Archives for April 2019

Before I dive into detailing Amon and Harper’s birthdays this year…for my own memories sake…I wanted to let you guys know that my “Contact Laura” button has been down for quite some time…years in fact.  I actually received 2 emails last week stating they had reached out prior through the contact form.  That dang form has been jacked for quite a long time.  Our life is full and busy, but I really do reply to emails as quickly as I can.  I will not not reply to an email.  Facebook is a different story because I do not have the app and I only hop on quickly to post blogs and then I’m off again.  FB got pretty toxic for me so I closed my personal account a while back and just manage my business page pretty lightly.  In general I could list quite the lengthy list of issues with my blog, but money is sparse for things of this nature and so I carry on documenting this wild life in a banged up wonky space.  Please know email is always the best method of communicating.  pitterpatterart at gmail dot com 

Alright, let’s get to it.  Amon and Harper’s birthday are just a few days apart at the end of March and we partied pretty hard this year.  We do not do parties every year and we actually didn’t do any parties for several years and just did a fun family activity with our little family.  This year Amon really wanted to have a party WITH Harper…a little joint party love.  Harper is a complete sucker for him…always has been…I imagine, always will be…so she kindly obliged to a Spiderman party with her 7-year-old brother.  They have had such a unique bond from the very beginning.  They are both smitten over one another.  The other day in the car Amon handed Harper a piece of candy and she smiled at him.  He smiled really big back and said, “Harper, I like when you smile.”  And that about wraps Harper & Amon up.

They each got their separate actual birthdays to pick and plan fun stuff.  For their birthday breakfasts Amon requested donuts and Harper requested waffles and sausage balls.  Sausage balls are seriously one of Harper’s most favorite foods.  One year I asked her what her favorite part of Christmas was and she replied with, “The sausage balls.”  Forget baby Jesus and presents and special time with family and give the girl some sausage.

There were morning surprise confetti cannons for each of them and I must say, Josh Kelley is getting quite good at the surprise factor.  He startled both of them and they never saw it coming even though they knew it was coming. 🙂  Amon asked for brownies to take to his classmates and Harper requested fun candy bags to share with her class.

Leo and I brought Amon McDonalds to school to surprise him on his birthday.  He was soooooooo excited and it was too fun eating lunch with him and his little friends.  He also requested Zabys’s for dinner and ice-cream sundaes for his birthday dessert and we 100% obliged.  Birthdays are their days when there’s seriously not much we’ll turn down…minus the requests for Disney World or a quick trip to Ethiopia. 🙂

Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the fact that Amon and Leo’s glasses are the most expensive headbands Josh Kelley and I have ever purchased.  EVER!!!!

Amon made random present requests for his birthday, but at the top of his list was a Miles Morales Spiderman suit.  Done & done.  Harper pulled her present card and asked for 12 presents on her 12th birthday.  I loved picking out all the fun little gifts and our leader girl felt so loved and seen.  So far Solomon and Harper are the only ones to cash this request in.  Amon said he’s waiting until he turns 32.  Smart boy.

Harper’s birthday fell on a Friday and their party was Saturday at lunch so Friday night cousins and two of Harper’s besties spent the night and then all just stayed for the party the next day.  There was a Chickfila dinner and ice-cream sundaes and all the treats and tween girl fun!!!!  A blast was had by all and we brought in the big 12 in true celebratory fashion.

And then we partied with family and friends.  Pizza and a candy bar and double cakes…funfetti with rainbow layers and a chocolate with cream cheese frosting.  I mean, we partied hard and it was a really sweet day.

(A funny family member turned Amon’s 7 and I never even noticed. Ha.)

My favorite part of the entire party was when we sang happy birthday to the both of them.  They beamed and after we finished Josh shot off another confetti cannon right behind them.  It was so funny and super sweet watching their reactions to the confetti and each other.  Just the literal BEST!!!

