no parties, no special events, etc. it was harder but we did a lot of crafts and made cookies like, uh, many times.

Yes Ashton has his shirt off a lot. Alex does too actually - supposedly they are "SO HOT". 

10) Christmas Eve magic

11) And of course Santa came (see the wall of presents?? I told you, it was beyond). 

See the picture on the table? This is the upclose. 

12a)

So what I did was, the night of December 23rd, I snuck in and took pictures of the boys sleeping, being careful not to show their pj's. THEN, on the 24th, I dropped them into a photo template and sent it to Walmart to get printed. 

12 (b). Santa's note said:

If you're saying to yourself the boys' minds must have been blown, then you would be right.

Here is the video of Christmas morning -> https://youtu.be/AVuQVVcS9jk

And honestly, of course I do have tons of pictures of breakfast, opening presents, stockings, the games we played, the boys riding their hoverboards around and around and around and around the living room, but really the most important thing is that the 4 of us were together, we zoomed our families, and we were healthy and safe. 

Last picture of 2020! Lucky 13 :)

I can't say 2021 has been much more palatable than 2020, but there is lots of time left...fingers and toes crossed! And phew, I'm relieved this post is finally done. Perhaps my new year's resolution will be to keep up!

Thankful

Nothing like waiting until MLK Day to post about Thanksgiving. Heh. Truth be told, I was several paragraphs into my Christmas post and then realized I had completely missed it (and only because I was scrolling through my photos and saw the turkey). That's just how things are going.

Like Christmas (as you'll soon see), we spent Thanksgiving just the 4 of us due to COVID. We still made all the things and the boys got to have Shirley Temples in glasses with very long stems. Quite special. Quite.

Jason has long claimed to make the best apple pie there is. Even his mom is like "Oh yes, Jason's pie is phenomenal!" And yet somehow, in the dozen or so years since we've been together, I have yet to have this elusive pie. He finally made it this year - the secret ingredients were definitely the kids breathing all over the dough:

And the skilled child labor we employed for the apple peeling. I won't tell you how many times the apples "slipped" into the trash. "OOPS Mommy. Still good, right? Right?"

We turned on the Macy's Day Parade (well, this year's version - still festive!) and filled the day by cooking of course.

I did the turkey burn Peloton ride with more than 40,000 other people!

Bloody Mary's and shrimp and Phase 10:

Um, then whiskey sours...

And then dinner.

We all said what we were thankful for and in the end, talked about how we have so very much. Our plates and hearts were full and these two even tried the green beans.

This and (other Christmas miracles) up next! 

Fabulous at FOR-TAY

That's 40. As in, how old I am. Like most posts this year, this one is extremely backdated (it's actually December 29!). I've been 40 for going on 6 weeks already. It's fine so far? Although lately I've seen some pictures of myself and it's questionable. Like what is this. 

Tell me that is not a very weird looking crater-type wrinkle where the other side of my face is perfectly fine. ??? This is what I mean. But I've bought my first tube of retinol and we'll just have to see.

If you're a long time reader, you know that when the boys have milestone birthdays (er, any birthday) I basically post a complete profile of their genetic makeup and what makes them them. Forgive me in advance but right now I'm thinking it would be super funny if I did this to myself.  I've selected the random categories from the past and applied them to myself. Here goes:

Height: 5'5

Weight: probably 125-130. We don't have a scale.

Shoe size: 7.5

Clothes size: XS/S, 4 or 6

Hair: blond (professionally so)

Eyes: blue

Teeth: all (although I do clench them at night - sign of stress (surprise))

Shots this year: Flu, some steroid injections in my back

If I could eat one food: it would be french fries. Honestly this is just an excuse to eat ketchup. I love ketchup. 

Job: Shortest possible explanation is that I do finance for Bentley University (specifically the division of Academic Affairs). I've been remote since March and feel so fortunate - I love what I do and that I've been able to be successful at it from home. 

