Life Lately

While I was working on my April books post, I started looking at some of my past posts.  Lately, we have been so busy that all I have time for is my book posts (which I do mostly for me, to help track what I've read and what I think about the books).  I was reading past posts, 5 on Friday, what I'm loving, and what our boys our up to.  And I realized I miss those!  I decided to play a little catch up, so I don't forget this past year!

January

January was a BIG month for us!  We bought our first house.  We closed on the 10th, but didn't move until the 28th.  So we spent every spare second at the new house.  I painted all of the bedrooms.  Bech painted the dark paneling AND pulled up the carpet and refinished the floors.  

White paint on paneling and wood floors (before Bech refinished them) compared to the ugly carpet and dark paneling

The floors mid refinishing

Ahhh, beautiful refinished floors!

This man was seriously the MVP of January!

Our rental house looking all sorts of cray cray while we packed

We did fit in a little fun.  Here's Gil on ice skates for the first time.

February

In February, we crashed.  Seriously.

Every single one of us got the flu.  Ughhhh....

We also drove down to DC and spent several days with Ansley.  The boys loved getting a special capitol tour from their Aunt.

The view from the Speaker's balcony

Jack posing with Vermont's Ethan Allen

We also went on a White House tour.  Jack loved it...

...Gil was not impressed.

This kid is such a little poser.

We swung by Philly on our way home to visit our favorites, the Lugos.

And since Rita's had just opened for the season, we HAD to get some.

These kids are the best car travelers!

March

March was a snowy, snowy month for Vermont. 

We enjoyed a snow day together building a massive snowman.  

I will also be regretting that snow day come June, when I have to make up that snow day with in service.  Because Vermont doesn't build in snow days.  Mississippi, you need to take this moment to bask in the brilliance of built in hurricane days.  And Vermont, seriously???  It ALWAYS snows.  Why don't you build in some snow days?

And we slid down the back stairs.

We had friends over a bunch!  One night I pulled the last of the past summer's frozen blueberries out so make Bread and Wine's blueberry crumble.

We celebrated sweet Eleanor's first birthday with a beautiful unicorn party.

Jack finally read the original Jack.

And we kept hammering away at house work.

April

 

The boys opened their Easter happies.  Most notable present is Jack's watch: now when I tell him it's bedtime, he quickly corrects me.  Maybe I should have set the time wrong...

Jack, as usual, was a willing Easter photo taker.

Gil was, well Gil.

But he cheesed it up with his main squeeze, Viv.

Jack built legos and read, his two favorite things.

Also, I think the whole sibling things is going well, wouldn't you say?

Also, they share a room, so there's that...

We celebrated our favorite, Bech, with a mint chocolate chip cake.

And we had our first creemees of the year.

Jack on top of the UVM mascot, the catamount

I got to spend some time with my friends (Stowe Cider may have been involved...).

The boys and I have been really into cake baking videos lately, so we've been trying our hand at baking.  We made an ombre cake for a potluck we hosted.

And I decided to try my hand at gardening!  We are still doing our summer CSA, but I would love to eventually stop that and grow all of our summer veggies.  Here are my baby seedlings.

Whew, there's a speed recap of the past four months.  It's been busy and crazy and good.  I can't believe my first year back teaching is almost done (19 school days, but who's counting?), Jack is almost a rising 2nd grader, and Gil is almost a legit preschooler.  

We have lots of fun summer plans in the works, including a camping trip or two, a visit to Asheville, and a trip down south.  I can't wait!

SaveSave

5 on Friday

Whew, long time no blog.  I've been keeping my book posts up to date because they are a great resource to look back on.  In the craziness of this semester, the blog has fallen by the wayside.  But I am writing this post on a Thursday, and, as of right now, I only have one more assignment due!  I'm taking a Praxis test next week too, but it's the ELA one (and, thanks to my incredible ELA content professor, I feel VERY well prepared!).

So I am celebrating by posting, and it's my favorite type of post...5 on Friday!

O     N     E

As I just mentioned, I am almost done with this semester.  It has been so hard, but I have also loved it.  One thing that has helped me get through this semester is the wonderful people I get to learn with and from!

This is one of my classes at a local Pho restaurant.  Seriously, I have an incredible cohort.  There are 8 of us doing the middle level MAT, and I think each of my fellow classmates is pretty incredible.  I am so thankful for all of our group texts and social events.

T     W     O

It's December, which, in Vermont, means SNOW!

Last year, we had a really mild winter.  I was sort of thankful for that.  It's nice to not be totally frozen all winter.  But I missed the snow!  I am glad that we have already gotten some snow here.  It's snowing a little today, and we have snow on the forecast for this weekend and next week.  Vermont is just magical looking all covered with snow.

Plus, it never hurts to have a white Christmas!

T     H     R     E     E

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, Bech and I had a cocktail party for some church friends.  Bech made rosemary gimlets, and I laid out a cheese board (complete with baked brie!).  Friends brought more appetizers and drinks (and no kids!).

We had the BEST time.  We have a great group of church friends, but we haven't gotten to spend a lot of time all together this fall.  The guys do guys nights, and the girls do girls nights (which is almost always just an excuse to drink margaritas and eat nachos together #nachoaveragechurch).  It was wonderful to just spend time all together.

Plus, the baked brie did not hurt.

F     O     U     R

I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping!  Woohoo!

I know Christmas shopping is stressful for some people, but I really enjoy it.  The only part that is stressful is paying for it all.  This year, though, I tutored a girl for the PSAT this fall, and put all of that money aside so that I could pay for most of the Christmas presents.  It worked out really well.

