Day 2346 | Squishies

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Robbe has become very interested in this little gel-like animals that he calls “squishies”. Or maybe that’s their official name? I’m not sure. Either way, they sure have been providing quite the entertainment lately. The photo above is from when Robbe discovered that the squishies stick to the underside of the counter. Fun, right?

Day 2345 | Playgrounds

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I remember walking to playgrounds with Chase when he was a small baby and longing for a time when he would be able to play along with the rest of the kids. I remember watching the older kids and wondering how long the playground stays appealing.

Our ten-year-old’s interest in playground antics has definitely diminished, but it hasn’t disappeared quite yet. If he’s in the right mood, the playground still brings as much joy as it ever did. And our eight-year-old? He’s in no matter the circumstance.

Day 2344 | Mother’s Day

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I’ve been a mom for ten years. That’s a lot of years. The woman next to me? Forty-five years.

We can learn so much from other moms, can’t we? And yet, we try to pave our path on our own. We try to prove we can do it and be everything to everyone. I struggle with that and yet find it hard to ask for help at the same time.

Momming is hard work. But the best work I do. I’m thankful everyday for the tiny humans that call me mom. And I’ll do everything in my power to model kindness and compassion and empathy in hopes that even a bit of that sinks in to the next generation. The world could use more kindness, don’t you think?

To my mom, and my husband’s mom, and all the moms reading this: you’re doing a great job. Your sacrifices and efforts are recognized and appreciated.

Day 2340 | Saturday Antics

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While Chris is off traveling with his brothers, the boys and I managed to put together a nice little Saturday for ourselves. It started off with a cold, rainy, and pretty miserable soccer game at 8am (the boys were in shockingly good spirits throughout, though!). Once we got home, changed out of our soaking wet clothes, and warmed up, we still had a whole day ahead of us.

We made time for some video games, there was a lot of reading, some game-playing, and we even set up a projector in our [messy] basement to watch a movie on “the big screen”.

But the big highlight of the day was heading to our favorite ice cream shop for a Harry Potter-themed celebration. As part of the fun, they were making shakes with secret colors enveloped in the ice cream so that you stirred it up to reveal which house you were in. They called them Sorting Shakes. So cute, right? Also, very delicious. It was the perfect little outing during a wet, dreary day when we didn’t have motivation for much of anything else outside the house.

Day 2338 | Manicure Date

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Robbe has been really into getting his nails painted lately. So, for his birthday, we gave him an IOU for a trip to a real nail salon for his first professional manicure. Today was the day and he was just so happy. And, he didn’t even have to worry about smudging it right away like he does at home for hours after I paint them. We splurged and got gel manicures so he could just go about his business. His mind was blown.

Day 2337 | Ice Cream Run

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I’ve been wanting to host an after-school playground gathering as a way to bring some community back to the boys’ school after the last couple of years of isolation. Today was finally the day. I was hoping for a beautiful spring day and it wasn’t exactly that (I’m not sure it was even over 40 degrees), but that didn’t stop anyone from attending.

I don’t have an official count, but I think there were over 150 people in attendance (our school has about 300 students, in case you’re curious). We organized for ice cream to be delivered from a local ice cream shop as an incentive for attendees. Boy, did that do the trick! We planned for 50 scoops and then brought 36 single-serve ice cream cups as a back up. We ended up asking the ice cream parlor to scoop 25 more and we STILL ran out. Over 110 scoops of ice cream—and only for the kids (no adults!). I ended up offering free ice cream tokens to another 10 kids. Can you believe that?!? Neither can I!

We’ll, guess whose kids didn’t get any ice cream at the event? Mine. Haha. I told them they had to wait until everyone else had theirs…and then we ran out. Luckily, they were just as happy to hit the local ice cream shop for their own selections after dinner tonight. And this way Chris and I got a scoop, too. A win for us all. :)

Day 2330 | Mall of America

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The boys decided they wanted a trip to the Mall of America instead of birthday parties this year. We were happy to oblige. We went on rides (with varying degrees of success), we succeeded in an epic escape room, hung out with good friends, ate delicious food, and went on quite a shopping spree. It was a lovely way to spend some time together and the perfect ending to birthday season at our house.

Day 2329 | Chase turns 10!

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We had a lovely day celebrating our favorite 10 year old. There was chocolate chip pancakes, video games, Pokemon shopping, presents galore (including a fancy new bike!), macaroni + cheese for dinner, and ice cream cookie sandwiches for dessert. That’s pretty great, right?

If you’re one of our friends (or distant family) that doesn’t know Chase personally, let me just tell you that he’s super smart, really funny, beyond caring, and a rules-follower through and through. He loves school, his brother, his friends, being silly, playing games, reading (and more reading), Flopsy, being right, and so many more things. He’s pretty incredible.