December 2020

Well, we finally made it to the last month of quite possibly the weirdest year of my life. We tried to make the best of it again with the kids being on virtual learning. It hasn't been the easiest, but we have all stayed healthy through the worst pandemic in this century. Here is how we finished out 2020.

It started out awful to be exact. I came home one night and saw Biscuit laying on the floor. He didn't seem to be able to move at all, even when fruits were placed in front of him. We took him to the vet the next morning and we got some pretty awful news. He had a broken hip and the vet said that he wasn't a candidate for surgery. She said we could take him home with some pain medications or per her suggestion we should put him down. We didn't want to take him home and see him suffer any longer so we chose to put him down. Brinley was devastated. She held him and we called and Facetimed all of our family and Miss Sydney, the person who gave us Biscuit. This was actually the first time that I ever held the little guy. Then we handed Biscuit over to the vet and were going to head home. Instead we went into the Wal-Mart to see if there was anything in there that we wanted. We didn't find anything so went out to the car. That's when the massive tears started flowing. Brinley climbed up into my lap and I just held her and told her that I was so sorry. Jennifer had worried that she was probably most upset because she thought Biscuit was her only chance at a pet, and now that he was gone she would never get another one. I told her that we could go look for a rabbit to replace the one she had lost. Well on the way home we spotted a Petsmart so I took her in to just see if they had any. They didn't but the worker told me that across the street at Feeder's Supply they have rabbits. 

Across the street we went to see the bunnies that they had to offer. Brinley spotted this small little rabbit and I quickly caved in because I couldn't see her heart broken any longer. We brought the little rabbit home, but two days later when we went to the vet for an initial check-up we found out that it was a little girl rabbit. Brinley decided on the name Pepper.

We were given a gingerbread cookie ninja set. I opened my Christmas gift a little early so that we could use it during the holiday season, a Kitchen Aid mixer. We had a lot of fun decorating the little ninjas, but Landon we more excited about eating them!

Brinley playing with some play-doh and working on her cursive writing. 

Last year for Christmas we got this puzzle as a gift from Taylor. I timed us last year and it took us 56 minutes. This year we did it again and we crushed our previous time and did it a little under 40 minutes. Looks like we found a new Christmas holiday tradition. 

Against the kids wishes we decided to head out to Raven's Run. We went to the Overlook and even took a little adventure off trail down to a little creek. We all tried to toss leaves into the water and were cheering them on to see who's leaf would make it over the waterfall first. The kids loved it and ended up saying that they had fun hiking. I love pushing them out of their comfort zone. I hope someday they ask us to go hiking!

When the kids are home for virtual school Landon doesn't have as much to do as Brinley. He gets done early in the day so I sometimes ask him to draw me a picture while I am at work. I came home one night and he had drawn this little Christmas Pikachu. 

Our elf, Nick Kringle, came back to watch over the kids. We were excited to see all the crazy things that he did for the days up until Christmas. Every morning the kids were up and running around the house seeing who could find him first. 

Brinley wanted to play with sidewalk chalk, but it was too cold outside. As a compromise she played in the garage. This is one of the things she made and I didn't even talk her into it. Maybe she is becoming a UK fan. Or maybe she is just trying to show a little love to her daddy's favorite team.

Decorating the gingerbread house is one of my favorite traditions that we do every year. This year we decided to make two because everyone likes to decorate. We decided to have the boys do one and the girls the other. We even let the kids pick out some extra candies for decorating.

It was time again for me to donate blood. Turns out that this was a special donation because it put me at the six gallon mark. That means that I have donated 48 pints of blood. That is 48 lives that I have been able to help. It's easy. You could do it too!

Brinley said after Landon's last cross country race that she wanted to run in one. I signed her up for the last race of the year which was in the middle of December. Thankfully it was in the 50's and the rain held off before her race. We even spotted a rainbow before her race. I ran along with her for parts of the race and am so proud of her for her first try. She ran for a majority of the race, but also stopped to walk about six times. She would pass some runners and then they would pass her when she started walking. Hopefully someday she will get that competitive spirit and want to beat more people. Until then she will just be happy to run the race!

Landon and the rest of his Grassroots 7-8 year old boys had an awesome showing. Landon ran a little slower on this day, but he ran hard. In fact he ran too hard out of the gate for the first quarter of a mile. He wore himself out and didn't have any reserve for the rest of the race. I could tell he shot out of the gate too fast, but he battled back to finish strong. I am proud of all the hard work he had put into his training. He was upset afterward because his time wasn't as good as last time. Sometimes this little man is too competitive. I love it because I am the same way, always trying to get just a second faster than my previous best. Soon the little man will be able to out run me. 

