The Lessons They Teach Us

This weekend was a lazy weekend around our house.  We didn't have any plans going into it, and we didn't even get out of our jammies until we decided to take the kids out to dinner on Saturday night.  We had big breakfasts and napped and watched TV.  Yesterday afternoon, I hung out with the kiddos and did some school work while they watched Christmas movies.  Brad was doing some work on the turtle tanks.  It wasn't a very planned or eventful weekend.

If I'm being honest, I usually feel very unsettled about these weekends.  I don't especially like going into a weekend that's fully planned because, in theory, I like to have plenty of relaxation time.  But in reality, it makes me anxious.  I always feel super lazy and unmotivated, and then I feel guilty that I didn't get enough done or seize the day or something.

I also feel guilty that I didn't plan a fun, family event.  We didn't go to a museum or a pumpkin patch (Christmas tree farm?) or even to the store.  I felt bad when Jack announced that he was bored, like I'd let him down.  I realize this is crazy, but this is what I think.  Every weekend where I haven't planned something rather substantial, I secretly am feeling guilty, which makes it quite difficult to relax.  I wonder what Jack will write about when his teacher asks him to write about his weekend.  Will he have anything to say?

Let's just say...I shouldn't have worried.

"I ate sausage.  I slept.  I snuggled with my mom.  I played with my sister.  I love home."

And also, I shouldn't feel guilty.  Because, clearly, he loves his down time, too.

Silent Sunday

Our three year old.  How time does fly...

And many thanks to Forever Studio for having the good sense to make Hannah cover her temporary candy corn tattoo with her other arm so as to avoid having a temporary tattoo in her school picture.  Kudos to you!

My Favorite Cheerleader

I had the worst headache I remember having, all day long yesterday.  Literally, from the time I got out of bed, until I went to bed last night.

Normally, I would have tried to try to curl into bed and turn off the lights, and go to sleep.

But I teach first grade, so that was impossible.  I took several Motrin - nothing.  I pressed on my scalp and adjusted my ponytail all day, to no avail.  I pleaded with the little people to whisper, to no avail.  I felt like they were shouting all day.  I don't think they actually were, although that wouldn't be a first, but I'm pretty sure that was just my perception of their noise level based on the pain in my head.  It wasn't pretty.

After work, I went to pick up the kids.  We gathered all of their things, and I got them home.  We started to unpack the car, when I heard a ringing noise in my ears.  

"Kiddos, we've got to get inside, my head feels like it's about to explode."

I think those were my exact words before I opened the door to the garage and realized that the ringing noise I'd heard in the garage was a very loud, piercing alarm that was going off somewhere inside our house.  Incessantly.

We came inside.  There was no fire.  It was not the carbon monoxide detector.  I made my way to the basement, realizing that the alarm was a leak detector that Brad had placed around our furnace/hot water heater/humidifier.  Which meant that there was also a leak...

Yes, indeed there was a leak.  I turned off the furnace, but the sensor was wet and so the beeping continued.  I tried to dry it on my clothes.  It didn't work.

I texted Brad, but he was at his office holiday party, so I Googled.  Immediately, I found the detector and the Owner's Manual, but nowhere in the manual did it tell you how to turn off the alarm.

I went back to Google, and people said to dry the sensors.

I ran back downstairs, ready to blow dry the sensor if need be, just so that the extra ringing in my head would stop.  Remember...worst headache EVER!

The sensor wouldn't dry, but I noticed an uneven seam.  With, what felt like, Hulk Smash strength, I pulled apart the detector, and pulled the connectors off of the battery.

Silence.  Sweet silence.  I was oh-so-happy.

And I needed more Motrin.

I went to get the medicine when our littlest peanut met me at the top of the stairs.

"Mommy, you did it!  You didn't need Daddy after all - you did it all by yourself!  You stopped that beeping noise - I'm so proud of you!"

I love that we've taught that girl what it means to be proud, I really do.  Because, at that moment, it was just what I needed :)

Just Now

Tonight, we all read a story together in Jack's room.  Afterwards, Daddy took Hannah into her room, sang her a song and tucked her in, while I stayed and snuggled with Jack for a few minutes.  Then, I went into Hannah's room, and she was a little sad.

"What's wrong, Baby Girl?"

"I'm sad."

"Why are you so sad, Hannah?"

"Because I didn't get to see Brady or Channing at all!"

I promised to schedule play-dates, sang her another song, and nuzzled her tiny, baby neck.  I tucked her in and slipped away.

