12.31.20 Growing

One of the perks of school at home, is more time to pursue personal interest. These ladies were privileged to be able to work for our neighbor/cousin. They loved the many hours they spent with this very skilled, very chill lady. They had a great time learning from her and being in her home. She recently had a baby. Babies need blankets, having had lots of babies and lots of blankets I've found this combination of flannel and minky to be the best weight for winter. These blankets were an effort of love to make. The minky slides, pulls, and stretches. It was an all day project times two. Yet the finished project was beautiful. 

Likewise Anna wanted/needed a quilt for college. Grandma consulted and helped some but Anna did about 75% of this quilt. She proudly finished the final stitches a few days ago. 

Bruce was sharing/showing his favorite Christmas present, his gun to Merle and Mark. Oh the fun these brothers have. A major benefit of 2020 was time to be a family, and time to get past the annoying and when is this going to end to I like these people. We have people we are not alone and we have lots of need and diversity. 

Lots of time was spent watching movies on our small screens. 

We attended one protest. A community event where people turned out to celebrate Christmas, to renew ties of friendship, and to stand up to the ridiculous rules. 

My guys on a lunch break. It's curious to be the mother of teens as I believe they need to learn to care for themselves and others, a lot of daylight meals are on your own so you can learn to care for yourself. 

This crew took a turn mopping the floor. The older kids use to do this chore weekly. For various reasons the younger ones do it annually. They did a great job! Tile cleans up handily with lots of water. The little ones put down lots of water and the older ones wipe it all up and voila a clean floor. 

My baby has enough hair to style. He is growing up and getting teeth and crawling. Life is going fast!!

My heart utterly drops as word is coming that school is reopening and we are returning slowly to normal. I don't want to go back to normal. I really like the closeness of our family right now. It has been a lot of work! Hence little posting. The demands for the internet service mean no extra devices during most hours of the day. I worry continually about what is coming politically, educationally, philosophically etc.  Not a rant to start late at night on the last night of the year. We grew greatly in 2020. We faced the storms and survived and are willing to dive back in. I'm thankful for the many prayers other offered in my behalf. I'm thankful at the end of this year of ups and downs we are healthy and we are strong. I'm thankful for the many many whisperings and witnesses of God that I have experienced this year. He is in the details and intimately concerned with the details of my life. I am thankful for God's grace and guidance. I'm thankful for the happiness of my children and their willingness to learn and forgive. They are great! They are my life work and I'm thankful for each one of them. We have been abundantly blessed!