'Tis the Season

The day after Thanksgiving, which was later than usual this year, we set to work setting up our Christmas trees in the house.  The kids were itching to do this -- especially because there was predicted snow moving in by the next day and they wanted to have the house lit up and cozy.  

I love that the kids are able to do so much of it on their own now -- the hauling up of branches from the basement, lugging around totes of ornaments, testing strings of lights to make sure that they work before actually putting them around the trees and even vacuuming after the floor is covered in tiny (fake) green needles.

They even turned on the 'fireplace ambience' on the TV while playing Christmas music on the speakers.

Sam went 'all-out' and donned her Christmas sweater, socks and earrings.  Like I said, the kids were really excited to help. 

They were quite the team.

Not a single ornament got broken ...

And they were so careful not to ruin any boxes from the ornaments (and we have A LOT of them).

Yup, the snow was starting to move in ...

Even Mia made it into a picture with her honorary ornament with her name on it.

And the angel ... this did cause a bit of controversy.  Every year, I have to look back to see who put the angel on the tree the year before to determine whose 'year' it is now.  One year, for some reason, the order got mixed up and now it is not as easy to discern the pattern.  After a bit of bickering, we settled on Sophia and had her stand on a small bench.  Up until now, Steve has always lifted the kid up to reach but we have hit the point where they are just too big for that.  Ha!

Now, I just need to work on the rest of the trees for the house.  I think that we will limit it to just 3 main trees this year with a small one in each of the girls' rooms.  Maybe the boys will ask for one in the basement (where their rooms are), but I am not sure ...

Frankenmuth - 2024

Before Thanksgiving, we decided to take the kids to Frankenmuth for a small day-trip.  We wanted to go before it got too busy for the holiday season and I was hopeful that we could take a few pictures and find one that would work for our annual Christmas card.

It was much colder than we anticipated and some of the kids (who will remain nameless for now) did not bring a coat with them for some reason.

We spent a bit of time inside Bronner's -- the largest Christmas store in the world.  While it was warm, I was surprised just how crowded it was and we all agreed that it was time to move on.

Obviously Jimmy was one of the few that brought a coat.  I have trained him well.

We ended up using this photo for our Christmas card picture this year:

Afterwards, we walked the streets and made sure that everyone got some hot chocolate so that they could warm up.  This picture turned out so nice that I almost considered it for our Christmas card picture!

By lunchtime, everyone was hungry so we stopped for a family lunch on the way home and talked about our plans for decorating for Christmas.  Thanksgiving is late this year -- in fact, it is the latest date that it can ever be (November 28th) -- so we won't be setting up our Christmas trees until NEXT weekend, after the holiday.  I know that a lot of people like to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I am not one of them.  While I love Christmas and all of the magic and sparkle, I also love Fall and want to make both of the seasons last as long as they can.

Samantha's 16th Birthday

For years, we have celebrated the kids' birthdays with both friends and family.  Consistently, I have based the birthdays around a theme (with no duplicates!) and have always chosen something that the kids are interested in and love at that time.  

As they are getting older, they are deviating away from that and opting for a smaller celebration.  Some things will never change though -- we always have cinnamon rolls with a candle and sing happy birthday on their birthday morning.

Samantha's only request for her birthday this year was to have me make a cake (obviously!!!) and she asked for a 'jeep cake' since that is what she is driving now.  I added her to our insurance policy the morning of her birthday because she is officially a certified driver.

I did not use a mold and simply created her jeep cake from scratch and it turned out pretty good for something in 3D.  She loved it and it truly looks like the jeep that she is driving since I tried to match the color as closely as possible and make it only have 2 doors.

And, in true fashion, I couldn't just do a cake and not bring in a few streamers and other decor, so I surprised her with some sparkly silver.

She is almost as tall as Steve now, like only shorter by 3 inches or so.  Obviously she surpassed my height a long time ago.

New converse shoes.  Converse shoes have now come back in fashion and she asked for red ones for her birthday.

Sophia picked out a jewelry organizer for her because it was a hot mess up in her room with random necklaces, rings, earrings and whatnot scattered about on her vanity and dresser top.

Of course, Ainsley was over from next door for the festivities and I love how serious they are in this picture separating some of the jewelry that I had picked out for her to add to the organizer.

