I am very behind in my seasonal update posts of things we did and life around our little home. But none of us knew what a whirlwind the fall and months following would be.
The week after the kids started back to school Brent started traveling weekly to Arizona for work. And still continues to on top of other work travel. We would have never imagined him getting on a plane every week with no known end date. But here we are. It has become somewhat normal now, all these months later. But still just as exhausting on our whole family.
We are also in a preschool year with child #3 in pre-k. He is doing great and loving school but I forget what a busy year it makes driving to and from school in combination with older kids in elementary school. I spend so much time in the car and it is not how I want to be spending my days! But it is an important year for each of our kids - a chance to prepare for elementary school as well as on my mama heart to send them off.
All this to say, we are learning to manage. But we are tired. The days are full and pass quickly. I want to cherish each day I have with my sweet children but I lay down my head every night exhausted. I am thankful we decided to say no to a few extracurricular activities, not knowing at the time what the year would bring. While I cannot control the circumstances of life, I can control the speed I choose and the commitments I make. So I continue to pull back, choose slowness at home, and try to treat myself with kindness and allow myself to rest. These are things I love to say yes to all the time - but is different when you have to choose these out of survival.
For the past decade we have been growing our family and got into sort of a rhythm of slowing down during pregnancy and with a newborn. I was so eager to jump into this new season of life with all the freedom to come. Yet life just threw us something else. So I am continuing to be reminded that choosing a slower life is a sacrifice when it feels like the rest of the world moves at full speed. I don't have the excuse of a baby anymore, but I can still say no when life starts to get too full. I know these are all things I say over and over but, even still, I have to remind myself regularly!
Back to school means back to walks to the bus stop. It can be crazy trying to get everyone out of the house on time. But once we hit the street it can be such a nice time together.
As the seasons change and our days start getting shorter, our living room can start to feel very dark. After studying our set up I decided I wanted to lighten up our gray couch with some lighter pillows. I shopped the house and created a new brighter set up.
The big kids were back in school but preschool hadn't started yet. So I took the littles for a picnic lunch in front of this fun mural in Downtown Woodinville.
Then a walk to Haggen, an adorable local grocery chain, to look at some flowers.
And then a trip to the pet store!
Brent had his yearly follow up appointment at the hospital that we had to take him to. I shared here about our surprise news of him being so close to remission. I take the kids out of school early and we all go because I decided long ago that it was easier to just do things together than to bother getting help and coordinating school schedules. It is moments like these that are inconvenient to not have extra help around - but it is also these moments that provide the opportunity to further bond our little family unit.
We now have a routine down - a stroll through the hospital to look at the art, an iced coffee for me, and then a snack at the hospital cafeteria. The first time we did this was post-covid and I was so nervous people would be upset to see me bringing all my kids to the hospital. But of all places, it has actually been one of the places where I have felt that my children's presence has brought strangers the most joy.
Afterwards we went to one of my favorite places in Seattle, near the hospital - Aqua Verde Cafe for dinner and a walk and play at the Fritz Hedges Waterway Park. We came here many times during my pregnancies, even a walk after a membrane sweep, hoping I would go into labor!
I continually am reminded how lucky we are to live by the water.
On nice days where we don't have to get home right away after the bust stop, we enjoy strolls through the neighborhood and hitting up free little libraries.
We had construction day for the kids at our church. They had so much fun climbing into these real full size working vehicles!
A house in our neighborhood put up a flower stand selling flowers from their garden. Brent brought me home some one day. Garden goals.
I tried to keep up with my morning biking as much as I could. I told myself I wasn't allowed to look at my phone or read my Kindle until I was on my bike!
My daughter's teacher loves dinosaurs and has dinosaur day once a week at school! So we got her a few dinosaur dresses with Boden vibes. She loves this pink one and I really like this floral one we got her as well.
More morning walks and checking out libraries. How lucky that we have three little libraries in walking distance from our house!
People are often surprised that I don't put our kids in more than just pre-k for preschool. I know every family has different circumstances. But for me, seeing these two bond and get time together is one of my main reasons. They are finally at the point where they can actually play and entertain each other. This time for them and for me is a gift.
This vintage book haul one day was especially fun.
A visit to the neighborhood llamas.
The cutest scarecrow.
Saturday morning donuts and pumpkins.
Beautiful fall bounties. Minimalism keeps me from buying a thousand mini pumpkins. But I can still take pictures.
