Finding our Routine

I promise I won't complain about re-entry after vacation, but I will say that we had some "adjustment pains" as we all got settled back in our first full week of routine.  Lots of ups and downs with moods, whether it was a battle to get out the door in the morning, a grumpy bedtime, or bickering over little things.  Luckily we had a pretty ordinary week, so we had time to just be home in the afternoons and evenings to get ourselves back on track.

Blasting off to space

Evie and Noah were cat-sitting for the neighbors for the week.  Evie loved playing with the cats!

Evie thought we should have a "Read-In" like they do at school.  You could hear a pin drop!

Frankie doesn't mind it when we have lots of time at home!

I don't even know what was happening here...Astronaut on a Hot Wheels car?!

No cavities.  Hooray!

Sometimes you just need a hug!

Silly faces to describe our horror that Evie is almost as tall as Grandma!

On a positive note, I was able to spend some time with each of the kids' classes doing the Four Winds Nature program, which we all enjoy so much.  I love this volunteer opportunity, and the enthusiasm of the kids is contagious!  

We cut open these ball galls that grow on plants.  Did you know that a bug makes a house inside there for the winter?

Matt's good news of the week is that he has new waders (thank you to Patagonia for an amazing warranty) and new wading boots, so he is ready to start the fishing season in a few short weeks.  That's a sure sign of spring, right?!

We stuck to our routine all week, and then on Friday, we celebrated by going to see Matt's band play.  It wasn't the best outing with the kids, and we are still adjusting to being in crowded environments again, but hey, at least I didn't have to cook dinner!  Unfortunately I have no photos of the band because it was too crowded for us to even see them from our table.

Art by Noah wishing Daddy good luck

We stayed close to home on Saturday, because we got a messy snow storm.  We planned to have Harry Potter Night (Movie 1) that evening since Noah has now read the first book, and we brought some Harry Potter treats back from Universal.  Aunt Pea and Colby came over, we had some homemade Butter Beer, and we were just settled in to watch the movie when Noah looked a little funny to me.  As soon as I asked if he was okay, he bolted to the bathroom and threw up his whole dinner.  Even though he made it to the bathroom, he forgot to open the lid of the toilet!  😩  We quickly sent Aunt Pea and Colby home while we cleaned up and assessed the situation.  My apologies for the graphic detail, but it turned out that Noah had actually gagged on some pizza cheese, so we were relieved that he was okay and it wasn't a stomach bug.  Noah, of course, was devastated, but we promised a do-over of the movie night soon.

Attempting to catch up on laundry with my best "helper" on the clean clothes!

Tired girl after playing in the snow

Butter Beer - Adult version and kid version!

Enjoying his Butter Beer before the evening went off the rails!

We are looking forward to St. Patrick's Day this week, when Evie will have a couple chances to dance with the McFadden dancers!  Dancing for St. Patrick's Day was the last public event she did before the world shut down two years ago, so it feels fitting to celebrate this way as the world is opening back up.

Getting in the St. Patty's Day spirit.  The kids made and decorated these VERY green cupcakes all by themselves!