Ben’s winter class party was today. The other class mom wasn’t able to attend so Wade agreed to help me out. We came prepared with the always popular Snowman building relay race and the materials to make Snowman shooters. Wade and I had a great time with the kids and are ready for break to begin!
Toadfrogs
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.
Today was a busy, busy morning. Both big boys and Wade were performing handbell pieces with their handbell choirs. Then, Wade and all of the children were in the Christmas pageant. (I was in charge of pictures.) There are pictures from the rehearsals before church and then pictures from the actual performances in church. (You might notice that we gained a second star between the rehearsal and the actual pageant!) There are also some pictures from the general craziness that goes along with the Burch family in general.
Today was our church’s annual Breakfast with Santa. The littles enjoyed all the crafts while they waited for breakfast. Teague disappeared to help with something (no clue but he seemed happy). Some of our church friends were there and we met some new families. (Alex voted to stay home and sleep.) Finally, the kids were called upstairs to meet Santa. They were so excited!
Then we gathered in the sanctuary to practice for the Christmas pageant.
Today was Ben’s last lesson of his second skiing session. Today’s lesson started with everyone taking a turn down the bunny slope, but then the kids moved to the magic carpet. They all did great and spent the rest of the lesson going skiing down the bunny hill in a line behind their instructor. I only got a video of the very beginning of class (before it got dark), but Ben has come a long way this six weeks.
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.
Every Christmas season the bell choir has a concert. Alex and Wade have performed the last few years, but last year was the first year I felt comfortable taking Ben to watch the concert.
This year Alex, Teague, and Wade are all performing. I sat in the back with Ben, Kaitlyn, and our friend’s two little boys (She is in the bell choir with her daughter). I thought the boys did a pretty good job of staying quiet and entertaining themselves. (The man in front of us only “shushed” us once.) Ben loved when they called all the kids up front for Jingle Bells.
Ben asked to have a friend party this year (for the first time) and of course we said yes. He didn’t have any strong feelings on the party location. After a little thinking and research, I settled on Chuck E. Cheese. The much harder part was picking a date. Schedules between Thanksgiving and Christmas are busy! We had one free Saturday so that narrowed our options considerably. We sent out the invitations and had people saying they were coming up until the party started (just a little craziness added to our day).
Ben woke up super excited about his party! Alex, Teague, and Kaitlyn were pretty excited too. Everybody had plans and strategies for winning tickets and playing games. Ben couldn’t wait to see his friends, play games, but mostly – the Ticket Blaster!
After cake and ice cream but before their game time was done, it was Ben’s time in the Ticket Blaster. He had been talking about this for weeks. Our party host said he could pick a friend and he picked Solomon, a friend from church. They ran inside and started picking up tickets from the floor, before the air started blowing. The sweet host didn’t stop them and let them get their hands full before she turned it on. Then Ben held on super tight and didn’t move a muscle once the air started blowing. Solomon felt the air and immediately threw up his hands and let all the tickets in his hands start blowing.
Ben is still taking his weekly ski lessons. He spends equal time goofing off (throwing snowballs, rolling in the snow, etc) as actually skiing, but he says he loves it.
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 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.
Kaitlyn asked to see the Nutcracker last year but not until it was too late to get tickets. This year, we made sure to get tickets early. Kaitlyn has been talking about it for weeks. Today we dressed up, drove downtown, and had a wonderful afternoon!
I signed Ben up for another 3 week of beginner lessons. These lessons are immediately after school so I pick Ben up and we head to Ski Ward where he gets changed, eats a quick snack, and then starts his lesson.
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!).
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Pickle ball is a very popular sport right now but most of my family has never played. Kaitlyn is the exception and she learned to play this summer at camp. Aunt Emmy and Uncle David brought the paddles and balls. Pop rigged up a net. The little kids had a wonderful time playing – even with the cold weather and the rain.
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!
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.
My kids have the next two days off school. Thursday is off for parent/teacher conferences and Friday is off for Veteran’s Day. Alex planned a night of fun with some of his friends tonight. He invited three boys over for games, pizza, and a night of craziness. When Alex has friends over for the night, I always take them to the Dollar Tree to gather snacks for the night. Tonight we were a little late getting out the door and they were already closed. We ended up at the grocery store instead, but the boys found plenty to fill the basket.
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.
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.
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.
There is nothing Kaitlyn hates more than sports in the rain. When we left for cheer this morning it was already spitting rain. I brought my large umbrella but I was hoping the rain would hold off until after the game. After about 15 minutes, the rain started. It was pouring! Kaitlyn was immediately miserable. Thankfully her coach had brought some ponchos, but the poor girls weren’t even really cheering. They were just huddled under the umbrellas. Thankfully by halftime it had been decided to send the cheerleaders home!
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.
Today was Pumpkin Lab day. Kaitlyn’s teacher had sent home a signup sheet weeks ago asking for donations and volunteers. I was happy to do both and ended up both volunteering and signing up to bring 2 pumpkins, and multiple sets of dumbbells. I did not think through the logistics of getting all the donations to the classroom. I’m sure I was quite the site walking into school – I had a backpack with 16 pounds of dumbbells and was carrying 2 pumpkins in my hands! I made it to the classroom and got setup with my four students. (Thankfully I had done this lab a few years ago with Teague.)
The kids were pretty easy to keep on task. Some of them enjoyed measuring and counting. Some of them enjoyed cleaning out the inside (others hated it – Kaitlyn). All four of them wanted to carve the pumpkins so we compromised and worked out 2 designs and carved two sides.
The little elementary school no longer celebrates Halloween in the schools. They instead have a day for a Book Character Parade and Fall Party. Ben didn’t have strong feelings about his costume (and his Halloween costume isn’t ready yet), so I picked the Chicken costume we have. I laugh every time Ben puts it on. For the parade, each child also brings the book that corresponds to their costume. Ben brought “Chicken Little.” I am a class mom for Ben’s class this year so I went early to help the kids get ready for the parade.
After the parade, we went back inside for the Fall party. We read a book about Spookely the Square Pumpkin, then there was a pumpkin craft, and a pumpkin game. The kids were a little crazy but it was a fun afternoon!
I may end up really liking Alex’s choir teacher. She has a Halloween concert and the kids are required to dress up in costume. Alex hasn’t dressed up the last few years but now he has to! We helped him come up with a costume and I thought Waldo was perfect. He definitely looked the part. I was impressed with some of the other kids’ costumes and was amused at costumes I couldn’t even recognize.
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.