Magic Moments

 Yesterday Jack Jingle had a little mishap. Because he ended up in shark infested waters, Jack had to take a spin in the dryer. Somehow his feet fell off in the dryer. When the boys saw Jack without feet Sage screamed, "It was the sharks!" Jack underwent surgery last night and all is well that ends well. The injury didn't seem to slow him down any. He was up in the night having all sorts of fun. Tonight the boys wanted to read The Sweet Smell of Christmas because it's their favorite, which is mostly because they get all sorts of yummy treats during this story. I treasure this memory each year. The time is coming soon where this won't be fun for them anymore and I soak up each year. Aiden is still on board with this tradition, but again...the cookies and cocoa and candy canes might have something to do with that. :) 

 Last night Jack Jingle got himself into a pickle. He was attempting to cross a bridge over a lake that had sharks. At some point, the bridge broke and so Jovie had to rescue Jack in the middle of the night. It was a close call all around. Today Sage and Cade played with Christmas playdough while I had bible study on zoom. Then we all soaked in some sunshine outside since it was almost 50 degrees. Sage has been ice skating everyday. Aiden's been laying low still getting over Covid and Tom is doing the same, but he has been working (from home). Cade thought Chester wanted to read a Christmas book with him, which is just soo cute. Then I looked over again and Cade had set up Jovie with a book to read as well. Cade loves Jovie and has been carrying her around most of the day and I'm just loving it. 

 I realized we're only 2 and a half weeks away until Christmas. As if we don't have enough things to do, I purchased special Christmas Curriculum today. Because I guess I think I have time for that. The boys want to have a bird seed wreath business again this week and because we've been sick, we haven't even started. Last year the boys made close $700 dollars and so we're going to see if we can come close to that again. But that means we needs so many wreaths made and delivered in the next two weeks. And while I have regained some energy, I'm not sure I have THAT much energy, so we will see what I can get done. I keep telling myself that it's not HOW much I get done, but it's that the things we do are meaningful.  Anyway, Jack Jingle keeps busy. Two nights ago he left treats underneath an arrangement of cups. The boys had fun finding slime and gum underneath. Cade had never had gum before so it was fun to watch him take a bite of each stick and then thro...

 Tonight our chain of lakes had the annual Light Up the Chain parade. I hade hopes of actually being in the parade this year, but, you know....covid. Boo. The parade drives right by our cabin so we were happy to be spectators and this 5 minutes of watching the parade was the thing we did today. It's pretty uneventful around here...we talk about what Christmas movie we're going to watch and whether or not the the lake is frozen yet. The ice is perhaps an inch thick...or at least thick enough to walk on close to shore. Sage was able to ice skate on the lake today. Anyway, the Light Up the Chain parade just consists of people decorating their ATV's, tractors, trailers, etc with Christmas lights. There was a big Santa Claus, an ATV made to look like a sleigh, and even people sitting by a fire on their trailer. The neighbors all come out and it just makes me love our community even more.    Jack must have been hungry for cookies because he brought his Magic Cookie Shrinking Ma...

 I think Cade asks Alexa everyday how many more days it is until Christmas. We are all looking forward to Christmas and being well enough to see people. We do all have Covid and thankfully it hasn't been worrisome but the exhaustion has been kind of extreme. I'm so hopeful we are nearing the end. All but one of us are done with our quarantine days but we're still waiting to feel totally better. Tonight we felt well enough to leave the house and go for a drive to look at Christmas lights. We made popcorn and cocoa and even though we drove to St. Cloud to see the lights, the best lights were just around our lake. The boys had their hearts set on bringing our cats with but when they loaded the cats in the car, the cats weren't too happy about their circumstance. Thus, Chester and Clementine were put back in the house. When we feel up to it we have a couple light displays we want to see, but its a longer drive so that's for another day. The boys woke up to breakfast pre...

 Our Elf has been busy each night. Sage woke up the other  morning and said, "Well, I see that Jack Jingle got himself into quite the predicament last night." It's really fun to watch Cade and Sage's reactions. It's bringing us a little bit of joy during these days when we have to stay home. Last night Jack Jingle had a friend over for popcorn. Cade opened the microwave this morning and said, "Oh hi guys!" And then he took a few bites. :) Yesterday the boys had new ornaments from Grandmommy to open and hang on the tree. Aiden got an owl, Sage got a black capped chickadee (they loved bird watching this summer) and Cade got Baby Yoda because that is his current obsession. Today they opend ornaments from Marme and they all loved their lego gingerbread man. Tonight we had Chinese takeout and watched Home Alone. The boys all belly laugh during this movie and we love to hear them! We've been moving slow around here as we recover from illness. We can't ...

 We have never done Elf on the Shelf. For those wondering, Elf on the Shelf if a little Elf that comes straight from the North Pole to your house during December to keep an eye on your behavior and then reports back to Santa. Each night while the family is sleeping Elf usually gets himself into mischief. Anyway, because it's 2020 and many or our usual Christmas outings aren't taking place, I invited an Elf to come to our house for the month. He's adding humor to our days and goodness knows we need it. Our Elf, who goes by Jack (as in lumberjack) Jingle arrived last night. Cade is very intrigued by Jack Jingle and the other two were more interested in the donuts he brought this morning. Our Elf came with a poem.... Hello Kuphal Boys, my name is Jack Jingle and I'm excited to visit through Christmas to mingle. I'm jolly and happy and I love to laugh which is  why I'm part of dear Kris Kringle's staff. He sent me here from way up North to offer you joy and good...