We got more snow and the kids were so excited to get out and play.
Grafton – Oak
Wade randomly brings home grocery items from work. Last week it was a bag of lemons and a bag of apples. We don’t naturally eat a lot of lemons so they sat around for a while before he decided to make homemade lemonade. We also decided to make apple crisp tonight. The kids don’t necessarily love it, but it’s one of Wade and my’s favorites.
Kaitlyn loves sticker books. These paint by sticker books are her favorite. I’m pretty sure she has done at least 5 or 6 at this point. My favorite is her method. She fills her hand with stickers but seems to always remember which sticker goes with which number.
Ben saw Kaitlyn’s pink cowboy hat this morning and has worn it all day. My favorite is when he finally added the pink sleep mask and it made the perfect bad guy bandana. By the time dinner rolled around, Kaitlyn was joining in on the fun.
Ben has been working hard to finish up learning his letters. (If you’ll remember he started learning them over two years ago, but we never quite finished.) He has quite a bit of trouble with E and F, but at some point, he realized that he knows the letters in his name. Then he realized that he can say those letters out loud and something clicks. I finally caught it on video.
Magnatiles have been the toy of choice in our house lately. Tonight Ben and Kaitlyn took turns building each other into a tower and then knocking them down to get out. It was hilarious!
It always makes me happy when my kids read. Alex has taken a long break from it so to find him constantly reading these days is awesome.
All of my kids go through phases. Lately both Ben and Kaitlyn refuse to go to bed without their bedside lights on. That means I go into their rooms every night before I go to bed to turn them off. It also means, I get one last peek (or picture) before I turn in for the night too.
I was scrolling on instagram and a hair tutorial popped up. Kaitlyn was interested enough to let me try it on her hair. It turned out pretty cute. We’ll see how it looks after a full day at school.
The kids had a snow day and we all loved it! I was pleasantly surprised when Alex came outside with us and then even stayed and played the entire time. (This hasn’t happened in a few years.)
Ben’s latest obsession is these pinwheels, but of course in our house they are weapons. Ninja in training.
This was our last day with Granny and Pop and we spent it doing more of the same – games, reading, and cooking. We have had a great visit and are so sorry to see them go.
Granny and Pop spent the day trying to spend time with everybody – which can get a little tricky in our house. We have discovered the best way to entertain the masses is with games. Kaitlyn is getting really good at Checkers and Teague always loves Jenga. We had a lazy late afternoon of football watching and Pop’s afternoon was made when Ben took a nap in his lap.
My kids love to play in the leaves. Sometimes they pretend to help rake the leaves. Sometimes they even get them into a pile, but that’s only so they can jump into it. They also love any excuse to bring out the leaf blower. I love hearing their giggles.
Pepper is in dog heaven with all the extra people home all day. Teague likes having a constant companion while he does school at home. I do not like all the extra fur on the kitchen floors.
And today was the day I realized that I needed to have a conversation with my son about the order of his morning routine. Evidently he is putting on his deodorant at some point in the shower. It has now been moved out of the shower and understands it should be applied after the shower and drying off part of his morning routine.
I thought all my kiddos were accounted for. Three were doing remote classes and Ben was playing in his room. I was helping Kaitlyn with her online class and looked out the window to see Ben playing on the rock wall right by the street.
The kids were so excited to jump in leaf piles. Then we convinced them to stay and actually help with leaf cleanup!
Ben found his new favorite place to play cars – the brace pieces under the kitchen table and bench. I found his cars parked in groups in various configurations.
I have been determined to get something productive done during this crazy time. Painting all the trim in the hallway seemed like a good thing to tackle.
Alex always has a grand plan. Today he wanted to build a rocket. This is exactly the kind of thing Wade loves to help with. They built a coke bottle rocket and we all gathered outside to watch it shoot to the sky! (Then we shot it off over and over.)
I opened the microwave this afternoon to find a little surprise. Evidently Ben decided the microwave made a great place to store his cars.
It appears that Pepper has managed to teach Ben a new trick.
This has been the most gorgeous fall. We have several trees in our yard that are just mesmerizing to see. I’m going to hate the fall cleanup, but I love looking at them now.
KitKat is home and recovering from her spay surgery. Right now she is a little groggy, but she managed to remove her cone. We are supposed to restrict her movements so we put her in Pepper’s kennel, but I’m not sure how long that will last. KitKat is a very, very vocal cat.
We had a lazy Sunday and the kids loved every minute of it.
Ben loves empty cardboard boxes. He colors them, drives them, plays games with them, etc. Today he found four full boxes on the side porch and spent part of the afternoon playing with them. I love how it takes so little to entertain him.
This cat is literally climbing the walls (and windows).
We do a lot of cooking in this house. I cook most of our meals. We bake a ton of sweets. The kids love to cook and either help me or cook their own things quite a bit. Today Teague was in charge of dinner with a recipe for pizza dough. Ben was very excited to be able to help, even if it was just a little.
Alex decided to bring some of his wall art to life. He drew P-1000 from Fortnite on his wall earlier this fall (or maybe it was summer?). Today he created a replica of the helmet from paper and tape.
One little monkey sitting in a tree.
I had two willing to help me organize my pantries today. (One was a little more help than the other.). But before long, we had everything out, shelves cleaned, and neatly put back in the right place.
Today was a glorious fall day. We spent the majority of it outside. Wade did a little yard work. The kids were into all kinds of things, but I loved that they mostly just played.
Ben and I decided to make muffins. A house favorite is bran muffins but even with a double batch they rarely last more than a few hours.
I walked in to find these two snuggling on the floor.
Ben tends to get attached to an objet (usually a toy) for a coupe of days at a time. Today’s prize possession was not a toy:
Today we celebrated Korea Day and eight years with Teague. Every year we take this day to celebrate the day Teague joined our family. We take a picture in his Korea shirt. We eat Korean food (or in recent years it has become sushi for most of the kids).
Here are Teague’s pictures through the year.
We decided that tonight seemed like a great night for an outdoor movie. Some of the kids were definitely more in it for the snacks, but that’s understandable!
Teague agreed to cook lunch for everyone today – pizza pockets. Having everyone at home is sometimes challenging and sometimes fun. (Leftovers never last long….)
These two had a great time building with magnatiles all afternoon.
Kaitlyn brought home The Disney Princess Cookbook from the library at school. She couldn’t wait to make the Princess Pink Popcorn. (Just a heads up it – it was messy and nobody actually liked it.)
Ben and I had some alone time today while everyone was in school. It was kind of great. I set up the water table during his nap and filled it with water beads. They didn’t have much time to grow but he still had a blast playing with his animals in the water until his siblings got home.
One of the perks of having Wade work from home is he is done with his days much earlier. We were all outside playing in the yard and Teague wanted to help Wade with his project.
I came home from a trip to Target to find a note from Alex asking for a trip to the grocery. Of course I went and then the kids made churros!
This has been Ben’s favorite hat for quite a while and today he decided to wear it (never mind that we are still having quite warm temperatures).
I was fixing lunch for everyone and opened the microwave to find a surprise from Ben.
Summer is almost over. But not quite yet. Today the kids could still do as they pleased.
Ben was on a mission to help Wade with the yard today.
We are thankful for such wonderful weather! We read books, played outside, played soccer, and eventually enjoyed s’mores by the fire.
I still occasionally find monkey in random places courtesy of Teague.