The kids kept asking about having a sleepover. So until we could have a sleepover with cousins, we decided to let them have a sleepover at home. They were so excited! We put them to bed and then went to our room down the hall. They were so silly until 9 pm and then finally went to sleep. We then hid in our room waking up to them getting into toys in the dark come the early morning. It was a pretty crazy night - not one that I would be up for often (I cherish my sleep!). But it was such a highlight for them.
A sweet family movie night. I got a bigger Gathre mat and it has been perfect for our weekly pizza and movie nights.
A pretty fall centerpiece.
A rainy day outfit.
I finally passed on my collection of fake pumpkins to my mom that we had used in our wedding. They served us so well for fifteen years - to be able to just pull them out each year in the midst of babies and pregancies and feel like my home was ready for fall. But it was time to go more minimal this year and create something new.
I have been wanting to do a sheet ghost over our porch light. And thanks to Trader Joe's, one statement Cinderella pumpkin for $10 made all my minimal big statement porch dreams come true. It felt like such a big step, to have the time and energy to follow through with something I have been holding in my mind for years. A coming up for air and to be creative in a new way.
Plus my kids LOVED it.
School picture day cuties.
A tidy room and good lighting called for a picture.
I made an apple pie from our apples we got apple picking. I used this recipe and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was (I used a premade crust).
I made some ice breaker questions for my MomCo group. I thought they came out so fun.
We got to attend a bowling birthday party and the kids had so much fun.
The kids wanted to help in making Halloween decorations and they came out so sweet. They were so proud to have them on display.
My oldest made this robot. He is our little engineer.
A fun family movie night reusing their McDonald's boo buckets for popcorn.
Picking out my outfits for our anniversary trip. I am grateful to have my go tos nailed down.
Continuing my living room journey of lightening it up and making it cozy for fall - I shopped the house and hung up a blue and white plate, propped another frame on the window, added some of my battery powered candlesticks, and found a kid friendly coffee table set up.
It makes such a difference with a little contrast and using items to fill in the windows. The coffee table holds one of the kid's books that I took the paper cover off of. Then I used a basket bowl to hold some photos and seasonal decorations. The kids and guests love to look through the pictures and I don't have to worry about anything getting broken.
We picked up our pumpkins to carve at Trader Joe's this year. We had a busy October and I wasn't sure if we would make it to the pumpkin patch or not. Plus it allowed us to save a little money and spend it on the amenities at the pumpkin patch instead. And going to Trader Joe's is a fun outing to the kids in itself. Excuse me shoppers as I pose my kids for a pumpkin photo! We are making core memories right now! ;)
My oldest participated in cross country this year through our school. They practiced during lunch recess and had four meets after school. This is the kind of participation I can get on board with! It was really fun and we were so proud to cheer on our son. And I managed to figure out a good rhythm of making grilled cheese on meet days for dinner. The other kids ate while we watched which allowed us to not have to push back dinner or bed time.
For our anniversary we always get dinner from Olive Garden and watch our wedding video together. It is such a special (and yummy) tradition.
We went to Muddy Boots in Duvall for their pumpkin patch this year and had so much fun. It was just the right amount of activities to entertain our crew without being too over the top.
Silly kids and our cute collection of Halloween plates.
And our annual seasonal smore's platter is always a treat.
Our carving pumpkins added to our Halloween porch.
The eyeballs always take these Halloween sugar cookies up a notch!
This four year old lookig so grown up and like his brother at this age.
Pajama day at school.
Last day of cross country ice cream at Costco!
Halloween things.
Halloween waffle plates | waffle maker
We aren't big sports watching fans but Seattle has had quite a year. We enjoyed following the Mariners to the championships.
Free chef hats from the grocery store!
Off to a Halloween event at school. I let them wear whatever they want and we saved our pirate costumes for trick or treating.
Carving pumpkins with our neighbor friends.
Celebrating Brent's birthday. I believe he was sick but he still enjoyed his favorite ice cream cake treat.
Signs of fall - nature's confetti.
We are now eating lunch in the car at preschool pick up some days, depending on our schedule. At least once a week, on the days my elementary kids get out of school early, and it is a mad dash from preschool to an early nap before we have to turn around and get the big kids. I am still going strong with my lunch salads thanks to some easy shredded chicken and my favorite dressing. It feels a little crazy at times but it is also nice to not be starving by the time I get kids settled for nap. So I continue to stuff my face while waving to preschool teachers!
