2021 so far

 According to our blog posts, we're still somewhere in Fall 2020, but it is a new year and I hope I can catch up or at least be more consistent with our current updates! I really can only blog at night after the kids go to bed, but I'm always distracted by all of the other pulls for my time: puzzles or a movie with Austin, reading, cleaning, sleeping, errands, teaching...it's hard to make blogging a priority, but it is still important to me so I will continue to try! 

So here's what 2021 looks like so far for us:

Rioters stormed the Capitol to protest the confirmation of Joe Biden as Trump's replacement. It was a nasty, sad situation that I don't want to comment on but I did see this meme of Nicolas Cage's character from National Treasure hiding amongst the rioters and I thought it was hilarious. 

Mario loves his pillow and blankie in his bed right next to me every night. He is such a cozy, sweet dog. Austin likes to take him on runs so that he doesn't get too overweight from pilfering all of Claire's food. (He straight up tried to take the corndog off of her plate tonight!) 

Claire seems to have entered the fiercely independent/tantrum stage of toddlerhood and can often be seen like this, crying for whatever imagined indignation she is feeling. It's mostly comical but can be very inconvenient when we're in public. (AKA every single day at school pickup. There's always something to be mad about: putting shoes on, putting socks on, putting a coat on, not having the right toy, getting her hand wet, not getting her hand wet, etc etc. I feel like the parents who see Claire crying every day probably assume I'm a terrible parent and Claire is super spoiled or something, but I know this isn't the case so I can just let it go and watch her cry.)

Mario got a new bed for a late Christmas present and it's a little too small for him but he still loves it. I love when he gets completely curled up inside. Now that he has a designated place in the living room, he spends a lot more time in there with us. The kids also enjoy having it in there, especially Claire. 

Claire loves finding different perches around the house or anywhere we go. She brought her toys and snacks onto this tote box and watched a movie like this. She was mad when I put the tote back downstairs.

She is in such a fun playing-with-toys stage right now, which is perfect timing after all of her new toys from Christmas. The living room is in a constant state of rampage with toys everywhere, but at least Claire is actively playing with them instead of just making a mess. 

Austin started working two days in a row in Casper each month, so he stays in a hotel there and Mario loves sharing the bed with me. He is not an easy bed companion and totally hogs the whole thing, but it's very cozy. 

You can't see it very well but this yellow Eggo waffle looking toy is so fun and I bring it everywhere in my purse in case Claire needs a distraction. It has rubber circles that pop back and forth on either side and it's pretty satisfying. When that got old, she stacked coffee creamers for a while. 

wearing my slippers (notice Ernie in the dog bed haha)

Mario having a cozy nap (on our brand new couch!!!)

Claire doing a dance workout with me...she has been really in to dancing lately and it's very cute

I ordered some produce from a local farm and when they dropped it off they added SO MUCH extra to my order! My kitchen was overflowing with potatoes, oranges, apples, peppers, a pineapple, perfect lemons and limes, parsnips and brussels and tomatoes. I felt surrounded by the bounty of the Earth and I will definitely be putting in another order! The oranges even still had their cute stems and leaves!!

Natalie had a hard day at school and came home crying, and Claire was very concerned about her sister. She kept giving her big hugs and when Natalie got in her bed, Claire climbed up to be cozy with her. So sweet. 

Claire found these two bags at Target and would not release them. I finally distracted her enough to get rid of one, but she insisted on keeping the other one. She brings it everywhere with her and loves wearing it on her shoulder like this. 

Jack dropped a whole glass of milk and it sprayed everywhere, Mar was very happy to lick it all up. 

Look at how cozy he is with us on the couch!! We love our doggie.

I started donating plasma to add to our house down payment savings. I don't love the actual medical stuff, but it is really great reading time! I flew through The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (a delightful and very British story about a group of friends in an upscale retirement community who enjoy getting involved in police work) and The Pelican Brief by John Grisham (a 90s law thriller...not refined literature but definitely page-turning. I think I liked The Client better.). I'm also listening to BranSan's Oathbringer (finally!) but the book itself is much too big to hold with one hand at plasma so I keep getting distracted by these other books. 

Last weekend we needed an outing so we looked up restaurants in Ft. Collins and Austin found a fun burger place called Big Al's. 

These mini brown bags for the different flavors of fries were so cute. We tried parmesan truffle, regular, and buffalo fries. 

Mario is very patient about the kids using his bed. I thought it was cute that he was laying like this by Jack. 

We started a new tradition: Puzzle Sunday! We'll see how long it lasts...

My mom has been adding to her serving dishes and place settings steadily over the past few years and doesn't use her original wedding set very often anymore, so she let me take these two serving bowls that we used all growing up. It's so fun to see them on my table now! 

Claire recently discovered the joy of "wheels" at the grocery store. Notice her bag's special place of honor and still attached to her arm. 

Austin and I decided to write little children's books for our niece's and nephew's birthdays this year! Katara turns 2 this month, and Makall is about to have her baby boy, so we made books for them. 

I thought the boys looked so cute eating breakfast together in their jammies when I got home from my workout one morning. 

Watching an after school movie with their friend, Liam. 

Claire saw this dress at Walmart and decided it had to be hers. She is definitely in charge of her life, that's for sure! We had fun playing together today at home...we didn't leave the house until it was time to pick up the boys from school, which is very unusual for us. I am so grateful that I get to spend this one-on-one time with her. 

I started working out at a private group fitness gym called HIIT30 back in November and I've absolutely loved it. I haven't been this consistent at exercising in YEARS. I go at least 4 times a week and I'm getting stronger and I love the workout format. 

Austin is actively looking for his post-graduation first real job that will start this summer!

We're excited for this new year and are grateful that we are safe, healthy, and happy as a family. I hope I can stay on track with blogging this year!