Getting Dressed For Easter

I am sometimes paralyzed and always overwhelmed when it comes to dressing up. Halloween, fancy events, etc is all too much for me. I think the root of the problem comes from living on a budget-I don't want to use all our clothes budget getting the right outfit for an event.



Sometimes the grandmothers really come through though! This year my mom bought matching shirts for the littles and almost-matching for Burl.

 

What was adorable was that no one was as excited to match as Burl was. He felt so proud to match his younger brothers, a feeling that most nine-year-olds just don't have. Fern was in there too, wearing her blue, and adoring her babies as the second mom of the house. 

This was our first Easter to make it to church on time for a parking spot and a seat in the sanctuary, so we celebrated by bringing the littles in for the music. I usually leave my phone at home when we go to church, but today I had it with me and was able to take a picture right before the service started. 

Easter is not at all about the clothes. At all. This is not a spiritual post. This is just a post about getting "fancy" dressed and loving the smiles my kids had. 

Ridge's Writings

Ridge is my child who has shown the most interest in writing. Daily he grabs a pencil and index card and draws some very detailed and almost distinguishable picture. This year, he got to deliver his first Valentine's Day cards. 

This tiny right of passage always nudges me to finally teach them how to write their own names. For whatever reason, I found the time to do this during our morning hustle to get the big kids to school. I showed him once and he got it pretty quickly (except for that tricky lower case e). He was very enthusiastic about it as long as we only did three at a time. It was a very happy Valentine's day for Ridge. 

Large Lark Turns 2

Because I like to overthink everything and make things harder on myself, one of my constant mom-thoughts is "does every child have a place and a voice in our big family, are they heard/do they contribute something of themselves to our family?" with a slight undercurrent of "the world does not revolve around each child-don't cater to them!" See, I'm a total mom-nut-job with my unnecessary thoughts.

As the youngest, Lark often gets dragged along to everything and often I wonder if we ever do anything for him. His birthday was going to be my indicator. Did he see it as his own celebration and fun, or did he see it as another activity forced upon him? 

The answer became clear: he saw it as his own. The older three were so cute helping him feel special. While Burl and Fern took over the streamer decorations, Ridge helped with a gentle hype. 

Ridge loved all his toys, while Burl and Fern used their tablets for their own pictures. Our sweet Lark, fresh up from bed, enjoyed the attention and loved his new little toys. 

Later that day, he wore his new, ugly, character shirt with pride. As family arrived, he greeted everyone and showed him his special shirt. We devoured cake and the ever famous charcuterie board. 

The candles were lit, the song was sung, and his smile was plastered on his face. What joy to watch a two year old GET IT. 

After he neatly ate his cake and opened his presents with enthusiasm, he did what he does best: he kept playing. 

As he grows and develops, I'm watching him become his own person. So far, I think we're ok on the everyone has their place. These days it's still just a lot of playing, which is Lark's expertise. He plays so well! For now, that's the most important thing that a toddler can do. We love our big boy, Lark. 

Christmas Eve Cinnamon Rolls

For Christmas Eve, my dad came over and made cinnamon rolls with the kids.

Those little hands had so much fun with all the new textures. 

Then, we unbuckled the real fun and let them play in the leftover ingredients to make a big mess. 

Fern topped them off with the icing. 

They tasted good, but nothing was as exciting as the making process. 

Potty Jokes & Tree Decorating

The tree is long gone, and the season is at the end. I still need to remember this quick night of decorating the tree. Decorating for Christmas happened throughout the season. Fern especially enjoyed moving things around-taking ornaments off the tree and moving them to random spots around the house or daily rearranging the manger scenes. We enjoyed adding all the layers for the holiday season.

This is a post about the first wave of decorating. It was a quick, surprising hustle after school and before small group. We popped open the bins and started digging. 

We found a discarded Christmas Mad Libs. The kids finally "got it." They know what nouns and verbs are enough to pick them for third grade hilarity. As we gathered all the potty words that are allowed, Burl was sent into a spiral that kept him laughing all night. 

The laughter and silliness became contagious throughout the family. 

John and I egged it on, emphasizing the potty words, the kids not breathing from laughter. 

That's what I will remember from this year. Burl's amazing third grade laughter as we unpacked those bins...

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! 

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! 

