Mr. Bill

 It has been several years since Mr. Bill moved to Florida, yet we all continue to miss him dearly. Countless times I have caught myself heading over to his house, eager for a reprieve from the chaos of my boys and a friendly ear. Whenever anything breaks, or when we have exciting news, we all fight the urge to walk across the street to talk with Mr. Bill.

Although I miss him throughout the year, his absence is more profound during the holidays. For years he helped me play Santa, stashing all of our gifts in his closet and assembling the toys before they were gifted. I miss sneaking over to his house at night to wrap the gifts. He would tell stories, drink eggnog and sing Greek songs while I wrestled with wrapping paper, tape and the stress of the season. Towards the end of the evening, as his eggnog began to kick in, his singing would become louder and my holiday stress would melt away.

Yesterday was the day I designated to wrap Christmas presents. As Scott and I were figuring out ways for him to distract the boys during a pandemic, my thoughts were drifting back to Mr. Bill. I looked out the window and saw a silver truck coming down our driveway. At this time of year, it is not unusual for deliveries to arrive in personal vehicles so I didn't think much of it. But there was something about the way that the truck turned into our driveway that felt familiar. Before the driver even turned off the truck I was running out the door.

Mr. Bill came to visit! His daughter was married over the weekend so he drove up from Florida for her wedding. To say that we were happy to see him would be an understatement. In such a dark and difficult year, his surprise visit was a highlight.

Robby came running out to the living room when he heard Mr. Bill's familiar booming voice. Despite having two heart attacks during the past year, he looked fantastic. His visit was brief but we were all delighted to spend a little time together. My goodness how we miss having him as our neighbor!

 

Virtual Holiday

Between having a cookie party with Mrs. Claus (with a cameo surprise from Santa) to live streaming the Nutcracker with Robby, this weekend was nonstop Christmas celebration- pandemic style. Even though our experiences are different this year, we had a great time and made some wonderful memories. I'm glad that I decided to go for it with the virtual experiences. Not only were we able to help support artists and organizations that have been shuttered because of the pandemic, but we were able to infuse a little holiday magic right into our home.

Timmy was completely enthralled by his interactions with Mrs. Claus. In full costume, she knew information that only Santa (and his wife) would know (with the exception of Mom of course). After discussing our cats, his brother and his new skills in kindergarten, she told Timmy that Santa appreciated his Christmas wish because it was different.  Apparently a lot of kids don't wish for treadmills. Go figure!

Robby and I had fun on our traditional Nutcracker date. We brought home take-out, dressed in our matching holiday jammies and settled in front of the fire for the show. Scott did a great job of entertaining Timmy for the evening, allowing Robby and I to thoroughly immerse in the show. Watching the ballet on the screen instead of in person was definitely different, but it was still fun.

I spent yesterday baking cookies and cleaning in anticipation of Santa's arrival. It was a great weekend, and we are all looking forward to the excitement of the week. 

 

The Nutcracker

After two snow days, today we are heading back to reality. The roads have been cleared and our winter wonderland is turning into a soggy slush. I knew that the snow wouldn't last long, but my goodness we had fun while it was here. We are all hopeful that the early season snow is an indication of a heavy snow year. Since we will be stuck at home for the foreseeable future, we might as well be able to sled and throw snowballs at things!

This weekend will are kicking off our Virtual Christmas celebrations. Tonight Timmy is enjoying milk and cookies with Mrs. Claus via Zoom. Tomorrow morning he will take a behind-the-scenes tour of the North Pole, and hopefully he will be able to talk with Santa. Saturday night Robby and I have our annual Nutcracker date.

Robby and I have been going to see the Nutcracker together every Christmas for the past 8 or 9 years. It is a tradition that we both cherish. Even though we can't go to the theater to watch the ballet, we will be bringing the same performance into our living room via live stream.

Scott is going to wrangle Timmy in the back room while Robby and I dress up, enjoy our take-out Cheesecake Factory meal before settling onto the couch for the ballet. I bought a projector over the summer and, if the technology works correctly, we will be able to watch The Nutcracker on a big screen.  (If not, we will just use our television.)

