We can't let a new year start without looking back on "What a Year It's Been!" Hahaha.
January 2022 is a week away from being completely over, so I figured it was about time to give a recapping of the "New Year" thus far. Let's take it from the top...
- Ethan
Ethan's winter semester started with a bang -- first by being quarantined with his roommate who had Covid and then by crashing on an electric scooter coming back from an ice skating activity late on Monday night. Thankfully, his arm -- which has been hurting since the incident earlier this week -- is NOT broken, which was verified by x-ray yesterday morning. Other than that, I'm pleased to report that he has finally capitulated to my motherly advice about quitting his job at the Cannon Center, and did so upon returning back to campus after Christmas break. While I can unequivocally say that I would not give the same counsel to every kid, it is most assuredly the right counsel for THIS kid. Hahaha.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Name: Ethan
Age: 18
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite Activity: FaceTime/not working
Favorite Book: The Kite Runner
HIGHLIGHTS of 2021:
Greatest lesson learned: Sometimes hard work is needed
Hardest thing of the year: Managing work and school
Favorite memory: Road trip 2021 *AKA Dallas-Ft. Worth Int'l Airport layover
But let's be honest, there's a lot I could put here
What I loved most about 2021: The Freshman Year "experience"
*in all the sense of that word*
*insert troll emoji*
LOOKING FORWARD to 2022:
Want to learn: What major I should go through
Want to get better at: Enjoying free time and recharging from school work
Biggest goal: Be an effective missionary
- Grace
Grace has traded in her affinity for chilling in the grocery store parking lot for hours at a time for FaceTiming her friends {and boyfriend} for hours at a time instead. I'm not quite sure how or when she's getting homework done, but she must be doing something, because she got all A's last semester for the first time since -- and I quote: "6th grade before that Berlin Wall assignment." In celebration of that fact, she has tried to convince me that I should pay her $50 per A, to which I responded with a great big, "LOL." Hahahaha. {Not happening. Ever.} Other than feeling like she's owed a whole lot of money, her biggest complaint of the last 2 or 3 weeks is that she has been itching like crazy and sporting near constant hives for reasons we cannot determine. The responsible thing to do would probably be to give the allergist a call at this point, so I guess I'll be putting that on my to-do list for tomorrow.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Name: Grace
Age: 17
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Noodles
Favorite Activity: Doing stuff with friends
Favorite Book: Selection series; To Kill a Mockingbird; Percy Jackson series
HIGHLIGHTS of 2021:
Greatest lesson learned: Don't do virtual school
Hardest thing of the year: PRECAL is the DEVIL --> and APUSH
#ihatemath #ihatehistory
Favorite memory: Road trip (Cannon Beach)
What I loved most about 2021: Hanging out with friends IDK --> also Stan Lee stuff --> MARTIN TOO
(I hate these questions, I never know what to say)
LOOKING FORWARD to 2022:
Want to learn: how to knit or crochet #housewife
Want to get better at: writing with left hand
Biggest goal: get a job (actually I don't want one);
watch half the movies on my list;
get my fidget rocking under control
I thought this was kind of hilarious to see what she had doodled on the back of her page.
- Sophie
The biggest Christmas gift hit of the entire season seems to have been Sophie's roller blades. She might not wear them CONSTANTLY, but it's pretty close. Hahaha. (She especially likes to roll back the rug in the piano room so that she can make a circuit around the main floor without any impediments.) Other fun facts about Sophie in the new year include her proclivity for making mashed potatoes to eat at any given time (of night or day) and being obsessed with BTS. And Taylor Swift. Haha.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Name: Sophie
Age: 14
Favorite Color: purple or pink
Favorite Food: mashed potatoes or spaghetti
Favorite Activity: reading and watching stuff
Favorite Book: the Cinder series or maybe Speak
HIGHLIGHTS of 2021:
Greatest lesson learned: idk
Hardest thing of the year: going to seminary :/
Favorite memory: Cannon Beach, San Francisco, and Universal
What I loved most about 2021: being able to sleep with my new sleeping pills
LOOKING FORWARD to 2022:
Want to learn: cool tricks on my roller blades
Want to get better at: time management (as if though)
Biggest goal: read most if not all of my "to be read" books
- Jane
Jane -- like Sophie -- is also on the Swiftie bandwagon and -- like Grace -- enjoys spending her free time FaceTiming her friends. And playing Roblox for some inexplicable reason. Hahaha. The dynamics of family life these days are such that she and Isaac seem to be mortal enemies half the time (although why a 12 year old and a 6 year old should butt heads so frequently I just don't know), and as for the other siblings, I'm pretty sure she thinks Ethan is the nicest of the bunch, she's happy to go back and forth between Grace and Sophie for BFFship, and every now and then she and Alex like to tweedle it up once again. Being a middle child comes with a different set of difficulties than I experienced as a firstborn. Hahaha.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Name: Jane
Age: 12
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite Food: idk mac and cheese
Favorite Activity: listening to T Swizzle
Favorite Book: Blended by Sharon Draper
HIGHLIGHTS of 2021:
Greatest lesson learned: the whiter the bread the sooner you're dead (it's delish though)
Hardest thing of the year: math
Favorite memory: playing Roblox with the fam
What I loved most about 2021: Taylor Swift being a girl boss <3
LOOKING FORWARD to 2022:
Want to learn: how to do a back flip or back handspring on the tramp (duh)
Want to get better at: state history (I hate that class)
Biggest goal: get better at trivial pursuit
She's such a Swiftie that I had to copycat this print I found online for her to decorate her room.
