Halloween

 Although our church did not host a trunk-or-treat, the kids were still able to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood.  There were not as many people handing out candy but the kids still did all right.

Christian's race track made out of candy.

Eagle Scout

In the Fall of 2019 Cameron completed all the requirements needed to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout with the biggest requirement being the Eagle project.  Cameron found an organization that provides temporary residence to women and their children fleeing domestics abuse and they needed a toy shed built at the residence.  Cameron began communicating with the director but somewhere along the way, she gave the project to another scout.  Cameron was very upset.  However, I did tell him that sometimes things happen for a reason and maybe it wasn't meant to be.  He quickly found another organization, Gathering Humanity, that provides assistance to families seeking refuge in the United States.  He partnered with them to gather all the items needed to furnish an apartment for a family of 7.  He gathered donations of things such as kitchenware, bedding, decorations, furniture, and personal hygiene items from family and friends.  What he was not able to collect, he bought with money that had been donated.  Unfortunately he was not able to set up the apartment because at the time President Trump was not letting refugees into the country.  Instead we took all the collected items to the warehouse and organized them there.  We were hoping one day to be able to set up an apartment, but over a year later, it has not happened.  We finally decided to have the Court of Honor in November.  Because of Covid-19, we thought is best to hold the Court of Honor outside.  We held it at our stake center which is right next to a high school that was having an outdoor dance recital at the same time.  It was a Court of Honor that I am sure will never be forgotten.  Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was ending their relationship with the Boy Scouts of American on December 31, 2019, I did not think Cameron had the time or maturity to complete his Eagle project.  But he decided it was something he wanted to do and both Chuck and I supported him in his effort.  But we did not do it for him.  There were times I didn't think he was going to get it done.  But he managed to pull it out and I am very proud of him.

Fall Sports

Thankfully Fall sports still happened (at least on some level).  Cameron played on the Marcos De Niza football team, Christian played fall ball and Hannah made an attempt at soccer.

Cameron was the starting long snapper for the JV team.  He also played tight end and quarterback for one game.  It was an interesting season to say the least.  The start of practices was delayed so the boys did not get much time to prep.  There were also a lot of restrictions during practices.  It was some time before they were even allowed to touch a ball.  Games were cancelled due to kids and coaches being sick with Covid-19 or in quarantine because they had an exposure.  There was a brawl during the game that Cameron was playing quarterback and the refs called the game at half time.  The players on the other team were being racist and the refs were definitely favoring the other team.  I was disappointed in the MdN administration because they did not communicate at all with the parents what had happened and how or if it was addressed.  Towards the end of the season, the JV combined with the Freshman because of low numbers and so many games being cancelled.  Cameron also dressed out for the Varsity games.  He played long snapper and was the coach's assistant.  After the first game when I asked Cameron how the game was, he said good.  I was surprised at this because they got their butts kicked.  However, he was in an extremely good mood because he said he got to play a lot and played well.  He really has come a long way since the first days of little league.

Christian was able to play a normal fall ball little league season.  Fall ball is a little different because there are almost no practices, just games  This year he played in the majors division.  Most of the time it actually looked a lot like baseball.  He got lots of playing time, mostly as catcher.  He didn't have the best team but he had a lot of fun.  The last game of the season, they decided to start hitting the baseball and won 26-7.  They were down by 2 runs before their last at bat.  Not only did they score enough to win, they just kept scoring to the point that the parents just wanted the ump (who happened to be Cameron) to call some strikes even if they weren't.  Cameron's football season got in the way of umpiring but he was still able to ump a few games, two of which were Christian's games.

Cameron umpiring and Christian catching.

Christian hitting.

Christian pitching.

Hannah really wanted to play soccer.  I had a hard time finding a league that had any openings so I settled on I-9.  Their model is to practice for 30 minutes and then have a 45 minute game with other teams in the league.  I thought that would be perfect since she has never played.  However, only about 5 players showed up each week and no one volunteered to coach, so after 3 weeks, the league decided it wasn't worth it and cancelled the rest of the session.

