After breakfast we said we our last goodbyes and drove to Nashville for our flight. Thankfully nothing eventful happened and we were home pretty quickly.
Holly
It’s that time of year again! Today was the 14th annual Burch Pumpkin Carving Party! We had so many friends gather and had a wonderful time socializing, talking, eating, and carving pumpkins. Only one small child got lost and my neighbor was kind enough to bring Ben home – oops (Wade and I are such wonderful parents)!
There was a lot on the schedule today, but Kaitlyn managed to have a few more activities than everyone else. There was cheerleading, soccer, Scarecrow builidng/decorating, and then a birthday party. It was a pretty fabulous day.
It’s one of our favorite days! Today we celebrate the day we first met Teague in Korea. Our tradition is for Teague to wear his Korea shirt, take a yearly picture, and for us to eat Korean food for dinner. There might be quite a few favorite family stories told too!
With B and Mary visiting, we decided to go on an adventure. We booked tickets for whale watching. The whales cooperated. The dolphins cooperated. Ben was a little hard to keep alive. The big kids were marginally entertained but everybody was glad we also packed the iPads. Overall we did have a great afternoon and it is something we have all wanted to try in our local “new” city.
Wade and I decided to do a little sight seeing today. We had heard about the Tower Hill Botanical Gardens but never been. I was curious to see what it was all about – especially when I had someone to help me wrangle all four kids. We had a great time! It was so much fun exploring the grounds and I’d love to return during a different season.
Somehow summer has officially ended, and today school officially started. The kids were good sports about taking their first day of school pictures. (The boys even took them twice because the first ones were blurry.) Kaitlyn has been waiting so long to ride the school bus like her brothers. She would have started kindergarten years ago if they would have let her!
There are a lot of things I love about our local schools. One of the things is the “trial run” day for Kindergarten. Today Kaitlyn had her practice day. The school bus comes by the house and picks her up (and our neighbor who is also a little girl in kindergarten – perfect!). There is a teacher on the bus to talk with them and answer any questions. They are taken to school and shown exactly how the day will go – including where the bus will drop them off, where their teacher’s room is located, etc. They are gone about an hour or two. Then the bus brings them back home. It’s a great first introduced to school without all the other kids and chaos of a true first day.
I always love to have “real” pictures taken by a “real” photographer. If nothing else, it usually means I get to be in the pictures!! Today I had the outfits planned. I had the bribes planned. I was a little hesitant on the weather, but knowing the pictures would be at the end of the day, I thought we’d be okay. WRONG. It was a 90 degree day with heavy humidity. My kids actually did pretty well given the circumstances, but it was brutal outside…
Now that I’m down to one child for a few days, I decided to attempt a few projects. The biggest one was painting Alex’s bedroom. With Wade’s help, I did manage to get it done!
We loaded up the kids, packed a backpack with a few snacks, found the backpack carrier, and surprised the kids with an afternoon hike at Purgatory Chasm. The big kids had a lot of fun climbing over rocks, Ben loved the ride, and the adults enjoyed being out of the house. Wade’s knees and toe were not so happy with the adventure. (Poor guy is showing his age prematurely.)
Today’s ballet recital was a vast improvement over last year’s. Last year was a mess in an un-air conditioned sweatbox. Wade ended up with all three boys and missed Kaitlyn’s dance because Ben had a dirty diaper at exactly the wrong moment. Today we left the boys at home with Ben’s babysitter. Wade and I throughly enjoyed Kaitlyn’s dancing. Then we let her choose lunch – she of course chose McDonald’s and fell asleep in the car on the way!
Knowing our days are numbered at this house, we took full advantage of the gorgeous weekend. We chose not to add any propane to the tank for the pool heater this year, but thankfully today the water was warm. (So even I got in the water.) The kids tried a tandem jump – my favorite to try and photograph. Alex created a new game of noodle baseball with the dive toys. Ben joined me on the big watermelon. I made the kids go back outside later in the day just to take our yearly matching holiday swimsuit picture. It was a perfect Memorial Day.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Sometimes I miss the days Ben used to nap through the morning shower and hair drying. Now he is into everything and can’t be trusted out of my site.
It’s not unheard of for my birthday to be on or around Easter but it doesn’t happen very often. I’m kind of glad they were on separate days but in the same weekend. My mom was able to come and help us enjoy both celebrations! The kids were up bright and early (just like usual) so we had plenty of time to find the Easter baskets and enjoy all the goodies – especially the chocolate bunnies.
Then we got all dressed up for church and the mandatory pictures. (Note that Ben is actually wearing an outfit Wade wore about 30 some odd years ago..)
