Jocelyn Rau – Page 8

February 7, 2021February 18, 2021

They’re three!

The twins just turned 3 and life with them is anything but dull, that’s for sure!

They had a really fun day to celebrate the big 0-3. Grandpa Frank came into town for the weekend since his birthday is the day before theirs, we got a huge snowstorm on their birthday, our great friend Miss Clara came over to sing happy birthday at lunch time, and they got 2 cakes! Della made them a fantastic Uni and Mickey funfetti cake by request, and I ordered an awesome Daniel Tiger cake from my favorite bakery in Peoria that Grandpa brought up.

We don’t have their 3-year well check for a couple weeks, so I’ll update their stats here once we’ve seen the doctor.

**ETA: We had their well check on February 17, so here are the official 3-year stats:

Nat

Height: 39.5″ (90%)
Weight: 34 lbs. (73%)
Head circumference: 51 cm
BMI: 15.3 kg/m2 (26%)
Blood pressure: 96/62

Avit

Height: 39.25″ (87%)
Weight: 35 lbs. (80%)
Head circumference: 53 cm
BMI: 16 kg/m2 (50%)
Blood pressure: 92/60

I tend to use the word “crazy” to describe them, but I don’t want to give them a complex. 😀 They are constantly running, jumping, wrestling each other, chasing after the big kids and doing anything they can to get on their school meetings, shouting and laughing as they tear through the house, and running some more.

They are incredibly smart, and it manifests itself differently in each of them. Avit has glommed onto Morrison’s electronic Lego Super Mario and instantly knew how to control it to earn coins, make the eyes light up different ways, talk, etc. He also figured out how to use all the functionality on the new little cameras they got for their birthdays within about 5 minutes of opening them. Anything with a button he figures out immediately. No tablet or remote is safe when he’s around. He also loves stop signs!

Nat is the artist. He loves to color and was staying in the lines almost perfectly months ago. He also commands the electronics, but his go-to is more often the bag of markers.

They both love to read through all the little board books we have, and they have become really good at puzzles, too. Their current overall favorites include Daniel Tiger, Cuphead and Mugman, Super Mario now thanks to Morrison’s Lego sets, Peppa Pig, and Little Angel and Cocomelon (shows very similar to Little Baby Bum, their first dose of baby mind control :)). They love to sing, know their ABCs, Avit can count to 20 and Nat can count to 10, and they each have their own bedtime song – Nat gets Mr. Sun and Avit gets Twinkle, Twinkle. Their words have increased and improved by leaps and bounds since last year, and they both speak in full sentences. I still have to translate often, but they are definitely understandable.

I have finally weaned them down to only using their pacifiers during naps and at night, and they still love all their “guys.” Nat has Uni, Llama Llama, Mr. Bear, Fluffy Nigh-Night, and snuggies; and Avit has Elmo, Mickey Mouse, Mr. Elly (elephant), and snuggies. No, we have not even begun potty training because neither of them shows any interest whatsoever and it’s absolutely impossible to potty train a kid who doesn’t want to, so don’t bother asking. 😉

For as loud and crazy and frustrating as they can be, they are some of the most loving, snuggly little boys in the world. Nat gives the biggest wraparound monkey hugs, and I wouldn’t trade Avit’s slobbery kisses for anything.

Life with twin little boys is definitely harder than anything I ever anticipated, but I still look at them in amazement every day. Their beautiful little personalities and spirits do bring so much joy to this house, even though it usually comes with a lot of volume and occasionally some headaches, too. I love them so much, and fortunately the heart-filling times far outnumber the times they send me fleeing into the basement to escape.

Happy 3rd birthday, Nat Jennings and Avit Jerome!! We love you two so very much, and watching you grow from newborns into kids together is an incredible journey.

And now for the 3-year comparison posts and photos!