I told the kids that this year I wasn't going to make all the Christmas candies that I had in past years. I asked everyone to pick which one they wanted and those would be the only sweets I would make. Brinley picked divinity, Landon wanted chocolate covered pretzels, Jennifer and I both enjoy the turtles and chocolate covered Oreos. The kids helped me make some of the treats this year. Brinley is turning into our big helper in the kitchen. 

We made a little weekend trip up to see Aunt Andrea, Uncle Chris, and Olivia. We found out that they had gotten some snow so I brought one of the kid's sleds so that we could pull Olivia around the backyard. Maybe next time she will be ready to go down a hill. The kids also wanted to show Olivia how to make a snowman. We had a lot of fun playing out in the snow together. The longer we stayed out the harder it was to pull the kids in the sled.

The kids loved playing together. Olivia hasn't had much interaction with other kids over the last nine months because she stays at home with Andrea. She has so much energy, I can't imagine how Andrea keeps her occupied everyday. Landon read her some books. We had arts and crafts time. We also took a little trip downtown to see some of the Christmas lights. We were so glad to spend some time together, but Olivia lost it when we left. 

Getting ready for the New Year by picking up some of my favorite pizza ever! At the beginning of 2020 I had made a goal of not eating pizza for the entire year. Well, not the best decision I have ever made but I was able to do it. So excited for the clock to strike midnight on December 31st so I can eat my favorite food again.

My badge reel broke as I was coming into work after an extended weekend off. As soon as I opened my locker I saw exactly what I needed, a new badge reel. One of my patients had brought it on my day off. I think it is pretty awesome. I wear it proudly everyday now and it makes me think of that special little girl.

We took the kids to Cabela's to talk with Santa early in December and I asked if you could bring a pet and they said of course. Brinley really wanted to bring Pepper to meet Santa so we made it happen. If you look closely it seems that the North Pole got a tattoo artist at some point.

We typically go to see the Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park, but all the extra indoor activities were not opened due to the pandemic. So, we made the decision to take a little trip to Louisville and check out the Mega Caverns and Lights Under Louisville. The kids loved it. Both kids sat up in the front with us and both even got to take a chance driving the car. 

This year I found out that I enjoy making and decorating cookies more that just once a year at Christmas. We have all gotten better with our decorating techniques with all of our practice this year. 

Our family finally decided to actually get together for Christmas. We had been debating cancelling because McKinley had to take care of patients on the COVID floors for the week prior to us getting together. He said that he didn't feel comfortable coming around everyone even though he wears the required equipment at work. In order to verify that I wasn't going to bring coronavirus to the celebration I decided to get myself tested. I was asymptomatic and didn't anticipate being positive but I was very glad to get this e-mail.

I had a surprise delivery that showed up on my doorstep when I was on my way home from work Christmas Eve. McKinley and Taylor got me an electric smoker as a gift for always being the host for most of the family get togethers. Looks like I got lucky that I live in the middle of everyone's homes.

Grandma and Grandpa made it up to Lexington in time for the online Christmas Eve candlelight service. I picked up some candles so that it would feel like we were there. 

Grandma and Grandpa were here to enjoy the last few things before Santa was due for his arrival. Grandpa read them the book, The Night Before Christmas. They also helped the kids make some picture frame stocking ornaments. Grandpa even walked me through Mamaw's famous recipe for peanut brittle. Grandma even got to hold little Pepper for the first time. The kids sprinkled reindeer food outside and sat some cookies out for Santa. We were so thankful that Mommy got to be on call from work so that she could spend Christmas Eve and morning with us. 

The kids were pumped that Santa brought them exactly what they wanted, Minecraft Dungeons and a soap making kit. But, I think Jennifer and I went a little overboard with all the gifts we got for the kids this year. I have heard that from many other people this year that they did the same. I guess we were kind of making up on all the missed experiences from this year. The kids both got their first BB guns, a bow and arrow, electric scooters, and Landon got video games while Brinley got arts and crafts supplies.

I am so glad that this lady got to be on call and spend the holidays with us. I love her so much and I don't need a single gift under the tree as long as I have her.

Sometimes lost in all the stuff around Christmas is what the true celebration is all about, the birth of Jesus Christ our savior. A co-worker of mine said that they usually get a birthday cake for Jesus and I thought it was a great idea so I picked one up. I also tried my hand at decorative pancakes for Christmas breakfast. I made some gingerbread men, Christmas trees and a Jesus pancake.  

