Monday, August 27, 2018

Dear Abby (age 6)

Dear Abby

This year instead of me answering these questions based on what I THINK you'd say, I figured you were old enough to answer them yourself.  What's funny is that before I decided to ask you I'd started writing up this post and had already answered a few of them.  I can'd decide if I was surprised or not that I knew almost all of the answers you gave me.  Go Mom!!


Favorite Movie: The Incredibles  - but to be fair, you really are much more open and interested in watching new and or different things.  The other day I wanted to watch the Little Mermaid and while you've seen in before, you were really into it this time.  You love going to see new movies at the theater too.  I mean, what kid wouldn't.  But, it seems like this is a little thing you and Grammy have gotten into in the last few years.  She's actually taken you to see more movies than I have.  And you know what, I'm ok with that!  I love that you have things you do with her...traditions and memories I get to hear about.


Bears/Packers: You'll say both (and you did!).  You are careful to please and you know that I love the Packers and Daddy loves the Bears.  You don't want to hurt either of our feelings and you don't want to take sides so you play the middle.  I'm sure you'll pick one day...until then...we'll both keep pushing you to our individuals favorites.


Favorite Toy: Your cat stuffed animals.  You have a million of them now, but your "kitty" is your favorite.  Its a white beanie baby toy that you got somewhere along the way.  I think if we got you a cat you'd lose your mind.  You ask for one about every week.  But, I think I wrote about it in your birthday post but we aren't giving in until you offer to clean the litter box. 

I'm a little bummed that Owie has taken a back seat to the cats, but they are still around and going strong.  I'd say they are strong seconds to your cats.  In fact, they often serve as blankets to your cats or dolls when you are playing so they are still in a strong rotation around here.  And they ALWAYS get packed when we go away for the weekend.


Favorite TV show:  Vamparina - a very strange show that Disney came out with last Halloween.  They've kept it going with new non-halloween themed shows and if I'm honest, it's pretty clever.  Vamparina is from Transylvania and she and her family move to Pennsylvania where they use the World Wide Spider Web to promote their ScareBnB.  I mean...you gotta give them credit for that, right?

Anyways, you and your sister watch Disney channel exclusively.  We usually only watch TV at two points during a regular day.  A few minutes when you wake up in the morning and then from 6:30-7:30 before it's bedtime.  It's your time to settle down and my time to get a few things done around the house while you are mostly occupied.  We've done this routine since we moved to this house just over 2 years ago and it works for us.  Sometimes you ask to watch before 6:30 and you don't give me too much grief when I say we can't.  Then you go an find something to play with, start a game with your sister or do something in your room.  I'd say over the last year you and Hazel have been so much better about playing nicely together.  You come up with games, role play, do crafts and all sorts of things. 



Favorite Outfit: Pink and while flower dress - I honestly had no idea what you'd say for this one.  This is a cute little spaghetti strap dress I bought last summer for you and it still fits this year.  It's funny, you still fit in most of your 3T clothes even this summer.  I cleaned out all of your drawers a few weeks ago and pull anything below 5T.  Your sister is in 2T for now but she's sizing up soon and we've already gotten 2 summers out of most of those clothes.  Its been great for my pocket book.

You are so sweet and you still let me buy all of your clothes and let me pick out your outfits most days.  I'm sure that won't last forever so I'm going to cherish it while it lasts.  I love that you still let me pick.

The nightgown in the picture above was actually mine as a child.  I can't believe Mom saved it for me all these years and you are finally big enough to wear it.  Grammy makes you outfits a few times a year - usually pjs and I just can't get enough of you girls wearing them.  I'm going to save all the things she makes you so that I can pass them down to you someday just like she did for me.  I hope you get as much joy out of that someday as I do!


Fears:  You hate it when I "leave you".  I mean, I'm not actually leaving you, I'm just walking away from the car in most cases.  Like, you are still slowly getting all the toys or things you think you need to take with you and I'm already out the door on my third or fourth trip when you start yelling (half crying) "Don't leave without me Mom".  It makes me crazy in the moment..I'm not leaving you kiddo.  But now, as I write this story down, I think I need to have more patience and treasure that you want me near right now.

If we're talking real, honest fears...I suppose I'd say bugs and maybe the dark?  You aren't really afraid of the dark but you DO want to have a big lantern on in your room each night.  We waste a LOT of batteries that way.  In fact we just had to have a whole conversation about changing them just today.  Even though we have three nightlights in your room, a lantern or a flash light are a must most nights. 

