Winter Wonderland

On Christmas Eve, my cousin Harry was telling my dad and Mike about a trail he had packed in the woods behind his house. They both thought it sounded really cool and scored us an invitation to come out on the day after Christmas with the kids to explore it.

Not only was it a nice packed trail through the snow, Harry had gone all out to truly make it a winter wonderland. There was Present Valley (complete with presents hanging from the trees), the wild, untamed Grinch Woods (which Mike and Declan braved), Spooky Swamp (that I made scaredy-cat Fiona go through with me), and Candy Cane Forest (yep, with candy canes on the trees). I loved the signs he had on the trees that gave it that extra touch of magic!

My gang (including snow dog Yogi), my parents, my sister, and my cousins Brenda and Olivia all headed out on Saturday afternoon with Harry as our guide. It was snowing lightly and the sun was out. The blondes were happy to be pulled along in sleds - until there were treasures to pick from the trees! Declan was not a huge fan of the snow falling on his face, so he preferred to be carried over riding in the sled. Snowflakes on the face - a tough concept at his age.

We had such fun and it was glorious day to be outside in the snowy woods. We were so sad that Otto couldn't make it out that day and I know Brenda was making plans for when she could come back with him! And I'm pretty sure Yogi was trying to figure out how he could campaign for us to move up there. We were in the woods pretty much every day of Christmas break.

Harry won Q's heart when we were done exploring by making hot chocolate ... with marshmallows! And her dad told her that she could eat her score from Candy Cane Forest before sugar-limiting mom said no. It was a perfect way to spend our last full day of Christmas break up north.

I love the signs

Braving Grinch Woods

Packing trail

Christmas: the Eve and the Day

Christmas morning

It's a power-packed couple days, but I really love that our Christmas is pretty much done in two days. All our family celebrations are in Grand Rapids and the schedule has been the same for years - so we don't feel like we have to choose between the families. It's busy, but short enough that the kids (and parents) don't get too overwhelmed.

On Christmas Eve, we had a relaxing day at Grandma's. Fiona and Auntie went out to brunch, Quinn and I ran some errands, Declan took a nap, Daddy and Grandpa went ice fishing. When afternoon nap was deemed a complete failure, we decided to frost the Christmas cookies. Even Dec got in on the action and frosted his own work of art - that he then got to eat!

Otto and Declan

After washing off the frosting, we got ready for the Johnson family Christmas at my cousin Brenda's. We have gone to B's for Christmas Eve forever and it's just part of the holiday tradition now. As soon as we walked in, Dec and Otto had to see each other. I held them both as they chattered and touched each other. And when I put them down, they immediately hugged. So cute! They will be best buds growing up! We barely saw the girls during the party. They were incredibly busy upstairs in the playroom. That is, until Fiona found a snake in a can. Then she was the life of the party, tricking people into opening it and shrieking with glee when the snake popped out.

Christmas morning, we found that Santa had filled everyone's stockings (he leaves a present for each of them under the tree at our house and we open those when we get home). We sang happy birthday to Jesus and then had a lovely time opening the gifts. The kids had a great time and were very excited and grateful for their gifts. Declan seemed to understand it a little bit this year, which was fun to watch.

Sugar high!

After a yummy pancake breakfast and a little bit of playtime, we headed over to Mike's sister's house to celebrate with his family. Grandpa V and Grandma and Grandpa N were all there too! We opened more presents, ate lots of food, played games (Telestrations ... seriously fun), played with new toys, and sang karaoke. My sister headed over to join the karaoke, which was awesome. Quinn was a total ham with the microphone and enjoyed singing way more than any of us expected. She was especially thrilled when Auntie Tracey put on her favorite song (Walk the Moon's Shut Up and Dance with Me). All the boys sang a rousing version of Friends in Low Places and even Dec joined in.

Our kids were getting pretty tired, so we had to cut the karaoke session short. But I'm hoping that becomes an annual part of the holidays!

Sweet Q at Brenda's

Singing karaoke with Dad

Friends in Low Places

Eight Plus Hours to Snow

Sad, carsick baby

I hung out with the kids on Tuesday and we had a great day together. We played and they also entertained themselves enough for me to get us partly packed up by the time Mike got home from work. We did a killer job on cleaning out the fridge and it felt very Grinch-like ... as I'm pretty sure the crumbs we left were too small for a mouse.