We had our traditional Easter lunch – with everyone’s favorite Honey Baked ham. At our house, I think we have Easter ham at lunch just so we can have our favorite dinner of ham biscuits. We had a nice relaxing day spent at home – the best!
Today was all about the cakes. My mom is rarely with my kids around Easter but one of her favorite kid traditions is the bunny cake. I remember making it with her and I remember her making it with our neighbor’s kids when we got too old. She loves making it with the grandkids now. I am convinced she is super-Gram for cooking with all 4 of the kids. (I personally would have never attempted it and at least waited till Ben was napping.) She handled it like a pro and there was a cute Bunny cake at the end. I’m sure the kids will be asking for it next year.
Then it was time to celebrate my birthday. The kids were super excited – probably because Gram was in town! We had lobster rolls for dinner (yum!) and Wade procured a chocolate cake from a local bakery (also yum!). Then we put Ben to bed and opened some presents. The kids had helped wrap some of the gifts and Kaitlyn had made her own card (and didn’t mind translating for me). The boys had my most favorite chocolates ever (Trader Joe’s dark chocolate caramels). Wade surprised me with a new lens I have had on my list for over a year. It was a good year!
Today was our church’s annual Easter brunch and egg hunt. Unfortunately the weather was horrible, but we had a great time with pancakes, crafts, and an indoor egg hunt. They staggered the kids as they went to look for eggs and everyone had a 10 egg limit. I saw Alex a total of 10 minutes the entire morning. The other kids are getting harder to photograph during the egg hunts because they are so fast and Ben needs so much help. We all had a great time and brought home plenty of candy!
Then it was off to a birthday party! Kaitlyn’s friend Mason is turning 4 and we were happy to help celebrate.
Ben is a really happy baby. Most of the time he even avoids the evening fussy time. There are of course exceptions but usually just holding him (or really feeding him) will make everything right again. Ben is the first baby I tried wearing in a ring sling and I wish I had used one with my other babies. It’s been a lot of fun and I hate that Ben is starting to get a little big for it. (Some people use it on bigger babies but he is starting to hurt my back.) Tonight he wanted to be held and I wanted to do a few things while the big kids watched a movie in my room. The sling seemed like a good compromise all the way around.
Today seemed like a great day to dye some Easter Eggs. We even tried a new method – shaving cream.
I kind of like tiwnning with my girl.
We got the promised snow! Everybody played and played – even Wade!
New Year’s is for bowling – at least in 2019. Wade and I decided to introduce the kids to duckpin bowling. Teague learned to keep score with pen and paper. Kaitlyn loved the size of the bowling balls (and playing ponies). Ben loved that he could run all over the tiny bowling alley. Wade and I loved that there were snacks and a good time was had by all! (This place is so tiny it doesn’t have kid shoes so the kiddos bowled in socks and only the adults got cool shoes.)
We started our day with the last of the basket presents and spent he rest of the day full of activities – opening presents, baking, reading, playing, Lego building, napping, making cookies for Santa, church attending, and finally a few last Christmas books before bed.
Kaitlyn got one of her Christmas presents a little early. Aunt Emmy’s gift was tickets to Disney on Ice. Kaitlyn opened the gift this afternoon and then Wade and I took her tonight. She has been asking to go since this summer and was so excited. She had a blast and Wade thought the popcorn wasn’t too bad.
I mentioned a month or so ago that we gave my mom professional pictures for Christmas. They turned out fantastic! We got the pictures recently and we all love them. Who knew we would get five adults and six kids to all coordinate and cooperate at the same time. This feat may never be repeated but at least it was documented!
Every year our church holds an annual breakfast with Santa. We love to attend with all the chaos, crafts, and pictures. (You’ll notice Alex isn’t in many of the pictures. He has found a great group of friends at church and tends to disappear the minute we enter the doors. We see him when it’s time to leave again.)
Today we tackled decorating the tree. This used to be one of my family traditions, but this year it was chaos. Everyone wanted to help and I couldn’t keep little hands under control. Here’s hoping things calm down a little in years to come (and while everyone still wants to help!) Ben was fascinated with the lights and then wanted to do what the big kids were doing. Kaitlyn was very demanding in checking out each ornament and trying to help determine perfect placement. Alex just wanted all the ornaments up on the tree. Teague helped with a few ornaments and then quickly grew bored. Then I also love the finished product – lots of ornaments on the bottom and few on the top. There are usually odd clumps in certain places and multiple ornaments per branch. Kaitlyn is at an age where she remembers where she puts ornaments and is offended if I move them later. Memories….
