Have you heard about hot cocoa bombs? It’s a new cool trend—new to us at least! Those chocolate balls dissolve in hot milk and marshmallows appear as it melts. This was our first go-round with hot cocoa bombs and they were fun. A little intense on the sugar, but that’s not a bad thing when it comes to cocoa. And Robbe’s cocoa mustache speaks for itself.
Yep. Gluten-free is happening at our house…for me, anyway. No, it’s not a fancy New Year’s resolution (just coincidental timing) or some fad I’m dying to be a part of. I went to the doctor last week and she let me know that my stomach doesn’t seem to love gluten as much as my mind and heart do. Quite a conflict, right?
Library to the rescue (note all the cookbooks pictured above) as I try to navigate an entirely new way of eating. It turns out about four of the meals I have in my entire dinnertime repertoire are gluten-free. It’s everywhere, I’m telling you.
Last week I was feeling overwhelmed and disheartened. This week, I’m ready to face the challenge head-on. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
I used to dream about a day when we could all sit down and silently read together. It’s happening. It’s really happening.
Another beautiful day on the frozen lake. Our first [unsuccessful] ice fishing adventure and two ice skating outings. Highlights of the ice skating include: Chase getting more comfortable on the ice, my mom getting out on the ice, Chris and Robbe honing their hockey skills, and I started skating backwards. It’s not a big deal. You’re right. It’s a huge deal.
Chase and I enjoyed a lovely winter walk during virtual school today. We usually get one or two in during our solo days together (on Thursdays and Fridays). He said these walks are one of his “favorite things” today. Cue: heart melting.
Robbe has been following along with a drawing YouTube channel this week. He’s always loved art but I don’t think he knows how to develop the skills to keep him interested—lord knows I can’t help him there. Crafting? Yes! Drawing? No, sir.
This little lady was one of his projects today. Isn’t she so cute? I guess it’s an LOL doll if you know what that is (we didn’t…ha!). I’ll keep you posted if he ends up producing any other gems.
Did you hear we got a dart board for Christmas? I’m the first to admit I’m surprised at how much it’s been used in the last couple of weeks. It’s hard to say whether Chris or Robbe has been working harder to hone their skills.
For real, is there anything better than a lazy day after the chaos of the holidays? This is me and the big one reading books about cats (I’m sure you’ve heard of the Warriors series) while snuggling under a cat blanket. That’s normal, right?
Asking for a friend…how many Legos are too many Legos?
Robbe bought a stuffed animal surprise toy with his Christmas money and uncovered these beautiful fake nails and rings as part of the “surprises”. Can you believe our luck?
One of my favorite parts of this season is the holiday cards. There’s nothing like snail mail and photos of my favorite people to brighten the days and connect us all during this crazy time. I appreciate every one of these smiling faces.
The little one worked so hard on his ice skating skills this afternoon. It’s amazing how much progress is possible in just a day. Hard work + determination. There’s a life-lesson, there.
It turns out I really like lake ice skating. Merry Christmas, everyone.
It’s been a tradition the last few years to open gifts as our four-person family outside of a larger gathering. As much as I love the hustle and bustle of big family Christmases, I really enjoy the low-key time with just our little family to exchange gifts and do our own thing.
Tonight the boys picked our dinner (mini pizzas). We watched a Christmas food network challenge, sang some Christmas songs with piano accompaniment, talked about the importance of giving back and which organizations we’d be donating to this year. And then…the present opening! The boys were patient and attentive and, most of all, appreciative. We all got too many gifts but this year I’m not even feeling that guilty about it. I guess that’s one perk of Covid. Ha!
I thought that since we weren’t going to see Santa in person this year that it wasn’t necessary to draft a letter stating our requests. Robbe had another opinion on the matter when he panicked about not having written one yet.
Don’t worry, it got dropped off in a special delivery box earlier today. We’ll all sleep a bit better tonight.
The colder it gets in Wisconsin, the harder it is to motivate yourself to get outside (especially without snow). However, we went for a walk and ended up discovering these sweet rocks. That’s almost as good as sledding and snowman-building, I guess.
Is there anything harder than waiting for Christmas to arrive? I can’t be the only one who thinks this year has been unbelievably long and incredibly short at the same time. I mean, how is it Christmas already?!?
We continue to work through some fun graphs after our book donation project. Today’s goal? See how many inches our books measured and then compare that number to our family members’ heights. Spoiler: the boys + me = not as tall as the books. The boys + Chris = just a bit taller. They win!
Look how adult we are! We have built-in bookshelves and cabinets! We’ve been deliberating this project for some time and it’s finally a reality. We couldn’t be happier with the final product (below is the before, above is the after). We actually have a space for our [one million] board games. And the tv is mounted (thanks, Chris). Things are getting pretty crazy over here.
We said a sad farewell to Blossom today. You remember Blossom, right? He was a good little friend and we’ll miss him.
small city | BIG DAYS
home | about | meet the team | work with me | contact
