It might seem a bit early but with travel planned for next weekend, it was now or December. We couldn’t wait that long! Is there anything better than the smell of a fresh-cut tree while listening to Christmas music and the nostalgia of digging through ornaments? One of my favorite traditions, without question.
This might be one of my favorite types of Friday nights. Call me boring…I don’t mind.
The weather has turned and you know what that means…board game season! We love our board games around here and tonight we introduced the boys to an old favorite of ours: Pirate’s Cove. It was a hit…with only a minor meltdown about it not being “fair”. We’ll call it a win. Stay tuned for more family favorites as the cold weather months continue.
The boys rocked their fall piano recital on Friday. Chase played The Batman Theme Song and Robbe played The Pirate Song. If you’re dying to hear their songs, good news! I forced them to record a video on Friday before we headed to the recital. Enjoy!
That’s right! Our *little* book donation project is back again this year! We’ve set even higher goals for the 2021 book drive, so please consider supporting us if you can. Even just a $1 or $2 would help!
Click on over to the Give a Kid a Book Project page here on my website for all the details. We’re hoping to spread the love this holiday season and appreciate any support you can offer.
The dates for this year’s project are November 15-30. Plenty of time to get the books over to the library for holiday gifting!
It didn’t last long and it didn’t accumulate, but it still counts. Mark down November 12 as the first snow of the winter.
The last few weeks have been crazy around here (can you tell by my less-than-consistent posts?!?). Sometimes what you need is a good reminder to slow down and take time to do something you enjoy. Read a book, for example…with a bunny by your side, preferably.
Robbe went from soccer last month to basketball this month. Thankfully, this little camp is just once a week, which is much easier for me to manage. He was a dribbling expert today (that’s him in the red shirt)! And it turns out Chase and I make a pretty good cheering squad. I’m excited to see the progress he makes over the next six weeks.
We got to watch a high school performance of The Wizard of Oz today…with my niece as Dorothy!! She rocked it (while handling a real-life Toto the entire time). It really was a family effort with my other sweet niece acting as choreographer + hair and makeup expert, my amazing sister in-law as co-director, and my talented brother in charge of set and props. Seriously, such an inspiring display of dedication and community from all of them. Have I told you how much I love musicals?!?
Man, it was a gorgeous day. My cousin and I snuck away to the lake house with just the little siblings for a wonderful day of activities: chatting by the lake, frolicking at a playground, paddle boarding, delicious food, and a perfect campfire…to name a few. November in Wisconsin doesn’t get much better than this.
These cards disappear for months and always come back with a vengeance. And this time around, there a helpful bunny to offer advice during the games.
The book festival wrapped up on Friday and all the events were really inspiring and thought provoking and interesting. The group of volunteers that selects authors really outdid themselves this year. And the live + virtual options worked out perfectly. Now there are just a few odds and ends to take care of and we can all take a bit of a breather. Thanks to any of you that joined us for an event. I hope you enjoyed the authors as much as I did.
Halloween 2021 was a big success. We had a Greek mythology theme featuring Ares, God of War (Robbe) and Poseidon, God of the Sea (Chase). The boys came up with the costume ideas all on their own. Pretty sweet choices, don’t you think? A special shout-out goes out to my mom for helping me with my vision. I couldn’t have done it without her. I love a good homemade costume….can you tell?
Enjoy a quick history of all of the boys’ costumes over the years. I love looking back at all these photos, so I thought you might as well.
2020 - Legends of Zelda Family Costume
2019 - Ninjas
2018 - King and Knight
2017 - Scientist and Spider
2016 - Frozone and Tool Guy
2015 - Firefighter and Dalmation
2014 - Hedgehogs
2013 + 2012 - Goldfish and Owl (just Chase)
Mike and Andi hosted an epic 20s party tonight. We were so thankful to be back in Chris’s hometown for the weekend to help set up and partake in the festivities. So fun!
Isn’t this so beautiful? It’s entitled “Sanctuary” and it’s my new favorite mural in the city. It’s funny how that’s a category in my life now. Yay for public art!
I can’t get a link to work right now (technology and I are in a bit of a fight these days), but here’s an article about the mural if you want to learn more:
https://volumeone.org/articles/2021/10/06/284041-finding-sanctuary-madison-based-artist-integrates
No, he’s not our bearded dragon. A new bunny is plenty for us right now. Instead, his owner is my sweet niece—which makes my boys and that reptile cousins. Parmesan seems like he’s going to be a great cousin.
The book festival is officially underway. If you’re local, I hope you’ve seen some of our promotional materials and are already signed up for an event or two (or all of them). If you’re not local, good news! All six of our author events are being streamed live (at no cost). I’ve been living and breathing these events and books for the last five months and I’m beyond excited to actually hear the authors speak. I might be a bit biased, but I think these are going to be thought-provoking, and entertaining, and educational. Please join us!
Check out these beauts. A classic jack o’ lantern by Chase and a bunny pumpkin by Robbe. Pumpkin carving: check!
Everyone celebrates that, right? Substitute teaching has its perks.
Look who joined Robbe on the couch for morning reading time (and Flopsy jumped up there on his own)! As you might imagine, everyone was pretty excited.
small city | BIG DAYS
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