While Jack and Daniel were enjoying themselves at camp, Isaac and I had a little fun of our own. After we dropped Jack at the church building Isaac asked if we could have a YES Day. I thought that was a great idea!
We kicked the Yeses off with a stop at Hardees for a late lunch, just the two of us. For dinner we went out to El Metate – Isaac dressed as a Ninja.
To
continue with the Yeses (more of a Yes Week), Isaac spent two mornings
with friends down the street while I attended training for our
homeschool co-op. Our friend's graciously took Isaac to the zoo with
them and also to one of his favorite parks.
He may be too young for camp, but he still had an enjoyable day.
The
day Jack and Daniel came home, Isaac asked if we could go eat at
Sasquatch – this had me scratching my head, but I eventually figured out
he meant brunch at First Watch!
An
extra bonus for Isaac was that I let him play all the Nintendo he
wanted and let him sleep in my bed with me. He had a pretty good week!
Issac is officially FIVE. Celebrating during a pandemic was not my
favorite, but it was a good day for our little guy nonetheless.
From donuts for
breakfast to video chats with my family and also the kids Nana. And even
a surprise visit from Grandpa and Abuela, who popped by to sing and
bring a present. There were virtual wishes online and some friends even
drove by to sing Happy Birthday, while other friends dropped homemade
cards in our mailbox.
I had initially thought we would ask our friends to do a Birthday Parade drive by for Isaac, but then we were told to Shelter in Place. While I know a lot of people still do the parades, I didn't feel right asking a bunch of people to drive by. That being said, we did love seeing our friends that drove by anyway unasked.
Also, Isaac gets super embarrassed with too much attention, so while one mini van was nice, I think a slew of them would have been too much for him. As for me, I went inside and cried after they left. It was so good to see friends, but it was hard too because we didn't get to visit and I miss them so much.
Per tradition, Isaac and I made a homemade
cake — a Minecraft sword this year. There were presents to open —
including Isaac’s first climbing harness. This gave Daniel a reason to
rig up a temporary zipline in the back yard. Then he repurposed the rope
so he could teach the boys how to rappel down the rock face in our
yard. Jack was a bigger fan of this than Isaac but both had fun.
Finally
we celebrated with ramen noodles (Isaac’s request) and pizza. Followed
by cake and a movie. It was a good day, even if we are missing our
family and friends.
*Isaac had also requested a Nerf war and soccer game and he really wanted a Play Station with Minecraft (those are crazy expensive and hard to come by right now). We will make up the Nerf war and soccer game later.
Isaac recently reached a milestone: he had his first visit to the dentist.
We just take our kids to our dentist and we lined up the appointments so they fell one after another.
Before we got there, I told Isaac that he would get to pick a toy from the treat box when we were done.
And then we had Jack go first so that Isaac could watch and know what to expect (with Jack, we had him watch Daniel before his turn).
At first our dental hygienist told Isaac she would just count his teeth. He did so well that she decided to clean his teeth too. He did surprisingly well!
Our dentist came back and checked both boys teeth. Both have 20 teeth and no cavities! And now Isaac knows what to expect for next time. We were relaxed about the experience, and so was he.
We changed things up a bit today. We woke up and it was 31 degrees but
was supposed to get up to 70F by the afternoon.
So we waited until after
we picked up Isaac from preschool to do our nature hike and Isaac got to
tag along.
We chose Green Gorge because it’s a short hike and I knew
Isaac could handle it.
It also follows a creek the whole way, so I was pretty confident that Isaac would
stay interested.
Of course Jack wanted to run ahead the whole time
and Isaac didn’t like being left behind, but he did the whole hike
himself (even after sticking a foot in the water!).
The weather was
perfect and now I know we can keep hiking this summer when Isaac is out
of preschool.
The focus of today's lesson was the plant life cycle.
Jack’s favorite
thing about seeds getting dispersed is that animals can eat seeds and
poop them out later
Check back on Tuesdays to see where our nature studies have taken us... Previous Nature Hikes with Jack:
Fast forward to this year and Isaac has mastered his Strider Balance Bike and was even able to handle riding it over the hills and bumps at the Pump Track recently. At that time he kept telling us that he wanted pedals on his bike.
We waited a few weeks and he kept asking about pedals and no training wheels. So we finally went to our neighborhood park and let him give it a try.
The result was that a few weeks before his third birthday he was able to ride without training wheels! Now, he is by no means proficient at it, but he was able to do it. Pedal, pedal, pedal, Isaac!