January 20, 2021January 23, 2021

Exhale

The day started early – kids testing at 2 schools before a usual day even begins. Before coffee. One ran late, I worried I wouldn’t get the next there on time. Exhale.

An outgoing President (ab)using his powers to the end. Not even attending his successor’s inauguration. Selfish and living in his altered reality still. But he left a note. Exhale.

A woman sworn in as Vice President of the United States of America. A woman of color. The first. WOMAN. Exhale.

A man sworn in as President of the United States of America. Our oldest yet, but true. Honest, empathetic, present. A man who’s endured personal tragedy one would never wish upon their greatest foe. Spent his career in our nation’s halls of democracy. Third time’s a charm. #46. Exhale.

No violence. No protests. No bloodshed. No shouting. No fighting. No casualties. Exhale.

Hope for tomorrow. Breath for tomorrow. A sense of a future we can believe in again. A sense of a future of respect and unity. A sense of a future of pride. A long road ahead for certain, but one that now feels walkable. A sense of a future. Period. Exhale.

My eyes burn by the end of the night. Heavy from verging on tears all day. Tears of stress; then joy, relief, hope. Heavy from exhaustion. Exhaustion from the release of the weight of the past years that I had no idea was even affecting me. Heavy from being on edge all day waiting for something to happen. Heavy from being relieved beyond belief that it never did. Heavy from fully realizing the importance of this day for not just me but for my children. They can do anything. Exhale.

Sleep well tonight. Tomorrow dawns bright. Exhale.

1-20-21. Biden Harris. Exhale.

December 7, 2020December 31, 2020

Roaring ’20

2020, man. What the fuck happened??

The year started off so great: A new decade! So exciting! So hopeful! The next 10 years! Remember?

That train went off the rails pretty quickly, eh?

A global pandemic that’s killing millions. Mother Nature hating humankind – raging wildfires, a million hurricanes and tropical storms, floods, blizzards. Murder hornets. Swarming locusts. Economies on destructive roller coasters. Widespread unemployment and shuttered businesses. The bastard racism alive and well. Nationwide protests. An election that tested the foundation of this country and shook us to our core. Holidays spent mostly apart from family and friends physically but connected electronically. Social distancing. Zoom. Virtual. Synchronous. Asynchronous. Wear a mask! A new normal.

Safer at home and lockdown last spring were actually not that bad. As I’ve said time and again, being home and not having to load all 5 up to go anywhere is my specialty. The big 3 did great with virtual school during that time and got a couple chances to connect with their teachers again by the end of the school year, even though we weren’t in classrooms anymore.

{If you’d like a little year-end review of those posts, here’s what happened during weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and post.}

However.

As summer vacation rolled in and our normally relaxed, unscheduled days dawned, the coziness of all 7 of us being at home together got a little less cozy by the hour.

If I heard, “I’m on a call!” once more… If the boys ran through the house at top speed and crashed into something or each other once more… If the girls bickered over who went first for whatever or got to control the remote to watch whatever or just whatever whatever once more…

As a normally very even-keeled person, experiencing a constant, humongous range of emotions became exhausting. Happy! Crabby! Chilled out! Angry! Elated! Enraged! Loving! Crying! Laughing! I lost my shit more times than I have in my entire adult life before March of this year, and I began questioning things that I held as rock solid in every aspect before the stretch of time that was 2020. I honestly don’t know how I didn’t kill 1 or more of us daily.

Actually, wine. It was probably wine that saved all of our lives.

I kid. Kind of.

I had also planned to finally take all 5 kids to Canada with my mom and sisters for a vacation this summer, but obviously that didn’t happen with the border closure. We did take a couple of shorter trips within the Midwest, though, so those helped to get the ants out of our pants a little. And then Ryan went back to work in his building in August, and we started to slide back to a slightly reduced level of insanity. And rage on my end, I won’t lie.

