Day 2506 | Happy Easter
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An Easter basket hunt, a day trip to the lake, a delicious meal, an egg hunt for the boys, dying eggs, and even some time outside without coats on. Yeah, it was a pretty lovely Easter.
Day 2505 | Dungeons & Dragons Day
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How does the new 11-year-old want to spend his birthday weekend? Full of Dungeons & Dragons activities with his favorite cousin and favorite brother, of course!
A D&D quest with a real Dungeon Master this morning and then the D&D movie this afternoon. I know nothing about any of this, but it sure made me happy to see how much he enjoyed his day.
Day 2504 | He's 11!
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Check out this 11-year-old! He had the best day ever: restaurant breakfast, game day with his good friend, two birthday desserts, family pizza dinner, and oodles of presents.
I feel lucky every day to be his mom.
Day 2503 | One Last Night
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Tonight is the last night the boys will be sharing a room. I’ll give you a minute to pull yourself together. Sniffle, sniffle.
Chase decided it was time to move out on his own so he’ll be venturing across the hall tomorrow night so that he can wake up in his new room on his birthday. That’s a big deal, right?
Don’t be expecting a big room reveal tomorrow, though. At this point, he’s got the necessities in the room and that’s all—a bed, curtains up, a fresh coat of paint, and new carpet. We’ve got big plans for the rest, and it will come eventually. For now, it’s nice that he’ll have to visit his old room once and awhile to get clothes and whatnot.
Day 2502 | Ukulele Time
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That’s right! We’ve got a new instrument in the house. After passing all the levels he needed to on the recorder, Chase got to pick a new instrument. The ukulele!! I hope he loves it and ends up serenading us every night.
Day 2501 | Piano Competition
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On Saturday, the boys participated in a piano competition held at the local university (we even walked!). Both of the boys rocked their pieces—they had to memorize three songs each—and aced the theory portion of the competition, too. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning and was a nice example of how hard work does pay off.
*Photo above from the practice room before the boys played for the judges.
Day 2500 | 2500!
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This 100-day blog post has been a long time coming. It takes some time to write these things…and time has been a bit tough to come by these days. I’ll try to be more consistent moving forward. Key word, “try”!
Without further ado…
Sara
FAVORITES: the first cup of coffee in the morning, dried mango (still), my kyrgies slippers, wrapping up contract negotiations with the Eau Claire school district for the boys' school, snuggles from the bun,
MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT SPRING: going for walks in the warm sunshine
DREAM FOR THE FUTURE: finishing up some outstanding house projects
BIGGEST HURDLE TO OVERCOME: figuring out childcare help for the summer. It’s sneaking up fast.
Chris
FAVORITES: caesar salads, working towards his pinball record, warm weather, talking video games/pinball/nonsense with the boys, competing with his brothers, fun socks, creme-filled long john with snow white icing and sprinkles
MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT SPRING: Playing kubb again
DREAM FOR THE FUTURE: crafting a closet library for Chase's new room.
BIGGEST HURDLE TO OVERCOME: Deciding whether or not to join the Ultimate Frisbee League again this year.
Chase
Age: Almost 11 (5 days away!)
FAVORITES: reading fantasy fiction, video games, a very specific mechanical pencil, Flopsy, playing with LEGO minifigures, hanging out with a very specific friend, Marvel movies, Skittles
MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT SPRING: going for walks
DREAM FOR THE FUTURE: moving across the hall into his new [separate] bedroom!
BIGGEST HURDLE TO OVERCOME: always needing to know which book is next on his reading list.
Robbe
Age: 9
FAVORITES: Chima LEGO sets, skateboarding, Magic cards, marble animals (really any souvenirs), shopping, Splatoon video gaming, LEGOs, playing with friends, making people laugh, reading graphic novels, watching Fuller House, Skittles & Smarties, crocheting, eating sushi
MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT SPRING: busting out his new skateboard
DREAM FOR THE FUTURE: Soccer starting up again
BIGGEST HURDLE TO OVERCOME: patience while waiting for whatever is coming next. All day. Every day.
LOOKING BACK AT 2500 POSTS
Day 2499 | Blanket Surprise
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Look who popped up out of the blanket drying over some of our dining room chairs. Adorable, right?
Day 2498 | Spring Cleaning
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A room swap for the upcoming birthday boy has meant extra motivation for spring cleaning. One closet leads to the next, you know?
Part of today’s organizing adventures involved the stuffies closet. Robbe specifically asked to be buried in all his friends before we started sorting keeps and tosses. Making dreams come true over here!
Day 2497 | Daffodils
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Bright, happy daffodils in the warm sunshine. It might not be spring quite yet, but we’re sure ready for it over here.
Day 2496 | Adios, Mexico
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We had a truly wonderful vacation. I haven’t had time to do a full photo-download, but I’ll get to it soon—I promise. In the meantime, enjoy this palm tree photo that Chris snapped. I miss that view already.
Day 2495 | Paradise
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After a very early morning and a smooth day of travel, we made it to Puerto Vallarta! We happily left the snow and cold behind for sunshine and beaches.
I fully plan on soaking in all the heat this week. Who knows how much of the Wisconsin winter we’ve waiting for us when we return, you know?
Day 2494 | Spring Piano Recital
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Before we head out on our spring break vacation, we had to squeeze in a piano recital–never a dull moment! The boys played beautifully. Chase’s piece was my favorite to date, I think. It was a little bittersweet, though, because this is Chase’s last piano recital. He’ll be starting his middle school instrument this summer so he’ll be stepping away from piano lessons…after 5.5 years. Take a look at how far he’s come. I’m incredibly proud of all the work and patience he’s dedicated to piano over the years. It’s been a true joy to see his talent blossom and I look forward to seeing what his next musical adventure will be.
Day 2493 | Chicago
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Look at us out on the town! Chicago (the musical) didn’t disappoint and it was just lovely to spend the evening with some of my most favorite people.
Day 2492 | Akedo Battles
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Robbe’s been real into Akedos lately. So now we’re all involved. Akedo battles for everyone!
Day 2491 | A Reading Chair
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Robbe is working on redecorating his room and asked for this chair for his birthday. Who knew a chair could be this exciting? I think it has ended up in every room of the house in the last week.
Day 2490 | Trampoline Party
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As one final hurrah for Robbe’s birthday, we hosted nine kids (including our own) for a trampoline park birthday party. It was intense. But the kids had a blast, of course. Our new nine year old was definitely living his best life.
What’s crazy is that the last birthday party we threw was for Robbe at the trampoline park for his 6 birthday—just days before Covid shut the whole world down. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that this party doesn’t spur a similar chain of events.
Day 2489 | Robbe Turns 9!
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We had such a great day celebrating our favorite 9-year-old. We managed to fill it with everything that sparks joy in our little guy: donuts, presents, sushi, pinballing, more presents, special treats, a little video-gaming, and lots of love from friends and family.
Day 2488 | Skiing
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Our first official outing on our new cross country skis and it was a success! The sun was shining, the cold wasn’t unbearable, and we made it home in time to make pancakes for the boys. That’s motivation.
Day 2487 | 4-H Musical
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The boys performed in their first musical today! Look how cute they look!! The entire group worked incredibly hard and pulled off a great performance—even though the a/v equipment didn’t cooperate. I’m so proud of these two for trying something totally out of their comfort zone and not even complaining [that much] about it.
