Pumpkinville

It is not very often that I post without pictures, but tonight we went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze in Mitchellville, just outside of Des Moines, and had a great time. We are celebrating Andrew’s birthday tomorrow night and we were looking for something to do on his actual birthday. The Reagens recommended the corn maze and we all met up just before the entrance closed at 8. We spent a little over an hour in the maze before sitting around a fire until a little after 10. When our cars were the last ones in the lot we felt it was probably time to leave. The funniest thing is that the boys group, Andrew, Ian, Cameron, and Elliot, spent a long time doing the corn maze blindfolded. It was a challenge under normal conditions and I am not sure how they did it.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Andrew! More to come on that. . .

Dean!

About 10 years ago I started playing guitar. I wasn’t ready to invest in a new guitar when I was just getting started, so I had to choose between my mom’s old guitar and Kathie’s old guitar. I took them both into a shop and they said that Kathie’s guitar was in better shape, so I went with that one. I have been playing that same guitar for the past 10 years.

This year for my birthday a few families chipped in to help me buy a new guitar and this weekend I came home with Dean. Dean is actually the company that made the guitar, but it says Dean right on top so that is what we are calling it. I actually wasn’t planning on getting something so fancy or flashy, but of all the guitars I looked at it just felt like the right choice.

Dean. I think I just couldn’t get past that bridge.

Rob’s Birthday

We celebrated my birthday on Wednesday, with Mari’s. For dinner tonight we had we had sandwich bar, which I love, and then we had something for dessert. I think we made brownie sundaes, which is great.

For my gift this year several families chipped in to help my buy a new guitar. I started looking this afternoon and hope to make a purchase soon.

Mari’s 15th Birthday

Today we celebrated Mari’s 15th birthday. The Reagens and Mimi and Papa came over. We enjoyed tie-dye, swimming, pizza, cake, and presents.

Mari at 15 is a industrious, creative young lady. During the pandemic she has found many creative ways to keep herself busy, including artwork and baking. She still loves to be outside in the water. She also has been spending a lot of time in her room, partially because she does not like hanging out with the cat.

She wakes up on non-school days at around 10, because we make her. She promptly kicks us out of her room and usually makes it down within the next hour for breakfast. She then spends most of the day doing things around the house and in her room. She enjoys watching a show or two in the evening, but not going on family walks. I think she goes to bed around midnight.

She is still into soccer and is trying to run, but has been having some foot pain. She has also been working on driving lately and will take Drivers Ed in July.

Favorite song: None
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite band: None
Favorite book: The Hunger Games
Favorite sport: Soccer
Favorite movie: Spiderman Homecoming (Tom Holland)

Happy Birthday, Rose!

Today we celebrate Rose’s 5th birthday. Her friend Hili came over in the afternoon and they played in the creek, where there is a little beach area. The Reagens and Mimi and Papa came over in the evening for a pool party!

Rose at 5 continues to be a real sweetheart. She loves to give big hugs and kisses. She enjoys drawing, coloring, writing, and building things. Her favorite birthday present was probably a Chelsea camper (think Barbie Jr). Rose gets up every day around 7:30 or 8 and likes to make her way downstairs to read with mom and dad or do a coloring page. For breakfast, she likes bagels, sometimes with cinnamon. For lunch she likes macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets. For dinner, she likes spaghetti and meatballs. She loves to play outside with Lucia and the neighbors. She loves playing in the pool, but is not always a fan of our family walks. She goes to bed around 9 or 10 at night, still sharing a bed with Lucia.

Rose wanted me to be sure to add that she loves playing with Oreo, the cat, including carrying him around. She does get scratched on occasion, but that is a small price to pay.

Elliot’s Birthday Party

Elliot, wearing Mari’s gift-wrapping accessories.
Blowing out his candles.

This evening we celebrated Elliot’s birthday, a few days early. The Reagens and Mar-Mar and BeBob came over for dinner.

Elliot turned 13 this year. He is generally a caring boy who likes to help out around the house, sometimes. He is still the best at making Andrew laugh, and also knowing how to get under his skin. He wakes up at 6:30 every morning for school, where he spends most of his day. Every day when I pick him up I ask if anything happened today, to which the reply is always ‘no.’ In his free time he likes to play soccer and hang out with Cam.

Favorite song The Box
Favorite color: Red
Favorite food: Skyline
Favorite band: None
Favorite book: Harry Potter 7
Favorite sport: Soccer
Favorite movie: Knives Out

Lucia’s 7th Birthday

We celebrated Lucia’s birthday last Saturday with her family party, but today is her actual birthday.

Our kids get to pick a birthday cereal. Lucia picked Lucky Charms.
These two are best friends. Lucia goes to school on Tuesdays for her homeschool enrichment classes. Since it was her birthday, she ordered treats to share with her class.

Lucia is still such a joy to have around the house. She is happy, snuggly, social, and a great friend to everyone. The most recent highlight of her life is that we had some new neighbors move in over the summer and they have an 8 year-old daughter who she loves to play with. She watches the clock every day to see when she is getting home from school and can’t wait to play.

She shares a bed with Rose, which is awesome and super-cute. They wake up every day around 7:30. Lucia would usually sleep a little later, but Rose sometimes wakes her up. She likes to eat bagels for breakfast and chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese for lunch. She played soccer this fall and took a tumbling class. She is naturally very flexible and strong so she does well at tumbling. She and Rose go to bed every night at 9 after reading for a few minutes.

Favorite song: Tequila
Favorite color: Turquoise
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite band: TwentyOne Pilots
Favorite book: Fancy Nancy
Favorite sport: Dance 
Favorite movie: Moana
Favorite subject: Art

Lucia and Andrew Birthday Party

This evening we celebrated Andrew and Lucia’s birthdays with the Reagens, Liesses, and Elsie and Abbot from next door. Lucia wanted walking tacos and Andrew always has Skyline, so we made walking tacos with Skyline taco meet (and some regular taco meet for those who prefer it). It was a fun night with good food and good company.

Andrew’s 16th Birthday

Today we mini-celebrated Andrew’s 16th birthday. He was supposed to have a cross country meet out of town, so we didn’t plan anything. The meet was cancelled because of the weather and his team arranged a duel meet with another local team. Andrew ran a great race and we picked up a mini chocolate cake for afterward.

Andrew and some of his running friends – Jackson, Luke, and Carter.
Blurry Cake

Favorite song:  IDK
Favorite color: Orange
Favorite food:  Pasta
Favorite band:  IDK
Favorite book: Harry Potter
Favorite sport: XC
Favorite movie: IDK
Favorite Subject: Social Studies