As you know, when school started again in September we chose to keep the big 3 fully virtual. With the success they’d had at home last spring and the complete uncertainty of how everything was going to play out with in-person schooling and the spread of covid-19, we felt it was right for us. Fortunately it’s worked out great so far, with each grade having enough students choose fully virtual that each of their classes has a dedicated fully virtual teacher, not splitting her time between those students in class and those on screen. And again, that not having to get everyone out the door at a certain time each morning thing… I’ve gotten very used to it! We get to choose virtual/in person by quarter, and I think we’re going to stick with fully virtual all year. The kids all love their teachers, as do I; they’re doing an excellent job; and they haven’t missed a beat instruction-wise or socially.

And now here we are, the calendar about to flip yet again. The kids and I did get a little in-person family time before Christmas, and the rest of this holiday season we enjoyed here at home, the 7 of us together. I definitely don’t have the same excitement going into 2021 as I did coming into 2020, but I do have a take-it-as-it-comes attitude. I think that’s what 2020 taught us; well, me, at least – you have absolutely no idea what’s heading at you next, so take it as it comes as best you can. I count my blessings daily (literally, believe me!) that we all have our health, Ryan still has his job, I am still able to be home full time with the kids, the roof over our heads is still standing, and we can put food on our table.

(*click on each image in the gallery to enlarge it*)

So, 2021, here we come. 2020, you can fuck off. We survived you, and we’re thankfully still going. As my grandma says, “Cherish the days. March on.” That, and I just restocked the wine cellar.

November 19, 2020

Up North, annual #3

We took our third annual fall trip up to Eagle River last week, and it was another fun one. It didn’t seem quite as fun to me as the past 2, but looking back as a whole, I’m so glad we went again.

I’m not sure why the difference, but I think a lot of it had to do with the big 3 doing school up there. Lana and Morrison didn’t log onto their live meetings and Della was only on hers for 2 out of the 3 synchronous school days we were there, but they did still keep up with all their posted lessons on their own so they didn’t get behind. So that was a big chunk of their days. A prime example of the mobility of virtual school being both a blessing and a curse. 😉

Also, the pool at the resort was closed due to COVID-19 this year and they didn’t think the pool at the other resort that we used last year was quite up to standards, so we didn’t even bother taking swim suits. That was always a highlight of the time for the kids, so that was missing this year, too.

However, there were plenty of great times. Ryan took the big 3 on 2 cool hikes; I took the twins on walks around the resort grounds, which they loved; the deer friends were out in force this year, which we did miss last year; we had fires daily, which I loved; I played a number of fun games with our friends; and the wine was good and plenitful, a vacation must. We got a couple dustings of snow again, too, which make everything look and feel so festive.

So all in all, a successful trip #3 to Eagle River. We stayed in a different building than our previous visits that was right across from the playground and at the end of the little bay the resort is on, which was a setting I liked so much better than the other building we’ve stayed in.

Another big thank you to our friends who are our connection to this place – we’re already looking forward to trip #4 next year!

October 30, 2020

Q1 results

In August, our school district decided we would have 2 options to begin this school year:

A hybrid, in-person model, where students would go to school with half of their class 2 days a week; have virtual learning 2 days a week, where they’d see their teacher in the classroom while s/he teaches the other half of the class, too; then Wednesday is an asynchronous day with only online lessons, no live instruction. Students with last names A-L would be in person on Monday/Tuesday, virtual Thursday/Friday. Students with last names La-Z would be in person on Thursday/Friday, virtual Monday/Tuesday.
Fully virtual, where students would get real-time live instruction from their teacher, not prerecorded online lessons like last spring. Asynchronous Wednesdays just like the hybrid model.
And you only had to commit to whichever modality you chose for 1 quarter at a time.

