My bathroom closet desperately needed attention and Katie likes organizing so I had her help me. I got rid of a bunch and reorganized and now my closet is functional again.
Category Archives: Katie
She bought her own iPad!
She had an old one that was handed down to her but it was too old to do what she wanted so we told her she could buy a new one if she had the money. She thought they were much more expensive than it was, so she actually had most of the money for it! She used Christmas money from Gramma Jean (which I had made her save) and found a bunch of money stashed in multiple places. Of course she didn’t want to do chores to earn anything (because that’s not fun) so we had some discussions. But she was able to get it pretty quickly.
10 years ago today
Babysitting Jules
Movie night
Cheering at a college game!
The cheer team was invited to cheer at halftime of the women’s CLC game! They did a good job!
Just chillin’
Schwalm Christmas 2023
Bah humbug.
Katie tested positive for Covid (her second time!)—she even took two tests. I blame the cesspool of middle school. Tom and I are as boosted as we can be so fingers crossed we don’t get it.
She was super upset and crying when we got the results—she really wanted to go to Gramma’s house. I’m just glad we decided to test her at all because we thought it was just a cold.
It took three tries
Here we go again.
Look what I found on Katie’s phone…
A YouTube account.
Sigh.
I guess I technically knew about it because I’d heard her and Owen talking about posting things and about how many views they had (I think they were having a competition). But long story short, there more videos on her account than I’d thought — not quite as bad as her TikTok account but still some things I didn’t like — so we had a rational discussion. She could keep the account but had to change her username and delete some of the videos.
I’m hoping that this will give her enough room to feel older without being dangerous.
Time will tell.
More proof they really love the stroller
Getting the dogs ready for a stroll.
I went to the doctors to get my anxiety meds refilled
Y’all. I went to the doctors to get my anxiety meds refilled and he asked if I’ve ever thought of going off it as a trial since I’ve been on it for two years.
I said dead straight I HAVE AN 11YO DAUGHTER and he just laughed. And gave me a refill. And said “maybe when the kids go off to college.”
Yes we have a dog stroller.
Katie has been begging for one and we finally told her she could buy it with her own money—thinking it would put a stop to it. Nope. She had most of the money and said she’d pay off the rest. Okay then.
And they liked it. They let Katie roll them around the house.
The next day Tom and I watched them sniffing around it and trying to get in it. So I helped.
Finally a good picture of our cheerleader!
She wanted to build a snowman!
And she did a great job!!
Now it’s time for Christmas!
Thanksgiving 2023 is over…
Thanksgiving Day 2023
Friends of ours—Scott and Wendy—also joined us this year as she was visiting from Seattle and they didn’t have other plans! She loves Thanksgiving and cooking so she brought most of the sides to go with Tom’s smoked turkey and smoked ham!
Thanksgiving tip? Gravy in an insulated pitcher! Pourable plus it stays warm!
The evening was spent watching football, playing cards, puzzling, and visiting!
It was all fun and games until…
It took longer to check out than we anticipated and consequently we didn’t have enough time to go to a restaurant like we had talked about (in order to make it back in time for her parent/teacher conferences). So she was pissy. We still went to Panera for takeout but she still wasn’t happy. I can’t wait for this stage to be over.
A girl and a snuggly dog
Katie’s pancakes
After a rough instructional pancake session last night that ended with both of us upset, she did these all on her own today!
Pre-cheer pizza party
Making Katie take a turn.
We are having the whole family here for Thanksgiving and need the kids’ rooms for guests, which means Katie’s room needed SERIOUS attention. Like more than just being cleaned up…because it smelled. So once it was picked up and cleaned out, we cleaned the carpets. I made her take a turn so she learns how much work it is and will hopefully (?) try to keep it clean. (Yeah I’m not holding my breath.) She was less than thrilled.
When Katie gets Snapchat on my phone.
I want them back, please.
One starts today and one finishes today!
Congratulations Owen!
Katie can only use Snapchat on my phone…so today we did some filters while waiting for the orthodontist. It’s making memories, right?
Our cheerleader
Halloween 2023
The kids are growing up—they each went trick or treating with friends in other neighborhoods.
Owen and friends are all going as Men in Black and Katie was going to be Barbie until the weather turned so now she’s Angel from Lilo & Stitch.