Wednesday morning, we got up and Mike finished loading the car while I got the kids ready. Quinn was complaining about her tummy and that she was hungry. I gave them each a bowl of dry cereal to eat while watching a cartoon as we finished getting packed. We had taken Q to the doctor last Saturday after a few rough nights to find that she had a sinus infection that was also moving to her ear. So she was on antibiotics. I gave her the pink meds, but she was still looking a little off. On a whim, I grabbed a bowl on my way out the door.

Dec rocked the
dress up bin at
Gma's

We were about 45 minutes from home, just going through Elk River, when Quinn said quite urgently, "I need to go potty." We were coming up on a McDonald's so I told Mike to pull off. I had barely finished telling him to turn when Q said more urgently, "I NEED THE PUKE BOWL." And yep, she did. She tried her best to hit the bowl, but her sweatshirt and the carseat took a hit as well. So we continued to the McD's parking lot where I handed Mike the pack of Wet Wipes, grabbed a Q, and headed inside to clean her up. (Also - worst place to deal with this ever. No paper towels in the bathroom and very little water pressure)

A stomach bug had been going around day care, so we turned around and headed back home. We didn't want to be the ones to bring the stomach flu to Christmas. Bugs was super bummed, but we had a quick talk about not making her sister feel bad because it wasn't her fault. I was also sad as I realized that I have never not been in GR for Christmas. 

We found snow!

Quinn did okay on the ride home and about halfway there, she started asking if we had waffles at home. I told her that I could make waffles if she wanted them. And she did. We barely got in the door before she was asking for a shower and then waffles. I got her cleaned up and tried to scrounge up enough ingredients to make some waffles. Quinn ate FOUR waffles - in record time. Then she headed down to the basement with her siblings and ran around like crazy for the next two hours. 

Without a crystal ball, Mike and I made the best call that we could - and that was carsick combined with mucus and antibiotics in stomach. So we talked to the gang and all decided to try again. We repacked the few things we had unloaded and headed back north. Eight and a half hours after our initial departure, we pulled into my parents' driveway. 

Bugs and Daddy made
snow angels

About 30 minutes before we got to GR, Q let out a big sigh (she was done being in the car. She has the hardest time with the long trips). I turned around and asked her if she was sick of the car. She looked at me and said, "No. I don't need the puke bowl." My bad on the wording!

There was a beautiful covering of snow up there (hooray!) and my mom really wanted to take the kids on a nighttime walk through the woods. It sounded like fun and the fresh air sounded nice, but it also sounded like a lot of work to wrangle three kids plus dog into winter gear. And then get all ours on too. But my mom and the kids were excited, so Mike and I suppressed our laziness and did it. You guys, grandmas are smart and we should listen to them! It was such a lovely way to end what had been a very long day. There was crisp air, snow, a few runs down the sledding hill, and one Declan sled crash into a tree. 

The trip north didn't quite go as planned, but we were all glad to finally make it up there!

Christmas Break

Hoping for angels

The gang is officially on Christmas break. Bugs had pajama day at school on Friday and the whole team headed to A's today for the day care Christmas party. We're starting to get a little holiday hyper around here. They swing between good playing and listening and complete lack of hearing and that toy is "miiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

We are heading north to our favorite people (and SNOW!) in a couple days. I'm off with the team tomorrow and am hoping that they will be more on the good playing/listening side of life so that I can get our packing done. I have a few fun toys up my sleeve (or in the storage room) to hopefully move the odds in my favor.

We celebrated daddy's birthday yesterday with ice cream sundaes, pancakes, and turkey and mashed potatoes. Oh, and pickles with breakfast. Because I wouldn't let him eat ice cream for breakfast. The kids thought pickles with their pancakes was a fantastic idea! Now that daddy's birthday is in the books, we are fully focused on Christmas and enjoying the break together.

Holly Jolly (With a Side of Mud)

Winter Wonderland (no snow)

The blondes have softened Mike's inner grinch (methinks his holiday heart has grown two sizes this year) and he has been enjoying (or faking it convincingly) our family festivities.