And it's perfect timing, because we head to Mississippi a week from Saturday.  We are all SO excited.  I am extra excited because this is Gil's first flight to have his own seat.  I am going to bring his car seat with us and have him sit in it during the flight.  Has anyone else ever done that?  Any tips?

F     I     V     E

I've written before about my love for Advent.  I love this season right before Christmas. 

Last year, we read through this book (by Ann Voskamp) together, and we are doing it again this year.  I love this book so much.  There have been a few nights where I am holding back tears as I read the final paragraph.  I can tell a huge difference in Jack's comprehension and engagement with the book this year.  He is listening and is talking about it afterward.  

If you are looking for a way to prepare for Christmas with your kids, I would highly suggest this book!

There we go.  Five very random things!

5 on Friday, Fall edition

It's 5 on Friday.  I haven't joined in in forever (thanks, MAT program), but I have a little bit of time free right now to blog!

Instead of just 5 randoms, I decided to do a fall edition, because fall is the best.  So here are some fall favorites:

O     N     E

I am SO not a coffee snob.  I actually buy my flavored coffee from Home Goods (aka my happy place).  I love fall, because Home Goods sells some really yummy fall flavored coffees.

I'm not a huge fan of PSL's, because I don't like to drink pumpkin.  So I get this flavor instead.  Add a little Frosted Sugar Cookie coffee creamer and it's perfect!  I know not all Home Goods sell the same things, but you should look for this coffee.

T     W     O

I may not like to drink pumpkin, but I LOVE to eat it.

Here's my new favorite, Trader Joe's pumpkin biscotti.  Oh y'all, this is just so good.  I love to dip it in my coffee and let it get a little soggy.

T     H     R     E     E

I mentioned in this post that I love dressing my two boys alike.

I bought these pajamas from Carters about a month ago and it's just now getting cold enough for the boys to wear them at night.  Matching pj's are pretty darn cute!  Now I need to make sure I take a picture of the boys in their pj's.

F     O     U     R

Right now in Vermont, the leaves are SO beautiful.  We are in peak season, which means the leaves are at their prettiest.  I am hoping to talk Bech into a Saturday morning drive through Smuggler's Notch to check out the beautiful foliage.

I totally stole this picture off the web, but this is a good indication of what our drive will look like!

F     I     V     E

I know I already talked about pumpkin food, but I wanted to share my current favorite muffin recipe, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  We have made these muffins about 5 times already this fall, including for Gil's birthday!

Don't they look yummy?  They are the perfect blend of spice and chocolate and they are super moist (I know, most awkward word ever).

What are y'alls fall favorites???

Trip Down South

We spent two weeks in early July back down South.  We got to go to the beach with Bech's family and stay in both Brookhaven in Jackson, so lots of family time!

We flew into Jackson and hopped in the car the next day to spend a long weekend at the Beach Club in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Bech was able to come last minute so he flew into NOLA and drove over with his brother.  

Which means I flew by myself with both boys.  It was as bad as it sounds.  Actually, it really wasn't, but it definitely wasn't a fun experience.

We all had the best time at the beach!  Gil is a big beach fan, and Jack prefers the pool (mostly because he can practice his swim skills!).  They went to bed completely wiped out every night.

And of course they loved getting lots of time with grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

When we got back to Jackson, we spent the rest of the time back in forth between it and Brookhaven.

This is the first snow cone that has been only for Gil.  He only ate half of it (is he even my child???), but he sure is cute here.

Jack on the other hand ate his in 5 seconds then begged for some of mine.

Also that is an old soccer jersey from a team my brother coached.  Also known as Jack's favorite new shirt.  Forget designer duds, just give him jerseys.

Jack's favorite Brookhaven tradition is making donuts with my grandmother.  It's my great-grandmother's recipe, and my Nana has been making them for us since as long as I can remember.

One of my favorite Brookhaven traditions is spending as much time as possible on the front porch, at least when it's cool enough.  My parents live in a victorian house built in 1904 that has a large porch out front.  I drank coffee there every morning while the boys ran around.  And on this night, mom and I made drinks and listened to Anne Bogel's What Should I Read Next podcast (obsessed much?).

We were even able to visit with some cousins who drove in for the day.  Tricia and I both think Millie and Gil look alike, so it was fun to have them side by side!

Doc (my dad) took us all to a Mississippi Brave's game one night.

It was SO hot, but these boys loved it!  Gil would pump his arms up and down or clap every time something good happened in the game.  And Jack was so serious about it all.

I drove up one day to meet my bed friend Courtney, her husband, and her son for lunch at the Council House Cafe (where I had the best BLT of my life).  I loved getting to meet Baby Matthew for the first time!

I love this picture.  Just a snapshot of Gil trailing after my Nana while she waters the plants.  I was lucky enough to have a great grandmother until I was 14, and I love that my Nana and Papa are able to be a big part of my little boys' lives!

Jackson, MS, has the BEST children's museum.  Seriously, it's right up there with The Magic House in St. Louis.  We were able to go there our last day (our flight was late afternoon).

The museum had a visiting Thomas exhibit.  Jack loved it, and I was hoping we were rekindling our Thomas obsession.  So far, he hasn't pulled out the trains since getting home...Oh well, there's always Gil!

We had a quintessential last day in Jackson: Children's Museum, lunch at Beagle Bagle with Uncle Hunter and Nina (Bech's mom), and then popsicles at Deep South Pops with Uncle Blaise and Bella (my mom).  And when you are an extremely messy little boy, you have to eat your popsicle shirtless!

It was a great trip and we are already missing our family!  But we have over a month left of summer, so time to tackle our Vermont summer bucket list!