Day 1537 | A Winter Parade

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We busted out of the house after dinner (crazy, I know) for the downtown Eau Claire winter parade. It was a bit chilly and a bit long (45 minutes for a winter parade would be plenty), but super fun. And it was nice to take the walk over to the parade route and—in the boys’ opinion—collect more candy (obviously). 

Side note: I promise Chase wasn’t as terrified as he looks in the photo. :) 

Day 1536 | Students as Teachers

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Chase and Robbe welcomed us into their classrooms tonight for the Students as Teachers event. The boys showed us around their rooms and gave us some of the presentations they’ve had. It’s one of my favorite events. 

Robbe got really into explaining his symmetry work, easel work, and scavenger hunt in a bottle work. Chase was mostly high-tech and wanted to show off his iPad and coding skills. But he also squeezed in some old-fashioned math work, too.  

The boys seemed to be so proud as they led us around. Such sweet little nuggets. 

Day 1533 | Christmas Tree Hunting

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We got our Christmas tree today. It was late (the last trip for cut-your-own trees) and the tree was not interested in being cut down (it took Chris a LONG time…mostly because of the faulty saw), but he did it. The tree is happily residing in our house waiting to be decorated. We’re ready for tomorrow.

The photo of Robbe and I pushing the tree (in hopes it would finally fall) while the impatient school bus driver waited for us to be done is the perfect photo of the outing. Thanks to Chase for capturing it.

Day 1529 | Cold Park Time

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This is what “feels like” 11 degrees looks like at the park on a Sunday morning. It’s just us, in case you can’t tell. The boys stayed warm by running around like crazy and I stayed warm by walking laps. We soaked in some Vitamin D, got some exercise, and enjoyed he fresh air. I’m not saying I’ll be motivated to do this very often but today it was just what we needed. 

Day 1528 | Christmas Begins

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We’ve been skating around the idea of Christmas starting a little early this year. I think that officially happened today. We listened to Christmas music while doing a Christmas craft (baby Jesus as a peanut wrapped in burlap, obviously). And then, after that, the boys and I enjoyed our second-annual Christmas stroll with Grandma and Ms. Barb where we got to tour some houses in the area all decorated for Christmas as a fundraiser for the symphony orchestra. I love this event. And the boys really enjoy it, too. That makes it even better! 

Special thanks to Karen, Chris, and Owen for popping down for a visit. It’s always a blast. And always super exhausting. :)

Day 1526 | Doors

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We live in a house without bedroom, closet, and bathroom doors. Well, to be fair, one of our bathrooms has a pocket door so that one’s still there. 

It turns out painting trim is a big job. We’re 3.5 weeks in at this point. There’s hope the painting will wrap up tomorrow but the doors are being sprayed offsite so they won’t be back until Monday.  

Oh, and all of the closets had to be emptied (to paint the closet trim) so the house is a mess. A total mess. It’ll be a good excuse to organize when it goes back in, though. Always a bright side! 

Day 1525 | Treasure Hunt

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Robbe drew a treasure map at school today and insisted we head out after dark to hunt for the treasure marked on his map. We dug out our headlamps, got bundled up, and drove to Mt. Simon for an evening stroll through the dark woods. Luckily for us, the treasure was pretty close to the beginning of the trail so we didn’t freeze or have to brave the pitch-black woods for too long. 

The treasures, in case you’re wondering, were two very specific trees. Robbe was so proud of his little map and our family adventure.  I’m so glad we were all motivated enough to make his dreams come true. 

Day 1524 | Piano Recital

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Chase performed in his first piano recital today. It was every bit as cute as this photo appears. He played the song, Little Red Caboose and he nailed it. So proud of this little peanut. And he had quite the cheering section. Take a peek at some additional photos from the recital below.

And here’s a video of Chase playing his piece before the recital. He even had to memorize it!

Day 1523 | Holiday Crafting

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Desperate times call for desperate measures. Robbe was looking for a fight while Grandma was busy reading to Chase and I was cooking dinner. Luckily, Chris arrived at just the right time to assist with our first holiday craft of the season. Yes, it’s too early for Christmas crafts, but I just picked this snow globe kit up at Goodwill today and it was the best distraction I could muster. And it did the trick! We made it to dinner with no further “challenges”’from the little one. 

Unfortunately, that trend didn’t continue all the way to bedtime, but I’ll take it as a small victory. 

Day 1522 | Another Lost Tooth

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We woke up to this missing-tooth grin yesterday morning. Somehow a pretty tiny tooth left a big-gaping hole. Chase has lost his two bottom-middle teeth already but this top one is a game changer. All of a sudden he looks like a different kid. No more little baby teeth smile. He’s all grown up. Sniffle, sniffle. 

I don’t want to be one of those moms who wants their kids to stay little forever, but Chase is at such a sweet + fun age right now. Can’t time slow down just a little?

Day 1521 | STEAM Fair

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Last week was so busy that I didn’t have the chance to post about Chase participating in his first STEAM (Sceince, Technology, Engineering, Art., Math) Fair at school. He teamed up with a third-grader, second-grader, and another first-grader to present their project on extinct animals. He’s in a mixed-grade classroom so that’s why the groups are organized like that. 

The third-grader got to pick the topic, the second- and third-graders did most of the online research, and the first-graders were in charge of drawing, writing, and coloring. Chase also teamed up with the second-grader to create a video, too.  

With no at-home work and minimal adult guidance at school, I was impressed with what these small people put together. They did title their project “Ex. Animals” because “Ex.”  stands for extinct. It doesn’t, but it’s still cute.