Christmas 2020!

A Christmas like no other (much like the whole year) . . . . 

We joined our usual Christmas Eve service at St. Johns from our couch via their YouTube channel at 4 pm.  While it was nice not fighting for a seat 45 minutes before the service begun we did miss being in person and seeing our church friends.

Grandma & Grandpa brought gifts from their house earlier on Christmas Eve.

The first photo is the tree w/ Smiley the Elf before he left to go back North.  Gifts from home are on the right; gifts from Grandma & Granpda are on the left . . hence the two sets of stockingos.

One of the first obligatory photos of the morning . . in front of the Christmas tree - stockings in hand are optional.

Many of Henry's gifts were in the front of the pile; Ralph decided he could help Henry open his gifts.  Henry was ok with this idea surprisingly.

The book Ralph is looking at (from a gift he just opened) was for Henry.

They even opened some gifts together.

Henry seemed giddy by the time he got to this gift to open.   

It was quite the surprise when he saw what it really was.

I think the boys were being overdramatic on this one . . .The only thing they could see on this box was that it was from Amazon (which really wasn't accurate).

Ralph's big gift . . .a gaming computer.

Henry reaching in for that one buried gift.

After we were done with home gifts the boys face timed with Grandma & Grandpa so they could watch the boys open the gifts from them.

After a few moments I was asked to hold the phone so they could focus on the task at hand which also means no photos.

We did zoom with Grandma & Grandpa and Nick & Jenel a bit later in the morning, had ham for lunch spent the afternoon re-arranging the living room, and had leftovers for supper.

Henry: Celebrating 11 years!

 

Henry is 11!   Shorts and tshirts are perfectly acceptable in December during a pandemic when the chance of going outside that day is low.  It was a perfectly fine outfit until we went outside to play hide and seek.

Henry's birthday starts hitting me around December 1.  Maybe because December 6 is so close to the beginning of the month.  Maybe because it's sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas and Thanksgiving is over so it's on to the next celebration.  Either way December 1 marks the beginning of a busy month!

This year was unique in that his birthday fell on the same day of the week he was born so yesterday I was reminescing "we had Lone Star for supper while Ralph was at Grandma and Grandpa's"

The order of celebration was a bit backward today.  We started with the cake and then gifts.  Grandma & grandpa came over with their gifts and were present while Henry blew out 2 (1+1) candles on his piece.  To play it safe they left after the candles were blown out.   While we were eating our cake Ralph gave a toast.  He has more toasts planned for future celebrations.

After cake Henry opened gifts while Ralph facetimed grandma and grandpa so they could watch.  

There's another expansion for Exploding Kittens.  Wish Henry could play it at before/after school like they used to . . . Ralph is facetiming grandma & grandpa.

Henry was quite excited to receive a World War II graphic novel he had been wanting.

A new nerf gun.  While it seems we should have plenty some have issues and don't work well.

Henry requested we all play outside and seek outside.  We needed a few "reminders" but we did it!  I can only imagine what any neighbors thought if they happened to look outside - I bet they were wishing they could play with us!

What is the latest on Henry?

He has been taking a break from wrestling as per the directive from the Health Department to suspend youth activities for 3 weeks.    During the interim he and Mike have been conditioning with weights and other exercises. Henry held a plank for 4 minutes one night.  His break may last a bit longer since the cases are high even though it is now allowed.

School is going well.  He did better on his most recent TDA than he did on the first one - hope that continues.  His favorite subjects are math and reading. Fall conferences went well.  School is still in school; face coverings all day except for mask breaks and eating at lunch. The drop off/pick up procedure at the before/after school club is a bit different.  I do drop him off a bit later in the morning and pick him up a bit earlier after school than I would in a non-pandemic world.  To pick up a child after school the parent tells a staff person that answers the door the name of the child and grade . . . going it one step further I made a sign with Henry's name and grade on it so no one has to open the door.  I show the sign through the window and we give each a thumbs up.  I have not seen my idea catch on with other parents - ha ha.

Breakfast choices lately rotate between frozen waffle, croissant sandwiches w/ sausage and egg, and french toast on the weekend along with an occasional burrito.  He hasn't taken a cold lunch at school for awhile and will choose from the choices at school.  Supper rotates between a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a ham sandwich with a fruit.

Henry is wearing size 2 shoes, hand me down size 10 pants (with an adjustable waist) - I think the new pants would be too long still, and shirts are mostly size 8 . . and the pants and shirts don't usually match.  We haven't not measured him lately but he weighs in at 63.7 on a good day.

Henry has lost two teeth recently - both nights he was determined to get the tooth out and kept at it (after bedtime) until it was out. 

Halloween 2020!

Halloween 2020 was like no other.  

