Sweet Robbe went to bed with a fever last night so he got stuck staying home with me today. We had a very low key day with the bulk of our activity coming from our mid-morning crafting. Robbe did some abstract gluing while I worked on a string ornament. Even though he wasn’t feeling 100%, the little guy and I had a pretty great day together.
We’re about half way through the original advent calendar Chris and I have been working on (ok, mostly Chris). Instead of buying two of these crazy expensive ones (like this or this) with 25 little tiny “prizes” every day, I thought it would be a great idea to make our own advent calendar out of a regular lego kit. We got a smokin’ hot deal on a big set (like, “we thought we were going to get our identity stolen” type of hot deal) with 1400+ pieces and almost 250 steps in the instruction manual. Chris worked his magic and figured out the best way to divide up the 1400 pieces into 40 bags (20 days for each kid…we leave for Christmas on the 22 so we wanted it to wrap up before that). I did help *a bit* with this process, for the record.
Now, every morning, the boys wake up, collect their bags, and work together to build the giant set bit by bit. Some days they get Lego Minifigures that they spend the rest of the day playing with. But most days, it’s just normal pieces used to add another layer to the set.
I know this is crazy. I’m grateful to Chris for agreeing to this time-intensive and insane idea. It’s working out even better than I expected, though. The boys are really enjoying playing with the set in the under-construction phase. They find fun + interesting ways to play with the set after every addition—this type of interaction would have never happened if they were just building the set outright. They would have just kept building their way through it.
Plus, at the end, they have this super sweet Ninjago set that they’ll play with for hours (which is what they do). I stand by my crazy idea. And I’d do it again next year…assuming Chris is still on board and assuming we can find another good deal.
This is Robbe’s “I’m not tired” face. Convincing, right?
Look who came to visit! Woohoo! We’ve been having a great weekend with Chris’s brother and his fam. There’s been a lot of foosballing, some outdoor fort time, a couple of skillet cookies, an evening stroll, and lot of laughing. Love this team.
St. Nick stopped by last night and filled our shoes with some coins (and a few extra goodies). And now we’ve got new Christmas books to read. Woohoo!
The painting project took a big step forward today: the stairwell and front entry are done! It’s quite a transformation. And I’m happy with the paint choice...so don’t say anything otherwise! :)
Yep. The paint project continues around here. We started just before Halloween and it’s looking like we’ll wrap up after Christmas (because of a bit of a break—not constant painting). So far, we’ve had someone here nearly every day, though. For a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom, this provides its share of challenges. Luckily, the painters that have been here have been the best possible folks to have in our home for two months. And the house is looking amazing (so far) even after WAY too much paint deliberation.
The photo above shows my paint selections as options versus Robbe’s suggested paint choices. I bet you can tell which side is which without me telling you.
We had a decent snow storm over the weekend and the boys played outside for about and hour both days. The first real snow is always the best.
We made it down to my hometown for our annual Breakfast with Santa. This year’s Santa lists mostly just include Pokémon requests (super fun, I know). I guess that’s probably better than some giant expensive toy, though, right?!?
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. :)
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.
This is an ornament I made when I was four and it has hung on our tree ever since. It’s crazy that my youngest child is now the same age holding that ornament and adding it to his tree. Whoa.
The things you do for your kids exemplified in one photo.
On the bright side, our house is looking very festive with a fully-decorated tree and a good chunk of the rest of our holiday decor up. Bring on the holiday cheer!
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.
And we’re ready for it.
The big one helping the little one tie his shoes—without me asking. My heart is happy.
You’d think these two would get sick of me. Not so far. I constantly remind myself that it’s not always going to be this way. That I’ll miss always having them around me every waking moment. I’m glad I can acknowledge this now instead of realizing it when it’s too late.
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.
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. :)
I love my job.
small city | BIG DAYS
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