Halloween 2022

Halloween 2022 was a little more normal in comparison to the previous 2 years, so much so that we barely were able to squeeze in time for pumpkin carving! 

Sidney was my biggest helper of the night, not only did she scoop out the guts, she created her own carvings as well. She was creative and laughing at how silly her pumpkins looked as she carved them freehanded. 

Lincoln did some of his own scooping and then abandoned Sidney and me at the table to finish up the job.

I'll leave it to you to guess which of the 3 I carved, and which ones Sidney carved. 

The kids each hung out with friends on this Monday evening. Regan and her friend handed out candy to our 17 trick or treaters so that Ryan and I could take Lincoln with his friends trick or treating. 

Sidney and her friend split one costume, but spent most of the night on Tiktok. 

Lincoln might look a little more like a prop in this picture....he's on the far left. 

Yep, his request back in August was to find a blow up dinosaur costume, with bones only. It took some time, but we managed to find his perfect costume! 

Watching Lincoln waddle around the neighborhood was the highlight of the night! He was so cute and did amazingly well keeping up with his buddies all night, despite not being able to see well. There may have been a couple of close calls where he nearly ran into a tree or a parked car :) 

Lincoln made out with quite the stash of candy as he wrapped up trick or treating. He slept great that night after all that walking door to door dressed up as a blow up dino! 

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Halloween! 

Lincoln turns 9

Tomorrow marks this little man's 9th birthday! 
He is the sweetest, most talkative and energetic one in this family and we love him to pieces. 

I love that he still wants me to lay with him at night, reading stories until it's late. He will try to chat with me to avoid going to sleep and often I will have to remind him it's time for bed, no more talking. 

Lately I've been asking him to help me in the kitchen. It helps when he's cranky and hungry, engaging him in a task; plus, he loves that he gets to use the sharp knives! I have to say, he is getting quite good at chopping vegetables my little lefty sous chef.

He often tells us that one of his most favorite places to go is the MN State Fair. He doesn't so much love it for the same reasons we do (like Ryan's giant pickle), but he does love the rides and the animals and a lot of the attractions. 

But his absolute favorite summer event is the annual cabin trip with some extended family. He adores driving the pontoon, fishing as much as possible, riding the jet ski, catching frogs and going tubing. 

I think we could probably make his 9th birthday even brighter if we would buy him a faithful companion, but alas, that is not likely to happen. So instead, he gets to enjoy the occasional visit from either Pepper or Quinn. He loves it when they come into his toy room so he can narrate to them his video games :) 

For 9 years, he has graced the sidelines of a softball field, and done so with a lot of patience. Some friends laugh because he hollers pretty loudly if we accidentally move our phones too far away from him. He will often scream: MOM, THE WIFI!

Between both girls, this kid has been to more tournaments, scrimmages, practices and lessons. We've waited it out in the car, found local playgrounds, explored area drive thrus and spent far too much money at concession stands! 

Regan seems to be the sibling with the most patience for him lately, and he adores her for it. Having a license has opened up a lot of opportunities for them. Over the summer, the two had many adventures, going to Valleyfair, Como, Minihaha and lots of ice cream treats. I love their relationship, and it brings me to tears to think she'll be in college before we know it. I hope he cherishes these memories forever! 

As he turns 9, he is less and less into traditional toys, and more and more into video games, exploring or board games. 

We're heading into the cold weather which brings along with it the regular hockey season. While he's excited when we get there, he does a lot of complaining as he puts on his hockey gear. It's a lot of work and he's our little "Princess and the Pea" when it comes to adjusting his skates and elbow pads and shin guards, oh and his neck guard, breezers and helmet! 

As is tradition (minus that one year we went to Hawaii and couldn't find leaves), he was super excited to remind me that we had to take a "9" picture. 

I love that he has core memories, created from the little things. 

Happy 9th Birthday Lincoln Ryan! 

 

November re-cap

November brought much of the same from the last 7 months. We stuck close to home, kept our bubble small, but found ways to stay active and keep busy. The unseasonably warm weather to start the month was a complete blessing for this mama who is not a huge fan of the cold.

I made a bold move and took Lincoln and Regan (Sidney declined my invite) to Minihaha one weekday after online school. It was busier than I would've liked, but we kept masks on whenever we were not alone in the woods (except a few quick photos). 