On Friday morning, Quinn discovered our Elf Tyler upside down in a coffee mug, holding three packets of hot chocolate. What a nice little elf to bring them such a sweet treat! So after dinner on Friday night, the gang kicked off a fun filled holiday weekend with hot cocoa and marshmallows. Declan even got his first cocoa in a tiny espresso mug (with mom hovering nearby).

Serious decorators

Saturday afternoon, Mike and I put together the structure and the girls worked together to decorate a gingerbread house. There was some semi-authorized snacking on the decor and a lot of good teamwork. It is now the centerpiece of our table - which makes them both proud and confused ... there's so much good candy on there that no one is eating! Saturday night, the blondes and I decided that we were taking a trip to the S-town Winter Wonderland. It's a home in town that goes all out with lights. You get to walk around their yard, see Santa and Mrs. Claus, and go in the garage for cocoa, cookies, and crafts. Quinn was a bit suspicious of Santa until he mentioned that he had candy canes. She literally ran to him and they are totally best friends now. It was very cool to see - although it would have been prettier with snow on the ground (hint: Mother Nature. Need snow). Then we drove around town a bit more to look at the lights.

Disney on Ice

We took our annual trip to Disney on Ice on Sunday. This year, Declan got to come with too. We had tickets to the 5pm show, so I packed up some sandwiches, string cheese, and puff corn and off we went. It was a princess-centric show (Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel) and the girls LOVED it. They both love the Rapunzel movie and that was one of the longer stories at the show - with some very cool acrobatics using ribbon. Declan was really excited about the show as well - although he kept saying "hockey" and Mike continued to remind him that "this is NOT hockey." I would seriously pay money to sit next to Fiona during these shows. They are pure magic to her and she is so happy to actively participate in the show. Q was sitting on Mike's lap and he said that she was so excited every time there was a lift or spin. They are both really excited for skating lessons this winter!

After the show, we walked through Rice Park in downtown St. Paul to see the Christmas lights. It was so pretty! The only strange part was walking through mud to see the Christmas tree. (One final plea: Send snow!) We sang carols together on the way home to keep everyone awake and had so much fun.

SANTA!!!!!!!!!

Declan - 18 Months

A few weeks ago, I picked Declan up at A's and he was trying to do something that 2-year-olds would do. I picked him up, looked him in the eye, and told him that he was not two. He looked at me and let out a yell. He was not happy that I had told him he was not two. A and I got quite the giggle out of his reaction!

I maintain, he is not two ... yet. But he did turn 18 months today. The girls threw him a fantastic duplo cake half birthday party this morning to celebrate. They did want to know why there weren't any presents!

At newly 18 months, Declan is:

• Climbing. On everything. He can get up in his booster chair, on the kitchen table chairs (that he tipped over this morning), on the couches, tables ... doesn't matter if he should climb on it or not. He'll climb it! And laugh at you when you tell him to get down. Oh yeah, and he climbed out of his crib the day after Thanksgiving. That was a first for us! His mattress is now down to the lowest level (except the floor), so hopefully that holds him for a few months.
• Talking. He's got quite a few words now and is doing well at telling us what he wants. He has finally figured out how to say "Quinny" (to her delight) and it's his new favorite word. He wanders around the house, following his "Kinny" and "Nona." We enjoy asking him questions and hearing his little "yeah" (or "yesh") as a response. He is perfectly willing to have a fit if something doesn't go his way that, with two siblings, never happens.
• On borrowed time with his pacifier. I'm not taking it away from a three year old again. So after the holidays, it's going away. For the moment, he calls it his "cookie" ... so occasionally, I'll hear him in the middle of the night calling for a cookie. I get that - I often want a 2 am cookie myself!
• Growing. I am finally putting some 18 month clothes in his drawer. He's getting long enough, but he is so skinny that the pants just fall down. He never stops moving unless he's asleep, so I think that will be a common theme. We are just about ready to turn his car seat around because he's getting squished sitting in it. He will be so thrilled!
• Game for anything. He is such a go with the flow dude. He embraces new people and new experiences. In fact, he thrives in them. If it looks like a good time, Dec is in. He is happily the life of any party! He's so laid back that I discovered a new tooth had popped through today and I didn't even know it was coming in!
• Always moving. He is so busy and loves playing. He races up and down the hall with his sisters, plays wild Ring Around the Rosie, throws (and catches!) balls constantly, and shrieks with glee at the top of his lungs. He equally enjoys racing his cars and playing babies with the girls.

