Happy New Year

New Years Eve was pretty low key for us. We had told the boys that they could have people over so we didn't really make any plans knowing that your house would likely be full of teenagers. As the day got closer the boys informed us that Clare had already made plans for a party at her house. Abby had a friend spending the night at our house. We invited Mark and Emily and the kids over for supper and to hangout for the evening. We had lasagna and drinks and Emmy played with Carter and Quinn. We busted out the good ole game of family cards against humanity. The humor is mostly that of teenage boys with lots of references to poop, butts and farting. When you add adults into the mix that have to read these cards it gets even funnier. We had a good laugh over that game. Mark and Emily left before midnight because let's be honest we are old, and everyone was tired. Robb gave the kids horns to celebrate early and those were terribly obnoxious. Thank goodness we didn't hand those out any earlier than we did. When they left Robb, Emmy and I sat down to watch a movie and strangely enough I was the only one that was awake for midnight. I woke up Robb to celebrate with me and we carried Emmy to bed.

Happy New Years! 

 

Bookworm

I had made a goal for the year of reading 50 books. I was worried that it was too lofty of a goal and that I wouldn't be able to get it down. I was able to make it to 50 books by the end of the year. In order to reach this goal, I made a few changes. I stopped watching so much TV and really started to enjoy reading again. Steph is just as much of a bookworm as I am so we can share and recommend books to each other.

Here are the books that I read this year.

1. Good Me Bad Me by: Ali Land

2. The Forest of Vanishing Starsby. Kristin Harmel

3. Such A Fun Ageby: Kiley Reid

4. Under the Whispering Doorby: TJ Klune

5. It Ends With Us by: Colleen Hoover

6. Yellow Wife by: TJ Klune

7.The Nightengale by: Kristin Hannah

8. The Great Alone by: Kristin Hannah

9. Verity by: Colleen Hoover

10. Girl A by: Abigail Dean

11. The Last Flight by: Julie Clark

12. Winter's Mourn by: Mary Stone

13. Winter's Curse by: Mary Stone

14. Winter's Redeption by: Mary Stone

15. If You Tellby: Gregg Olson

16. People We Meet on Vacationby: Emily Henry

17. It's Kind of a Funny Storyby: Ned Vizzini

18. The Push by: Ashley Audmin

19. Regretting Youby: Colleen Hoover

20. Counterfeit by: Kristin Chen

21. Reminders of Him by: Colleen Hoover

22. Layla by: Colleen Hoover

23. Spilled Milk by: K.L. Randis

24. The Inmate by: Freida McFadde

25. Beach Read by: Emily Henry

26. All That's Left of Me by: Janis Thomas 

27. The Boardwalk Bookshop by: Susan Mallery

28. The Silent Patient by: Alex Michaelides

29. The Last Thing He Told Me by: Laura Dave

30. Not My Boy by: Kelly Simmon

31. The Lobotomist's Wife by: Samantha Greene Woodruff

32. All the Good People by: Ashley Flowers

33. No Direction Home by: Greg Cayea

34. When Breath Becomes Air by: Paul Kolanithi

35. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by: Taylor Jenkins Reid

36. The Butcher and the Wren by: Alaina Vrquhert

37. Local Woman Missing by: Mary Kubiea

38. Untamed by: Glennon Doyle

39. Boy in the Striped Pajamas by: John Boyne

40. It's Always the Husband by: Michele Campbell

41. No Exit by: Taylor Adams

42. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by: Mark Haddon

43. The Paris Apartment by: Lucy Foley

44. I'm Glad My Mom Died by: Jenette McCurdy

45. Things We Never Got Over by: Lucy Stone

46. Crying in H Mart by: Michelle Zauner

47. Edge of Nowhere by: John Smeker

48. Buried Deep by: Margot Hunt

49. The Housemaid by: Sarah Denzil

50. The Boys From Biloxi by: John Grisham

 

Grinch Christmas with Megan and the family

We had decided that we wanted to share Grinch Christmas with Megan and her family this year. Cooper is about the age that our kids were when we started this tradition. We had intended it to be before Christmas but with some bad weather and crazy schedules the only day that we could make it work was on January 1. That's ok it was still fun. We made the traditional Grinch supper with roast beast, who hash, green veggies and special drinks. Mary wasn't able to join us because she wasn't feeling well but Steve came to help with the kids. 

Again, we did some fun minute to win it games and gave out some prizes. 

We gave the kids Grinch jammies to wear for the movie and we gave them a starter kit for their own Grinch Christmas. 

