So, 2024 was…. fine. Let’s rock n’ roll, 2025!
Merry & Bright
One last time…
November was most likely our last annual fall trip up to Eagle River, and it really bummed us all out. We’ve been going each year with our friends since the twins were born, so this was our 7th trip. It stinks that it was our last, but the owners are selling the whole place and our friend’s family whose timeshare it was isn’t continuing on with the new ownership. Can’t blame them, but now the week getaway we so looked forward to each fall is gone, too.
Here is a big photo dump from our last hurrah. Thank you for all the years and great memories, Lake Forest Resort! We’ll miss you! And maybe someday we’ll make it back to our favorite hike to see if Lana’s stick is still there…
End School –> Summer –> Start School
As usual, I am far behind over here, but such is a busy life with 5 kids and a full-time job. Said kids all passed their grade levels last year, whew!, we had a fun-filled summer vacation, then they all started back to school within the past 2 weeks. We are now in 3 different schools for the duration with Della starting high school and Lana starting middle school, so that’s a big change, too!
Here are pictures from the last day of school in June and the first days of school this month, but I’m not going to photo dump everything from summer in here. So sorry, that would take forever. I’ll mix a couple summer fun pics in that I might not have posted on social, but our vacations (late winter/early spring break in Florida, Canada in July, and St. Thomas in August) would be entire posts all their own and I just don’t feel like doing that. 😁 But that little Instagram box in the right sidebar here rotates through all my Instagram pictures so they’ll pop up over there, and if you follow me personally on Facebook then you’ve seen most of them there, too. And if you haven’t, just use your imagination! 🤣
Fall Ball Champs!
Morrison’s Minors team won the Fall Ball playoffs! I couldn’t believe it! He was on the Dodgers this fall after starting his Little League career on the Marauders in Pee Wees this spring/summer.
Minors started off so much different than Pee Wees, it was almost disheartening. Kids on the team made fun of his stuff, the coaches were far less engaged than the ones in Pee Wees were, and I was afraid it was going to turn him off from baseball completely. I came to find out this unfortunately isn’t unusual in Minors so it wasn’t just Morrison, but that’s still stupid – it’s kids’ baseball! But in typical Morrison fashion, his kind heart and sweet attitude triumphed and he did awesome. When he told me about the dumb comments, I told him how sorry I was that it happened and that generally when kids make fun of other kids, it’s because they’re actually jealous so don’t even listen to them. And that turned out to ring so true. He said he didn’t let their comments bother him, he just ignored them and focused on the game, and all he wanted was to have fun. I about cried when he said that, because that was all him. A heart of gold and spirit of pure joy this one has, and my pride is endless.
He is SUCH a natural athlete, it’s incredible. His Pee Wees coach said he was by far the most improved from the beginning of that season to the end on their team, and he just kept getting better and better this fall. His confidence was through the roof, and when his teammates realized that the new kid was ready to kick their butts, they quickly shut the F up. Go Morrison!
So that was a fun and very unexpected end to his first Fall Ball season. The playoffs were a one-day, three one-hour-games event. They won their first one and I was like oh fun, we’ll just stay up here and I’ll get him a cheeseburger for lunch from the ballpark grill (which he’d been wanting all year!), then we’ll see what happens in game #2. Then they won that one, too! By this time I saw his Pee Wees coach and told him how they were doing and he came over to cheer Morrison on during his at bat, which totally made Morrison’s day. Then they tapped a keg of local beer for all the parents, so that was awesome, too. And then they won the second game! I was giving Ryan the play-by-play the whole time, and he got too superstitious so said he’d better not come up to the park so he didn’t jinx it. But by the end of game #3, when it looked like they might actually win the thing, he hopped on his ebike and got up there as fast as he could. He arrived just in time to see them win it all! I don’t think we’ve ever seen Morrison smile so big and so hard. They got medals, they got ice cream, and his young life was made.
This kid fills my heart, and everyone who knows him can feel the happiness he carries through life. Great job, my love! We are SO proud of you and can’t wait to see the greatness that lies ahead of you on the baseball field and off.
Summer- summer- summertime!
The kids are now all out of school for summer break, and I love it! Yes, they bicker and get on each other’s (and my) nerves sometimes, and yes, I’ll shout at them to be quiet while I work at home full time sometimes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love summer vacation, and we’ve got a good one planned this year. Here we come, #summervacation2023!
…and a Happy New Year!
2022, you gaveth and you tooketh away. You gave me a dream job when I didn’t even ask for it, yet you took my last living grandparent from us.
2023, I feel like you’re telling me you’re here for me to prove myself. If to no one but myself. I want to be the absolute best at this job that I possibly can be, while never sacrificing anything as a mom. The kids have always been my top priority, and that will never change. But I can not only successfully have 2 full-time jobs but excel at it. I’ll prove it.
2022, thank you for all the good and for keeping us all safe and healthy. 2023, may you keep us safe, healthy, and happy, and let the good times continue to roll.
Happy (belated) Holidays and Happy New Year!
They’re ALL in school!
ALL 5 kids are in school this year, and that just sounds crazy to even say.
I still can’t believe the twins are in K4, going through those doors every day, just like their siblings. It definitely feels like the time is right, but it gets me daily seeing them run up the sidewalk to their door each morning with their little backpacks bouncing, then bounding out to me again after their morning session is done, just like the big kids always did.
I love that time is moving at the perfect speed for me, too. It doesn’t feel like the days have flown by in a blur since each one of the kids was born. But it doesn’t feel like an eternity has dragged on with each one either. Everything feels like it is moving just right and I’m soaking up every day. I’m not sure why that is or why I feel like time is on my side when everyone else watches it race past, but I’m grateful for the cosmic juju that’s allowing it to be so.
The 2.5 hours the twins are gone in the mornings have allowed me to try to climb the steepest job learning curve I’ve had in 20 years, too, which has been both amazing and daunting at the same time. Some days, I’ve got this and am ready to tackle many, many years of it. Others, every email I get defeats me and I feel like I can’t conquer the seemingly simplest things. But that’s to be expected, so I’m not worried about it. Plus, it’s wine!
These kids are incredible, plain and simple, and I treasure every day with them. Every walk to and from school, every joyous hug when they come running out of school, even the “meh”s that often emanate from the 4th grader. Thank you, time, for these days to cherish.