Ben and Kaitlyn spent part of their evening in the shop with Wade. Kaitlyn built a stage. Ben built mini tables and then moved on to more robots.
Grafton – Oak
Ben told me he had a new game he wanted the family to play. We put him off a day or two, but he was very insistent. We tried to sell him on just Wade and I playing, but he really wanted the entire family to play. We finally convinced Alex and Teague to show some interest and excitement and we all set down to play “Left, Right, Oink.”
Ben had found my bag of random die. There was a die with “Left”, “Right”, and a “pig face” on the various sides. With Ben’s game, you roll and then either hop to the left, right, or say “oink.” When we asked if there was a winner, he just grinned. We finally agreed that the first person to reach four “oinks” would be declared winner. (Spoiler – Wade wins)
Once again, Ben and his outfit choices continue to amuse me. We were headed for his yearly checkup and he (and his medals) jingled all the way.
We had our first snow day of the year! We waited all weekend for the snow to come last night. We woke up to white! The prediction was 9 inches. We are guessing more like 6, but we’ll take it. It continued snowing most of the day but the kids got out and played in the yard before coming in for hot chocolate and some electronics time.
Then we convinced almost everyone to join us for sledding.
Ben has never lacked personality or confidence. He was really excited about his birthday party today and obviously added the “flair” to his outfit.
Dinner was almost ready. The kids had set the table. Everyone left the kitchen and I was finishing up the last few things so we could sit down. Then I glanced over at the table and realized we had one more joining us for dinner.
I normally go by Ben’s room to shut his door before I go to bed. Tonight I just had to laugh. He evidently had quite a bit of trouble falling asleep. None of these books were on the floor when I said goodnight to him several of hours ago.
Today was a lazy day for everyone. The best might be when I walked in to find Ben napping with Wade.
My kids have been so excited for New Year’s. We started the day at church, played some games, and then got ready for dinner. The kids love our annual snack dinner. They love the sparkling drink we cheer with. This year we got to celebrate with Granny and Pop too.
A few weeks ago as we were driving home from swim lessons, Ben started asking about the math Kaitlyn has been doing at home. She has been working with flash cards to memorize her multiplication tables. I explained the concept to him and was shocked that he got it with no issues. Before we got home, he could do simple problems like 2×3 or 10×5. I put counting blocks on his Christmas list so that he could work on harder problems.
Ben got the counting blocks for Christmas and was pretty quick to ask for multiplication problems. Kaitlyn wanted some of her own to do (of course she only needed blocks for a very few of them). The card is Ben’s after he finished writing all his answers.
Granny and Pop arrived today! We had some lunch, played some games, and then had our last round of Christmas.
My favorite part of the day was when the littles decided to sled down the stairs. Ben instigated the entire thing and went first. I attempted to take a video but was so caught up in watching him that I videoed the wall and not his slide. Only after his successful slide was Kaitlyn willing to go. Then Ben wanted to go again so I could get him on video. On this attempt, he leaned forward and tipped the basket halfway down and that ended the sliding for the day.
Today was the perfect day for the kids to do the crafts they’ve been patiently waiting to paint.
Today we enjoyed being home. There was a lot of laziness and playing with new toys. The kids are still loving games with Gram. Kaitlyn and Ben got new toys and have been equally playing together and then taking turns playing with Gram. I have had lots of time to read and cook. The big boys have had a lot of unlimited computer time (a Christmas treat). We are going to hate to say good-bye to Gram tomorrow.
This is the first year that I woke up before everyone else on Christmas morning. If I hadn’t left our bedroom to see if anyone was awake (and waiting in their room as requested), then KitKat wouldn’t have gotten up and started meowing, and everyone would have slept later. Instead, Ben and Kaitlyn were woken up so then everyone was up. Then we all went downstairs to see what Santa had brought.
Then we had our traditional Christmas breakfast, got dressed, and took a few family pictures. Then we moved on to opening presents. The kids are always fun to watch. Teague and Alex had very sad want lists this year so Gram gave them mostly money, but delivered it in a creative way. She put cash in balloons but the boys had to find the balloons with their names on them and then pop them before they could count their money. It was a wonderful day and we ended it with naps for the adults while the kids were entertained with all their new things.
