Category: Kids

  • 2017 Year in Review

    I don’t share a lot of personal stuff, but sometimes it’s helpful to remind you that I’m a real person too. Although I could easily be mistaken for a robot on occasion. But truly, we’re just like you – we have highs and lows, reasons to be joyful and to cry, good days and not-so-good days. At the end of it all, we feel extremely blessed, and while life isn’t perfect, there’s not much that we would trade. Maybe one of the dogs for something a little quieter. Anyway, I hope you feel equally blessed, and remember, we’re all trying to get through this thing together!

    I know that we’re now well into 2018, so this comes a little late, but that’s kinda how we roll around here. We tend to show up five or ten (or thirty, who am I kidding?) minutes after the party has started. Especially with an extra kid in tow… Yeah, speaking of that, we added another to the mix in 2017.

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  • 2015 Year In Review

    It’s been awhile since I had a “what have we been up to” kind of post, so since today’s the last day of 2015, I thought it would be fitting to do a quick recap of some things that happened this year.

    Mostly because I enjoy doing occasional pic-heavy posts of the kids, but also because I think it’s a good idea, at least every now and then, to remind you that there is an actual person behind this writing, and our family is just like most other families. Except for the fact that our 2 year-old asks for kombucha and C is probably the only kid in kindergarten packing rutabaga fritters in his lunch. But completely normal otherwise…

    2015 was a year of ups (we took some trips, sold our old house, started new chapters in life, and generally made it through the year in once piece) and downs (well, except for Brando, who thought jumping in front of a car would be a good idea). 2016 will almost certainly hold some ups and downs too, because what year doesn’t? But from all of us here, we hope that your year is more good than not good, and that a year from now, you can look back and laugh a little! Have a blessed 2016.

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  • Four

    And just like that, C is four already. Where does the time go?

    We had his party at Squire’s Castle again, and like last year, it was an absolutely beautiful day. Games, pizza, and a Thomas (and friends) cake extravaganza. What more could a little boy want?

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  • Wild Weekends

    Never a dull moment around here. We’ve been planting, building, weeding, visiting Thomas, adding new chickens to the flock, and generally trying to stay just a step ahead of falling into complete chaos. Sometimes it’s a struggle. And time-consuming. And draining. Which is part of the reason that I haven’t said much on here lately. It’s all about finding a rhythm, and when you lose the tempo or get stuck on another beat, it can be hard to get back.

    Over the Memorial Day weekend, we spent five days in North Carolina, which is good for recharging. Only to a certain degree, of course, since the kids were with us, and kids ≠ peace/silence/tranquility. But still nice to get away from everything. And we got to see snakes, lizards, giant millipedes, and a good variety of other fun wildlife.

    The next weekend was comprised mostly of my younger (x3) brother’s wedding. As far as weddings go, it was a nice affair, the weather was great, and the kids were great too, even though we kept them up until after midnight. Home is a completely different matter, but I love how great they are in public.

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    Mom was not thrilled with this picture.

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  • It’s Always An Adventure

    Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen lots of cold and snow, as many snow days for C as I likely had in my entire elementary school career, frozen eggs (when we get any), dance parties, popcorn, blanket forts, the start of the Olympics, and lots of messes.

    The only constant is a lot of messes. Just varying states of messiness.

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    Chilling in our cool fort with the spoils from his pantry raid.

    E has discovered how to open all drawers and cupboards at her level, meaning a whole new world of potential messiness is at her fingertips. She also takes a few too many cues from her older brother, whom she wants to keep up with, but can’t quite seem to find the coordination to do so. And she definitely has the gardening gene. The force is strong with this one.

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    I think C’s motto is something along the lines of “Let’s see what new way I can find to create chaos and disorder today.” Or pretty close.

    About the only way we can keep him from making a mess of everything is to keep things out of reach (which is hard to do, because he can reach almost all the cupboards now with his stool-on-chair stacking) or screwing the lids onto all the jars really tightly (which is a pain, but worth the trouble for saving me from full bottles of peanut butter, apple sauce, and maple syrup all over the coffee table).

    Sometimes we slip up and leave tempting items within reach, which he never fails to take full advantage of. All it takes is sixty seconds. It really is amazing how quickly kids can get into stuff.

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    I’m pretty sure he’s never seen any Bond movies, but he’s got the right idea.

    Never a dull moment. Keeps us young, I guess.