December 2021 - Nice and Slow

Looking back at 2021, the year felt more like an extended 2020.   Even with COVID vaccinations, a marvel of science, being one of the biggest stories of the year around the globe, I didn't expect so many to remain willingly unvaccinated and for there to be well over 2x the number of deaths since this time last year in the US. I didn't expect a new variant to wreak havoc around the globe this holiday season. I don't think I'm alone in assuming we thought we'd be comfortably gathering and traveling to/with friends and family with minimal COVID concerns and day to day impacts.  Every little COVID related decision we continue to make (and 2nd guess) on a daily basis remains draining and feels like a crapshoot at this point.  

In our own world, we continued to toggle back and forth between treasuring the simple moments and working through the tough moments. We had lots of good moments to celebrate.

For Lily, being in school and the return of some theater allowed her the chance to make some really special new connections and make new friends.  She fell in love with her first traditional sleep-away camp experience and is passionate about being on stage.  She still plays quite a bit of tennis in groups but it's starting to conflict with her other interests.  She would say the hardest part of the year was not having a phone like all her peers and dealing with her sister.

For Paul, playing tennis and baseball were his regular go-to's.  Paul is motivated to improve and it shows.  The opportunity to play competitive tennis is lacking in our area; it's mind blowing to me how difficult it is.  Baseball, on the other hand, is an impressively well oiled machine.  He made a competitive 10U baseball team and has a full schedule of training and tournaments set up through June.  He even gets to go to Arizona with his team over Spring Break.  His hardest challenges of 2021 were being social outside of school, not pissing off his Oma, and keeping calm and going with the flow in any situation not to his liking. 

For Elise, starting karate, going to girl scout camp, having regular playdates with her neighbor besties, listening to audio books, and playing piano were where she found the most joy on a regular basis.  Her biggest challenges of 2021 are still getting along with her sister, working through her anxieties, having to say goodbye to her neighbor bestie moving away, and now recovering from her 3rd foot surgery. 

For me, what brought me joy so much in 2020 went away in 2021 - much fewer  long podcast walks and walks with friends, early morning workouts/alone time, solo bike rides, reading books, and baking.  A back injury kept me on the sidelines for 2 months, a full time job kept me occupied, and a time consuming joy-sucking volunteer gig really challenged me this year.  I didn't do enough self care. My regular doses of joy were still found at the dinner table or on our mini adventures laughing with my family, watching my kids do what they're passionate about (except playing PS4 - no thanks), and on the tennis court.

For Nate, skiing with Paul and Lily, trail runs, mountain biking with Paul, playing more tennis, and going back to some live concerts again brought him joy.  Nate's biggest challenges of the year were finding things to do as a whole family with no complaints from the peanut gallery.  I know Nate would say also being challenged by keeping his cool when the kids are frustrating him.  It's so hard to believe with how calm and level headed he is.  

Music was played more in the car than in the house this year - hope that changes.  Below are our 2021 playlists and snapshots from our December.  I'm not going to wish for anything big to start off 2022.  I'm just going to let it happen like any other day. 

Elise after foot surgery at Shriners.  Will post just on Elise's surgery/recovery another time.

Super sweet of Elise's 4th grade class to make Get Well cards 

Lily did a nice job decorating Elise's temporary bedroom (lower level) as a welcome home surprise

Cookie decorating tradition. Notice the feet?

Zoom Christmas Eve singalong with family

Christmas Eve tradition with Oma and Opa - Steaks and Italienischer Salat

Love this picture of Oma getting Elise's handmade Christmas card

Oh how we love Christmas cookies

Kids setting up camp to catch Santa in the act Christmas Eve (they didn't catch him)

Obligatory Christmas morning picture before present opening

Christmas dinner at our place - plenty of ham and mashed potatoes

Lily surprised me with doing a Pittock Mansion hike with me. Score.

Nate's bday dinner - he wanted to make us all Jambalaya

Our 2021 playlists

Nicole 2021 - my favorite lyric of the year was

"Never be so kind, you forget to be clever. Never be so clever, you forget to be kind....Never be so polite, you forget your power.  Never wield such power, you forget to be polite."

