Wrapping up 2022

Happy New Year! We had a busy and fun end of 2022! We are in such a busy but fun season of life. The big kids are at such fun ages, and Brody is in full-blown toddler mode, but he is so cute and hilarious. Every day is fun, exciting, energetic, loud, and exhausting! Here is a wrap up of our last couple of months in 2022.

November

IU Games

Now that life is semi-back to normal, we have been fully taking advantage of living in a college town. We’ve been attending lots of IU basketball games – both women’s and men’s games. The women’s team is awesome this year, and I am good friends with one of the coach’s wives, so we’ve been enjoying the games and the behind the scenes of Assembly Hall (my dream!)

Random Snow Day

One random Saturday in early November, we woke up to SNOW. The kids had fun playing in the snow and sledding for most of the day! They were sad when the snow started melting a couple days later, so I was quick to remind them that plenty more snow (typically more than desired) will come in the coming months.

 

Polar Express in French Lick

I’ve wanted to take my kids to do the Polar Express for so long, but before this year, I didn’t feel comfortable with it because of Covid. But this year, we were so excited to finally get to do it! We had such a fun time with Ryan’s family in French Lick! We all wore different Christmas pajamas, and Ryan wore a full Grinch costume. People thought he was part of the show and kept coming up to him to get their picture taken with him!

 

Birthday Date Night

For my birthday this year, I told Ryan all I wanted was a date night with him. And he delivered! He got us SECOND ROW tickets to see Aladdin the Broadway show!! Saying it was AMAZING is an understatement. It was truly an incredible show – especially to see up close. We spent the evening at the Bottleworks Hotel in downtown Indy and enjoyed our night out on the town!

 

Thanksgiving

Ryan worked this year on Thanksgiving, but we were grateful to still have family nearby to spend it with. We started out at Ryan’s cousin Nicole’s house. She lives on a farm, so the kids were THRILLED to run around chasing goats and catching chickens!

After Thanksgiving lunch with Ryan’s family, we went to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner with my family. We had two wonderful Thanksgiving meals and loved time with family!

 

Kick-off to Christmas Time

The evening after Thanksgiving, we went to downtown Indy to see the lights around Monument Circle light up. It was very crowded, but luckily, my brother-in-law works in a building right next to Monument Circle, so he took us up to his office and we could see the lights from there! Once the crowds cleared out, we went back down to get a closer look and take pictures. It was a fun night!

 

Here is our 1 Second Everyday for the month of November…

December

Children’s Museum

We went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum for my nephew’s 4th birthday with a group of cousins. The kids had a blast!

Chicago Weekend

For my sister-in-law’s birthday, we all went to Chicago for the weekend. We loved exploring the city. One of the highlights was taking Kinsie to the American Girl Place. She was so happy to have some special girl time!

Later, we went to a really cool event called “Harry Potter- Magic at Play.” It was basically an interactive Harry Potter journey. It was a lot of fun! The kids loved experiencing the journey of becoming a Hogwarts student – doing spells, playing Quidditch, and more!

 

Christmas Season

Christmas time is our favorite. We love all of the magic leading up to Christmas!

We didn’t get around to making our cookies until after Christmas, but we still enjoyed making them! The kids also enjoyed making an Encanto gingerbread house.

 

Rocket the Elf

Our buddy Rocket came back for year 2 of scout elf fun! The kids got extra attached to him this year, so he surprised them with an extra day after Christmas, and they could touch and hug him. They LOVED it! They were still really bummed when his time was up, so he promised them that he would make appearances throughout the year for other holidays. 

Here is a quick video showing Rocket’s adventures this year!

 

Christmas Eve

Somehow we got Ryan home for Christmas Eve AND Christmas day this year! Our hearts were full! On Christmas Eve, we went to Ryan’s aunt’s house for dinner and gifts. 

 

Christmas Morning

We had another magical Christmas morning. The kids loved all their gifts! After we did our own gifts, we drove to my parents’ house to have Christmas with my family.

 

Christmas Day

We enjoyed dinner and gifts with my family. But the rest of the time, the kids had a blast playing with all their new toys and playing sports competitions on Nintendo Switch. It was a wonderful day!

 

New Year’s Eve

After Christmas, we spent most of the next week chilling at home. It was actually really nice! The kids stayed busy with all their new toys and gifts. I think Braxton built about 5 Lego sets that he got for Christmas! For Christmas Eve, we just stayed in as a family. We made a kid-friendly charcuterie board for dinner. The kids had the best time helping make and arrange the food!

