A different Thanksgiving

 

    Thanksgiving 2020....a Thanksgiving that a lot of people never imagined, it was our first Thanksgiving with just our little family. First time with no friends or missionaries or extended family. We had a fun day though, even with Covid "ruining our plans", everything turned out great. Dusty planned and shopped for the whole menu, which was a fun switch! He smoked the turkey breast on the BBQ and it turned out wonderful and didn't take that long. We started the day off cooking with the Macy's parade and dog show going in the background. The kids were a lot more interested in it than I thought they would be. We took a cooking break to make these cute little turkeys that I saw at Barbies house, just salt dough and feathers, it was easy and the kids loved it! They turned out pretty cute. Hazel continues to be my kitchen helper, she helped me cut up cornbread for cornbread stuffing. Zara and Eli helped me take some food to a friends house and when we came back Dusty and Hazel had set the whole Thanksgiving table. We sat down together and had a great meal, it was so yummy and we played some new word games that we've been playing lately. I think Dusty and I both had a nap at some point after dinner we were all tuckered out. Then we set up all the Christmas decorations! We ended the day with a nice evening walk to check out everyone's Christmas decorations and then PIE! 

Our butterfly's hatched out of their chrysalis's, it was so exciting. Every time we looked in the cage there were new butterflies. Sunday was  special day, it was our families first day back at church since MARCH. We had a nice meeting with singing and the kids did pretty good.

The kids swam on NOVEMBER 28th!

Zara and Hazel enjoyed going to Target to get toys with their allowance, a bow and little critters. Eli continually amazes me with the food he makes all by himself, this week was toast with cream cheese and pickles. And also all their lego creations are quite amazing and creative to me. Leo is taking more steps everyday. 

Now we are off to a camping trip!

Leo Turns One

 

    Let's work backwards today because that's the way the pictures loaded. We ended the week reading bedtime stories and doing allowance and all that only to be "done" around 6:30pm. We figured it was pretty dark, maybe the kids wouldn't notice that they were going to bed so early?? Well, it didn't work, haha! They were up off and on till 8pm anyways, worth a shot though! 

    Today we all needed to get out of the house so we headed over to Lettuce Lake Park for a walk on the boardwalk, two kids fell asleep on the way there so we took an extended drive and found a few more parks to go to another day! I also got to talk to Grandma Shutt about church and Covid (they were exposed so they are quarantining just to be safe). Lettuce Lake Park was great and the weather was awesome. We saw a lot of pretty plants, "lake lettuces", flowers and some huge trees.  We spotted three alligators, not too big but pretty close up which was very exciting! 

    Last Swim Day of 2020: November 21st! 

    Friday we celebrated Leo's 1st Birthday! It was a great day and I can't believe he's already ONE! Cat stopped by with the most thoughtful little gift bag for Leo, he was so happy to sit with her and open everything. We made a smash cake in the afternoon from a box and it was delicious. The night before Eli came with me to the store to help pick out Leo's gifts, he was so happy to help even though I couldn't tell if he was shopping for himself or for Leo, lol. It was so cute how excited they all were for Leo to turn one, you can see it in their faces in the picture where they are all sitting at the table and Leo is eating the cake. Leo is so cute, funny and brave. I think he understands so much of what we are saying and doing. He wants to be doing exactly what the older kids are doing all the time. He loves cellphones and remotes so we try to not let him see them or else he really can't think of anything else, haha!

    We've been checking the caterpillars every day, in fact, on Thursday the first little guy started to make his chrysalis. We noticed him hanging upside down and by the end of the day, boom! He was all wrapped up! We figured out that it takes about 12 hours for them to make their chrysalis. Now we have nine that are in a chrysalis and we are just waiting for them to emerge as beautiful butterflies. 

    On Wednesday I asked Zara "What would make today awesome?" and without skipping a beat she said "Going to The Little Play-place".  I was so surprised! But we did have some punches left on the card so  I made a reservation and we headed out. That place is so fun and the kids just jumped right in masks and all! They love shopping and being in charge of the register, they even had fake little wallets this time. Leo also enjoyed pushing the cart around and putting things in his cart. They played a ton in the little house area. At one point I looked over and Zara was ironing washcloths, Eli was making toast and Hazel was lounging on the couch looking at her phone (I have no idea where she learned that, haha). They played for a long time in the little cafe and eventually Leo and I made our way over to them so they could serve us a little snack. They wrapped up with a trip to the hair salon, it is just so cute, Zara was excited that they had a hairdryer that really blew out air... even though it wasn't hot. 

    Hazel continues to be my little kitchen helper. This week she cut up carrots for chicken noodle soup and I was so impressed because it's not easy chopping carrots with a butterknife, but safety first!