Nate 2021 part 1

Nate 2021 part 2

Kids 2021

Fall 2021 - 80th Birthday, 10th Birthdays, and Live Theater

Fall 2021 has given us plenty of fun moments and celebrations.  That's my focus on this post with the pictures below.  The truth is much of my mental capacity right now is focused on Elise's surgery tomorrow, a best friend's daughter in the hospital, my brother's cancer rearing it's ugly head again requiring a procedure and a hard time for him, trying to get work done while also covering for a colleague on medical leave, and facing the truth that the volunteer Tennis chair role I chose to take on and spend a lot of time doing (perfectionist downfall) this past year has been draining and not the right decision for myself and my family.  Anyway, on to remember the fun moments this Fall.

Tennis Ball, Assassin Elf, and Angel for what felt like a mostly normal Halloween albeit being masked and not hanging out inside with friends.

                                            

Our dear friends hosted Thanksgiving. It was our first indoor dinner party since COVID began.  Kid vaccines began in early November too.

Family reunion trip to Arizona over Thanksgiving.  Cared much less about the actual Holiday and more about getting together to celebrate Oma turning 80 and a big positive turning point in her recovery from a broken foot.  

Pink Jeep Tour in Sedona

Lily led the charge this year making it known she wanted a Christmas Tree up right after we return from Arizona. Done!

Lily also made hot cocoa for everyone while we decorated the tree.  

Elise's biggest athletic accomplishment to date is taking her first Karate test and earning her orange belt.  Definitely a parenting moment beaming with pride and glistening eyes watching her every move.  

Our biggest surprises turned 10.  Paul still hates cake. 

Top 10 lists we taped to their doors.  #3 is definitely from my influence and #7 is a lot of Nate.  

 I'd like to think #1 and #6 he got a lot of from me whereas #5, #9, and #10 are a lot from Nate.

Laser Tag was the theme this year for both Elise's and Paul's Bday parties

                                        

                                                  

Our Lily has found a happy place with zero influence from us - only support.  She loves being on stage with her local theater company Portland Panto Players.  The amount of time and effort she has put into preparing for this 9 show run of Cinderella this month feels is impressive.  We miss hanging out with her these days but the dedication and leadership skills she's been showcasing day in and day out with her passion to be on stage has been a joy.  Even my sister (aka best aunt ever) flew out for 48 hours to watch the show.

Lily soaked up all the support she got from friends and family cheering her on.

September - Fingers crossed and remodel almost done!

Knocking on wood and keeping our fingers crossed kept us healthy, in school, and living an overall smooth day to day through September.  School bus transportation woes and positive COVID alerts at school light up our phones enough to keep us on our toes.   It's almost comical (almost is a key word) how I get multiple alerts on my phone to start my day with buses not running because of driver shortages.  

Our weekends have stayed fairly chill this Fall which we don't mind.  We are utilizing our club well these days with lots of tennis, karate, parkour (yup you read that right), batting cage action, and swimming.  

Elise is giving karate a go and her instructor calls her fierce which doesn't surprise me.  Don't mess with Elise.  She doesn't complain about going and she is focused when there.  Maybe we found a winner.  She also graduated to be a junior girl scout.  She has been with the same troop for going on 5 years now which is pretty darn special.  Besides piano, a healthy addiction to audio books, and an unhealthy addition to screen time, she's doing well. She very much enjoys her alone time with Paul walking home from school this year.

Paul is dedicated to tennis this season and it shows.  The biggest changes I've seen is his ability to get to more balls thanks to better anticipation and speed, using strategy during points, and more pace on his shots.  It's a blast to watch.  If he's not playing tennis, he's trying out a parkour class on weekends, playing plenty of PS4 sports, and watching sports.  He has a hard time sitting and playing by himself.  Work in progress.  He can be a real punk around others making it known when he doesn't want to be somewhere but also be a complete sweetheart with cuddles and fits of laughter at home.  

Same goes for Lily with showing improvements in her tennis game.  I can tell her first serve has improved as has her ability to get to short balls.   She is also really busy with play rehearsals for a local theater Panto production of Cinderella.  Lily decided to take a break from piano which doesn't surprise me.  I was very much over reminding her to practice.  She seems to have found a fun crew of friends that really mean the world to her these days.  No question, she chooses to chat with friends over spending time with us more and more these days.  

