Rainy Fourth of July

a 1970s Fourth of July

So, this year, we had to have the worst Independence Day weather of all time.  It literally rained the entiiiiiiire day.  The good news is that we spent the day adult-ing.  Yes, on our day off from work, we (we meaning Sam, although I did provide periodic laughing, which I'm sure was super helpful)installed our new microwave, since our other one randomly stopped working last week.  Thanks, Sam, for your handiwork.  xoxo

It's a good thing we had friends and family over on Saturday to meet our mandatory Fourth of July weekend cookout quota!  Corrie, Jeremy, Rachel, Mike and his daughters, and Chris came over and we grilled out, played cornhole, and lit sparklers.

 

When it became pretty clear that the weather was going to stay monsoon status, the sweet Quesenberrys invited us over to hangout at their house and eat together before trying to catch some fireworks.  All of the local fireworks were canceled (yes, the weather was that bad), except for the Salem Fair's.  Good news for us, since that's the one we usually try to catch. 

After hanging out in Salem at the Quesenberrys for a bit, we drove over to Lakeside Baptist to sit in the parking lot and try to see the fireworks.  The Cromers and Fertittas met us over there, and hooray, it didn't rain for an hour or so!  But, it was still super cloudy.  As we were hanging out waiting for the fireworks, some neighbors of the church started letting off some huge ground-to-air fireworks, and the kids were so excited about those.  And, I felt like maybe we should tip them since it ended up being to foggy from the rain to see the fair fireworks over the trees.  It was nice that our kids didn't know any different since the neighborhood show was so good. 

So, there was nothing spectacular about this holiday weekend.  Just lots of watermelon, fireworks, friends, and family. 

Valentine's Day 2016

Valentine's Day isn't quite as glamorous as it used to be.  Who am I kidding, Valentine's Day has never been a big deal in our book.  Since we've been married, Sam and I have done the "no presents" policy for all holidays and birthdays, which means Valentine's Day is usually just celebrated with a dinner out.  Which we do a couple times a week anyway.  So, actually, it has become more fun now that my Little Loves are around to celebrate the day of love with. 

Roanoke County schools have three big parties a year-- Halloween, Winter (Christmas), and Valentine's Day, so this is the last big effort required of the homeroom moms.  Isn't that so hard to believe?  It was the last holiday party for Harper in Kindergarten.  Gracious, it's gone quickly. 

I got to pop in over at Clearbrook for Harper's party.  Walking into her class never gets old.  You're literally like a celebrity.  "Harper's Mom!!!" followed by big hugs from Harper's close friends and a couple of the more outgoing kiddos in the class.  It was fun getting to celebrate with them as they glued conversation hearts in the shape of the word "love," and played Cupid as they shot "arrows" (aka q-tips) out of straws at their targets.

Harper has been obsessed with Shopkins lately, and apparently her friends really like them, too.  So, she decided she wanted to do Shopkins Valentine's for her girl classmates (and included a Shopkin figurine in their candy bag), and the boys got a little Dinosaur in theirs.  Willa picked some straight-out-of-the-Target shelf Palace Pet scratch off Valentine's cards.  Bless her heart.  Always the easy one. 

And speaking of easy, I went the easy route for the girls' little Valentine's gifts from us.  It's called Etsy.  In five minutes, I had two custom candy/hairbow bouquets headed our way, for $12 each.  Cheaper than I could've made them.  Harper was super pumped with her Shopkins themed bouquet, and Willa Kate loved getting a Skye bow from Paw Patrol.

Like I said earlier, Sam and I don't really celebrate.  We've been busy all week preparing to host a baby shower and houseguests, so I hadn't given Valentine's Day much thought.  On Thursday, when I ran in Sam's for some groceries for the shower, I came out and mentioned they had some really nice bouquets with sunflowers, but my hands were full and I didn't want to get a cart.  My sweet Sam had two bouquets, one of nothing but sunflowers, waiting for me when I got home from work on Friday, and two cute little stuffed animals for the girls.  He's not often romantic, but that was super thoughtful, and I love having fresh flowers around the house when we have guests.  Win, win. 

Mimi and MarMar gave the girls some Valentine's money, which they've been super excited about.  MarMar included a little lesson about money that Harper may have since told everyone that would listen.  "With your first dollar, you give it to God..."

I love this picture that Harper randomly took but it's real life.  It's loading the dishwasher on a Saturday morning, fueling my day with some Diet Pepsi and soaking in some love for my baby girl.  Sweet, every day love. 

We love because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19

School Christmas Parties

Merry Christmas to our girls' sweet teachers and classmates!

Willa Kate's last day of school was December 14, but before their winter break began, they were able to celebrate Jesus' birthday with their friends at school.  There are only five preschoolers in WK's class (kudos to Mrs. Collins for being able to do footprint crafts with FIVE two-year-olds), so I let her pick out a little wooden puzzle for each of her friends at school.  I'm not sure that she or any other two-year-old will be able to put it back together, but hey, it's the thought that counts.  :)

This is fourth year at CSBP, so we know the deal.  Teachers loved being gifted with chocolate and Target gift cards.  :)  So we packaged those up in a little bucket, and sent our love to Mrs. Collins.  I don't have any pictures from her class party because parents aren't invited to attend.  When we first started at the preschool, I was so disappointed by that, but then I learned to appreciate it.  The reason they do that is because they have many families at the school that are dual-working households, so they don't want children whose parents can't attend to feel left out.  Makes sense.