A few days later he asked to put the training wheels back on and we acquiesced. But I'm sure he will be riding on his own soon enough! We are incredibly proud of him for wanting to try and actually doing it.
And honestly, we aren't surprised that he was ready to try. Two years ago he was chomping at the bit to be on Jack's bike! Image above taken summer of 2016!
This year we celebrated Christmas on our own, just the four of us. Which seems to be the case more often than not on the odd years. We are learning to embrace this scenario, and are thankful to wake up in our own beds on Christmas morning which allows our boys to open their presents at a pace that works for us.
In the days leading up to Christmas we took the boys to visit Santa at Bass Pro Shop (Isaac was clearly not impressed with Santa), and also made a quick trip to Manchester to visit Daniel's Grandmother (the boys great Grandmother). She was tickled to see the kids and visit with us. The boys loved their gifts – a robotic building set for Jack and Lincoln Logs for Isaac.
Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday this year, so we hurried to church to worship with friends. Afterward we had lunch with friends who are really like family. Everyone needs these type of friends in their lives, and we are very grateful for ours.
After lunch, we headed across town to go bowling. This was a new thing for us, but a tradition I can see us continuing in the future (Jack would have loved to play laser tag too, but we ran out of time). Jack has been begging to go bowling since he was around the age of three, and this year felt like the right time to introduce it.
Isaac had us cracking up. He liked rolling his ball down the tower, but became upset when the ball rolled away from him. Jack tried mastering throwing the ball in various ways... he has some more practice to do. Daniel and I haven't bowled since college and I discovered that I was great at throwing strikes and gutter balls.
After bowling we headed to Daniel's dad's house. This was the first time we have ever spent Christmas Eve with him –– in the past we have typically met up for a meal on Christmas Day (typically Hibachi). That changed after he remarried, but we have kept the Hibachi tradition for us.
Anyway, Daniel's dad and his wife had a house full of family and they organized all of the children to perform a Nativity play for the grown ups. It was really sweet, with the little ones stealing the show. Isaac was quite the ham and had us laughing the entire time. Jack took his job of being one of the Magi very seriously.
When the play was over, we had to scoot so that we could do our own traditions at home. We stopped to pick up Papa Johns Pizza on our way, and Daniel dropped his wallet in the parking lot. A good samaritan called to report the loss, and Daniel had to go back and get it. Thank goodness for good people in the world.
We ate our pizza while watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. And then the kids opened their Christmas Eve present of pajamas, before settling down to drink hot cocoa and eat popcorn.
Once the kids were in bed, I set about wrapping all of the presents and getting them under the tree. Daniel and I normally would watch a favorite Christmas movie, but we were too tired this year.
The boys slept in until a reasonable time of 7:30am. They were excited to discover their stockings under our little Christmas tree.
Once Daniel and I could be persuaded to get up, they opened their
goodies. Then we moved on to the main presents under our big tree.
The kids were really excited and grateful for all of their gifts. Jack's favorites were a fishing pole and a BB Gun. Isaac really liked his collections of mini construction trucks and a pop gun.
We enjoyed pinwheel sausage biscuits for breakfast and then the kids played and helped Daniel move firewood.
That evening we went for a quick (frozen) walk to Signal Point before
heading out for Hibachi.
This year it was just the four of us. Normally
we have other family members meet up with us, but that wasn't in the
cards this year. We enjoyed watching our kids enjoy the Hibachi
experience. It is one of our favorite things each year.
The day after Christmas, Daniel's dad and his wife dropped by for a quick visit. We had missed out on presents with them on Christmas Eve, so the boys enjoyed seeing them and opening a couple more presents.
Before they arrived, Isaac helped me make a batch of Cherry Yum Yum (a Moore family favorite) to share with them. I didn't have enough graham crackers, so I improvised with HoneyNut Cheerios. It wasn't exactly the same, but still delicious.
The weekend after Christmas, we met up with some of my extended Canadian family in Ashland City, TN for an afternoon of visiting (much like we do every two years or so).
And it's always a treat to see any of my Canadian family whenever we get the chance.
Afterward to made a stop in Smyrna, TN for dinner at Chick-fil-A with Daniel's mom and one of his sisters. Jack and Isaac were thrilled with the additional, unexpected presents. Especially the Magic Tracks from their Nana – it made their day!
Christmas and time with family is what we make of it. Some years it is
big and extravagant, loud and boisterous. Other years it is quieter,
more peaceful, and just the four us.
Both ways of celebrating are
something to be embraced. We see family when we can and are thankful for
time together, no matter what it looks like.