We chose the real-time virtual learning for the first quarter, mainly because we had absolutely no idea what was going to happen and 1 quarter seemd like nothing. As soon as I heard you didn’t have to choose for the entire school year, my mind was made up. We knew there was better infrastructure in place than last spring when everything shut down, but I was convinced that schools would close within weeks because of spreading COVID-19 cases and everyone would be home anyway. We were wrong, and our district actually stayed open the entire first quarter. At the beginning of the school year I had said that if that happened we would send them back to the in-person option the following quarter, but we’ve decided to keep them home again for second quarter. I know, liar, liar.

Here’s the thing. Although the schools never closed, there have also never been zero active cases AND zero quarantine cases in all the schools. I’ve watched the COVID dashboard that’s released weekly, and there are either some active cases in some of the schools or some quarantine cases in some of the schools, but it has never been zeros across the board. The high school actually went fully virtual for the shortened school week this week because enough teachers/staff are out with it, but that’s the first time for any of the schools this quarter.

Here’s the other thing. We’re going into the usual annual flu season. Put the regular flu germs being passed around on top of the COVID germs? No thanks. I’ve been elated we haven’t had to worry about lice for months – I don’t want to have to start worrying about a nasty viral double decker now. I like having that tiny free space in my brain for other stuff. Like… I forget.

Here’s another thing. The kids are doing great. We had no problems last spring, so I honestly wasn’t worried going into this school year staying virtual. And man, have the teachers stepped up their game! Each grade level had enough students choose the fully virtual option so that there is a dedicated fully virtual teacher (no splitting attention between virtual students and those physically present in the classroom), and it makes ALL the difference. They log onto a live meeting every morning, stay live pretty much all morning, some have a break for lunch then back to a couple smaller live meetings in the afternoon, some are finished after the lunch break, and Morrison has a live closing meeting every day. Personally, I love it. The teachers have done an absolutely amazing job with this setup, whether the platform is Seesaw or Google Classroom, and they have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they deserve about 100,000x their current salaries forever and ever and ever. What they’ve done to make sure OUR kids are getting the education they need in this time of insanity is nothing short of incredible. Especially since we all know so many of them have their own children trying to navigate these systems, too. And it’s funny – when the school year started, almost every teacher I spoke to who has kids in elementary school was sending them back fully virtually as well.

And to continue on the another thing, to be perfectly honest, I’m being a little selfish, too. Not having the morning onslaught of getting 5 kids up, dressed, and fed; then making sure 3 of said kids are ready for school – lunches packed, snacks packed, water bottles packed, heads sprayed with the lice spray that actually works, runners/rain boots/snow boots/coats/snow pants/hats/mittens/none of the above on depending on the weather, teeth brushed, gone pee and/or poop; then out the door by either 7:20 or 7:35 depending on if we are walking or driving… You have no idea how much that saves my sanity. We get into that routine easily once a school year begins, but just knowing I don’t have to do all of it when I wake up every morning makes it that much easier. And I employ the easy button whenever I can in life. Try it, you’ll like it. I don’t even have to set an alarm clock! The big kids all get up, get dressed, make their beds, get their own breakfasts, brush teeth, and get their school stations set up for the day on their own. The twins? Oh, I’ll be changing their diapers and pouring their milk and raising them forever.

And some more about the another thing. They all love their teachers. Lana’s grade actually had enough students choose fully virtual that her class is half Cumberland and half Richards, her teacher is at Richards, and we pick all her supplies up at Richards on pickup days, so she thinks it’s great that she’s kind of going to another school. 😀 When I asked if they wanted to switch to in-person classes or stay virtual, as soon as they heard that they’d all have different teachers and classmates if they switched to in person, they all wanted to stay virtual. (Yay!) They haven’t missed out on any fun, either, all having had pajama parties, reward parties for good behavior, show and tell, our own fun lunch, costume day and parties for Halloween, etc.

