Photos of Christmas 2021 (so far)

 

We did make it to see Santa (Middle was at wrestling)

The Covid sign.  We are not coming to the door.

Covid and Christmas

 No one wants to spend Christmas quarantined due to Covid, but this is where we find ourselves.  Last Thursday the Middle wasn't feeling well.  He's the one with uncontrolled asthma.  It was past the office hours of the pediatrician, so I took him to Urgent Care to get tested.  Tests used to be quick but due to the surge, we would need to wait.  We quarantined him right away and tried to keep it away from everyone else.  His test was going to take 48 hours to come back so on Friday I took him into the pediatrician to get seen and test again (they used to have test results that came back within a few minutes but again, due to the surge, they don't have those right now).  The doctor was almost positive that it was Covid, so she called his pulmonary doc to let her know just in case things went really bad for him.  Saturday morning both Urgent Care and the Ped called to say the tests were positive.  And that morning the 9-year-old woke up sick.  This is what we were trying to avoid for the past year and half.  But here it is.

So, the boys have been quarantined in their rooms since then and they have been troopers, but they are starting to lose their good humor.  My husband and I have also quarantined ourselves to the house even though we currently have no symptoms.  The oldest also doesn't have symptoms and the ped said he is ok to go about his life as long as he wears a mask.  He's not been happy about the masks, but he's glad to wear one at work at this point.  No one wants to spread this to anyone else.  

Luckily (and prayers have gone up), both boys are doing well.  Middle had NO issues with is asthma which is such a blessing.  He's ended up in the PICU due to the common cold and we really feared what Covid would do to him.  Angels have been watching over him.  The Little has done well too.

I don't want to get into who is vaxed, who is not vaxed, etc.  We have been following what the Middle's doctors have advised.  And with a close family member having cancer, we have been trying to be extra careful.  But Covid doesn't discriminate.  And our time was bound to run out.  

Here we are.  A very Covid Christmas.  There has been so much going on health wise with the family member with cancer, that I have tried to be as organized as I can be (organization is not my strong suit).  All gifts were bought and wrapped minus my nieces and nephews who we won't be seeing now anyway.  I have time to fix that.  I had a lot of food purchased and ready to go.  Cards were mailed.  At this point, the secular part of Christmas was covered.  The religious part doesn't need covered.  The real meaning of Christmas takes care of itself (or Himself).  God doesn't require the gifts, food, and decorations.  He is coming and nothing Covid related will stop that.  That's the real beauty of Christmas.  

We are together.  We have a warm house.  We have food (probably too much food).  No one has been hospitalized.  We have Jesus.  While Covid quarantine is not how anyone WANTS to celebrate Christmas, Christmas is here, and Christmas is good.  

Merry Christmas, friends.  I wish you God's love and good health.  

I Know It's Been A While

 Oh my poor neglected blog.  Things have been a little more than just busy around here.  A few family members have some health issues, and my time for extra things has been cut.  I am not complaining.  I'm very grateful that I can spend my time with my family.  Please pray for complete healing for all.  

I was online making our family Christmas card and I thought I would pop on this blog to give an update.

Oldest is back in college.  Well, he was home last weekend and this weekend for Thanksgiving, but he's been back in college for the most part.

Middle son is plodding along with senior year.  All colleges of his choice have been applied to.  Now we just wait to see where he's accepted and which one he chooses.  All are good choices so he can't go wrong.

The little is moving through 3rd grade.  He finished up flag football and now has moved on to wrestling.

Halloween was fun.  We did the fire pit at the bottom of the driveway again.  And thanks to having several houses of new neighbors, we got more Trick or Treaters this year.  I'm glad we have so many young families in the neighborhood.

Thanksgiving was a blessing.  Our family along with Grandma and Papa had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with all the usual fare.  This year we did two turkeys again.  One my husband fried one, and I baked the other one inside.  Both were good, but the fried turkey was the bigger hit.  

All the indoor Christmas decorations are up.  I worked so hard on Friday, that I thought I might just pass out Friday night.  I finished the inside on Saturday, and did a few things outdoors.  I need to finish the outside, but I will work on that this week.  

Most of my shopping is done, but I still have a couple of things to buy for our family.  And then there's the nieces and nephews.  I will get that all done within the next 2 weeks.

I'm trying to get as much done as possible before the week of December 13.  A family member may be having surgery that week and that is where all of my energy will go after that.  Being organized and time efficient is taking on a whole new meaning this year.  

I'm not stressing about the holidays.  Everything will work out.  

Since I use this blog as my online diary, I do hope to come back on here more on a more consistent basis.  Plus it satisfies some of my need for a creative outlet.

The roasted turkey