 

Plant Mom

If you would have asked me 5 years ago, I would have said that I didn't like house plants. My reasoning at the time was that I had enough things to take care of and keep alive that I didn't have the time or energy to keep house plants alive too. I have always loved outside plants but had never got into the inside plant craze. It all started during Covid when I decided that my sad plants that I did have in the house either needed to do better or I was going to get rid of them. I moved my plant stand closer to a window and started watering them more regularly. My tiny aloe plant that I had owed for years started to thrive and it was fun to watch it grow. Little by little I started picking up plants here and there when I was out shopping. On our way home from Colorado a couple years ago someone was off loading their plants when the strap on their luggage rack broke, and they had to put stuff in the back of their car instead of on top. Robb told me that if I was going to bring a plant home, we would have to leave a child. I mean...we could come back and get them later right. Just kidding. I did bring 2 plants home from that and as promised I held them on my lap the entire way because we didn't have any space. Robb then started buying me cool plants here and there and soon it was starting to look like I was losing at the game of Jumangi in our house. As Robb keeps saying, "if he would have known that I wanted plants he would have planned the house differently because currently our only good windows are the big windows in the living room". Bob and Susie also contributed to my plant addiction and collection by getting me a really cool plant stand for Christmas and 3 new and exotic plants to go on it. I have started to read up on plants, propagate plants and I routinely take cutting to people at work to start new little plants. I am now seeing why my kids think I am a grade A dork! It's ok. I have enjoyed it and now that the kids don't need constant watching like toddlers did, I have a little more time to explore this hobby. Emmy is always willing to help me plant, repot, water or mist my plants. Now when I go to the store, I have to tell myself that I can't get any new books or plants that day. 

 

Zoo Lights

We got back just in time on Dec 26 to go to Zoo Lights with Jenny and her family to celebrate Evey's birthday. The night was cold but not terrible. The lights were really cool as usual and Jenny even brought us thermoses of hot chocolate to keep us warm. 

 

Christmas at the Lutz's

After Christmas breakfast at Grammy's house, we went to Lutz's to celebrate. In true Bob style they had an enormous tree, and it was decorated beautifully. He said that they only put a couple holes in the wall bringing it in. 

The cousin crew. We made them get a picture before they could attack the presents.

I love that these girls get along so well. 

Bryce got a snazzy leather jacket! Now we just need to get him to wear something besides athletic pants with it. He also got his very favorite repeat gift that he has gotten the last couple years. He is going to the Big Ten tournament in February. He also got his Panda Dunks (black and white shoes in normal people terms) that he has been wanting and hilariously enough wore his girlfriends to winter formal. Now he can wear his own Panda Dunks for the next dance. 

Caleb got some really nice golf clothes and gear for the upcoming golf season. The coolest thing that he got that has benefitted not only him but also Robb and all Caleb's friends was the 3-month membership to the golf simulator place in Lincoln. He is able to invite friends to come with him. Caleb will love that, and it will help him prepare for golf team tryouts.

Abby got a lot of clothes from the Buckle which Brook helped her pick out and try on during their mini fashion show for us. It has gotten to the point where unless they girls pick it out, they probably aren't going to wear it. We had them try things on and then we had Brook put what we wanted to buy in the back for us to get later. It worked out great. 

Emmy got a super cool electric keyboard. Andy chuckled and said, "there is no limit on spending when it comes to getting a grandchild that is musical". Emmy loved it! She will be able to put this in her room which is one thing that kept her from playing piano was that she didn't like going to the basement and hanging out by herself. She is doing piano lessons on zoom with Grandma a couple times a month.

Karen was at Christmas and gave the kids all some money. More money that any kid needs. Needless to say, they were ecstatic about it. It was very sweet and very generous of her. 

Thank you Karen for your very generous gift to us!

I think Bryce had too much Christmas! 

 

Christmas Breakfast at Grammy's

Early"ish" on Christmas morning we packed up and headed to Tekamah for Grammy's famous Christmas breakfast. Caleb was getting all bent out of shape that we weren't going to get there early enough to get any bacon. I am happy to report that we got there in time to have bacon or Grammy put some aside for the latecomers. 

I think Emmy might be taller than Grammy by next year. 

Bryce didn't get his required 9-10 hours of sleep so he slept on poor Scout on the way there. 

All the kids got pajama pants and a shirt from Grammy. In true Grammy fashion she had picked out fabric for each kid and even measured everyone so that the pants fit. The kids loved them. Robb got cookies that he wouldn't share, and I got the highly coveted potholders!

Grammy had made AJ a new apron because he is quite the chef lately! 

It was great to see everyone and to get to see Grammy on Christmas morning. It doesn't always work out for us to go but it's fun when it does. 