First Day of School - 2020-2021

 Cameron started school virtually on the day that he was scheduled to start.  The elementary and middle schools pushed back their start date two weeks in the hopes of starting in person, but they ended up starting virtually as well.  

It wasn't working for Cameron to be in the living room so he was banished to our room alongside Chuck.

Christian took up residence in the living room at the bar.

Hannah already had the perfect place for a workstation in her room. 

10th grade

8th grade

5th grade

Even though the kids are doing school at home, I still made them take their first day of school picture outside.  I even made Hannah put on her uniform.  But one of the good things about doing school at home is not having to wear a uniform.  Because of different start dates, I did not manage to get a picture of all 3 of them together.  

A quick trip to Farmington

The kids really wanted to spend a little time with their cousins in Farmington so I took them for a few days.  Cameron had started online school, so we left on a Saturday and came home after school on Tuesday.  

Cincinnati 2020

Chuck's dad, Rich, died on May 25th.  But because we were in the middle of a pandemic, there was not an immediate funeral.  Judy decided on having him cremated with a memorial service in July thinking things would have calmed down.  Because we have not spent much time in Cincinnati we decided to spend a week.  Things were still crazy due to the pandemic but we made the most out of our trip.  

We left VERY early on a Monday morning.  We had a short layover in Dallas and by the time we got to Cincinnati we were VERY hungry.  So our first stop was to Skyline Chili.  We spent the rest of the day with Judy at her house.  Once we got the kids settled in bed, Chuck and I went for a short run.  Our late night runs from a hotel are always interesting.  

On Tuesday we spent the day at Kings Island.  We were there from open to close and the pandemic worked in our favor.  There were very few people there so we (Chuck and the kids anyway) were able to ride almost every ride with little to no waiting.  But we did have to wear masks the whole time.  It was a little hot and humid but as long as we were in the shade or the sun was behind the clouds, it wasn't too bad.  The boys said it was better than Disneyland.  I would have to agree.

Wednesday was the day of the memorial.  We picked up Judy and went to lunch at the old family restaurant, the Echo, before going to the memorial service.  The memorial was small with just immediate family and a few close friends.  We went to Graeter's for ice cream with Tim, Grace and their boys following the service. That evening Chuck, Cameron, Hannah and I went out for a run.  Chuck and Cameron ran ahead.  I was going to run with H for a while, take her back to the house, turn around and meet up with Chuck and Cameron who would probably be on their way back.  However, H wanted to run longer so when we didn't know which way the boys went, we went down a road that had a locked gate.  We decided to go around the gate because we thought the boys might have done that.  Up ahead was a lake that we decided we should run around.  I thought it would make a circle back to  where we started.  But when we couldn't complete the circle, we started to look for a shorter way back since it was getting dark.  H suggested we go off road for a bit and I took a little fall.  Fortunately I did not break a hip.  We couldn't find a shorter way back so we went back around the lake.  I knew Chuck would be worried and out looking for us, so I made H run more than she wanted to.  Sure enough after we went around the locked gate we saw Chuck up ahead running towards us.  H was getting a little nervous thinking we were lost.  We were never lost, but it was getting a dark and there were no lights around other than lightning bugs, so I was also getting a little nervous too.  But nobody got lost or hurt and it ended up being a memorable run.

Thursday we didn't have any plans so we hung out at Judy's house.  The kids got restless so we went to have lunch at Skyline and we drove around Lebanon.

On Friday we went to the Cincinnati Museum.  We got off to a rough start with H getting upset then Chuck getting upset and then not being able to find a quick place for lunch. But the museum was really cool and Tim, Emmett and Nash were able to join us.  After the museum we went to Tim's house and the kids had a great time playing with each other.  

On Saturday we canoed and kayaked down the Little Miami river and had lunch at Skyline Chili.  Emmett and Nash spent the night at Judy's with Cameron and Christian.  They brought a game console and played video games until Judy made them to go bed (at 10pm!).  Chuck knew how to make a complete circle around the lake, so Hannah and I went for a run around the lake with him.  

