Nostalgia

It feels like just yesterday that I spent many days of each week either writing a blog post or thinking about writing a blog post. I really did enjoy those days. I would like to say I'm not sure why I stopped, but really it was an accumulation of things. 2013 was the year that I really hit my first real down-slope. That was the year my dad passed away and that really had me in a pretty serious slump for well over a year. It wasn't long after all of this that my life turned upside down once again with my departure from full-time stay-at-home mom to working-mom. That pretty much did me in for my blogging habit. Exhaustion had a whole new meaning to me by this point.

So here's the thing: My kids LOVE the blog. They go get on it somewhat regularly and read posts of their childhood. That, in and of itself, was the main goal when starting the blog. It was to document the lives of our family and their childhood so that one day they could go back and see what it was like. And it's not just them. It's for me. I find myself going back and just looking through months of posts, reading them and enjoying every reminder of each precious memory. Nostalgia. It hits me in the feels.

My blessing of a friend, Mandy, said to me, "You know you can always start back up blogging." She's right, of course. Being in the midst of a world-wide pandemic has been exhausting. News and the daily struggles of wearing masks and constant worry has worn me thin. Part of my hope for changing this is to back away from social media and news. But when I'm bored and have access to the internet, I find myself scrolling away. A coworker of mine said he has tried to downsize his daily dose of news with new and healthier distractions like crossword puzzles. I've made my own list of things that are healthier distractions. Writing my book, drawing, watching a well-loved tv show (that may or may not involve hot vampires), and, of course, blogging. I'm going to give it go and hope to start back up with documenting our memories (and throwing in a few old posts here and there). Here's to creating more years of future nostalgic moments for myself and my kids. 

Our recent snowman adventure. They are always so dirty as I'm too lazy to rake my yard in the fall. But we love them anyways.

Evie's 8th Birthday

 Evie is 8! This year we had to have a very small birthday party for our littlest one. The Pandemic of 2020 is in full swing at this point and we couldn't really do much for her party. It was small, but it was fun with just our little, happy family. I'm not going to lie though. Evie was really bummed about it. She put on a brave face and smiled through it all, but deep down, she was struggling. Of all the kids, the pandemic hit her the worst. She is a social kid and loves her friends. Not having the opportunity to see them for her birthday was tough on her. On a bonus? She wore her pajamas all day for her birthday.

How we did this birthday was by setting out a bin on the front porch with a birthday balloon attached to it and hoped that everyone would drop off her gifts in it. Sadly, it was cold and raining and the image was just a sad one. As a mama to this sweet girl, it made my heart hurt. I'm so proud of how she handled it though. And I promised her that this next birthday, we'd make up for it. 

She really wanted her own camera to take pictures with and the look on her face in the picture says it all. She was very happy with all her gifts. She is also really in love with Harry Potter right now. Though she isn't quite ready to read the books, she loves the movies and wanted a Monster Book of Monsters cake. It wasn't the best of my decorating, but it was fun to make and she loved it! She loves How to Train Your Dragon, Scooby Doo, the Peanuts, Harry Potter, and pretending to be a cat. She wants to be an Otter Trainer and maybe a P.E. teacher when she grows up and she's the best little helper and buddy you can ask for. Happy birthday to my sweet Evie! We love you so much!

She really wanted one last picture with our giant tractor tire before I gave it away. She gets so attached to everything so easily.

That one moment you get what you want.

She loves all things cats!

The Monster Book of Monsters cake!

This is what a pandemic birthday party looks like from the outside.

Alex's 14th Birthday

 Fourteen. Wow. It's hard to believe that fourteen years ago, this kid made me a mom. He has gone through so many phases in his life and I can remember each and every one of them as if they were yesterday. It went from Elmo to the Wiggles, to sharks, to classic monsters (Frankenstein), and then somehow, we fast forwarded to today: Cars. It's his passion and obsession all rolled into one. He talks cars nearly all the time and went from super car obsessed to muscle car obsessed. He collects Hot Wheels and has a massive collection by now. His other passion is Fishing. If he isn't talking cars, then it's fishing. 

He's grown so much in the last year that I can hardly keep him in the same clothes or shoes. He finally surpassed me in height and it's the oddest thing having one of your own kids just look down at you when you're grounding them. (Not that he needs to be grounded ALL the time.) This year for his birthday, we were in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic and I wasn't allowing an indoor birthday party. So we opted for an outdoor one. It wasn't too bad outside. It was chilly, but we powered through nonetheless. He had his friends over and we had cake and ice cream with some snacky-snacks to go with it. He wanted a Go-pro (or the cheaper version of one) which is what we got him. His goal is to get video of his fishing escapades and make a YouTube channel. I can't believe how much he's grown up and how big he is. I feel like time is speeding by at a rate I can't really comprehend and before I blink the title of the blog post will be "Alex's 18th Birthday". I hope time slows down just a little bit.

