And of course they loved it!
The kids got to go first!
Category Archives: Katie
Maybe a new Christmas tradition?
Do y’all know what this is?! I made it for Katie for Christmas!!
I honestly don’t know what the official name for it is, but I’ve been calling it a Saran ball. It’s just a bunch of tiny gifts all rolled up inside a crap ton of cling wrap. I figured she’d have more fun unwrapping this monstrosity than a few little packages of hair clips, mini nail polishes, fidget popits, and hair ties.
I was just going to make one for her…but I had so much fun doing it that I am now going to make one for Owen, too—though his might be heavier on the candy and lighter on the hair accessories!
And I think we’re going to do one for all four kids…make it into a game. Apparently people are supposed to unwrap with oven mitts while someone tries to roll doubles—and they get to keep everything they unwrap during that time! We shall see!
This is what kids “playing together” looks like.
Starting our first annual (?) Harry Potter marathon!
We hope to watch them all by the time the kids go back to school in January!
Gummi and candy galore!
We’ve wanted to stop at the Albanese outlet many times but we always had Maggie with us and it was too hot or cold to leave her in the car. So we stopped today! They have our favorite gummi bears!
IT was quite crowded so I didn’t take pics — but here’s one I found online that gives you an idea! This is about half of it! And so much more than gummi bears!!
Our faves might be the Goof Ups Gummi Worms!
Gramma’s potato peelers!
Thanksgiving 2021
All of the googly eyes make this delicious appetizer tablescape perfect.
Katie’s down another tooth!
Katie has had a loose tooth for quite some time. Of course, it became critical an hour after bedtime at gramma’s.
It was hanging by the tiniest string and of course she refused to pull it or to let us pull it. She wanted us to try and cut it (like David did with another of her loose teeth recently) so Tom was prepared…
But he ended up just pulling it out!
Cousins!
And a throwback:
You know it’s a successful road trip when…
I’m so done with Halloween candy.
Or should I say candy wrappers ALL OVER.
I’m boosted!
And Katie’s getting her shot next Friday! It’s a good day!
Halloween 2021
Katie was supposed to be an inflatable T-rex but she had a meltdown at the last minute (somehow the costume “felt different” from when she last tried it on that morning) so after a MUCH drama, she’s wearing dino PJs.
Owen is some videogame character I know nothing about (Edgar from Brawl Stars)! Good times.
The best thing? They’re old enough to go out on their own so we sent them off while we sat at a fire in the driveway! (They went out first by themselves while we were waiting for Anna and David to arrive and then went out with the boys later!)
Our costumes were “glampers” — courtesy of Anna and David’s RV (it was in our driveway from the weekend—the kids had a sleepover in it)!!
It was a gorgeous day but it was windy and chilly—but at least it wasn’t raining or snowing! The fire was nice but could have been even warmer!
Maggie sat cuddled in a blanket on my lap for a good two hours).
We also had two adult drinks (Apple bourbon smash and rum punch) to hand out to friends but I didn’t get a pic of that!
Anna’s kids were tired after an hour or so of trick or treating but our kids went out again! Unfortunately I didn’t get the annual pic of their candy haul!
Fall family walk!
We decided to take a walk in our amazing neighborhood during Sparty halftime since it was such a nice day. (Also, one of these things is not like the other.)
Way to go, Katie!
She was the fastest out of her entire PE class! (She also said the girls beat the boys overall!)
Then and now!
Cross country completed!
Katie loves running so when Cross Country was offered as an intramural I signed her up immediately! It was after school for an hour for eight days. Their goal was apparently to lower their time for the mile—and she did! She dropped a minute off her time!
She sleeps with Charlie every night.
Harvest Fest
Today was Harvest Fest (aka Halloween) at school.
Costume choice #1 (Cruella) was scrapped last night because she couldn’t find the tank top I bought to go with it.
Costume choice #2 (2018’s Harley Quinn costume) was scrapped at 8am this morning because it was too scratchy, she couldn’t find a shirt to wear under it, and she lost all the accessories during her last sleepover.
So we went with a standby “costume” (MSU cheerleader) that she owns and wears regularly anyway.
Dissecting squid!
Katie’s class dissected a squid this week and it made it into the school newsletter! She’s barely in the second photo.
She said it was fun but it really smelled!!
Jack O’Lantern World
AN INCREDIBLE WALK THROUGH THOUSANDS OF HAND CARVED JACK O’LANTERNS (Link)
Of course they weren’t all real pumpkins since the exhibit lasts all month…but they were still hand-carved. It was definitely neat but something we probably don’t need to do again!
Most of the pics are Anna’s because mine didn’t turn out as good.
Go Sparty!
And this pic I snapped as she was trying to get out of the picture? This looks like she could be 3yo again.
Loving on Pepper
Katie really misses our cats so she always loves on Pepper when we go to Anna and David’s.
My two sweet sleeping girls!
We officially have a new blue park!
Today was the official Grand Reopening! There were more people and kids there then I’ve seen in total since we’ve lived here! But it was a picnic so they had hot dogs, chips, and cookies! We couldn’t stay too long since we had dinner plans. But the kids and I did make an appearance and they got to see some friends!
A preview of the new park!
The park/playground across the street has been closed for renovations since the end of August. They took the construction fences down today so of course Katie ran over immediately!
She went down the little slide first.
The big curly slide can only be accessed via climbing up these ropes! It took some gentle cajoling to get her to do it. Then it took some more to get her to actually go down the slide.
But eventually she did!
Reading to dogs!
Katie had been asking to read to a dog for months now so I finally scheduled it. You call into a zoom call and get assigned to a dog! She loved it! Maggie was only there for a minute so everyone could see her!
They’re doing math. Really.
Sleeping Beauty
Imagine our surprise to find this in Katie’s room.
WHYYYYYYYYYYY!!?!
Just ugh. I mean writing on walls is not something a 9yo should be doing. Especially after we’ve talked to her about getting marker on her carpets.
So we took away all her markers and made her clean it (thankfully it came off).