Fern Turns 7.

In a parenting-girls book I read this year, it described the stage that Fern is in as the Adventurous Years. She likes running around, exploring, PLAYING, and doing a variety of things. The section perfectly described where Fern is-loves nesting in her room, chatting with friends, and running around the neighborhood.



We use to worry about her shyness and how we could help her when she's feeling overwhelmed. There were years that she couldn't handle the birthday song, but she's really let a lot of that fall away. Not that shyness is a bad thing, but at times it kept her from so much! I look at these pictures from November and see a girl who full-throttle enjoyed her birthday. Presents, friends, playing, and celebrating all came so naturally to her. 

On her actual birthday, we gave her presents (including a caboodle!) and had dessert (proudly served by Burl) after our dinner. 

We had a simple friends party right after school on Friday afternoon. There's a park close by that we used. I grabbed a carload of kids and blared Shake It Off as they went wild and sang at the top of their lungs with the windows down. As I pulled up to the park, John saw me and laughed. He knew that this was a personal mom-highlight for me. 

Despite the cold, the kids ran around and had a great time. "Kids will always find a way to have fun," I read this year. So true. I don't know where the quote is, but it's accurate and why this stage is so great. 

We had a great family dinner with the cousins and grandparents where she got great attention and spoils! 

We closed out our celebrations with a treat for John and me. We took our girl out to dinner. This is our favorite way to celebrate. It's a parental indulgence. 

This seven year old business is so big. I will always miss my children being babies, but it doesn't hurt when this stage is so exciting. We love our seven year old Fern and look forward to this year! 

Cades Cove Field Trip

What a perfect time to hit Cades Cove! Fern's grade chartered two buses and took the kids for a full day field trip. The colors were unlike anything that I've seen before. The winding road to get there was coated in rich, gold hues contrasted with the darkness of the bark. It felt like it was glowing. While the kids made potty jokes, I kept interrupting with "Guys aren't the colors awesome?"

Within a few minutes of entering the park, we got to see a six point buck!

But, nothing was as amazing as surprising Burl and his buddy that they got to skip school and join us. We grabbed Fern and Asher and they got to ride the loop, unbuckled with the back open while they ate junk food. There is no other thrill than that! 

Not only did I enjoy the colors, I loved being a fly on the wall as I listened to their elementary school discussions. I love the baby stage, but this stage offers a different kind of fun! Kids, they're awesome. 

Lark Days

Finally, I have some time with my baby and me! When Ridge goes to school, I get a few hours of Lark time. It's really the best. Sometimes we have to use that time for errands, but sometimes he gets to do something at home totally FOR HIM.

A favorite toddler activity of mine has been sink time. The sink is empty of dirty dishes, I put some towels on the ground, pull up a chair, strip toddler down to a diaper and give them some plastic cups and measuring cups to enjoy. This was Lark's first time doing it and he stayed very busy while I watched him work. Those bare shoulders get me-so soft to kiss!

Whether it's a sweet activity like this or boring grocery shopping, we always do a lot of eye contact, smiling, and tickling. It's nice to have him by himself to go slow and enjoy. If you've been around here for a while, then you know that one-on-one time with any of my children is something that I really treasure. They offer more of themselves and I have more attention to take it all in. 

The absolute best part of my Lark days is when we eat lunch at the counter together-he has started to reach for my hand! He likes to hold hands while we eat together! I'm tearing up right now thinking about this big small gesture that I would have never known if other kids were around. My big baby is such a joy and I'm so grateful for one day a week with him. 

Sweet Ridge Starts School

There are two sides to Ridge: Ridge the Rhino and Sweet Ridge. Even when he's misbehaving, he has a sweet demeanor about him that is so soft and gentle. 

The day after Halloween, our sweet Ridge got to start school. It's just one day a week, but he takes it so seriously. "I'm going to my own school and I'm going to get some new friends." He's been just a few times, but he absolutely loves it!

The teachers seem to pick up on his character too. They tell me how sweet he is, and even calls him "Sweet Ridge." His crafts that he brings home have that label. 

I'm so happy for him! The walk to school is a favorite part too! It's just enough slow to remind me that I have the time to linger and go at toddler speed. We chatter, run, walk, stop, look, point, and play. 

It also reminds me of the sweet times that I had with Burl and Fern when they started years ago. 

