4th of July

We did our "second annual" kids in front of the garage with popsicles on July 4th picture. Haha! I clearly did not plan ahead because the store was out of bomb pops. We had one on hand and Callum wanted it, so he got that while the others had watermelon. I was looking at this picture chuckling, wondering how long I can get away with them letting me do this. Here is the link to last year's, if you are interested.  

^^ May we all look at someone the way Willa looks at a popsicle! 

Our fourth celebration didn't look much different this year than in years past. For the past few years, we have stayed home and done our own little thing. It allows us to start relatively early and still have the kids to bed at a reasonable hour. Plus, is there really anything more fun for kids than to pick out their own fireworks at a stand then light them on fire?!

This year, there was a bit of a fight for fireworks. Connor and Isla made their own fireworks show and Callum made his. There may or may not have been some fireworks theft between the two piles and some screams, but then everyone settled in and all was fine. 

^^ This is Willa's "mom stop taking my picture and hold me" picture. She did great during the fireworks, but definitely wanted me to hold her. After a bit, I just put her in her carrier, as it was easier. 

^^ Callum loved the fireworks, as long as his ear covers were on. He would pull them up during fireworks, so I think they were more security than anything. We have had a kid with those on for the fourth for so many years, it will be a bit sad for me when they are no longer needed by anyone. 

^^ The ole light and run routine. 

After a bit, I put my camera away and just enjoyed myself. One neighbor came out and watched on their porch for a bit. And another walked down and watched too. Toward the end of our time, a truck came, sped up and purposefully ran into our fireworks display. It send all the stuff (including two "slow" signs) flying as far as two houses down. It was really scary, considering Ian and Connor were there maybe 30 seconds prior. It really shook me up and was a bummer way to basically end things. I found out today that the same guy drove to other parts of our neighborhood and did the same thing. Super uncool, but I am not going to let it ruin the whole memory of the night. 

Even though our country is in turmoil and it seems like a weird time to celebrate it, I am thankful for our freedoms, including freedom of speech. I look forward to the day that our country really practices what is stated in the declaration of independence, that "all men are created equal". Now to fight for the equal treatment of all!

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New Year's 2020

Alternatively titled "the blurry photos have the best memories". Actually, there could be so many alternative titles to this. From "party boy Callum" to "a glimpse into our future" to "the best new year's ever". But I'll stick with "New Year's 2020". It's simple, to the point and factual. 

I've hit that point in blogging that it happens so little that at this point, I am at least trying to throw up some of the memories I want to remember forever. New Years is one of those times. Connor really wanted to stay up until midnight and we said yes. But, we did an east coast New Years celebration at 9pm so we could all celebrate together. We even managed to stream the ball dropping on our tv. For Christmas, Isla's teacher gave me a bottle of sparkling cider, so I threw it in the fridge for the occasion. Then I told Ian to bust out some fancy glasses. With everyone grasping a wine glass of martinellis, we rang in the new year at 9pm. Everyone clang their glasses together. Callum really, REALLY enjoyed that part and kept it going, yelling "cheers!" before throwing his glass at yours. It was a sweet, fun and joy filled moment...full of children in their pajamas, a fire in the fireplace and just a cozy family time. Then the younger three went off to bed...Willa was actually already in bed. Connor and Ian stayed up watching a movie and I watched some Netflix (I'm just not a fan of marvel movies...don't hate!). About 10 minutes until midnight, I went and joined Connor and Ian. We celebrated the new year once again. And Connor was shocked when I shooed him off to bed at around 12:10. He wanted to keep the party going!!!

If I had to imagine a new year celebration with children, it was just how I would imagine it. Stress free, fun, celebratory, and most importantly, done in pjs! 

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That Time We Cut Down a Christmas Tree

A couple days before Thanksgiving, a mom at the kids school mentioned to me that the 4th grade national parks pass also comes with a Christmas tree tag. And, not only that, she had already done all the research on where to go to get the tag and get the tree. She forwarded me the information, I mentioned it to Ian and we decided to go for it. Up until this point, we have either always had a fake tree or had no tree at all...because living in small quarters means no tree. 

We stuffed the kids in the truck and headed out the Friday after Thanksgiving. There was a bit of whining along the way until we saw snow. Then everyone was excited. And it started dumping snow, which obviously was SUPER EXCITING. When we stopped at the ranger's station for our tree tag, he told Ian a couple good places to find trees. The first place was covered in cars, so we continued on. We stopped in the second location, which had three other cars besides us. While we were getting Willa and Callum sorted, Connor and Isla went running into the snow...which at this point was a few feet deep. Before I knew it, Isla was waist deep in snow. Of course, after a few minutes, she was complaining she was cold and wanted in the truck. But, the rest of us were going to look for a tree nearby. Then, Callum kept getting his boots stuck in the snow and just walking around in his socks, so Ian asked me to take him back to the truck. At which point, Connor asked to go back too. So there I sat, in the truck with all the kids, while Ian went in search of a tree. He came back with one (pictured above) much quicker than I expected. 

Once home, we had to cut down our tree a bit to fit it inside. It's still much wider than our fake tree, but I like it. It reminds me of an oversized Charlie Brown Christmas tree because it only has needles at the ends. But, it's ours and comes with a fun story and for that, I totally love it. Also, there have been no bugs coming from the tree, which I feared because of the internet, and literally no pine needles have fallen. So it's definitely been a win and I would totally get a real tree again.