The carved masterpieces.
Halloween night dinner - refrigerated biscuit pizzas. I flaten the biscuits and then pinch a little piece at the top for the stem. A quick yet fun dinner on an exciting and busy night.
Every year it is so rainy and dark but I continue to try to take pictures because I want to remember every moment. This is truly one of my most favorite nights of the year. My kids are so happy and I love the sense of community trick or treating in our neighborhood. We even had one of our neighbors invite us in for some hot chocolate and cookies. And another woman stopped me on the road a few days before making sure I brought my children to her house to trick or treat! It is so sweet to be on the receiving end of generosity. I love that it gives us opportunity to better connect with our neighbors.
Late birthday donut celebration for Brent. If you haven't heard the story, pre-kids Brent and I used to go get donuts at midnight on our birthadays. Brent now takes the kids, when they are around five, and takes them for "middle of the night" donuts that is actually more like at 5 am. The kids SO look forward to this and it is such a sweet tradition. It is so special to be able to sneak out of the house while everyone else is sleeping for this special outing with daddy.
I remember the kids were especially grumpy this morning but we still took pictures and went with it. Because we will all just look back and have these fond memories. I heard this line from the show Good Medicine that I just loved - "Life is uncertain. It is tradition that gives us something to look forward to."
Cutest little pigtail buns.
Christmas decorations started to come out at the hardware store. She made a friend.
My fall uniform - same midi dress (I have it in black and blue), different coat, scarf, and shoes. Repeat.
After Halloween, I cleared off our spooky porch but moved my Cinderalla pumpkin out to the patio through Thanksgiving.
A few pumpkins left out as I transition to thinking about Christmas.
We got this climbing ladder and slide from a friend. It was fun while it lasted but they just ended up fighting over it all the time (even the big kids who were probably too big for this). So I am glad we didn't end up buying one and could just pass it along to someone else.
Rearranging books in our bedroom and storing little mementos in my old Powersheet boxes.
Staring to decorate for Christmas. I like to give myself lots of time to work on the tree because it takes me awhile to figure out how I want it each year. We went with white bows this time and then later added the ornmanents. I like to live with just the bows for a short time - the minimal decor and twinkling lights are a soft welcome to the season.
Sweet little friends. I finally made a close friend - the closest I have had since we moved away from California nine years ago now. I am so grateful for her and her precious family.
My favorite days are slow days at home where we don't have to go anywhere. I really try to protect this time as I find it is good for me and my kids. They settle in to playing and I get to putter around the house.
Trying out three bows this year on our front door wreath.
These two dancing together. So precious.
I did a the same bow situation on our back door wreaths (using leftover outdoor wreaths I had). I later decided to invest in slightly nicer wreaths this year for these doors now that I have decided I like having them here every year. So the new wreaths I will share later.
Another impressive creation by our oldest.
Digging into our Christmas seasonal book collection.
Writting letters to Santa. I like having them do this early so I can also get a gauge of what they want.
Thanksgiving crafts.
More fall bus stop walks.
Writing what we are thankful for. We then read them during our Thanksgiving dinner which is always such a sweet tradition.
Coming home to our cozy festive home. We left the Christmas lights up all year this year which ended up being kind of a gift. Just plug them in and we were set.
Nativity animals going for a Barbie boat joy ride!
I loved having this little wreath hang in front of our fireplace this year...until it started melting when we lit a fire. Oops!
Getting in the spirit.
A Thanksgiving funny.
A robot lawn mower came to our house to mow our storm water pond. A certain four year old was very entertained by this.
Our Thanksgiving lunch spread.
Some of our apples we got from apple picking on display. The children said, "mommy, why are the apples decoration?" Because you picked a MILLION apples! ;)
They love haning up the ornaments and reminiscing over each one. It is so fun to see how special they are to them.
How sweet to see them all playing together. The fact they are all old enough to actually all play together is mind boggling to me. But also so special...and so freeing. It is a good season ahead.
Thanksgiving cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
And a cozy day together at home.
Our pretty and delicous Thanksgiving dinner spread.
It was such a busy fall. But like I seem to say every time I do these posts - what a beautiful season it was. I am so grateful for the ease of taking photos so that I can actually remember these precious moments. It passes quickly but luckily stays forever in my heart.
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