01
Apr
Easter breakfast and egg hunt at the church today.
31
Mar
Date night for Mom and Dad so the kids are eating an early dinner so they can all go play video games together.
30
Mar
The second grade had a concert this morning for parents. I hadn’t realized it, but it’s the first concert since Kaitlyn was in Kindergarten, the first time. Wade, Ben, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the entire group of 2nd graders. There were speaking parts, solos, group songs, kazoos, and scarves. What more could you ask for?!?
30
Mar
Kaitlyn’s soccer coach has given the entire homework of dribbling/passing for 10 minutes each day. So far, she is taking the homework to heart.
29
Mar
Kaitlyn helped me meal plan this week and chose to make Meatloaf for dinner tonight.
28
Mar
Kaitlyn has been taking gymnastics all winter and has loved every minute of it.
27
Mar
Kaitlyn still gets a book before bedtime. Some nights she chooses to read to us and some nights she wants us to read to her.
26
Mar
Ben has been begging to do a project with Wade all weekend. The only problem is that he didn’t actually have a project in mind. Wade finally got an idea and sold Ben on it. Ben appeared with the cutest robot and then disappeared to make more. Kaitlyn followed so that she could make one too.
26
Mar
Sunday lineup – Two have had little sleep from the lock-in last night but otherwise everyone was in good spirits.
25
Mar
Kaitlyn has been asking to play mini-golf at Apex forever. We have been before as a family, but it’s a little complicated with kids of such varying ages. Tonight seemed like a great night to make Kaitlyn’s plan come to life. We dropped the big boys at church and then went out do dinner.
The final stop was Apex. First we hit the arcade and Kaitlyn was on fire. She won a 1,000 ticket jackpot and got prizes from two claw machines – a stuffed animal and a roll of 150 tickets. Ben loved the fighting games and shooting games. I was rather surprised at how good he was. He outlasted the big boys he was playing Ninja Turtles with by being legitimately good at the game. Then it was on to mini-golf and then back to redeem their tickets. The kiddos had a great night.
25
Mar
Wade and I had a fun night out with just Ben and Kaitlyn tonight.
24
Mar
Pepper has lots of not so great qualities, but she does play fetch. We all love that. Pepper tends to be a little particular about what she fetches – a Kong frisbee – yes; a nerf ball – yes; a tennis ball – no. Wade came home today with a new fetching toy. I was a little skeptical because we have had similar toys before. However, today, Wade worked with her and got her to fetch the tennis ball the toy throws. Then we turned it over to the kids. The little kids love being able to throw the tennis ball much farther than normal.
24
Mar
These three were back at it again on the trampoline.
23
Mar
It seems that all of my children are craving sweets. They now race to ask if they can “bake” so that they can pick the treat and have a little bit of control. Yesterday Alex made churros. Today Kaitlyn asked to make Chocolate Snowball Cookies. Teague arrived a few minutes too late asking to make brownies. I assured him he could make them tomorrow.
23
Mar
Kaitlyn had a 9 am dentist appointment so I let her stay home from school until it was time to go. I was rather impressed with how the two littles got a game and played together to bide the time. Kaitlyn even helped Ben when he was getting frustrated with the rules.
22
Mar
The kids have been begging Wade to put the trampoline up for weeks. Today he agreed to check to see if the ground was hard enough. With the mild winter we have had, the ground was firm enough for a trampoline. Kaitlyn helped bring all the pieces from the barn and the springs. Alex helped with the parts that could be considered a two-man job. Teague helped put up the net. Ben did all of the testing.
22
Mar
Today we put the trampoline back up and it’s one time when all four get along and jump together. Alex was rather proud when he managed to pin all of his siblings at one time.
21
Mar
Due to laundry issues, Kaitlyn was without her pillow case for several days. She was extremely happy to have it back tonight.
20
Mar
Tonight we tried something new – Apple Chicken Curry. Kaitlyn was happy to help and we all enjoyed the latest Raddish recipe.
20
Mar
Kaitlyn has been working hard to move up this time in swim class, but she finally passed the test and moved up!
