This little guy got to start the birthday celebrations early: his first school birthday treat! He picked strawberry aliens to continue his brother’s tradition. Luckily, I only had to make 15 this time.
Can you tell he’s *a little* excited?
**Photo credit to his amazing teacher, Ms. Megan. She even captured a natural smile. That's hard to do with this one (as I'm sure you've noticed). Thanks!
This has been a usual scene around here since we procured a collection of Boxcar Children audio books from the library. Chase can sit at the counter forever (seriously, it was over an hour at one point) and just listen. We all know how he’s spending his free time when we’re on vacation next month. And I don’t mind the break from non-stop reading so we all win!
The trend continues: playing outside two days in a row! Yeah, we’re pretty excited, too.
Today, the boys tried out snowshoeing for the first time. Beaver Creek Reserve lets folks rent winter atheletic gear so it was a low cost way to let the kids try something new. I wouldn’t say they loved it but they definitely enjoyed it more than I would have expected (especially Chase). I’m glad we weren’t attempting to do a full hike. The couple of short laps they did were more than enough to make the introduction.
We *finally* got outside for some family snow time today. It was the first time this winter. I know...crazy. It’s been so cold that the opportunity hasn’t presented itself. We’re sad about it, too. Not anymore! We rocked this snow time.
Check out this sweet art exhibit. Interesting + interactive...perfect! The best part? It was right down the street from our house. Even on a cold + sleeting night, we still managed to walk/scoot there. That's how close it was.
Chase was not thrilled with the idea of the excursion (we went to the library today and he had LOTS of reading on his to do list), but even he had fun at the ArtFly exhibit. And we're all super excited about the new SHIFT Cyclery + Coffee Bar opening up in this space soon. Eau Claire is the best.
Today was a good day. Chase was off of school (planned, not a sick day) and we had high hopes of doing something super fun. Enter Robbe with a high fever for the second day in a row. We didn't let that get us down, though. We rocked today, even with a sickling.
The day started with an early morning photo shoot of the new blanket of snow. I hustled Chase out the door in his pajamas to talk photo ops in preparation for his first entry in a Photo Festival (through 4-H). He got some really great shots.
After that, some friends came over to hang out. [For the record, Robbe has an ear infection so he's not contagious and with one dose of tylenol he was back to his joyful self. I promise I wasn't exposing anyone to danger!] We had fun with our friends, then ate some lunch, then the boys took naps. I got some work done (and made some progress on a serious web design challenge I've been having) until Chase woke up.
Then I stopped working (it's so hard to do when you're finally making progress) to focus on my son. As he waited for me to finish up (just a couple of minutes, I swear), he grabbed the latest Boxcar Children book that we got from the library...and started reading it. I'm not kidding. He has been so afraid to start reading--because it's hard. He's not used to things being hard. Today...for whatever reason...he decided to do it. And he did it!
He read two paragraphs out of that charter book and you could see the pride rush over his face. We spent the next 45 minutes reading that book (me to him) and then afterward, he told me that he wanted to read a book to Robbe. What?!? Where's this coming from? So that happened.
Also today: I did letter of the week work with Robbe. Chase practiced piano. We had a super yummy meal (mini tater tots might have been involved). I washed the bunkbed sheets (my least favorite chore, but most gratifying when it's done). We enjoyed family reading time after dinner (so we could finish the Boxcar Children book...it was a real nail biter).
This probably all seems a little boring, but this is what a really good day is for me right now. And I'm totally ok with that.
We’re bursting with pride over here. Two parent/teacher conferences today and two glowing reports. Is it just me or does everyone love the opportunity to have focused chatting time with these important people in our children's lives? I love it.
Let's start with the big guy. His teachers say he's kind, polite, focused, and super smart. No surprises, right? But it's nice to hear from someone who's not related to him.
And the little guy? His teacher said, and I quote, "I've never had a student make this much progress in such a short amount of time." That. That's an amazing compliment, right? The chart above is evidence to this statement. He entered the classroom in the fall with a Word Level accuracy of just 26%. That's really low, you guys. Now he's understandable at the Word Level 98% of the time. He needed to reach a certain benchmark with the Word Level before moving onto Phrases...and he's at 96% for that after just four months of being assessed. Once he hit the benchmark for Phrases, he graduated to Sentence Level...and he's at 94%. Whoa.
