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Toadfrogs & Elephants

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Teague

03 Dec

Running And Celebrating

Kaitlyn has been running all fall with her Girls On The Run team. When we were in Memphis, Kaitlyn and I went out twice on practice runs. On the first, Kaitlyn didn’t like the cold and ran less than half a mile of the three. On the second, Kaitlyn did much better but only ran a few blocks at a time before walking. I decided at that point that the run was not something to worry about and that we would be walking more than running.

Today we woke up to a cold, rainy morning. We dressed in layers and headed to the course. The boys were grumpy, but they knew when they signed up (and I paid) that they were committing regardless of the weather. We started all together but Kaitlyn was motivated. She ran at a speed that I haven’t seen before. She also ran a ton! There was some walking but not very much. The last mile (which also means the last loop of three) Kaitlyn saw that there were medals at the finish line. That motivated her even further and I had trouble keeping up with her. I was surprised and very impressed with how Kaitlyn ran her race! We waited at the finish line for Alex and Teague. We tried to cheer them on, but they were too grumpy to want cheering.

On the way home we stopped for donuts and hot chocolate. Then we all took hot showers and had a short rest. Kaitlyn, Ben, and I then met up with some friends to tour some of the Frosty Stops for “Grafton Celebrates the Holidays.” Due to the weather, there were a lot less people out so there were almost no lines. The kids had a great time and got bags full of goodies.

03 Dec

December 3, 2023

Girls On The Run 5K today – cold and rainy but here we go!

02 Dec

December 2, 2023

Wade and I decided to go on a date tonight so we scrounged a quick dinner for these three before we headed out.

01 Dec

December 1, 2023

This year Teague has been my child adamant about wearing summer clothes well into winter temperatures. Many days (like today), he still pulls out a t-shirt and shorts.

30 Nov

November 30, 2023

Family Mario Kart night.

29 Nov

November 29, 2023

Everybody wanted to watch Ben use his electronics time today.

28 Nov

November 28, 2023

Teague and KitKat snuggles.

27 Nov

November 27, 2023

Tonight we decorated our tree.

26 Nov

November 26, 2023

The last 6 hours always feel eternal.

25 Nov

November 25, 2023

A quick goodbye to Gram before we get on the road.

25 Nov

Tree Trimming

Wade helped my mom bring in her tree last night and the kids were very insistent that they needed to help her start decorating. We finally convinced the kids to go to bed with promises of decorating the tree in the morning.

Kaitlyn and Ben ran right to the tree to start decorating this morning. There were only a few ornament casualties and a mostly decorated tree by the time we had to leave.

24 Nov

November 24, 2023

Stockings came early in Collierville.

24 Nov

The kids woke up to stockings that Granny had filled overnight. They were so excited but did stand still for a picture before checking out their goodies.

Then we drove to Paducah to spend a night with Gram before starting the long drive home. Gram had nuggets waiting and the cousins arrived before too long. We celebrated Ben’s real birthday with dinner, a Minecraft cake, and a few more presents. What a birthday this has been – three celebrations and a party with friends still to go!

23 Nov

November 23, 2023

Second Thanksgiving – with local family!

23 Nov

Second Thanksgiving

Today we had our second Thanksgiving. Today all the local family joined us for our second meal. This time there were little kids so we did lots of playing outside and with all of the old toys.

22 Nov

Wednesday

Today Aunt Louise, Uncle John, Aunt Emmy, and Uncle David all headed back to their homes. We had a pretty relaxed day with Granny and Pop. The kids started the morning by playing Pickle ball. Pop even joined in the fun.

Ben was anxious for lunchtime. He knew we were having cake and presents immediately afterwards. Granny got the cutest cake – Ninja Turtles. (She had a theme going with his presents and cake.) The last birthday present was tickets to see the new movie – Wish. Ben and Kaitlyn have been watching the preview for weeks.

I was helping in the kitchen for dinner and looked up to see Kaitlyn driving the lawn mower – by herself! Evidently Wade gave her a quick lesson and felt she was good to go.

