Time for JOY

In my Mom's book...

today's affirmation is a good one.  And I love that she has the corner of the page folded over which meant she too found it to be an encouragement...

I will try. 

Goodbye to the worst year of my life

The year started with my Mom passing away and then just four months later my lifelong best friend, Sandy, also passed away. 

The coronavirus has been a nightmare.  I don't care about how it has affected me...I only care about how it has and is still affecting my kids.  

Nicholas missed out on a lot of important senior year high school activities...like no prom...no all night grad party...no final hockey banquet...and no traditional graduation.  He did get his last high school hockey season in as the varsity starter goalie though.  He signed with the Vermont Lumberjacks too. That was incredibly exciting!  Although it has not turned out to be a very good season. For starters, he's only played 5 games in the past four months. The team had to move from beautiful Burlington, VT to an isolated hotel in New Hampshire...and he ended up getting the virus.  

Julia missed her junior prom, her entire junior year dance season which meant no competitions and no recital. She also didn't have a national honor society induction after all her hard work. Not only was her junior year ruined but now her senior year of high school may also be potentially ruined. Remote learning...no high school dance team...no homecoming...not sure about her senior prom, graduation and all night grad party.  Her boyfriend broke up with her in January...came back for a few weeks over the summer...and left her again...but there is a new boy.  She has been accepted to 5 colleges so far and she's received some fantastic scholarships.  Another good thing...she didn't have to take the SATs. She has been able to get back in the dance studio and be with her dance friends again so that's been really great for her.  

This hasn't really impacted Gianna as much as her siblings...mostly because of her age.  Being a sophomore in high school she will most likely have a (somewhat) normal junior and senior year. She has said jokingly that the virus is the best thing to happen to her because she loves remote school.  She did miss out on having a 15th birthday party in March and she will surely miss out on a sweet 16 celebration this March too.  She also missed her entire freshman year dance season and after winning a spot on the high school dance team...it was canceled.   

I can also add...there was no family vacation to Cancun.

Looking back over my blog entries for this year, I have really tried my hardest to remain positive. I love being home and I loved having that extra time with my kids stuck at home with me.  

I do have hope that things will return to normal at some point in 2021.  I pray that Julia will have a normal freshman year of college, Nicholas will have a normal junior hockey season in the fall and Gianna will have a normal junior year of high school.  I pray we'll be able to go to concerts (I have BSB tickets for July), movie theaters, restaurants, and bars...and go to these places freely without restrictions and face masks and just ENJOY LIFE. 

Although it will never really be normal for me again without my Sandy...

and especially without my silly Mom...

Our Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas and held to most of our family traditions like going to church on Christmas Eve. It was so nice to be back even though it was very different this year.  I missed the big crowd and all the beautiful music and singing. After church we had Chinese food for our Christmas Eve dinner.  Danny made a delicious homemade fried rice and we picked up some side dishes from Quan's.  The kids opened their presents to each other and we opened their gifts to us. We also opened presents from Auntie Kimmy. She gave Gianna a poster of Harry Styles just for fun and Gianna's reaction was priceless. She loves Harry Styles but not this picture so much. It was so funny! 

My boy's hair is super long now and he has no plans to cut it either. Maybe we can convince him when he comes home in the spring? 

Gianna gave me this beautiful picture and it made me cry. Such a sweet and thoughtful gift...

Julia and I made peanut butter balls for the first time. They were soooo good...

Then we all watched the Polar Express together which is my all time favorite tradition! 

Christmas morning we woke up to pouring rain and high winds.  It was really warm too so all the snow from last week was completely gone : (   

Our teenagers got up around 9:00 (which is actually quite early for two of them). That gave Santa plenty of time to arrange all the gifts and stockings and it gave us plenty of time to prepare our traditional Christmas breakfast of French toast, bacon, sausages and cinnamon rolls...

Julia's first present was a record player which ended up not working : (  but we were able to exchange it today for a new one. I got a good laugh at her trying to figure out how to play an album. She asked if it had to be spinning first before putting the needle on it. Nicholas tried to move it as it was playing and I had to explain that's how the records could get scratched and then skip. They were like...huh???  Julia is quickly learning that albums weren't the greatest invention. The struggle we went through as kids was real. They don't know how good they have it now with CD's or a quick download from the internet. I keep telling her that I'm going to get my 45's from the basement and we can listen to them together. I don't think she's too thrilled about that! Haha!! 

My handsome Daniel...

Nicholas got virtual reality and it's so much fun...although I'm terrible at it.  

The perfect gift for my popcorn loving girl...

Gianna loves her Harry Style's "treat people with kindness" sweatshirt...

It was a very relaxing day with just the five of us.  Danny made homemade ravioli, pasta and sauce and I made homemade bread for our Christmas dinner.  

I love having the boy home.  He ended up getting the coronavirus from his teammates which was a huge bummer.  They only got to play one game after returning from Thanksgiving break. Pretty much the entire team got it. They had to move the whole team from Vermont to New Hampshire because it was just too difficult to play in Vermont with all the restrictions. He's not happy about living in Waterville Valley now because there isn't anything around for miles.  He really misses Burlington. He stayed in his hotel room for eight days while he was contagious and then he started to run out of food. I told him to just come home and finish his isolation here in the comfort of his own bedroom.  He was very happy to be home this time.  That way we could take care of him and be sure he had plenty of healthy food, clean towels and clean clothes. It's not like the kids who get the virus in colleges and they deliver food and clean towels and linens to them.  He was totally on his own at that hotel. Thankfully he didn't get sick.  He has lost his sense of taste and smell but hopefully it won't last too long. It could have been a lot worse.  He's headed back to New Hampshire tomorrow.  I'll be very sad to see him go again. He's the best hugger...