Even pumpkin carving was a bit different.  Henry ended up carving his pumpkin at a scout meeting - a stretch of learning how to use one's pocket knife.

Ralph carved his pumpkin one Monday night while Henry was at wrestling.

AND I never got a photo of them together with their pumpkins.

I had asked the boys earlier in October if they had any costume ideas.  Henry didn't really have any ideas; Ralph thought he'd dress as Pikachu again and hand out candy.  I was not going to try to dream up any ideas for Henry and let it be.  Driving home from picking up supper on Halloween Ralph mentioned handing out candy so after supper we got Pikachu out.  It was a little tough to hold the bowl and hand out candy so I became his assistant and equipped myself with a face covering and a glove.  Our street was really quiet/dark so we ventured to the street to the east and stood at the corner waiting for some trick or treaters.  All in all we had about 6-7 trick or treaters between our house and the corner.  Compared to "normal" years it wasn't that much of a difference.

Moving on to the next activity.  Ralph re-lit his pumpkin after I blew it out thinking we were done.

Then there was the science experiment - lighting hand sanitizer on fire.  The fire didn't follow the pattern but none the less it was something to watch.

Ralph and I ended up going to a friend of his to "surprise" him with a visit from Pikachu.  The family had just started a fire in their fire pit so we joined them for a bit.  It was a great night to be outside considering it could have been a lot colder!

We didn't visit any pumpkin patches during this season.  Even though they are mostly outside we didn't want to expose ourselves to any more than we already do.

Henry: One less tooth!

 Back on October 23 Henry lost a tooth.   He spent all day at school wiggling it as best as he could and was determined to get it out that night.   It really had been awhile since he lost a tooth.  His teeth are not in much of a hurry to leave.  This one was getting pushed out by the adult tooth we could see after this one came out.  He has another loose tooth so he could have another gap in his mouth soon.  

Ralph: 12.5 years!

(remembered to take the photo one month later)

I don't know if Ralph will appreciate this share but I'll enjoy looking back and remembering these times.  

The main requirements to love Ralph include comfort, care, and love - followed by secondary requirements of hug and warmth. 

I have learned there are hierarchies of cereal as well.  Certain cereals are preferred for the weekend (ones that take more time to soften) and others are preferred for the weekday.

Ralph's school day begins with Art or PE depending if its an X or Y day and then continues with Orchestra, Science, English, Math, Health, and Social Studies.  He has had some Latin in English which isn't a favorite but otherwise all seems to be going ok.  School is currently in school, face coverings on, and "stay tight and to the right" in the hallway when switching classes.

Ralph is currently close to being 2nd Class Scout.  He enjoys camping with the Troop - and camping on his own.  He does not like using a sleeping bag since it involves rolling it back up and tying it up.  Putting away the tent can be a bit tricky too.  He was able to go to camp this summer - it was a different experience but at least he had the opportunity.  He did earn the kayak merit badge and have some other ones started that need to be completed.  A few weeks ago he spent four hours on a kayak as part of the camping merit badge.  

Ralph enjoys his screen time.  He is currently on season #3 of Royal Pains and recommends watching Psych.

Ralph has taken to listening to a Walkman that surfaced from the past.  

He still enjoys reading though a bit less because of the screen distraction.  He likes to keep the whole series checked out from the library so he can refer back to earlier books in a series if he has questions or wants to refresh his memory on a character or storyline. 

Ralph is within fractions of an inch of catching up to me in length and has a crazy active metabolism (read: he likes carbs and he can get away eating them!).  He is starting to wear men's small shirts and is close to wearing men's small athletic pants (still a bit too big in the waist and length but the boys 14/16 are bordering on being too small - and the boys XL/18 pants are also a bit too big in the waist and long in the length).  Current shoe size is 4.5Y.

2020-2021 School Year Begins!

There really is no way to describe the anticipation and anxiety going into this school year.  I think we were all ready for school to start for so many reasons.  We are all anxious to find out how long they will be in school before it goes to remote learning again.  It seems to be inevitable; hoping that doesn't happen.  I won't say we are "prepared" for the next round of remote learning but we accept it probably will happen.

No photos from open house this year; the open houses were virtual.

Henry started school on Wednesday, August 12.  We have a few traditional photos we take at school.  A few traditions were broken this year; a few remained.  We snuck over to school early and took this one before it was swarming with students and parents.  It is the last year of elementary school after all!  We needed one last photo in front of Kahoa.

Back home to take the traditional photos in front of the numbers (ie. our brick unit of measurement system).  Seventh graders started on Thursday, August 13 (along with the 8th graders) to give the new 6th graders a chance to get acclimated to Middle School.  Ralph's sign says "the day before the" in small print above "First Day of".

