Day 1779 | The Family That Brushes Together…
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…Stays together. That’s what they always say, right? Bathroom renovations really bring you closer together, that’s for sure.
Day 1778 | The Weekend of Two Musicals
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It was a busy weekend for us. Maybe too busy. With three out of four members of the family continuing to battle coughs and fatigue, it took all our energy to check everyone off the list this weekend…and we did it!
On top of the big recital, the other highlights were attending the high school musical Tarzan starring all three of my brother’s girls. It was a blast to see them on stage together rocking their individual roles. As if that weren’t enough, we attended a community theater production of Elf: The Musical. It was the absolute best segway into the holiday season. So full of laughter and energy and Christmas spirit. Can you tell I love musicals?!?
Day 1777 | Piano Recital
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Our favorite pianist was at it again today. Chase played Golden Harp for the fall recital and he nailed it. It was a really lovely piece—more flowy and technical than he’s done so far.
I have a video of him playing it but I can’t get the upload process to cooperate right now and I’m too tired to fight with it. Check back tomorrow. I promise it’ll be worth it.
**It’s up! Here’s the promised video:
Day 1776 | Castle Knock Down
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What do you do when you can’t quite visualize the phys ed game the boys are both raving about? Take a detour past the hoola hoops at Target and ask them to reenact the game. Castle Knock Down involves each team (there are three teams) building three of these hoola hoop “castle” structures and then throwing balls to try to know down the other teams’ structures before yours go down. Apparently it’s a big hit with the early elementary crowd. Who knew?
Day 1775 | Coffee Date
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It’s been awhile so the boys and I decided a coffee and cookie date was in order. Both were delicious.
Day 1774 | Making Progress
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The walls came down and now they’re going back up again. This process continues to fascinate me. Rumor has it they might be dry walling by Friday!
Day 1773 | Hamster Headquarters
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I’ve been tasked with building Blossom a special hamster headquarters. Robbe is fairly excited about this project. Today was just step one. We got the general layout of the headquarters organized. Now we just need to find awesome things to fill the rooms with to help entertain our favorite furry friend.
You’ll notice that all of the rooms that branch off are connected by tubes so it can be dismantled and stored when we need a break from the headquarters. My previous attempt at starting the headquarters failed because I went too big with my box. It’s hard to store a giant box when you don’t want to stare at it anymore. You’re welcome for that time-saving tip.
**Health status update: Robbe was home sick today. His fever didn’t come back but he still seems pretty wiped out. He’s lobbying pretty hardcore to go to school tomorrow. Apparently gym is a pretty substantial motivator. We’ll see how he sleeps.
Day 1772 | Another One Down
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Yep. The little one is sick. This photo is from last week with a sick Chase. Hopefully the same 7+ days of feeling terrible doesn’t plague our sweet Robbe. Fingers crossed.
Day 1771 | The Game of Life
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Ever since finding this gem of a game at my parents’ house, the boys have been playing non-stop. I think I’ve played it more in the last month than the entirety of my childhood. It’s a solid game, though, and it really makes you understand the important of a high salary. Just the lesson we want our children to internalize. Ha!
Also, the little one was looking pretty rough tonight. Think happy thoughts for a fever-free morning, would you? Much appreciated.
Day 1770 | An Update
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I’ve been skating by the last couple of weeks with a post here and there, but I realized a full update about what’s going around here might be nice.
A few things to note:
The bathroom is completely gutted and now it’s starting to be built back up again. The process has been incredibly interesting. I’ve enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The plumber was here yesterday to re-work all the pipes and the carpenters are back today to start framing up the new spaces. No one is willing to commit to a finish date, but there’s *a bit* of hope that they could wrap up before Christmas. Otherwise, it’ll be just after the new year. We’re handling it just fine, though, so you don’t have to worry about us…yet!
As you might remember, Chase was sick last week. He got the Walking Pneumonia diagnosis on Friday and I’m happy to report that he’s hugely improved. I’d say he’s at about 90% at this point—quite a shocking turnaround from last week. We’re all healthy at the moment so hopefully that continues for a least a little while.
I’m officially [mostly] done with the book festival. There are a couple of wrap-up meetings next week and I need to finish compiling the survey results (but I’m getting close), but, other than that, I can put the 2019 festival to bed. It’s been an exhausting few months and I’m grateful to a supportive husband and patient kids that enable me to do this volunteer work and help the community and a worthwhile cause. I’m definitely ready for a break, though. I see more puzzles and reading in my near future. Here’s the photo gallery with lots of shots from the festival in case you’re interested.