After dinner, we had a glow-in-the-dark dance party like we did last year. We put a black light in the workout room and included glowing balloons, glow sticks and music. And Rocket came back for a night of fun too!

After the dance party, Brody went to bed, but the big kids stayed up. We played Apples to Apples and Nintendo Switch until it was time for the countdown. By the time midnight came around, Ryan and I were tired, but they were WIRED. It was a fun night!

Here is our December 1 Second Everyday…

And here is our 1 Second Everyday video for the year of 2022. They added some new features to the app, and I love the way this video turned out! Enjoy!

 

And that’s a wrap for 2022! This year seemed to fly by…maybe because life went back to normal. It was nice to be able go out and about again. We are excited to see what 2023 brings!

Thankful in November

And just like that…November is over and we are now in our last month of 2021. It’s so crazy to me how quickly this year is flying by. November was filled with lots of quality family time, which is always my favorite. Here is a recap of our month…

Kindergarten Field Trip

Braxton’s class went on a field trip to a nearby farm this month, and parents got to come along! It was a cold morning, but I LOVED spending quality time with my boy. He loved petting many of the animals, and most of all…holding a baby lamb! 

Fall Walk on Campus

IU’s campus is always gorgeous in the prime of fall. It’s my favorite. So we always try to find a day to take a walk on campus during the peak of the leaves changing. Like usual, it didn’t disappoint! 

First Dose for the Bigs!

I’ve been excited for this day for a LONG time…Kinsie and Braxton got their first dose of the Covid vaccine! Even though they are not a big fan of shots, they were ready for this one. They are excited to get closer to normalcy and to help protect their little brother who won’t be able to get his vaccine for a few more months. 

Birthday Celebration

My birthday was this month, and I never ask for much except to hang out with family. During the weekend before my actual birthday, we were at my parents’ house to hang out for the day while Ryan went to visit some friends. When he got back, my family surprised me with a cake and small birthday celebration! 

Cousin Fun

We’ve had lots of great cousin time this month! My niece Kerigan had a small birthday party at an art studio, and the kids were ALL about it. They absolutely loved it!

My kids had the week off for Thanksgiving, so we spent a lot of time at my parents’ house. The big kids went to a movie with their cousins, played in the little snowfall we got, and just enjoyed playing together at Papa and Yaya’s house!

Fun at Home

We still spend a lot of time at home during the weekends or after school. This month the kids enjoyed doing Christmas crafts, watching deer out the kitchen window, coloring, dressing up Bob the boxing guy, and just playing together and coming up with creative games. 

And of course we get outside as often as we can too! The kids have loved walking down to the woods behind our house and climbing rocks!

Brown County

My birthday gift from my parents was a night getaway to Brown County while they watched the kids. It was EXACTLY what I needed. Ryan and I got to spend the day in Brown County, just the two of us. We took a hike in the state park, had some amazing meals and snacks, went shopping, did a wine tasting, and just relaxed. We loved the quality time together and definitely need it more often!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always a busy, but wonderful day for us. We started the day at Ryan’s parents’ lake house for a delicious Thanksgiving lunch with Ryan’s side of the family. The kids loved playing with their cousin Griffin, and Nate’s dog, Alfie! 

Later in the afternoon, we made our way to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family. The kids always have a blast at the cousin table, and Brody even joined them! It was a busy, chaotic day, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Days like this make us realize how blessed we really are to not have just one, but TWO wonderful families that we can spend the holidays with.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…

I love Christmas time. When we lived in Arkansas, I always decorated early because we usually spent the week of Christmas in Indiana with our families, so I wanted to be able to enjoy our Christmas decorations longer. Now I don’t really have that excuse, I just decorate early because I love it! I was especially excited to decorate my new house for Christmas for the first time! Last year, we didn’t have much space, and most of our Christmas stuff was in storage, so we were all excited to get it ALL out this year and have an abundance of space to put it all. Brody loves all the Christmas lights, and every time he passes the tree, he points and says “Ooooh!”

Brody is 18 Months!

Our crazy little Covid baby is 18 months old! It’s hard to believe that his entire life has been in a pandemic, and he has no idea! He is still the happiest, craziest, most active little dude. He still has a severe case of stranger danger, but he knows who is in his circle and he welcomes them with open arms!

