Things I learned (or re-learned) in 2020 - by Marc

1. My wife is so smart.

2. We are nation divided about pretty much everything if you read the news. But if we each reach out and seek to get along with our neighbors, I think that means we all get along, right?

3. When placing traps for live animals, it is very important to frequently check all the traps. Six months is not an appropriate duration.

4. I can get help with just about anything now by making it a learning opportunity for the girls – building a 120’ retaining wall, changing brakes on a car, building furniture, shoveling wood chips… so much learning in 2020!

5. A dachshund should not run more than 2 ½ miles.

6. We are now living 138 years after Christmas tree lights were invented. Yet each year I still hold my breath at the first power-on when I discover how many strands I’ll have to fix.

7. Don’t take a single day for granted. Even if I’m in a bad mood. Drink some coffee, go running, read the Bible, get over it. We don’t get do-over days.

8. The older my girls get, the more I see Stephanie in them. I think that means that I’m the immature version of them?

9. It is possible to run without enjoying running if you enjoy the after-running part enough.

10. Despite thirteen years of higher education in science, I don’t trust science. I trust God. Science at its core is a relatively small set of fundamental principles with layers of human assumptions and interpretations on top. Scientists are still learning, just like all of us, and that’s okay.

11. Without explosives, I’m not very good at killing big snakes and should probably stop trying.

12. Don’t ever underestimate what others are battling with, even your next-door neighbor.

13. Choose to find joy, and be intentional about it.

14. A forced work-from-home period in my career has been disconnecting, humbling, weird, and exhausting. But it has also let me spend much extra time with my family and make breakfast for my kids each day they’ve gone to school. Worth it.

15. A tree that falls in our forest isn’t heard for three days, especially by the power company.

16. Encouragement is free but still scarce for some reason.

17. My dog understands way more English than I realized. She’s kinda like Alexa – always listening, waiting to pounce if she hears her code word to activate!

18. Judgement of others and their decisions in life isn’t helpful, productive, or worth it.

19. My grandfather’s 87-year-old desk is now where I work every day. How cool!

20. The right tool for the right job makes all the difference.

21. Waking up at 3am to go stand in my office parking lot to take forehead temperatures for the early shift factory workers has a way of increasing my gratefulness for others.

22. Everyone has their own individual challenges in life. Comparing challenges isn’t helpful, but listening is.

 

Saying Good-Bye to 2020

 There is something wonderful about the lull between Christmas and New Years.  You know, that week where you have no idea what day it is. I could spend almost all of those days cozied up at home, but some of the family would go crazy without having projects and plans each day. 

Macy worked on her robot with Marc.  She said it was like a fancy Lego kit. They had a couple of lessons in coding.  Macy wants to join the Robotics club in January, so we thought she'd enjoy some hands on practice before the club starts back up.

The Huntsville family came through on their way to North Carolina.  We enjoyed an afternoon of talking, playing games, and dinner.

 

Brooke had a friend over to play and they enjoyed attempting some easy bake oven recipes.  They didn't turn out that great, but they had fun making them together.  

The girls decided the tree needed a little bit more of a festive decoration than just the caution tape.  It's hard to see, but they added some gold garland and a Happy Holidays sign.

Kayla finally found a plan for the bookshelf she wanted in her bedroom.  She and Marc have built her headboard and a nightstand.  She stained this shelf to match and now she has somewhere to store a bunch of her books.  She's quite the reader, and the hallway bookshelf we have in the hallway is already full.  She's been stuffing books into every nook and cranny in her room and closet. She's excited to have them all out in one place now.

All built and ready to be stained!

2020 has been quite the year.  In some ways I am glad we are closing a door on it. But there have been blessings.  Many blessings if we just take the time to look for them.  Thankfully we have not been sick this year.  Marc and I think we had covid back in March, but it was a very mild case for both of us - if that's what it was. I know that January 1st does not mean that all of this medical and political unrest will disappear.  The Bible tells us that these are exactly the things that will increase as the day of the Lord draws near.  Pandemics will become a part of every generation. Political tensions will only increase. The question is, how will we focus on what is important? The things of this world will pass away.  That is a guarantee.  The things not of this world will not pass away.  Times are hard, but hard doesn't always mean bad.  May 2021 be a year of revival, starting with my own heart and in my own family.

Merry Christmas!

 What a year this has been! There have been hard thing and great things to come out of this year.  I am choosing to focus on the great things. We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for this year.  