Our remodel is 95% done.  The kids have the nicest bathroom in the house and the ping pong table fits just right in the new open room.  We are starting to spend more and more time upstairs again playing ping pong and watching movies together in Elise's old room that is now the TV room.  

Halloween Decor 2021 - new witch on tree and "spooky eye" door

I have a cat that thinks I'm a tree.  She will randomly jump up on me as high as resting on my shoulders like a parrot when I least expect it.  Hurts like hell with her claws digging into my back as she climbs up.  I can't stand facing the kitchen counter or it'll happen.  I have to work sideways these days when working in the kitchen.  Funny not funny.

Explored Mt. St Helens for the first time.  About time.  Paul's smile was the first to disappear a couple miles into our hike.  

Got away with my Girls Night crew for one rainy night at Mt. Hood.  Definite highlight of the month

At the bridging ceremony (Tillikum bridge) where she walked as Brownie on one end and a Junior Girl Scout at the other - very sweet ceremony and celebration with her troop.

Don't mess with Elise. Hi- Yah

Elise's saddest news of the month was hearing her bestie (and neighbor) Olivia was moving soon after Halloween.  Not happy at all.  They are getting plenty of time in together while they can.  We'll miss them.

Last time we saw a Twiga together was in Africa.  Of course Twiga was my Swahili nickname.

Lily's 7th grade school picture

Plenty of furniture assembly to keep us occupied recently for their new rooms.

Plenty of smelly lotions, face masks, and shower time in the new bathroom these days. Just gotta deal with it Paul.

Oma and Opa are coming back in November.  We will be taking our first flight since in over 2 years to celebrate Oma's 80th in Arizona over Thanksgiving.  Elise's next surgery for her macrodactyly is penciled in for December 16.  It will be much more on our radar in November as we get our questions clarified and decide to either confirm the surgery date or push it out.  

August 2021 - End of Summer Break and Back to School

The last part of summer didn't disappoint.  I wouldn't say we were big adventurers. We didn't travel anywhere new or far away.  COVID has kept those plans on hold for us (we dream of you Hawaii & Japan and I sure do miss you Germany).  Our annual trip to Sunriver was our trip this summer; my back injury and being in a particularly challenging phase of finding family activities all of us will enjoy kept us more low key than past years which is just fine. Elise did her first overnight camp for a couple nights with her girl scouts troop.  Lily got to do a traditional week long overnight camp in nature with her best friend Liana.  Paul and Nate enjoyed long mountain bike rides in beautiful central Oregon.  All good.

Paul contemplating life while floating on the Deschutes river.

Elise loved archery at her girl scouts camp.

Happy campers coming home from Camp Howard

We love watching the gazillion little toads jumping around at Todd Lake near Bend

This picture cracks me up.  Shortly after this was snapped, Elise's bike also snapped, just broke on us... right after Nate left with Lily and Paul to do some more rough terrain.  Dying cell phone, getting lost, and showing patience - ended up all working out.

These two love to hit the trails together.  20+ mile rides is common for them now.

Warmed my heart to see our neighbors come out to share a drink and a story for our 6th annual block party...more of a sidewalk chat during COVID.  Hope to come back with a bang next year post COVID.

One of the few family activities we all enjoy together is watching Amazing Race.  Season 32 is keeping us entertained.

Paul helping out with a big project - refinishing the front porch floor.  He was enthusiastic to help out... or to get paid.  Either way, he was a good helper.  You can see the end result in the back to school pic coming up.

Enjoyed the Sunflower festival at Lee Farms with our Mother/Daughter group.  So grateful for our little crew of tweens and moms getting through life together.

Happy to report that after 2 months of treatment on my back, Nicole is back!  Enjoyed an early am session with the ball machine.  For the first time, I felt like I won. 

1st day of school for my 4th and 7th graders.  I look at this picture and I think "Wow, my sports clothes only wearing Paul really picked out that entire outfit on his own at Target and said he wanted to wear it to school.  Lily really experimenting with her fashion style and I love it.  Elise wearing a dress she bought on her own with a friend at a store near our home and I'm so proud of her for wearing sandals and being okay with the stares and awkward looks she gets from kids. 

Besides pictures of my kids, this picture makes me really happy too.  Big thank you to Nate for building a little library next to our fairy garden for the neighborhood to enjoy.  He really did an amazing job.  It's been such a treat to see all the action our front yard gets.