Cora has recovered with such bravery from her injury. She handled the bed rest time and wheel chair time with such a great positive attitude. We started to call her Hot Wheels because she became so talented with navigating her wheel chair. Music played a really big role for the scary moments; singing together through the fear has been incredibly powerful. We sang I Whistle a Happy Tune from the King and I when her stitches were removed. The podiatrist was inspired to sing along with us! The podiatrist saw her twice as the foot healed and was so goofy and silly Cora relaxed and loved him. He recommended corn dogs for healing ha ha. The first thing she wanted to do when she was able bodied was to ride her scooter. We are so proud of her and so thankful to have a well healed foot and Cora-belle.

Cora has also recently lost two teeth, much to Brooklyn’s chagrin as Brooklyn has only lost one and is nearly two years older. Cora expected a toy from the tooth fairy. She was afraid if she got money and Dylan mis-behaved in the store then we would have to leave early before she could chose her toy HA HA. For her first tooth, which classically came out while eating an apple the tooth fairy left a large My Little Pony. The second tooth came out two days after the first! With her $5 from the tooth fairy, she bought a stuffed dog that responds to your touch with opening eyes, sounds, and appears to genuinely breathe. She also requested a brownie party; request granted!

Our little baby girl is growing up!

Adam’ s birthday theme this year was the band Ween and the girls worked very hard to learn a song by the band called Stay Forever. Adam requested homemade peanut butter siracha burgers with jalepenos for dinner, and a key lime cake. We were joined by Uncle Brett! After dinner the girls performed thier song for Daddy.

The kids made him a card that was beautifully written. Dylan wanted me to write on Daddy’s card “It’s your birthday time and we’re going to eat your cake!” -Love Dylan! Daddy got a hand carved and custom Ween belt and belt buckle. He loves it! Dylan has as much fun opening Daddy’s gifts as the birthday boy.

Birthday parties are the best, most anticipated events in the house because they involve balloons and dancing, cake baking creativity (AKA eating as much batter and frosting as possible when Mom is not looking), and friends.

Adam is the most amazing husband and Daddy! He is such a hard worker, so devoted to making us all feel loved, so romantic in such meaningful ways, and such a calm and centered man to carry us through any difficulty. I love you Adam.

A lot has happened since our last blog post; we have said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa with a final celebration dinner in our new dining room. They are headed back to Wisconsin for the summer.

We have taken several family hiking trips as well as had the kids play in the woods. They spend hours in the woods, pretending they are wild children who collect food, build shelters, stay on the lookout for coyotes, and build fires like the one below.

We have formed a bread bond with the cattle in our pasture. They bellow good morning now every morning, allow us to pet them, hand feed them, and they will do a backflip for jelly toast. Most of them have names now, and spend the morning hours hanging out in the shade tree in back of our house. It is a sweet taste of rural life everyday amid a busy neighborhood and city.

Brooklyn has lost her first tooth! She decided that the money smelled like smoke so he must be a man and that he was so rich his name must be Rich. She also believes the teeth are recycled and hers will spring up in the mouth of a  newborn.

We have been blueberry picking and enjoying the skills of Cora, the fruit salad master.

Just generally we have been settling into our new home. We find cats in shockingly high places as they explore every inch, and we have been spending lots of time in the screened in back porch playing salon and watching the cattle.

Our final life happening is a BIG one. Cora decided to do a barefoot trick involving a glass pint glass and ended up in the ER. 12 stiches and a long recovery lay ahead for a very vibrant, busy girl. It is without a doubt one of the hardest moments of my motherhood journey to watch my sweetest loving baby be in pain. She was so unbelievably brave and tough through the ordeal!!! She handled the trauma better than I would have. I am sure we will never forget going through this together; holding hands, nose to nose, and singing through the pain and fear amid a room of nurses and the doctor. She continues to be amazing as we adapt to our recovery changes. 

It has been nearly 2 months since the kids have left the house; our 700 square foot house on the CLOSED beach…. We knew when we moved in that we would sacrafice a larger home for the beauty of the Gulf. It was never much of a sacrafice because we spent so much time running/swimming on the gulf and going about our weekly activities. The playgrounds were our literal classroom before this Covid 19 began. I would take each child independently while the other two played. We were given the opportunity to leave our lease without penalty and we decided to move to a much larger house 5 minutes from Grandma and Grandpa. We have absolutely relished every moment of living on the Gulf, but having room to spread out as a family has felt really amazing too. Brooklyn now has her own room, our furniture looks tiny inside our house which is 2.5 the size of our blue beach house. We traded the sand for a home that backs onto a cow pasture. They are fed every morning 5 feet from our screened in back porch. And hey, the ocean is an hour and a half drive away….the Gulf has taught us some very valuable life lessons such as live spotted crabs do not eat tortilla chips. Blueberry smoothies taste best in the sunshine and nature is both brutal and beautiful.