And, you and your sister and bugs!  How did we raise kids that hate bugs as much as you guys do?  We are camping, or at least outside every single weekend...and often on the weekdays.  How in the world can you be so afraid of a dang fly I'll never know!!


Favorite Food: Butter Noodles.  About 2 years ago I decided I was done cooking two meals (one for adults and one for kids) and it's taken a LOT of time and a lot of arguments but for the most part you eat what we eat.  Some things, like fish or sushi I just don't even try with...but if we're eating something pretty 'normal' you'll be eating it right along side us.  Implementing this has been great for you and for me!


Favorite Color:  Blue.  Always and forever blue.  There is no question in my mind that this is your favorite.  It always has been...probably always will be!


Height/Weight:  40 lbs and 3 feet 8 inches - you are definitely on the small size for your age.  But you are one of the youngest in your class with a birthday just a few short weeks before the official cut off.  At your last doctor appointment you were in the 10% for your height and less than 5% for your weight.

I have big dreams for you little girl.  Keep being the kind, smart, sensitive, sweet girl you've always been and you'll go far.  I can't wait to see what you accomplish!

Sunday, August 19, 2018

1 Family x 12 (August)


We were camping this weekend!! One of our favorite things to do.  I'll post more pictures from the trip here soon...but for now, our monthly family photo.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Abby's First Day of School - 1st Grade


Abby turned six on Tuesday and on Wednesday she started first grade.  The world is moving a little too fast for me these days...and I'm going to politely ask it to slow the heck down. 


Abby did amazing with her first day.  Not a single sign of nerves and she was just so excited to see all her friends again.  Armed with her cat backpack and her unicorn shoes she was ready to go in a way that I NEVER was as a kid.  She's got plenty of her Daddy in her that way. 


And, thanks Erin for the great first day sign, yet again.  You are so much more talented than I am...sorry, you can't move far away because you've inherited this job for the foreseeable future.  K, thanks!

Abby's 6th Birthday Party


Our first ever kid only party!  We always love having the big family birthday parties at the house for the kids but this year Abby really wanted to have a kid party for all her little friends from school - so, this is probably just the start of a long run of kid birthday parties.


We invited 10 of the kids from Abby's school along with a few local friends from daycare to the local chocolate shop.  A few years ago Abby attended a party at Morkes and she loved it.  The party is so cute.  The kids get to make a chocolate pizza, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate pops.  The chocolate is so yummy and the kids love being creative.  The ladies at the store do a great job too...so if you are local and looking for a great party place, this is a wonderful option.


I loved watching Abby with her friends from school.  Last year I was able to volunteer in the classroom once a month or so and I valued that experience so much that I'm going to try to continue to do that again this year.  It's nice to get to know the kids that she talks about all the time.  Since we aren't QUITE into sports and other school activities, working in the classroom is one of the ways that I get to meet these sweet little girls. 



And, Abby was so kind to Hazel at the party.  I worried that she'd find her little sister to be a bother when all the bigger girls got there, but she requested to have Hazel sit right next to her.  My sweet girl...in moments like that I realize that maybe, just maybe, we're doing something right with them.  Guys, raising kids is so hard.  You just have to do the best you can and trust your gut every single day.  There is no rule book and you just can't compare to others. 



I think Abby had a great time at her party...and I have to admit that I did too.  It was SO nice to have someone else run the thing.  We showed up, they did all the work, dealt with all the mess and less than 2 hours later we walked out the door and went home.  I get why people do it this way!



After the party at the chocolate place we had my parents, Dan, Jamie/Zach and family all back to our house for swimming and lunch.  It was a great end to a great day.



Oh!  And I can't forget the annual birthday cupcake.  Dan did such a great job keeping this tradition alive.  Bubby has gotten a special cupcake for both girls each and every birthday.  She's always made sure that they were personal and special to the kids and I know she and Erin have pushed the art skills of the ladies at the cupcake store with each and every request.  This year, a cat seemed purrfect.  (Get the pun!?)


Abby wants a cat more than anything else in the world.  (No! This is NOT an invitation for any of you to get one for us).  I'm not willing to even consider getting another pet until the answer to "who is going to clean the litter box" is "I will Mommy...I'll do it".  Right now, it's "Daddy can do it"...and that tells me we just aren't ready for it.  HAHAHA! 

Around the World - Brenna's Baby Quilt


Guys, can you even believe that I already have another quilt to post?  And!  I'm working on another one already as we speak! There have been so many 2018 babies that I can hardly keep up.  This one I made by the skin of my chinny chin chin.  I finished it just hours before the baby shower.  In fact, these pictures aren't quite ideal because I just didn't have time to wait.  I needed to get this puppy wrapped up and ready for the shower the next morning.


