Farewell, 2020

Happy New Year, friends! We did it! We made it to the 2020 finish line.

Every year I make a retrospective video and spend some time reflecting on the past 365 days. Thinking back on 2020 has been...conflicting, I suppose? To be honest, I'm sort of at a loss for the right word to really summarize what this year has been.

There were, obviously, struggles. A lot of anxiety, a lot of worry, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of frustration. A lot of constantly second guessing choices made and wondering if we're doing the right thing for ourselves, our family and our community. It was a year of canceled plans and isolation from family and friends. It was a year of loss and grief - we have been fortunate to not lose anyone to the virus itself, but we did lose my grandfather and were unable to mourn him together as a family as we otherwise would have. And so many have lost so much more. It was also a year of unrest and hate and hurt, of arguing and division. There were times when things nearly felt hopeless.

But, to be fair, our family had it a lot easier than many, and for that I am exceedingly grateful - Eric already worked from home, and his work has continued to keep him very busy; I'm able to be home with the kids and we have the space, time and resources to devote to virtual school, plus they attend a great school with teachers who work hard to support them; AND my children are unicorn children who are great, cooperative, hardworking virtual learners. I am so grateful that we were able to adjust to pandemic life as easily as we did.

And, I realized some time ago that even in the hardest times, if you take a step back and look closely, there's beauty in the situation: true, pure, selfless, love-thy-neighbor type of beauty. Today, I am also enjoying remembering all the good things that have happened in the world around us this past year.

When schools initially closed, zoos and museums and people all over hopped online to keep children entertained and engaged. We have been able to "visit" places and watch performances from all over the country that we otherwise would never have seen (including our nieces' and nephew's piano recital this month!). Locally, people drew rainbows on their sidewalks for children to find when they went outside, and built scavenger hunts throughout the neighborhood.

When grocery store shelves were bare, local restaurants sold groceries to the public to fill the gaps. For some time we bought our chicken and pasta from Maple Street Biscuit Company and our eggs by the dozen from Metro Diner. People rushed to fill a need where they saw one and make things easier for their community.

When the CDC started recommending masks, crafters across the country ran their sewing machines ragged making them for their loved ones or to donate to local people in need. When elastic was hard to find, they were cutting up fitted bedsheets to use that elastic for ear straps. Creativity for a noble purpose!

When I asked for help with a drive-by birthday parade for Ellie and birthday video for E.J., I was overwhelmed by the response of our friends and family. It was so touching to see everyone so willing to give of their time to make the day special for our kids.

It often felt like you had to dig through the negative to find it, but if you paid attention, positive stories were plentiful: teachers giving their absolute all to virtual students. Daily applause for healthcare workers. People using their talents to entertain their neighbors from their driveways. Breweries shifting course to produce hand sanitizer, and athletic uniform companies making masks. Zoom lifting time limits on holidays so people could virtually celebrate with distant family and friends without restriction. Examples abound of people giving of themselves to others, trying to ease the burden for their neighbors and bring joy where they could.

And, this year may have looked very different, but there was something kind of fun in coming up with new ways to celebrate the usual events. We were forced out of our rut of tradition, to think creatively about what really is important to us and how best to celebrate it. If nothing else, it was a breath of fresh air, and maybe we even figured out some fun new things to add to our celebrations in the future.

As a family, we slowed down and enjoyed each other more: we started walking together every evening; we started reading the Harry Potter books together; Eric learned magic to entertain us; the kids put on a full-blown "concert" (complete with program) for me for Mother's Day; we spent many nights watching movies together in our backyard. And, we got a puppy!

I hope 2020 has not been too cruel to you, my friends. I hope you're also able to look back and see the beauty amidst the mess. And I hope that 2021 leaves the mess behind and brings you simply joy, good health, hope and togetherness.

Happy New Year.

VIDEO: A look back at our year in 2020

Signing off for 2020,

Meghan

Farewell, 2018

Another year has come and gone, and all my great intentions to get back to record-keeping in blog format have once again fallen by the wayside. Maybe next year! I do miss this old blog - writing is therapeutic for me and perhaps I'll resolve to do more of it in 2019.

