- Trim Trim TRIMMING -

Welllllllll it's January 5 and we're taking down the Christmas tree tonight...

 ...so I guess it's a perfect time to post away about our Black Friday tradition of decorating the house for Christmas!

Trimming 'da tree with happy hearts:  THAT'S THE WAY OUR HOLIDAY STARTS!

 

 Harper nabbed the phone halfway through the decorating and snapped these beautiful gems...

...and severalllll hours later, all was calm, ALL WAS BRIGHT!  The kids had twinkling Christmas lights, LED headboard/bed lights, LED essential oil diffusers, dresser lamps, and flashlights on strobe mode and GOING STRONG until they were nestled all snug in their beds with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads [.....at which point Brian and I cut the power/batteries to everything immediately because hooooly stimulation]!

But Black Friday wasn't the end of our family's Christmas traditions! We jam-packed the rest of the weekend fulllll of holiday happiness by decorating gingerbread houses...

...keeping Cecilia Clare & Co. hard at work with designing/selling stocking tags...

 ...annnnnd starting on the kids' annual Christmas tree ornaments!  We decided to make button snowflakes this year, and they turned out so cute! Harper mastered the hot glue gun while Scarlett stuck to good ole' Elmers.

After the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, Twinkle Toes made his grand debut back into our home! The kids were SO EXCITED to wake up one morning and see him again...

  ...and they were alllllmost more excited than they were to see Santa and Comet!  Scarlett was not a fan of the jolly old man and made sure to cling tightly to Daddy.

By the end of the weekend, it was beginning to look/feel a lot like Christmas!  We pressed on the following week by deckkkkking the table with hundreds of Christmas cards, fa-la-la-la-laaaaaaaaaa...

...la-la...

...la-LA! After mailing our Christmas cards, we kept right in the holiday spirit by decorating our second round of gingerbread houses [#2020...desperate times call for desperate measures!].  We don't quite possess the patience to construct the houses and let the foundation icing set up before coating them with candies, and therefore the abodes usually end up in a collapsed clump followed by a meltdown from one or both kids.  BUT! On round #2, we quickly turned those frowns upside down by letting the kids decorate the boxes that the gingerbread cookies were in, LOL... Thank goodness for Brian's quick thinking as he was able to whip out a couple cardboard box roofs; immediately, ALL WAS SWELL IN THE WORLD AGAIN...

...and the houses turned out pretty cute! :) 

Throughout the rest of December, we had lots of family Christmas movie nights; Harper liked Home Alone best and Scarlett liked The Santa Clause!

We adopted a family again this year, and it was all thanks to everyone who purchased Santa sacks from Cecilia Clare & Co.! We took all Santa sack proceeds to Target and were able to purchase, wrap, and deliver a large box of gifts to a very appreciative mom! 

Very lastly! On the last day of school before Christmas break, Harper brought home this gift that she made for Brian and me, and I love it so much!!!

While the holidays certainly felt a lot different this year, I'm proud of my family for the ways we made the most of it and always remembered to focus on the REAL reason for the season!  Harper is learning so much about Advent and Jesus/the nativity in kindergarten this year, and it was so beautiful to see the whole Christmas season unfold through her eyes! :)

 

- The Christmas Letter: 2020 -

{ Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells: }  Jingle Bells, COVID smells, quarantine is hereee.

We miss you all so very much but hope this sends some cheer!  Fa-la-la, FA-LA-LA,
fa-la-la-tee-daaaaa…

…I’m not a songwriter, so I’ll stop there; but #brb while I don my mask, because we have a lot to share!

The new decade started off with a bang a la Fleming casa as we celebrated Scarlett’s 2nd birthday in January and
Harper’s 5th birthday in March.  Things quickly shifted gears in mid-March as we reacted to COVID-19 and
adjusted to so many emotions new to us re:  sheltering-in, remote learning, and working the frontlines of a global
pandemic.  Staying calm, cool, and collected so as to continue raising a little family through it all was a beast of
its own!  A few weeks in, I came to the realization that our normal lifestyle was already very similar to this new
thing called “quarantine,” and hunkering down for the health and safety of our loved ones and community wasn’t
that much of a new hardship at all.