Today is one of my favorite days of the Christmas holiday. We had a leisurely day of reading, games, baking, an evening church service, and then setting out cookies for Santa.
Alex has his own routine. He joins us for meals. He sometimes plays video games with his brothers. But mostly he disappears in his room till his siblings are asleep. Then he comes downstairs and wants to hang out with Wade and I. Sometimes that sounds good and we are feeling social. Sometimes we are ready for some alone time ourselves.
Tonight Wade was feeling social and they played cards and then ended up wrestling (which they haven’t done in 10 years…). They were so loud that Ben got out of bed to join in the fun. I was laughing hysterically from my chair.
Basket presents have been a thing in the Harper house since I was a toddler. My mom has gone from making two sets of basket presents (14 presents total) to now creating 10 sets (70 presents total). She often says she feels like she has completed Christmas shopping before she even begins. My kids love them and today we opened them almost as a family and got lots of pictures.
Ben is definitely his own person. I sent him upstairs to get ready for swim lessons. He returned wearing one sock (he went upstairs with two on), his swimsuit, and a hat. I didn’t even bother trying to convince him to change.
Kaitlyn had a playdate this weekend and the girls wanted to make friendship bracelets. I have been waiting years for this (like 30+ years). I knew where my old box of string was in the basement and immediately pulled it out. I did have to check the directions (which I still had), but then I had them set up and they were threading bracelets.
Ben got a really cool robot building kit at his birthday party. Wade’s been helping him build one or two a night. Tonight they built the one he has been most excited about – the bubble robot. Kaitlyn was excited to see it in action and was very anxious for Ben to finish. She couldn’t wait to help find our bubbles and see it working.
Ben got a new iPad for his birthday. We finally got his new one set up and were attempting to switch everything from the old to the new. Ben was very insistent that he needed all of his old videos and pictures. Wade was transferring them and then called me to come quick. We had no idea Ben had created his own video series called “Ben’s previous videos.” They are probably only funny to Wade and I but we died watching Ben and his personality. I’m only going to post one, but just be aware there is an entire series spanning months.
Alex told me a few days ago that he wanted to build a gingerbread house. Alex only sometimes joins in family activities and almost never initiates them. I grabbed the first gingerbread houses I saw. I decided to get two and let the kids to work together on them.
It was chaos from the beginning. Alex was frustrated that I bought premade houses and he didn’t get to do house construction. (I hadn’t paid close attention and just grabbed the first ones I saw.). Then I bought two different kinds (gingerbread and Oreo) thinking variety would be fun. The kids all wanted the Oreo house.
Everyone recovered. The kids split two and two without too much argument. Alex constructed a tree and helped Kaitlyn with the icing where she needed it. In the end we had two houses and everyone had a good time. (Next time I will buy four identical houses.)
One of my least favorite Christmas activities is Elf on a Shelf. It’s one of those things I wish we had never started and there is no way to end. Our Elf, Kanga, comes as close as possible to Christmas and simply moves locations every night. Kanga doesn’t do any of the cute antics the other kids (and instagram) talk about. In fact, most nights I’m amazed our Elf remembers to move. Last year it finally got easier because someone mentioned the idea of setting a recurring alarm on their phone for about 10:30 pm. (GENIUS).
This year, Alex has taken some interest in helping out. He waits till he thinks the kids are in bed (and staying there) and then begs to move Kanga. I love having the help!
Kaitlyn wanted to try her new hair wrap so we gave it another go but this time we tried damp hair instead of wet hair. It obviously made all the difference.
Wade and I went to pick up our tree last night right before the tree lots closed. We were able to get it in the stand and let it have 24 hours for the branches to relax and settle. Tonight we put on Christmas music, the kids wore matching pajamas, and we decorated the tree. For the first time in many years, we didn’t have a single broken ornament (maybe they got that out at Gram’s house – sorry!).
Ben’s birthday isn’t till next week, but we’ll be traveling. We always celebrate here at home before we travel. In the end, Ben gets several birthdays and seems just fine with that. Today he celebrated his birthday at school and at home. He got birthday donuts and hot chocolate for breakfast. He got sushi in his lunchbox. Then there was the requested Chick-fil-A for dinner, cupcakes, and presents. He thought it was the best birthday ever. Ben is still my favorite person to watch open presents. I have yet to see him open a gift and not have an awesome response.