Henry tried to stand in front of the 20 but Ralph moved him around.  This is the standard position when taking these photos.  What started out as a "just stand against the brick" has turned into "Ralph on the right; Henry on the left" every time.

I missed taking a photo of Henry going into school for the 1st time as a 5th grader BUT I was there to capture him at the end of the first day of school leaving for the 1st time as a 5th grader.  He spied me across the playground and was being "sneaky" as he came to greet me.

The after school treat was Dairy Queen.  The drive thru was crazy long so I ventured in and brought the treats out to them. . . .I gave them the phone to take selfies as I was driving.  Henry opted for a dilly bar and Ralph selected a lemonade twisty misty slush.

Henry: Celebrating 10 1/2 years!

What better way to spend your 1/2 birthday than on screens?  Oh, wait that is almost the norm these days.  There is a summer screen schedule - and certain things that need done each day before screens - but the weekends are a bit more relaxed.

The last three months, during the pandemic, have been . . . boring for Henry.  Henry likes to be "entertained".  He likes to play games.  Some of these are hard to do regularly when I'm attempting to work from home.  Some days go better than others.  Some days can be more challenging.

He did go for a period of time he'd watch a youtube videos on various countries military capabilities and give us a report later that night - topics included Germany v. France, Russia v. China

Henry's clothing sizes have not changed much - he is still in 7/8 shirts and size 8 pants (thought I think they are getting a little short).  He seems to rotate between 3-4-5 favorite items leaving mostly a drawer of clothes hardly touched.  He is currently in size 1.5Y shoes.

His breakfast choices currently rotate between breakfast burrito (egg, sausage, bacon, ham, cheese), sausage/egg/cheese croissant sandwiches with an occasional frozen waffles and french toast. If he has cereal it needs to be dry and as a snack.  Entrees for quick lunch/supper meals could be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a beef taco, or a chicken taco.

He is still a reader but unfortunately is becoming lost to screens though he does do his daily reading obligations.

 After a pandemic hiatus from wrestling he has started back up again.

Yearly Checkups!

To kick off summer(?) the boys had their yearly checkups today.  I scheduled it months ago not knowing all the changes that would take place before then.

We usually go to the office that is less than a mile from our house.  That office is now a "sick" office.  Our visit was at an office 20 minutes away.  We were instructed to call when we arrived THEN wait until we are called back to come in.  We were asked some questions initially and again when the nurse called back.  We met the nurse at the door with our face coverings on and had our temperatures checked.

Ralph weighed in at 101.8 pounds (69%), 64.5" (96%), and a BMI of 17.2 (37%).  Ralph received one shot.

Henry weighted in at 63.8 pounds (19%), 54.5" (37%), and a BMI of 15.1 (15%).  Henry did the non-fasting cholesterol check with the finger prick this year (188 points) and was given a heads up he'd get some shorts next year.

All in all, nothing unexpected to report.

Last Day of School 2019-2020

I started last year's post with "Where to even begin?"   This year ends with the same questions but for a reason that never entered our minds before.  A pandemic . . .really?  Today was the last official day on the LPS school calendar.  The last quarter was spent "remote learning" thanks to Covid-19.

There are a multitude of emotions being felt today.  I appreciate everything the boys' school and teachers did to try to keep them learning and engaged. It was not something anyone was prepared to do.   I appreciate our school calendar isn't any longer and we can finally end it today.  I appreciate neither boy is in a milestone year so I don't miss missing more of the "last" activities - I wouldn't have gotten a picture of Ralph leaving middle school for the last time as a 6th grader regardless - letting those attempts stop in middle school and I can always hope for one more chance with Henry since he has one more year to go.

Ralph, the 6th grader. 

Ralph had a good year learning the ropes of middle school.  I really didn't hear too many stories though there were a few here and there.  He had Humanities, Math, PE, and Orchestra all year - with PE being on an every other day rotation and orchestra just being a weekly session with the teacher and an early morning practice (be at school at 7 am early). He had Design Thinking and Computers in the first semester and Science and Vocal Music during 2nd semester.  Quarter classes were Art, Family & Consumer Sciences, Spanish, and Technical Skills.  Ralph had hot lunch every day.  He opted to do "homework club" for his after school club so he could be done before I picked him up each day.

He did as well as he could for learning remotely.  He would ask me for help once in awhile and I wasn't much help having not seen that kind of math in eons . . and then there was the wooden glider exercise in Technical Skills .  Watching tv shows on his school chromebook was one of his stress relievers.

Henry, the 4th grader

Mrs Stelzer was Henry's main teacher with the other 4th grade teachers each leading a science unit.  He stayed with Mrs. Stelzer for reading and went to Mrs. Gieseman for math.  Most days he had hot lunch but did bring cold lunch 1-2 times/week.  Cold lunch was usually peanut butter and jelly, applesauce, and a cookie with Doritos or Lays Chips occasionally or fresh fruit (strawberries or an orange already cut up).  