We are so proud of the young man he is becoming and it's always a great day to see his smiling face and hear about his dream cars and dream fishing trips for the future. Keep being you, Alex. Happy Birthday kiddo!

That is one crazy group of boys. Matt, Alex, Wesley, Noah, and Zach.

Maskin' it up for the opening of presents inside.

This year he wanted a catfish birthday cake. The eye was a little wonky though.

His actual birthday dessert - Jello Cake!

A go-pro! Yay!

Evie's 6th Birthday

Evie turned six years old! What a crazy time! She's a pistol and will probably be the kid that makes me go grey. She's madly in love with all things Charlie Brown/Snoopy/Peanuts. She enjoys pretending to be a baby kitty named Cookie still and will gladly crawl around on the ground pretending to purr and scratch thing with her "claws". It's always fun having a November birthday because the town festival is the same weekend. She also shares her big day with her Uncle Jeremy, which is fun. Despite the cold weather, she still had fun and got lots of goodies for her big day. She even got to take a tasty treat to school for Kindergarten. And let's not forget her choice of dinner which is always Wendy's or McDonald's. This year was Wendy's. I'm so blessed to be her mom! Happy 6th Birthday baby girl!

She nailed uncle Jake with the silly string and it was hilarious!

Halloween 2018

Boy, do I love Halloween! I can't get enough of decorating the house and every year it gets bigger and crazier. (Inside AND outside!) The kids love it too, which is great. It wouldn't be as fun if my gaggle of monsters weren't into it. They love dressing up as well. Which is also good as I am equally obsessed with costumes and go a bit overboard every year. This year, Alex wanted to be a Ghostbuster and I made him an epic (or 'sick', as other kids put it) costume, including the proton pack I built from scratch. I might have to be a Ghostbuster next year so I can reuse this bad boy. It was pretty great. Abby wanted to be a pirate (which I couldn't have been more proud of). And Evie wanted to be a bat. The bat costume was really fun to make as well. I had a good time with that. As the costumes I had to make for the kids took up so much of my very little free time, I didn't have time to work on a new one for me this year so I decided to revisit my favorite pirate costume. I do so love being a pirate. It was fun to dress up for school too (seeing as how I work there now).Sadly, Alex is starting to show signs of not wanting to go trick-or-treating. Apparently he's worried that he's getting too old. I told him that as long as he's dressed up, he can go! I hope he holds onto being a kid a little longer. Plus...free candy! Happy Halloween 2018!

 

Uncle Jeremy was cool and got this costume as a surprise just for Alex.

Evie as a bat, Abby a a pirate and Alex as a Ghostbuster. All custom costumes by mom!

Pumpkin carving! A yearly tradition that we all love! A monkey for Abby, heart face for Evie, and a scary face for Alex.

 

Alex's 12th Birthday

Alex had a great 12th birthday. He has done some growing up...not just in size...but in tastes. He has become quite the movie nut and his all time favorite movie (for now) is Ghostbusters. So this year's theme for the birthday was just that: Ghostbusters. He not only wanted to have the cake, but also chose to be a Ghostbuster for Halloween this year. I will miss the days when decorated cakes aren't requested. It's only a matter of time before they realize that there are other options (like brownies and lemon bars). I hope that day doesn't come too soon.  This year, he enjoyed a pudding dessert for his actually birthday and then we celebrated with family and the fancy cake. We even got him a nice Ghostbusters hoodie that he never stops wearing.

He's become quite a kid over the years and watching him change and grow is a blessing! I'm so proud of him! Happy 12th Birthday Alex!

Fun fact: Alex injures himself every year during October. This year was a scooter accident that ended with a very badly damaged finger. He lost the nail eventually. Yuck.

Josh's Birthday 2018

Every year, I make sure that we make a big deal about Josh's birthday. Ok...so not a HUGE deal, but I want the kids to always make sure that it's a big deal so they always call him and shower him with love on his big day. I always make him a special dessert (not cake as he hates it) and whatever he wants for dinner. And then the kids get to make him cards and buy him gifts. They love it! And I can't get through the day without the same photo every year. It's a great tradition! Happy Birthday Josh!