THESE TWO!!!!  All of our kids love each other really big and unique and they also fight really hard too and love to annoy one another.  We watch as certain special bonds are formed amongst them and it’s so interesting to watch those relationships grow and form.  Harper and Amon definitely have one of those special bonds.  It surprised us zero that Amon wanted a party with Harper and it surprised us zero that Harper was totally okay with it.  They love each other in a very unique-to-them way and it makes my heart melt into a puddle.

Happy birthday Amon & Harper.  The two of you are so special to our family.  You make us all better and you show us every day how to love and be loved.  We’re privileged to watch you both grow and change and we promise to always take this front row seat as such an honor and cheer you on forever.  We will always be on your team!  You two have made us the luckiest yet again.

I hadn’t done a favorite post in a while and now I’m back with my second in just a few weeks.  When I really love something I must share and lately I’ve noticed me loving some more fun things.

#1 Ruby’s Rainbow Socks:

Winter’s favorite socks…hands down.  She wears them all the time and often multiple days in a row. 🙂  $5 from each pair of socks goes to help provide scholarships for students with Down Syndrome to attend college.  Win after win after win.

#2 Meg’s Rainbow Cups:

Come on now.  Meg just knew…she knew we needed this mug in our life.  I remember the text coming through with sample photos and Meg asking me my favorites.  It was like asking me to choose my favorite child. 🙂 All so gorgeous…all so perfectly rainbow perfect.  And while I do not like coffee…I do love ice-cream from a gorgeous mug.

#3 Wood & Oil’s Diffuser Ring:

I kind of want to buy all my friends one of these rings.  You simply drop a few drops of your favorite oils on the porous stone and it’s like carrying around a small diffuser with you all day.  My kids crack me up because they randomly grab my hand and take a good long whiff.

#4 Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds:

We were all stuck like glue to this read/listen.  We spent countless minutes sitting in our driveway waiting to get out of the car because we just had to hear what was going to happen next.  Seriously had us all on the edge of our seats.  Nearing the end of the last chapter, Hudson, Solomon and I all got out of the car walked straight into the house, grabbed the hard copy and read over each others’ shoulders the ending because we could not wait for the next car ride.  Giant GO GET THIS READ!

#5 McDonalds’ Chocolate Dip Cones:

Exactly what I need on some very emotional days.  Dare I say better than Dairy Queen’s…I dare.  So good.  My favorite dipped cone around.

#6 Winter’s Old Navy Scalloped Bathing Suit:

We wear bathing suits out and our kids won’t stop growing.  I snagged this Old Navy bathing suit for Winter and it’s my favorite bathing suit I’ve every purchased in 12 years of purchasing kiddo bathing suits.  Great quality.  Adorable.  And fits just right in all the areas.  Bonus:  Winter looks bomb in mustard yellow.

#7 KOKEBstudio Print:

This shop is full of amazing prints by an insanely talented Ethiopian artist.  Upon discovering her shop I took weeks to make my final selection.  Winter squealed with delight when she saw it…”She has brown skin and hair like mine.”  Double win.  Definitely will be adding more KOKEBstudio prints to our home.

#8 Jamielizabeth Art Earrings: 

Jaimie sent these as a gift and I love them.  Crazy cute.  Crazy light weight.  And the perfect length.  She also did the absolute kindest thing and etched Everett’s name into the back of them.  Cue all the tears and all the style.

#9 Versify Books:

We have snagged some amazing books including The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles …a fun and funny read and The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander …an incredibly important and valuable read for everyone.  Both are written by black authors and illustrated by black illustrators.  Love any books that allow Solomon, Amon and Winter to see themselves in the text.  Bonus:  We are super excited to go hear Kwame Alexander speak in Nashville soon.  He has several chapter books our big kids loved.

And while I’m sharing about some great books, let me thrown in When Charley Met Emma by Amy Webb .  So lovely. So purposefully beautiful.  Needed for everyone.

#10 Sleeping kid pics.

Ha!  Okay that’s not really a purchasable #10, but I will never get over taking photos of my kiddos sleeping.  Leo is our prime napper now, so I have to take them while I can.  Little sleeping beauties.