Tears, Wands, And High Energy

This year we went for a group theme: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hedwig (Harry's pet owl). Instead of the robes and hoods, the kids wanted the preppy version of their characters. Deb made school patches (SO IMPRESSIVE!) which we put on uniform shirts. Ridge and Lark did ties, while Fern refused the boyish look, going for a scarf instead. Lark HATED his owl costume. I wrestled to get it on while he cried 100 tears. Thankfully, sugar, sugar, and more sugar gave him enough comfort to function.

The big three had fun trick or treating for nearly three hours! Lark did good for about one hour, saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" to everyone. Fun uncle Joseph came with us as well, while John and I traded our time at home passing out candy to over 250 people! I absolutely love halloween vibes! Such perfect fun. 

Dinner & An Evening

Since our beach camping trip was cut short, we had some staycation time and extra money leftover. We decided to take the family out to dinner at a real restaurant with a server and everything. The whole night turned into a very fun evening and I have a few pictures to share. Of course, I'm still not great at taking pictures at night without a flash, but I'm learning. Please excuse the blur...



We went to a local pasta place near a walking bridge. Tony's Pasta was fun-free bread all night, kids meals that are big enough to split, and the spot where John and I had our very first official date. "Ew, yuck!" the kids said in response to that news, followed by explosions of laughter.

At the walking bridge, we let everyone run free, or in Burl's case, climb free. Lark is starting to transition from being in the stroller to being a big boy. Because he was so excited with his freedom, he yelled in celebration the whole time. I imagined him saying, "I am big-here me roar!"

On the bridge, there is always someone playing good music. All the children liked it, but Ridge was the only one who asked if I would dance with him. Dance we did because he is my twin when it comes to good times and easy fun. Followed by the guitar man, we saw someone practicing ballroom dancing. Fern was the most intrigued by this! She gets her people watching from my side of the family, a trait that runs strong. 

The night became An Evening and the kids forgot all about their camping trip troubles. They followed up by kindly asking if we could do this more often. Specifically, they asked if we could go to a restaurant once a month. Apparently $5 pizzas and drive-thru ChickFilA don't count-who knew!? We said yes (and it has to be a place that gives some food for free). Sometimes staycations can be better than vacations! 

Beach Camping Trip: Busted

Our first ever beach camping trip was cut short because we were evacuated due to Hurricane Michael. I won't get into the long details of how it happened, but I'll say that we had no clue it was coming. We drove 7+ hours and we were there for 24 hours, so we were sad. Here are a few pictures from our time there:

 Luckily we had a list of good campsites, so we were able to grab a good spot with trees and shade. That was nice because it felt hotter than normal. 

This trip was monumental for our family because this was the first time that Lark had visited the beach. We took him when he was a few months old on the most exhausting trip ever, but we didn't bring him out of the condo much because of all his naps! This time, he got out and enjoyed it.  

He loved digging his hands and feet into the sand! All the sensory feelings had him swooning! 

He could have played trucks in the sand the entire time, but we wanted to see him in the water! We quickly figured out that he wouldn't go in the tide pools unless he had his puddle jumper on. Safety first for Lark!

I loved how much the older kids enjoyed and adored Lark with his first beach trip. We took him to the ocean's edge to let the breakers wash on his legs, but he was uncertain. He watched his feet sink and disappear into the sand with such panic and confusion! After realizing what his stunned expression was telling us, Fern and I wiped away the sand so he could see his feet again! "What relief!" I imagined him thinking. Once he realized that he still had two feet with ten toes, he enjoyed the game. Back at the tide pool, he taught Fern how to play the same game with his hands in the bottom of the water. A quick game of "now you see it, now you don't" with necessary body parts is the exact thrill that makes Lark amazed. It's like hide and go seek with sand and water. "I have hands, I don't have hands, etc" 

The big kids did their kid thing. They ran away from the waves screaming and laughing. They collected shells and stuff. They threw sand patties aggressively into the water. 

I won't sugarcoat it and say "we made the best time and it was still worth it and nothing gets us down and it's all ok." We were bummed, exhausted, and disappointed. However, I can still sift through my memories with enough motivation to pull out the good parts. The beach, sand, and water were amazing-probably the best one that I've ever seen! My babies had fun. We came home and had a relaxing staycation to recover. Hopefully we will get a second chance. 