This is usually the other way around. ha!

She has been asking for this for years. I'm not sure how much she will enjoy eating what food comes out of here, but she will never be able to say, "I always wanted an Easy Bake oven, but my parents never bought me one."

The air hockey table has been a huge hit.

Macy decided she wanted to join the robotics club in January, so we got her a robot to build and she can learn how to program it.  She's pretty excited. 

It has been such a special season. Different, but special. We're praying that we are going to be moving back to a more normal life in 2021, but these three girls and their daddy make life during a pandemic about as good as I could ask for. 

School's Out!

 School is officially out for break! We took a ride to Kennesaw to check out Lights of Joy.  This is one house that has decorated their front lawn.  You can walk around their circular driveway and enjoy the lights. 

Christmas Eve Brunch looked different this year too, but a pandemic wasn't going to stop this tradition.  Macy helped me with the cinnamon rolls this year. 

Somehow this furry creature managed to hurt her paws on a walk a couple of days ago.  She kept licking them and they were bleeding occasionally, so we decided to bandage her up for a bit and allow them to start healing. She was pretty pathetic with the bandages.

We enjoyed Christmas Eve service.

We had some flurries before service and then they started up again when we were home.  This one loves precipitation, so she went outside  and froze while catching snowflakes on her tongue.  I don't think she even felt much of the cold through her excitement. 

December Happenings

 The girls performed in Canton at their Holiday Festival. 

Macy helped Marc gather firewood from the trees that were knocked down in the tropical storm.  She also overcame her fear of driving the lawn mower.  

Macy's science fair project was chosen to from the Monday/Wednesday session to compete school-wide.  She had to share her project and findings with judges, and she placed 3rd! We were so proud of her! This puts her in the running for moving on to the next level, depending on how many students they are allowed to take.

She dressed up for senior citizen day.  

Watching their pasta being made.  They were excited to try this place with fresh pasta mixed to order. 

I think there was probably a sign somewhere discouraging kids from sitting on the llama, but this girl was determined to get a quick picture. 

We had a truck load of mulch delivered from the tree company.  We spent a lot of time spreading it out.  Marc thought we would need 2-3 truck loads, but apparently the trucks were larger than he anticipated.  We used about half of the mulch for our projects and now we are just finding places to spread the leftover. 

Thanksgiving

 Most things this year look a little different, but we try to keep as much normalcy in our lives as we safely can.  Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is part of our normalcy.  Although the parade was more of a "made for TV" parade, they did very well keeping this tradition alive.  

By the time I have everyone's favorites on the menu I pretty much have a normal, large Thanksgiving meal. ha!

We took the girls to drive though Candy Rush at White Water. The line was SO long to get in, but we all enjoyed it.

 

Christmas season is officially here!

November Randoms

Riley likes to lay on the pool cover.  I think she likes the heat from the sun with the coolness from the cover.

The sunsets have been amazing recently. 

Christmas season is here, but  Marc and I managed to squeeze in a date night to celebrate his birthday earlier this month. 

 

Mountain Classic

 The girls last clogging competition was in January. Actually, that was Kayla's last competition.  Macy and Brooke haven't had the chance to compete yet this season.  We finally had one that didn't get cancelled, so we headed up to Gatlinburg for the weekend. Of course that meant heading up early for a day at Dollywood.

Masks are required at all times.

The girls rode everything they wanted to, so we headed out as it got colder. 

The competition was set up differently to help with covid precautions. Kayla competed on Saturday, and the other two competed on Sunday.

This was the first year that she competed on a combined PowerTaps Juniors team.  She had 4 routines, and therefore she had to be a quick change artist. She taught herself one of the smaller group routines, and she was so excited that she was able to compete with them on No Roots.

Awards were announce online so they could clear the auditorium out and clean. They were up against some tough competition this year now that they are a Juniors team, but they did great!

We enjoyed dinner at The Apple Barn.

The fritters and apple butter were favorites.

Sunday was an early wake up to get Macy and Brooke ready to compete.  

The girls are on a Starz team, which basically means they compete against themselves.  They are scored as bronze, silver, gold, or platinum.  They scored a gold on both routines which qualified them for Nationals!

Busy weekend. Fun weekend. Tired kids. 

Cherry Coke Zero hasn't made its way back to the stores here in Georgia, so when we are out of state and find some, we grab a few. This will last us a while.