Longer school break holidays are always hard for me as a parent.  I’m home all day trying to work from home while also trying not to lose my ever loving mind while also trying to make spring break fun while also trying not the break the bank making spring break fun for 6 kiddos.  Sometimes I wish we could take our kids on amazing vacations and then other times I’m completely content with doing what we do here at home.  It’s this weird push and pull, but at the end of spring break every one was alive and okay and had fun and was ready for school to start back.

We burned through a ton of sidewalk chalk…which isn’t unusual for our crew.  We filled up every last empty spot of concrete and the spring sunshine and wind filled my heart up.  Everett was born in the year of the snake so we drew a big colorful snake along our sidewalk one day.  We weave him into everyday moments all the time.  He is apart of us always.

Some kind friends gifted us with a membership to our zoo last year so we hit up the zoo one day.  The kangaroos were out and about which makes the entire trip worth it.  Also Winter about lost her mind when the spotted leopard ran right in front of her.  And Leo, well, Leo LOVES the zoo.  He is 110% there for the animals.  Also big kids are my favorite.  Harper, Hudson and Solomon all brought their own money to purchase their own fun snacks because I had already said I would not be making those purchases…the zoo fun snacks = expensive for 6 kids.  Big kids forever!

There was time playing with friends and cousins.  Along with trips to the park and our community center for basketball and to our library for books and movies and computer time.  A few Target trips were in order as well to let birthday kids check out possible gift ideas.  Anything to get these smallish humans out of the house and we caught some pretty sweet Tennessee sunsets while we were at it.

There were also plenty of movies and video games and baking cookies and reading and looking for hearts.  There was loads of snuggling and loads of fighting.  Playing nicely and wanting to beat the snot out of one another.  There were moments of sweetness and moments of insanity.  Spring break is completely the best and completely the worst.

There were approximately 5,213 meals and snacks consumed.  Our kids get free breakfast and lunch at school so our weekly grocery budget quadruples on these long holiday breaks.  🙂

(Hudson & Solomon have mastered the breakfast in bed and Josh Kelley and I are not mad at it.)

And we ended spring break with our first family photos of 2019 with our beloved Cheyenne and then Sonic for dinner.  Family photos are actually something I deeply look forward to.  There are zero wardrobe changes, there are lots of bribes and Cheyenne gets done in 30 minutes or less.  I always tell her, “All I need is one good shot.” and yet in that small window of time she works her absolute magic and leaves me breathless and in awe of my people and her ridiculous talent.  When she sent me a preview she pointed out little rainbows that showed up in some of the pictures.  Made me cry and smile.  Gah I miss him.  He should be here.  Everett should be in these photos.  He should be in our arms.

So we made it.  We survived spring break and enjoyed spring break and were also thrilled to see spring break end.  Isn’t that just life?!?!  Until Summer.  See you…not too soon. 😉

I started this post last week when we we’re in the middle of a double birthday week.  A friend recently text me and jokingly  asked who’s birthday we were celebrating because this is the time of the year where we have 5 birthdays in 3 months.  Birthday extravaganza.  I feel like I can’t solidify many thoughts lately with all that swirls through my brain on the daily, so, you know, I’m here to just write whatever.

Sundays are when we use up the last of the groceries left in our fridge.  This usually means the last of the weekly eggs and any browning bananas are turned into banana bread, waffles and egg muffins.  I can usually pull off 30-40 waffles and then we bag them up and toss them in the freezer.  The big kids pull them out, throw them on a cookie sheet and broil them in the oven to perfection.  There’s something weirdly satisfying about turning the last of food items into more food which will last us all week.

Watching Josh Kelley & Amon stretch kind of makes my day.  I just think they are the cutest things.  It doesn’t take much these days to make me feel all sappy about my people.