Some fun facts about our Bro at 1.5 years…

• He LOVES to talk. He knows everyone’s name in his family, and he knows a lot of words. He also babbles on and on for minutes at a time as if he’s having a full conversation with us! My favorite words that he says (that we can understand), are banana (nana), shoes, (oosh), and cookie.
• He loves to color and explore art. But he’s still learning that we only color on paper!

• He has his first official “lovey,” a stuffed animal Pluto that he found in Brax’s old stuffed animals. He loves it so much! He carries it everywhere, sleeps with it, and calls it “Woof Woof.”

• He LOVES snacks. Just like his brother. He often does not want anything to do with his meals, but he wants snacks all day long. And he can open the pantry by himself, so he is constantly getting in the pantry and gathering up the snacks he wants.
• His favorite foods are cottage cheese, cheese sticks, bananas, and veggie straws.

• He still loves being outside, or leaving the house in any way. He gets SO excited at the chance to play outside, or put on his shoes to go somewhere…even if it’s just taking his brother and sister to school.
• He loves to dance…especially to the songs from any Mickey Mouse show!
• He loves books…and lucky for him, there are now 4 people in his family that are able to read to him.
• He loves Mickey Mouse and Baby Shark.
• He hates having his picture taken…but I love taking his picture, so I’ve had to get creative to get any decent pictures of him! This often involves me chasing him around while singing songs and making a fool of myself just to make him laugh!
• He doesn’t always like to wear clothes. He will often remove his own shirt or pants and run around almost naked!

• He is absolutely wild and exhausting, but he is also hilarious and so stinking cute! We are all still so obsessed with him in every way!

As I was writing this blog post, I looked back at my old blog posts from when Kinsie and Braxton turned 18 months. Braxton and Brody are SO much alike! Brax went through some really difficult toddler phases, but now he is an absolute gem so I’d be ok if I raise another one just like him!

And that was our November. Overall, we didn’t do much other than the everyday hustle and bustle. But we love our time at home or at my or Ryan’s parents’ houses just spending time as a family. That is what fills our buckets. We are looking forward to the Christmas season and all the joy and magic it brings!

Enjoy our November 1SE…its a whole lot of Brody squeals and dancing!

HALF a Year with Brody

November was somewhat uneventful, but we were completely fine with that! The pandemic is making its fall surge as per expected, and with the colder weather, we haven’t had as many outdoor adventures, so we spent most of our time at home. Even though our schedule isn’t packed full with activities, we’ve really been able to enjoy the simple, but more important parts of our life right now – like watching Brody grow and reach milestones, and watching our dream home being built!

Here is how our simple, quiet November went down…

Brody’s First Sickness

Our sweet little Brody had his first illness this month. He really struggled sleeping one night, and quickly became very congested and had a high fever. Ryan and I had to take shifts holding him throughout the night so he could sleep. The next day was Election Day, and both of my big kids had the day off (their schools were polling locations). After a night of pretty much no sleep, my mom came to help me since Ryan had to work. I’m so grateful she came, because she helped me tremendously with the big kids while I held Brody all day to help him nap. The next day, I took him to the doctor, and it turned out he had an ear infection. We got him some antibiotics and he was feeling better within a few days. It was an exhausting week (add on daylight savings time AND a new tooth in the same week), but he was such a champ, and I honestly enjoyed the extra snuggles with my sweet boy.

Progress on our House

They are doing WORK on our house. Like seriously, it is going up so fast and we are SO excited! They finished framing the entire house and the kids have loved visiting almost every day and running through the house. They would move in today if I let them!

The kids in their rooms – before the wall and bathroom was framed out in between!

 

One of our favorite parts of the house – the back patio!

 

Windows and shingles – done!

 

Recently they’ve been working on the electrical and plumbing, then they’ll be doing the drywall soon. This has been such a fun process and we’ve already created many memories at this house and we haven’t even moved in yet!

Picnic Dinner at the House

One evening when we had nicer weather, we got dinner from Subway, drove to the new house and had our first official dinner in our new kitchen – picnic style!

We also brought the kids’ bikes, so after dinner, they rode around the cul-de-sac for a little while. We also got our first glance at the sunset view we’ll get from our lot. It was a beautiful and fun family evening!

