- FOUR to the ZERO -

 Amidst all the Christmas chaos, there's always one special day that's ALL. ABOUT. THIS. GUY!!!

 

Happy #40 [!!!] to this super special, always amazing, forever fun-loving daddy and hubby! We love you more than construction paper cards can say!  Grateful for all sorts of celebrations this year, including dinner on your birthday eve with great friends, breakfast on your birthday with the kids, and then an adult-only dinner that evening!

Here's to another trip around the sun and another year full of your favorite things [including but not limited to golf, hide-and-seek, dinners at Popeyes Chophouse, tag, woodworking, scavenger hunts, craft beers, and family movie nights]!  WE LOVE YOU!

 

 

- Fam Jams -

2020:  The year we stayed home [and were usually sporting PJs or sweatpants all day...] AND the year I won the annual debate of "should we/should we not take a Christmas card photo in our matching Christmas jams?" YAY!  With a little tripod + remote action, we got the job done in <5 minutes and the kids were generously rewarded with a steaming cup of hot chocolate afterwards. 

Merry Christmas friends! While we may have to stay 6 feet apart, rest assured you're always in our hearts! ;) :) 

 

- Christmas Cookie Baking Day -

 1st Annual Christmas Cookie Baking Day is iiiiiiiin the books, and it was SO. MUCH. FUN!!! 

After hours and hours of baking [with a little break for lunch!], we plated up a variety of our cookies for friends and family!  Harper hand-delivered a plate to a few neighbors before we pooped out on the couch for a little R&R/TV time!  Phew!
 

Thanks for a great idea and fun day, Mom and Margy! Looking forward to our fun, new annual event!!!

 

- 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!