In early April – and with remote learning on our radar for the first time ever – we stumbled across a $9 cup of
“cal-a-pitters” on Amazon and immediately clicked “Buy Now!”  #bestdecisionever, as the kids were so proud
to vlog the whole metamorphosis process and were equally as thrilled to set their 5 “homegrown” butterflies free! 
Preschool culminated in May with Harper’s teachers putting on the cutest little Pre-K graduation ceremony on our
front porch.  It was a fun milestone and a great day!

By June, the strict sheltering-in situation had started to wear on us, so a unanimous vote was made for a long
weekend getaway.  We put a new meaning to the phrase “CABIN FEVER” and made the 4-hour trek to a
treehouse/cabin park in Branson.  The property was complete with a playground, pool, pirate ship, and plenty
more; we had a great time hiking through the Ozark trails, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire
[every day for every meal], and “camping” inside the cabin!  Three days of quality family time was the perfect
escape and just what the doctor ordered.  :)

In August, Harper started kindergarten 5 days/week at St. Boniface School [and in person, at that...hallelujah!]. 
She is loving school but is a homebody through and through; she is growing slightly jealous that Scarlett has
escaped daycare all together this year and Daddy is still working from home every day.  Are the rest of us at home
partying. it. up. all day long without her?! …She seems to think so!  A soon approaching 2-week Christmas break
will be refreshing for all.

Last month, Brian and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary!  Somehow we misplaced our unity candle that we light
every year on our special day, but luckily, our love hasn’t lost its flame! ;) :)  Fr. Meconi joined us for dinner on
our anniversary weekend and also performed a beautiful house blessing while he was here.  We are grateful that
he has been so present throughout the years and right by our sides for all of life’s greatest moments.

Though these are unarguably the craziest of crazy times, there’s certainly a silver lining in being able to scale back
from the hustle and bustle of life as we once knew it.  Amidst the uncertainties, we’ve reveled in our extra family
time, focused on finding joy in the small things, and learned to give ourselves a little extra grace along the way. 
We are looking forward to the day when we can reunite with   v e r y   l a r g e   groups of extended family and
friends safely again!  For now as we stay 6 feet apart, rest assured you’re always in our hearts! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS from a [social] distance!

Wishing you the comfort of friendship, the love of family, and the joy of the Lord,

{ Sung to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: }  Then as the virus vanished, people shouted out with glee: 

“Crazy ole’ 2020:  You’ll   .   go   .   down   .   in   .   hisssss – torrrrr – yyy!”

 

 

- T-giving 2020 -

It's Thanksgiving: COVID-19 STYLE!  Since we weren't going to be able see 3/4 of our Grammys and Papas on Turkey Day 2020, we spent Thanksgiving Eve in the kitchen whipping up some treats...

...and Cricut-ing/coloring some sentiments...

...and hitting the road to drop off all the goodies on everyone's doorsteps! Muffins and drawings were all made with love, and the grandparents were thrilled with their little surprises! #SUCCESS.

Then!  Thanksgiving morning was nothing short of our normal family tradition:  Black Friday ads, Starbucks, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! SIX YEARS IN and still rollin' strong. 

After Brian and I paged through ads, they reached the left end of the island where the kids cut them to shreds to create a custom Christmas wish list!  It came to my attention that Harper wants EVERYTHING Yoda [despite the fact that we've never watched Star Wars...]...who knew?!

 

After lunch and nap time, we dug our turkey roasting pan out of the basement [an unopened wedding gift still adorned with the gift receipt and all! 2020: moving onto bigger and better hosting duties!] and had my parents and Uncle Blake over for Thanksgiving dinner! It was definitely a weird holiday this year in some ways, but so laid back and more intimate in other ways.

