Thoughts on Thursday

Yesterday I asked the boys to hand me their Thursday folders when they arrived home after school. They laughed and told me it was Wednesday. We are on a day by day bases at this point in the season and sometimes it's hour by hour (and obviously I've even struggling with that).

Last Thursday Katherine turned 1. I cried most of the day. My last baby is now 1. I am so grateful to have had the baby days 4 times over but I am so so sad to never have them again. I love nursing babies to sleep, snuggling with them in a wrap, kissing their chubby cheeks. Once I wondered why I don't kiss KC's cheeks like I used to, so I did it. I got multiple hands to the face shoving me away and then remembered why I stopped. Katherine doesn't nurse to sleep anymore, doesn't fit in the wrap (the Ergo still works though), but she lets me kiss all over her. For over a decade I've either been pregnant, nursing, or trying to get pregnant (minus about a year in there after we had the boys). It feels like the end. It absolutely drives me nuts when moms refer to this time as a "season." I want to scream, seasons are cyclical, this time is never coming back! And I've never felt it more than last Thursday.

Other than my birthday blues, the holiday season has marched on. We've done craft night at church, seen Santa (again at church, so glad he's a member at ours), made gingerbread houses uptown, visited the gingerbread houses on the outside of town, attended a holiday party (first time in years), picked our trees, decorated said trees (the boys did most of it this year), and I've been wrapping presents nightly. I still have too many people to shop for and not enough present ideas!  (where's the older kid gift guide?! toddlers are a breeze! my husband, totally know what he wants, have my mom and dad figure out too... but I have a few preteens and teens I'm shopping for and man that is tough.. we did tons of gift cards last year).

We've had basketball, piano (recital this weekend!), and birthday parties (with the most awesome train ever). And all I can think is, when can I take a breath. And then I follow that up with "you brought this on yourself." I think winter break will be a nice time to slow down (remind of me of that when I complain about the boys going stir crazy and fighting).

We had a leak under our kitchen sink the week before Thanksgiving and now I'm freaked out about mold.

I had a DSL camera I loved and I dropped it at the beach years ago. I bought a new one (an upgraded model) and my pictures are blurry! I thought the point of a DSL was not to have blurry pictures. Any clue what's going on? Do I need to leave it in sports setting?

 And I'll stop my rambling and leave this post with a goofy pic of my last babe after bath (ignore the two tone wall in the background please, slowly removing the lighthouse and boat border to paint, although the island double sink will have to stay so I guess it's more lipstick on a pig).

Thanksgiving

It feels like Thanksgiving was weeks ago. How did that happen? Do you have a tree yet? I feel like we might be the only ones without a tree! No lights out either. We might get one this weekend, but even that feels early to me. I will say all the outside decorations have made driving places super fun. KC ohh and ahhs over every little thing!

Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Ours was very laid back and that's just how I like it. My parents drove down for the holiday (and booked a hotel for the weekend!). My dad cooked almost everything and the items I was in charge of the boys took over (with assistance). Chris' mom came down with a virus and missed our big feast (and I think we gave it to her, boo on us). Hopefully we will see her this weekend.

Here's a few images from the day. We always watch the parade, take a walk, eat, eat again, and play board games.

The rest of our holiday weekend we spent enjoying time together. Friday we took the boys to see Wonder and I cried my eyes out through the whole movie. It was really good, but I never want to see it again. 

Some neighbors put out their holiday decorations (it's a yard FULL) so we strolled to see them. Along the way KC decided to make leaf angels (in the gutter... gross, but cute).

Saturday we spent most of the day at the playground. We played basketball, tag, catch, and hide and seek. Katherine hunted ladybugs, and caught one (and tried to eat it - it was saved).

 Sunday we headed to church, then the kids (all but Katherine) went to the baseball field. So far this week has flown by. Chris has been working long hours so I've been wrangling these four on my own. Katherine is recovering from her first double ear infection and not sleeping so the coffee is flowing morning, noon and night. Tonight we have our annual Christmas Crafts at church. I'm pretty excited. It's always a fun night.

I hope your week is going well! 

Procrastinating

Oh Thursday. If only you were Friday. Like everyone else, our house has been hit by "the cold" even worse we have one case of "man cold." I'm more of a buck up and deal with it type of person so I won't be getting any nurse of the year awards from Chris.

Katherine has come down with a cold as well which means sleep is at a minimum. I wanted to head to one of my favorite store's Holiday open house but Katherine was so cranky in the car I decided she couldn't skip her nap. We've been home for an hour and she's been talking in her crib (insert an eye roll). And I should be getting a million things done, but I'm not. 

Here are some cute pictures of her recently - sleeping (so tired she only got one foot out from under her) and obsessed with sitting in chairs (it's kind of funny - she immediately takes over any kid chair she can find).

