henry danger, rainbows and chrysalises

It's been a while since I posted so I have lots of pics. 
Nothing much has changed around here. Same ol' same ol'.

Angus says amusing things all day long. Here are just a few:

Being a grandpa looks scary. - Angus

Mom, this bagel is hot. Can you grab me some mittens? - Angus

Me: (eating my homemade quiche) MMMmm this is so good.
Angus: You should try toast. It's amazing.

All the kids love cooking dinner with Dan. He taught Mya how to make burgers. I don't know what he puts in them but they're delicious.

Then she made strawberry jam. It's the same one we made before from the Joanna Gaines cookbook. The kids love it so much they won't eat any other jam now. So I guess we'll just have to keep making it. 

Mya found Henry Danger on Netflix. It's love.

Dan teaching Addie to tie a bow. 💗

Speaking of bows. When it rains, I look for the rainbow afterward. It's been nice staying home because I never miss these beauties. This one was a giant. Then I looked at it a minute later and it was a double rainbow. Love it.

I'm still very slowly cooking my way through Joanna Gaines's cookbook. This was the last quiche. I only sprinkled chives on half of it in hopes that Angus would eat some. But he smelled it and left the room. Oh well. I enjoyed every bite.

Addie made veggie pigs in a blanket. It's a staple around here. We use morning star sausages and wrap them in crescent rolls. The kids don't like regular sausages because they say they're too spicy.

We have lots of kids between the 3 of us (mostly Mari) so we took a very well-deserved break from them and ate and drank overlooking this amazing view. The ocean always resets my inner peace.

Mya and Winter are unfortunately growing out of the stage of mismatched adorableness. But Addie's still very much not. And that makes me happy.

Dan found a milkweed plant with a bunch of caterpillars chowing down on it. He brought it home in hopes that the caterpillars would form chrysalises. It's always been a dream of his to watch the metamorphosis at home with the kids. We have all been pretty obsessed with it I must say. 

We currently have five chrysalises. We tried to catch them mid change but it's pretty fast so we missed it. We are going to borrow a GoPro so we can hopefully catch them turning into butterflies soon. It'll be about a week until it happens. It has been a highlight of the year so far for sure.

Mya organized Angus's drawers for fun, Marie Kondo style. Normally, I just throw his clothes in the drawers so we'll see how this goes...

Me: Awe Winter, I just love your little dimple on your cheek.
Winter: 

"Okay, don't move Addie. Is that too tight?" 

Angus is going to be the nicest police officer.

An awesome neighbor dad took these lovely ladies for a long bike ride. We have so many photos of these girls posing on their bikes over the years. They're all using grown-up bikes now. Well, except Mya. She's still tiny.

They went for a hike the following weekend.

And took pictures of each other.

Well, it's the dead of Winter here and the days are rough.

Mya got a 4.0 the first semester of the school year and the school staff delivered these signs to the kids. I'm so proud of her. Some subjects don't come easily for her but she tries her best and even asks the teacher if she can redo an assignment if she didn't get a good grade on it.  

Slime making in the backyard. They were so excited about it that they forgot they were wearing helmets. We usually wait until Dan goes to work to make slime. It makes him nervous just thinking about the mess.

Caroline came into town and spent her birthday thrift store shopping with Mya. Mari and I have raised thrift store shoppers for life.

The only way Dan will eat hot dogs is cooked over the stove until they're black, then he covers them in mustard. The kids think it's the most disgusting amazing thing they've ever.

I discovered a way to make chicken enchiladas easier. I didn't have any chicken defrosted so I heated up some chicken nuggets and diced them up and put them in the enchiladas. They were actually really good. The toasted chicken nuggets add texture. So for all you moms that always have chicken nuggets on hand, put them in your enchiladas next time. So good.

*Dan does not endorse this shortcut. He believes in cooking things with extra love. He didn't try them though.

I stopped drinking coffee in the mornings. It was causing shortness of breath. I think caffeine affects me more than it used to. And maybe life right now is a bit more stressful so I don't need extra anxiety. I found this at Target on the shelf on the coffee aisle. They may or may not carry it at the grocery store. I mix it with oat milk and it's quite delicious. I realize it has caffeine in it. Just not as much as coffee.

Happy Thursday! 

haircuts & corndog problems

Things are fine around here. No major complaints. Dan got his two Covid shots so that's good. The kids and I are pretty much staying home and driving each other crazy. At least I can kick them out of the house for a bit since the weather is pretty lovely in SoCal these days. I venture out to grocery stores and the thrift store occasionally for a change of scenery. I often go for walks in the mornings and retreat to my room and close the door for a little quiet. I'm pretty sure the kids are getting louder every day. I started a gratitude journal to keep a positive, thankful attitude. I recommend it. While there are a billion things to complain about, we still have a lot to be thankful for.

Heard around the house lately:

Mya: I'm not going to frown cuz I don't want to get wrinkles when I'm old, so just know that I'm really mad right now.

Me: (Packing up all the Christmas stuffed animals for the year)
Winter: I didn't get to say goodbye!
Me: They aren't real.
Winter: You're killing my imagination.

These three don't need personal space, like ever.

"Mom. I'm done with my corndog."

Angus HATES haircuts. So Dan cut it extra short so he doesn't have to have another one for a while.

Not sure what she is here but her ears are warm! 👍 All of Addie's pants have holes in the knees because she's been wearing the same size for over two years and her pants have given up.

When you get dirty outside and then you cry.