Everett’s Gotcha Day was at the end of February.  It was a pretty sucky day all around, but we did our best to celebrate as always.  Before we reminded the kids about the day being Everett’s special day Hudson came down early and said he felt sad.  I reminded him of how our minds might not remember specific dates, but our bodies do.  Harper was really sad and down so we let her stay home from school.  We pulled ourselves up with sunshine and lunch with Josh and our favorite chocolate caramel bars from Target.

That night we took the kids to see the new How To Train A Dragon movie.  It was FANTASTIC!!!!  To celebrate our special family days we pick something fun to do together as a family.  Everett’s gotcha day is no different…still so much to celebrate in this special boy who changed us all.  The movie was just incredible.  We got treats and popcorn and settled into our seats.  Winter sat by me and before the movie began she started to cry.  I leaned in close and pulled her in.  She said, “It doesn’t feel good without him.”  And then she and I cried together right there in that movie theater.  We held onto each other tight and felt Josh, Harper, Hudson and Solomon’s hands and arms sporadically wrap around us.  She puts into such simple and sweet words what we all are feeling.  None of this feels good without him.  We recovered after a good cry.  Winter snuggled on me during the whole movie and when the lights came up we discovered she’d made herself quite comfortable by raising two arms rests, stretching out, taking her shoes off and catching some Z’s.  Gah, I love her.

We finally got Everett’s colorful lanterns up about a month ago.  The cemetery is always a roll of the dice for our crew.  Sometimes it can be so so good for our hearts and some times it’s like we’ve been knocked 20 steps back.  This visit was a good one.  How can you deeply love and deeply hate a place simultaneously?  I hate that Everett’s life is now represented in things like the cemetery and rainbows and lanterns and Fiesta donkeys…and then I love we have things which are so symbolic of him.  He was such beauty and wisdom and bravery and heart wrapped up in the sweetest little boys body.  I hate this is how our life is now.  We just desperately want him back.

Our cardiologist appointments are always pretty hard days.  You just never know what news your will hear or how Leo will do with all the tests.  I also can never kick Everett from my brain and cry at some point Every.Single.Time.  I adore our cardiac staff.  They are kind and compassionate and love us really well.  At our last appointment I could not stop crying and I kept trying to explain my emotions and feelings away to our cardiologist.  She finally leaned in and said, “You don’t need to try and explain any of this.  You owe me no explanation.”  And then more tears came.  Over the moon thankful for compassionate and empathetic people who love our kids and fight for their little lives.

On a lighter note…will someone please stunt these two boys’ growth and throat punch time for me?!?!  Thanks!

PS:  143 forever.

Amon!  He’s our resident cat and the funniest kid.  He’s weird and quirky and seriously cracks us all up all the time.  And how can one little human have the cutest nose in the literal world!!!!!  Everyone needs an Amon.  Everyone.  Weird kids for president man!

Brothers at therapy make everything better right?!?!  We have been insanely lucky to have the best therapists on the block.  I could sing every single one of their praises.  They make us better.  They make our kids work hard.  They believe in our kids.  And they welcome, not just our child who needs the actual therapy, but our whole family into the process.  People who love their jobs and give so willingly of their talents to others amaze me and make me strive to be a better human.  Heroes are freakin’ everywhere.  We are friends with lots of them.

The sun is out today and I’m about to pick Leo up from speech therapy.  It feels good to have written random words, you can feel spring on your fingertips and I cannot wait to get that “after-speech-therapy-I’m-way-too-excited-to-see-you” hug/”I might bite your shoulder because of my excitement” from Leo.  I know people facing unreally big, hard things today.  Things I could only try and imagine, but there’s this weird wiry thing called hope.  It lingers.  It stays.  And it’s always there swirling around while also digging it’s heals into the ground on our behalf.  Today it feels fresh and real.  I don’t know exactly where I’m going with this, but hope is ringing in my ears and heart today.  Some days I shove it deep into my pocket and call this whole thing shit, but not today.  Holding onto hope always.  Clinging to it like our lives depend on it…because they really do.  Here’s to it people.  We’re likely far stronger than we ever imagined.