He is enjoying the hustle of the holidays and all the music that we've been playing. He's a great dancer and is so funny when we ask him to show off his moves. He occasionally pays attention to the holiday shows that the girls are watching and especially loves the cartoon Paw Patrol (because there are puppies!). While he may not be two yet, it is great to be one and a half.

I Was Wrong

We got a middle of the night text from A Tuesday night. She had a sick kiddo and needed to close on Wednesday. My day didn't look too bad, so I said I would stay home with Q and D. We had a great day together ... even after it started out a little bumpy.

I took advantage of staying home and slept in an extra 30 minutes. So I hadn't showered yet when they got up. They were playing so nicely after Fiona and Mike left that I figured I could take a quick 5 minute shower. I was wrong.

I told them where I was going, highlighted the ground rules, and left all the doors open so they could easily get to me. I was just putting conditioner in my hair when I heard Dec start to scream. I rinsed my hair while expecting Quinn to come running in to fill me in on whatever catastrophe had befallen the dude. No Q. So I figured she had stolen a toy from him. I had just turned the water off when two figures appeared in the doorway (I could still hear screaming). I peeked out the shower door to find Dec dripping blood down his chin.

Apparently there had been some wild Ring Around the Rosie and he had "all fall down"ed himself into Q's bedframe. He has a pretty fat lip, but the cut is pretty small (I suspect a tooth). It's more newsworthy these days when he doesn't have a split lip, so he's tolerating it really well. And now I know, 3 and 18 months isn't quite old enough for unsupervised during shower. But game on when the 5 year old is home too!

Later in the day, I took a video of their full contact Rosie-ing. Dec loves it and will spin by himself in the middle of the room singing "ashies ashies" on repeat!

Santa at the Legion

Last year, we decided to boycott the crowds at the mall and had pancakes with Santa at the KC Hall. We had a blast and were looking forward to doing it again this year. Except there was no breakfast with Santa at the KC this year. They were doing a spaghetti dinner - but Mike had a hockey game that night. Three kids. One camera. Spaghetti. Santa. I'm brave, but that didn't sound like something I wanted to attempt solo. Then Mike noticed on a sign at the school that there was a pancake breakfast with Santa at the American Legion this last weekend. So we decided to check it out.

What fun! They put on a full party, complete with craft tables, face and fingernail painting, a pancake, egg, and sausages breakfast, Santa, and several gifts. For free! We did not know it was full on party, so arrived right at 9:00 am. Santa didn't show up until 10:00, but between the crafts and breakfast, there was plenty to do to keep everyone entertained. The girls made ornaments for the tree, Fiona got a Rudolph painted on her face, and we saw Santa!

Quinn got really nervous when Santa came in, but was fine once we told her that she could stand next to him instead of sitting on his lap. She was perfectly happy to tell him what she wanted, as long as her feet stayed firmly on the floor. Declan was SO excited when Santa came in and kept saying "Santa. Santa." And Fiona hopped right up on his lap as well.

We stayed at the party until about 10:30 and then headed home. It was a very fun way to spend the morning together, while getting our Santa visit checked off the list.

Ho Ho Ho

Santa Declan wants to wish you a very Merry Christmas. [he didn't know I was taking a video, so he was saying "cheese" too ...]

First Snow

Thanksgiving day was made even better by the first snow fall of the year. It was so cozy to wake up to the flakes coming down and bang around in my kitchen in sweats, drinking coffee and making our holiday meal. The snow was even better once everyone arrived at our house safely!

Mike and I watched out the window all morning, willing the white to stick to the ground and accumulate enough so that we could go play in it. I mean ... bring the kids out to play in it. As we were putting the food on the buffet table, we agreed that the magic was happening. There was enough snow! We held that little news until after the meal and then told all the kids that we were going sledding. The people were super excited!!!