Henry's classes for the last quarter consisted of rotating between a reading lesson one day and a math lesson the next.  There was an occasional science or social studies lesson.  There were also other apps he could spend time on and learn from. . . . if only he would have compared to the time he spent on other screens.

The 4th grade year is the year to learn about Nebraska history and attend Heritage School.  All the 4th graders in the Lincoln Public Schools attend Heritage School.  Kahoa usually goes at the end of April. It was not meant to be this year.   Trying to make the best of the situation Henry's class did do a 30-minute zoom session one day with the teacher from heritage school.  They also missed a field trip to the Capitol. He was able to enjoy field trips to Spring Creek Prairie, the International Quilt Museum, and the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Henry's class did end-of-the-year awards via voting on their google classroom page and Henry tied with a classmate for Bookworm which is appropriate based on what we heard during conferences about both of them.

When I asked the boys were they'd like to go for their end of a school treat they both picked Yogurtini, our traditional stop.  There were a few changes but they still had a variety of frozen yogurt and toppings to select from.   The opportunity to sample yogurt has been suspended and the toppings are in little containers in which the employee behind the counter retrieves as you request them.

Quaratine Quatsch

While we are taking this quarantine seriously its easy to get frustrated with some of the "rules".  Some of the observations on the more light-hearted side . . .

I challenged myself to get 10,000+ steps a day and tried to incorporate errands into walks so there were a few walks to the library to pick up books on hold (3.35 miles), there were walks through the drive thru at the bank (a mere .8 miles), and there were walks through Runza's drive thru for mid day treats (1.4 miles) - other nearby restaurants did not give us the opportunity to walk through their drive thru's so we were limited.  There were walks to the nearby restaurants that did curbside picks up (Goodcents and Pizza Ranch).

Ralph had his own exercise that included an almost daily walk to Runza for a treat which was usually a cappuccino shake.  He also discovered an ice cream shop near Runza.

Henry participated in a 45 day wrestling challenge that included daily pushups, sit ups, and pullups.  Miles ran were another item to track that he opted not to do.

I had the "opportunity" to take photos of Ralph's mouth to send to the orthodontist since his 6 week appointment was cancelled.  There was even a video on how to take the proper photos.  I'll spare the photos but it reminded me of the "Speak Out" game.  Last week he had a "real" orthodontist appointment.  Some of the new rules we had to follow included only Ralph could go into the office, he had to wear a mask, they asked him some questions . . . it was a lot longer appointment than usual with all the additional precautions.

Over the course of a few days I caught Ralph with some unusual "isms" - he referred to a light switch as a lever, one's head being a brain carrier, and a trash bin was a rubbish bin.  All of these are correct, just not something typically heard.

Many days for the first 9-10 weeks in quarantine Ralph didn't come out of his room too much except to eat and other rare occasions.  He more than made up for not watching much tv before the quarantine and binge watched shows on the imDb app . .from The Middle to Lie to Me to Chicago Fire to Lost and White Collar.

The Hurts Donut Emergency vehicle came through the neighborhood one afternoon with its music going like the ice cream man . . . The boys didn't quite get my excitement in going out to meet the truck but they did enjoy a little treat.  The donuts were gone in no time - I only got one for each of them knowing it would be dangerous to have more.

One afternoon the boys did get out the sidewalk chalk and write a message on the driveway - If you want the rainbow you need to put with the rain.

Ralph did set up a tent in his bedroom one night . . and weeks later Henry slept in Ralph's room for two nights.  We accepted a scout challenge and tented outside one night at Grandma & Grandpa's  - it was literally set up in the afternoon and come back to sleep.  Ralph's troop is doing a virtual camp out in a few weeks that will be a bit more involved.

Henry's class did a zoom meeting once a week initially.  His teacher added some extra sessions when a book come in she originally planned to read to the class in school.  He was scheduled to go to Heritage School at the end of April and they were able to gave a glimpse one day during a 30 minute zoom session.  I did get him to the wear a button down shirt for those 30 minutes - if he had to spend a whole day in one I would have had to find something else - it was a bit big.  I didn't try too hard to get him to wear jeans - he was in jammy pants.  He wouldn't wear the hat during the session BUT had it on after for a while. Go figure.

The day before Mothers Day Ralph invited me to walk to the ice cream shop but I had already splurged on a treat or two for the day so we put in a quick text to grandma - she and grandpa met us at the shop for a little parking lot gathering (and luckily brought some chairs since we had walked over).

Henry and I played some solitaire early on . . . we were gifted chinese checkers after a bit which has turned into a good distraction. We also put together a few puzzles but that was more of the adults than the little people.

Signing off on this post for now -