Growing Up

For about five years, we've gathered this crazy group of kids for an annual picture. Something a little more 'formal' than the everyday ones we catch as they do life together.

Travel and then a pandemic pushed us back into the summer; we usually do this during the holidays.

So many fun relationships in here...I love seeing the personalities come out year after year, both inside of the photos and in my backseat and backyard.

These kids started their relationships before Ruby was even born, when the only school kids we had were two brand new kindergarten boys. They each have connections in fun and unique ways.

My circus. My monkeys. So so so thankful for the community we have with this family!

margin

whenever we find it in our busy schedule, i get excited and find myself breathing it in deeply.

the randomly discovered friday night or sunday afternoon that we end up riding our bikes on the beltline or playing in the yard is so coveted but so hard to come by.

when the spread of the virus reached the point that warranted school closing, our family went into shelter-in-place mode. ruby's lungs and immune system are inconsistently compromised, so we don't need to take any unnecessary chances. it's my opinion that if we are going to do this, let's do it all of the way.

the first week found us learning the new normal with school, work and play all taking place at home. there were some bumps along the way, but for the most part, we transitioned quickly and jumped right on board with the extra time to just 'be' as a family.

what that is currently looking like is breakfast and lunch with at least one other person, savored 'coffee' time (ruby drinks 'coffee milk' or 'fancy milk' in a mug with her pinky up), bike rides, family walks, evening foot golf in our yard, dinner together EVERY night, lots of family movie nights, random house organizations and yard projects, and chalk. so. much. chalk.

there was never a better time to have a new driveway and back deck - i am SO grateful that we were able to replace those two things in the last three years. they have made this time much more comfortable. and the timing of this life shutdown in our kids' lives is on-point. in another few years eli might be away at college, and maddux could be driving. having this happen while we are all under this roof still is a gift.

but most of all, i'm in awe of all of the margin we've been afforded. it's pretty much a 180-degree shift from our usual life, and as much as we love all of our music and sports and activities and therapies and gatherings with others, this never-knowing-what-time-it-is, nowhere-to-be, party of five lifestyle is working pretty well for us.

West Trip

We don't often have the opportunity to travel west to see my family. After all, navigating all five of us through school and work schedules, air travel and then figuring out acccomodations between my brother and my parents (cars and lodging) is no small feat! But we snagged a great deal on plane tickets that lined up with a break from school for all three kids, so away we went!

It was great for us allto be together. My parents are usually able to visit us once or twice throughout the year, but this last fall's trip had to be cancelled. And we don't get to see my brother and his kids nearly enough (because he would have to do the same 'navigating' we face). 

The time with all of the cousins together was amazing. My nieces and nephew are aged perfectly between Eli and Maddux on one end and Ruby on the other. They adore and look up to my bigs and can also hang with Ruby. 

We spent a whole week playing in their basement, taking trips to parks, making and eating ALL of the food (11 people require a lot of food!). 

We even got to ski twice and go ice skating!

The last day found us participating in a west version of Christm-Olympics. My mom and the girls worked to put together a very fun game day, complete with prizes.

Christmas

Our holiday was defined by sickness this year, but thankfully it was the mildest version possible. And of any holiday season, this was the best one because we weren't traveling and no one was staying with us.

The first day of break found the kids and I at our annual holiday breakfast with the Marshalls. Halfway through the morning, Ruby came and sat on my lap. She still ate, but wanted to be close to me. This was an obvious giveaway that something was on the horizon since she had three of her favorite older friends there, two of them vying for her attention, yet she still wanted me. But nothing showed up until late that night.

Two or three fevers over the next few days (always gone with one dose of medicine, not to return for 24+ hours), and general fatigue were the only symptoms. I already had a well visit set up for Ruby for the day after Christmas, so while we were there, they checked her out for flu and strep. The flu test came back positive, which shocked me given the lack of 'big' sickness she'd been showing. Lots of naps and breathing treatments (to make sure nothing developed in her lungs) and LOTS of snuggles and movies got us through the two weeks and she returned to school, good as new, on schedule.

Back to our holiday week: Christmas Eve was a beautiful day with warm temperatures, so after breakfast I dragged the family to a nearby trail on the river for a walk. We pushed Ruby most of the way, but when she saw a friend and their new dog, she was out of the stroller and running.

We did sibling gift exchange around lunch and Ruby rallied a little to ride in her Cars car, which Eli had souped up with a new (faster!) battery.

Ruby also spent some time in her new reading 'teepee' that Maddux picked out for her. She was SO excited to see the windows and the doors. Maddux even stocked the book pockets before the big reveal.

