COVID Scare and New Year 2021

Welp, COVID hit our house!  On December 27th, after we had dinner with Danny's parents at our house, Danny came over to me and told me that he hadn't been feeling like himself for the past couple of days. After his parents left to go back to Hamilton, Danny went upstairs to get ready for bed.  He then learned that he couldn't taste his toothpaste.  He also couldn't smell his deodorant.  I thought maybe he just had a cold.  He's always had a hard time tasting his food when he has a cold.  The kids didn't have school during the week after Christmas, so Danny had planned to stay home with them.  To be on the safe side, he stayed upstairs and only came downstairs to make lunch or grab coffee.  I left work a little early so he could get get a COVID test.  Sure enough, his rapid test results showed he was positive.  We then started the process of letting everyone who we had been in contact with that he tested positive.  Luckily, at the end of everything, no one else showed any symptoms or tested positive!  My parents felt fine, Danny's parents felt fine but got tested to be on the safe side and their results were negative, I did the same thing and my results were negative, Mike and Gina both felt fine and Gina's test results came back negative.  We're all very lucky!  Danny had a pretty mild case, so maybe his viral load was super low and therefore didn't easily infect anyone else?  We're not sure.  He was pretty congested and had a slight cough for a few days.  He was also a little achy at the start.  He never had a fever.  He stayed up in our room for a good 6 days, thinking that his symptoms probably started on December 23rd; that would mean he was isolated from us for 10 days.  I used the kids' bathroom and slept in the playroom.  It was a much different week between Christmas and New Years that we're used to.  But we made it work.  We weren't able to go to sports, school, or work until January 11th.  The week between Christmas and New Years, the kids and I did a couple of puzzles, watched some movies, and did some baking.  

Here they are sporting their new PJs from Mamaw and Papaw

Here's what Scarlet thinks about COVID...

Haha, seriously, though...I bet she likes having us around every day

I had to take a screen shot of my negative result to spread the word!

This puzzle was HARD!

On New Year's Eve, I attempted to make pizza dough in the bread maker.  It eventually worked, but only after a few tries.  At first, I couldn't get the machine to turn on - I didn't have the bucket inserted all the way in.  After I finally figured that out, I started the bread maker after adding all of the ingredients.  I never paid attention to it after that.  Almost 2 hours later, I noticed that nothing had happened.  The little mixer arm in the bottom of the bucket wasn't in - it was just lying at the bottom!😑  I texted Mom to tell her how crazy I was - she came to the rescue and brought us some of their extra pizza she had made for dinner!  She's the best. Anyway, we ended up making little personal pizzas once the dough was done and we ate them the next day!  The kids did a good job.

They hardly cooperate for pictures anymore...

I was admiring our little shelf in the pantry - isn't it cute?!

We also had a visitor.  Cardinals in the snow are so pretty!  I sent a picture of it to Danny's grandma; she likes to think the cardinal is Ricky visiting. 

The kids and I realized the grid of letters and numbers on the back of the puzzle helped determine which colors went where.  They actually ended up completing a lot of the puzzle upside down!  Cheating?  I don't know!  Why else would they have that printed on the back?

Another 1,000 piece puzzle done!  They were proud of this one.

Next up, wonders of the world 1,000 piece puzzle!  Now this one was fun...

Scarlet turned 14 this January 2nd!  We gave her one of the treats Santa brought for her.  She loved it.  She was so excited and moving so much that it was difficult to get a good picture of her.  She acts her age a lot of the time and doesn't walk or stand up for long, but when food is involved, she's a pup again!

Day After Christmas

Since it was a chilly Christmas day, the snow didn't go anywhere.  After Christmas, we headed over to the high school to go sledding!

Even Grandma & Poppa went down the hill!  I hope I'm able to go sledding when I'm in my 60s!  

Brutus hot chocolate bombs!

As per usual, they enjoyed the marshmallows the most.