Her party invites came and are so cute. I got them at this etsy shop.

I finished her birthday plate and love how it turned out. Each of my kids has a plate and each one has their own "thing" in the middle. One is a cake, one is present, one is a party hat, so it was tough to come up with a fourth. Balloons seemed a natural choice, but hard to paint! So I went with a banner. 
  

Chris is coming home in an hour (so really crunch time to get a few things done around the house) and I'm heading out to get my hair done. I'm looking forward to the break and the new do!

Have a great Thursday. 

Weekend Review

It's a foggy rainy Monday here. The boys had trouble getting out the door with all their belongings for school (where's my agenda? I can't find my shoes? I forgot to empty my lunchbox last Thursday - that smells disgusting). But thanks to a new app our school system uses, we can track the bus and see where it is - so no one missed it and I think they had everything they needed for the day. 

Our weekend involved time with the girlies, basketball, football, shopping, and lots of eating out (it makes a big difference eating out as a family of 4 vs 6, it's so much easier to get a table!).

I

'm obsessed with these sweet outfits! I noticed Katherine's is a 9m size so I'll be searching to recreate it in at least a 12m! We did some shopping at Shower Me With Love during their sale and then went to lunch at Dean and Deluca (with a short trip to Paper Source in there too). I even did some Christmas shopping (did you know slap watches are a thing now? KC got one and the boys were so jealous when they saw it. I bought one for our niece for Christmas and sounds like it might be a hit)!

Bedtime is such a struggle for us. KC is very defiant. At some point she started sleeping in our bed and we have the worst time getting her back to hers. This particular night she was being extra hard and making jokes about which pjs she wanted to wear. She loves Toy Story currently so when she said, "I want Woody pjs." I laughed and dug through a bin of her brothers' old clothes and found them. It sort of felt like winning, even if I was still meeting her demand.

This cutie is always so happy in the morning. She was up probably 4 times the night before and couldn't get comfortable. But when I walked in her room that morning she was ready for a fun day. 

The boys had an absolute blast with my parents. They love the children's museum and spent most of the day there. My dad took them to the driving range, the movies, and back to the driving range. My mom took them shopping (they are never excited when I get them clothes, but if grandma buys it, it's a winner).

In party prep news, I found Katherine's birthday dress! It's so sweet. It's a brand I'd never heard of before - The Oaks. 

Currently my dad is driving my purse back down because I accidentally left it in his car when I ran to get groceries! Poor dad, it's is 4 trip down and back in less than a week. I hope you have a great start to your week! 

Five on Friday

It's Veteran's weekend! My dad is a veteran so to thank him I'm sending my boys to his house for the weekend. Just kidding...sort of. I planned to take all the kids to my parents house Friday (they are out of school) and spend the day with my dad but then leave the boys for the weekend. My dad felt bad about me driving there and back in a day with the girls, so he's coming down today to pick up the boys and take them for the weekend. Chris and I might be a little giddy about all the things we can get done with just two kids and a sports free weekend!

Joining in on Five on Friday:

1. Tis the Season!! Basketball season!!  I love basketball. The boys finished soccer last weekend, started basketball this week and the Heels play their opening game tonight! The girlies are wearing this and will be allll season long.

2. Have you heard of Turkey on the Table? It's at quite a few retailers (Nordstrom, Swoozies, if you are local it's 30% off at Shower Me with Love this weekend). It's cute, has a book that comes with it, and is about teaching gratitude. Plus when you buy one 10 meals are given to those in need.

3. Speaking of turkey day, Target has the cutest coloring table cloth and placemats. I put the table cloth out for the kids to color little by little. 

4. Laundry! Why is it so tough to stay on top of? Do you do it all at once or a little everyday? I've tried both but can't commit. I really liked last week I did every load of laundry in the house and then folded it while watching the new Beauty and the Beast movie (and an episode of Modern Family since I wasn't finished when the movie was). I didn't finish till 1am but I kind of liked having it all done. That said, I haven't attempted that again this week. 

5. How about a cute baby picture? I want to share like ten million but I'll just share one. Tuesday a lady stopped me at lunch to tell me Katherine was way too small and needed to be seen by a ped. She was sure something was wrong with her. Wednesday a lady stopped me to tell me she was such a big boy (yes wearing a pink floral coat, she was a big boy). So funny. Katherine falls right in the middle of the chart, so I'm not concerned. 

She turned 11 months this week and I have yet to snap a picture. I really need to be better about documenting her this last month (and in the future too). 

I hope you have a great weekend. I'm linking up with the Five on Friday girls today (first time in forever!! - and now I'll be singing the Frozen soundtrack).