Day 1632 | Painting
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Because this is how you paint when you’re five: tongue all the way out.
Day 1631 | Record Breaker
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After the ~10 inches of snow on Thursday, we officially broke the record for most snow fall in a season. We’re inching very close to 100 inches. Crazy, right?
The only thing keeping me sane is that this latest round won’t last long. It better not.
Remember when Robbe and I had a picnic lunch outside because it was so warm? That was five days ago.
Day 1630 | April Snow
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So this is happening. Stay tuned to find out how much we actually get.
Day 1629 | Picnic in the Park
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Spring has finally made an appearance! It might be short-lived if the weather folks are right and winter returns mid-week, so we needed to make the most of it. A scoot/walk for a lunchtime picnic at the park, obviously.
It was glorious.
Day 1628 | Happy 7th Birthday!
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Just like that birthday season comes to an end. It was kind of bittersweet not to have a big party this year, but the low key weekend with my three favorite people in the whole world definitely made it more sweet than bitter.
And what a day it was. We celebrated this seven-year-old in exactly the way he wanted to celebrate: opening presents before breakfast, cinnamon rolls as a breakfast dessert, a short scoot to the bridge, watching Harry Potter (they just finished the first book), lunch at Noodles, playtime with some new toys, video-gaming with his dad and brother, pasta pillows + cake with some special guests, and more love + attention than he could handle. It was low key (we only left the house once, after all) and absolutely perfect for Chase.
Seven years ago, I became a mom. Forty weeks doesn’t adequately prepare you for what this role entails. In fact, seven years in and I’m still not sure if I’m doing a good job. But at the end of the day, they’re happy, I’m happy, and our hearts are full. No matter how many gifts I offer up to Chase, the gift he gave me by making me a mom trumps them all. And he’ll never really understand that—as it should be.
Updates on 7 Year Old Chase
He’s graduated to a two-wheel scooter…as of today! Chase has been scooting on on his three-wheeler for about four years. We gave him a scooter for his birthday today and he rocked it on his first outing.
He’s got a sweet little friend group. Chase spends his days at school with his two first-grade buddies and it’s adorable.
He thinks his dad is hysterical. Like really, really funny. It’s just one of the things Chase and I have in common.
He continues to have a sensitive soul. It comes with its ups and downs, but I’ll take his sweet, sensitive heart any day.
He no longer puts holes in his pants’ knees. That must mean his play has changed, right? Just another sign of growing up, I guess.
He loves Superman ice cream. That’s a real flavor. I don’t really get it, but that’s ok.
He’s kind of an expert traveler. He’s happy to read, play, watch movies, etc. for hours. He’s about the most contented little guy (or is he a medium guy now?) ever.
Day 1627 | Pre-Party
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When your birthday is on a Sunday you can’t help but start the celebration on Saturday. We enjoyed a morning stop at the arcade and then hosted some of our favorite people for a birthday pizza party (and Pokémon mystery game). And now we have a whole day of celebrating ahead of us tomorrow.
We must really like our sweet soon-to-be seven year old.
Day 1626 | Making Movies
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Chase and Robbe spent a good portion of the afternoon creating a pretty great animated movie on the Toontastic app. This is a picture of a picture of them posing with a screen shot of the movie before it’s world premiere.
They look so old, don’t they?
Day 1625 | Morning Reading
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I will never (ever) tire of walking downstairs in the morning and seeing this. Through the ups and downs of our days and weeks and years, these two make my heart happier than I could have ever imagined.
Day 1624 | Mexico Photos
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Now that we’re back in the swing of things around here, I can reflect even more clearly on our week in paradise and be grateful for such an amazing trip. Spring is still deciding whether it wants to make an appearance in Wisconsin so I’ll continue to look at the photos below and long for the times when I was actually warm.
Day 1623 | April Fools
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Chase came home from school with a great way to prank his dad for April Fools Day: a toothpaste Oreo!
We removed the inside filling and replaced it with white toothpaste. Then we put it back in the package and offered it to Chris as dessert after dinner. Aside from the stifled giggles during the offer, Chris never saw it coming. Classic prank. The boys were very proud.
Day 1622 | Home Sweet Home
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It was a good trip. A really great trip. And it went by way too fast. As I sit surrounded by piles of laundry, it’s almost unimaginable to think I woke up in paradise this morning.
I’ll post lots of photos at some point (when I’m able to catch up on life a bit more). In the meantime, enjoy this one sneak peek (and also probably my favorite shot).
A big (HUGE) thank you to my parents for letting us tag along on their annual vacation. Another big (HUGE) thank you to Chris’s mom for taking the risk, stepping out of her comfort zone, and joining us. We spent the week being showered with love by all of you and we’re beyond grateful.
Day 1621 | Spring Break
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Time for fun in the sun!
I’ve got my phone turned off while sipping tropical drinks on the beach (more accurately, by the pool—knowing my guys). I’ll be sure to post lots of pictures upon our return.
Day 1620 | And we’re off
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I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for a vacation. Sunshine and 80+ degrees...here we come!
Day 1619 | Babies!
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Two of my closest friends had babies within eight days of each other. And let me tell you, these are some cute babies. The whole gang has yet to meet the newest little one but the boys did get to hang out with the older one and even got to hold her! This was the first time the boys have held onto a tiny baby. It melted my heart to watch them. It didn’t last long (they had other pressing obligations), but it was adorable just the same.
Congratulations, friends! I’m so excited to watch these babies grow—and to help out in any way possible! I already love them so much.
Day 1618 | Fabulous Florals and Fine Art
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I forced the boys to check out a local art exhibition today and I totally won them over. The Fabulous Florals and Fine Art exhibit at Pablo Center was an impressive collection of different types of local art (glass making, paintings, photography, quilting, etc.) and then floral arrangements inspired by each piece of art. The boys and I had a lovely time talking about each of the pairs and coming up with what the similarities were between them. I remain very impressed with the caliber of artists in this community.
Day 1617 | Birthday Girl
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I didn’t take any photos again today. Sheesh! What’s happening to me?!?
This gem is from a birthday celebration over the weekend. It’s too cute not to post so perhaps it’s for the better that I didn’t have one from today!
Day 1616 | Beauty and the Beast
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Our local children’s theater put on an amazing production this past weekend. We took the boys to see Beauty and the Beast in the new performing arts center. The boys managed to stay enthralled through the entire 2.5 hours of the musical. That’s when you know it’s good. I couldn’t convince them to take their photo with any of the cast so you’ll have to accept this pre-show selfie.
Yay for local theater!
Day 1615 | Spring Sunshine
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We might just survive this winter after all. The sunshine left pretty glorious today.
Someone I follow on Instagram posted this Great Expectations excerpt today and I really like it. I thought you might enjoy it, too.
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:
when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
Day 1614 | Dreaming
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Just some dreaming and drawing going on over here. Can you tell what the boys are thinking about nonstop? Yep...Mexico. Seven days and counting. They’re not the only ones dreaming about it.
Day 1613 | Drawing
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Chase has been telling me how much he likes to draw lately. This is very surprising as he’s never been the artsy type.
He did this super elaborate drawing over the last two days, though, and now I’m starting to believe him. I can’t tell you what’s happening here but it’s a very complex story with many winners and losers. I like it.