Lincoln scored a new remote control car for his birthday, which was quickly followed by Ryan purchasing a second one for himself. They are having a blast racing them around, and we are becoming experts in how to fix them when they break. All I can say is thank goodness for YouTube videos! 

Sidney's softball team continued to hold practices, and the unseasonably warm weather allowed them to practice outside the first part of the month. Her bubble was made up of her team, if she was going to be practicing with these girls, she was allowed to take a few selfies too :) 

The weather held out long enough that they even had a double header scrimmage. She had played great that afternoon and it was just what she needed to head into winter training.

Regan and I did a service project together as part of her confirmation and raked for the nunnery. Yes, that is a word that I recently learned and I think it's fun to say: nunnery. 

You're welcome. 

We met up, social distanced, with Grandma Jan a couple of times to do a swap of items and wish her a Happy Birthday. Can't wait til we can give hugs and squeezes again. 

Although no practices for Regan, she kept her 'bubble' small and hung out with her softball besties. I'm blessed to have great friends from her besties moms and love when they make silly faces in our Ring doorbell! 

Lincoln is getting stronger and faster playing hockey. Ryan is usually coaching on the ice. But I was able to watch one of his practices (COVID guidelines are very strict) and couldn't believe my eyes! By the end of practice, I came to one conclusion: he is going to be spending a lot of time in the penalty box with the way he fights back. Apparently Ryan is teaching him to not let down: when someone shoves, you shove back. 

In the thick of classwork, Regan is taking driver's education as part of her school day. She's not legal to drive yet, but I took her to a vacant parking lot and let her test her skills. She's getting better! 

And finally, we got to see Pepper quickly while we delivered an early Thanksgiving to Angie. Regan was in her glory for those few minutes. She kept telling me "I'm smiling, you just can't see it!". She (and her sibs) cannot wait for their first sleepover with Pepper. 

We have so much to be thankful for this November. We’ll continue to do our part staying home and staying safe. 

Lincoln turns 7

We celebrated Lincoln’s 7th birthday this month, with gifts and cake and a big huge uncut 12” Subway sandwich; his dinner choice was pretty specific! Not to worry, it took him several meals to actually finish that gigantic sandwich. 

We opted to spread out his gifts over the week, so each day he opened a couple gifts from family. 

Rollerblades from Grandma Jan

Fortnite Nerf gun and a box FILLED with bullets from Uncles Ben and Jon. 

Look out, because as much as we beg him to shoot at his targets, he much prefers humans as his targets!

I was able to take a day off work and we reserved a slot at the zoo, a place he’s been begging to go during this pandemic. Although I was leery, we felt pretty safe, and we did a good job social distancing. The gorilla was his most favorite! 

Since his birthday falls within a few days of Halloween, we often are celebrating both at the same time. Because the pandemic shut down Halloween this year, we opted for a drive-through Halloween event that landed right on his birthday. He hung out in the backseat while collecting stashes of candy and toys, all from a safe distance. He loved it!  

He’s growing up so fast, and turning into such a little man. He opens doors for his sisters, squeezes us tight and begs every night for me to rub his back as he falls asleep. Slow down sweet boy! 

Every year I have been taking a number picture of Lincoln in the leaves. I compiled what I had on my phone in this collage. We missed last year because Hawaii just didn't have enough leaves for us, but the boogie board picture is a fun substitute. 

 

Early snowfall; more of 2020

Only in MN would I have a fall morning and a winter afternoon in the same day. In mid-October. 

With the pool not even closed for the season! 

And to make the story even better, I spent 30 minutes running around with the lawnmower just in time before the snow started. I really was a sight to be seen! 

It’s always been my role to schedule things: doctor, dentist, school conferences, pool closings. Of which that last one is never high on my list. I love looking at an open pool. So I push off the closing until the last possible moment. In 10 years of living with a pool, I’ve always scheduled it at least before the snow. Leave it to 2020 to squash that record. 

I really really thought about doing a polar plunge type activity! 

Regan and Lincoln took advantage of the fresh snow coupled with distance learning opting for a very long recess. The made a cool snowman, went sledding and had a great time playing in the white heavy snow.

 

(By the next day he was tipping over but holding on for dear life!)

Meanwhile, Ryan and I thought long and hard about moving to this home in the Hawaiian islands. We contemplated selling most of our belongings in order to live in 1000 square feet. 

With a view like this, I think we could do it. 😉