I always try to decorate the house for Christmas before we travel for Thanksgiving. I got most of the house done over the weekend. Kaitlyn has been so anxious to do her room but we haven’t had time till tonight. She loved putting all her ornaments on her tree.
We tried something new with Kaitlyn’s hair today. I have seen it all over the internet and even some friends have raved about it. It did not work on Kaitlyn’s hair. I’m sure the downfall for us was that Kaitlyn’s hair was wet and not just damp. Because it wasn’t completely dry by morning the curls weren’t quite there. We’ll try again with damp hair.
I laid down on the couch to take a 15 minute nap today. I knew chances were slim that I would get the entire time uninterrupted, but I decided to try anyway. At one point, I heard someone making noises beside me, but I ignored them and the noises stopped. I woke up when my alarm went off and sat up. At that point, the basket of blankets across the room started to move and suddenly Ben jumped out and started talking to me. I have no idea how long he was in there but he sure surprised me. Talk about dedication to a surprise!
(I had him reenact where he was for a picture later. It was taken from my view on the couch.)
When I came home from dropping Kaitlyn at a birthday party, I knew the house was a little quiet. I went to the laundry room and started sorting clothes. Then I got a text from Wade telling me to come see my boy. I found him curled up with Wade while Wade finished up watching a game.
Kaitlyn slept later than usual this morning. (Why not since she had a morning off from school?) At some point I was walking by her room and realized Pepper was in bed with Kaitlyn. That was something I had never seen before. I stopped to talk to Kaitlyn and she confirmed that Pepper woke her up. We finally decided that Pepper was just going about her normal schedule – which is spend a large part of the day in Kaitlyn’s bed (hoping to look out her windows to the driveway, but only when Kaitlyn remembers to raise her shades). Pepper just didn’t realize Kaitlyn was sleeping in today.
Ben found a motor set in the Lego bin and asked Wade about it. Wade showed him how the motors could be controlled from an app on a phone or iPad. Ben couldn’t wait to build a car for the motors and for his iPad time to roll around tomorrow so he could test it all out.
Ben refuses to let a box leave this house untouched. Today he created a five-headed monster and he couldn’t wait to show it off.
KitKat spent the entire day inside and seemed to move from one napping spot to another.
The littles wanted macaroni and cheese for lunch. When it was all served, there was just a bit left in the pot. I turned around to find that Alex had a spoon and was helping himself to what was left. I asked him if he was having lunch and he said he had already eaten. The extra macaroni and cheese was just a snack.
Today’s agenda was rather light. Ben and his last soccer practice from 9-10. They played several mini games and then the kids got their snacks and medals!
We spent the rest of the day doing random things – chores, lunch, raking leaves, playing outside. Thankfully Wade happened to mention Kaitlyn’s soccer game or I would have completely forgotten to take her. We made it just in time and Kaitlyn played the best game of the season. She scored two games and hustled like I haven’t seen all season. It was so fun to watch! Even better was at the end of the game the team chose her to win the hustle ball!
Right before bed, Ben and Kaitlyn worked together to gather all the supplies to make their own volcanoes. Ben has a volcano and earthquake book from the library and we have been reading it the last few days. He got so excited when he found the page detailing how to make a volcano. The kids loved the reaction so much the first time that we repeated it over and over.
I checked the mail today and found the sweetest envelope inside our mailbox. It was obviously hand delivered (with no stamp or return address) and inside was a note from a neighbor and a picture of KitKat sleeping on our front porch.
Our local ski hill opened up crazy early this year. They only have a tiny, tiny bunny slope but they are offering 3 weeks of lessons for kids under 9 who have never skied before. The weather was unusually warm this past weekend but they still had snow. I bundled Ben up in the ski gear I managed to find and get him into. We dropped Teague off at tutoring on our way to the snow hill. Ben loved his first lesson!