I'm hoping and praying next Christmas things will be back to normal!!  

Acceptance #5

We are so proud of Julia! She received her fifth college acceptance into the nursing program at Saint Anselm College!  She was invited to join their honors program and they offered her the biggest scholarship so far!  

Honor's program...

This college gave the parents the option to write a letter of recommendation for their child.  How awesome is that!  So of course I did just that and this is what I wrote...

What a nice surprise to receive your letter asking us to help contribute to Julia’s college application process!  We would be more than happy to help describe some of Julia’s unique and special qualities and how she would be an asset to Saint Anselm.

As her parents, of course we could go on and on about what a lovely, kind and overall beautiful human being our daughter is, but she simply is the epidemy of what we would call the ideal daughter.  She is very responsible and trustworthy.  She demonstrates this daily with her ability to multitask.  She has a challenging school curriculum, works part-time at a local grocery store and as a babysitter, is a member of a competitive acrobatic/dance team that practices over ten hours a week, and yet she still has time for fun with her family and friends.

Julia always shows such love and kindness toward others. Before the pandemic hit, she looked forward to volunteer opportunities in our community such as working at fundraisers for our town’s food pantry, serving meals at a local soup kitchen and volunteering at school in the Best Pals program.  She really has a desire and willingness to help others.  Julia is looking forward to getting involved in a college community and seeking out opportunities to volunteer again.  

Julia is excited to start classes in nursing. She dreams of a career as a neonatal nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital one day.  Knowing Julia, she will make that happen!

At the end of the day, we are most proud of Julia’s integrity. She takes pride in everything she does. Julia would be a tremendous asset to Saint Anselm. Not only as a hard-working student, but also as a leader and a good friend to all. 

Thank you again for this opportunity to share our pride in Julia.   

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

This will be a very different Christmas this year but I'm actually looking forward to it. There will be no rushing around because there is no where to go and no one is coming over.  So we can just take our time, relax and enjoy.  

Merry Christmas from the Willis Clan

This always gets me in the Christmas spirit and makes me so happy. Such a talented and beautiful family...

Julia dancing

This seems to be the only way I get to watch Julia dance these days.  Grateful one of her teachers loves to record them.  Here are two great pieces of choreography by her teacher Kara...

Life as a Mom at Christmas

Another acceptance

Julia received her 4th acceptance letter yesterday.  This time from Salve Regina's nursing program!  We are so proud of her!!  

I love the comment about her essay...

They also offered her a fantastic scholarship...

I love that she has options!! 

Julia

Our amazingly talented beautiful daughter...

I look forward to the day when I can see her dance on stage again.  

She got in!!!

Julia got into one of her top schools for nursing!!  Yay!!  We are so proud of her!  She even received a great Health Science Scholarship!!  Getting admitted into college nursing programs is no joke!  It's very competitive!

She also got into URI's nursing program and they also offered her a nice scholarship!  She has options!

Three down and five more to go!  Fingers are crossed for Sacred Heart University which she should hear from in January.  

Christmas snow

The beauty of snow at Christmas...

I'm always obsessed with this tree when it snows...

Magical. 

First snow of the season

Yay!!  Woke up to snow today!  The first snow in two years!!  Last year we didn't get any snow which was so weird.  The girls have school though.  No more snow days now that we have the remote thing all worked out.  It does make you a little nostalgic for the way things used to be.  Back when we were kids we would wake up super early and listen to the radio..."No schools all schools"...and then we'd sweat it out until they got to the N's.  Once I heard "Norwood" I would be way too excited to fall back to sleep so I would get up to play.  Those days were the best.  I loved when our kids were little and were super excited to bundle up and go play in the snow.  I have to admit, I love having them here up in their cozy rooms doing school from home.  But keeping it real...the phone rang today at 10:00 a.m.  It was the school saying Gianna was absent.  Absent??  I ran upstairs to see what happened and there she was.  Sung as a bug in her bed...sound asleep.  For real.  Oh my Lord.  

I love Julia's room...

A picture I bought her to replace the one from her ex...

And read this wonderful letter from a Superintendent in West Virginia.  Happy Snow Day!!  

So accurate

Me looking at a TikTok one of my kids sends me.   (And if you're like me, you need instructions. Click on the red link and turn on volume.)

Christmas (Covid) by the Sea

What is usually a very festive "Christmas by the Sea" in Ogunquit has turned into this these past three years...

2018 was "Frozen by the Sea" with subzero temperatures. It was so cold my glasses iced over...

2019 we had "Monsoon by the Sea" with flooding rains...there was no parade or any other outside activity last year...

And I think this one takes the prize for the most unusual...2020 "Covid by the Sea"...

I have never seen that parking lot empty.  Hardly anyone around...obviously no food or wine tasting this year...no parade or any other usual activities...a lot of stores and restaurants were closed...BUT we still had fun in spite of it all.

I finished all my Christmas shopping in the stores that were open...even though my two favorite stores, Art & Soul and Pallian, were closed : (  

It was grey, a bit chilly and a little rainy but the view was as beautiful as ever and the fresh ocean air felt amazing...

We had a warm fire, yummy food, played a lot of really fun games and of course there was A LOT of laughter (OOGAA)...

And we made this!! 

It was the best gingerbread house I've ever made!  I think we did a great job!  

Now...I wonder what 2021 "Christmas by the Sea" will be like??  I'm not even going to try and guess.