I know that our traditions be the same, but different does not mean inadequate or subpar. This has become our official family mantra for 2020.

 

 

Fun Day

 We didn't get a lot of snow, but we received enough to play and sled. Both boys were delighted as the flakes began to fall. By lunchtime they were dressing into their winter clothes and heading outside. Robby and Timmy thoroughly enjoyed our new sled, which was a fantastic last minute purchase from Amazon. They played together, took turns and didn't bicker at all. Talk about utopia!

They played for about two hours before the snow began to turn to sleet. We dried off in front of the fire, drank hot cocoa and played games at the kitchen table. This Christmas season has felt so strange, but yesterday was definitely a highlight. 

SnowDay

Today is a snow day! I was gobsmacked when Scott's school, which has been virtual since March, called off because of a projected snowstorm. Apparently some teachers  teach virtually from their classrooms so, when the buildings are closed, so are all classes. Regardless of the logic (or lack thereof), he is psyched to spend a snow day relaxing and lulling around before the holiday break begins.

Timmy, whose classes have not been canceled, is ecstatic about the prospect of snow. Thankfully the flurries will not start until late morning, which will allow him to participate in Circle Time and complete a few assignments before the snow begins to pile. I know that as soon we have snowball worthy accumulation, he will be begging to go outside to play.

Optimistic about the snowfall, I ordered a new tube sled off of Amazon on Sunday. (I reasoned that I would save it for a Christmas present if the snow didn't materialize.) As the sky is already beginning to grey, a telltale sign of an impending snowstorm, I can't wait to blow it up and watch the boys soar down the yard.

Happy Snow Day!!

Alvin

 Yesterday was a rocky start to the week. It felt like everybody, myself included, had a difficult time wrapping our heads around our work. After a meltdown and an opportunity to reset and begin again fresh, our days began to improve.  Sometimes I think we all need a redo, perhaps this is especially important during a stress-laden pandemic.

After a huge fuss, it turned out that Timmy had fun during Circle Time. For some reason he decided to change his name.  He insisted that his teacher call him Alvin during class and smiled like a silly chipmunk throughout the class. His teacher obliged without missing a beat and Timmy/Alvin could not have been happier. As class was ending, he told her that Timmy was back and that he would see her tomorrow. I guess he more just wanted to see if he could go by Alvin rather than actually wanting to become one.

In the afternoon Timmy was able to party with an elf at the North Pole (virtually of course). He was delighted albeit a little surprised to learn that he was still on Santa's Nice List. After our morning meltdown, he was fretting his status. Although our elf dance was set up weeks ago, the timing could not have been more perfect. Not only did Timmy have a great time, but his worries about list status were laid to rest. Momom doesn't hold a grudge, and now he knows that Santa doesn't either.

 

Rocking Weekend!

I really love when a business is able to think outside of their traditional comfort zone by developing new offerings for their customers. Our local farm was not able to host its traditional Fall Festival, and now their Christmas Festival has also been sidelined by Covid. Friday morning I received an email announcing that they had transformed their hayride route into a family friendly holiday activity. 

I knew that we needed to show them some love and take advantage of this new activity. I immediately bought a ticket and decided to kick off the weekend by taking the boys on our way home from Robby's enrichment school. To my delight, everybody had a great time at the drive-through hayride. Timmy, with the help of his big brother, diligently marked off items on his scavenger hunt paper. By the time we reached the end of the route, we had located all of the items and were rewarded with candy canes.

Saturday was a big day because it was Robby's band performance. It broke my heart to not attend in person, but we knew it was imperative to honor the one guest per person request. Thankfully while Scott was watching in person I was able to rock out to his performance through the Zoom link. I know I am biased, but he did an awesome job.

Even though Zoom I could see that he was more comfortable on stage. He was interacting with the audience and his fellow band mates. It was hard to believe that this was the same kid who was paralyzed by stage fright last year. My goodness he has come so far as a musician!