Through an unfortunate set of circumstances, Wade and I both ended up with new cars within weeks of each other. My minivan had 230,000 miles on it. Thankfully we had never had a major issue, but we wanted to avoid encountering one. Wade’s car was starting to have lots of expensive problems. We had been test driving cars for me to figure out what I wanted and had narrowed it down to a Chevy Traverse and a Kia Telluride. Wade had a couple he was interested in but finally decided on a Kia Stinger. He actually found one not too far away and was able to get a good deal. A few weeks later we found one for me at a dealership in NJ. After a month of bargaining and paperwork, mine was finally delivered.
Ben has a love of all thing accessories. He never leaves one behind.
Wade and I used to be able to track the pumpkin carving party years with how long we’d been married. Then we skipped a year when we first moved to MA and then COVID messed us up even more. Here we are at the 17th annual party and also the largest! We had over 50 people attend this year. We also had the best weather. The day hit a record of high 70s and was gorgeous blue skies all day. (Tomorrow is supposed to be 50s and raining all day.) My kids helped me clean and cook all day yesterday and most of the morning today.
We had school friends, neighbors, and church friends attend. We had groups of high schoolers, middle schoolers, and elementary school kids. We had parents take their kids to other places and then come back to hang out. It was a wonderful time and somehow I think I took the fewest pictures ever. We once again got a late start on carving and ended up with a group photo in almost darkness but we persevered and only one family left before we got to the picture.
Wade decided it was time to teach Alex a very important life lesson.
Wade was going to be gone during dinner and I was feeling uninspired when it came to cooking. Alex suggested make-your-own-pizza and I thought that sounded perfect. One of our local grocery stores sells their own fresh pizza dough and I bought enough for all the kids to make their own pizza.
I came home from running errands to find that Ben and Kaitlyn were attempting to create a big leaf pile. They were working so well together and had created a cute little pile. Then Alex heard about it and ran and jumped in their pile. They were so upset that he jumped in it first. Thankfully Alex stayed outside and helped them create a HUGE pile and the three of them had a great time.
Kaitlyn and her friend were thrilled last night when they went to put on pajamas and realized they had matching pjs. This morning they made pumpkin-shaped pancakes and ate them our favorite way – with cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar (hold the syrup). Then it was time for the trip across the street. I looked outside to see that the girls had attempted to dress alike and were driving all the overnight items in the Jeep.
Then Ben and I wanted to introduce Kaitlyn to Mount Watatic and its incredible view. The big boys were adamant that once (see here) was enough and they would rather stay home. Last time we hiked there was no one on the trail. This time we passed quite a few people and the top was almost crowded. Kaitlyn once again started out running and was determined to stay ahead of the rest of us the entire hike. Because the top had so many people, there were lots of people offering to take pictures. I rarely get a picture with all of us on a hike that isn’t a selfie (which means the view is never included).
Kaitlyn had a packed day today. We started in the morning with a football game in Grafton. Kaitlyn cheered and had a great morning.
We made it home for a quick lunch and then our neighbor came over for a playdate. The girls were so cute and played so well together all afternoon. As the playdate was ending, they begged for a sleepover and we were able to work that out. They ended up cooking dessert, having dinner, and watching a movie with popcorn.
Wade is leaving for a week of mission work in Virginia. He is joining a group of guys that go every year. They left early this morning and won’t return till late next Saturday night and will spend the week doing house projects of all types.
When I got back to the house, three of the kids were up and Ben had a recipe for donuts in his hands and was begging to cook. It’s a holiday weekend and most of the sports this weekend have been cancelled so we have a very relaxed weekend planned. I said yes and we got to cooking.
Everyone wanted to bake tonight. Sometimes we only have desserts on the weekend. Sometimes we only cook one dessert per night. Tonight I decided the more the merrier. Teague made churros. Ben wanted to make chocolate crepes and Alex was helping before too long.
After a bit of a wait, the men arrived today to cut down our tree. Although I’m glad to have my yard back, I hate that we had to cut the tree down. The backyard feels so empty without it!
This fall is one of the busiest we have had. Because we actually wanted to be able to enjoy Korea Day, we pushed our celebration from September 26 to a few days later. We tried to order takeout from our favorite Korean restaurant and were sad to hear that it had recently been sold and was under new management. We tried a new Korean restaurant and some new dishes!