Serious sledders

We managed to cobble together enough snow gear from our stock to outfit our nephews, our smalls, ourselves, and my sister. Mike's sister had enough gear of her own. Some of the outfits (cough, Em, cough) were "special," but they worked perfectly for winter fun! While the rest of the group held down the dessert table, we headed off down the block to the field - now transformed into an awesome sledding hill!

Nate and Ben had grabbed a couple of the saucers before we left so they were flying down the hill about half a second after we got there. Not to be outdone, Dec plopped his little butt down on the snow and then looked confused at why he was not sailing down the slopes like the big boys. Luckily daddy and auntie were hustling down the road with the rest of the sleds!

Dec and Ben. I love this!

It was D's first time sledding and he had zero hesitation hopping in the sled, laying down on his belly, and sliding down head first - just like his sisters. We haven't gotten him good outside mittens yet, so he got to wear his pink "it's hard to have sisters" mittens. Sorry, dude! We promise we'll get you non-pink mittens before the next trip to the sledding hill.

Fiona and Quinn were immediately into the adventure as well. Quinn really did a great job on the sledding. Last year, she would do two or three runs down the hill and then would want to be done. This time, she really had a good time. And Fiona ... well, Grandma claims she's part Eskimo. She just flies down that hill and completely mastered the art of the saucer. She even managed to talk Auntie into staying out a few extra minutes with her after her sibs got cold.

Getting ready to race

Em, Mike, and I had a blast racing each other (or the kids) down the hill. We even piled in a single sled for an unforgettable photo op for Tracey (**my phone is ridiculous and can't hold a charge when it's cold. So big thanks to Em and Tracey. All these pictures are from them!**) Believe it or not, we didn't even break the sled! Tracey stood at the bottom of the hill and used her awesome photography skills. Thankfully, we didn't need to try very hard to convince her to take a couple runs as well!

We hope this is the first of many, many trips to the sledding hill this winter!

Brave Quinn

First saucer trip (he started out sitting!)

Doesn't she look like she just hates it? Ha!

Garage-Giving

The whole gang

Since we've had kids, Mike and I decided that we will go north for either Thanksgiving or Christmas - but not both. The people up north have unanimously agreed that they want us there for Christmas (which is good, because we like being there for Christmas). So we make a turkey at our house. I announce every year that whoever would like to come is welcome. I am so thankful that this year, everyone took me up on that offer! We had 16 people at our holiday table(s) - my parents and sister, Mike's sister and her family, Mike's dad, and Mike's mom, her husband Bill, and their friend Val. 

Serious ball hockey players

As Thanksgiving loomed nearer, I looked around our house to try to figure out where I was going to seat 16 people. We have no area that is big enough to fit everyone. And while we could spread between rooms, it felt more festive and welcoming to all be together. So I proposed to my dear husband that we eat dinner in the garage. However, we live in Minnesota and November is not known for its unheated garage-friendly temps. Mike is the owner of several propane and electric heaters, so I knew we could heat it up if we tried.

While not entirely onboard with the plan (as it was my brainchild and his labor), Mike gamely hung plastic on the rafters to keep the heat in, hung Christmas lights because I wanted it to be "pretty," and set up the garage for dinner. We had a beautiful, snowy day with pretty mild temps and the garage held the temp very well. We jokingly referred to the meal as "garage-giving" and all agreed that it was a wonderful success. We were together and it was wonderful to share our meal with so many loved ones! 

The best part of garage-giving: a rousing ball hockey game as soon as the meal was over! Perfect way to keep the big, medium, and little boys - and the blondes - busy during clean up. The only downfall was that we had the food set up in the dining room inside and I don't think people overindulged as they may have if it was right in front of them. Although we didn't have too many leftovers ...

We also took advantage of the snow and lovely balmy temps and went sledding once dinner (and the ball hockey game) were done. More on that coming up in the next post!