When we lived in Milwaukee, we had our Christmas Tree cutting tradition set. We knew the exact weekend and the exact place. We even knew the best places to look at our favorite place. All of our moves have made finding a new favorite Christmas Tree farm a little difficult. Some of our locals haven’t been conducive to growing the types of trees we like, some tree farms haven’t opened as early in the season as we prefer, and some just aren’t as nice. This year was our first year to try cutting down our own tree in Massachusetts. (Last year we did not attempt it with a two week old baby.) We tried to do our research but the farm was a bust. The fall and early winter has been warm with tons of rain. There was mud everywhere (not the farm’s fault) but there were no trees above 4 feet. We walked the entire property with Ben on my back and Wade carrying Kaitlyn for a good majority of the time. In the end, we grabbed one of the trees that had been precut and called it a day. Here’s hoping next year is better…
Total marks the end of a 10 year run (or almost). Ben took his last bottle. These bottles have been around a long, long time. I bought them when we realized Alex was going to be a formula baby. Alex, Harper, Mackenzie, Kaitlyn, and Ben all used these bottles. They are done. Babies are done. We are on to sippy cups and whole milk. Next up it will time to say good-bye to the pacifier, but I’m not quite ready for that battle yet.
We are celebrating Ben’s birthday today because tomorrow is a travel day. What a lucky kid to celebrate his first birthday with family. I guess there are perks to having a birthday so close to a big family holiday. We had Chinese food for lunch and the kid who eats everything loved it all. Then we had cake and he ate that too. (He was my second child, after Teague, to dive for the flame of the candle instead of staying a healthy distance back.) I love this happy, constantly-on-the-go boy. He’s the best.
Before the day was over we did a “cake smash” just so I could get a couple of fun pictures. (Thanks to Aunt Lissy for all the decorations and arranging the cake!)
Then it was packing up and matching pajamas for the cousins.
Turkey Day is here. The kids started watching the Macy’s Day Parade as soon as it started. Teague helped out in the kitchen quite a bit. Everyone ate. Everyone relaxed. We even managed a few group pictures of various configurations. It was a perfect family holiday.
After my last post, I thought it might be fun to look back at all the pumpkin carving parties through the years. It turns out that the locations, people, photography, and camera quality have changed drastically over the years.
I’m not going to list the people, but here are the locations and years. 2008 was a slim “party” (no offense Judy and Jerry) but we are still going to call it one!). 2009 I have tons of pictures from during the party but didn’t manage to get everyone outside for a picture before many people went home. I have learned a lot and now try to take a picture early in the evening. Now I’m really regretting not having one in 2017!
2004 – Atlanta, GA
2005 – Atlanta, GA
2006 – Anderson, SC
2007 – Anderson, SC
2008 – Milwaukee, WI
2009 – Milwaukee, WI
2010 – Milwaukee, WI
2011 – Milwaukee, WI
2012 – Milwaukee, WI
2013 – Milwaukee, WI
2014 – Platte City, MO
2015 – Barrington, IL
2016 – Barrington, IL
2017 – No party
2018 – Grafton, MA
Tonight we hosted our 13th Pumpkin Carving party in our 6th state and our 7th house! (If you are trying to do the math – we took our first and only year off last year). We had pumpkins and kids everywhere. We also added s’mores to the activities this year which my kids thought was the best idea ever!
Wade and I had planned one day in New York so we wanted to make it a heck of a day. We started with breakfast at a pastry shop and let everyone choose a pastry to share. They were delicious! Then it was on to the 9/11 Memorial, the Staton Island Ferry (to see the Statue of Liberty from a distance), subway riding, Wall street (where there happened to be a street fair), and New York pizza. When we were planning this trip, it turns out that the boys were much more interested in the food than actually seeing the Statue of Liberty. When we mentioned getting pizza that suddenly became their main focus of this trip. Ben happily rode in the stroller all day. His only complaint was with shoes and socks. He refused to wear them, even though it was slightly chilly. I eventually gave up fighting him and just tried to ensure we made it home with the socks and shoes.
Earlier this year we used a reward system with the boys and they both earned enough for a trip to see the Statue of Liberty. One thing lead to another and we never quite got there. This weekend we finally made it happen. Wade even found a co-worker willing to dog-sit a not-quite-housetrained puppy. We loaded up the kids after church and headed for the Big City. We stopped along the way at a hole-in-the-wall for dinner. (Yelp is one of my favorite apps while traveling. It makes finding awesome food in strange cities so easy. You can walk into a place you would never have known existed or have felt comfortable entering, especially with kids.)