One final update: it’s cold here. Like, middle of winter cold. I’m not sure what’s happening (I mean, we all really know what’s happening), but I’m a little worried about what’s to come this winter. Right now it feels crisp and refreshing. I don’t think this sunny disposition is going to hold up for the next six months, though.
There you go! All caught up. :)
Day 1769 | First Snow
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This is Robbe and his friend excited about the morning’s snow. You’ll notice Chase is not pictured. He was not quite as enthusiastic. If you’re not excited about the first snow, it’s going to be a long, long winter.
Day 1768 | School Pictures
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We finally got our school pictures back! Handsome little fellows, aren’t they?
Day 1767 | Boys Weekend
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This was supposed to be the weekend my dad and Chris take the boys up to the hunting cabin for some quality solo time. Unfortunately, Chase’s Walking Pneumonia diagnosis means that he had to sit this one out. So sad, I know.
The three healthy ones hit the road this morning and Chase and I made the most of the mommy and me time. It still didn’t make up for missing the hunting cabin but I’m glad to say he [finally] turned a corner today and seems to be feeling much better. It made me so happy to have that sense of humor and spunky personality back again.
Day 1766 | Halloween 2019
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Happy Halloween from our stealth ninjas! They definitely selected their costumes based on the weaponry that came along with it.
Not our most successful trick or treating attempt, but you don’t have to worry, the boys got plenty of candy. Chase still isn’t feeling good (ugh, I know), so we opted for an abbreviated Halloween. I don’t think any of us were too disappointed to have to cut our time in the 30 degree weather short.
Day 1765 | Pumpkin Carving 2019
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Chase still isn’t feeling great but we mustered our energy and buckled down for some last-minute pumpkin carving.
Robbe wanted to carve a dolphin (for a reason no one is clear on) and Chase selected a Dementor (from Harry Potter). The boys took on more of a supervisory roll but it was fun nonetheless.
Now fingers crossed that Chase is feeling good enough to trick-or-treat tomorrow (he definitely wasn’t tonight). Tomorrow’s also the big STEAM Fair at school. He’s been working so hard on his project with his team—it’s going to be a rough day to be sick, I’ll just say that. Come on, sleep, work some magic tonight!
SOME PAST YEAR’S PUMPKINS
Day 1764 | Recovery Day
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Today was pretty dreamy. No plans and no reason to leave the house (except for a quick piano lesson). Just what we needed. Chase seems to have turned the corner and still no sign of a fever from Robbe (I’m shocked). I got some recap work done for the festival and just enjoyed some quality time with my favorite little guys (they were off school again today for a teacher work day).
Day 1763 | Tired
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I’ve maybe never been more tired than I am right now. It was another full day of activity after seven days of going non-stop.
Today we made it to our niece’s confirmation (yay, Anni!) and then immediately went home for Chase to rest (he’s still in rough shape). Robbe and I headed to a birthday party (at a waterpark, nonetheless) and then I made it home in time to turnaround and leave right away for my last book festival event. In total, I attended 15 events in the last two weeks (12 of those were in the last seven days). I. Am. Tired.
I’ll post a link to photos when they’re up on the book festival site. I got some good ones this year.
But, for now, I’m going to bed. I might just sleep until Tuesday.
Day 1762 | Date Night Mirror Selfie
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Chris and I busted out for a date night tonight (to a book festival event, obviously), but before we left I forced him to pose for this photo in the middle of our bathroom renovation. When a mirror comes down and is propped up in the perfect location, what else can you do?
Day 1761 | Construction Zone Naptime
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When construction is happening upstairs but you’ve got some kiddos battling colds/fevers, it’s time for a basement slumber party. Can it be a slumber party is it’s just nap? Either way…it worked! The banging and sawing was still present but about as muted as it could be. I’ll take it.
Day 1760 | Quite a Day
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This was an exhausting day. I’m too tired to go into all the details, but here’s a glimpse at my day:
Got the boys off to school (with an extra little one in tow who joins us on Wednesday mornings).
Brought Blossom, the hamster, with to school to do show and tell in both classrooms. He was a big hit!
Attended two back-to-back book festival events. They were both SO good!
Stopped to get my tires checked (a follow-up visit).
Ran home to work for about ten minutes and check on our bathroom reno project (photos to come).
Picked up the boys from school.
Stopped at a local nonprofit to drop off a 4-H community service donation.
Headed home to make fudgy oatmeal bars for the teachers at the boys’ school to enjoy during P/T conferences tomorrow. For the record, I signed up for this a long time ago and didn’t realize that this week would be so crazy.
Found out Chase had a fever. Ugh.
Changed my plans to attend a third book festival event and decided to stay home for some reading and cuddling time with my favorite people.
So that was my day. How was yours?