A few moments later, Hannah started crying.  I looked at Brad and begged, without words, for him to go.  At the end of the night, I'm near exhaustion and sometimes I just don't have one more ounce to give.  He happily went, and all was well.

Until five minutes later,  when Hannah showed up in our room, crawled into her Daddy's lap, and watched the last few minutes of America's Funniest Home Videos.  When it was over, she wanted me to take her back to her room.

I heaved myself over the edge of the bed, took her back to her room, brushed her hair off her neck, and slipped away once again.

A few minutes later?  

Crying.  I looked at Brad again.  I might have put my finger on my nose, indicating, "Not it!"

He was gone awhile, and I started to feel guilty, so I went to see what happened.  I found Brad, snuggled up tight with Hannah on her toddler bed.  I went into her room, kissed her on her forehead, and whispered, "You have the best daddy in the whole wide world."

"I already know that, Mommy," she whispered back.

So I slipped away once more, leaving her to relish special daddy-time and him to relish the fact that he is oh-so-loved.

Turkey Day

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house.  Typically, we alternate between families.  Last year, we spent Thanksgiving with my family.  This year we'd planned on traveling to North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with Brad's family, but Brad's mom and dad have made several trips to North Carolina recently and the last time we traveled the day before Thanksgiving with the kids it was horrendous, so we decided to stay in town and have it at our house instead.

I love hosting events at our house, but I always forget just how much work it takes until those first moments when the party's over :)

I think everything turned out really well, but Brad wasn't too excited about the turkey he fried.  It was a tiny bit overdone, but he followed the directions on the proper cooking time, so I'm not really sure what happened.  We had a 17-pound turkey when we started, but when it came out, it looked more like an overcooked rotisserie chicken.  Oh well - we had plenty of side dishes and desserts, and no one left hungry!

The kids and I made turkey place cards

A perfect place-setting

Jack made a turkey out of balloons (See the eyes?)

I'm a sucker for a pretty table...

Brad made fun of my cooking get-up, but I started cooking as soon as breakfast was over and got cleaned up before dinner, don't you worry...

The first time I ever made Rice Krispie treats!

This is Brad's turkey-frying get-up, so maybe I win?

In goes the turkey!

Of course, I made everyone pose for an obligatory family dinner photo :)

Fruit cornucopias

So many desserts, so little room!

Cupcakes, Rice Krispie treats, and Tootsie Rolls, oh my!

Table details

Grandma and Grandpa brought Hannah and Jack a new Thanksgiving book, and they couldn't wait to hear it!

I made sure that we each took a moment to think about all that we are grateful for...here are our results.  Brad likes to get a rise out of me any way he can, as you can clearly see.

It was a good day filled with family and wonderful food and yummy desserts.  We hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving!

The First Snow

I went back and forth about sending the kids to daycare today.  I can always use a little time for myself.  Then, on the other hand, I feel guilty sending them to daycare when I know I'm just going to be hanging out at home.

It was different before Jack was in kindergarten because then his days at daycare were the same, but now, when he doesn't have school, his day at daycare is very different from his normal routine.

I ultimately decided that I'd keep them home with me, and we made plans to meet my friend, Jeannette, for lunch at Chik-Fil-A.  I know Chik-Fil-A doesn't sound all that exciting, but it allows us to chat and the kids to eat something they like and then play.  They love it!  Anyway, we decided to meet at 11 as long as the weather allowed.  We'd been expecting wintry weather and neither of us wanted to drive in unsafe conditions.  All morning, we noticed that it was only raining, but not a snowflake in sight.  After, what seemed like, a few minutes went by, I heard Hannah and Jack squeal with glee that it was snowing - immediately followed by, "Can we go out in the snow?  Oh, please, Mommy?  Can we?  Can we?"

What I didn't take into consideration was the fact that, as soon as the kids saw snow, they would instantly want to play outside.  It was just about the time we should have been getting ready to meet Jeannette for lunch, so I texted her to ask if we could push back our lunch date by an hour.  She gladly agreed, and I got us all bundled up before we headed out for the first snow of the season.

Storing snowballs

"Take a picture of my snowball, Mommy!"

Hannah's batch

So glad we took a little time to enjoy the first snowfall of the season!  The kids had so much fun, and then we came in, got warm, and headed out to a fun lunch with Jeannette.  

By the time we got home, Daddy was back from his business trip.  We dropped off stockings that Jack and Hannah had filled for some children in need, and then we enjoyed this night before Thanksgiving hanging out together and setting our Thanksgiving table.