Little Hostess

Sweet Quinn is such a wonderful little hostess. The kitchen down in the playroom is her domain and she always has a plan for what she is making (and oh the woe if the sibs do not fall in line with the plan!). The duplos have come out upstairs and her most favorite thing is to make a birthday cake out of blocks. For me or dad. For a sib. For a baby doll. For Yogi. The living room is in a constant state of decorated for a party.

For the first time this year, Ms. A is doing a Thanksgiving potluck with the kids. Quinn and I discussed our options and decided to sign up for bread/rolls. Then instead of putting rolls on the grocery list, we decided to make pumpkin bread together. So Saturday afternoon, we set up in the kitchen and she put all the ingredients in (except the eggs - we figured our friends didn't need to eat shells) and did alot of the stirring. My arm was thankful for the stirring break!

On Sunday, both girls joined me to make the pumpkin cupcakes for Thanksgiving. They got the cutest aprons from my cousin Rachel last year for Christmas and both went running downstairs to get their aprons so they were properly attired. They took turns putting in the ingredients and stirring. There was also some quality control tasting - just to be sure Mom didn't miss any ingredients. 

And tonight, we ate the "basgetti" (spaghetti) pie that Quinny helped me make yesterday. Girlfriend is quickly learning her way around the kitchen - and she can already throw an top notch duplo cake party.

Brace Yourself

You may remember that at the last spina bifida clinic day, we were told that Fiona needed braces for her feet to correct the collapsing in of her ankles. In early November, we headed to meet Mr. John, who casted her feet for the molds. She was mostly patient with the process, although slightly annoyed that we had to cast her right foot twice. We entertained Mr. John by singing with her, telling stories, and all sorts of "entertain the 5 year old" things.

On Thursday, Fiona and I packed her a bag of dry cereal (mom of the year) that she then had to share with her chirping sibs in the back seat until we dropped them off at A's - because heaven forbid they didn't get to eat immediately as well ... ha! And then went to meet Mr. John again to get her braces fitted. The blue butterfly braces were quite a hit. The three revisions on the sizing was not. I kept explaining to her that we wanted them to fit just right, but she was annoyed by the "see John for five minutes and he disappears for 10 to make adjustments" routine. Plus she was very concerned about being late for school.

The fit met Mr. John's satisfaction and the cut met mine (we cut them off a bit shorter on the bottom so she still can go up on her tiptoes while wearing them). AND we made it to school right on time. Whew!

We need to go shoe shopping to find some shoes that will fit over the braces. And since she is my short sock girl, we need to go buy higher socks. But she's been wearing them an hour or so at home over the last few days to start getting used to them (thanks to a high sock loan from little sis!) and so far, so good. She has a great attitude about them and seems to feel more secure in the ankle area. Little sibs are sufficiently impressed (and a tinge jealous) and her buddies Jack and Coop were also amazed last night by her "metal shoes." She likes that she still has decent range of motion in them.

Blue butterflies don't hurt either.

A New Chapter

First school picture!
(really, they couldn't have
tucked that stray hair ...)

We are in a nice bedtime rhythm right now (except tonight, when the girls lost their book. because one can only say "settle down" so many times. Especially when they eventually start running and screaming half a second after you remind them. I digress ...). We read and sing to Declan while the girls brush their teeth, and then after he gets popped in his crib, the girls and I snuggle up on the couch to read together.

I decided to change it up last weekend and started telling them about Chapter Books. There was a warning that the Chapter Books didn't have very many pictures and we could only read part of it each night. That was a strange concept to them. We wouldn't finish the book!?!? Can you really do that?

I still remember the first time my mom read a Chapter Book to me (Charlotte's Web) and it was such a magical new world. I've been putting a lot of thought toward which book we would start with and it felt like such a big choice. I finally settled on Beezus and Ramona. The sister dynamic felt like it would be a fun fit for the blondes - and I knew they would get a kick out of Ramona's antics. 

The girls are doing very well with their first foray into the world of chapters. Bugs is really intrigued and Quinn is hanging in there with the adventures of "Beezus and Arona" (hee hee!). They were sufficiently scandalized by Ramona writing in a library book. Of all things! They have fun guessing what will happen next when we stop each night.

Hopefully we will return to the book tomorrow - assuming our listening ears are in better working order.