Sunday was a rather uneventful day.  We spent the day at Judy's house but when the kids got restless  we went for a drive to Germantown.  Chuck graduated from high school in Germantown.  We saw the church where his dad was the minister, which was for sale, and the house they lived in.  It is now an accounting office/residence.  We also got ice cream once again at Graeter's.  

On Monday we flew home.  We didn't have an early flight so we took our time packing up and saying good-bye to Judy.   We were all ready to go home.  A week in a hotel room is a long time.  We had a layover in Charlotte, NC which was just enough time to grab dinner and take it on the plane but then we ended up sitting on the runway for over an hour because there was lightning.  Apparently the ground crew could not work if there was lightning.  It was a long flight home and we were all happy to be back in our own beds.

The funny things they say....

Years ago at the bottom of my blog I kept a running list of the funny things the kids would say or do and I would include those entries for the year in the blog book.  As the kids have gotten older, they aren't doing or saying as many cute things so I got out of the habit.  But lately the kids have been cracking me up.  Here are a few things worth remembering...

The Presidential elections are this year, as we are watching ads on television Hannah says, "I hope we get a more handsome president than Donald Trump."  After a Trump supported ad against Biden, she says, "I am not voting for that guy, he wants to defund the police."  Then she decides she is going to vote for Mark Kelley.  However, he is not handsome nor is he running for President.

We were getting in the car (it's July) and it was really hot.  Christian made mention of the fact and I said that hot cars are very dangerous and that kids can die in hot cars.  We then stopped by the store and I asked if the kids wanted to go in or stay in the car and Christian says, "You just told us kids die in the car!"  Of course I was going to leave the car running.

I was tucking Christian into bed and he said, "I don't want to grow up because I won't love my stuffed animals or my blanket as much and you'll get older and die and I can't live without you."

When I told Hannah she took too much money for an hour of easy work, she said, "I have a motto, when someone offers you money, you take it."

I overheard Cameron's World History teacher tell the class that if they watched the presidential debate and wrote a summary he would give them extra credit.  Christian overheard me asking Cameron if he was going to do that and then Christian said he really wanted to watch the debate.  About 10 minutes into the debate Christian said, "If I was Joe Biden, Trump would have a black eye by now."  

When I was putting Christian to bed one night during the election season he told me he loves me more than I love him, he loves me more than his blanket, etc.  (He does this every night.)  Then he says, "I know, I love you more than Mark Kelley loves money."  He has been watching too many political ads!

Christian was complaining about a bad headache, so I had him lying on the coach with a cold cloth on his head.  I had the news on and during some political commercials, he said, "When did this world become so corrupt?"

At church our bishop said that if the high counselor didn't take the remainder of the time, he would ask someone from the congregation to come bear their testimony.  Hannah leans over to me and says, "I hope he doesn't call on me.  I am not prepared."  Then she looks up a scripture and says, "If he calls on me, I'll read this scripture and talk about setting goals.  I am good at setting goals."  Oh how I wished he would have called on her!

During an evening prayer Hannah prayed that we would elect a good president.  After the prayer she said, "We aren't going to get a good president.  And even if they get shot, the replacements are no good either.  But it's good to have hope."

Again with the prayers.  Hannah recently read they Twilight Series.  As she finished each book, we watched the movie where she developed a major crush on Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).  One night when it was her turn to say the prayer she said, "Thank you for Taylor Lautner."  

Hannah has become very sensitive to noise.  Especially noises made when people are eating.  And let's be honest, Chuck is a LOUD eater.  So first he sits down and eats popcorn while she is watching a show.  Then he lies down on the couch next to her to rest while she is practicing the piano and proceeds to snore. She gave up and said, "I must have done something really bad for Dad to be eating popcorn while I watch a show and snore while I am practicing piano."

Chuck really likes to quote lines from movies.  One night during dinner (I don't remember what the topic of conversation was) he said, "You know there is a line from a movie."  Christian says,  "Of course it's a line from a movie."