Angus: Who's the package for?

Mya: Mom

Angus: It's probably a scooter.

Winter just wanted to hang with Dad for a sec...

but it always ends up like this.

Our Higerd buddies stopped by and brought us thrift store presents. They know us too well.

And one of our neighbors dropped this off on our doorstep... It's a ninja turtle pinball machine.

And another neighbor gave us this baseball game. We are definitely feeling the love.

Speaking of feeling the love, a friend sent this to me from a few years back. These two have always been close.

The other two are 50% friends, 50% enemies. Addie made a breakfast barricade because Angus's face annoys her. Sometimes I do this when I'm at a restaurant with Dan. Kidding! All the restaurants are closed. 😆

Angus is "working on his car."

Well, happy Sunday! 

Hang in there friends 💕

wrapping it up

Happy New Year friends. Even though things are worse than ever covid-wise here in SoCal, the new year promises a new start. I'm never one to make new years resolutions. I think I make a new resolution every Monday most weeks. Plus I'm usually recovering from the stress of December, the kids are still on vacation and resolutions seem to be for people who are at a state of things being a bit normal I think. February is a better month for me to start thinking about new goals for the year. But Happy New Year!  

Haven't posted in a while. Did I mention that I have a little job? It only takes a few hours out of my week but it's all computer work, so maybe it steals my computer energy that it takes me to post blogs. Plus December and all its glory takes all my time and energy too.

December was quiet for us this year. I'm not gonna lie. I was not mad about that. We have two birthdays and four kids to buy presents for. They are very specific about what kind of presents they want now. I received emails from them with Amazon links and everything. The pressure to give them an amazing Christmas after such a crappy year was a lot.

But, let me list the things I did NOT have to worry about.
Christmas programs at school.
Christmas programs at Church.
December music concerts.
Buying Christmas outfits for said programs and concerts.
Driving to and from practices for said performances.
Class parties. (Parents are strongly urged to bring something for every party)
The stress of bringing clean, well-dressed children to Christmas parties so people don't think we're bums.
Buying white elephant gifts.
Taking the kids downtown for a Christmas parade, not that I've ever done that. But they would have asked.
Taking the kids to the mall to get a pic with Santa. I wouldn't have done that either but they would have asked.
All the Christmas things the kids would have asked to do that I would have said no to and felt bad about it. That's more exhausting than anything. The mom guilt. 

The list actually goes on. So I'm thankful December was quiet. Of course I missed the people because I always miss the people. But I also appreciated a break from everything else.

And I also got to enjoy some of my favorite parts of Christmas; Christmas music in the house, Christmas lights around town, Hallmark Christmas movies, singing Christmas songs at church and that magical chaotic Christmas morning when I get to relive the excitement through the eyes of my kids.

Heard around here:

Angus: Wait, where am I?
Me: You're not in all the pictures you little narcissist. That means you're cute.
Angus: Smiles, hugs me and walks away.

Me: You're the cutest thing I've ever seen in my whole life!
Angus: Yeah, I know!
Me: How did you get so handsome?
Angus: I don't know. I just slept on my pillow. That's all I did.

Addie FaceTiming her friend - 
Friend: I don't believe in Santa
Addie: Well every year, the night before Christmas, we leave reindeer food out and every year it's all gone in the morning.
Friend: Well, maybe your mom ate it or something
Addie: I don't think so, it has glitter in it!

Angus the day after Christmas: I love all the stuff I got. But I wish I got a new bike. (first time he ever mentioned a new bike)

Angus: Mom how do you spell trajectory?

Addie: Cheater cheater, pants on... wait.

Winter turned 10! I always think she's older than she actually is so it's never surprising when she turns another year older. 

She started the day by making her own birthday pancakes. This one is a monster truck for Angus.

Mya and Winter are making pancakes. Addie and Angus are growling at each other. The heart is there because Addie's naked.

This is yoga barbie. Everyone was very excited that her "boobs" light up.

Addie isn't happy about the sound that one of Winter's new dolls makes.

Making her own birthday cupcakes. To be clear, it's more fun for her to do it herself.

She asked Dan to buy this for her birthday dinner. Basically seafood soup.

They both chowed down. The rest of the kids had mac and cheese. I had soup from Trader Joes.

Matching Christmas jammies from last year.

Angus gets really excited about monster truck shows.

French braids make the best mermaid hair.

School is way more fun when you dress up like Hermoine from Harry Potter.

Friend: I have 600 uncles and one's name is Dude and he lives in the mountains.

Angus: Well... I DON'T like smashed potatoes so...

MOM. Flares are NOT toys.

Christmas themed youth group party. She made the hat out of a party hat. Brilliant.

Her normal attire.

Driving through the school Christmas party.

This is how Winter watches Star Wars.

I took new pics of the kids for Dan to put up at work. It took me about 100 tries to get a good one of Angus. But they came out cute. The kids have grown up a lot this past year.

Christmas morning before...

...and after.

Favorite moment of the year. 

When Winter opened up her mermaid tail she didn't think she was getting.

I have one recommendation with a few parts. I'm loving Taylor Swifts two indie albums that came out this year. Folklore and Evermore. I'm a fan of all of her music from her very first album all the way up to now. But if you're not, you may like her recent stuff. It's a totally different sound. 

I just watched the Folklore concert movie on Disney Plus and loved it. I always wonder what song writers are thinking when they write songs and she really goes into detail about every song on the album, then performs it. It's like a little private concert.

Happy first Tuesday of 2021!