Our 2018 was really a pretty good one on the whole. We did some great traveling, including a trip to New York City (kid-free!) for Eric and me in June, an extended vacation at my dad's house over the summer, and a two-week road trip that took us to Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, Ohio, Washington D.C. and North Carolina. E.J. started VPK and Ellie is rocking first grade. E.J. is still playing tee-ball (and Ellie plans to join him in the spring!) and Ellie has continued her ballet, in addition to worship dance at church. Both kids also sing in the choir.

Eric got a great new promotion at work and is now the Director of Policy at his non-profit, which is fantastic. He loves the work he does and I love that. He did a fair bit of work-related travel this year, which the kids don't mind too much because he always brings them treats when he returns. He also coached E.J.'s tee-ball and got involved with a mens' group at church.

I ramped up my running this year, having run 400 miles in 2018! That's more than I had run in the previous two years combined, so I kind of killed it. I ran two half marathons this year, too, and have another on the agenda for February. I also finished out the year with a ton of jury work, which was a nice way to end an otherwise quiet (work-wise) year. Other than that, it has been a lot of shuttling kids to and fro, moms' groups and general life upkeep for me.

Unfortunately, the final member of our family brings a sad update. Our sweet pup Achilles passed away unexpectedly at the beginning of November, just a little over a month after his 15th birthday. It has been a tough loss for our family, but I hope to write a fuller post in tribute to that sweet (and psycho) pooch as soon as I can.

Overall, however, I'm looking back on 2018 with peace and looking forward to 2019 with anticipation. We don't have a ton of stuff definitively planned for the new year yet, so it feels like a little bit of a blank slate. It's going to be fun!

I wish you all the best in the coming year, friends. Let's make it a good one.

Signing off for 2018,
Meghan

VIDEO: A look back on our year in 2018!

Farewell, 2016

Here we are again, face-to-face with another new year! I know my posting has been sporadic at best lately, but I certainly couldn't let tonight pass by without reflecting on the year that is now so near its end.

2016 has gotten a pretty bad rap in the last few months, seemingly at least in the general public opinion. I can get on board with that to an extent - 2016 certainly brought some struggles for friends and family, our country seems to be in a very unsettled place, and personally, my kids have been non-stop sick (leaving me non-stop stressed) for the past two months. So, I'm ready to start fresh and hope 2017 ushers in a healthier vibe!

But for our family, really, 2016 has been a pretty great year. In addition to all the usual fun of travel, birthdays and other memory-making, 2016 brought answers to questions that have been hanging in the air for us for years. Eric has finally found a career that both satisfies him and challenges him. For the first time, he can envision doing this work long-term and I love hearing him talk excitedly about it. That answer brought about another: we're staying Jacksonville indefinitely. We've moved to our house that we love, joined our church, and are settling in and making friends. At last!

It's a strange feeling to be sitting here on New Year's Eve and not thinking and writing about all the potential for change that lies ahead of us in the new year. I suppose that potential is always there, to an extent, but for the first time in many years, I think I know where we will be next year at this time and what we will be doing. Our big uncertainties have been resolved and now we're just enjoying the life that is coming together for us.

VIDEO: A look back at our year in 2016

2017 does promise some big things for us, too: our tenth wedding anniversary; Ellie's fifth birthday (WHAT) and the start of kindergarten; E.J. starting preschool; a trip to the Cayman Islands; several weddings to attend; increased work responsibility for Eric. And that's just what we know about! I think it's going to be great.

So, friends, regardless of how you feel about 2016, I hope tonight you feel at peace and filled with hope for the year to come. It's a fresh start! Let's enjoy, shall we?

Happy 2017, all!

Signing off for 2016,

Meghan

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and family!

I hope you are having a wonderful day with good food and lots of loved ones! We're finally coming out of a mess of a few weeks, which could only have been brought on by the kids licking every surface at school/nurseries (and perhaps their friends, too) or something....they brought home just about every contagious illness they could get their germy little hands on. Needless to say we've been in quarantine mode for, well, November. Everybody is trending up now, but unfortunately there are still germs afoot so our Thanksgiving plans with family were cancelled.