It has been exactly one year since we started this journey down the speech therapy road. To say we are grateful for the expertise and patience that Robbe's current teachers and his original speech therapist have shown him, is beyond understated. These women have given our little man the gift of communication. I can't imagine how different his life (and ours) would be right now if we didn’t trust our gut instinct telling us something was wrong. We're so proud of this little nugget.
Chris didn’t take me seriously when I said I wanted this Pattern Play set for Christmas. Luckily, all my subtle hints payed off as I got one for my birthday. Chase has been doing this pattern “work” at school and when I was introduced to it at a friend’s house, I was smitten. It’s just so fun!
When Chase does it at school, he has to take all the pieces out in an orderly fashion and line them up (like in the bottom left photo) before he starts the actual pattern (there’s a stack of cards with a bunch of different options). He was excited to show me the “correct” way to start the pattern work but he was even more excited when I told him he could just dump mine out with a loud thud and start the pattern right away when he’s at home. Talk about breaking all the rules. For our rules-following dude, this idea is crazy. And crazy awesome. You should have seen his smile.
We had a lovely recovery day today. Chase was the only one with any type of responsibility (he had school), so the rest of us enjoyed a low key morning catching up on life a bit. Chris and Robbe spent a good chunk of time deliberating the right choices from the latest book order (see above) and we decided to surprise Chase by bringing him lunch at school (it was a huge bummer that he couldn't hang out with the rest of the fam, after all). But then, as we were waiting to surprise him, we found out that school was getting released early due to weather. We opted to bring him home right after lunch...so we all won! The evening wrapped up with one last birthday dinner with my parents (so nice not to cook!). And now we're ready to take on the week.
As promised, here are some photos from the Olympics party we put together for my birthday celebration. If you want a full rundown on the specific activities, pop over to my friend Ashley's blog. Special thank you to Ashley and Chris for going along with this crazy idea with just three days of warning. It was exactly how I wanted to celebrate the big 3-4.
This is how the whole family is feeling today. Tired. Birthdays and holidays and weekends away are fun but, man, are they exhausting.
Grandma and Grandma filled us full of delicious food and sweet treats all weekend (not to mention a hefty supply of new toys). We managed a lovely birthday dinner with Chris’s brother and his wife. And fun family time was had by all.
Now we’re heading home for swim lessons, dinner, and [hopefully] an early bedtime.
Three days. Three big celebrations. It’s pretty great.
Today we celebrated our #1 guy. I wish we could have done something over the top to show him how very important he is to our family. Instead, we’ll be grateful for a low-key day including quality time spent with some of our favorite people.
Every day is a party with you, Swan. Birthday or not. Thanks for being my very best friend.
**Side note: Chris opted for dirt dessert as his special birthday treat, in case you were worried about what we were eating.**
Today was a lovely day. Thanks for all the calls and texts and happy thoughts. I’m feeling very loved.
Among other things, here are some reasons my day was just about perfect:
So what did I do today? Lots of quality time with the kids and a super fun Olympic-themed party. More photos to come but for now you can just enjoy the one above from after the metal ceremony.
Birthdays are the best. Thanks for showing me the love.
Whether you're into Valentine's Day or not, I hope you did something to make your heart happy today. I woke up hoping for the following today:
It seems even more appropriate with what happened in Florida today. As full as my heart is, it hurts for those families who aren't as lucky.
Part of the healing process for my back is figuring out what emotional baggage I've been carrying around and figuring out how to separate myself from it. One of the "bags" that I've been carrying with me for years is the relationship with my mom's mom--my grandma.
I grew up 3+ hours away from that side of the family so we didn't get to be a part of each other's day-to-day when I was growing up. I went to UW-Madison for college so was just 40 minutes away from her at that time, but I never really made an effort to make plans with her. You know...because at 18 you're just **so busy**. Then I moved to DC for three years, then to Iowa for one year and there was minimal contact. Don't get me wrong, we usually saw each other at least twice a year (sometimes more) and Christmas at that grandma and grandpa's house in Monroe will always be some of my most cherished and favorite memories as a child.
