Day 1573 | Reading
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Chase has become quite the reader. What a crazy process. It always amazes me how kids learn. It’s like one day they’re not reading and the next day they are. I could listen to him read forever.
Day 1572 | Baking
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What’s the best way to kick off a holiday weekend? Bake some yummy cookies, obviously. I put the boys to work this time, though. Chase was in charge of melting the chocolate and both boys helped with the dumping. And the cookies didn’t disappoint, once again. So delicious.
Day 1571 | Eagle Puzzle
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Chris likes puzzles. Chris likes eagles. Because of these two facts, I thought this eagle puzzle would be the perfect Christmas gift for my main squeeze. Little did I know that this puzzle would almost break him.
Reasons this puzzle was the worst:
The edge isn’t an edge. It’s a squiggly line. You don’t event get the immediate gratification of completing the outside border right away.
It’s basically two colors. White. Brown. That’s not fun.
There are only four puzzle piece shape variations. The colors wouldn’t have been that bad…there were some subtle feather and vein patterns that were visible on most pieces, after all. The real HUGE problem was that almost every piece could fit with every other piece because there were only four piece variations. Those subtle feather patterns could only go so far to differentiate when 20 brown pieces fit in the same spot.
In the end, the 550 piece puzzle was completed. It took about 10 days. Was there an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and pride when the last piece went in? Not really. You see, even though all the pieces have a place to call home, we’re still not sure they’re actually in the right spot (because of item #3 above).
Chris finally had to just walk away. It’s been a few days since he “completed” the puzzle and I’m happy to report that his spirits have improved. It’s probably going to be awhile before we’re ready for another puzzle, though.
On an unrelated note, is anyone interested in a super fun puzzle to take on as their next challenge? Free to a good home!
Day 1570 | Playtime Throwback
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You won’t believe what the boys unearthed from the basement today...the trains! I know. I was shocked, too. When Chris found out his comment was, “I wouldn’t have guessed that in a million years.” Needless to say, it’s been *a bit* of time since the trains have been out of their drawer tucked into the bottom of the toy shelf.
Seeing those tracks brought back a lot of sweet memories—especially of time spent playing in red house. I’m glad they’ve reappeared. And I’m excited to see what the almost-five and almost-seven year olds can create now.
Day 1569 | Church Singer
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The little guy got his first shot at stardom yesterday at church. I wouldn’t say the performance really showcased his personality, but it was adorable!
Day 1568 | Winter Scooting
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If we can’t play in the snow (ugh), at least we’ve got scooting as an alternative winter activity. Specifically, the highlight of today’s adventure was ice-scooting. It was pretty impressive.
Also, isn’t this photo amazing? I love everything about it. Except for the fact that Robbe’s helmet *might be* a bit small for his growing noggin. Ah well...you can’t win ‘em all.
Day 1567 | Motorcycles
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We didn’t bowl but we stopped by the alley to ride the motorcycles. It’s definitely an EC highlight with the under-seven crowd.
Day 1566 | Dancing
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Just the little one showing off his fancy moves. He takes after his dad.
Day 1565 | All I Want for Christmas...
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Just a couple of weeks shy of being able to sing the song! It’s going to take some getting used to...the fact that he’s toothless in the front and that his speech is even different! Our sweet boy continues to leave babyhood behind. Sniffle sniffle.
As a side note, he lost the tooth at school (for the second time) and declared that it “bled a lot.” I’m sure that was a fun part of the teacher’s day. Ha!
Day 1564 | Awbie and Osmo
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Robbe’s fever last night meant a day stuck at home with me—which he didn’t mind, for the record. After a day of laying low, lots of reading, a short nap, and a bit of tv, Chase arrived home and the boys played the Coding Awbie game on Osmo (which connects to our iPad) for most of the afternoon. It was the perfect interactive but low-energy form of entertainment in hopes we could keep the fever from coming back (we couldn’t...ugh).
If you haven’t heard of this Osmo system, it’s worth checking out. Chase was introduced to it at school and as much as I dislike the idea of the boys zoning out in front of a screen, the interactive nature of this system (you actually manipulate objects in front of the iPad that register on the screen) makes this feel different to me.
With a fever at bedtime, it’s looking like another sick day tomorrow. Think happy thoughts for us.
Day 1563 | Water Park
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To make good on a promise to the boys from two months ago, we ventured to the water park today. As much as donning a swimsuit in Wisconsin in January isn’t my favorite idea for an outing, it was a fun way to spend the morning and the boys had a blast. They loved the big water slides and the playground area and the lazy river (which doesn’t seem that shocking...but you just never know with kids). The extra motivation needed to get out the door was definitely worth it.
Oh, and then we came home and five hours later Robbe came down with a fever—that’s why we shouldn’t leave the house. Ha!
Day 1562 | Sunshine
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The sunshine was calling our name after school. These little nuggets took it upon themselves to make the walk as cute as possible.
Day 1561 | A Year in Photos
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My absolute favorite photo of this year. I love everything about this.
Settle in…I’ve assembled my top 16 favorite shots from 2018. I know 16 seems like a lot but when we’re talking about 300+ photos to choose from, it’s remarkable I could narrow it down this much!
It took some extra motivation to get this collage pulled together today but I’m glad I did it. Looking back at how far we’ve come over the past year—through the ups and downs—forces us all to slow down and reflect on where we’re going next. Sometimes the days seem long and dark and sometimes everything is sunny and bright. I’ll stay optimistic for more sunny days in 2019—no matter what the weather actually delivers!
If you’re in the mood for throwback photos, here’s a collage of 2017 Photos. I must have missed this post last year. Oops!
Day 1560 | Pokémon
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Robbe has created his own version of the Pokémon card game (the real version has some pretty intense math for a four year old). His version is just as complicated as the original, though, with additional rules that seem to apply just to him. Suffice it to say, I am 0-2 in my attempts to understand these Pokémon card games.
Day 1559 | Happy 2019!
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The New Year’s Eve supplies *might have* been from last year (notice the glasses), but we figured we could be celebrating the past year in addition to the year ahead...right?!?
We rang in the year with some of our favorite friends (who happen to be family). I have a feeling 2019 is going to be pretty great. I hope you’re filled with the same optimism as you look toward the year ahead.
Day 1558 | Ice Walk
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The warm(ish) temperatures and rain last week paved the way for a pretty fantastic walk this afternoon. Temperatures have dropped again (boo!) so all that standing water froze and left us with a dozen mini skating rinks to explore. The one pictured above froze needles and leaves in a crystal-clear shine. It was pretty breathtaking. Some of the other rinks we discovered cracked when we walked on them and allowed the boys to chip away some impressive chunks.
After being inside for most of the past week, we definitely enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air. And the ice escapades definitely didn’t hurt.
Day 1557 | Giving In
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Nerf guns have entered our world. For the first record, I held off for as long as I could.
Day 1556 | A Final Merry Christmas
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Today was 11 hours of straight family time with some of my favorite people. It was glorious. There were delicious cookies, sweet presents, yummy holiday cocktails, and lots and lots of laughter. This is why Christmastime is the best.
Day 1555 | Merry Christmas
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In case you were worried, Santa did find us this year. The boys were inundated with Pokemon and a couple of surprises (as requested). They were very excited.
For this Christmas, I wish you peace amongst the chaos, laughter with family + friends, and a greater appreciation for all we do for one another.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours.
Day 1554 | Christmas Eve
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Santa,
Please stop here.
Sincerely,
Two adorable boys