But, we're still enjoying a wonderful day with each other. The kids absolutely loved the Macy's Parade, and they were pumped to don their turkey shirts I made (that will now only be seen by anybody outside of our family in photos, but ah well). We're still cooking our feast, have been checking in with loved ones via FaceTime, and have plans to trim our trees and watch Charlie Brown Christmas tonight. It's a good day. As Ellie said earlier, "This is a happy Thanksgiving!"

Even considering all the illness and altered plans, how could we be down this Thanksgiving? We have so, so much to be thankful for this year: Eric's job, which is work he's passionate about that pays him well and allows him to be home with us; Ellie's school, where she is excited to learn from dedicated teachers with good friends by her side; E.J.'s nursery classes, where he is so adored that the volunteers are sad when he gets placed in a different class for the day; our new home, with all the space and room for our kids to play and enjoy each other; our church, where we are really beginning to feel at home; and our neighborhood, which is finally giving us a sense of community that we haven't felt in years.

And of course, above all, we're thankful for each other.

Happy Thanksgiving, all. Enjoy and give thanks.

Happy Halloween 2016: A Tale As Old As Time

Happy Halloween from the W. family!

This year brings the fifth installment in our Halloween tales! (Past years: 2012 Snow White; 2013 The Little Mermaid; 2014 Peter Pan & 2015 Tangled)

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful girl named Belle.

She was the most beautiful girl in town.

However, her fellow villagers considered her "odd" because she always had her nose in a book.

Despite her bookworm tendencies, her beauty caught the eye of the town heartthrob. He was as conceited as he was handsome, and he was sure that Belle would jump at the chance to be his wife.

Belle, however, had much bigger dreams for herself and found Gaston and his chauvinistic attitude less than desirable.

Meanwhile, in a castle out in the woods, there lived a handsome young prince who had been cursed to live as a monstrous beast unless he could earn the love of another by his 21st birthday.

The life of a cursed beast was a lonely one.

The Beast was angry at his lot in life and spent a lot of time roaring ferociously.

One day, the Beast caught Belle's father trespassing in his castle after becoming lost in the woods. Belle came to rescue her father from the Beast's tower, and offered herself in exchange. And so, Belle came to live with the Beast in his castle.

The Beast and Belle got off to a rocky start, but Belle was quickly befriended by some of the enchanted castle servants, including a candlestick named Lumiere and a clock named Cogsworth.

Realizing that this could be the Beast's opportunity to find true love and break the spell, the castle servants did their best to bring Belle and the Beast together. Soon, a friendship began to form.

The Beast even gave Belle her very own library, with more books than she had ever seen!

Before too long, Belle and the Beast were sharing a lovely evening of dancing in the castle's grand ballroom.

It was a magical evening.

It was quite obvious that love was growing between Belle and the Beast.

The Beast was so happy to have a companion!

Meanwhile, back in the village, Gaston was fuming over Belle's rejection of his marriage proposal. Feeling threatened by the Beast, he stormed the castle and an epic battle began between man and Beast.

After besting Gaston, the Beast growled at him to leave the castle and never return. Thinking he had defeated his opponent, the Beast turned to Belle, only to be stabbed in the back by Gaston. Gaston lost his footing and fell from the castle, leaving the wounded Beast in Belle's arms.

As the Beast lay wounded, Belle embraced him and whispered, "I love you."

Those words were all that was needed to break the spell! Before her very eyes, Belle's Beast transformed into a handsome prince.

And so, Belle and her Prince lived happily ever after!

Happy Halloween, friends!

Our Fourth of July 2016/E.J.'s 2nd Birthday

Before I start my recap of E.J.'s actual birthday, I should mention that today is my birthday! I am 34 years old today, and let me tell you what: this new year is shaping up to be a great one, full of promise and new adventures. I'll share more with you very soon, but for now, suffice it to say that I am feeling like one lucky girl!

Now that I've told you all about E.J.'s birthday party, I want to tell you about our Fourth of July/his actual birthday! We really debated what to do for the Fourth this year. We were down in St. Petersburg for E.J.'s party on the 2nd, and we planned to drive back up to Jacksonville on the 3rd so we could be at home for his birthday and watch the fireworks down by the river again this year. But, after the party was over, we felt 1) lazy to drive right back to Jacksonville and 2) that since my cousin Molly and her kiddos were still in town (and had just been joined by her husband, too!) that it might be really fun to stick around, head down to Venice overnight and spend the Fourth with cousins at the beach. So, that's what we decided to do!