19
Mar
Sunday roundup.
18
Mar
Bingo Night at church.
18
Mar
Our church hosted a potluck and game night. The kids were in various stages of excitement to attend, but we all got there and I brought their favorite Chimichurri sandwiches. As luck would have it, the games were Bingo and trivia. (We haven’t played Bingo since the last time we were in KY and now we have played twice in three days.) The younger kids were very excited by the prize options – candy, toys, etc. Alex was being a teenager but didn’t put up too much fuss and willingly played the games. Kaitlyn even got to call numbers and tell some of her favorite jokes to the crowd.
17
Mar
Some nights this is exactly what game night looks like.
(If you look closely, you will see that Wade now has his own gaming computer.)
16
Mar
The elementary school had a fundraiser tonight for the 6th grade’s trip to Nature’s Classroom. The PTG and the principals worked together to coordinate the event. Parents donated baked goods to sell for dessert and 6th graders donated their time as wait staff. I was there early for setup and to man the cashbox. Wade brought the family to the second seating. Ben was so excited for his “bingo” and Kaitlyn helped him choose a prize. The goal was $1000 and they got pretty close to their goal!
16
Mar
Pasta and Bingo Night at the elementary school.
15
Mar
Everyone wanted to challenge dad to a game tonight.
14
Mar
Snow day donuts.
13
Mar
Kaitlyn doesn’t mind at all helping Ben with his games after her iPad time is over.
12
Mar
Sunday lineup.
(Just for you Gram the big boys are not wearing red plaid shirts.)
10
Mar
I was packing lunches and Ben was begging to have this book read. At some point I realized the chaos had calmed down and Kaitlyn was reading to Ben. I love to see them being sweet to each other.
10
Mar
Kaitlyn has stepped up her cooking lately. She couldn’t wait to try out her latest recipe – Sicilian Pizza. We doubled the recipe to fit our family and all of the topping preferences in our household. The cheese lovers loved the recipe as written – fresh basil and large round slices of mozzarella.
09
Mar
Amazing that she still wants to match Mom.
08
Mar
Kaitlyn is challenging Wade to a game of chess every chance she gets.
08
Mar
Kaitlyn begged to take Pepper on a walk in the yard before the bus and I thought it sounded like a great idea for both of them.
07
Mar
Kaitlyn is still flying through her current favorite series and I’m just thankful it is a series with lots of books.
06
Mar
Morning bus stop.
05
Mar
Our church used to have quite a thriving Sunday School program. Then COVID happened. It has been a slow struggle to find teachers and get kids back to church. Some Sundays my four have been the entire kids’ program. Thankfully that is not the case currently, but we are still struggling to find teachers. Wade recently offered to teach the middle/high school. His plan is to make pancakes and then throw a little learning in there too. I deliver my younger two and then teach where needed, which is often Ben’s age group.
05
Mar
Sunday roundup.
04
Mar
Kaitlyn was so excited to make a cookie cake today. She had pulled this recipe weeks ago but we haven’t found the time till today. The suggested decorations were all sport themes, but Kaitlyn decided to make it her own. She created a unicorn design.
04
Mar
Saturday morning cartoons.
03
Mar
Wade has been teaching Kaitlyn chess and she loves to play every chance she gets.
02
Mar
The most tolerant cat.
01
Mar
Kaitlyn has been asking on and off for months if I can be the Mystery Reader for her class one day. Of course she had no idea that I had already signed up weeks ago for today. It turned out to be a day Wade was free so I let him go knowing that his appearance would be an even bigger surprise.
01
Mar
Tonight Kaitlyn cooked Chicken Caesar wraps – thanks to radish kids.
28
Feb
We had our first real snow day of the year! School was canceled last night so the big boys slept in late. The little kids and I woke up to several inches and more snow falling. After a lazy morning, we rallied and most of us went out to play. Kaitlyn even built a snowman!
28
Feb
Snow day lunch.
27
Feb
All four in the kitchen at breakfast time? This never happens anymore.
26
Feb
25
Feb
Saturday = chore day.