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Fall Fun

I'm a recovering listaholic. You know those adorable themed lists on Pinterest (15 fall fun things, 20 things for the Christmas season, etc)? I ATE THEM UP. Somewhere along the way, I had FOUR kids.  And, you know what? I can't keep up. And I don't care. Because, guess what I discovered? The fun still happens even if there isn't a cute list. Shocking, right?! Clearly the timely blogging about said fun things doesn't happen because, again FOUR KIDS. Here's some things we got up to during the fall. 

We bought cute pumpkins at Trader Joes because they were cute and cheap. Then we took the kids to a pumpkin farm (not a patch with fun activities, an actual farm) to pick out some pumpkins for carving later in the month. 

But then one night we decided to go to a pumpkin patch, not for pumpkins, just to play. It was dark and chilly and we basically had the place to ourselves. Which was perfect because then the kids could ride the zip line as much as their hearts desired and do all the other fun things there because we basically had the place to ourselves.

We took the kids to a kid friendly haunted house in our city's museum. It was mostly a success and the kids left with far too much candy for it not even being halloween yet.

Isla made a pumpkin character from a book for school. It's bad kitty from Happy Birthday Bad Kitty, in case you were wondering. Also, all the hot glue started popping off on the way to school. It was a bit of a disaster until I learned Isla's teacher had a hot glue gun already plugged in at school to fix mishaps like that.

We carved pumpkins. Connor carved his all on his own, Isla drew hers and had Ian help cut her's out. Callum wanted a piece of candy carved and I carved it out...I'm not sure if it was a success or not, haha! 

I may be y-e-a-r-s late to the trend, but I picked up a big pumpkin and carved two holes for Willa to sit in. And, well, just look how cute that turned out!

All the kids dressed up for Halloween. The three older ones had parades at their schools that morning. That evening, we trick-or-treated in our neighborhood before coming back home and passing out candy. Then Isla's bestie came and Isla went back out trick-or-treating again.

Just because there was a certain dog poop in leaf pile incident a couple years ago doesn't mean I don't like fall leaves. It just means the kids no longer can freely play in them! But, I still plopped Willa down in some for a cute picture. 

We ended the fall season by going to my grandma's house for Thanksgiving. I always love having my kids see my grandma and know it is so special for them to even have a living great grandparent. It was a sweet, sweet time. And before you get on me, yes I know technically it's still fall. But, as soon as Thanksgiving it over, it's Christmas season to me...yep, Christmas is a season all of its own! 

All this fall fun happened while also celebrating both Isla and Connor's birthdays and Ian and I managing a trip to Nashville for a few days. We really did manage to have a fun filled fall, even without a beautiful Pinterest list reminding us what we should do.

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School Halloween Parades

Both of the kids schools do Halloween parades and I just love it. It's just one of those childhood things I truly enjoy...as many of the school activities I find just over the top. Callum's preschool started doing a Halloween parade Isla's last year there, so Connor never got to do it until elementary school. But watching preschoolers get all dressed up in their adorable costumes and awkwardly parade around is just the best. Callum ended up ditching his helmet halfway through the parade. The teacher tried putting it back on, but he wasn't having it. Also, Callum's parade was the day before Halloween, which really worked out well for me. He only goes to school two days a week and it was just how it worked out. But otherwise, I would have had to miss one or the other, as I can't be at two schools at the same time. So I am grateful for that happening. 

The older kids elementary school takes Halloween very seriously. All the kids parade around to music, then the choir sings for everyone. We didn't stay for the choir, as Callum was all over the place, obviously feeding off the fun energy in the air, haha. Also, let me show you the nice pictures of Connor, then you can scroll down and see how Connor really felt about me taking his picture! 

^^ Connor really wanted this costume, even though it was a bit too small for him. Why do the precious costumes have to stop at smaller sizes and then only the scary or ridiculous costumes are available in larger sizes?! Oh well. 

^^ What a turkey!!!

Then there's Isla. She has been a witch for the past three years. Her best friend tried convincing her to be something else this year, but she obviously wasn't convinced. I got rid of the costume she wore the past two years, as it was looking rather tore up...and I thought maybe then she would chose to be something else this year. Nope! I guess being a witch is just her thing. If you didn't see the picture of Isla and her black cat on instagram, you can see it here...because it's too cute to miss. Isla also still gets super excited to see us at things, so that is nice for us, haha. 

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Fourth of July

I decided to do some pictures of the kids on the fourth of July and I really liked how they came out. I got so many good ones of the four of them, I really couldn't decide which I liked best. I posted one on instagram of Callum sharing his popsicle with Willa that was really cute too. That didn't last long, but Isla stepped in and let Willa enjoy her popsicle a bit. Willa definitely liked it, but more held it up to her mouth and licked it rather than putting it in her mouth. It made a mess all over her face, but in a fun and cute way...the way only babies can make messes look fun and cute! 

We had a low-key barbecue and swim in our backyard with both mine and Ian's parents. Then we started fireworks around 7pm. Isla took the time to make the official order and list of fireworks. This year Connor was into setting them off, so took over those duties. And in between fireworks would try to set the paper left over from the firework on fire, so it appears we have a little pyro on our hands. 

^^ The firework that Callum picked out at the stand...which was actually really loud and intense. 

My aunt and uncle came and joined us later for fireworks. We finished up just as it was getting totally dark and everyone else was beginning their fireworks...haha! But then, we had the kids in bed at a decent hour and they slept through the loud illegal fireworks going off around us, so that was nice. It was a low-key holiday, just how I like to celebrate them!

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