And the last part about the another thing? I love having them here. I get to see and/or hear what they do in class all day, I get to help them if they need it (although I do constantly tell Morrison to sound out his own words when he asks how to spell everything because I wouldn’t be there in his classroom), I get to hear what questions they ask their teachers and how they ask them, I get to hear the silly things they say to their friends and classmates whether on their microphones or in the chats, and I LOVE that they always want to have their own Zoom meeting and chat with each other when the school day is over and all assignments are finished. After their school years they’re going to be gone from this house pretty much forever, so I will soak up these extra days with them for as long as I can. And I remind myself of that over and over again on those days when I want to send them all back to school RIGHT NOW. Trust me, I know how fortunate we are that I’m home with the kids full time and we are able to roll with fully virtual. It’s what works best for us, not everyone.

So. I totally lied about going back to in-person school after everything stayed open and healthy for a full quarter. I truly didn’t think it would happen. On one hand, I’m really happy that all the precautions and rules that are in place are working. But on the other hand, I don’t really trust the upcoming season. Milwaukee just reversed its coronavirus orders and put more restrictions on gatherings, bars, restaurants, sports, etc., since Wisconsin is apparently incapable of getting this shit in check, so I don’t need to have added worry with trying to send our children back to school buildings when virtual is working perfectly for us right now. Plus they’re happy and thriving and their teachers all had nothing but good things to say at their virtual confereces last night, which is the main goal of all this.

2020, you’ve really fucked things up. But I have to thank you, too. I’ve gotten almost an extra year of time at home with these little pieces of my heart, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

October 24, 2020February 18, 2021

Eight!

Lana just turned 8, and I can’t believe my littlest girl is already turning into a big kid! We don’t have her well check until January, so I’ll fill in her stats when I have them.

**ETA: We had her well check on February 17, 2021, so here are the official 8-year stats:

Height: 53.5″ (86%)
Weight: 62 lbs. (62%)
BMI: 15.2 kg/m2 (34%)
Blood pressure: 98/55

She had an absolutely amazing day, and it made my heart SO happy to see her skipping around all day saying, “This is the best day ever! Thank you so much for my birthday!”

Then and now – 6th birthday and 8th birthday.

She got a boatload of presents, which was fine by me because I feel like last year she kind of got jipped. Her favorites were this awesome glass pen that Ryan got her that came with glitter ink, ocean kinetic sand (thank you, Auntie Mer!), and a smart watch (thank you, Grandma!).

A week or so earlier I’d asked what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday this year, and she requested marble. Little did I know that required combining 2 different batters, but I figured it out and it actually turned out pretty great. I made a double batch of buttercream frosting and it’s a good thing I did, because we ended up making it a double-decker cake and used every last bit. Lana came up with a dia de los muertos skull design and decoration scheme, and it turned out awesome! She helped crack the eggs, cut out the skull shape, and frost with the piping bags, and she was SO excited about it. It was delicious!

Her birthday fell on an asynchronous day for school, so we didn’t have to worry about watching the clock to sign on to live class meetings. This allowed us to just follow a fun birthday schedule. She opened a bunch of presents in the morning, saving just a couple for later in the day after Daddy got home from work. They did their school work until about 10:00 that morning, then we headed out for a couple “field trip” errands. We picked up school supplies for D and M, picked up our online grocery order, stopped to take her picture in the beautiful frame her Girl Scout troop leaders made this summer for their bridging ceremony from Daisies to Brownies that never got to be used because of the pandemic, then we checked out a really cool house that’s right down on the edge of Lake Michigan and has a yard full of sculptures. The woman who lived there was an artist known as “The Witch of Fox Point,” and the kids were studying her that week in art. It’s a pretty cool sight to see, and they thought it was fun to see something from their studies in real life.

Then they finished up their lessons during the afternoon, Ryan took them to the park when he got home because it was the only beautiful day in a week full of rain, I picked up her requested sushi for dinner, and she opened the rest of her presents that night. Talk about the perfect way to celebrate a birthday! She was in heaven. We even sang “Happy Birthday” to her twice, because the video camera malfunctioned during the first rendition.