Dad's Farm Birthday, Again

Happy Birthday, Dad! We did our annual farm trip for my dad's birthday a couple of weeks ago. John wasn't able to come, which meant I had to take the four kids by myself to the farm-hard, hard work I tell you. I don't mind taking them places by myself, but the farm is totally different. They want to do all the things all the time and they need all my help to do them. Burl can usually start to wonder off by himself, but the other three take some time to adjust and often keep coming back to me for help and assurance. Plus, there are the diapers, the potty training, and the putting the miniature straw in the caprisuns for the 4,000th time.

I made sure my brother was going too for some help. He brought two other buddies, and I wasn't sure how the vibe was going to go with three rowdy men to help me. They were awesome and such a help! My kids loved having their fun uncle and his fun friends there. 

They took the kids fishing for me (such a relief after last time), and Ridge caught his first fish! I could hear them celebrating for him all the way from the pond to my dad's cabin. I grabbed my camera and ran down there-one of the guys even took pictures on his phone in case I didn't make it. I made it down there and took the only pictures I took that day. 

Ridge was so excited! At bedtime he told me that he really wanted to cut it up, cook it, and eat it. What a good day to show his namesake, Ridge Thomas....He gets excited over victories, and wants to cook his own food. Happy Birthday, Dad. It was a fun day. 

Empty Time, Full Time

I don't know how it happened, but so much time has passed since I've posted on my blog! Setting aside time to blog has been a more struggle with four active, moving kids, as I expected it to be. Long ago when I started blogging, I had one child who napped 2-3 times a day. Those were the days when sitting down and writing my thoughts about being a new mom were plentiful and fun. Now, we are either focusing on house projects or cleaning some mess and those take my downtime, read: nap time. Or, rather, I'm taking a break from the whirlwind and lying myself flat on my back to find a few minutes of rest from it all.

I still find it fun and good to pair my photos and words about my not so special, gift-of-a life here. It's the gift of an outlet that I love. So, here I am. I'm huddled up by myself while John takes over the morning duties. Glory!

The picture below is not so special, but it meant so much to me. It was the last day of fall break and it was one of those days that felt full and magical. Our fall break trip was cancelled due to the hurricane (more on that later), and we had ourselves a very easy staycation. There was a lot of neighborhood play for my big kids. On this last day of fall break, we met friends at the downtown library, picnicked in the new downtown park, Fern had a much needed girls-only playdate, then we were back home with the kids running from yard to yard with neighbor friends. Someone parked her bike by the trash cans-neighbors coming and going. This time and opportunity is one of my biggest gifts to my children-better than a good education, big gift, exciting trip. While those things are great, I love giving my kids EMPTY TIME TO RUN AROUND AND PLAY! I'm getting preachy, and I don't mean to-sorry. Seeing them play like this brings me so much fulfillment as their mom. 

As I'm writing this out, I'm realizing that my three favorite things to give my kids are: Jesus, chores, and empty time. That's my current mom-flavor. I love when I get to see it. 

Don't Craft With Kids

If you're looking for a post to encourage you to do crafts with your kids, then stop reading now and go somewhere else. If you're looking for a post to encourage you to never spend the money with kids' crafts again, then read on...

It all started by the kids seeing youtube videos in art class. They were shown videos called "5 minute crafts to do with elementary kids" and the title is full of lies. Truthfully, they're cute fun videos and somewhat entertaining to watch. 

School was cancelled yesterday due to flooding in the area, so I felt brave enough to go to the craft store and buy supplies. Before all the kids were even out of the car a lady approached me, "You homeschool, don't you?" Oh no ma'am, that is not in my design. But being at the craft store with more than one child during school hours does paint a picture...

The children were surprisingly easy in the store and I was surprisingly patient. We collected our supplies and headed home. The big kids emptied the dishwasher while I got everything in order. Playdo for Lark. Supplies for big kids. Ridge was on his own to make a big mess. 

The original project from youtube didn't work out, so we went to making magnets. This is surprisingly easy thing for kids to do in the real world. Paper, glass marble things with a flat back, magnets, glue gun, disappearing glue. That's the most I'm going to get into instructions. 

Burl made 20 for his class, Fern made a card for her teacher, I made a couple sets, Ridge made a mess, and Lark was cute. 

The pictures don't do it justice. The place was trashed. I spent sooooooo long cleaning up that I had to lie down afterwards. That's pretty par for the course for me these days. 

We were happy and buzzing together for about an hour and it was a fun time. I guess it wasn't a total bust. Everyone was happy until the bottom fell out of our hunger and everyone needed lunch five minutes ago. And the world kept on spinning.