Preparing for the Holidays

 Enjoying some snow in November.

And some unseasonable warm weather in December (art by Johanna).

Matching pajamas from St. Nick.

We decided to pick and cut our own tree.  Tony promised Michelle we wouldn't get the furthest away tree this year but once again, the best trees were "over a river and through the woods" so to speak.  Michelle went to go search for Walter while Tony cut down the tree.  Johanna helped by holding the tree and could tell it was about to fall.  Tony insisted "just left it fall on me". Unfortunately, the tree took a turn and got Johanna too.  She screamed "it got me!" as she unsuccessfully tried to get herself out.  Michelle was able to yank her out minus one boot.  Tony declared "your boot is the first ornament on the tree!"

We hung the nearly 40 year old reindeer decoration.

We made and decorated more cut out cookies. Tony likes to bake, Michelle likes to decorate, and the kids help with both.

And so, we are ready for the holidays!

Thanksgiving 2020

 We stayed at home for Thanksgiving but kept up our homemade pizza making tradition.

We also upheld the Arnold Christmas cookie decorating tradition through the magic of zoom.  Grandma Millie even delivered all the cookies and fixings to go with them!

Cool Aunt Jen sent us a Thanksgiving care package.  The kids especially enjoyed the puzzles and joke book. 

Kluesner Holiday-palooza

 In November, we took advantage of the nice weather and had a Kluesner holiday get together.  We wanted to cover all the holidays we missed or would likely miss spending together: And Karen made sure we had them all covered.  Easter: egg hunt, egg race.  Halloween: silly headbands and glasses.  Thanksgiving: snacks?  Christmas: Santa hats.  We adhered to covid recommendations by wearing masks and sitting apart when having a snack and drink.

Halloween 2020

 We opted out for trick-or-treating this year.  The kids did learn how to use filters on Dad’s phone. 

The kids also “dressed up” as Grandma Millie and Papa Wayne and made a video.

What are you doing Wayne?

Walter/Wayne: Checking my retirement

Look, Millie is home from the bank

Johanna/Millie: Wayne, is that shirt new?

Walter/Wayne: I bought it 5 years ago.

Johanna/Millie: Ah, da heck!  (followed by the famous Clemen laugh)

The highlight of the weekend, however, was the unseasonably warm weather and opportunity to check out the new playground equipment at Vets with all the cousins.  The cousins, aunts, and uncles even got to play a game of kickball on the new, AstroTurf baseball field.

Johanna Turns 8

Birthday Question List

Favorite to eat: pesto pizza, chocolate gelato, lemonade (her typical order from Your Pie)
Favorite to do: sticker book (that she got for her birthday), play with stuffed animals, coloring
Favorite to watch: Full House (the 80’s version), Loud House, Jessie (a Disney show)
Favorite to read: Narwhal and Jelly book series
Favorite to help with: Teach Walter how to ride a bike
Favorite to learn about: Geography
Favorite to hang out with: Mom, Mrs. Smith, Ruby, Gabby
You are good at: Doing yarn cross-stitch
Want to get better at: Reading
Makes you laugh: Walter because he does weird stuff
Makes you upset: Walter
Favorite happen this year: Finished her 300 piece dog puzzle
Look forward to next year: Go to Galena or Sheboygan again
Future adventure: To Mexico 
Future learn: Different cultures
Future where live: Madison
Future want to do: Be an astronaut
Future not want to do: Clean up dog poop
Future spend time with: Mom, Dad, and maybe Walter

Walter says…. We get mad.  She plays with me, but she never lets me be the BABY.  She tickles me, I am sick of it!  She helps me pick up my room.  

Mom and Dad appreciate Johanna’s sense of responsibility.  Johanna is responsible for walking Walter the last block or so to and from school.  She takes it seriously, not allowing Walter to run ahead even if he sees us.  She wants to make sure he doesn’t run in front of driveways and that we are close enough for her to confirm it is really us.  By the time we reach them, Walter is usually crying because his hand hurts from Johanna holding on hard so he can’t get away.  

One time when they were walking all the way home by themselves, they stopped by the crosswalk and Johanna asked Walter to hold her bag so she could zip her coat.  After zipping, Johanna looked up and Walter was in the middle of the street (he thought they were still walking and Johanna was still attached to her bookbag.  She yelled “WALTER!”, startled him, he jumped and dropped her bag in the middle of the street as he rushed out of the street.  

Johanna is struggling a bit with the pandemic in that she wishes she could get out and see people more often.  She likes riding her bike however, so Tony took her on a birthday bike ride and she was able to bike all the way from Heritage Pond to Bee Branch.

Tony and Johanna also grew some sunflowers but had trouble keeping the deer away.  Johanna named each of the sunflowers and the only one to survive was the one named Todd.

She is still a great sleeper

And enjoys being goofy.

Walter Starts Kindergarten, Johanna 2nd

It was an interesting year for Walter to start kindergarten with the pandemic raging. We had an option of 100% online or a hybrid learning plan. We opted for hybrid with the kids going to Bryant School on “B days” (Tuesday, Thursday, and some Fridays), going to Mercy Daycare and doing online learning on Mondays and Wednesdays, and every other Friday being a stay at home day.      

 

At Bryant and Mercy, the kids are required to wear masks all day.  Michelle works from home 100% and Tony tries to work from home on school days.  Whoever doesn’t have a work meeting, walks the kids to school but the parents are not allowed to go on campus and must wear a mask at drop off.  After school, we meet the kids just down the street from school (again, if we are not in meetings) and help them cross the street as they tell us about their day.  This plan means Johanna and Walter are spending a LOT of time together but luckily, they are getting along well.

Walter’s teacher is Mrs. Steuer, the same teacher Johanna had for Kindergarten.  We were only able to see Walter’s school room once at an orientation meeting.  Johanna’s 2nd grade teacher is Mrs. Smith.  With some families choosing 100% online learning, and the remainder of the kids being split across A days and B days, both Johanna and Walter only have about 8 kids in their classes.  On days they are not at school, they are required to do online learning with the iPad (Walter) and laptop (Johanna) provided by the school. 

And the same week the kids started school, Michelle started her new job at Dupaco - working from home for now.  Here is a picture of Michelle and the kids on International Credit Union day in October.

Kluesner Family Fun Day 2020

We scheduled a Kluesner family fun day for the end of summer.  Luckily, two of our activities were water ones because it was one of the hottest days of summer. The water slide was a big hit with the kids and even the adults got to use it.

Michelle created a silly race for an activity.  Each cousin ran the obstacle course trying to beat each other's time. The prize for best time was the honor of throwing a cream pie in the face of a chosen adult - of course assuming the target would be Todd or Tony.  Ben was the winner, and to everyone’s surprise - including Michelle - the target was Michelle.  Other kids also got in on the fun splashing each other with whip cream. 

We also got to have some fun the following day taking some of the kids out geocaching.