My Birthday Trip To Cataloochee

Recently a couple asked John and me what was the surprisingly best thing about having children. What a great question, one that I'm still thinking about. One thing that came to mind (and that John and I talk about) is that our kids woke up this adventurous side in us. Side by side comparison, our life before kids probably looked more adventurous than after kids, but the motivation and drive is different now. Before children, we enjoyed our married life by having fun with friends. We hosted tons of meals, we went on group trips, we travelled to see people, etc. It was a fun time and that's how we lived. Now, we have this desire to explore and show the kids new and cool things in simple ways.

On our quest for new and inexpensive camping trips, we were recommended Cataloochee. It's a remote campground on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where they've reintroduced elk. 

The temperatures up there were drastically cooler and crisper and required an extra layer in the morning and evenings, something unheard of in the south this time of year!

The campground is small and is nestled between a rushing creek and babbling brook, our slice of heaven. Past the campground and following the creek is a gravel out-n-back road where we could see elk and other wildlife. We saw so many animals! Elk, turkey, owls, snails, and butterflies. One trip we even saw a mama elk nursing her baby!

I purposefully scheduled the trip over my birthday weekend. On the morning of the14th, I drove through the fields and took some pictures. My only companions were coffee, Lark, and the peacefulness of the forrest morning. 

Happy Birthday to me! What a treat!

Before lunch, we did a little hike through the woods to an old homestead. 

It also followed the creek with several bridges that the kids said reminded them of Bridge to Terabithia. One of these bridges is where we had our first accident. Ridge slipped and fell about four feet off the bridge into the creek, landing flat on his back on a flat rock. Burl ran over to him faster than anyone, which was amazing to see. He was like superman! I got to Ridge and picked him up and gave him the look over. He cried and asked if he was bleeding. We couldn't find a scratch on him-and John and I were shocked and thankful. It could have been much worse! 

We found the house which was open to exploration. The surrounding fields were covered with clusters of butterflies. When we walked to the second level, we were amazed to find a huge butterfly zipping from room to room over our heads. Then, being the not girl scout that I am, I realized that it was actually a bat and I screamed, grabbing Ridge and running down the stairs. Ridge was scarred by this (before the creek incident) and was hysterical! He never mentioned the huge fall he had, but he tells everyone about those bats! He wants to go back and see them. 

When we got back to the campground and started making lunch, our guests of honor showed up. Daniel and Tahoma came and met us and stayed the night! Let the wild rumpus begin! During Lark's nap, Daniel and John took the big three to try trout fishing while I stayed back for a birthday nap. They didn't catch anything, and lost one of John's sandals! 

Once Lark woke up, we tried another spot for fishing. We were really hoping to catch, gut, clean, and cook our own dinner. Unfortunately, we came up empty again. However, Daniel and I started catching crawfish. We used to do that with our dad on Sunday afternoons in a creek near my grandparents' house. 

We took the few that we caught and cooked those as part of our dinner. 

My birthday dinner was fried tilapia (backup fish that I brought), kale salad, grilled corn, roasted potatoes, crawfish, and brownies. That was one of the best meals that I had and eating in the woods made it spectacular!

After dinner, we took another ride through the cove. Riding without seat belts in the back of the van was definitely more exciting for the kids than seeing elk. John and I enjoyed hearing their shrills of delight from the front seat. 

On my birthday evening, a lady walked by and stopped to talk to us. I need to write this to help me remember: she told us something similar to the last camping trip. It went something like this, "I've been watching yall and I think it's awesome that you bring four small children to camp in a tent! You're awesome to do this!" My brother laughed and said, "and today is her birthday" to which I replied, "thank you, you just gave me my best present." I'll take "you're awesome" from strangers any day.

Before Daniel and Tahoma left, we took our normal group picture. The kids and I have been looking through old pictures lately and we are really loving the memories. "Take lots of pictures!" my pediatrician told me at our last visit before he retired. The effort it takes to coordinate this can make my back sweat, but I've let go of "look at the camera and smile." The bunny ears and tongue sticks tell an important story too!

Before we left, we stopped to explore the school house. This was perfect for the kids because it helped them see what it was like for some of the characters in a few books that we've been reading from that time period (including John's grandmother who just passed away-she wrote about her sweet childhood!)

As a family, we had a great time exploring and trying new things together. Even though we failed in fishing for trout, we had a great time experiencing it all as a family. From elk to open door car rides, from bridge falls to lost shoes, from butterflies to bats, from trout to crawfish, these kids have gifted our family with childlike exploration that doesn't cost a lot of money or require too much show. Maybe one day we will take grand trips that will be amazing too, but we are loving these small trips with our small children too.