Started off the month still recovering from covid, but at least I am past the contagious stage of it. I STILL CAN’T SMELL OR TASTE THOUGH! Here is some of what happened this month!
I started a thankful wall on our chalkboard wall in the den. It has been fun seeing and hearing what the kids are thankful for.
We took the kids to see the play Corduroy at a local theater. We dressed up fancy-like. This was their first live theater experience. They all really seemed to enjoy it. My oldest was really into figuring out how things worked with the puppeteers, sounds, lighting, and the actor’s acting skills. Afterwards we went out for some ice cream.
The kids made it through a week back at school and then became sick. Because of that, it was another 10 days of staying home, but we were pretty sure it wasn’t covid related.
We decorated for Christmas.
We also went shopping for gifts for my nieces and nephews, wrapped them, and putting them under our tree. I am 95% done with Christmas shopping. I think I went a little overboard, but oh well. The kids picked out their yearly ornaments. Wylan’s skulltrooper wound up breaking, so we had to exchange it. They were out of it, but he was happy to choose another fortnite one.
They also picked out their “Christmas pajamas”. They all decided on baby yoda pajamas. Not sure how that is exactly Christmas related, but it is something they are all into right now. I will just stick with my grinch onesie.
Our dog Kona was very sick. He wound up having pretty severe gastroenteritis. It was a rough couple of weeks around here. Between the hourly night time bathroom emergencies with Kona and also cleaning up his vomit and having the kids being sick and bored. My body was definitely overstimulated and lacking sleep. I swear there was a whole week where I was lucky to get 2 hours in total per night. I did get to witness the lunar eclipse because of that though.
I signed up to be part of a Christmas card exchange. I wound up mailing somewhere around 85 cards to people all over the world. How cool is that! We also started to get some sent to us as well!
At the end of the month, I had to say goodbye to one of my fur babies, Butch. I had gotten Butch in 2008 with my now ex. He lived with my parents until we bought our house the following year. When he lived with us, he would run away every chance he got. It just seemed like he was always trying to get back to his home. When my parents came to visit, he would get in their car trying to leave with them. At some point we decided that he would be happier to move back with them and they wanted him too. He lived a happy life. Death is inevitable, but never easy. My dad and I were with him during his last moments. It was a very strange experience for me. He passed away partially laying in my lap with his head in my hand.
We did get to attend Thanksgiving with our families. We went to Chris’ parent’s house around lunch time and his mom made stuffed cabbages. For dinner, we went over to my sister’s house with most of my siblings, their partners, my parents, and all of our children. We ate, drew for secret santa, and conversed through the evening hours.
On the 27th we took the kids out and about. We got lunch and visited a bunch of animals at a pet store. We also wound up going to an arcade. It was all fun and games until we went to get back in the car and Chris realized his key for the car was missing. We tried retracing all of our steps, but never wound up finding it. Luckily, my Dad was able to stop at our house and bring us my keys [which I will now be carrying at all times].
We also got in on our towns holiday magic festivities. You can get more details for that on my Grow The Gratitude [day 5] post!
The month was sort of a doozy. In a way I am glad that’s over because we made it through all the chaos. At the same time, it went by so fast that I literally cannot see straight. Hopefully December keeps it’s promise to me and keeps the peace and joy. Onward we go!
🎄jenn
Reclaiming My Sanity 