She got a homemade pup cup!
Happy 2nd birthday, Olive!
Category Archives: Holidays
Happy 15th birthday, Owen!
I think this is the first birthday we’ve been apart and I couldn’t get a picture, so we’re throwing it back to your first birthday…and last week!
Besties as Big Mouth characters
We love the show Big Mouth so when I saw this personalized artwork on Etsy I had to get it. So we all now have a framed copy.
Look at my new infinity scarf!
Anna has gotten really good at crocheting and gave me this for Christmas!
Schwalm Christmas 2023
A Christmas surprise!
Since we missed going to Grayling for Christmas since Katie had Covid, we surprised them in Lansing for the Schwalm Christmas! We decided at about 10am that we could make it…and walked in to Beth and Jim’s as they were finishing dinner! SURPRISE!
Olive loves the kids’ new beanbag
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.
So regal.
Holiday nails!
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!
Pre-Thanksgiving 2023
Everyone was coming for Thanksgiving again this year! So Day 1 dinner prep—smoked ribs—started early!
Gramma Fixit
Yay! Gramma and grandpa are here early for Thanksgiving! So we put Gramma to work sewing up a hole in the beanbag!! Olive thought it was a perfect spot to nap.
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.
Just a Barbie girl!
The high school had a trick or treating event so I took Katie. It was mostly for younger kids but she played some games and came home with some candy so she was happy. And she was thrilled that lots of the high school girls knew she was Barbie and loved her shoes!
She also learned a great lesson—heels suck.
Maine, I am in you.
My mom said this was probably going to be their last trip to Maine—so I took both kids out of school for a week and off we went!
And with my mom, the reason for the vacation!
Two-pound lobsters for dinner? Yes, please! Katie hated it (color me not surprised) and Owen liked it. Tomorrow we’ll have lobster rolls.
Katie wasn’t thrilled with any of it.
Owen tried everything—from cracking to eating.
After dinner they surprised me with a birthday cake—complete with 50 candles!
Felted Ghosts!
Four people, four different ghosts! Mine is the tall one on the right! It was the first time any of us felted!
Birthday dinner with my bestie!
Why yes I’m starting my 50th with a crown!
And a homecoming parade. Owen always gets dressed at school after we drop him off—and then changes back after—so we never really get a chance to get a pic in his uniform. I knew he’d be walking by us in the parking lot so I could stop him for 10 seconds…but he swears he didn’t see us so this is all I got.
I just realized you can’t see my awesome shirt so here it is…
And then Bass Pro Shops to pick up a bleacher seat.
And then home to be surprised by a yard sign!
And then a restful afternoon reading with a margarita!
12:01
It’s almost time…
It’s almost my birthday so we’re starting the celebration a little early. #50isfabulous
Birthday goat yoga!
Katie got invited to a goat yoga birthday party! The mom sent these pics!
Avoid Chicago September 15-16
TIP OF THE YEAR: Avoid Chicago on September 15-16.
Tonight we got stuck in Chicago trying to get out of town after the show (it took an hour to go like four blocks).
Turns out it was the start of Mexican independence day (it’s actually 9/16 but the celebrating starts the day before) and the traffic was freaking insane!
Apparently the thing to do is drive around with passengers hanging outside the car (through the window or sunroof or both), honk your horn like a madman while waving huge flags, and cause traffic jams. And there’s lots of cops out…not doing anything.
Consider yourself warned.
Celebrating 22 years!
Dinner with Anna and David at Primo!
And then taking the party home…with the dogs.
Friday Fave: Crab Rangoon + Year 22 of Chinese
Our annual tradition of Chinese on our anniversary (we’re at 22 years!). Sometimes it’s dinner, sometimes it’s lunch. It’s usually Crab Rangoon and General Tsos chicken but today we went outside the box with coconut shrimp and it was super delish!
BTW, if Crab Rangoon is on a menu I’m getting it. And especially if it’s our wedding anniversary—we randomly had Chinese after our wedding and then randomly had it on our anniversary for the first few years so now it’s obviously a tradition!
This slushie machine is no joke.
We’ve been looking at these and researching them for a long time. Unfortunately the best ones are professional models that are expensive and huge! We finally bit the bullet for our upcoming annual end of summer party…
A friend’s birthday at Hurricane Harbor
Brandon (left) was one of Owen’s first friends in third grade. He’s so awesome—he wanted to go to Six Flags for his birthday but since he knows Owen doesn’t like rides, they went to the water park instead!
The Len Christmas in July is over!
It’s now just a gathering with food (lots of food!) and catching up…and euchre!
Plus we get the chance to get the kids together for comparison pics!! (They were all really good sports about it, too!)