McKinley stopped by to wave hello to everyone and drop off his gifts. Thankfully Taylor took a picture of all of us. Hopefully next year we will all be able to get together without having to worry about Covid.

Andrea, Chris, and Olivia made the drive down from Columbus for a few hours to celebrate Christmas with us. We had dinner, opened some gifts and just enjoyed talking with each other. Olivia loved playing with the kids and opening everyone's gifts.

The day after Christmas we headed back home to visit with Granddaddy Clayton and Memom. It was so good to see them. It had been so long since we had been able to make it down to see them. The kids heard that Granddaddy had a BB gun and they both wanted to try it out. It took Landon a couple times to figure it out and then he didn't want to stop. Brinley hit the target on her first shot! They were so excited to get back home and test out their own BB guns!

Granddaddy lives out in the country and they don't have cable or internet service. Well, it just so happens that we were there during the Louisville vs. Kentucky basketball game. I couldn't get any service on my phone so granddaddy let me borrow his transistor radio so that I could listen to the game. So that I wouldn't bother everyone who was trying to talk inside I paced up and down the driveway as I listened to Kentucky play awful and lose the rivalry game.

After we got home we spent some time playing with our new gifts. We also took down the real tree that we had cut down over a month ago. It had gotten awful droopy over the last few weeks. Jennifer actually wanted me to throw it away, but I thought we should stick it out because we had committed to it. The kids tried out their BB guns and we even got Jennifer out to shoot. Brinley also got to make her very first bar or soap, which was a kitty face.

The girls love them some Pepper! Brinley loves her bunny so much. She has had some days where she still gets sad that Biscuit isn't here. Mostly because Biscuit was already trained and loved cuddles. Pepper hasn't figured out yet that Brinley is her biggest fan. He has scratched her and even bit her once. It was her fault because she was trying to let Pepper eat out of her hand. Maybe with time Pepper will become as well behaved as Biscuit.

Last time walking out of UK for the 2020 year. I really hope that sometime in 2021 that I can take this mask off and smile at my patients.

Jennifer and I were both off work and ready to celebrate New Year's Eve with the kids. Jennifer came up with an awesome idea. She had balloons filled with treats and different activities for the kids. Every 30 minutes a kid got to pop a balloon and then we did what ever it said. We played the board game Taco Fight, Monopoly on the Nintendo Switch, made cream horns, ate appetizers and candy, watched X-Men, and I even picked up some pizza from Papa John's.

We called and talked with my family for the last time in 2020. We were so glad that we could see everyone the week before, even if it was different than what we had wanted. We were all excited to see 2020 end, but also so proud of what we had done throughout the year. At the beginning of the year our family decided to try and get healthier. We would have monthly weigh ins and at our final end of year weigh in our family lost 207 pounds total! Not everybody hit their goal so we are going to keep it going for the year 2021. Hope we all make our goal this year.

Also this year I had a goal to keep my eyes on God's word everyday. I successfully read the good book again. A lot of days the words hit at just the right time. Even just a few minutes out of my day spent reading the Bible made a huge difference in my attitude. It is something that I plan keep up with.

Goodbye 2020! Hello 2021!

At midnight I ate some of the leftover pizza that Jennifer and the kids didn't eat earlier. A year without pizza is too long. I will never wait that long in between my favorite meal!

The year 2020 will go down as one of the worst for many different reasons. We can sit and pout about it or we can try to live everyday to the fullest and with as much joy, happiness, and love. If we learn nothing else from 2020 is that life is short and we should love one another. I hope and pray that 2021 is better and that we can put this pandemic behind us sometime soon. I pray for better days ahead for my family and yours. Thanks for reading and God bless!

November 2020

November was yet another crazy month of 2020. Not only were we dealing with the pandemic, but the political scene came on in full effect with the presidential election dragging out for multiple days and then having people question the validity of it all. Can 2020 please hurry up and end? Well, in the mean time we are just enjoying life as much as we can here in Lexington. 

I ask a lot of questions and one day I started asking to see if anybody in my clinic would shave their head for our patient population. To my surprise quite a few people said they would do it. We turned it into a fundraiser for the DanceBlue Marathon to see if they could raise 15,000 dollars during the month of November. If they were successful then 15 people would shave all or part of their head. Since I have been shaving my head for years they asked if I would grow my hair out to make it better for the cutting video at the end of the month.

After Halloween I took the kids candy and hid it so that they wouldn't eat it excessively while I was at work. Not more than a couple days into the month of November and I came home to find that the kids had ate at least 30 pieces of candy while I was at work. They had found where I had hid it. So, since they couldn't follow the rules I took all of their remaining candy to work and sat it out for all of my co-workers to enjoy. Hope they learn their lesson or I will do it again next year.

