Our second Christmas celebration occurred on Christmas Day. For the first time, we enjoyed Christmas at home by ourselves with our little family of four. Christmas Eve we put out marshmallows (Santa's favorite treat, according to Ainsley), and a glass of milk above the fireplace. Christmas morning she tip-toed downstairs to see if Santa had come.
That's our sassy little girl! We then went through our stockings and had fun opening all our gifts. When you have young children, it means that Christmas Day festivities are finished by 8:00am. Then you are left with an entire day to do anything. Except that most places are closed on Christmas Day. Which means you do things at home. And in the Bowlin home, our goal is to get as much done on our to-do list as possible! Our front steps needed to be replaced. Before someone stepped through them. And since it rained Christmas Eve, and was going to rain more the day after Christmas, my dear husband decided to replace our steps on Christmas Day. A beautiful day to work outside and enjoy the blessings of Christmas! Ainsley rode her new bike in the circle while Daddy worked (and occasionally took breaks to help her figure out how to pedal and brake properly). Parker and I played inside with his new toys. We all played outside on the swing set. We watched Daddy work and made faces at him through the glass front door. And then we enjoyed a big Christmas-style family meal at the end of the day. Our first Christmas as a family of four was full of memories!
I woke up this morning and a feeling of helplessness washed over me. All the unknowns are creeping up and threatening to smother me. It's a wave that comes over and over again. I get to the top of one and then another hits. I have always been a planner. Sometimes I worry. But I very rarely have anxiety. I try to focus on what I know and what I have control over. What DO I know? I know what will happen for the next 4 weeks. I know the kids have school until May 22 and I will do my best to balance it with work. Got it. I can do that. But what happens after that? What will they do all day when school ends and I'm still working and camps haven't started up yet? What if camps never start? Do I cancel the camps now and try to get some money back? Or do I wait and see if they cancel and give me a refund? Do I move their camps to later in the summer when they're more likely to happen? But if I wait to see if the June camps are cancelled then all the July and August camps mi...
I’m sure I’m not the only one who started this quarantine and thought the Zombie Apocalypse was imminent. I did what all normal apocalyptic-preparers would do - I filled our extra 60 gallon water containers, I checked the date on my bucket of freeze-dried food, and I stocked up on canned goods and baking essentials. Clearly the stores would be completely shuttered and I was going to have to make my own bread and can my own vegetables by the time we emerged from quarantine. Well, we all know things didn’t turn out quite that bad, but an Ayres is always prepared! I’ve had a fully stocked pantry of baking ingredients so I’ve worked hard to keep something on the counter to eat at all times. Today I attempted cinnamon squares. The yeast didn’t rise as much as I thought it should’ve, and I didn’t include the pecans that the recipe called for since I have some nut-haters in the family. So you roll out the dough and the spread some of the filling, which was easier said than do...
Momming Hard on the weekends is definitely not quite as hard , especially when we have these beautiful spring days to enjoy outside! The Monument Avenue 10k race, the biggest annual road race in Richmond, was cancelled this year. Luckily they encouraged people to still run the race on their own, so I set up a 5k course through our neighborhood (run it twice for the 10k). The kids, along with a few of their friends, ran the 5k route. Brody, Ainsley and Addison I ran my fastest 10k time ever! All this running at home has paid off! What a gorgeous day!! All our trees are blooming and reminding us that even in these dark times, there is beauty all around us. And since we've been spending so much time outside lately, I decided my pots needed some flowers. Nothing makes me happier than buying spring flowers and enjoying them for the seasons to come! We stocked up on chalk this weekend, and the kids have been busy 'decorating' the driveway...
Comments
Post a Comment