My Birthday

I turned 32 this month. And now we’re getting to the point where everyone has had a birthday in this weird 2020 year. It was different, but I still got what I wanted, which was time with my family. Ryan took the day off, and we spent a nice day together. We had carry-out Jimmy Johns for lunch and sushi for dinner. Ryan bought me my favorite Starbucks drink, and I got to do some Christmas shopping alone! It was all I needed. A few days later, we spent the day at my parents’ house and celebrated my birthday, and my niece’s birthday with family. 

Thanksgiving

The kids had a week off school for Thanksgiving break. Before they were off, they both had some fun Thanksgiving activities at school. Braxton got to have a Thanksgiving celebration within his own classroom, complete with fun placemats and pumpkin pie. Kinsie got to create her own disguise for a turkey to help him avoid being eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. She disguised her turkey as Harry Potter! Usually, the kids’ schools do feasts at school with families invited, but things are obviously different right now. However, they continue to be champs throughout all of this and just enjoy life as it happens!

Unfortunately, Ryan had to work on Thanksgiving evening…but part of his job is knowing that he will have to work on holidays sometimes. While this isn’t ideal, it definitely helps that we are back in Indiana closer to family. The kids and I drove up to Indy to spend Thanksgiving with the family inside our current Covid bubble. First we stopped at Ryan’s sister Megan’s house to have a Thanksgiving lunch with his immediate family. It was nice, simple and quiet, and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousin, Griffin.

After lunch, we drove to my parents’ house to have Thanksgiving dinner with my immediate family. The kids had a blast playing with their Robinson cousins, we had a great meal and just enjoyed each other. Again…simple, but perfect! 

Luckily, Ryan had the rest of the weekend off so we still got some good family time during the holiday weekend.

Kinsie’s Sleepover

My niece, Kerigan, turned 7 this month. For her birthday, she just wanted a sleepover with Kinsie, and their other cousin, Emery. We all went over to my sister’s house for dinner, then we left and let the girls have their sleepover. They did crafts, drove around the see Christmas lights, played “The Masked Singer,” and ate donuts for breakfast. They always have such a great time together!

Brody turned 6 months old!

How is our sweet little guy half a year old already? It is truly bizarre to me that just 6 months ago, our precious Brody came into this world at the beginning of a global pandemic. And then we were stuck in the hospital for a week. And then we moved to a new state. And then we had to spend a month without Ryan while he finished residency. We’ve had a LOT happen in the last 6 months, but we’ve accomplished and grown so much in that amount of time. What a weird, but wonderful start to Brody’s life!

Here are some updates of our boy at 6 months-

• He weighs 16 lbs. and 12 oz. (34th percentile).
• He is 27.6 inches long (86th percentile).
• He got his first TWO teeth!
• He is army crawling ALL over the place.
• He can sit up independently. However, he doesn’t like to sit still so he can’t show off his sitting skills long because he dives forward wanting to be on the move again.
• He still loves to chew on everything in sight. His current favorite chewing toys include a teether giraffe, my legs, and anything the kids are trying to play with.
• His obsession with mama is intensifying. While I’m flattered, I’m hoping we can work through it and it doesn’t linger too long. My Brody-holding arm is exhausted!
• He loves attention.
• He is still the happiest little guy with the BEST smile!

 

And of course we are all still obsessed with him! 

His sweet smile is my absolute favorite!!

Growing month by month…

This boy has been the sunshine that we desperately needed this year. We are beyond grateful for this perfect little gift from God!

Happy HALF birthday, Brody Ryan!

And that was our November. Simple and uneventful, but great. December is always an exciting month, and we all know things will be different, but we are ready for the holiday season. The presence of Christmas lights and Christmas music has already been so soothing to my soul. This has been a crazy year, and we’ve seen a lot of hatred and division in the last few months in our country, so I’m looking forward to the stillness and peace that Christmas brings. We all need the reminders of Jesus’s birth and what is truly important in this life. I’m looking forward to being home for Christmas and spending that time with my family celebrating the birth of our Savior.

And as always, here is our 1 Second Everyday video for November.