Landon loves math. He asks me all the time to give him some problems to do. Well, his sister was learning about multiplication and division in 3rd grade so I just went ahead and taught him too. Not too bad for his first try. Makes me really happy to see him love math because I do too.

The kids were interested in writing their names in "fancy" aka cursive. I think both of the kids did a nice job with their names. Both of those are Brinley's attempts. Landon's attempt is the top one. 

Our annual pediatric cancer survivor picnic had to be cancelled due to covid, but we really wanted to do something special for all of our awesome patients. We packaged some goodie bags and sent them to all the kids that had requested them. The picnic committee is so hopeful that we will be able to have something next year for all of our survivors!

Included in the care packages to our survivors were astronaut ice cream. We had a couple left over so I took one home for the kids to try. It was a freeze dried ice cream sandwich. The kids thought it was awesome, I didn't really find it satisfying. I had my hopes up for ice cream and I feel that it was more like styrofoam. 

With a lot of extra time on my hands I started baking all kinds of treats. I made cream horns, cinnamon rolls, cannoli, and with a bad batch of cinnamon rolls we turned it into a bread pudding. They tasted great, but not good for our health. 

Brinley was not happy when her rabbit Biscuit got put out into the garage. Brinley wasn't taking care of cleaning up after her bunny. I was finding bunny droppings all over the house. So, it got moved into the garage for a couple days so that Brinley could get her act together and learn to take responsibility of her pet. 

I had seen some people going out and picking their family Christmas trees. I had always wanted to go out and cut down our own tree so we went out to Nieman's Tree Farm. We looked at tons of trees over the whole farm. The kids enjoyed measuring all the trees with the big stick. The both really wanted to get a little baby tree. After about an hour of searching we found the perfect tree. When we went to get it tagged the owner said that the tree we picked out was on an area that wasn't for sale currently. 

I noticed that there were a couple of other families purchasing from another worker next to where we found our tree, that was apparently off limits. However, I was bound and determined to get the tree. I approached this man and inquired about getting the tree. He was happy to sell it to me. I wrote him a check and told him that we would be back in a few weeks to pick it up. I informed them that when we came back that I wanted to personally cut down the tree. Sometimes you just need to talk to the right sales person.

The kids wanted to play hide and go seek. They found some pretty awesome hiding spots. Brinley was hiding under her bathroom sink and Landon was able to squeeze into his dresser cabinet.

There is a new area of the sub division that is being developed. The kids and I have taken advantage of getting out and seeing all the big equipment and exploring. We have all enjoyed it and are going to be sad when they finish all the construction.

I knew that the kids needed to get out of the house and do something. So, I signed them up for the Grassroots Run Club. It is a group of school aged kids who train for cross country and track meets. They had practice 3-4 times a week at different locations around town. Every Sunday they have a fun run at the coach's house. Parents are welcome to come and run with the kids. Since Brinley has never ran I went with her for her first practice. She was not happy about me making her run, but I was so proud of her effort on the first attempt. I kept jogging beside her and telling her all kinds of motivational advice. Landon ran ahead with another group of kids and the coach's wife. When they got back the coach's wife said she had a new nickname for Landon - the Energizer Bunny because he just kept going and going. 

The kids asked to have a bonfire and s'mores. I was happy to get a fire going in the back yard. The kids were happy to roast some marshmallows.

Pushed the limits of the kids one day and took them out on a bike ride. We ended up going a little over 7 miles and neither of the kids complained at all. It was awesome to have a peaceful fun ride with the kids. 

Both of the kids have become interested in learning to draw videos on you tube. One night we sat down as a family and everyone drew a panda with some bamboo. It was fun to see how everyone's turned out differently while we were watching the same video.

We even tried our hand at drawing a penguin too!

Landon had decided that he wanted to go on another bike ride. We made it five miles and it was getting dark when Landon decided we should take a short cut through the construction area. Well, it was just a little bit muddy. We were covered in mud by the time we got home. I had to hose down the bikes. I still occasionally find a little bit of dirt on our bikes. Maybe not the best decision. 

 After our cross country first practice the coach contacted me and asked if Landon would be interested in running with the team in an upcoming meet. Landon was excited to try it out. The race was in Paris, KY on an early Saturday morning. We had no idea what we were getting into that morning, but we ended up having fun. Landon actually was the 23rd fastest 7 year old at the meet. Pretty impressive in my opinion since we had only been with the team for a little over 2 weeks. The race was 1.2 miles and Landon finished in 9:23. The 7-8 year old boys team was in the middle left picture. The bottom left picture of the 3 boys are all sons of former Georgetown Football players, which was pretty interesting.