Happy 16th birthday to my first-born; the girl that made me a momma and who is becoming more and more independent every day.  We are so incredibly proud of her!

(A side note on the cut-out '16' on the wall: I drew and cut the numbers out myself by hand and when I originally cut out the '6' it was slight disaster.  I am not even sure where I went wrong when drawing it, but suffice to say that it is not very easy to cut out a '6.'  I discretely threw it into the trash and made a second/better one.  Sophia found the embarrassment and showed it to everyone ... which made for some great laughs.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered a couple of days later that my family was actually saving it to randomly pull out whenever we needed a chuckle.  It has since been properly disposed of, ha!).

Pumpkin Carving - 2024

We never know what the weather is going to be like at the end of October here in Michigan.  Some years, the snow has already started to fly and we end up carving our pumpkins either inside the house or in the heated garage.  Other years, like this one, we are able to carve outside on the deck with minimal layers of clothing on.

This tablecloth has been around for a couple of years and has really seen better days.

All ready to go!

The kids all chose some pretty big (and thick!) pumpkins so I kept my expectations low on how the carving would go.

Somehow, Sam is the one that worries me the most with a knife, so I stood close by her side for most of the carving.  Ha!

Sophia is the most detail-oriented -- and serious -- during her cutting and design.

A tad dramatic.

Looking back at the picture, I remember now that he had that name tag on his sweatshirt because it was originally on his pumpkin to claim it as his.

Still in process.

A little less serious.  

As a side note: Sophia is about 3 months into her ~2 year journey to straighten her teeth.  We opted to go with the clear/removeable trays (rather than metal braces) and have been happy with the process so far.  She rarely smiles with her teeth though when she is wearing them.

The final masterpieces:

A cat, to complement our cat, Mia:

Using toothpicks for spindle-like teeth:

An upside-down hanging bat:

September Randoms

The start of the school year is racing along with all of the activities.  Each of the kids is involved in some sort of extracurricular activity: 

Samantha is doing marching band and still working at the local winery.  She also attended homecoming this month with friends.

She registered for a new class at the high school: art.  She has always been interested in it, but her previous schedule did not allow for it and with the teacher's permission, she was able to take it.  I have been so impressed with the projects that she has done already including this one done in paint:

Sophia is taking three dance classes (ballet, tap and hip hop) and began working as an assistant teacher for the first time this Fall.  This is a paid position and while she only assists with one class per week, she loves it.  She is also continuing in both concert and jazz band and has become a real leader in her trumpet section.

Another special thing: the girls and I went together to get our 'doubles' pierced.  I promised that I would go with them and we made a special evening of this by going to dinner and then getting our ears pierced together.

Jack is enjoying Middle School and the extra freedom that comes with choosing his 'flex classes' and having varied teachers.  

He is playing tackle football again this Fall and while it means tough practices, he loves being with his friends and perfecting his skills.

He also joined the Middle School band and chose to follow in the footsteps of his sisters by playing the trumpet.  Steve took him to pick one out and he has quickly learned to play a few songs already.

James is also playing tackle football this Fall for the first time.  Like his brother, he really seems to enjoy it and we have been fortunate enough to not have too many games that overlap this Fall for the boys where we have to 'divide and conquer.'

As he progresses through the Elementary School, I am savoring these last few years.  We have had kids in that school consistently for the last 11 years and I know that I am going to miss so many of the teachers and classrooms once our last little one enters Middle School.

In his spare time, he has mastered chipmunk hunting in the woods.  He is so patient and we are amazed at this tally for the summer and early Fall.

Turtle Races

On Labor Day Weekend, went as a family to the 'Turtle Races' held on a private lake in Fenton.  A neighbor had invited us and we had no idea what a big annual event this was for the people that live there.  Turtles are caught and allowed to (humanely) race in a bracket-style event with prizes given out at the end.  

It's amazing to watch because some of the turtles just remain stationary, while others race right outside of the circle.

There are also lots of games, food and a cake decorating contest.  

Of course, when the kids heard that there was a cake decorating contest, they encouraged me to enter.

I ended up winning the blue ribbon in the adult category.

And the best part for Jimmy?  He got to sample any of the cakes after they were judged!