 

What a year!  2020 may not have it all together; but together in 2020, we have it all!  We are certainly thankful, grateful, and blessed!

 

 

- NOVEMBA -

Hey, hi, ho.....

...a cruisin' through November we go! 

November 1 was Daylight Savings Time, and I was actually really excited about getting an extra hour of sleep until I realized at the crack of dawn that my rooster-child would rise and chirp at 5:30am sharp instead of her normal 6:30am...

Oh Scarlett, it's a dang good thing you're SO CUTE!  We all love sleep around here, and it took us a few weeks to adjust to early bedtimes followed by even earlier mornings thanks to 'da DST.  But! In the mean time, we kept unnecessarily busy watching the TV marathon that was days weeks of Election Day news and updates [was it just me, or did it seem to trail on forever and ever and EVER this year?!]. 

^^ Mehhhhhh.  It's no secret that this year's campaigning game got ugly, and I've never been happier to have an election [and all the yard signs, commercials, and social media posts] behind us!  It's so sad how politics have divided us and so disgusting how hateful some people can be!  Leaving it at one final thought:  red or blue, I still love you! I hope you love me too.  Despite our differences, we are all Americans and I truly believe we are BETTER TOGETHER!  Now get ova' yourself and move on.

Next!  We celebrated Henry and Caroline's birthdays...

...and also our 8th anniversary!  Fr. Meconi joined us for dinner on our anniversary weekend and performed a house blessing while he was here!  I loved how he made it so personal and lighthearted yet still so beautiful and intimate.  He got the kids involved holding the pail of holy water and his book of blessings and ringing the bells as we all walked to each room together to sprinkle water and listen to scriptures.  I am grateful that he has been right by our sides for all of life's greatest moments [wedding, baptisms x 2, house blessings x 2, etc.!].  It was so nice having our good family friends here that evening, also!  Thank you guys for joining; we treasure your friendship on many levels! May the Holy Spirit flow through and continue to fill our home with peace and love!

In other good news [!], Harper made the principal's newsletter this month for living out the school year theme of "Putting on the Armor of God."  We are so proud of her and the ways she is blossoming in kindergarten this year!  Go, Harper!!!

Just as we were getting a little bit more confident in venturing out of the house for this and that and hanging out in a little bit larger groups of people we hadn't seen in a long time, the COVID cases spiked and recommendations tightened up again.  And so!  Laying low at home again it was.  We spent lots of time making projects on the Cricut [Harper is so proud of her new ability to count AND type to 100 and beyond!]...

...and painting all kinds of very colorful creations...

 ...and making a nativity scene from scratch!  Harper thought of this all on her own and just kept cutting and hot gluing things together, and I literally sat there with my jaw dropped just watching this all come together.  This girl's imagination and creativity and execution of the two together -- ESPECIALLY AT AGE 5 -- is absolutely amazing! :O

 

When we get a little stir crazy, we love to bust out of the house to visit our Grammys and Papas.  We took Sarge for a walk through my parents' subdivision one day, and Scarlett was not too thrilled that she got stuck carrying the bag of dog-doo all the way home! ;)

A week before Thanksgiving, Harper got sent home from school for complaining of a sore throat.  We saw the pediatrician and got the A-OK to return to school, but a few days later she developed a runny nose that worked in her favor to be out of school again -- and this time until after Thanksgiving break.  Crazy times, I tell ya!  Of course, Scarlett caught the sniffles too, but a few days of being lazy and watching movies all evening seemed to fix everyone up just fine!

Since Harper was home with her sniffly nose and "remote learning" for the short week of Thanksgiving, we enjoyed sleeping in both days and also having some of Grammy's homemade hot chocolate bombs after breakfast!  Even though she wasn't really "sick," she is a homebody through and through and has been growing jealous that Scarlett, Daddy, and [sometimes] Mommy are home all day every day.  The days off were a nice "reset" for all of us -- and also a little glimpse for Harper into my weekday routine of cleaning, laundry, naps, and repeat!

Next stop?! Thanksgiving!