November 2020 Update

 What a crazy year.

What have we been up to since April? Mostly just hanging out at home...

July 23, 2020 - Kenna turned 4

Kenna got a bike with training wheels for her birthday and practiced riding it inside the house. Unfortunately, it's a little harder to pedal on our gravel driveway. :( 

She requested "nummelberry pancakes" for her birthday dinner.

We had a little (mostly outdoor) birthday party for her. It was a Frozen 2 theme, of course....

Kenna is a smart little girl, and she's been practicing her letters -- she can spell her name and "mom". She's very strong willed, but so sweet!

August 2020

We went out to the lake for the first time, and the girls got to go swimming. 

Family photos....

It took the girls quite a few days of working on this lollipop (storing it in the fridge in between licks), and they still hardly put a dent in it.

September 2020 - Kenna started preschool

After waiting all summer, we finally heard in August that Kenna got into preschool, and she started in September. She went for two months, and then we caught COVID so she'll be out for almost an entire month, go back for two days, then they start "distance learning" for the next month. We'll see what happens after that.....

November 23, 2020 - Raelyn turned 2

Poor baby spent her birthday in quarantine, although we hadn't planned on having a party anyway.

Dan and I weren't feeling great, but we still tried to have a fun day. RaeRae got a new trike and the unicorn cake she'd requested!

We had a little impromptu birthday party with a few people over Zoom. Let's hope she gets to have a real party next year, though!

This little girl is just as stubborn as Kenna, but she's such a delight. She jabbers nonstop, and has the cutest things to say. We're constantly impressed with her long, grammatically correct sentences!

Dan has been home the past two weeks, and is supposed to go back to work on Monday. My quarantine ends tomorrow, although my lungs still hurt and I'm kind of achy. The girls didn't really have any symptoms, but Kenna can't go back to school for two weeks after quarantine ends since we didn't get her tested. We'll probably do a quick contactless pickup of Kenna's school pictures on Monday, just to get out of the house, then come back home.

Neither of us can really smell or taste still, although I think my taste is returning. Such a weird thing to experience! I'm just glad I have most of my energy back, and my muscles/joints don't ache as much as they did for a few days.

It was a huge bummer that we not only spent Thanksgiving in quarantine but we also missed a good meal. We're going to make it tomorrow, even though we won't be able to taste much of it (and the girls will hardly touch any of it).

Anyway, just wanted to share a quick update before the year is over. We're in for a loooong winter, but I have a new project to keep me busy.

My "business" blog is going pretty well, so yesterday, I started another one that I'm still working on building...hopefully I'll have a couple posts up soon! I didn't do it on a whim -- I've been doing a lot of research over the past couple months, and had been waiting till the new year to start it, but figured I'd grab a really good Black Friday deal on hosting.

So here we are... Hopefully it'll keep me busy over the long winter! I'm sure it'll be long gone by the next time I write a post on here. ;) 

January 2020 Through April 8, 2020

Here are some of the highlights from the beginning of the year until now....

Daddy & his girls

sisterly love

naked baby

{hugs}

play-doh with Grandma

so sweet!

plastic bins are so much fun....

Mommy & the girls getting a little fresh air!

Kenna

Raelyn

blanket fort

 Eloise's birthday party

swimming at Eloise's birthday party

Raelyn & Easton eating at the Beckmans'

Kenna & cousins after Eloise's birthday party

Raelyn being cute!

the girls loved hiding under the high chair together

little daredevil

Kenna loves her little animals

our little climber

sisters <3

falling asleep while playing

Kenna & the Kumpula kids

Caitlin & baby Chandler

We all got hit by the flu (hopefully not Coronavirus?!), just before Valentine's Day, and it lasted until after Valentine's Day.

resting, trying to feel better

Valentine's Day flowers from Dan

starting to feel a little better...

...but still a little run down

Kenna's flower from Daddy

Raelyn's flower from Daddy

playing at Grandpa & Grandma's house

just hanging out

"boop!"

We needed to get out of the house, so we went to Fargo, and checked out the mall, then watched Frozen II at the Safari Theater.

fun at the mall playland

the ladybug was so delightful

"Elsa"

"Anna"

our little snow lover

Raelyn is 100% a Mommy's girl

Raelyn loves sitting on the trike, although she can't quite ride it yet

and Kenna loves her pink car

kisses

 The girls & I went with Dan to Austin, MN for a work trip....

eating at Kenny's Oak Grill

just arrived at the hotel

the girls took up the entire king size bed!

"trout"

playing at the nature center

yum! ice cream at Pizza Ranch

heading to the pool....

she was NOT impressed with the water

but Kenna loves swimming!

bath time!

Kenna's curls <3

wiped out!

making SPAM at the SPAM Museum

the SPAM Museum has a super fun kid-sized kitchen

playing in the playland at the SPAM Museum

dinner at Grandpa & Grandma's

strawberries and whipped cream

yum!

so sleepy

Kenna & Elmo

Mila

 Our last day of ECFE before we moved...we got to play in the preschool gym!

Kenna had a blast!

"ball!"

sisterly snuggles

cherry cone at DQ

sharing Mommy's blizzard

practicing her scissor skills, and having a little fun too

 We closed on our new house on Friday, March 13 and spent the rest of the day cleaning while Dan worked. It was filthy! 

dinner on the floor (after scrubbing it, of course)

snuggles with Daddy...our last night at the cabin

coloring in the new house

Kenna's drawing of Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff from Frozen

 This girl...her little heart breaks at the drop of a hat.

"Yay, ice cream!"

crushed because Daddy wasn't fast enough...?

"Yay, ice cream!"

ring around the rosies

snuggles

just reading my new book!

snacktime (for some reason, we always have bedtime snack on the floor)

Kenna & Mommy

driving our cars

our country road

getting out for a quick walk

almost done putting the living room together

it's really small!

coloring outside

the kitchen is mostly organized now

they really wanted to get into the truck

believe it or not, it's a total coincidence that they have matching jackets

Elsa doing her magic and freezing Mom

playing with the rocks, so much fun

tee ball

the girls finally get to take baths together

coloring eggs

"egg!"

the results

cheese!

Kenna in her element

Kenna has been really interested in learning how to recognize letters, and she has even been practicing writing a few names, including her own.

Kenna

so proud

smoothies!

snuggles with Elmo

And there you have it! Our year in a nutshell.

We are now quarantined while we wait out the "stay at home" order (during the Coronavirus pandemic) and have gotten well acquainted with our new home. I need to get to the store and stock up on groceries again, which I'm really dreading even more than usual.

Easter is coming up, but unfortunately we won't be able to get together with family this year. And with the supply shortage, I'm not sure exactly what we'll end up having for Easter dinner. Whatever I can find at Walmart, I suppose. I tried ordering groceries for pick up, but everything keeps going out of stock, and I can't get an appointment time anyway -- absolutely no appointments are available -- so I'm forced to go there in person and see what I can find!

As always, I'll try to post more frequently, but we'll see. Between everything else I have going on, I have a hard time remembering..... :s