Lana is an absolute wonder. She is still the most creative person I know, and her fairy spirit is alive and well. She is loving her virtual classroom this year and is doing a great job in school. She just had her first play date of the year, inviting one of the girls from her class who goes to the other elementary school over to play outside for an afternoon. Another girl in her class sent her her first chain letter a few weeks ago, a sticker club, so she’s enjoyed mailing letters to her friends and getting stickers in the mail as well. I just love how her eyes light up and she starts literally bouncing up and down when she’s excited about something, and I never say no when she wants to read me something she’s written or show me a new background on her computer for school. The other night she wanted me to carry her to bed, and she said, “I want you to be able to carry me forever.” I do, too, my love; oh, how I do, too.

Happy 8th birthday, Lana Marie! Words can’t even express how much I love you, and you make us prouder by the day. It still takes me a couple tries to get you to hear me when I need to you do something and you are the queen of shoving toys wherever you want to put them instead of actually cleaning up, but I now know that’s just you, it’s not deliberate misbehavior. I will never, ever forget the night we brought you home from the hospital – the early darkness of a fall evening, which I usually hate, could do nothing to dampen the elation I felt having another baby girl in the house. Don’t ever let this world take your gorgeous essence away. It is the most defining part of you, and I couldn’t love it more. May your days always be filled with twirling, Nigh-Night, and love, my sweet baby girl!

August 31, 2020August 31, 2020

#summervacation2020

Despite living during a pandemic, we managed to have a really great summer vacation. Screw you, COVID-19!

We started things off with a family trip over to Paw Paw, MI, for a nice 4-day weekend with my mom and stepdad. We’d never been to their cabin there before, and it was wonderful. (P.S. All of these trips will have their own gallery since we take millions of pictures, so please click on each pic to enlarge it if you’d like a better view.)

Two weeks later, my dad came up for the weekend to celebrate Morrison’s birthday, so it was fun having Grandpa in town for a few days. (Please see Morrison’s 5-year post for those pictures!) We were home for a few weeks after that, then I took the kids down to my mom’s for a week after the 4th of July. My sister and her kids drove back to spend that time, too, so we all had a great visit and got to celebrate my niece and stepdad’s birthdays. We hadn’t seem them for exactly a year, which is crazy!

A quick half week later, and we went on another family vacation. That never happens twice in a summer, so it was awesome. Our great friends found a last-minute rental opportunity about 3.5 hours north of here in Crandon, WI, so I said count us in! We definitely did not regret it. It was an incredible place with a perfect property and lake for the kids, and we all had so much fun.

A couple weeks after that, I took the kids back down to my mom’s for another week of Grandma and Grandpa days. We were the only visitors this time, and we celebrated Della’s birthday. Another round of relaxation and fun – just what we needed!

I’m in love with these clutch purses and mini pouches I’ve discovered how to make!

We also sprinkled in a couple treat days around here – Bookworm Gardens, hunting for sea glass, donuts and the playground at school, backyard fun (we finally have grass!), the zoo, and I transformed our front porch into a perfect little sitting spot that I love.

So now we prepare for the start to our strangest school year ever. We’ve chosen to have the big 3 attend school fully virtually for the first quarter, because I can’t bring myself to make them the guinea pigs in all this. Our other option was a blended model where students go in person 2 days a week and virtual the other 3, but I’ll see how that works before sending ours in. If everyone stays healthy and school stays open the whole time, we’ll all be happy to send them back to the classrooms with their teachers and friends. But I’m just not convinced it will all work so smoothly right away. I want them back as much as they want to be back, but I also don’t need to take any unnecessary risks. Plus we don’t have an extra room for quarantining!

So, another summer break in the books. And an excellent one at that, even with masks, social distancing, and basically nothing operating like a usual summer. Who knows what these upcoming seasons will bring on all fronts, so I will cherish these last couple days like nobody’s business. Cheers!