Thankful for November

November was a good month. We had a few fun trips, and lots of quality time with family! Here is how our November went down…

Trip to Bloomington

Ryan will graduate from residency in June 2020, and believe it or not, he is on the job search for when that happens! We recently had the opportunity to travel back to the town of our Alma Mater for a job interview trip. Bloomington is one of our favorite towns. There is so much natural beauty, culture, and memories from when we went to school there. We made it a family trip and met up with family at our favorite restaurant, Mother Bears (where Kinsie proudly added her name to their famous graffiti walls). Then Grandma Bev took the kids for a few days so Ryan and I could explore on our own and attend interview events. We loved walking around campus and hitting up some of our favorite spots. We went at the perfect time of year…cooler fall temps and amazing leaves. Ryan’s interview went great and we will hear more next spring about job availability.

While we had a few days to ourselves, the kids were having a blast with family. They played outside, went to Kid’s Planet, and played with cousins.

Trip to Fayetteville

This is the first year that Indiana University played University of Arkansas in basketball. The game was in Fayetteville, which is where Arkansas’s campus is. We’ve always heard that this town is beautiful, so it has been on our list of places to go since we moved here. We took this opportunity, plus the fact that Thanksgiving was the following week, to have my family travel to visit us, spend the weekend in Fayetteville, and go to the game. We loved walking around campus, and going on an awesome hike at Devil’s Den State Park. IU barely lost a tough game, but it was still such a fun experience. Kinsie and Kerigan dressed up in my sister and I’s old IU cheerleading uniforms, and they loved their first IU game!

Family Week

Cousin Play Dates

After our trip to Fayetteville, my family spent the week of Thanksgiving with us. We showed them around some of our favorite play date places, like the Wonder Place and the trampoline park. The kids loved every moment together!

Thanksgiving

Before the kids had a week off of school for Thanksgiving break, Kinsie’s class had a Thanksgiving feast. She and her classmates got to wear turkey hats and do a square dance! Brax was also in school this day, and the feast was only for the older classes, so I got to have some quality time with my girl!

On Thanksgiving Day, we all chipped in on making an amazing dinner. Since it was a beautiful fall day, we took the big kids to the park while the babies napped.

Dinner was a huge success, my dad worked hard all day on the turkey, and it did not disappoint! The kids loved their cousin table complete with a coloring tablecloth, crayons, and lots of chocolate pie.

Pinnacle Mountain

The day after Thanksgiving, we took the family on one of our favorite hikes, Pinnacle Mountain. It was a little cold that day, so we bundled them all up and headed up the mountain. The kids were absolute champs. As you hike up the mountain, there are markers from 1-10 to show you how close you are to the top. The kids loved finding the markers and taking a picture with each one. They were so proud when they got to 10!

We all loved the view from the top. This is the 3rd time Ryan and I have done this hike, and it is just as amazing each time!

Decorating for Christmas

This is always one of our favorite things to do. Since we spend Christmas in Indiana, we always decorate early so we can enjoy it longer. No joke, Kinsie put most of the ornaments on the tree. The kids have already loved having their Christmas decorations up, playing with their Christmas toys, and watching Christmas movies!

Like I said, it was a good month. We were really hoping our nephew would make his grand entrance into the world this month, but he’s holding out to share a birthday month with his mommy and Uncle Ryan. It will be any day now, and we all can’t wait to meet this precious boy!

Enjoy our November 1 Second Everyday video (can you believe I’ve almost done this for an entire year!?!)

A November to Remember

Where did November go? I feel like it flew by! We have been having beautiful weather here in Arkansas, so it doesn’t even feel like it’s getting close to winter yet (sorry to rub it in your faces Indiana friends!) This month we enjoyed a visit from some family, lots of Thanksgiving festivities, and preparing for Christmas! Enjoy our November recap!

Grandparent’s Day

As SOON as I knew when Kinsie’s school had Grandparents Day, I let both sets of our parents know and hoped that at least one of them could plan a trip to make it. I really didn’t want Kinsie to be the only one in her class who didn’t have a grandparent there. It worked out for Ryan’s mom and aunt to make a trip to see us for a few days. Aunt Renata is practically a grandma to the kids, so she willingly stepped in. We always love having visitors at our home, and Kinsie loved having them visit her school.

Decorating for Christmas

Decorating for Christmas always makes us so happy! The kids LOVE all the decorations, lights, and ornaments. Before you judge me too harshly for decorating before Thanksgiving, hear me out on our reasoning. 1) We would be headed to Indiana for Thanksgiving and wouldn’t have been able to decorate until December, 2) Our days with Ryan available are few and far between, and putting up the Christmas tree is a family tradition. We had to take advantage of one of his few days off, 3) We will be spending Christmas in Indiana, and I wanted us all to enjoy our decorations and tree for a worthy amount of time. It made us happy and we always make it a priority to remember the reason for the season, so why not, right?