If Cadence's first concert experience had to be virtual, I'm glad it was AJR's concert.  It was so fun to watch!  Mom & Dad invited us to watch it at their house so we could use their stereo system!

Christmas Day

Santa came!  The kids woke up antsy to get downstairs, but they did well waiting for us first.

Some of the big gifts they received this year were Apple watches (from us), motorized scooters, a practice net for baseball/softball, a basketball return, basketballs, AJR and Jordan/Lakers gear, and lots of games.

One of the silly gifts they got was just the marshmallows from cereal!

Colin was excited about his new glasses and sweatbands.

Finger boards!

She was happy to receive Pictionary Air!

Stocking Stuffers!

We gave Cadence tickets to AJR's virtual concert

All decked out!  They're so cute!

Grandma and Poppa got them a bunch of gear from Big Walnut Apparel!

After we opened gifts, Mom & Dad and Mike & Gina came over for brunch.  We enjoyed delicious breakfast bake with cinnamon rolls and fresh fruit...and washed it down with mimosas!

Since it was a white Christmas, scooter riding was reserved for Grandma & Poppa's basement!  They had so much fun!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we spent the day at our house, but we went over to Mom & Dad's house for dinner.  We had seafood for dinner and then decorated gingerbread houses.

The kids did a nice job decorating!

All ready for Santa to come!  The kids picked out the cookies and added a candy cane to the milk.

 

Fun Stuff Leading Up to Christmas

We had some random fun before Christmas - scroll on down to check it out!

With everything in the house moved around to allow room for Christmas decorations, we had enough space to set up a card table in the office for some puzzles.  We did a couple 500 piece puzzles.  Colin did most of this doughnut puzzle that he got from an exchange with his buddy from school.  It was fun!

Cadence and Colin worked together to finish this camping puzzle in less than a day!  It was really cute.

One day after school, Cadence heard meowing in the front yard as she walked down the driveway.  She checked out the bushes near the house & found a gray kitten hiding under one of the bushes.  Danny helped her get the kitten out.  The kids played with it all afternoon (in the yard or the garage so Scarlet wouldn't freak out) and I put a post on Facebook and the Nextdoor app hoping to find a hope for this poor kitten.  If we couldn't find a home, we were going to bring it to the Delaware County Humane Society the next day.  That night, I had an old friend from high school send me a private message through Facebook letting me know that she was interested.  The catch was that she had to travel to Cleveland the next day so we'd have to keep it safe/warm for another entire day!  It got tricky by the end of the second day because the poor thing had gotten stronger since we had fed it tuna and given it water.  It kept escaping out of the box!

Luckily we can see updates on Facebook and Instagram on the kitten - the family ended up naming him Blueberry (the vet confirmed it's a boy).  Blueberry and the family seem super happy.  I'm glad it all worked out and he was placed with a loving home!

Colin brought home this gem from school one day.  His class has been learning about maps and directions.  I ended up framing it for Danny to keep in his office!  It's brilliant!

The house looked so pretty with the Christmas lights and a fresh coat of snow.

We knew that the fire department and Santa were going to make their rounds on Sunday, December 20th, so we were keeping an eye out based on the proposed schedule.  That afternoon, I received a text from our summer nanny, Brooklyn, asking if we were planning on seeing Santa - she was riding with him!  Their family friend works for the fire department and asked if she'd ride along to update the Facebook page so kids knew where Santa was.  Danny and Cadence had to chase them down before her softball practice; they weren't going to make it to our house in time.  Danny didn't tell Cadence where they were going - she was so confused, but then so surprised!  Danny said Cadence got tears in her eyes because she was so happy to see Brooklyn!

Colin wasn't too interested in seeing the "fake Santa" as he called him.  But he was happy to see Brooklyn too!  The kids hadn't seen her since August.

The kids had December 23rd off from school, but I had to work, so the kids baked and decorated gingerbread cookies with Dad (Mom had to work too)!  Mom and Dad said they did great and they were well-behaved.  I'm sure my dad had just as much fun as the kids!