Teenager in the House!

 

I started this blog almost thirteen years ago and if you go back through posts you can see that clearly I’m not as good at posting as frequently as I used to.  I think the world of blogs and social media has changed drastically so often times I throw a quick photo on Instagram and call it good.  In reality, I still love this blog even though I don’t turn to it as often as I should.   That being said, I began this whole journey because of one little boy that made us parents.  Today that little boy is a teenager!  

Zach turned 13 today and while he is still the same little boy he is also navigating a new world in Charlotte and becoming his own person.  We spent the last week in Evanston visiting friends and family for Thanksgiving which also meant we have celebrated Zach numerous times.  His heart is still with a core group of friends in Evanston so we had them come over to our rental for a sleepover.  Somehow we didn’t take a single photo but maybe that was because they were zoned into video games and movies all night long.  I think a photo would have been great to show them all how they looked like zombies the next day.  Ha!  

Having celebrated with friends and family earlier in the week, Zach was excited to spend his birthday at Nana’s helping decorate for the holiday and of course eating his favorite meal that Nana cooks (beef stroganoff).

A cross-country move, middle school in general and now being 13 all has its own challenges.  Zach is still working to find his comfort zone and new friends but he has proven that he is resilient and can do hard things.  He is excelling in his classes although he isn’t a fan of his new school yet.  He played ultimate frisbee on a rec league this fall and is still swimming which we hope will bring him some fun friends as well as all the lessons that come with athletics.  Zach loves a good book series, a good movie, video games, any sort of new outdoor adventure and staying up a bit later than his siblings which allows him to watch a show with mom and dad.  We don’t mind the extra time with him either!

We have promised to take each of our kids on a trip within the year they turn 13 so Zach is up first.  He’s still debating his destination but we will keep you posted and hopefully I’ll even write a blog post about it. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!!  We love you!  

Zach the morning after his sleepover…

And today before his ice cream sundae!

Lucky Number 7

Our smallest “little” is getting so BIG!  Hazel turned 7 on Thursday and has had multiple days of celebrating.  I mean, I think the girl is on to something.  Why celebrate for one day when you can party several days in a row?!  We might be in trouble when she gets older.

Hazel has taken our move to NC in stride for the most part.  It took her a bit to warm up to new friends but now she has a gang of neighborhood girls that she loves to play with as well as a friend or two from school.  She still asks about friends in Evanston and can’t wait to see them when we visit soon….especially her Gloria!  Hazel has become a really good reader, loves movies with a fun soundtrack, aims to perfect her cartwheel skills, enjoys creating any sort of crafty/artistic project and dipped her toes into the sport of swimming this summer by being on a swim team for the first time.  She’s sassy, funny and fairly strong willed.  We love seeing her grow and love that she still wants us to be part of all her fun.  

Now, who wouldn’t want to spend a birthday doing all of this?!

Movie night with friends!

Birthday with scavenger hunt for presents, a swim meet and cake to follow.






Mid morning “rainbow loom” session.


A trip to the school to see her birthday rock.




And a girls night with mom and Nana at a fancy hotel!

Yep…that’s a otter face mask.






Happy birthday Hazel!!

Three days of birthday fun and now we are on to Father’s Day.  Think Rich wants to celebrate the same way?  I’ll be sure to offer him one of those animals face masks!

Double Header and Double Digits

Big day for Gunnar today….he’s 10!!  He spent the day playing a doubleheader with his baseball team, getting a shoutout on the school spirit rock, playing with neighbors and hanging out with us.  It was a full day and a lot of fun!  

Gunnar is still sweet and caring and gives great hugs.  He loves baseball, legos, video games and has a great belly laugh.  He has adjusted the quickest to this new world we live in here in NC and being his true self has really let Gunnar shine.  He still misses his Evanston friends but he has made some fun new friends here and he is a standout on his new baseball team.  I think 10 is going to be pretty darn good.  Gunnar is truly loving his best life and we can’t wait to see what new and exciting adventures are in store for him.

Happy birthday!!  We love you Gunnar Ben!