Dylan took his first selfie on my phone when I was not looking and it is absolutely precious. When he is not saving the day as Spiderman he jams at home with Daddy.

Cora is an up and coming fruit salad master.

Our move to Winter Haven was fast and painless. Everyone likes moving because we eat more pizza as the pile of boxes grow bigger. And who doesn’t just love pizza?

The hardest part of this move is leaving a beautiful, beautiful friend who has become a part of our forever family. Thanks Anne for all your help making our move happen!! We love you Auntie Anne, Uncle Jay, and Molly the cat!

Thankfully, the kids had kittens to dry thier tears as we left for our new house.

This is the view from our screened in back porch now. We fed the cows this morning and look forward to this being a part of our new daily routine. Grandma had sloppy joes simmering in our new kitchen as the crew unloaded which made it seem so instantly homey! Grandma and Grandpa also gifted us a dining room table and chairs which our family needed desperately. Thank you Mom and Dad for all your help also!!

We had a wonderful Easter! As we listened to a bedtime story last night about the Easter bunny, Brooklyn was worried about the bunny showing up early and seeing Daddy naked in the bathtub ha ha. At dawn, the kids were up with anticipation of chocolate and eggs. After all, we lured in the bunny with carrots, spinach and arugula as well as a festivly decorated house. He would not have missed that…

The Magical Bunny left each child a code word puzzle to unlock a riddle which led them to thier basket. With a little help from Grandma even Dylan was able to unlock the riddle.

The Easter baskets were found.

Inside each basket was a note and map leading the kids to rescue 10 lost chicks and also included a magical bunny speed necklace, bunny ears, and calming bubbles.

The kids rescued the chicks and also found a treasure on thier maps!

We also had an egg hunt. The eggs that opened in the grass and spilled out thier jelly beans were decidedly magical bunny poop and consumed on the spot.

After the excitement of the bunny, Grandma, Mommy, Brooklyn, and Cora made a feast! Grandpa and Daddy went for a beautiful bike ride. Cora and Brooklyn used a spiralizer to make wavy sweet potatoes au gratin. We also had a rack of lamb, pork chops, asparagus, and Grandma’s awesome homemade key lime pie!

After all the sugar, little legs and big legs needed exercise.

The kids enjoyed playing with Easter gifts from Granny and Ava before the inevitable sugar crash.

We had an amazing day with Grandma and Grandpa. We have not seen them for two months because of this quarantine, but decided because of our disciplined social separation we were safe to see them once before they returned to Wisconsin. It made thier presence all the sweeter after such an absence, and if you disagree with our meeting let me show you how the kids deal with this type of thing. Just saying…

Happy Easter and thanks for a wonderful visit Grandma and Grandpa! It meant the world to us to have you here.

Here we are wrapping up the third week of coronavirus quarantine and that seems hard to believe. At the beginning of this mandated stay at home period I felt somewhat overwhelmed as to how I was going to occupy our time and expend our energy without playgrounds or weekly activities. At the end of week three, our routine has certainly shifted and not in a negative way. We now spend significant time outside riding scooters, bikes, and roller skating. We are learning the rules of the public roads by riding without the usual traffic overwhelming us. The kids’s knees are skinned and they could care less. They live to ride.

Water play and ice cream go hand in hand on a hot Florida afternoon.

Chef Brooklyn and Cora have been WOWing us with pancake creations and even learning to cut fruit with a butter knife.

Daddy has a new bike and has been putting on the miles. Scarlet has been logging lots of time on the bike as well

All the extra time spent at home is probably exhausting the cats because driving them nuts is the kids’s favorite indoor activity. This blue jay who frequents our fence is definetly conspiring to drive them crazy.

For the most part kids at our kids’s age think all the changes happening around them are normal; they are just learning what life is all about. They have no real idea about the crisis unfolding worldwide. But this commercial sized toilet paper that was celebrated at purchase was just too much for them….This hippopotamus sized roll of toilet paper really stood out as way outside of normal daily function when nothing else has. Grandma says it gives new meaning to “We only have one roll left”! Ha ha

Every Mom celebrates when a three year old boy falls asleep in the afternoon….cause this little guy gifts us with this maybe once a month. I want to remember the joy of each one.

