November-mas

Happy November-mas! A few weeks ago when it was getting cold and sad outside, Jeff and I hatched a plan to survive wintertime during the pandemic: we decided to have Christmas every month! We figured it was bound to bring extra cheer during this dark pandemic winter. The 25th of November, December, January, and February will be Christmas in the White house. Generally I struggle to think of gifts for people, so I don't know why this spreading-of-gifting over four months seemed like a good idea, but it totally tickled our fancy, so we went for it. We had November-mas this week on the 25th, which was the day before Thanksgiving. This month, Jeff and I gave "home improvement" gifts, most of which came in excitingly large boxes. 

Home Alone

Monday, November 23rd was unreal. It was a day I have dreamed about for the past five years with varying levels of guilt and joy. It was a day that didn't seem likely to happen in the 2020/2021 school year. But IT HAPPENED! All three of my kids went to school all day long. It was their only day of in-person school all week, due to Thanksgiving break. Hybrid group A (us) went to school on Monday, and group B went to school on Tuesday. One of the challenges I'm working on is embracing the moment. So even though I knew that this much-anticipated first day as a mom home alone wasn't going to happen again for another week and that it could very well all stop completely if schools switched to all online again, I ignored those uncertainties and LIVED IT UP.

Staying Active

When cold weather rolls in, staying active takes more dedication and creativity. Staying active while rehabbing a sore ankle doubles the need for dedication and creativity. About two weeks ago, I tweaked my ankle at cross country practice. It didn't seem like a big deal so I kept running on it for a few days. Then it started feeling worse. It's the same ankle that I sprained back in July. After doing a little research on the tendons, I reluctantly committed to fully healing and strengthening my ankle before running again. I took eight days off from running (that's a LOT for me), and it helped. My ankle still isn't back to normal, but I think it's healing. It is hard not running! Instead of running, I have been biking, which is the only reason I have held on to some semblance of sanity over the past seven days. 

Pie Month Misc.

November is Pie Month! My mom declared November pie month at least twenty years ago. Even though pie isn't my favorite form of sugar, it feels so November-ish to eat pie. We have had several hearty savory pies for dinner: shepherd's pie (twice) and hample pie (also twice). For dessert we have eaten two pumpkin pies from Safeway. We also have consumed one whole Costco pumpkin cheesecake. Yesterday (November 23rd) I baked my first two dessert pies of the season: chocolate chip pie and cranberry peach pie, with varying degrees of success. Desserts are so finnicky! 

Amber decided that she does not like pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake. I dutifully ate my yearly piece of pumpkin pie and let those who truly enjoy it have the rest. My lactose issues tragically limited me to one piece of pumpkin cheesecake. Rest assured, though, the other three White things took up mine and Amber's pumpkin slack with gusto. 

And they did have light continually

One of my favorite Book of Mormon stories is about the Jaredites' journey across the ocean. The concept of LIGHT always feels more profound during cold dark wintry days. As I pondered the familiar story this week, a new facet of the story stood out to me. 

Hello, Hybrid!

Monday, November 9th was the second first day of school for Amber and Rose! Our school district is transitioning to a hybrid model, where the classes are divided in half and each half goes to school two days per week. The other three days are at-home online school. Jay is still fully online, since middle school is scheduled to start hybrid learning three weeks after the elementary schools. The high school is supposed to begin hybrid three weeks after the middle schools. More on that if/when it comes! For now, our elementary school girls are the stars of the show!

Amber and Rose are in group A, which attends school in person on Mondays and Tuesdays. We opted out of the confusing lengthy school bus rides this year, so I'm back on Mom-chauffeur service for the first time a while. Since I only have to hustle the girls into the car and drive them to school on time two days per week, it is manageable. So far. We are only two days into this scheme! And actually, day two was already rushed and reluctant. So...yeah. This is the story of easy-breezy Day One.

Shabirthday

On the same day that Amber turned 6, I turned 34. This year I finally really surrendered my birthday to my daughter. In many ways I did much better at sharing what used to be my day. Jeff gave me my birthday gift several weeks early. As much as possible, I referred to November 4th as Amber's birthday, and it came easier to me than in past years. It almost worked too well--Jay and Rose didn't acknowledge my birthday at all! Not that a parent can really expect or care too much if her kids forget about her birthday, though I do like birthday cards.

Ambirthday

Amber turned six! Ever since Jay's birthday six months ago, Amber has been asking almost every single day "Alexa, how many days until November 4th?" Thank goodness for voice-command devices and their ability to do day-counting math in the blink of an eye. Amber's day came at last, and she reveled in every special Birthday Activity. 

The night before, Jeff and I put six balloons on Amber's bed while she was asleep. We also wrapped her roller skates in separate gift bags to make her birthday gift display more expansive. Perception is reality.

The three mile barrier

Ever since school started this fall, Jay has been working hard on running farther and faster. He decided all on his own that he wanted to get used to running for 30 minutes at a time. One day, after a few weeks of jogging, Jay asked Jeff to help him get faster. When your dad is a cross country and track coach, use it! Private coaching sessions soon commenced. Father and son started meeting at the park one afternoon each week to do a speed and strength workout together. Jay's running form has already improved noticeably. 

Jay is a very careful, deliberate guy. He likes to know what's coming so he can prepare for it. He knows that he wants to run middle school cross country next year in seventh grade, and he wants to be ready for it, so he's starting now, gradually building up his endurance little by little. It's working! Jay is able to run much farther now than he could two months ago. 

Sports, hybrid, and misc.

TWO EXCITING THINGS THAT WERE ALSO STRESSFUL AT FIRST: 

1. Hybrid elementary school is back on the schedule! Our district delayed the start time of 2-days-per-week hybrid model so they could get all of the details negotiated and nailed down. Rose and Amber will start in-person school on November 9th. They will attend two days each week, and do regular online school the other three days. Hybrid school starting up wasn't stressful until the second piece of news hit me hard moments later...

Carving and Costuming

The Halloween obligations--I mean festivities-- continued (and hopefully concluded) on Wednesday, October 28th with pumpkin carving and costume-concocting. Parental interest in pumpkin carving has been waning over the past few years, but Jeff and I have always managed to carve one pumpkin apiece. This year we were feeling sort of worn out by both life and the lack of life and we didn't carve pumpkins at all, even though we had over twenty home-grown pumpkins to choose from. We didn't even feel bad about our unenthusiastic non-pumpkin-carving. In fact, it was a relief! Jay didn't feel like carving a pumpkin either, but Rose and Amber each carved two. Jay and I drew faces on a few pumpkins with a Sharpie and called it good. Jeff and I both helped the girls by cutting the tops off of their pumpkins. 

Picking and Painting

Over the summer we planted three pumpkin seeds, hoping that one of them would grow. As far as we can tell, all three seeds grew, and we ended up with 30 pumpkins in our wild sprawling square pumpkin patch. Instead of journeying far and wide for a Wedventure on October 21st, we decided to pick our pumpkins. Jay clipped each pumpkin from the vine, and the girls followed him around collecting the pumpkins and piling them on the grass. The kids gathered 29 pumpkins. Pumpkin #29 ended up being small and squishy, so we tossed it. Pumpkin #30 was underneath the trampoline and looked pretty green, so we left it there. Then we carried our abundant orangey-rific harvest onto the porch, where the pumpkins glowed in the afternoon sunlight.