Jack's Revenge

So, we're sitting here watching the news when this lovely scenario takes place:

Hannah was snuggling with Daddy on the couch.  Jack wanted this coveted spot.

Jack quietly leaves the family room, unbeknownst to us.  Out of the corner of my eye and from out of nowhere, I see something bounce into the family room from the kitchen, but I assumed it was a toy or a colored pencil and thought nothing of it.

Apparently, Hannah paid very close attention to the items bouncing across the rug.  She crawled out from under Daddy's arm and slid into the kitchen.

Several minutes later, I notice Hannah is eating something.  When I ask her what she's eating, she looks back, grins sheepishly, and avoids answering the question.

"Hannah, are you eating a Starburst?" I asked.

No answer.

Daddy asked, "Do you have a Starburst in your mouth?"

This is when Jack decides to share that he casually threw four Starbursts across the family room carpet to lure Hannah off the couch so that he could, in fact, steal her spot and snuggle with Daddy.

At this point, Brad and I realize that Hannah has had access to, not ONE, but FOUR Starbursts.

"Hannah, have you eaten FOUR Starbursts?" Daddy asked.

"No, three," she said happily as she licked her sticky lips.

*****

Happy Friday, my friends!

Silent Sunday

Our first grader.  I'm still in awe...

How did we get here already?

Grampy's Birthday

Dylan loves a party!

Also - chocolate frosted cupcakes :)

Happy Birthday, Grampy!  We love you, and we're lucky that we got to spend this evening with you to celebrate you on your day.  

Soccer Jamboree

Yesterday was Jack's last game of his soccer season.  It was a special event because the kids got to play at the Loudoun Sports Park and on fancy turf, no less!  We all decided to go, and Grampy joined us, too.  It was a very chilly morning, and so we were bundled from head to toe.

Hannah was bundled and on my lap, and I just couldn't resist taking this picture.

Jack, on the fancy field

Receiving his medal from Coach Tyler

We are so proud of Jack.  He made a lot of progress over the course of the last two seasons and tried harder and harder each time.  

For now, it'll be nice to have the holiday season off and to not have to rush twice a week after work and school to practice.  We'll see in the spring what Jack would like to do - he's mentioned possibly returning to Tae Kwon Do.  Maybe T-ball?  Who knows?

Trick-or-Treating Fun

The kids had such a fun Halloween!  The day was definitely packed with activity.  I decided to work half-day so that Brad and I could attend Jack's 1st grade Harvest Party together.  We had a really good time - I ran a pumpkin investigation station, and Brad was able to travel around to the various stations with Jack.  We had a lot of fun before heading over to Winwood to set up for our first experience with Trunk or Treat.

I've never signed up before because I'm always rushing from work to make it to school in time for the parties, let alone the parade, but this year, I decided to volunteer since I had the time.  I'm not super-creative, but I found a cute idea on Pinterest, and I was happy with the way it turned out.

Our campsite

A candy campfire :)

The kids did great posing for photos with their classes and then walking around the parking lot for the parade.

Can you spot Mikey?

What about Raphael?

Our happy girl

Digging for the perfect lollipop

Our handsome turtle

After the parties, we took the kids and while they were still in costume, I took some photos before it started to get dark.  I was happy with the way they came out, and I need to remember to do this every year!  Then we went inside for some dinner and jack-o-lantern carving.  Grandma and Grandpa came over to visit, and the littles were so excited to receive some special Halloween treats!

This boy is so easy to photograph!

A tiny, pouting turtle

Brad, carving the jack-o-lantern

Hannah and Grandpa

While Jack was resting, he decided to take the opportunity to draw a candy guide and a map of the neighborhood to be sure they visited all the homes and didn't forget anything important.  Such an organized way to tackle Halloween!

As the kids were finishing up dinner, Grampy, Aunt Ryan, Uncle John, and Dylan arrived for some trick-or-treating.  Poor Grammy wasn't feeling well, so she had stayed home for the evening, but we took plenty of pictures.

Our three amigos

Spooky

Daddy, Hannah, Jack, and Grampy - post trick-or-treating

Hannah, enjoying some fudge provided by Aunt Ryan :)

It was a good night, and I'm glad everyone had such a nice time.  

The kids have already started to plan their costumes for 2015.  I told them we have plenty of time...  And seeing how Miss Hannah decided five days before Halloween that she no longer wanted to be Elsa and, instead, she wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, I've decided we won't be making any rash decisions.

We hope your Halloween was just as fun-filled as ours!