22 Nov

November 22, 2023

Same old Teague…

21 Nov

First Thanksgiving

We started the morning with crepes – made by Alex and David. Alex loves to make them at home, but we heard that Uncle David was a true expert. He was so nice to teach Alex some tips. Kaitlyn helped with some of the toppings. Ben was happy to be the taster.

We then ate a wonderful meal and went to the square for some pictures:

Other parts of the day were spent visiting, playing games, and Uncle John gave us some of his handmade goodies.

21 Nov

November 21, 2023

First Thanksgiving – with family that has to leave on Wednesday.

20 Nov

November 20, 2023

We learned a new card game tonight!

19 Nov

November 19, 2023

Teague discovered Granny has hot chocolate. Two so far and it’s still morning.

18 Nov

Always The First Stop

We made our traditional first lunch stop at Waffle House. When Wade is with us, we spread out to multiple seating locations. We got one of our quickest meals, ate our delicious food, and were on our way!

18 Nov

November 18, 2023

Roadtrip to TN.

17 Nov

November 17, 2023

Birthday donuts.

17 Nov

He’s 6 (Almost)!

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.

16 Nov

November 16, 2023

Kaitlyn informed us it was “Cup stacking week.”

15 Nov

November 15, 2023

Gaming with his brothers.

14 Nov

November 14, 2023

Someone (Teague) did not want to be photographed today.

13 Nov

November 13, 2023

Leftover night so everyone fixes their own.

12 Nov

November 12, 2023

Sunday lineup.

11 Nov

November 11, 2023

A rare Saturday morning when all four watch cartoons (even for a moment).

10 Nov

November 10, 2023

Teague and I finally ordered some pearl sugar to try and recreate the sticky waffles we had on the ski mountain last winter.

09 Nov

November 9, 2023

Teague wanted to bake cookies and invited Ben to help.

08 Nov

November 8, 2023

I try to time my trips just right so that the groceries can be unloaded by the boys when they get home.

07 Nov

November 7, 2023

These two both decided to cook at the same time and I was impressed at how well they worked in the kitchen together.

06 Nov

November 6, 2023

Game night!

05 Nov

November 5, 2023

Sunday lineup.

04 Nov

November 4, 2023

When you want pizza and nobody will let you order one, you make your own.

03 Nov

November 3, 2023

Teague made dinner for us tonight – mini burgers and fries.

02 Nov

Yearly Check-Up

Teague had his yearly checkup with Dr. Hunter. We have been waiting for this one! Teague broke his glasses two weeks ago and our wonderful neighbor was able to work a fix to last us until this appointment. Two days later, Teague was jumping on the trampoline with Ben and Kaitlyn. He decided to take off his glasses. Instead of taking them inside, he put them in his pocket. This time when they broke, they broke into 2 pieces and couldn’t be fixed. He has been without glasses ever since.

Pictured below is what happens when you show up at an eye appointment with broken glasses. They “create” glasses for you.

02 Nov

November 2, 2023

Teague is rather proud of his method for putting up cups.

01 Nov

Learn To Ski

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!

01 Nov

November 1, 2023

Ben has been begging to play Fortnite and tonight he finally got to try it. Alex was tolerant. Teague enjoyed watching (he is without electronics right now). Ben was in heaven!

31 Oct

October 31, 2023

Happy Halloween!
(Ben – an alien spaceship, Kaitlyn -spider, Alex – Waldo, Teague – soldier)

30 Oct

October 30, 2023

This book has been read 568 times, but he loves it and will read it many more times.

29 Oct

October 29, 2023

Sneaky nap struck again.

28 Oct

Pumpking Carving!

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.

28 Oct

October 28, 2023

This is the only picture Teague appeared in throughout the entire party.

27 Oct

October 27, 2023

Teague got some new pajamas in the mail and proceeded to wear them all afternoon in preparation for bed. Because we have a big party tomorrow, chore day is today and the kids were pretty good about getting them done so that they could help with the cooking.

26 Oct

October 26, 2023

Teague earned some extra chores this week and today he was cleaning the edge of the house for us.

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