A Beautiful November Day

As Mike and I held our coffee tight this morning and the kids watched a cartoon, we talked about what we wanted to do today. The last few weekends have been really busy and we haven't had the opportunity to just live in the moment on a Saturday for a while. We've had fun, so there are no complaints - it was just a nice feeling.

Mike was feeling overwhelmed by some of the outside projects that needed attention, so I sent him outside to work. He brought the girls with him and I put Dec down for a nap (partly so I could shower). Dec was still awake in his crib when I was done, so I let him out - I was impressed that he had played nicely for the whole time. We headed outside to join the gang and see how we could help. After gathering some sticks in the yard and throwing them in the fire pit, we joked about starting a fire. The crisp chill in the air was enough to turn our joke into reality. The kids thought it was fantastic to sit in their chairs and watch the fire. The roasted marshmallows didn't hurt their enthusiasm either!

After rest, we decided to rake up the few leaves that have settled in the front yard since we finished the fall raking. We underestimated the amount of leaves trapped along the fence line! We had a HUGE pile in the front yard, to the great joy of our three resident leaf jumpers. They all helped us move the pile from the fence line to the front yard and then ran, jump, twirled, safety fell, and were thrown by dad into the giant pile. Poor Mike had to un-winterize the trailer so we could pile it full of leaves and make trip number five to our neighbor's farm to dump them in the field.

It was a glorious fall day outside and we all enjoyed the fresh air and fun, which was made even by marking a couple things off the to-do list.

The Cousins Came

It's hard to get four people to look

Mike headed north last weekend for his annual hunting trip with his dad and uncle. And my sister headed south for our annual sister weekend together. This year, sister weekend was augmented by the arrival of my cousin Brenda, her daughter Anna, and Anna's baby, Otto. (Three generations of cousins. So awesome!) We've decided sister weekend is now officially cousin weekend!

The small people had such a fun time together. Somehow, Otto managed to survive the suffocating love of the blondes. And Declan has found his new best friend! They all did such a good job playing, sharing toys, and chatting at each other. We took advantage of the great weather on Saturday and went for a walk to show Otto our favorite hangout - the field. The field isn't as cool when you aren't completely mobile, but my three ran around like crazy people and Otto held on to fingers of his mom and gram and tried to keep up. I'm pretty sure that watching my people made Otto want to grow up even faster (sorry, Anna!).

My people quite literally ran
circles around Brenda

Even more exciting, the big people had a blast too. It was so nice to get to visit with some of my favorite people. We just don't get that sustained hangout time anymore as we are constantly going through GR in a whirlwind. We did lots of laughing, some drinking, and plenty of junk food eating. Perfection!

Otto, Brenda, and Anna left mid-morning on Sunday to try to take advantage of the morning nap for the long ride. Dec was sleeping when they left and didn't say good-bye. That was a tactical error on my part. He's been wandering our house for the week, going "Otto. Buddy. Otto. Buddy." He's sure if he looks hard enough, he'll find that lost cousin.

The little boys had matching jammies

a Q and two cute boys

Don't Worry, Mom!

A couple weeks ago, Mike was at a hockey meeting during bedtime. I had all the kids in pjs and had sent the girls to the living room while I put Dec to bed. I came out to cath Fiona and realized that I had forgotten to grab wipes.

S: Q, can you go get me the wipes?
Q: Sure. Cuz Buggy has poops.

S: She does. Can you smell it?

Q: No. Last year, one of Buggy’s poops fell out.

(knowing that “last year” from Q can mean anything between last year, last week, last night, or 5 minutes ago, this felt like it needed further exploration)

S: When did one of the poops fall out?

F: (looking worried) I was checking my pull up and one of the poops fell out. I’m sorry.

S: When? When did this happen?

F: When you were putting Decky to bed ...
S: (looking around) What happened to the poop?

F: Don’t worry, mom. I just picked it up and put it back in my pull up.

Q: Yeah. Don’t worry, mom.

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Mike needs a big stick for Christmas - to fend off the preschool boys from Fiona. We were at school one evening to pick her up. She said good-bye to a little boy on our way out and he just started walking along with us, chatting with her. His dad was still up by the classroom, getting all his stuff. So we slowed down as I didn't want the dad to think I was taking an extra home. But little guy was so into his conversation with Bugs that he practically got in our car with us!

