Sprout Spot: September 2017

Thursday, September 28, 2017

A Weekend with Mei Mei

Last weekend Anna attended a retreat with her middle school group from our church, and the boys went on a camping trip with their Trail Life troop. So that meant from Friday night to Sunday afternoon it was just me and the little mei mei! She was so excited! Before they left she would come up to me and whisper, "It just gonna be me and you! Just da girls! And we can go get candeeeeeeeee". Pretty sure that last part was the biggest part for her, but it was still cute.

When I put her to bed Friday night I had visions of sleeping in a little, until some crazy time like 7:30 or 8:00am. But my brain woke me up at 6:30 and Kate stumbled into my room about 15 minutes later. So since we were up and dressed early we grabbed a little Chick-fil-a breakfast before we started my long list of errands. When we got inside she went to find the smallest table she could because, "It's just you and me!". It was fun to sit and focus all on her, even if she did quickly ditch me for the kids in the play land. :)

Next we crossed the street to Hobby Lobby. I had mentioned to Kate that since it was almost October maybe we could put out all of our Fall decorations as a surprise for her siblings when they all came home. She loved this idea and wanted to buy it all!

Side note- see these tacky little light up ceramic Christmas trees? My grandma had one just like this when I was growing up and I always loved it so much. My siblings have the same memories and my sister and I have decided we might need to buy one this year for our own families (sorry, Nathan). I resisted buying it on this trip, but it's probably happening soon.

Kate was feeling the Christmas spirit right away too.

She insisted on photos with all of the foxes.

In this picture she was pumping that fist and saying, "Yes! Christmas!".

Yeah, she was an excited blur over this star. We didn't buy it. ;)

After we left there we ran into the pet store for some gerbil food. She had to visit the cats. #nothanks

And eeeeeeeek it was Pug Rescue Day!!! Who knew there was even such a thing as Pug Rescue?! They were so cute and fat and squishy, but the poor little things didn't have much chance of being chosen. Two of them were very old and kind of feeble looking, and the younger one barked nonstop. Still cute, but we have our own very old doggie at home thankyouverymuch.

This man was holding another type of little dog, who was apparently BFFs with one of the pugs. They were a package deal.

Ran through the grocery and then a car wash, and I cracked up when Kate jerked her head back and gave a stern look at that soap!

That night we got some dinner together and she watched Fall themed Hallmark movies with me. What could be better than that?!

The next morning it was time to go get Anna. Yahoo!

The time apart was good for them, but they really did miss each other. That's Sharpie on Anna's arm from some game they played the night before. She's had multiple showers since then and it's still there!

She loved this weekend retreat with her small group. It was a much smaller number of kids than summer camp, so I think it was better for them to connect to each other and their leaders.

It was such a fun weekend for all of the girls, and I'll have to do a whole other post about the boys' camping weekend (hatchet throwing! knife skills!). It's always so good to have a little one on one time here and there, and this weekend with Kate made me realize how much she's growing up and turning into her own little lady. Love that chicken!

Thursday, September 21, 2017

My Big Girl

Often on Sundays Anna and I will sneak away after church for a little girl time. Now that she's older she is so fun to hang out with, and we love to go get coffee or shop a little. Sometimes all we do is walk around the craft store because she just loves to look, even if we don't buy anything. We live within walking distance of our grocery, so when we needed just a few staples the other day I suggested to Anna that we could take her backpack and walk there together. I think the fact that there is a Starbucks next door helped motivate her.

She's so cute. So cute that I'm not even mad at her for growing up and choosing an Adidas backpack this year instead of kittens or rainbows. ;) I'll leave that to Kate now.

We did our shopping (and felt a little like shoplifters walking around with an empty backpack!) and then popped into Starbucks. She wanted to walk home with our drinks instead of stay there, so of course we took a nerdy picture once we got outside. We had planned to get pumpkin spice lattes since she'd never had one, but it was crazy hot, so I went with an iced version and she got an iced salted caramel mocha instead. Both of them were way too sweet of course, and Anna had downed hers before we were even half way home!

Since that day she's asked me many times when we can walk to the grocery again. I told her we could do it soon, but an iced coffee may not be in the plan every single time!

I took this photo at church this weekend just because she looked so crazy cute to me! As usual, this was not the outfit that I laid out for her, but when she came down the hall in this I had to admit I liked her choice even better. At our church the middle school is in a separate building from the main sanctuary, so we always drop her off at that door and then go on over to our side. After the service I walk over to their building and wait for her to come out. Many of her friends do the opposite, and they walk back to their parents instead of parents coming to them. I want to let her be 12 and a middle schooler, so I've asked her if she would prefer that I stay on my side and she can just meet me there, but she said she likes that I come get her. I played it cool, but inside I was super happy that she still wants me to come get her.