Harper and her friend Ella

Lila and Reagan

But, I sure do love finally getting to attend a class party or two!  I have loved getting to know Harper's sweet classmates by running by her school for her 20 minute lunch once a month.  I do it to spend time with Harper, but also to get to know all her little friends and put sweet faces with those names.  You literally feel like a celebrity when you walk into lunch.  "Ahh!  It's Harper's mom!  Harper's Mom, do you want to see my fruit snack?  Are you coming to our Christmas party?"

Adding the "snow" to her globe

Ella with her snow globe ornament

Addie, Mia, Jacob, and Cohen

Jamie, Delaney, and Violet

 By the Holiday Party time, these kiddos were ready. to. go.  Poor Mrs. Campbell.  I can't believe she manages all 18 of them when they are in this sugar-expectant hyper state.  But, they loved snacking on their veggies and cupcakes, and were fired up and ready for their game after the snow globe ornament craft.  The game ended up being so fun to watch.  Shelley (PTA president, fellow room parent, and Lila's mom) brought two pairs of ski gloves, and each of the room moms wrapped six presents so that each child had one gift in front of them.  Only the kid with the gloves could open their gift, and when they got the last shred of paper off, they could pass the gloves to the next kiddo in line.  It was hilarious watching them try to get the unwrapping started while wearing oversized gloves, but it was even more sweet watching them cheer on their teammates.  Merry Christmas, precious Cave Spring and Clearbrook families!

Thanksgiving 2015 at the Lake House

Another weekend, another weekend trip for the road warrior Fertitta fam!  This time, we're off to Tennessee to continue our tradition of Thanksgiving at Mom & Butch's house.


At the end of our weekend in Asheville, Mom drove over to meet us and pick up Willa Kate to keep for a few days.  Mom has kept Harper and Win on their own several times, but WK hadn't had her "special week" with MarMar yet, so we thought maybe the three days in between Asheville and Thanksgiving at Mom's may be a good fit. Sweet pea has been so excited!  And we were so excited to drive the 4.5 hours home from Asheville (and then 3.5 hour trip to Dandridge three days later) sans Willa the Car Whiner.

And it was a good thing we didn't have her, since our Thanksgiving pilgrimage got off to a slow start.  As we were gassing up the Yukon on the way out of Roanoke, I hopped out of the driver's seat to run inside while Sam was pumping gas.  A few minutes later, Sam came in to grab a drink, and then I saw him run back outside.  He had seen the lights on to the Yukon and realized I had left the keys in the ignition.  So... our needed-to-be-replaced-and-since-has battery had died.  Sweet!  Fifteen minutes from home, and already having to ask the gas station attendant to jump the battery.  Oops!  And since we were joining every. other. person in Roanoke leaving after work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we got to sit through three wrecks in between Roanoke and Christiansburg, which is usually about a 30 minute drive on I-81.  Despite all that, it didn't feel as stressful because we only had Harp in the car.  And she was worn out from school and slept for most of the trip. Redemption.

Helping MarMar stuff the turkey

 To kick off Thanksgiving, Marmar helped the grandkids assemble blessing bags for the first responders that are often times away from their families on holidays because they are serving the community.  She took the time to explain what police, firefighters, and paramedics do as they filled the bags up with a Chex Mix-esque recipe.

Each of the ladies made a few dishes for the Thanksgiving meal, so lunch was on the table by 1 p.m. with zero stress.  Yay!  We ate, and ate, and ate, and watched football, and ate, and then watched football.  And played games, and ate, and watched a movie, then ate.  Hello, stretchy pants!  I did some online shopping, but Leah and I didn't attempt the outlets again this year.  Neither of us had Christmas lists yet (or had drawn names with our in laws to even know our gift recipients), so we decided to just stay in. 

The highlight of the weekend for the kids were PapPap's hayrides.  Mom & Butch have a four wheeler with a trailer, so they hooked it up and took the kids on rides around their property and the neighborhood.  And I don't mean little five minute loops around the yard.  I mean the gone on an hour long adventure kind.  When I stop and think about how much these children are loved, it is truly overwhelming.  I am so grateful that they have so many people in their lives that love them, invest in them, speak Truth into their lives, and constantly think of new ways to bring a smile to their faces.  Not many kids can say that they have six grandparents that would do anything and everything for them.

On Friday, we took the kids over to the Dandridge Fire Department to deliver the Blessings Baskets.  Those folks were so sweet to our little ones.  They let them try on equipment and climb inside the vehicles.  It was 65 degrees, so the kids also enjoyed a little fun rolling down their big hill in between talks.  MarMar and PapPap are all about community service, and it's one of their goals to help instill this in their grandchildren.  It will certainly part of their legacy, as my girls get to think back on memories like these.

It has been such a busy four weeks, so it was so, so nice that once we got to the Lake House, we didn't have any agenda.  We just got to unwind for four full days.  Hallelujah.