12 Jan

January 12, 2023

Only chocolate chip pumpkin bread will convince Alex to have breakfast on a school morning.

10 Jan

Yearly Visits Begin

Ben begins a round of routine doctor checkups for all three of the boys. Ben has a birthday in November so his checkup was first and happened to fall today. We took a logic notebook and Ben was flying through it – which was great while I was trying to talk to the nurse.

09 Jan

January 9, 2023

I got the kids changed and packed up for swim classes tonight. Then I thought to call and see if they were actually having swim tonight (there have been some renovations on the pool the last few weeks). Turns out no swim classes. We turned right around and went back inside.

08 Jan

Couch Silliness

If my kids are hanging out together, they are most likely on the couch. Some days they are playing a game involving stuffed animals, some days a game involving play food, some days a game involving building blocks, but most often they just wrestling and using their imagination. Today it was pure silliness and wrestling.

06 Jan

Blackout

Tonight did not go as expected. Kaitlyn requested pancakes for dinner and Teague wanted to cook dinner. The two things meshed nicely and Teague began cooking pancakes. In the middle of mixing, the power unexpectedly went out. Wade provided additionally lighting and we were thankful that our dinner was one that was completely cooked on the gas stove. As an added benefit, everyone congregated in the kitchen while the cooking was taking place.

06 Jan

January 6, 2023

We had a power outage during dinner tonight so everything go a little more interesting.

05 Jan

January 5, 2023

Transitioning back to our normal routine has been a little rough.

04 Jan

New Year, New Series

I have fun doing these series every year. This year it was with fun glasses.

04 Jan

January 4, 2023

Ben was having trouble putting on his shoes. Then I realized he had on five pairs of socks. We finally settled on wearing three to school. (When I picked him up he had removed several more because he said his feet were sweaty.)

03 Jan

January 3, 2023

This boy has been stacking pantry items for years.

02 Jan

January 2, 2023

The boys playing Fortnite. Wade is joining then from another device downstairs. Ben is begging to play but he’s going to have to wait quite a few years.

02 Jan

Games, Games, and More Games

Everyone enjoyed their last day of vacation today. The kids loved having one more day before school started. Wade was enjoying one last day off work. Granny and Pop enjoyed one last day in Grafton.

Wade took the the two youngest for a swim at Granny and Pop’s hotel this morning. The two older boys and I were lazy bums. Once we were all together, we spent the rest of the day playing dolls, monster trucks, reading books, and playing games.

01 Jan

Sunday

We started the day with Church. Then Alex wanted to treat Granny and Pop to lunch. (It was a really sweet gesture but it also meant he got to avoid leftovers.) The rest of the day we spent playing games and cooking. Granny helped Kaitlyn make Apple Hand Pies – they were delicious!

31 Dec

Celebrating With Family

Granny and Pop are finally better! Today we got to spend the entire today with them. We opened some presents, ate some food, and played a lot of games. It was a pretty great day.

30 Dec

Family Time

We were supposed to be spending the day with Granny Pop. They landed yesterday, but sent us a message that they weren’t feeling well and were going to go by the hotel. It turns out they really weren’t feeling well and they have been cooped up at their hotel yesterday and today. We are hoping they will be well enough tomorrow that we can see them.

Today is a gorgeous day so we gathered the troops for a visit to the Storybook Trail. (I would have voted for a longer hike if I had gotten my ducks in a row earlier.) We were having so much fun that Ben didn’t even realize we forgot the snacks till 3/4 of the way through!

29 Dec

A First

Ben was invited to a playdate – without Mom. At first he was “a little nervous” but he definitely wanted to go. At one point, the Mom texted to see if he could stay for lunch since everything was going so well. He came home talking about it nonstop but then immediately put himself down for a nap!

27 Dec

Christmas Card Pictures

We had our Christmas card pictures taken back in October. Wade was out of town, I bribed the kids with video games, and I was rather pleased with the how the pictures turned out!

26 Dec

December 26, 2022

Remote controlled items were the thing to get in our house this year.

26 Dec

Letter To Santa

Several years ago Kaitlyn wrote a letter to Santa, put it in the mail, and got a reply. I was as shocked as she was! It has been one of her most treasured possessions ever since. Last year she chose not to write, but this year she couldn’t wait. She wrote her letter early and again got a sweet reply.

Then it got to be the week before Christmas and Ben wanted to write a letter. I hoped it wasn’t too late to get a response, but of course Santa came through. I was even more impressed with Ben’s response because it addressed so many of the specifics in Ben’s letter. Truly amazing!

24 Dec

Christmas Eve

We don’t have family in town this year for Christmas and we are embracing the slower pace. The day was still full of activities – basket presents:

cookie making:

Christmas Eve service:

cookie decorating:

and preparing for Santa:

23 Dec

Christmas Lights And Donuts

We always choose one night around Christmas to drive around and look at Christmas lights. We end the night at Dunkin Donuts for donuts and hot chocolate. This year was a calamity of errors.

We were running low on free nights. We thought tonight was the night! Then we started seeing warnings for flash freezes so we hurried everyone to the car to get our drive in before the potential ice on the roads. Due to the high winds (that came with the earlier rain storm and coming freeze), a lot of the blow up decorations weren’t out, but there were still a ton of lights. When we got to the first Dunkin Donuts there were two donuts on the rack – something I have never seen. We drove to a second and found at least four varieties, but not our normal selection. We made our choices, enjoyed the hot chocolate and called it a night.

22 Dec

A Family Favorite

Wade got a head scratcher as his basket gift today and it quickly became a family favorite. The kids both love to give Wade head scratches and just walk around with it on their heads. It’s quite amusing to watch.

20 Dec

The Personality

The personality on this one is strong! Ben gets remembered everywhere we go (sometimes I’m not always sure it is for stellar reasons). Today we were walking through the grocery and the bakery lady yells, “Ben, Ben, How was your birthday?” She had remembered him from he picked out his birthday cake a few weeks ago.

19 Dec

Nibbles

We discovered the Nibbles books a while ago and Ben goes through phases of reading them. Today was a Nibbles day..

18 Dec

Christmas Pageant

Today was the kids’ big day. We arrived early at church for everyone to find their costumes. Then we had one last pageant rehearsal. Thankfully the pageant is the same every year, but that doesn’t cut down on the chaos.

Then church began and the pageant went great. The kids were adorable and the congregation loved seeing everyone dressed up.

Wade and Alex topped it all off by performing with the bell choir.

17 Dec

Soccer, Breakfast, And Rehearsal

Our Saturday started early today with Kaitlyn’s first indoor soccer game. Her team won and she scored a goal. Her coach treated the girls to donuts and Kaitlyn begged to go before we rushed to church for Breakfast with Santa and the pageant rehearsal.

Kaitlyn changed in the car and we met the rest of the family at the church. There was breakfast, crafts, and a long wait. Then we were informed that Santa’s sleigh got damaged in the storm last night and he sadly would not be making an appearance this morning. The event broke up pretty quickly at that point and we moved upstairs to rehearse for the pageant. The kids already had their assignments so it moved fairly quickly. Wade was asked to be Harrod in hopes of encouraging the star (Ben) to remain in place.

14 Dec

December 14, 2022

These cars have been around since Alex’s toddler days and they are still a favorite.

13 Dec

December 13, 2022

Ben is still taking 3 hour naps. He would probably sleep longer, but I cut him off at 4 pm in hopes that he goes to bed at the same time as the big kids (and it usually works). Most days he is agreeable when I wake him up, but occasionally he’s grumpy till I mention milk.