A Season of Goodbyes

Well we are just over 3 months into the year and I’m finally doing a blog post.  I won’t blame my lack of effort on being busy but rather just the sheer intensity of life over the past few months.  I’m calling this our season of goodbyes with our hardest and worst one being the first one we had to take on.

Exactly two months ago today we said goodbye to my dad.   While we all knew he was sick, and had been for a while, it just wasn’t apparent to us that he could so suddenly take a turn for the worst and it all happen so fast.  I’m grateful that he was able to make his own decisions about his care and that I have a wonderful husband that quickly threw all three kids in the car and made the long drive (including a vomiting child and a closed down highway due to an accident) to be sure everyone was able to tell Boppa, in person, that they loved him.  It was horrible and sad and scary but honestly he was at peace and ready to go to his eternal home.  We weren’t ready, but he was.  

Boppa was wonderful!   He had all kinds of quirks that made for good ammunition when teasing him but he took it all in stride.  Boppa loved a good game of bags (he kept a running score on his phone that to this day still shows how many times he beat me), a day out on the water and a large bowl of ice cream.  I think if he had all three of those in one day and had his grandkids along side…..well, I think that might be his perfect day.  

Bill wasn't my biological dad but you’d never know it.   He loved me like his own and many would comment on how we looked similar ….or at least were both very tall.  He was always willing to help (anyone really), he made sure to be at every important moment in my life, and he showed up in the biggest way possible when he went from Bill to Dad to Boppa.  His generosity and kindness were obvious and he had a knack for finding the good in most any scenario.  Bill loved my mom deeply and he showed it in his own little ways.  Boppa Bill however adored my kids and they equally adored him back.  I’m so happy that Zach, Gunnar and Hazel are all old enough to have made many lasting memories with him.  

Now as I sit here watching my house get packed up for our move to NC, Boppa has been constantly on my mind.  Not so much particular memories (although he and Nana did paint a large majority of the inside of this house for me) but rather his voice in my head.  I can hear his expressions and the tone and inflections of comments I can imagine him saying as everything gets loaded into boxes and Scout and I sit watching nearby. 

Our season of goodbyes continue, but we know that these next goodbyes, while still hard, will get better with time.  And Boppa will be with us in spirit along the way.  Plus, we know this big change of moving cross country has a lot of great things in store for our family!  There is good to come!  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

We spent Christmas here in Evanston and Nana and Boppa Bill drove up to join us even though they had to fight traffic and deal with true winter weather.  They are troopers and we love them being with us for the holiday.  Our holiday week has been low key, relaxing and full of playing games, video games, books and movies.  Here are just a few photos so when I look back on this I’ll hopefully remember how awesome these kids are even though they are getting too big too fast.  They all still love Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

If there was ever any doubt….proof that Rich is an Angel.


And as the year wraps up, we spent NYE at the Botanic Gardens seeing the holiday lights with Grandma and Boppa Jim. 
















And then we curled up at home to watch the ball drop. 




Happy New Year!!!  Cheers to 2023!

A Dozen Years!

It’s just not Thanksgiving in our family without a birthday celebration.  Zach is 12 today!!  Can you believe it?  We are road tripping back to Chicago today after a week in NC so we celebrated Zach all day yesterday.  Rich and I even got a hike in with just Zach and Scout.  It’s really fun to spend a little time with just one child and Zach was no exception.  

Zach is really becoming his own person and is definitely well on his way to being a teenager.  He can still be goofy and have fun with family but will also retreat from the group to have his own time/space with a good book.  Zach excels in school, loves swimming, loves reading, thinks a good prank is hilarious (especially at his siblings expense), still enjoys a good Lego set and playing with little kids and really appreciates any freedoms we afford him these days.  His gifts this year began to look different with his haul having less toys than years past. In fact we took the plunge and gave him his first phone!  Fingers crossed this all goes well!

Happy Birthday Zach!!!  We love you!!

Boo!

Halloween fell on a Monday so I’m just getting a chance to show off the kids costumes.  We had quite the variety this year!

This was the first year that all the kids went trick-or-treating with friends so Rich and I hung back, enjoyed a fire and a few adult beverages and handed our candy to a ton of kids. 

And I often get the question, “how long is Hazel’s hair?” since it is typically pulled up.  Well….here it is!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!