- Alex
Alex's entire life interest at the moment revolves around the Nintendo Switch that Scott got for Christmas, and I am sorely regretting the gift. At any given point in the day, I can be reasonably certain that Alex is either playing on the Switch, asking me to play on the Switch, or having an absolute melt down because I won't let him play on the Switch. It's been fun. LOL. On a serious note, though, his anxiety has been through the roof over the last several weeks, and I'm pretty sure it was exacerbated by the closet mishap over Thanksgiving break. He's essentially a walking, talking panic attack several times a day and that is NOT fun at all.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Name: Alex
Age: 10
Favorite Color: pink/red
Favorite Food: pizza
Favorite Activity: Fortnite and playing with friends
Favorite Book: Harry Potter
HIGHLIGHTS of 2021:
Greatest lesson learned: don't judge a book by its cover
Hardest thing of the year: getting through Covid
Favorite memory: meeting my best friends in 4th grade
What I loved most about 2021: 4th grade
LOOKING FORWARD to 2022:
Want to learn: how to do really good plays in Fortnite
Want to get better at: editing in Fortnite
Biggest goal: get 200 victory royales in (?) this year
We got some snow last week -- Jane and Alex were the only 2 to really try and go outside to enjoy it.
(I enjoyed the snow while I was tucked up inside a nice warm house. Hahaha. I always say -- if it's going to be cold, it might as well snow because at least it makes the world look pretty that way.)
- Isaac
Isaac continues to live that 6th-born life with panache. He says the funniest things and it's so hard not to laugh sometimes. It's usually not so much what he says, but how he says it. Like when I asked him to tell me about the "terrifying" dream he had the other night and he said, "it's complicated," while dropping his head to his hand and letting out the most world-weary of all sighs. Hahahahahaha. He is also obsessed with Roblox and I will continue until my dying day to say that I do not get it. He has tried to make me play with him a couple of times and I have never in my life experienced anything so inane as the game he had me join in. And that's a fact. Hahaha.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Name: Isaac
Age: 6
Favorite Color: green
Favorite Food: pizza
Favorite Activity: Roblox
Favorite Book: Snowmen at Night
HIGHLIGHTS of 2021:
Greatest lesson learned: mahf (that would be "math" -- hahaha)
Hardest thing of the year: school
Favorite memory: Thatcher
What I loved most about 2021: nothing
LOOKING FORWARD to 2022:
Want to learn: biek ("bike")
Want to get better at: basketball
Biggest goal: violin
The snow gave the kids a virtual day for school last week and I'm pretty sure Isaac was the only one who really enjoyed it. Hahaha.
- Me
As for myself, I have been excited this month to finally get around to prepping the backyard for landscaping by outsourcing some of the labor. I'm pretty sure it was one of my best calls, seeing as to how I wasn't able to convince anyone around the house that it would be really fun to break our backs with a lot of heavy labor. But as any good economist will tell you, division of labor is essential to efficiency. And seeing as to how my backyard plans have been "in progress" for a couple of years now, it was far more efficient to hire actual professionals than to press forward with my practically professional self. Hahahahaha. In addition to those fun plans, I did some brainstorming at the beginning of the month for this summer's road trip and I'm really excited to see what we end up doing. I presented 3 different itineraries to the kids for a vote {"Lassoing the South" -- highlights being the smoky mountains, Dollywood, and Hilton Head; "Doing the Deep South" -- with Disney World and the beach in Destin, FL as main attractions; or "Meandering the Midwest" -- where the big event would be Mackinac island, with quirky stops like a Hobo Museum on the way up, and Chicago on the way back} -- with the result being a tie that we'll have to break at some point before the summer is here. (I do love planning a road trip!)
That curvy line at the back of the fence denotes where the garden beds will be when I start planting come spring.
- Scott
After enjoying a leisurely Christmas break, Scott went back to the grind at the beginning of the month and has been busy ever since. I keep thinking that once Covid goes away, everything will be easier and work won't be so stressful, but I've recently decided that Covid is like Bob (from What About Bob?) where you think it's gone, but it's not gone, it's never [going to be] gone! Womp womp. But seriously. Perhaps that kind of thinking is a product of the January doldrums, but I guess only time will tell. On a fun note -- or at least fun in MY opinion -- Scott and I have been enjoying playing games with the kids (Qwixx is a favorite with Sophie and Jane) and doing a bunch of puzzles. We might not be living the most exciting lives at the moment, but it's a good life nonetheless.
I'm not typically a puzzle person, but this 1000 piece Lego "Ice Cream Dream" was really fun -- if not really hard.
And that's a wrap! We're two weeks out from Sophie's birthday and the rest of the busy-ness of February, so hopefully I'll get another post up before that month is up. :)