We kicked off the Fourth in traditional birthday fashion: we ambushed E.J. with a balloon drop in his crib as soon as he woke up! He thought it was the coolest thing.

A fun way to wake up on your birthday!

We let him play with his balloons for a while, then got up and got ready to head to Venice, where my Aunt Debbie lives. We arrived there mid-morning, and were welcomed by a homemade Happy Birthday banner for E.J.!

A banner in honor of the birthday boy!

It didn't take long before we all got our swimsuits on and set off for the beach. We had such a nice time playing with our cousins! Ellie absolutely loved the water. She won't swim at our beach because our waves are so big (we're on the Atlantic Ocean, Venice is on the Gulf of Mexico), but at this beach, once she got past the waves breaking on the shore, the water was calm (and warm like bathwater) and she basically swam the whole time. E.J. went in and out of the water, also enjoying some playtime in the sand. It was such a nice morning!

Fourth of July at the beach!

With my birthday boy

Ellie swimming with Aunt Molly, Santiago, Uncle Arturo and baby Milena

Fun in the waves for the boys

Our little fish!

Father/son swim time

Big and little cousins!

Beach day selfie!

After the beach we went back to Aunt Debbie's house for some lunch, and E.J. took a nap.

The big kids entertained themselves while the little ones slept!

When E.J. woke up, we went to check into our hotel. The kids and I had spent a couple of days in Venice earlier in the week (more on that to come), and had a good experience with staying in a hotel to maximize our cousin time, so we did the same for this visit. We were able to rent a suite with a little kitchen for a reasonable rate, so we decided to stay in the hotel for dinner and have E.J.'s birthday dinner there as a family. We planned to cook two of his favorite things to eat: peas and macaroni, and corn on the cob. Unfortunately, there were only two burners (we needed three) and only one of them worked, so we had to scrap the corn and get creative for the peas and macaroni. But, we made it work, and had a nice little dinner!

E.J.'s birthday dinner at our hotel

After dinner we sang "Happy Birthday" to E.J. and had cupcakes (leftover from the party).

He totally hated it.

What an unhappy child.

Then, we went back over to Aunt Debbie's house, where E.J. got another little celebration! Debbie and Molly made (delicious) brownies, and we supplied a sparkler "2" candle to add to the festivity.

E.J.'s birthday brownies!

Those kids are wowed.

The birthday boy and his fancy candle!

VIDEO: Singing to E.J. on his birthday!

After we enjoyed some brownies and ice cream, we walked out to the beach to watch the fireworks. We had just enough time for a couple of quick sparklers before the show began, and it was really nice! We had a great view, but it wasn't too loud. Of course, E.J. spent the entire time jamming his glow stick flag into the sand and then "using the force" to get it out, and running around waving it like a lightsaber. Ellie spent the whole time burying her glow stick in the sand. So they were totally impressed with the fireworks display.

A blurry photo of the 10 seconds E.J. actually sat with me to watch the fireworks

Fireworks for his birthday! What a lucky kid.

Happy Fourth!

When the show was over, we walked back to Debbie's house and then went back to our hotel for the night. What a great day!

The following day, we enjoyed some more beach fun with our cousins and Aunt Debbie!

Ellie and Aunt Debbie playing in the sand

Swimming with E.J.

Kids at the beach, man. How do they get sand EVERYWHERE???

We had such a nice time!

Then, after lunch, we bid farewell to our family and made the drive back to St. Petersburg, where we would pack up our things and head back to Jacksonville the following day. It was a great holiday, a great birthday for E.J., and a great visit!

Red, White and TWO: E.J.'s Patriotic 2nd Birthday Party

In my last post, I talked about what a great time we had at E.J.'s second birthday party. This time, I want to talk about the details!

I stumbled upon this theme idea before E.J. was even born, and thought it was adorable. My due date for him was July 1, so I knew that he was likely going to be born around the 4th of July, if not on it exactly. Well, he was born on the 4th exactly. So, naturally, we've had a "Red, White and TWO" party in the works since 2014!

