Thanksgiving 2020

Like everything else this year, Thanksgiving looked a little different than usual. We were home, per Governor Scott’s orders, and down one dad but up two kids. A totally different mix than the usual Collier crowd!

We each picked a dish to make and ended up with breaded, fried, softly spiced tofu, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cheddar bread, “frog” bread, pumpkin pie with blue crust and blue whipped cream, and apple pie. Weird, but all delicious!

We started with a pumpkin pie and ended up with tartlets in blue pie crust and topped with blue whipped cream with blue sprinkles. Guess who was in charge of dessert?

I found a recipe for “breaded, fried, softly spiced tofu” and gave it a try. It was super yummy! Everyone (except Lex, of course) even ate it and several of us had it for leftovers today. Success!

Not too shabby for a Thanksgiving dinner in quarantine. :)

Lex made loaves of cheddar bread, but Eve deemed that too boring, so she decided to make green frog bread instead. We all enjoyed this experiment.

We had a fun day with new experiences. I felt like such an adult getting a full Thanksgiving meal on the table at a reasonable dinner hour. Having four kids laughing and enjoying themselves around the table made it even better. <3

Huxley Update

This poor guy went to the vet today for a neutering. He is so silly and love car rides and loves the vet’s office. I wonder if that will change now! :)  The surgery went well, but the vet said he immediately started worrying at his sutures as he came out of anesthesia, so they coned him. I was expecting that. Poor puppy.

Wisdom teeth

On Wednesday Lex had six wisdom teeth removed! Six! I said, “No wonder you’re so smart!” He was not amused. :) He had four that had cut through, and two others behind them, still in the gums. The dentist gave us the whole run down of all the possible things that could happen during recovery, but Lex got through it with minimal problems. The dentist talked about face swelling, bruising, bleeding, etc. He did have bleeding the first day, of course, and the regular meds to knock him out. He slept for most of the day Wednesday, then played some Minecraft quietly. I tried to keep him from talking, since he had gauze shoved in his mouth. :)  I kept him home from school on Thursday, but he decided to do some remote learning anyway. Friday (a remote day), he was exhausted and skipped his classes. I don’t think he realized that he was supposed to take both days off!

It has been weird having him in charge of his own medications. We reviewed it a bunch of times, then I left him Thursday to dose himself. He did great and has continued ever since. Sometimes it’s the little things that make you realized (again!) how fast the kids are growing up!

PS. There are no photos because he asked me not to take pictures. He was worried that he would do weird things, like you see people do on YouTube after a dentist visit. He was worried he would do that, and wanted to be sure I wouldn’t take any pictures or videos. :)  A valid concern! I was good though and didn’t take any pictures. :)

Oh what a week! (and it’s only Tuesday!)

The last few days have been a whirlwind of emotion and activity. As you may have heard, presidential election results came in and sanity, civility, honesty, and kindness won! Hallelujah!

On Saturday Eve and I went for a long walk in the beautiful sunshine. I feel like we haven’t done that in quite awhile. We went down to the river, around the village, and back up the hill.

This tree used to have two big bumps. I was surprised to find that the innards of one had fallen out (rotted out?), so now it has a bump and a handle. :)

Then I made an awesome boozy birthday cake for my friend Elizabeth. It’s her 50th birthday (today!) and she has been super bummed about covid-restrictions squashing all her birthday ideas. So I baked her a cake and invited a friend along to delver. The three of us saw outside in the amazingly beautiful September November day, enjoying the cake and each other’s company.

Chocolate Devil’s Food cake with a Bailey’s Irish Cream butter cream frosting and a chocolate ganache filling. Sooooo good!

Sunday evening I got an email from my school principal (the whole staff got the email!) saying that there are some children in our community who have been removed from their home and need emergency foster care.  Fostering is something I’ve thought about a lot off and on in the past, so this felt like a really great time to step up and help. I talked to Lex and Eve about it first, and they agreed that it would be a good thing to do.

I spent Monday squeezing in phone calls and paperwork between my regular work. Paperwork was done, everything approved, and I made a plan to pick the boys up after school Tuesday (today). When I got home and told Lex and Eve about it, and who the kids are, they were both cautiously interested. :) Then Lex said, “In other good news, I got accepted into the Honors Program!”  Sweet!!!  He worked really hard deciding to apply, writing his essay, and collecting recommendations from teachers, parents, and coaches. I’m super proud of him for doing that much, and now he’s excited to be doing even more. He also built me two Adirondack chairs this week. Mema and Joyce sent them to me for my birthday, and Lex put them together. The weather is so nice they might get some use this weekend!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Today was spent trying to figure out details, such as bedding for two extra kids, schooling, transportation, etc. We have a pretty amazing community though, all of whom love these kids and want to support them. I got a set of bunkbeds, two twin mattresses, four sheet sets, pillows, blankets, and winter clothes all donated. This weekend we’ll spend getting their proper sleeping arrangement set up. They came home with me after school today and had a great time playing with the VR headset and the XBox. I haven’t seen Lex socialize this much in a long time! All four kids were laughing and talking all afternoon/evening. I even made a proper dinner! If you count Annie’s mac and cheese, peas, and tofu a proper dinner. :)  It has been a wild two days!

Tomorrow is Veterans Day (thanks Joyce!) and we have no school, so of course I scheduled appointments. :/ Life of a teacher! Lex will be getting his wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow morning. All four of them! I’m not sure what to expect exactly, but I suspect tomorrow will be a sleepy day for him. Hopefully it will be a quiet day for all of us. I’m ready for one!

 

Halloween – 2020

“Is he made out of house or is the house made out of him?” – Eve
I put the cats in charge of handing out candy this year! I think we got about a dozen trick-or-treaters.
Nico DiAngelo
She figured out a great way to carve windows into her pumpkin house.
My pumpkin. Lex opted not to do one this year.
Eve found a great use for the random body parts that came with Laurens. 💀

I’m posting from my phone where editing is more tricky, so sorry for the photos in reverse order.

Halloween Covid style means trick-or-treating in masks (or not at all), and goodies left on table outside. Basically it’s just walking around in the dark collecting free candy from the street. A child’s dream come true! 😂

Eve went out with her friend and then spent the night. I made a few goodie packages and left them on the porch. Lex played Minecraft. A good time was had by all. 😂🎃