This weekend we went to a family birthday party and spent hours and hours just relaxing in my sister's backyard. Her husband pointed out a little frog that always sits on their back deck, and Anna caught him! As you can see from these pictures my sister took, it was the thrill of her evening. I love how much she still loves animals (sometimes a little too much, hee!). I bought her this book when she was maybe 6 or 7 and she still looks at it almost every night. She used to read it for information, but now that she's read it a thousand time she uses it as a guide to draw and watercolor different animals. She should go to sleep earlier, but it's hard to make her stop when she's so into her work.

We have so much fun together. I'm already missing her because she's going on a retreat with church and will be gone all weekend. I'm excited for all of the one on one time I'll have with Kate, but both of us will be happy when big sister is home again.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Friday Favorites

1. Hello!

Favorite number one is that I'm sitting here typing right now! Life has been so busy and I don't see it letting up any time soon, but this little blog has been going for 12 years (!) and I can't just let it fade away. I'm already sad about how little I've recorded this year - other than on Instagram - so I'm hoping to get back in this space more often.

2. Back to School

One thing that might help me write more often is the fact that all of the kids are back in school now! For the first time in 12 years I have a handful of hours twice a week with no kids at home. We're 3 weeks in, and so far I have filled every second of those days with errands and other activities (like my first haircut where I didn't need a babysitter - squeal!), but I know I will settle into a calmer routine soon. The kids are definitely back in the groove and I think it's so good for all of us. Anna is plugging away at Upper School, and so far the homework is no joke. We're trying to get her on a good routine to see if we can make this work for high school too. Her school is known for being very rigorous, which we like, but we also need a good school/ life balance, so we'll see how this year goes. Noah is doing pretty well so far too. Last year was so crazy for him with illnesses and going to China and getting a new brother. We're praying that this year will be a little better!

I can't believe they're in 5th and 7th grade.

Or Kindergarten and 1st grade, when they're feeling goofy. ;)

The little three had their first day at our 2 day per week homeschool program. They were a little nervous, but mostly excited and three weeks in they still love going. I'm so happy that we seem to have found a perfect blend for them this year. I love having them home and I love that they get to learn from other teachers and in small groups with other homeschooled kids. I have no idea what the next few years will look like, but this is a good fit for now!

3. Fall activities

The little boys started soccer a couple of weeks ago. Will has been asking to play ever since he saw Ben's first game in the Spring, and as expected, he loves it. It's fun to watch him and Ben get in there and go after it. Neither of them are super aggressive (which I like), but they keep up and try to score when they can.

After that first game Nathan and our 3 boys went to a historical reenactment about an hour from home as a part of their Trail Life group, so I got to spend some one on one time with this girlie. Maybe I bought her some candy. ;)

Anna spent that entire day (8am - 10pm) at the Upper School retreat on her campus. She had been looking forward to this day since before school even started, and it did not disappoint. One of the first things they did was sort the new Upper School students into their houses. The houses compete against each other all year, earning points by doing things like service projects, helping fellow students, academics, athletics, and just general school spirit. Even though they compete, it really is a fun thing for all of them. Anna really wanted to be in the House of Patrick and somehow she got her wish! Even though any of the houses would have been fine, I was so happy for happy for her! When she came home that night she was exhausted but thrilled. :) The school took all of these photos but the last one.

Anna said they called their names one by one, and then would yell out what house they were in. Then all of the kids in that house would go crazy jumping and high five-ing the new members as they ran in. I so wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Anna found out she was in the house that she wanted!

I think they played just about every indoor and outdoor sport over the course of 14 hours, all for House points of course.

Loved seeing her in her bandana, face paint, and hair streamers. For a girl that loves Harry Potter, being sorted into a house is just about the coolest thing that could happen at school.

This weekend she starts in an art program through our city. She was nominated by her art teacher and she's super excited to get to do all kinds of art for 2 hours every Saturday. This is a drawing she did for her Classical class at school. They're studying Egypt and this is Ammit the Devourer. I know nothing about that, but I was still impressed with her work, and she said her teacher hung it up in the classroom. This part of classical education is so fun for her. Remember that she has loved learning about this sort of thing for years.

4. Fall weather....for a week or two

I've loved the cool weather we've had for the last little while. Nothing makes me happier than busting out a cardigan or light jacket! We did the fire pit and s'mores on a few of those cooler nights. I'm itching to plop a few pumpkins on my porch but the forecast this weekend is going into the mid-80s! Noooo! Hoping it's summer's last hoorah.

5. Our friends are back!

Remember when they moved away? Now they're back to stay. It's so fun to see our kids pick up right where they left off and just be friends again. And it's hilarious to us that we had a combined 4 kids when they left and now we have 9. The mommies are also having plenty of play dates (with one little 2 year old sidekick) on those 2 school days because their son goes there too. So fun to see each other face to face again on a regular basis.

It was a fun summer and a great start to the new school year. We're looking forward to all the fun firsts that Will is going to have this Fall. He's super excited about his birthday and his first family birthday party coming up in October, and the other kids have him all excited about Halloween, "You go to the houses and they give you free candy!". It's so nice to be back into a routine and headed into our favorite season of the year!

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