We did at least wait to put our outside lights up until after Thanksgiving. Kinsie loved going up in the attic with Daddy. Brax wanted to as well, but that obviously wasn’t happening! We’ve had beautiful weather lately, so the kids enjoyed playing outside and eating popsicles while we put the decorations up.

My Birthday

We drove to Indiana the evening before my birthday, and I was so glad I got to spend my birthday with all the people I love. We left later in the afternoon, so we were still driving when midnight struck. Of course my sweet mom set her alarm for midnight so she could wish me a happy birthday! I got to spend that evening with my whole family eating chilli and ice cream cake. Birthdays can’t get much better than that! And of course, I had to get a picture with my birthday buddy, my niece Kerigan (her birthday is the day after mine).

My sister’s birthday present to me was a “sister date” at Board and Brush. We got in touch with our artistic sides and had a great time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerigan’s Birthday

Like I said, my niece Kerigan’s birthday is the day after mine, so we’ve always been birthday buddies. Everyone else takes advantage of double birthday cakes! On the night of her birthday, we all went to Kid’s Planet. The kids all loved it!

A couple days later was Kerigan’s party. She had a princess party, which is right up Kinsie’s alley right now too. Rapunzel (Kinsie and Kerigan’s favorite Disney princess) made a surprise visit and read them a story, danced with them, and spent most of the afternoon talking to all the kids. They loved it! Even though Brax isn’t into princesses, he had fun running amok too!

Thanksgiving

Before we left Arkansas, Kinsie had a Thanksgiving feast at school. Luckily, we were all able to attend. The kids came out, sang a song, said a prayer, and then joined their families for lunch. Kinsie was a rockstar during the song and followed directions so well. My FAVORITE part, however, was as soon as Kinsie’s class came out, Brax ran up to her and pointed to her and said “Kinsie!!” He was SO excited to see her, even though he had seen her earlier that morning at home. Then once she was done with her presentation and she came to eat with us, they hugged like they hadn’t seen either other in days. They have such a special relationship!

We spent actual Thanksgiving day with family in Indiana. We started our morning visiting Ryan’s grandma, then we went to Megan’s house for Thanksgiving lunch with Ryan’s dad’s side of the family, then we went to Ryan’s aunt Rita’s house to celebrate with Ryan’s mom’s side, then finally ended up back at my parents to celebrate with my family. It was a LONG day, but we felt so blessed to have so many places to be and so many people to celebrate with.

Cousin Time

Anytime we visit, the kids’ main request is lots and lots of cousin time! They are all so close and all have a blast together. It doesn’t matter whether they are wrestling on the floor, jumping rope in the garage, coloring, or pushing each other in a laundry basket…they always have fun as long as they’re together!

Visiting Grandma Graves

Ryan’s grandma has recently been placed on hospice care. While this is extremely difficult for the family, she is very at peace about it and ready to join Jesus in her heavenly home. We were SO lucky to get to visit her several times while we were in town. I say we are so lucky, because Ryan originally didn’t think he’d be able to even make this trip home. However, the week of Thanksgiving happened to be in between two of his rotations, and he was able to schedule all his shifts earlier in the month so that he was able to have a week off. He managed to do this before Grandma Graves declined. It was such a blessing that he had the time off so he could visit with his grandma before she goes home. We loved our visits with her. She loved talking with us, sharing her funny stories, and watching the kids play. She is a gem of a woman…as faithful as they come. She has had several articles published, but my favorite one included this nugget of wisdom, “I’ve never had any money but still I’m richer than the richest because I’ve been blessed with many children and grandchildren.” She is such an amazing woman and she will always inspire me.

That just about sums up our month. We ended our month with sickness…lots and lots of it. Kinsie started with a bad cold, then Brax got a stomach bug, then I got the stomach bug, then I got the cold, then Brax got the cold, then Kinsie got the stomach bug. Fun times. Not to mention, my mom and my nieces and nephew all got sick too. It has been a very long and exhausting week, and we are so ready to all be completely healthy and back to normal. December will hopefully be filled with lots of Christmas activities and family time. The kids are already anxious for Santa sightings, Christmas lights, and more cousin time!

