Go, Go, Goers!

Christmas finally arrived! We had a short week leading up to the holiday, and I'm very grateful for that. The kids and I clearly had holiday brain and were laser focused on our upcoming time off of work and school. We were all able to wrap up everything that we needed to, and have enjoyed our time off, so far. Working on a pic for Santa Playing quietly and nicely together...suspicious! The end result from our Santa drawings/paintings G was working on making a city out of stickers...I was trying to keep him busy so I could get stuff done! G and I watched the church Christmas Eve service on Thursday morning, and we even joined in the singing. It was nice to have someone sing with me. :) Ava and I watched It's a Wonderful Life on Thursday afternoon, and then we all enjoyed a yummy Christmas Eve meal...the traditional German butterball soup, and then a mixture of other foods...apps, salad, treats, etc. The nice thing is that none of us went to bed stuffed, which was part of the goa...

Well, folks, we made it. We just completed the last 5-day work and school week for 2020. We have a variety of time off between now and January 4, and I think we are all so ready for it. I need to start working on my list of projects that I want to tackle during the holiday time off...while also celebrating and relaxing, of course. Both kids' reports cards for Tri 1 are now available, and they are doing great! Ava got all A's with the exception of a B+ in Accelerated Algebra, but frankly, I am thrilled that she's even in an advanced math class. And she doesn't complain too much about it, so she must enjoy it, at least a bit? She loves her Chinese class the best, hands down. This distance learning is working out really well for her this year. We are incredibly lucky to be in this situation. As an early Christmas gift to the family, I bought us the Holiday Box from Universal Yums. Totally thought this was going to be disgusting, but it was SO good. Shocking! This is a trea...

Our little elf, George, has continued to surprise and delight this week! I love the fact that he's been in our family since 2011. My hope is that he continues to join us at the holidays for several more years. It's been fun this year to see what activities he's been up to. 12/6: Ready to make some music 12/7: Distance learning with the kiddos 12/8: George left the kids some candy canes as a sweet treat 12/9: Caroling with Puppy and Wolfie 12/10: We read the Gingerbread Boy in his honor! 12/11: Storytime with George! We read "The Gingerbread Girl" this night...she's much smarter and wiser than her older brother, the Gingerbread Boy 12/12: Ready to bake....but we already made all of our Christmas treats, so instead, we'll be decorating the sugar cookies my mom made In non-George news, we had a great week! G and I visited with his teacher for a few minutes on Wednesday. We wanted to drop off her gift, and also pick up some new books for G to read. It was so n...

He's back, he's back, our beloved elf is back! We weren't sure if George was going to make it back this year due to COVID-19, but he's playing it safe and quarantined for a few days, and also wore a mask...he's keeping ALL of us safe! 11/29: In quarantine, mask and all! 12/1: He's back, with donuts and coffee! 12/2: George is going to spy on us...24/7. Yikes! 12/3: Must be rough being an elf...George is taking time for self-care with yoga! 12/4: Having a bonfire under the tree with s'mores and Puppy! 12/5: Peeping at us while we pee. Um. I have no words for this one. The kids have been enjoying the Elf Advent Calendar I took Friday afternoon off of work so I could tackle the Christmas cookie/treat making. It wasn't the same without having my mom here to help, but...again, we're keeping it safe and staying our distance. I made the sugar cookie M&M bars, the chocolate candy cane kiss cookies, and fudge...all good and very easy! My mom is making the...