We are at that weird place with 2 adults and 4 kids when it comes to hotel rooms. When we are staying a single night it seems like overkill to get a suite but most places no long have connecting rooms or will not guarantee them if they do. Alex and Teague aren’t old enough to be in a room alone. For now we get a room with two beds, bring a sleeping bag for Kaitlyn, and a pack-n-play for Ben. Then we hope for a room with some extra square footage. Tonight Wade took the big boys on a walk while I tried to get the younger two to sleep. Kaitlyn went right to sleep. Ben fought it for hours (which is completely unlike him at home).
Years ago, Wade and I saw a “piece of art” in a store window and fell in love. We were in New York for a wedding and had traveled around afterwards to extend our trip a few days and enjoy some kid-free days. As we were strolling along, we saw a canvas displayed in an empty store front that appealed to both of us (no small feat). Unfortunately, there was no sign or name listed anywhere. We took a picture of it and went on our way. We have mentioned it through the years and this year, Wade decided to see if he could recreate it. I am so excited to finally have my “mummy” art work for Halloween.
This boy moves constantly but he snuggles the best with a bottle and book before nap time.
We’ve had 7 years with Teague and we celebrate every day of it!
What a crazy, busy day. I didn’t even realize I had on two different shoes till I got back from my second grocery run. (Thankfully I hadn’t had them on all day but I still felt rather silly.)
It seems that fall Sundays are for soccer and ice cream.
These are the days of summer. We spend our mornings at the lake. Some of us take a quick nap. Then we have an afternoon or evening swim in our backyard. This is the perfect summer.
As we were picking dates for this trip, last January, we realized it would also be the week of the Wisconsin State Fair. At the time, that seemed like a great idea. The state fair is always a fun activity. I did not factor in that it would make getting a hotel or house rental tricky. Wade and I have been to the state fair numerous times over the years but we have never tried to meet up with two other families or stay together with this many people. I was a little doubtful that it would be possible, but we did manage to meet up (after a few misses) and then we easily walked the fair with 15 people and 2 strollers. I consider that quite the achievement. It was hot, but we found all the food, activities, games, and rides. It was a fun day. The state fair never disappoints.
I don’t have a good picture of this, but the best part of this day might be that our kids were all watched by friends (even Ben) while Wade and I went on a date! Our anniversary (14th) is this week and we celebrated with a dinner out tonight!
Today was our last full day in Paducah. We spent the day doing the last things the kids wanted to do and top of their list was the water slide in Aunt Lissy’s backyard. Then we visited one of our good friends and the kids got to check out their newly renovated tree house (that I played in as a kid). I even got to visit the house I grew up in (which is right next door) and haven’t been in for almost 20 years.
We all had a lazy morning (we were up late last night!) and then I took the kids out to my Dad’s house just after lunch time. We swam, played, and the boys’ even got haircuts. Ben took a nap in the crib and Kaitlyn took a nap in my arms. We went out for dinner and somehow Tuesday was over!
Today we loaded up two cars and headed to Nashville. To make this road trip truly “epic” I have been trying to see and visit as many people and places as possible. Thankfully the stars aligned and we were able to see two of our Nashville friends today when we made our trip to the Zoo. We timed it so that we would arrive in Nashville just in time for an early lunch with Laura and then we drove straight to the Zoo.
Then Melissa left us and headed for her hotel. (She is flying out tomorrow for a work-related trip.) Mom and I were supposed to head back to Paducah, but I managed to work out a quick stop with my old college roommate, Mindy, at a park on our way home. It has been years and years since we saw each other! The kids were tired but didn’t seem to mind too much. It was starting to get dark so my only pictures are a little blurry but I’m posting them anyway – this might not happen for another 10 years!
Wade, Emily, and the big boys spent the morning hiking. Wade came in afterwards super excited to get the kids in swimsuits and take us back for some swimming. We pulled into the parking area just as a freak thunderstorm hit. We watched tons of people run for their cars. We decided to wait it out and ended up with a gorgeous afternoon and very few people! We have thoroughly enjoyed our week and the area is gorgeous. I love that hiking is everywhere you turn and easy enough for the kids.
I belong to a Mom’s Club in the area and sometimes we do Mom’s only events. One of the Moms in our groups runs a cooking business – as in she offers cooking classes. Tonight she offered a special class to just the Mom’s Club. We had such a fun night talking and cooking and eating!
Melissa and I did a little talking before our trip and realized this might be a good year cousin pictures with a “red” theme. The beauty of this is the pictures should look great in Gram’s house.
I got a note from Kaitlyn’s teachers letting me know that she would be celebrating her birthday tomorrow at school. It seems they are cramming all the summer birthdays into the same week at school (most schools celebrate on a child’s half-birthday to space them out). Kaitlyn requested “pink” cupcakes so we got the ingredients for strawberry cupcakes. She was very excited to help me make them.