But I was the only granddaughter. There were six grandsons and me. I should have fostered that granddaughter/grandmother relationship more. I should have recognized my role in our family sooner. I should have asked her questions about her adventures through life and the people she loved.
One of the best things I've done in my life was to spend the last few weeks of my grandma's life with her before she passed away from cancer. It was a transition point in my life--Chris and I had just moved back to DC (from Iowa) and I had quit my job and was actively hunting for a new one. My mom and my aunt were working important, full-time jobs at the time so I decided to head "home" to Wisconsin to hang out with my grandma for those sad, quiet, important days while she slipped away.
I think that's part of the reason I wish I could go back in time and foster that relationship sooner. In those last few weeks, I saw what we could have had. What our relationship meant to each other even though we didn't have the countless conversations or individual memories to support it.
And she protected me to the end. She would *intentionally* wait for my mom or aunt to reappear before needing any medical attention during those days when we were together. She held on until after I left so that I didn't have to be there when she finally slipped away. That kind of control and intention when someone is near the end always takes my breath away.
I continue to carry those memories from her last few weeks with me even though 7+ years (7 years?!?) have passed. I use the bird mugs that she loved all the time. I wear her ring (pictured above) which she wore every day for as long as I can remember. I carried one of her bags around for years (also pictured) until the corners and straps finally started to give way. Now I save it for special occasions.
I would do anything to go back in time, grandma. But I hope you know how much you meant to me and how those few weeks together shaped my life more than you (or I) will ever know.
Happy birthday, Grandma.
I’ve wanted to give calligraphy a try for a very long time. Today, the dream came true! As a little background, my handwriting pretty much stinks, so I had low expectations. Calligraphy is no joke, you guys. I think there’s hope for me but it’s defintiely going to take some work. Stay tuned.
I love that this little local store does these workshops. You remember the wreath, right? I can’t wait to take another one.
Chase and I had a special momma + son ceramics date this morning. We met some of our 4-H friends for an introduction to ceramics and we had a great time. Chase is making a bowl for the Empty Bowls fundraiser. We’ve still got two more visits before we walk away with a bowl, but we made some good progress today. It brought me back to my glory days of 4-H projects, that’s for sure.
This is another post that comes directly from one of my expressive writing sessions. I promise I won't go crazy with these! As I was penning my thoughts for the day, I thought about how it will feel to someday look back on the boys when they were little. For some reason, I decided that this time when the boys are this age is going to be what I look back on and remember fondly when I'm nostalgic of "when they were little". I think I might have mentioned this notion before, but while I was writing, it really dawned on me why this age is so special. Again, I couldn't recreate the list I made that day, but I'll make due with what I've brainstormed this time around. When I look back, I'll remember:
He’s still not 100% today, but it was a vast improvement. It’s been a long four days but *I hope* we’ve rounded the corner.
Another day of sick baby snuggles around here. Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday but it’s hard to find something to take a picture of when you’ve got a feverish little one connected to you at all times.
I took Robbe into the doctor yesterday. With all the crazy stuff going around, you can never be too safe. We found out he’s got a nasty cold and an ear infection. He just has to let his little body fight through it.
Today was a bit better. The Tylenol really helped make him more comfortable, which it didn’t do yesterday, and the fever only crept back in with some achiness when it was time for the next dose.
All in all, I really can’t complain. We’ve had a relatively healthy patch for awhile now. Here’s hoping once we get past this round, we’ll have another nice long healthy patch ahead.
**As you might have guessed, the photo above is not from today. Once again, I didn’t have a picture to post so I found this gem buried in my phone. Ahh...remember the time when everyone wasn’t sick and they could share a drink? And we could actually leave the house?!? Those days were the best.
Poor Robbe had his turn at a sick day today. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite as lucky as Chase with his day off. He didn't feel great. A fever and drippy nose kept him pretty uncomfortable most of the day. The only thing that helped? Some momma snuggles....which I was happy to supply. Oh, and a bit of tea, of course.
Let's all hope for a good night tonight so the little nugget feels more like himself tomorrow.
small city | BIG DAYS
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