 

Family Christmas

We broke up family Christmas into a couple different parts. We opened gifts from the kids and the kids gave their sibling gifts in the afternoon and then after church we had the kids open the gifts that we got them. The kids were all really sweet and got each other gifts this year. They also got us gifts which was a sweet surprise.

Bryce and Abby showing off their matching shoes. I didn't even realize that Bryce had the same shoes. That kid has a ton of shoes that never get worn because he might crease them.

Emmy got a Lego set, Airpod headphones, a wearable dog blanket, clothes and other little things.

Abby got another pair of shoes that can be worn for everyday. Although she later decided they were too white and she would ruin them. Abby also got lots of clothes that she has been wanting, perfume and a few other little things.

Emmy made me this pot holder. If you have ever made these you know how much work they are. She was so sweet to give it to me!

Emmy made Robb a book with pictures in it of all the fun things that they like to do together. It had pictures of him coaching her volleyball and basketball teams, boating and skiing. It was really cute.

Caleb is not a fan of the unknown, so Christmas gifts are always hard for him to handle. He has been agonizing over who's gift was who's all month. I never put names on them. Instead, they either have a riddle to solve or different paper for each kid or numbers. This year it was paper for each kid but I managed to throw him off early and it drove him crazy that he couldn't figure it out. Caleb got shoes to wear for his YMCA basketball games, a Husker hoodie, golf stuff, and a Roku stick for his TV. 

Bryce got a TV stand for his new TV, a nightstand, Nike hoodies and a Husker hoodie and his main gift was his Basketball shoes that he had gotten a couple weeks early so he had them for the basketball season. The fun thing that Robb did this year was to make a handmade gift for each kid. He made Bryce a stand for his gaming controler and headphones that fits on his TV cart.

He made Caleb a cornhole game. This one took by far the most time and was super cool. Caleb is all about having games to play when friends come over so this will be really fun come summer and they are outside a lot. Abby got a volleyball rebounder that she loves, and she asked him to make them for a couple of her friends as well. He made Emmy a peg climber for the basement wall. It is similar to pullups but so much harder, but that girl has had amazing core strength since she was little.

I bought Robb a new snowboarding coat. He had one that he loved years ago but the zipper broke on it and it has pained him every year when he thinks about replacing it to spend that much money on a coat. (It really isn't that much money, just normal coat price.) I ordered him one that was very similar to the one that he had years ago so I was pretty excited to give it to him. I wrapped it in a stitch fix box because that is what it fit in. As he was opening it, he was convinced that I had ordered him a stitch fix box because I have been trying to get him to try it. Needless to say, he was much more excited about his coat. I had mentioned more than once this year that I really wished that I had the bad guy "The Wolf" from the old show of Maple Town. Maple Town had all these little animal figurines that Steph and I used to collect and between the 2 of us we have a lot of them. The wolf was always sold out when my mom went to buy it, or she would gravitate towards one of the cuter families. Anyway, I had mentioned it to my Ebay shopping husband and boys that they should try to find one for me. And...they came through for me. I am the proud owner of Willey the Wolf. They don't understand and they all think I am weird but that's ok. 

We had a fun day spending it with the family! 

 

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

With a little begging, we got Santa to come on Christmas Eve morning. Robb and I had Christmas Eve off of work and this freed us up to spend Christmas with extended family. The kids were not sad at all about getting presents a day early either. 

Merry Christmas from the sleepy crew.

Abby 13, Caleb 16, Bryce 16, Emmy 8

Emmy got a teal bookshelf that she wanted for her room. She also got her Starbucks coffee cups and some books to go on the bookshelf.

Abby got the shoes that she has been wanting. They are the cool thing this year.

Bryce got a TV for his room.

Caleb got a poker table to play poker with his friends on. 

The dogs each got a gift but they fought over the more popular one.

It was nice to just be able to have a relaxing day for the rest of the day. We opened our family gifts later that afternoon and then we went to church at 5:00 for Christmas Eve service. That is always one of our favorites. 

 

Grinch Christmas

Everyone's favorite Christmas celebration of the year. This year we got to share Grinch Christmas with Bree. It is always fun to share how Grinch Christmas started years ago and how we never expected to have teenagers that still look forward to Grinch Christmas. 

The movie hasn't really been a big hit the last few years. We have watched about every Christmas movie there is a million times and people get easily bored and distracted. Robb came up with the idea to do some minute to win it games after supper this year. The games were a hit! Everyone was excited about them and participated in them. 

We had a great night. We know that family nights that everyone is looking forward to participating in are going to be few and far between as the years go by. We had a great time with all the kids!