Abby's 13th Birthday

Last year Abby's birthday was smack, dab in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic when everything was shut down and socializing was just not a viable option. I promised her that for her next birthday (this current one) that we would do our best to make up for it. She really wanted a sleep over with her friends but it just isn't the right time yet and so...we compromised. The weather was pretty good and so we had a lovely outdoor shindig with pizza, cake and ice cream, and silly string (always a hit). She got to invite all her besties over and between all that, she had a great time! It was really nice to have everyone over. 

That being said. She's thirteen!! What?!? That makes me officially the parent of two teenagers. Abby is our shorty. The doctor was even concerned for the longest time that maybe there was a genetic problem. After lots of tests and scans, it turns out that she's just short and will most likely remain so her entire life. No biggie. I'm short. My dad was the same height as me and so are all of my aunts on my dad's side. It runs in the family. So I can't really say she grew a lot in the past year, but she did grow 2" which for her, is actually pretty impressive. She is a full blown artist with a YouTube channel (started during the pandemic shutdown) and is an all around great kid. I'm blessed to have such a wonderful and beautiful young lady as my daughter and I am so grateful that I get to be the one to help her grow and become a Godly young woman. Happy Birthday to my sweet Abby!

She really wanted to buy her own succulent plant to take care of. That was her present from Grandma.

Abby, Sutton, and Gwen. Kendal couldn't make it this year.

Abby with her Ice Bear cake from We Bare Bears.

We got her drawing and art stuff and she'd been wanting to learn how to draw hands.

Pepper and Bruce

 A year ago began an adventure I'd like to say isn't still going, but alas...it is. We entered something that hasn't happened since 1918 - a pandemic. I am not going to go into crazy detail what has been going on because, frankly, I'm not going to forget this craziness anytime soon. Mostly because it's still happening. And also because it's hard to forget such a massively huge event. But perhaps the drama for another day.

As the pandemic began, the world shut down and kids went to remote schooling. It was strange and not necessarily easy. They were given devices from the school to connect to live classes with their teachers and then at the end of the school year, had to return them. It was on this day that we had a little miracle. Dare I say one of the best things to come out of the pandemic? 

As we pulled into the parking lot and drove around the side of the school, Abby shouts out, "A kitten!" to which I instantly stopped the van and looked. Lo and behold, in the grass under a tree, there was a very tiny and helpless kitten. Now, I told my  kids that the only way we were getting another kitten in our house was if one fell from the sky. I looked around and there was no mama or any sign of other kittens. It was scared and very small and I was convinced it was dropped from a predatory bird as it was literally in the middle of nowhere. So...a kitten fell from the sky.

 Enter, our new kitten...Pepper.

Right after we found her.

  

She just got her clean bill of health from the vet...who laughed when she saw me come in with her.

Now, she was pretty dirty, hungry, filled with worms and fleas, and by golly the sweetest little thing on the face of the good green Earth. Instant. Love. I knew from the second I picked her up and she curled up in the palm of my hand that she was ours. After a clean bill of health and some cleaning up, we knew she needed a friend. As if it was meant to be, a girl in our town was looking for a home for her last kitten and that is how Pepper met Bruce. 

I believe he's contemplating what to destroy first.

Now we have seven four-legged friends who we just love unconditionally (and let me tell you that Bruce needs it to be unconditional as he is a turd-bucket). Without the pandemic, we wouldn't have our sweet Pepper and stinker "brother" Bruce. They are turning one year old this month. And as I sit here, Pepper just leapt up onto one of our brand new bouncing balls (the expensive ones you sit on and bounce on) and shredded it. *sigh* I still love them.

Best Ever Beauty Salon

 I've never been much of a beauty-obsessed person. Actually, I'm a wear the same jeans every day and Star Wars t-shirt kind of gal. I've used the same eye shadow since high school and when it comes to a beauty regimen, I simply don't have one to speak of. Abby has yet to show any interest in anything too girly (minus her toddler days of dresses and fancy tutus). But Evie, on the other hand, has  become very interested in nails, makeup, and hair. And she uses this love on me. She has set up a little Salon shop, complete with a cash register she bought at Wal-mart with birthday money, make-up from the Dollar Tree, several lotions, nail polish, and hair stuff. Many nights a week, she wants to have me as a client in her fancy salon, to which I almost always say yes.

She types my name into her computer, asks me what I'd like (to which I say "the works), and then we watch "Emergency!" on DVD while she has a great time giving me my nightly makeover and spa treatment. I get my hair done, foot lotion (because she frequently tells me how badly I need to soften my feet up), nail treatments, and occasionally makeup. She loves this whole process! And I do mean LOVES it. I am actually pretty sad when I think that this will pass one day and she won't want to do this anymore. I enjoy our little appointments together. I am truly cherishing these youthful moments with my youngest as I know one day they will be in the past. Evie has the most interesting ideas for hair...and documents every single one of them on camera. What a fun age! Here are a few samples of her masterpieces.

Here I am waiting for my appointment with Pepper.

Nostalgia

It feels like just yesterday that I spent many days of each week either writing a blog post or thinking about writing a blog post. I really did enjoy those days. I would like to say I'm not sure why I stopped, but really it was an accumulation of things. 2013 was the year that I really hit my first real down-slope. That was the year my dad passed away and that really had me in a pretty serious slump for well over a year. It wasn't long after all of this that my life turned upside down once again with my departure from full-time stay-at-home mom to working-mom. That pretty much did me in for my blogging habit. Exhaustion had a whole new meaning to me by this point.

So here's the thing: My kids LOVE the blog. They go get on it somewhat regularly and read posts of their childhood. That, in and of itself, was the main goal when starting the blog. It was to document the lives of our family and their childhood so that one day they could go back and see what it was like. And it's not just them. It's for me. I find myself going back and just looking through months of posts, reading them and enjoying every reminder of each precious memory. Nostalgia. It hits me in the feels.

My blessing of a friend, Mandy, said to me, "You know you can always start back up blogging." She's right, of course. Being in the midst of a world-wide pandemic has been exhausting. News and the daily struggles of wearing masks and constant worry has worn me thin. Part of my hope for changing this is to back away from social media and news. But when I'm bored and have access to the internet, I find myself scrolling away. A coworker of mine said he has tried to downsize his daily dose of news with new and healthier distractions like crossword puzzles. I've made my own list of things that are healthier distractions. Writing my book, drawing, watching a well-loved tv show (that may or may not involve hot vampires), and, of course, blogging. I'm going to give it go and hope to start back up with documenting our memories (and throwing in a few old posts here and there). Here's to creating more years of future nostalgic moments for myself and my kids. 

Our recent snowman adventure. They are always so dirty as I'm too lazy to rake my yard in the fall. But we love them anyways.