This week..

-- we have been reflecting on how difficult but wonderful this stage of parenting has been. The good moments are great! The kids playing together in the living room making up the rules of the game as they go. Cal sharing lying on the floor of the church pew and then popping up and saying with a dramatic sigh "you said one ONE more song!".  Catching Cal at the top of the stairs wrapped in a blanket asking for a push because he thinks his fleece blanket will help him slide. Elle's stash of her tablet, snacks, and craft paper in a bathroom drawer where she has taken up residence to escape her brother. Elle's first spelling test - where she got all of the words correct and "didn't flip my G!" She demonstrated how she held up her left thumb as she started the test to make sure she wouldn't flip it. Elle explaining that "Why?" is one of her favorite questions and sometimes she daydreams about "what if they named ____ something totally different?! What is beyond our galaxy? How do the planets stay where they are?" However, some of these moments are also so incredibly taxing. There is less "Mom! Mom! Mom!" but the whines and them screaming each others names on repeat are like nails on a chalkboard. The clutter around the house and the bigger-than-ever messes when they get creative. 

-- we took the kids to a hockey game. Cal had read about Hockey in our weekly library book haul and asked if we could go to a game. We bought tickets on the glass and the kids were awestruck.. well, once Cal woke up. He slept through half of the first period after falling asleep during the drive. Elle cheered on our team and stressed every second the puck was on the other half of the ice. Cal was observant and asked about why the goalie had his stick in his right hand? Why do they wear those pads? Why do they take a drink and spit it onto the ice? Both kids were equally thrilled and bothered by the body checks into the glass in front of us.

-- T and I are both feeling the year-end crunch at work. We are taking the kids to Disney World after Thanksgiving so this end of the year sprint is especially pressured. We are all excited to escape the day-to-day grind to enter a total dopamine shower of Christmas Cheer. The countdown is on!

xo,

Krista

 

This weekend..

— we attended the Nebraska Academy of Family Physician meeting in Nebraska City. The timing was perfect to enjoy the fall weather and colors. We walked the trails, climb the treehouse & rope course, ate delicious food, swam in the pool daily and sat out by the fire our last night. The meeting had a tailgate for the Husker game which was fun to watch with a room full. 

— Cal jumped from every rock in the landscaping. Elle climbed every retaining wall and counted the stones. They wore their new robes like a badge of honor. Cal shut his eyes while he was leaving the restaurant and came within inches of colliding with a strangers table. We packed an entire suitcase of Lego bricks that we shared with other kids at the conference too. Elle plans to bring her plastic tooth fairy box from her school nurse on all future trips - because she lost another tooth! She almost dropped it down a drain by the pool- but after that she was especially careful with it. It was our most successful getaway to date - but living out of one hotel room with these kids is still challenging!

xo,

Krista

 

This week..

— Cal sat next to Travis in front of the projector screen.. holding his own cream soda in a coozie.. and asked “Can you get Peppa on this thing?”

— there has also been a lot of random “I don’t like puppies anymore” from Callum as he remembers that the service dog in training at the Farmer’s Market scarfed his cookie off his stroller snack tray.

— we celebrated T’s birthday! He opened a pair of roller blades, a new suit, and a new family game as his presents from us. His birthday treat were homemade chocolate chip cookies one day and a chocolate mousse brownie another day.

— we realized that Elle will be out of town for both her “Halloween dance recital” and also her Sunday church program. Whoops! She’s still shy with performances so she isn’t totally heartbroken.

— we realized we had 2 rotten window frames so we’re playing the schedule-the-quotes game and mentally deleting future vacation dreams while we wait to hear the damage $$

— Callum told me at bedtime “some day I’m going to be tall enough to drive a car.. like a real car. I’m going to need something other than my jeep.. something with a roof..” He’s really thinking these things through!

— Elle rocked her parent teacher conferences and her teacher thanked us for “giving her such a doll to treat”. Elle continues to excel - especially in math. She’s a wonderful student!

xo,

Krista

This week.. month?

— we’ve been busy with all the FALL things. We’ve enjoyed multiple pumpkin patches and lots of popcorn. Cal enjoyed the train and tractors best where Elle loves the jumping pads and corn pits. We took family photos outdoors (and finally had a year with moderate temperatures!).

— Elle is checking off lots of events with this school year - pictures, field trip, and this week is conferences. She is still participating in both dance and gymnastics (though we slimmed down our dance night by one class). Cal enjoys tagging along or getting extra 1:1 time at home with Mom or Dad. 

— our days seem to fluctuate from being a really nice stage of our family (kids that can play together, outings with minimal diaper bag) and other days are a total GRIND. There is more attitude and meltdowns than ever. Some nights they eat wonderful and other times they snack and sneak treats. This weekend used to be one of mine & T’s favorite of the year- church is on TV with a worldwide conference. This year.. still anything but spiritual as the kids couldn’t keep themselves safe or entertained together for more than 3 minutes. We didn’t expect them to enjoy it with us.. but we were too optimistic that this year would be peaceful again!

— we are looking forward to some fun things later this year - a weekend getaway to Nebraska City to somewhat unplug from normal life. And then a big December trip to Disney with grandparents to go all-in on the Christmas spirit!

xo,

Krista