We did not make it to Christmas Eve service though: I didn't want to chance it with her having a fever late the night before. We did go for our annual Christmas Eve sushi though, and we drove to see some holiday lights too.

Christmas Day was another beautiful one, but we still used the fireplace (that is just a 'must' for Christmas!). We exchanged gifts in the morning and also did the scavenger hunt for baby Jesus. This is something I usually plan, but Maddux asked to come up with the clues and 'hide' Him this year. I was definitely on-board with that!

We did our annual Christm-Olympics after lunch. This year Maddux asked to be the one in charge of that as well. For a week or so beforehand, she researched games and came up with the plan...I was so impressed and it was a huge help to me! Ruby did great with the games, participating in all of them, after a lunch-time nap.

We finished our night with homemade pasta and sauce and meatballs, and the birthday cake for Jesus. It was a very laid-back, not rushed year, and I loved it.

My favorite part is always the extra 'together time'. We made orange juice and Christmas cookies and pasta and meatballs and gingerbread houses. All of those times, even though each one is short, force us to be together in the kitchen: arguing, laughing and everything in-between.

Thanksgiving Week

We changed things up a bit this year and headed to Florida for Thanksgiving break. We met up with Mom-Mom and Aunt Megan and Liz at a condo right on the shore! This allowed everyone to enjoy the sun and sand and scenery for a few days.

We ordered Thanksgiving dinner in to allow for more beach time. The kids loved finding shells and digging in the sand. On Thanksgiving day, Eli buried Ruby (at her request) and made her into a 'sand turkey'. She loved it.

And after dinner that day, we all took a long walk on the beach as the sun set. It was beautiful weather!

The kids were excited to meet their new cousin, who was very tolerant of all of the doting (especially by Ruby).

After we drove Mom-Mom back home, we swung through our favorite açaí bowl cafe in Cocoa Beach for lunch, and then made our way to a putt-putt course. We played 18 holes and followed it up with go-karts, which was a blast. Random fun afternoon in the best weather ever! (It's not often you can play putt-putt in Florida in the middle of the day and have it be enjoyable, in regards to temperature.)

We finished our trip with dinner out with some 'old' friends. Ruby was asked by, get this, OUR flower girl to be a flower girl in her wedding next year. Such excitement!

light

our visit to the beach was brief, but it gave us exactly what we desperately needed during this harried time in our family. with each of you at different schools, and all on the fringes of having the demands of the next developmental stage heavily on your shoulders, 72 hours without that weight allowed for these moments. these moments to be kids, to be carefree, to be light.

Beach

A panhandle beach visit in the fall has been our go-to for as long as I can remember. We love the 'cooling' temperatures while the water is still warm, and the crowds are typically less than the summer or spring break. Our schedule was a little up in the air, so the booking was last minute, but we did get three days in the sun and sand!

Ruby could not get enough of the sand. She loved digging and 'making spaghetti'...many many sandcastles were created. She did like the waves too; Maddux took her out on a board several times each day.

Eli and Maddux alternated between a stand-up paddle board, our beater board (pseudo surf board) and the boogie board. Maddux also built many sand castles with Ruby and I. At one point we had a whole city. (To Maddux's delight, it was still there the next day!)

Eli also sprinkled in some skin boarding; that's always been a favorite beach activity of his.

We ate fish sandwiches and shrimp and snow cones and ice cream..food is never far away when we are at the beach!

The sun comes up pretty early, so we rose early as well so that we could enjoy the beach before the heat of the day. One of the mornings found us a little slower to start, which was perfect for me to play with taking some 'moody light' photos of Ruby.

Eli slept through the whole thing, resulting in a "wake up!" tickle fight for all four of my kids at some point.

We joined friends at a pool one afternoon, and then on the last night we ran into friends from 'home' and ate with them. Eli also had friends at a nearby beach at the same time, so he rode his bike to hang out with them one afternoon.

The last day found all three kids out on the stand-up paddle. We located a sand bar not too far out that allowed for some great fun.

The five of us stayed out there for a long time, enjoying solitude of the stretch of beach we camped at.

We went home for a late lunch, but returned to the ocean just before sunset to enjoy a last, less-hot play-session. Of course I took all of the photos of the kids.

Of course Maddux took the best care of Ruby the entire time, even when we didn't ask her to. Piggy back rides and entertainment were her specialty.

There was the usual arguing and maybe even some yelling, but all in all it was a great trip. Even with the friends sprinkled in here and there, we had a lot of 'together' family time, which is hard to come by when we are at home.