We had a lot of fun planning this one, and frankly, it was one of the easiest ones to plan for me. Obviously, the stores were stocked with patriotic goodies starting in May for Memorial Day, so I had no trouble tracking down decor. In fact, the hardest part was choosing exactly what I wanted to have/do and which things I could skip!

Let's talk party details!

The Invitation

I searched and searched on Etsy for the perfect invitation and found a few that I really liked, but ultimately I decided to put one together myself using some of my Etsy favorites as inspiration. This was my final product:

E.J.'s birthday party invitation!

All of it was for found free online, including the chalkboard background, fonts and fireworks graphics. I designed it in PowerPoint and had it printed through Vistaprint.com. I was nervous about the colors showing up on the black chalkboard background, but they printed really well!

Decor

I always have fun with this part! And I loved, loved, LOVED how this party looked when all was said and done:

So festive!

Birthday banner:

I love to have a banner at the entrance to the party! For this one, I printed the letters on solid colored cardstock, and printed some flag-patterned paper from this free download to mount the letters on.

Red, white and two!

Dining tables and centerpieces:

Each dining table was covered in a red, white or blue tablecloth. I made star table runners out of felt using this tutorial, and we finished it off with festive flowers and small American flags in little milk jars (found on sale at Michael's). I thought it turned out really cute!

Table decor

Our grocery store was stocked with fresh patriotic flowers for the Fourth!

Other hanging decor:

I bought a bunch of banners and stuff to hang up for the party (thanks, Target Dollar Spot!) but ultimately we skipped most of that in favor of keeping it fairly simple.

I made a red, white and blue paper chain that we were able to hang in thirds across the pavilion:

The decorated pavilion

Paper chains on the ceiling

At the far end of the pavilion (by the dessert table) we also hung a few red, white and blue paper lanterns that I grabbed on clearance at Target last year after the 4th of July. At the opposite end, we hung a flag.

Red, white and blue as far as the eye can see!

I thought the result was striking!

The "2" Sign:

I also made a sign with pictures of E.J. from the last year in the shape of a number two, and included fun facts about E.J. at two years old.

These signs have become tradition!

Food

I had a lot of fun with the food this time, too!

The main food table

For lunch:

For the regular meal, we served hot dogs and hamburgers (it just feels right for an American-themed party, doesn't it?), and chips and dip...

All served on festive dinnerware, of course! Dollar Tree had great paper plates and napkins, plus fairly sturdy star-shaped platters.

...plus, "Yankee Noodle Pasta Salad" (I followed this recipe/tutorial)...

My red noodles were a little on the pink side, but the salad was tasty and you get the idea!

...and a flag-inspired fruit platter (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and yogurt-covered pretzels).

Star-spangled strawberries, and other fruit.

We had bottled water, sweet tea and lemonade to drink.

For dessert:

I went a little overboard with the sweets, but that's where I had my fun. I also cut one that I had planned: s'mores! I wanted to have little bags of s'mores fixin's for everyone, but that one didn't come to fruition. We made do with four other dessert options, however!

The dessert table

I'll start with my favorite: the Majestic Bird Bites, a/k/a eagle cookies! I was so excited when I found this recipe on Pinterest because these things look amazing. Unfortunately, I personally don't really like any of the ingredients in them, but my guests who ate them said they were delicious! In short, they are white-chocolate-covered marshmallows rolled in shredded coconut, placed atop chocolate cookies, with cashew noses and decorator gel eyes. (You can read the full tutorial here.) I was so excited that they turned out as well as they did! Even E.J. recognized them as eagles as soon as he saw them, so I knew they were a winner.

Majestic Bird Bites

Look at this guy! He looks good enough to eat.

I also had "Firecracker Cookies," which were just sugar cookies with Pop Rocks mixed in, and sprinkled on top of the icing! I followed this tutorial, though I just used box cookie mix instead of making them from scratch. They were tasty and fun!

Cookies topped with Pop Rocks!

