Friday, December 18, 2020

Fall Photo Dump

 

Hanging at Nana & Papa’s - a mild day after Thanksgiving.






I think Nora is channeling Alexis Rose.



Hanging outdoors at Aunt Stephanie’s.

Annual Shaw Farm pumpkin visit.








My New Nephew!

Calvin Paul Johnston was born Sept 17th, 2020 to my youngest sister, Katherine and her husband Chase. Our family was so extremely excited, and Nora is excited to have a cousin on the Batty side. Hannah loves “Baby Calvin!”

The bittersweet part is that we’re in a pandemic - so the visits aren’t often, and we stay outside, and I can’t really hold him .... so hopefully later in 2021 we can try and get some more family time so we can enjoy Calvin’s 1st year : ) 








December Birthdays

 Nora”s 9th birthday was quiet but great - it’s sweet that Nora understands we could not have a party. We did have over her one neighbor friend who is also in remote school. Along with our aide that afternoon, we all sang Happy Birthday and cut Nora’s cake - a requested Christmas tree! Unfortunately, curious 6-yr old hands smooshed the box stop and crushed the star on top. 

Nora got a water bottle, some blue-blocking eyeglasses (don’t ask me, she wanted fashion frames), and a pair of classic checkered Vans slides. She was a happy 9-yr old!






Then this gal turned 41 (!) on the 10th. There are days I still don’t feel like a grown-up or mother. But my aches, few greys and fine lines say otherwise. No bother though - I’m healthy, happy and am able-bodied and that’s something to celebrate.

I actually had to go into the office on my birthday, so I did actually put a dress and boots on. My office manager got me bagels with veggie cream cheese - YUM. A few friends dropped off porch gifts which was so thoughtful. 

Tim and the girls got me my long-for wished grapevine trees for the porch, some Trader Joes goodies, and delicious cheesecake bites from Fresh Thyme. The best gift were the homemade items from Nora and seeing Hannah write a card for me - knowing she can write and (sort of) sound out words is the best gift ever!









For being a pandemic birthday, I really felt the love! 

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Ailo Surgery

Well, just two weeks after my surgery, Ailo was up for his. 

Sweet old boy is 11 years old and the fatty (benign) tumors are starting up. The one on his leg was wrapping around a nerve so they wanted to remove it. We also got his teeth cleaned while he was under. 

Poor guy came home pretty beat up and I totally forgot he’d have a cone on! 

He was miserable... it took him a few hour to even lay down. Didn’t eat food for 48 hours. The plastic vet cone looked so huge and uncomfortable, I went back to PetSmart to get him a smaller, softer cone which did work out. 

The stitches were pretty gnarly, but by now his fur has grown back and you can barely see it now. 

He’s a good boy and getting old ❤️





This donut was good in theory, but he could reach the stitches.

Long sock around head, cone around neck.



Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Halloween 2020

 Our neighborhood isn’t booming even during typical years. I never need more than 1 bag of candy, it’s ridiculous. Therefore, it’s not bustling with people and I felt somewhat safe if Nora chose to Trick or Treat, which she opted not to. 

Instead, we set a table at the end of the drive with candy in a bowl. Our hired aide for Hannah (who has been with us since Memorial Day) stopped by our house celebration. 








Pandemic Thanksgiving 2020

We weren’t sure this summer or early fall how we would approach Thanksgiving. However, as the date approached, COVID cases rose, hospitalizations have risen (and is now shocking how little beds remain in Ohio’s local hospitals), and our nation has hit 300,000 deaths since March. 

I’m thankful our families on each side are all on the same page and agreed it’s best to be safe and not congregate indoors. It’s “just” one year. Our family is exposed to our aide for Hannah as well as one neighbor playmate for each girl, so we are not completely safe. Those “bubbles” go further than you think. 

We still made sure to call our family members to send well wishes. 

We were actually excited to make our own menu. We did special order smoked turkey from our local BBQ joint as well as the pumpkin pie from our local donut/bakery. Helping the local businesses during the pandemic has been important to us! 

The Kron menu: 

  • Turkey
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Roasted Brussels Sprouts with pinenuts
  • Biscuits
  • Sourdough Apple Stuffing 
  • Pumpkin Pie
It was delicious and the day was fairly quiet, but nice!