Emma’s First Couple Weeks

 Coming home from the hospital after Emma’s birth was like a time warp. It seemed we were just cocooned as a family in our home as we transitioned from a family of six to seven. I felt like it was a constant battle for me to get a turn to hold Emma! She loved hearing Cate sing, and “O Holy Night” always seemed to calm her when she was upset. We watched a lot of movies, played games, and “ooooed” and “awwwed” over every outfit Emma wore and face expression she made. We were smitten. I will always remember this time as being a sacred gift before the chaos of winter sports and school and music and work bombarded us. It felt so “right” to have all my people together under one roof, separated by whatever was happening outside our front door.

Halloween Eats and PTO

Having my kids home during the day has made this Halloween season a little more magical. I feel like the younger two boys are constantly in dress-up mode, we are reading so many cute festive stories, enjoying the Halloween section on Disney+, and I've tried to take advantage of our extra time with themed meals, crafts and activities.

Here are a few of the fun snacks we have made:

I had the kids build their own spider with pretzels sticks and blueberries with their uncrustable.

Some other meals not pictured: zombie brains (meatloaf in the shape of a brain), crushed bones (mashed potatoes), goblin fingers (green beans); witch's brew and corn bread; mummies (white enchiladas) and monster baby teeth  (corn); attempted Ghost shaped donuts and pumpkin juice (peach smoothie.)

Anyway, just lots of fun festive eats that  brightened my days!

Of course I am looking forward to the kids being able to be back at the school again, but it really has hit a sweet spot having the kids home.

Speaking of back to school; yesterday I was able to help the PTO sell and distribute last year's yearbook to parents picking up art from our program. I was honestly dreading the four hour block of time I had to cut out of my week. It was quite the highlight, ironically. It was so nice to see all the parents I have developed friendships with. I also loved basking in the beautiful fall weather. I feel like Jacksonville is a bit of a show off this time of year and I am all for it! It was a beautiful peaceful afternoon feeling once again connected to our little community here. I am grateful I took the plunge to get involved in PTO this year. I've only regretted it 80% of the time, haha. But that 20% sure has brought me a lot of joy, and the 80% has brought lots of learning experiences so there is that!