Day 1828 | Composting

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There hasn’t been a season of my life that I feel more like an adult than the last few months. Geeking out about seeing the inside of our walls. Getting [beyond] excited about toilets. Gushing over how cozy our new carpet is.

I had another major moment in my adult life today: I started composting. Thanks to Earthbound Environmental Services for making this step as easy as possible for me. I just keep out the compostable stuff, put it in a different bag, and then add it to the same refuse bin. Super easy, right? Well…I still need to figure out the logistics of how to store all this compost before it makes it in the specified bag. I need fridge space for the icky stuff and under-the-cabinet space for the non-perishable stuff (like tissues and paper towel). For now, I’m starting small and I’ll just figure out my system as I go.

I’m just *a bit* excited about this. Can you tell? Being an adult is so fun!

Day 1827 | Another Sick Day

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It was the big guy’s turn to stay home with me today. After a short bout with a stomach bug yesterday his recovery day today was pretty great, actually. He read a lot, we played some games, I joined him for an afternoon nap, and we even got to see Chris a bit (he was home sick as well—ugh, I know).

Everyone seemed to be in better spirits tonight. Fingers crossed for a good day tomorrow.

Day 1826 | Cross Country Skiing

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We’ve been talking a lot about trying to get outside and enjoy the winter more. Today’s warm temperature gave us the extra motivation we needed.

We bundled up and headed over to a nature reserve to rent some equipment and try out the trails. The boys did great. Cross country skiing is no joke and they had good attitudes and worked hard the whole time—really all a parent can hope for in a situation like this. It wasn’t much of a workout for Chris and me at this stage, but we were glad we to be out there as a family.

Day 1825 | Bunk Beds No More

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We replaced the carpet in the boys room this week and they’ve decided to un-bunk their beds. In case you’re wondering, this is what they looked like when we first set their room up. So sweet, right?

There was no question about still sharing a room. They were just done needing to be on top of each othe (literally). These little nuggets are growing up so fast.

p.s. The boys are always wearing stocking hats these days. Like always, always. It’s pretty weird.

Day 1824 | Family Date Night

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I discovered a long-ago-discarded restaurant gift certificate yesterday while cleaning out a drawer and decided to be crazy and suggest a family date night with dinner out…on a weeknight! Crazy, right?!?

We discussed the idea of making this a monthly event. As a counter argument, Chase suggested we make it a weekly occasion. Maybe we’ll meet in the middle and go semi-monthly. The unofficial name of this new tradition is The Semi-Monthly Tuesday Wanderers Family Date Night. I might make t-shirts for everyone.

Day 1824 | Bear Cards

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The boys have been collecting country cards from these Bear Yo-yo snacks for quite some time. If you send in ten UPCs, the company will send you back this sweet map so you can keep track of all the places you’ve collected with flag stickers

As you might imagine, Robbe was more than a bit excited about this project. He was focused and diligent as he sorted and marked his country cards—we’ve got quite the collection, as you can see. He’s only missing 17 countries at this point (of the 80 they make cards for). Yes. We do really like these fruit ropes. How’d you guess?

Day 1821 | Big Day

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I know the blog is focused on our “big days”. It’s in the title, afterall. But today really was a big day. After nearly three months of work, we have functioning lights, toilets, showers, and sinks. I’ll post a real photo tomorrow, but for today just take my word for it: the bathroom is amazing. We’ve got just a couple details left to finish (carpet, doors, shelving, etc.) but we are extremely happy with how everything is coming together. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Day 1820 | DIY Contribution

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Yes. Our bathroom project is still underway. Yes. It’s SO close to wrapping up. We *might* get toilets tomorrow. That’s how close we are. I promise to share photos soon.

Since Chris and I are super handy, we decided to handle the closet shelving project ourselves. It’s practically the IKEA of closet systems so I think it’ll be ok. Tonight’s project? Drawers. It turned out pretty well minus the one dented drawer front and the missing packet of screws. Ugh. This is why DIY-ing is over-rated. :)

Day 1819 | A [Not So] Sick Day

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Robbe had some tummy troubles last night that forced a day at home today—you see what I’m getting at, right? But what happens when a good night’s sleep cures all and you wake up 100%? That’s right. A [not so sick] day. We played some Pokémon. We read a lot. We watched a couple of episodes of some slightly annoying show. It was the most solo time we’ve spent together in a long long time. I really like that little nugget. It ended up being a pretty great [not so] sick day.

Day 1818 | Go Pack Go

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We were all excited about the big Packer game tonight. The boys even sported their *vintage* jerseys for the occasion (that’s a Woodson jersey and Driver jersey in case you can’t tell—gotta love hand-me-downs). It’s been a fun season of football watching—especially when they keep winning. I’ll make sure the jerseys are ready for next week!

*Side note: this photo was taken at our 4-H meeting. Chase insisted he hold this ball up for the photo. Kids are weird.

Day 1817 | Pancake Protégé

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That’s right, I’ve decided to take this one under my wing and show him the secrets of my pancake process.

I really like making pancakes. I think Chris thinks I’m crazy sometimes (ok, more than sometimes) when I want to get up and immediately head to the kitchen on the weekends to undertake the process of making pancakes [from scratch]. I like the tradition of it. I like that when the kids look back, they’ll remember me making weekend batches of muffins or pancakes as a special break from the weekday breakfast monotony. They’ll think that, right? Even if they never fully realize my intentions, it warms my heart and to give this little part or myself to them. It’s ok if Chris thinks I’m crazy.

In case you’re curious…I still use this recipe from Day 94 way back in 2014. With the addition of chocolate chips, of course. :)