As you can tell, the hand quilted panel has been my project of choice this year.  I love them...they look great, they go relatively fast and for babies, I think they are perfect.  This quilt was for Chris and Brenna's new baby who is due in mid-September.  I cant wait to meet him or her (I secretly want it to be a her!). 

When I saw this panel I knew it was perfect for Chris and Brenna.  They love to travel and have been to so many exotic cool places.  I want to be like them when I grow up! *smile. 


I started this quilt the day before we left for the Outer Banks.  Looking back, knowing how the last 2 months played out, it was admittedly ambitious to try and finish this before the shower.  But, I'm so glad I tried because it was tight, but I made it!  And, now I've got a little more breathing room before the next one is "due".  As soon as I get caught up here on the blog I can turn my focus of evening project time back to quilts. 

Cousins Camping 2018


Cousins camping!!  A yearly tradition that I look forward to so much.  This year we had a slightly smaller group than we've had in recent years.  Partly because of location...partly because of schedules and partly because of babies!!  Yep!  You read that right....the Murphy cousins are finally getting on the baby train and this family could not be more excited.


Cousins has notoriously been a black hole of pictures for me so this year I swore I'd do better.  I didn't manage an ENTIRE group picture, but we got close one breakfast.  And at least I got these gems to prove that we were there...we camped....and we can mark another cousins camping in the books.  I swear one of these days I'm going to make t-shirts to commemorate the occasion.


Six kids under 6....5 of them girls.  Poor Dax!  We don't know what Chris and B are having (I'm guessing girl...) but we DO know that Meg and Greg have a little playmate for Dax on the way.  Maybe the tides will swing the other way for a few kids here...who knows!  Guess we'll find out in September.



This year we decided to head north to Kettle Moraine.  It's nice for those of us that live north of the city because most of us can get there in less than 2 hours.  It's a little harder for Meg/Greg and Jenny/Jack so huge props to you both for making the long haul to continue the tradition with us.  I love you guys for loving this as much as I do!


That's as close as I got to a full group picture.  We're missing most of the kiddos, but I think I got all of the adults..nope....just realized I'm missing Greg.  Oh...and Dan McGrath.  We had a new recruit to the trip this year.  It was fun to have him join us.  Though, I think the amount of adult beverages may have surprised him. 


I can't even believe that we have kids old enough to be on bikes.  I have SO many memories of riding bikes around camp grounds.  Our little tribes of kid gags just roaming with little supervision.  I can't believe we've arrived there...and part of me is so excited to watch them grow together as cousins.  I'm sure I'll morn the loss of the baby years, but right now I'm loving the moment we're in.  Where the girls are independent and able to play with the other kids without us managing every moment. 


I just love this pictures so much...and the girls in it!  Thanks for loving camping as much as I do.

Fireworks!


Fireworks!  Did you know that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday of the entire year?  I just love fireworks.  They are so pretty and they make me so happy.  It's been years since we've been to a real firework show.  Six years to be exact.  Ever since having kids fireworks have been hard.  They are loud...they are late...and for so many other reasons, we just haven't been doing them.


But this year, we decided it was time...and it made me so happy that we got to do this tradition again!  The kids loved it.  They were tired (and so was I) but I'm so glad they got to experience it.


Here's to many more years of firework shows to come!! 


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Outer Banks - Family Photos


Guys - I think Ryan died a little inside when he realized that we were doing family pictures twice this year, less than 2 weeks apart.  HAHAHA!  But, I mean...look how good these turned out?  Can you blame us for wanting to do this?


Mom's been wanting to hire a photographer to do a family session for us for SO LONG.  I mean...probably ever since the older girls were born we've been trying our best to do something like this ourselves and we've had some success...but let me tell ya, there's something to just having someone do what they do best for you.


The weather wasn't the best on the night we had pictures scheduled.  It was on the edge of rain...we actually saw lightening in the distance (too bad we didn't catch it on film!).  It was windy!  Really really windy.  The sand was blowing at about knee height (for the adults) which meant it was just at eye height for Lincoln and Hazel.  But, yet again, our little family was a trooper and we ended up with some great shots because of it!




Gah!  She looks like a little teenager.  Lord help us all!




I love this one!  It's going in a frame for sure!







I'm so lucky that I get to do life with this family!  I have the most amazing tribe.  I love these people so damn much!