2021 :: 48/52

 wednesday Al worked, trev had school, and tova and i shoveled the little snow we got then ran some errands and cleaned the house. mom got the news that they didn't get a big enough margin around the cancer so they have to go back in. bummer but could be worse. grandpa peter got news that there are still 2 tiny tumors in his bladder so he'll have another round of chemo. wednesday night the kids and i went to matt & jodi's church for a christmas craft and supper. they had walking tacos and then we made a family ornament and a graham cracker gingerbread house. then there was christmas carol bingo. we had fun! 

friday Al was off. he ran some errands in the morning including getting his yearly physical then i worked out at noon. that night we went to the eau claire winter parade at 630 with matt, cam, chloe, carsyn, jake, kassie, kade and kinsley. it was super fun and such a nice night for it. jodi and the volleyball girls were asked to be in the parade so we got to cheer for them as they walked by! the kids got candy, there was fireworks, lots of christmas lights, and santa! 

saturday morning we packed up and drove up to the cities. we stopped at mom's quick then went over to my cousin maren's house for cookie making day. we made lots of cookies, got LOTS of sprinkles on maren's floor, and had fun! then back to nana's house for supper and celebrating unc-o's birthday! then we headed home and got home just before it snowed. sunday Al shoveled, then took the kids to grandpa peter's to shovel, we watched the vikings game and then after nap Al took the kids out to shovel again and play. 

monday morning i got up early and drove up the cities for mom's second surgery to get wider margins. the surgery went well but ran a little late. we picked up byerlys wild rice soup for lunch then i left just after 2 when tyler was supposed to be getting home to stay with mom. i made it home just in time to pick up trevor from school, then we had supper and trev had basketball. (Al took monday off so he stayed with tova.) 

tuesday morning Al was back to work, trev had school, tova and i worked at jodi's and it snowed all day. tova and i bundled up and walked to get trev then we all stayed outside and shoveled the driveway. grandpa peter came over so i could work out at 530 and Al was really late getting home. 

advent calendar from auntie lynne

gingerbread house making at matt & jodi's church

fireworks before the parade

the kids got glow in the dark balls

chloe, kade, cam, trevor, carsyn

kinsley, tova

santa

dad's carrying their little girls

cookie making

Al took the kids out to shovel on sunday

2021 :: 47/52

 wednesday was the day before thanksgiving and Al was off. the kids and i walked up to trevor's school to play with jodi, her kids and the daycare kids. then mom came down, i worked out at noon, Al went hunting at 1pm with matt & cam, and played some games with nana. 

thursday was thanksgiving and we had it at our house! we ate at 1230p and gpa peter made the turkey, al made the potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and green bean casserole, mom made the pies, wild rice and brought the rolls. my brother came in the morning, then auntie althea and gpa peter came just before 12. it was delicious and we all ate too much. we played some games, watched some football, and tova got down for a late nap. after bedtime, jodi and i went to the neighbor's garage bar with jake, kassie and papa dan-o. we played some left right center and were home before midnight. 

friday morning Al had to work, mom and i dropped the kids off at jodi's house while we ran to blain's farm & fleet then picked up the kids. after lunch, gpa peter came over to sit with the kids while mom, jodi and i ran to 2 shops quick (neither were very busy.) matt, jodi and the kids came over for supper to celebrate chloe and matt's birthdays. chloe chose cancun and i made them a funfetti cake. 

saturday morning i ran to 2 small craft shows with jodi, chloe and carsyn and we ended up getting a flat tire so i didn't get back until just before lunch which is when mom headed home. we had lunch, had nap/quiet time, then watched the badger gopher game. during the game, trevor got to facetime with luke which was super fun! 

sunday we had a pj day since we finally were just staying home. watched the vikings game. then once al was home from work, i headed up to the cities to go with mom for her surgery early monday morning. 

monday morning we had to be at mom's surgery center in downtown st paul at 6am. they were pretty quick with things and mom was in surgery by 730. the surgeon came out to tell me everything went well and mom was doing good. then shortly after that i got to go back to her and she was sitting up in a chair and dressed but was a bit out of it (and doesn't remember this part.) we sat for a bit, she ate some cookies and had some water then they wheeled her out to car and we were back to her house by 10. she felt pretty good and wanted to be up doing things but was told to rest. we had to wait until wednesday to really find out the results of the surgery. i hung out with mom and tyler until about 1, tyler got us lunch from keys cafe and then i headed home. i picked up trevor from school, we had an early supper, then trevor had basketball and again he and i went to the library afterwards. he picked out so many books and even came up to me at one point with his arms full saying "i got the whole series momma" :) hahaha!! we did put a bunch of those back. 

tuesday trev went to school, tova and i went to work at jodi's and Al ran errands. i worked out at 530 and it was bath night. 

the only picture i took at thanksgiving

tova and carsyn

i had good helpers decorating for christmas

we took the picture for nana's christmas card

pj and activity day

mom before surgery

i got onto trevor's school app and got some pictures from his teacher off there. here he is with his freshly organized desk.