My easiest dessert was the apple pies. It just felt like we needed to have apple pie at an American-themed party, so we picked up little individual pies from Walmart for 50 cents each. I dressed them up by putting them on a patriotic cupcake stand (from Oriental Trading) and sticking little pinwheel pics in them. They were cute and tasty!

Apple Pie stand

I found the pinwheel picks at Party City. I thought they were so cute!

And, last but not least, we had birthday cupcakes. I made them myself: red velvet, blue funfetti, and vanilla. I frosted them accordingly and set them out like a flag. Our dimensions were a little off, but I loved how it looked!

Patriotic cupcakes

Delicious!

Activities

We had one primary "activity" table that included our guest book, photo props, and favors for the kids (I'll talk more about the favors shortly).

Lots to do at this table!

Guestbook:

We always have our guests sign an on-theme book for the kids. This time, we selected Kid Presidents: True Tales of Childhood from America's Presidents. It's a really cute book—too old for E.J. right now, but we look forward to reading it with him in the future! Alongside the guestbook we posted an instructional sign asking for our guests' "John Hancock," and a picture of E.J. riding the bald eagle on the carousel at our local zoo while waving two American flags. Because obviously.

The guestbook

Guestbook sign (the font is Washington Text, free on dafont.com)

The most All-American little two-year-old you've ever seen.

Photo props:

Photo props have become a party staple for us. We love to use them to make sure we get fun pictures of all our guests at the party! This time, we had five options: the Statue of Liberty (printable crown found here paired with a torch made using this tutorial); George Washington (a wig from BuyCostumes.com); Abraham Lincoln (hat and beard from BuyCostumes.com); Uncle Sam (hat found at Michael's, and a DIY beard-on-a-stick); and Rosie the Riveter (headband found on Amazon here and a DIY "We Can Do It!" sign on a stick).

Photo props, ready to go

Additionally, Eric created informational signs about each of the featured costumes (for the record, all signs were made using the previously-linked free digital papers, plus free graphics found online):

We also included an instructional sign, and a photo of our family modeling the prop options:

Photo props sign

A family in photo props

The Game:

We planned a mini-Olympics-type game that included various events such as egg-on-a-spoon, water balloon toss, and a homerun derby using a child's t-ball set. But, we had bad weather during planned game time, so we scrapped all that and just did a little USA trivia. Eric found a selection of questions online, and we played as we finished eating, so teams were naturally divided up based on where everyone was sitting. At the end of the game, the teams were awarded candy medals (Twix for gold, York Peppermint Patties for silver, and Hershey's bars for bronze) in an Olympic-style medal ceremony, complete with the playing of the national anthem.

The medal ceremony

Gold and silver medals

Favors, Comfort Items & Thank-Yous

Comfort basket:

I always sincerely hope our guests know how much we appreciate them coming, and given the stifling July heat at this shindig, I wanted to do my best to make everyone feel comfortable. Because let me tell you, it is no joke to hang out outside on a muggy Florida summer day. So, at the back of the pavilion, I had a red, white and blue picnic basket (another clearance find from last 4th of July) filled with patriotic paper fans (from Oriental Trading), battery-operated misting fans, bug spray and sunblock.

Trying to anticipate all the elements!

Basket signage

I bought the stuff for our guests, but it was HOT! I had to dig into that basket myself!

Favors:

We put together some festive favors for the kids. Each child got a little patriot bucket (Target Dollar Spot) filled with: star-shaped sunglasses (Party City), a small flag, bubbles (Target), a glow stick (Target) and a red, white and blue lollipop (Dollar General). My hope was that, since the party was July 2nd, our guests might be able to make use of the favors on the 4th of July! I also made little star-shaped labels to put on the buckets, thanking our friends for coming.

Favors for the little firecrackers

Favor sign

The favor buckets

Favor tags - I do always love a good pun!

Thank-You Notes:

Last but not least, when all is said and done, we send thank-you notes to thank our guests for coming. I designed these myself, again using freebies from the internet, and we sent them out along with photo prints of each guest from the party.

Patriotic thank-you notes

And that was our Red, White and TWO 2nd birthday bash! We had so much fun!

If you have any questions about any of the above details, please feel free to contact me.

Happy birthday, sweet E.J.!