After Landon's race we headed north to Columbus. My sister bought her first house and asked if we could come up and help move them into their new house. It was a quick visit, but the kids enjoyed playing while the adults packed things out to the new house. I even mounted a TV for my first time at their new house.

Jennifer and I were both off one day so I told the kids to get in the car after school and we headed out to the gorge. It was such a beautiful day I know that we needed to get outside and enjoy some nature. After a quick drive to Natural Bridge we made the quick hike up to the top and then made our way over to lover's leap. 

At lover's leap the kids found a large boulder that they were having a blast climbing up and sliding down. They did it probably 20 times. The sun was setting and I knew that we needed to get down soon, but the kids said that they didn't want to leave. They were having so much fun. I love when they enjoy things that Jennifer and I like doing. It is always more fun when everyone is in a good mood and nobody is complaining! 

This is a picture of that boulder that the kids kept climbing up and sliding down. Never in a million years would I have thought that a rock could have caused so much joy. It was something that we all needed. You can even see Natural Bridge in the background of the photo.

There are some people at this house that love our bunny, Biscuit! Brinley plays with him all the time but will share with her brother and mommy. I really have nothing to do with the little guy. 

Uncle McKinley had to work Thanksgiving so he came up the weekend before and we celebrated together. We played games and enjoyed the traditional turkey and fixings. We were only missing the Maitland's from Ohio. Grandma even held Biscuit for the first time.

On Thanksgiving our run club got together for a Turkey Trot. All of us participated and afterwards the team had a flag football game. The kids were excited to play, but there were so many kids playing that not everyone got a chance to catch the ball. So when we got home we played catch in the front yard. Also both kids tried their hand at climbing a tree. Our neighborhood is fairly young and there aren't really any good trees for climbing, but they both made it up into one.

For Thanksgiving I only made a few treats because everyone has been trying to cut back and eat healthier. Chex Mix is one of my all time favorite snacks during the holidays and cream horns are my new obsession.

We went back the day after Thanksgiving to pick up our Christmas tree. Mimi came along to do a little photo shoot. We got some good pictures and we had a blast cutting down our tree. The kids helped saw it down. I am just glad that nobody got hurt during the whole process. After we were done the kids said they never wanted to do that again. As much fun as we had I am kind of thinking the same thing. We strapped the tree to the roof of our car and drove home feeling like the Griswold's.

Every night before bedtime the kids want their mother to read to them. They have read so many books together. I love seeing them enjoy something that has brought so much joy to Jennifer. 

One night while Jennifer was at work the kids and I decided to try and get more of the Christmas trees up in the house. I had never really let the kids help but I figured that they were finally old enough to help. They had a blast.

Our family Christmas ornaments came in and we love them. The kids both got rabbit ornaments and I got an Avenger themed ornament and we were all the characters that we had dressed up for Halloween just weeks before. Jennifer's unfortunately didn't come in, but I will show it later. 

The first ornament destroyed of the season was a personalized ornament that Landon made in school with Landon's handprint on it. His fingers had been turned into snowmen. Jennifer is the one that accidently broke it. I tried to fix it with some super glue, but really wasn't successful. It stinks, but life happens and you just have to keep moving.

The students of Dance Blue rose to the occasion of our challenge. They were asked to raise $15,000 dollars and they blew that out of the water! The students were able to raise over 27,000 dollars! As a group we were happy to fulfill our end of the deal. The last night of the month we stayed after work and cut our hair. Of course with everything now a days, the person that was going to cut our hair was placed in quarantine so we had to improvise. We brought a couple of clippers in and did it ourselves. Not everyone could be there that night, but this was the crew that cut it off then. I was super impressed with three of our ladies who cut all of their hair off! Much bigger commitment than me because I barely have any hair to begin with. I was just happy that I could finally cut my hair. 

November proved to be another fun filled month. I know that many people in November spend a lot of time talking about the things that they are thankful for. This year has been so difficult for so many people, but I have tried to reflect and find some of the happiness from the past year. I am thankful for God, who loves me even when I don't deserve it and by his grace I am saved. My family is the biggest blessing in my life. Jennifer, Brinley and Landon are my world. I love them all so much. My parents, sister, and brother helped mold me into the man that I am today. I have a job that I love going to everyday where I get to help children who have cancer. I have my health, a roof over my head, dinner on the table, and love in my heart. I hope that you are able to find some joy in this year even when it seems like everything is going wrong. Thanks for reading and God bless!