30 Jan

The Saddest Little Boy

I got back into town today, but not till late afternoon. That left Wade in charge of Ben’s dropoff and pickup. When they arrived at preschool, Ben was devastated to realize it was pajama day and they had forgotten. (Wade even texted to tell me how bummed Ben was. I let him know it was actually pajama week so he’d have two more days of pajamas.) Ben isn’t the type to hold a grudge so I was shocked when Wade sent me the picture below and said Ben refused to talk to him at pickup. Wade and I assumed he was still upset about the pajamas.

Wade found out much later that Ben was upset about something completely different. Evidently he didn’t get to do a craft at school. Wade was never clear on all the details, but obviously it ruined the rest of Ben’s afternoon. Thank goodness nap is always a good way to reset the day.

30 Jan

January 30, 2023

A perfect afternoon for Teague – no homework, a good book, and hot chocolate.

30 Jan

January 30, 2023

Kaitlyn wanted to try curlers again. Until her last haircut, her hair had gotten so long that it wouldn’t dry overnight if we used curlers.

30 Jan

January 30, 2023

Ben has created a small collection of Legos that he keeps in his bedside table. They keep him quietly entertained until he falls asleep or in the mornings when he wakes up too early for me to go get him.

28 Jan

January 28, 2023

Alex and Wade had a breakfast date and it was adorable – especially when they tried to keep it on the down-low from everybody else.

28 Jan

January 28, 2023

I hear there was quite a bit of extra electronics time while I was gone…

28 Jan

January 28, 2023

Wade sent these two to play outside and they ended up in a sword fight. This is backside of a list of upgrades they created for their swords.

27 Jan

Dining In

The Burch Family loves Papa John’s pizza. We have ever since we lived in Milwaukee and could get a large carry-out on Tuesdays for $4.29 (Man I miss those days). Now we live in a place where the closest Papa John’s is almost 20 minutes away. That means they don’t deliver and round trip is almost 45 minutes. All this means Papa John’s is a special treat. Wade told me he went to pick it up for the kids on Friday night and came home to find that Kaitlyn had created a restaurant complete with signs, seating charts, and menus. (2nd grade spelling is my favorite.)

26 Jan

The Saddest Of News

I arrived in Paducah today. Earlier in the week, I received the news that one of my cousins, Michael Bobo, had suddenly passed away. He was only 49 and his death was very sudden. Wade was able to stay home with the kids so I was able to go be with my family for the weekend. My current plan is to return home by Monday. Below is one of the last family pictures I can find (2011) – Michael is the tall one in the plaid button down shirt.

26 Jan

January 26, 2023

The roads were a little slippery this morning so Alex decided to try out his newest gadget. I can’t wait to hear if they actually worked.

26 Jan

January 26, 2023

Wade decided to help Teague with his hair before school this morning. I was so excited. It has needed love for months, but that was one battle I wasn’t willing to fight.

26 Jan

January 26, 2023

Kaitlyn decided playing with toys was much more fun than going to school. This is the first morning she needed some convincing to head out the door.

26 Jan

January 26, 2023

Ben was hanging out with Wade in the basement. Wade decided that the boiler was sounding funny so he decided to open it up and take a look. Ben was so excited to “help.”

25 Jan

Typical Teenager

It is well documented that Alex is a typical teenager in terms of dress. He wears only athletic clothes and in the winter adds a hoodie. He refuses a coat most every day of the year. Today he took it a step further and took out the recycling barefoot, in the snow. I demanded a picture – mostly to send to his Aunt Lissy who at the same age was also known for going barefoot in the snow.

25 Jan

January 25, 2023

Tonight’s entertainment is brought to you by Kinetic sand.

24 Jan

January 24, 2023

Alex’s last step before walking out the door for school.

24 Jan

Practice Time

I have been hoping and waiting for snow. We have enough of a tiny hill in our backyard that I wanted to do a little practice skiing with Ben. Today was the perfect day.

23 Jan

Snow Day

We woke up to the news that school was canceled for the day. (The boys didn’t believe us at first because there was nothing on the roads or coming down.) The entire family stayed home and did snow day things. By the end of the day we were finally seeing some snow and the two youngest wanted to go out and play in it.

22 Jan

Chefs

Kaitlyn’s fish cakes last night were a hit, but no one in the house was a fan of the tiger-striped fudge (butterscotch fudge). Today she made pizza for lunch and it was delicious!

Alex rested up a little, played some electronics, and then was bored. When he found out I was cooking his favorite dinner, he agreed to help.

21 Jan

Saturday

I painted most of the day. Ben played hard and then took an exceptionally long nap. Kaitlyn checked a cookbook out from the library so she had three recipes she wanted to cook this weekend – tiger striped fudge, fish cakes, and bullseye pizza. Teague set up a restaurant for our dinner and even dressed the part for playing the host.

21 Jan

January 21, 2023

We did get some pictures from Alex’s retreat. He evidently spent quite a bit of time playing games – especially Rummikub (Gram would be proud)!

21 Jan

January 21, 2023

Just a typical Friday – cake for snack, iPad leaning against a paint can…

20 Jan

Never Ending

I started painting last weekend and I’ve been painting ever since. I had initially hoped to finish it during the long weekend last weekend. My new goal is to finish this project this coming weekend. I underestimated this one big time. I sanded all the trim to prep and then came the painting. The goal is to prime the walls and then put on two coats, three coats on all the trim, two coats on the radiators, and one coat on the ceiling.

20 Jan

January 20, 2023

Alex has a church retreat all weekend. He’s going, but he’s not so sure it’s going to be fun.

20 Jan

January 20, 2023

Teague’s favorite thing to draw is planes, especially military planes.

19 Jan

January 19, 2023

Now that Alex has made his delicious casserole, this is how he eats breakfast.

19 Jan

January 19, 2023

My kids use their iPad time as early as possible. Due to the limitations I put in place, that usually means Ben uses his last. There is always at least one child looking over his shoulder. I find it hilarious that Kaitlyn watches while not being able to hear a thing (note Ben’s headphones).

19 Jan

Herding Cats

My saint of a friend agreed to take Ben to gymnastics for me today while I took Teague to an appointment. Then she offered to take Ben on an errand to the new local grocery store afterwards too. The gymnastics class is only three kids (all from the same preschool) and they are good friends. My friend decided to take all three of them to the grocery store. She said it was insane, but she bought them snacks and got through. I obviously owe her big time!

18 Jan

Recreating

I have been trying a lot of new recipes lately. One I tried was a Cinnamon Roll Casserole. When I made it, no one seemed to like it. I even threw away the recipe. Several days later, Alex discovered it in the fridge and promptly ate everything left. Ever since, he has been begging me to make it again. I finally broke it to him that I didn’t keep the recipe and had no idea where I had printed it from originally. I tried to find a similar one online. Alex made the casserole immediately. He said it was good, but not quite the same….