2021 :: 46/52

 wednesday al worked, trev went to school, and tova and i ran errands including going to the library where she picked out tons of books!! 

thursday i worked out at noon, the first volleyball match of the national championship was at 3 (which they won!), and the kids and i ran some errands after school, picked up supper, then once Al was home, trevor and i ran up to the school to pick up his fundraiser stuff along with cam and chloe's fundraiser stuff since they were in st louis watching the volleyball matches. 

friday Al was off, trev had school, i worked out at noon, the volleyball match was at 5 and was a really fun match to watch! they played the number 1 seed (we were #4) and played all 5 sets; even the kids and Al were watching with me at the end. they ended up winning and going to the championship match on saturday!!! 

saturday morning Al went deer hunting with matt's dad, roger and got a spike buck at 8am (the only deer of the weekend), mom came down, we ran to a lefse drive through pick up at a local church, came home, dad came down so we played lots of games. after lunch and putting tova down for nap, dad stayed with trevor while mom and i ran to a craft show, then dad headed out. after supper, mom headed home too. the championship volleyball match was at 7pm so we all watched it and they won in 3!!! the first time UWEC has ever won the national championship in volleyball!!! and jodi got national assistant coach of the year!! so exciting!!!! 

sunday morning i dropped trevor off at liam and elliott's house to play, i came home to finish up some organizing in the basement and get the christmas tree out, then tova and i went over to L&E's to play until noon. then we had lunch and watched the vikings packer game at noon (the vikes won!!!!) then it was clean and play and relax the rest of the night. 

monday morning after breakfast the kids and i drove up to the cities. we stopped at mom's quick then picked up my dad and went to visit papa for his 95th birthday. then we dropped dad back off at home, dropped tova off at nana's house, and trevor and i went to the mall of america to check out the lego store. it had a line so we stopped at some games and toy stores, had lunch then went back and there was still a line. we decided to stand in line and it went pretty fast. trevor didn't find any sets he really wanted for christmas but had fun looking and picked out a couple mini figures. then we headed back to woodbury, stopped at total wine and trader joe's, then picked up tova and headed home. trevor was off school all week for thanksgiving. 

tuesday morning we ran a bunch of errands then picked up graham. we stopped at a playground near graham's house but didn't last too long since it was chilly. graham played at our house all day. gpa peter came over and sat with them while they ate lunch so i could workout. during nap, the boys went outside and played. then once tova was up, we went to another park and hiked a bit and played before dropping graham off. that night we went to matt & jodi's house for taco tuesday and Al came over once he got off work. 

"wonder woman"

trevor and liam

elliott and tova

house divided game day

she loved the christmas tree being up and on; she kept saying "it's so pretty" and "i love our house" and hugging the tree :) she also has a small tree with lights in her room which she wants on at all times :)

mmm chocolate! we made treats to bring to papa for his birthday

playing at the park with graham

target practice at liam's house

2021 :: 45/52

 wednesday was my only day off, Al was off, and it was the last decent weather day of the week before rain, cold and snow. after i took trevor to school, Al and i started leaf duty. we took 3 loads of leaves in to the compost site, bagged half of those and Al swept with the mower & leaf sweeper. then we had lunch, tova napped, al had a doctor appointment, and then it was time to pick trevor up from school. 

thursday Al was off again. i had carsyn and kinsley for the morning after school drop off. kassie came and got kins to get her on the bus at 1210 and matt got carsyn at about 1. then tova went down for nap. after school pickup we played, i worked out while they ate dinner then it was relax time until bed. 

friday morning it snowed and once tova saw some big flakes coming down she immediately asked if she could go out and catch some on her tongue. :) so in her pj's she put her coat and boots on and went outside! soon after, trevor joined her. after school drop off, i had carsyn and kinsley again; carsyn until 1, kins until 2. tova napped after carsyn left and kins played in trevor's room for quiet time. after school, cassie text me and asked if we could let her dog out, so we went over to liam and elliott's house (even tho they weren't there) and let murphy out. the kids jumped on their trampoline in the garage and played a bit before we left to get supper. once Al was home from work, i went to the volleyball match; jodi's team she coaches at the university was number one seed in their region so got to host regionals. they won! 

saturday Al worked again, i worked out at 915 while gpa peter came to sit with the kids, and the kids and i just hung out the rest of the day and watched the new paw patrol movie. during nap time, i went out and got the whole front yard raked and bagged. then i got trevor out of his room and we went out back. i raked the whole fenced in yard and bagged leaves while he played. then we played a bit of soccer and went in to warm up. i went to the volleyball match at 7 again and they ended up winning their region, making it to the elite 8 which was the following weekend in st louis!! jenny came to this match too with kali and it was snowing on my drive home. 

sunday morning we woke up to 3 inches of snow on the ground! so after breakfast and getting dressed we went outside to shovel and play in the snow which the kids loved!!! (i didn't take any pictures of us in the snow :( once we came in we had hot cocoa, did some crafting, ate lunch, had nap/quiet time, and then watched the vikings and packers games. 

monday Al was off, trev was back to school, and tova and i worked at jodi's (our only day this week since she was leaving for st louis on tuesday.) Al took some more leaves in since the compost place closed for the season next week. i got my hair cut with jenny at 3, Al picked trevor up from school, then trevor had basketball at 530.  he's getting so good at basketball; dribbling and shooting. trevor and i went to the library after basketball and trevor was so excited to be there; we hadn't been there in a while. trev picked out a bunch of books and even tried starting one in the car even tho it was dark.

tuesday morning jodi dropped off all 3 kids at 730 since she was leaving for st louis early with the team. i fed the kids, they played a bit, then cam and chloe left for school (they left early cuz they like to go in and have breakfast at school too), then i walked trev to school. then i had carsyn until 130 then i put tova down for nap. 

raked yard & soccer

carsyn & tova playing doctor