November Adventures

The fall months always keep us busy! There is always a lot going on with birthdays, holidays and fall activities. Here were the highlights of our month:

Trip to Florida

Ryan is in the midst of residency interview season, so he is raveling around the country interviewing for different Emergency Medicine residency programs. When he got an interview with the University of Florida program in Gainesville, I volunteered to go with him without hesitation! At first we were planning on bringing the kids, but we decided to leave them with our parents and take a trip just the two of us. We hadn’t done this since our Honeymoon, so it was much needed! Since we were going to be in Florida for a few days, we also took the opportunity to visit a place that was on our Bucket List…Harry Potter World in Universal Studios. Ryan and I are both Harry Potter nerds and we have been dying to visit there. It was AMAZING. We spent 2 days there and loved every minute of it. We walked through Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, ate at the Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron, bought the Elder Wand, rode the Hogwarts Express, drank butterbeer and much more Harry Potter fun! Our other favorite area of Universal Studios was Jurassic Park. We spent a lot of time in the gift shop buying dinosaur souvenirs for the kids! After two days in Orlando, we drove to Gainesville for the interview. We walked the campus, and hiked through some of the local parks. At a park called La Chua Trail, we saw at least 50 alligators! One of them was blocking the trail so we couldn’t go any further. We loved exploring the beautiful town of Gainesville and we had an amazing trip!

Jurassic Quest

A month or so ago, Ryan’s cousin saw an ad for a show that was coming to the Indiana State Fairgrounds in November, called Jurassic Quest. She told us we should take Kinsie. We looked into it and decided to buy tickets. It was an awesome experience! We were in a huge warehouse and there were tons of life-size animatronic dinosaurs that moved and roared. Kinsie got to ride on a moving dinosaur, and then Brax joined her on a smaller non-moving dinosaur. There were also bounce houses, crafts, face-painting (which we didn’t do because there was a 2 hour wait!), and arcade games. Kinsie was in heaven! She told us that she never wanted to leave. Of course we eventually did, but both the kids got to bring home a stuffed dinosaur souvenir. They loved it!

Thanksgiving

This year, my school system changed our calendar, and we had one week off for Fall Break in October, and the whole week of Thanksgiving off. I didn’t like it at first since I only had one week off after the first quarter of school, but I actually loved having Thanksgiving week off. Ryan had the week off too, so we were able to spend a lot of great family time together. Earlier in the week, we got to go to Kinsie’s preschool’s Thanksgiving feast. She made placemats for us in class that included what she was thankful for. It was a lot of fun! Thanksgiving Day itself is always a highlight of our fall because we get to spend the day with both of our families. During the day, we went to Ryan’s sister Megan’s house for Thanksgiving lunch. We got to spend a few hours there with Ryan’s family, and Kinsie always loves going there to run around with their dog, Ali. Later, we went to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner with my family. The kids had a blast with their cousins and we had some great family time! Later that evening, Kinsie was having a slumber party with her cousins at my parents house, and my poor sweet girl got sick and we had to come and get her. We spent the next few days snuggling at home watching movies and she was feeling better within a few days. Our family tends to have bad luck with holidays…one of us is always sick on either Thanksgiving or Christmas. Fingers crossed that we all stay healthy this Christmas!

Thanksgiving feast at Kinsie’s preschool

Thanksgiving lunch at Megan and Tim’s

All the cousins gathered around the cousin table for Thanksgiving dinner

Polar Express

This year, we thought that the kids would really enjoy doing the Polar Express train ride. Ryan’s cousin’s kids are about Kinsie’s age and they love hanging out together, so we decided to get tickets for the same train as them. This was such an awesome experience! We all wore Christmas pajamas, rode on the train, drank hot cocoa, and ate cookies. We rode to the “North Pole” and picked up Santa Claus, who rode on the train ride back to the train station and visited with each kid. Kinsie had been talking about Santa SO much and couldn’t wait to see him, then once she did, she was so overwhelmed! She tried to hide behind me but I wouldn’t let her because I knew she wanted to see him. When he sat in the seat with us, she was super shy. (this was exactly how she was at Disney World last year when meeting the characters!) She told Santa what she wanted for Christmas, but very quietly! Of course afterwards, she couldn’t stop talking about how she met Santa! It was a lot of fun and a very neat experience.