Another time, I was walking out with her and a different little boy literally ran past us on the stairs. With his dad calling behind him to slow down. But little man kept running ... so he could beat us to the door, open it for Fiona, and tell her to have a good night. His dad and I shared quite the look at that.

Don't worry, mom ...

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Words are pouring out of Declan these days. If I had any concern about him being behind his sisters verbally (I didn't), I really don't now. He's a little parrot and is working hard on stringing words together, labeling people, and making animal sounds.

I took the girls to gymnastics one night and when I got home, Mike had some crazy eyes. He said (with some desperation), "I'm not reading that farm book again! He's obsessed." And daddy was not kidding. Dec is obsessed with farm animal noises. My favorite is when you ask him what a rooster says ... "cocky cocky oooo" I may ask him three dozen times a day because I love it so much.

He seems to think that just about every animal says Moooooo. Don't worry, mom. He'll get it.

A Spooktacular Day

Watching trick-or-treaters at Liv's

We changed it up this year and headed to GR for the Halloween holiday. Instead of making it a long weekend, we decided to do a quick up and back to see how that works. While it was a lot of driving in two days, we all had such a great time that it was totally worth it! We kinda wish that Halloween was on a weekend every year.

I packed two bumble bees and one tiger costume for our trip north. Back in September, I started the annual "what do you want to be for Halloween?" discussion. Fiona was determined to be Elsa (from Frozen). I employed all my marketing skills to try to coax her to be anything else. Thank goodness my employment status didn't depend on my success - because I failed miserably. Quinn and I looked at costumes and decided she would be a bee ... or as her dad said, "a Quinn bee." So I found a reasonably priced bee costume on Amazon and ordered it. In the meantime, I hit a consignment sale in town and found a bee costume for $6.00! I figured I would just cancel the Amazon order, but was unfortunately too late to cancel. But I could easily return it.

Fiona, Otto, Declan, Quinn

When I got the bee costume home, Quinn tried it on and was so cute. Being the sweet sister she is, she asked Fiona if she wanted to try it on too. Fiona did and enjoyed buzzing around the house. A few minutes later, I felt a tug on my leg and a little Bug voice whispered, "Mom, I want to be a bee too." I jumped on that so fast! And luckily, a second bee costume had already been shipped. So a couple days later, Fiona's bee costume arrived to her great joy. Finally, I went "shopping" in C's basement and found a 12 month tiger costume. Clearly exactly what Declan wanted to be!

Declan holding Alaya

We saw so many of our favorite people on Halloween. My sister's friend - who is seriously the best person ever and the second you meet her, you want to be her best friend - stopped over with her almost 2-year-old and her brand new sweet baby girl. The blondes took turns holding Alaya and then Dec climbed up in the chair, got settled, looked at us, and barked "baby." He wanted a turn too! Sooo sweet!

After dinner, we headed down to cousin Liv's house to see her and meet up with Anna and baby Otto. Otto was a lion and he and Dec made the cutest little wild animals. Anna and Ot joined us for trick-or-treating at a few houses in Liv's neighborhood, which is the clear mecca of trick-or-treating in town. When we headed up to the "haunted house," Fiona got really nervous and got a death grip on Mike. Quinn kept her eye on the prize and powered through to that bowl of candy. They are so similar, and yet so different.

Cool bat eyes pumpkin

We also headed over to Mike's sisters and did some trick-or-treating with Auntie Tracey, Uncle Kyle (dressed as a giant crab!), and cousin Batman Nate. The kids had such a great time sharing the holiday with their cousins. And it was so fun for us to watch that camaraderie. The only bump in the trick-or-treating was that Declan lost one of his black rubber fireman boots (we were carrying him and the boots are a little big). We didn't realize this until we got back to my parents' house. So my dad and Mike headed back to retrace our steps with flashlights. Against all odds, they found the boot!

While in GR, we also got to belatedly celebrate Grandpa's birthday, carve a pumpkin, and see baby Otto's baptism. A typical packed, really fun weekend up north.