Thanksgiving 2020

We had a marvelous 4 days for Thanksgiving break. Thanksgiving itself was filled with the project to finish the girls rooms - paint baseboards and closets and then put together and move 2 beds. 

I am so glad we did it. We prepped and worked all day Thursday. Then we had our first ever solo family thanksgiving. The food was great, clean up was even easier :) 

We toasted to what we were thankful for and we relaxed after. I did miss having company over but we really did make the best of it and got a big project done. 

The next day we finished some shopping and just going out to be out. Tyson did service on Saturday for 3 hours. We hung out with blakely's. 

Sunday we had church, got ready for the week and had a quick visit with our neighbors. 

We also did a great thing - we watched 4 family movies and the girls are really into Christmas Movies. We watched them as a family eating popcorn and drinking hot cocoa. It was so sweet to have everyone together. 

So much to be thankful for this year. So much to look back on and be amazed at how God has blessed our little family. 

 

Recently

having fun while raking leaves

Losing her first front tooth!

An activity for Sydney's birthday

Sydney starting the braces process - expander

Tyson's long awaited new phone

Watching a family movie and flexible Sydney

Totally what my heart feels

Wow it's 11.19. 2020 and its been a crazy month. 

We got a new president - Go Biden! But the old president refuses to concede and in fact is claiming voter fraud. I am so disappointed of his adult tantrum. I think History will look back on President Trump and really be shocked that he was even president. Such a disappointment. 

The girls school got turned to full remote as of November 30th. So for 2 weeks they will go to SAE while Tyson finishes a big project and after December 11th, they will only go Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and stay home Tuesday and Friday. The nice thing about this go around is that we are all more use to this and I also know what to realistically expect from myself and the kids. So the pressure is much lower. 

Sydney has officially started the braces process. She got her expander and will wear that for the next 8 months. The first few days were really uncomfortable but she was such a trooper. Tyson did all the nightly tighting of her expander and he was awesome. 

We put up our Christmas tree on 11/01/2020 - with the crazyyear that we have had - it just felt right. 

We are officially all done with Christmas shopping and I am so glad! It's one last thing to worry about. 

Work is busy and I am feeling nervous as we close out the year - some of our planning has hit some snags - but we are pushing through. 

We hit some pretty big milestones in November. I have felt both deep humbleded and grateful - but also really sad and depressed. We had the news of Erica having stage 3 breast cancer and my heart has felt both super heavy and depressed and also hopeful and resolved - sometimes in  the same day. 

It's sad to not get together with friends or family. It's easy to feel really really isolated - but we have been trying to instill good self care habits. Here are some things that I am doing to help stay sane. 

1. Get good sleep and lots of it. (i take melatonin almost every night)

2. Get active. Been going to my Zumba and Body Bump classes three times a week and I will walk 1 hour a day on good weather days. 

3. Keep menu planning and keep meals extra simple - no trying to make fancy stuff here

4. Keep simplifying my house. Minimalisn continues to bless my house and mind and keep my comparing issues as bay. When I start to feel getting caught up in victim mindset or entitlement mindset - I quickly turn to reading about minimalism to really stay grounded. 

5. I try to laugh and look for things that make me laugh daily. This keeps my spirits high. 

6. I connect with good friends - I have been calling friends much more often. 

7. Keep praying, doing Come Follow Me and going to virtual church. 

8. I try to get some sun every day. 

9. I will stay away from the news now that the election is over - thank heavens! 

2020 has been such a bizarre year. The Pandemic has been such a life shifter. I am grateful that we have stayed healthy and this has really helped us focus on our goals. I am grateful for the growth but boy I am ready for some good news to come next year.