As you can see, it was a great month! Like most parents, we love nothing more than to see our kids happy, so we take them to dinosaur shows and wear ridiculous Rudolph pajamas. Since Ryan is traveling so much, we really do our best to savor our time together as a family and go out and do fun things. We have a lot planned for the month of December as well with a trip to Florida (this time with the kids), and lots of Christmas fun!

A Full Plate on Thanksgiving

We had a very busy Thanksgiving week! Ryan had almost the entire week off, which I was very excited about. Unfortunately, my sweet Aunt Virgie passed away over the weekend, so we had to start our holiday with a trip up to the region for her funeral. My parents went on Tuesday night, and Ryan, Krista, Briggs, Kinsie, Kerigan and I drove up the next day. Ryan Robinson was still in Muncie (yes, my sister’s husband is in Muncie too…I mentioned earlier that we always do things the same!) so he met us up there later when he got off work. The trip with all the kiddos went wonderfully, as all 3 of them slept most of the way. This was the first time Kinsie was meeting my dad’s side of the family…which is a lot of people. They all completely adored her and Kerigan  (how can you not!) Sadly, Aunt Virgie never got to meet the new babies, but she knew about them. The last conversation my dad had with her was to tell her about Kerigan being born. I know she is smiling down on them from heaven!

My beautiful Aunt Virgie

Early the next morning, we had to get on the road to get back in time for all of our Thanksgiving festivities. I have to admit, I started the day a bit overwhelmed and stressed. We had a lot of places to be that day, which normally is no big deal, but with a 2 month old baby, it makes things a little more hectic. We were supposed to be at Ryan’s aunt’s house at 11am, but after packing all our gear, eating breakfast, feeding and taking care of the baby, we didn’t even leave Portage until 9:30 and still had a 2.5 hour drive. I was stressing out about having such a late start with all the places we needed to be, but after a little reminder from Ryan and my parents, I remembered how blessed we are to even have so many places to be. We are very lucky to be a part of these families with so many wonderful and loving people…so I carried that reminder with me the rest of the day.

Kinsie slept the entire way home, allowing me to nap as well, which I was very grateful for since she kept me up so late after all of the stimulation of meeting my huge Mexican family! As soon as we got home, we ventured to Thanksgiving #1 with Ryan’s dad’s side of the family. We had a great meal and Kinsie got to spend some quality time with her Grandma and Grandpa Matthews and the rest of Ryan’s family. Next was Thanksgiving #2 at Ryan’s other aunt’s house with his mom’s side of the family. Most of this family hadn’t met Kinsie either, so she was quite a hot commodity! Everyone took turns holding and loving on our sweet girl. Finally, we ventured back to my parents house for our final meal of the day, where we spent the rest of the evening with my family and my sister’s in-laws. Overall, Kinsie was a champ the entire day. I was one proud mama! It took several difficult days and nights to get her back on a normal napping and sleeping schedule because of all the stimulation she had in those 2 days, but I was glad that we got to spend Thanksgiving with both of our extended families.

Laying around with Addie before our Thanksgiving adventures

Our sweet little turkey

Lots of grandparent, aunt and cousin time!

I wasn’t one of the people who listed what they were thankful for throughout the month of November on Facebook, but I definitely have SO much to be thankful for. Rather than sharing it on social media, I just shared it with my loved ones and my Lord. Here are a few that stand out…

• I am thankful for my amazing husband, Ryan, who supports me and makes me feel loved every single day.
• I am thankful for my beautiful daughter, Kinsie, who lights up my world and gives my life new meaning.
• I am thankful for my parents who would do absolutely anything for me.
• I am thankful for my sister, Krista who has always been and always will be my best friend.
• I am thankful for my nephew, Briggs, and my niece, Kerigan, who add sunshine to my life.
• I am thankful for my brother-in-law, Ryan Robinson, who has always embraced every aspect of our family.
• I am thankful for my husband’s family who have always loved me and welcomed me into their family.
• I am thankful for my dogs, Koda and Addie, who protect me and keep me company when Ryan is away.
• I am thankful for my teaching job and the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives.
• I am thankful for the wonderful and supportive staff that I work with at Mill Creek.
• I am thankful for my church, Trader’s Point, and our life group that helps me grow spiritually in my walk with the Lord.
• Last and most important, I am thankful for my relationship with Jesus Christ and His grace that He has blessed all of us with!