2nd job: President of the Lilja Elementary PTO

3rd job: CCD teacher, St Linus - Grade 2 (for the spiritual rewards! ;) ) 

4th job: MOM. This job basically obliterates all my free time after Jobs 1, 2 and 3 (although, I only have Jobs 2 and 3 because of Job 4, so...hm.) Anyway, thanks to Job 4 I can list virtually no hobbies and I haven't read a book in 9 years. My life revolves around the boys, feeding them, doing their laundry, facilitating their enrichment activities (i.e. piano lessons - on Zoom of course) and getting them to and from hockey, lacrosse clinics, football, whatever the sport is. Don't get me wrong Jason totally helps but those two kids basically fill my day most days, one way or the other. I get to comfort my 6 year old who had a friend who didn't recognize him (hello, masks) but was upset that "he didn't memorize me". And I get to teach my 9 year old on remote school days, who has a long way to go (has anyone heard of a "questimation mark"?). But I could stare at their faces all day and this job is definitely the best of all.

Moving on.

Hidden talent: I can tell you to the virtual Nth degree if something is straight or not, if objects are in alignment, if things are evenly spaced, etc etc. I have a very keen sense of visual balance and have actually proven levels to be wrong. While I'm certain what you are feeling is jealousy at this incredible ability, rest assured it is not often useful.

Preferred TV show: Truth be told I somehow don't watch a lot of TV. I am not a person that crushes seasons of things and probably only watch a few hours a week. Give me the Bachelor/ Bachelorette/ Bachelor in Paradise or anything that Chris Harrison hosts and I could not be happier.

Favorite outfit: Anything with my Ororo heated vest. I basically haven't taken it off since October and it is the most wonderful thing ever, ever, EVERRRRR.

Daily accessory: my Felix Gray blue light glasses. I wear these all the time even when I'm not looking at my computer. They somehow make my eyes feel like they are working less hard which makes my face feel less stressed (more relaxed?). Only some people will understand what I mean by this haha.  

Songs on repeat right now: I do listen to a lot of country music. Does anyone feel that (perhaps content aside) the sound of "today's country" is a lot like boy band type songs in the 90's. There's no old twang in it and while some of the content is a bit parochial, the tunes are catchy. So on Pandora I often have on a country station, and at night to be a bit more chill I listen to the Lauv station. If I had to pick one song right now it would be "One too many" by Keith Urban and Pink. Pink is really so good (second favorite is her song "I am here" - not country, and now I'm digressing...). 

Dreams for 2021: Just to watch Hamilton. Literally I will take the Disney+ version. I've somehow never seen it and movie musicals are my favorite. I think I texted everyone I knew after I watched the Greatest Showman about how much I loved it (like, hold my hand to my heart loved it). "This is Me" from that soundtrack is magnificent and the whole thing is so uplifting and overcoming...I'm dying to see Hamilton based on all the reviews.

While I am on movies,

Recent fame: My greeting in the Bentley holiday video (at the 1:51 mark). A star is born! CLICK HERE TO WATCH! ---> https://bentleyu.wistia.com/medias/bblu3l1rlv

Nailed it.

Dislikes: Packaging. I hate openings things. Like products in hard plastic, anything with tape or ties, boxes with tabs where it is unclear which side you are supposed to open first, etc. Or like when something is shrinkwrapped and you have to get scissors or a knife and wrestle it out. I mangle everything and get mad doing it. I also don't like sweets really (unrelated).

Exercise: Jason got me a Peloton for Mother's Day 2019. 1.5 years later, on my 40th birthday, I did my 400th ride! Katie brought me balloons and I even got a shout out from my favorite instructor Cody. I had several Natick Moms on the ride with me (we of course have our own group) and honestly it made my day haha. I loooove my Peloton.

Beauty: I'm obsessed with the Colorstreet nail strips and the new ImpressMe press-on kits. I have a large collection and despite that, I rarely do my nails. But it makes me feel secure to know that at any moment, I could. Here are just a few of some of my home-made manis.

So pretty nails make me happy. And so does Jason - he gave me the most beautiful birthday party under the 2020 circumstances. There was champagne, fun posters, balloons, gorgeous flowers and a custom cake filled with candy. We celebrated with our neighbors who have become great friends and who are definitely in our bubble (and this was before Thanksgiving, when COVID cases weren't nearly so high). And we had a HUGE tray of sushi (not pictured - too bad it was epic). 

Celebratory pics! And the complete Happy Birthday video in all its 43 seconds of slowness lol - watch here if you want to lol. 

So here I am at age 40, in my heated vest (see above) and the weird wrinkle in my cheek (see above above). I can't think of a number I'd rather be or a life I'd rather have. So very, very happy :) xoxo