Our artwork and jewelry creations as well as links to the girls reading books they have written can be seen on our homeschool blog. Here is a link in case you find yourself quarantined and with extra time on your hands.

https://oursmallsteps812041077.wordpress.com/

I will finish with a quote from Norm McDonald’s Coronavirus stand up comedy which I found hilarious. “The last step between us and happiness is people”. Ha ha, enjoy your time with less people around.

The month of March we have shared the beautiful ocean with wonderful visits from Granny, Grandma and Grandpa, and friends from Lakeland!

We have biked, tea partied, made jewelry from found shells, and snoozed in the afternoon sun after an exhausting afternoon in the splash pool.

We have played hard on the beach and made art with the beach. We focus on learning time too.

The girls went to LaDee Da Kids Salon before their first ever sleepover and had a manicure, make up session, and fashion show. Brooklyn chooses everything fire engine red and Cora chooses sweet pink.

The cats have spoiled us with snuggles so Adam assembled them an awesome cat playground. The cats were on it before he could finish. We spend so much time reminding the kids to be gentle with the cats, but they really do get all up in their face and pick them up way too much…but the cats yell at the kids when it gets annoying and never run to hide. They cry miserably at their door when they are shut out for bedtime and sleep with them too.

The girls continue to excel with ice-skating. Cora looks so proud with her coach here.

With the coronavirus and social distancing we have stayed pretty near home, and make that feel special with special Daddy daughter time and backyard camping. I swear a better marshmallow can be achieved with the oven’s broiler than a fire.,.

Brooklyn and I took some headshots for a talent agent. She is a natural.

Nothing rivals the natural beauty of the sunsets, however. We send our prayers for health during this national crisis. ♥️

Our family decided to adopt two kittens! It has been several years since we have had furry pets. Our fish Posseidon most likely objected silently to our new family members…. Meet our new babies! They are litter sisters and five months old. They groom each other, sleep together, and talk to each other. They are curious, playful, loving, and just plain beautiful!

When I was a kid our family got two sister kittens and they looked so similar that at first we could only tell them apart by the grey speck on one of the kittens noses. Then the grey speck turned out to be a piece of cat litter and we had to put different color ribbons around their neck. Dylan could not tell them apart for a few days and just ran around yelling “tittie”!

The kids are absolutely in love. The day we got them Cora told me she had three hearts now, her heart had grown so much. Brooklyn has thanked us for four straight days in the most sincere way for the kitties. Dylan and the girls just plain refused to leave the house for a few days after they came home with us and spend hours everyday doting on our furry girls. Cora woke up the house very early today with squeels of happiness when she discovered Magnolia slept with her last night. It is awesome to see the bond developing and the gentle love given.

It is so entertaining having two troublesome kittens. Glass has shattered….Scarlet climbed into the cupboards below the counter and when I opened the drawer a few minutes later I pulled out a precious cat ha ha. They sit between the shower curtain and plastic liner and make taking a shower just that much more fun. They chase the girls’ princess dresses that drag on the floor and share Dylan’s love for superballs. Unfortunately, they stalked the fish so intensely, despite our efforts to protect him, that we had to re home him to our neighbor. We had one last party with him before he went. We loved how Poseidon danced for us, but having a pet we can actually pet makes our home that much lovelier!

The kids were very understanding about re homing Posseidon and ultimately Posiedon is better off far away from these trouble makers😀

Dylan is three! He requested a Batman birthday party and Grandma and Grandpa, Granny, and our friends Anne and Jay came to celebrate with us. We served giant plates of fruit and cheese and chili, Dylan’s favorite foods. He was so excited by the company and gifts the birthday boy hardly ate anyway.

Daddy made a special jolly rancher infused cocktail inspired by the Joker.

Dylan practiced singing “I am three years old” but was too shy to pull it off in front of an audience. Here is the birthday Batman and his cupcake.

Granny gave Dylan a Batman mask that transforms Dylan’s voice into Batman. The mask is hilarious and the kids love it! Grandma and Grandpa gave Dylan a new bike. Dylan learned how to ride his bike in about 20 minutes and is now doing “tricks” like no hands and one foot riding♥️ The girls also have new bikes and we have been taking bike rides together. He is ready to ride without training wheels now I think…but I like how the training wheels slow him down.

Grandma and Grandpa took Dylan down to the beach and flew his new occtupus kite with him.

Granny stayed for 5 days in Florida and took Dylan to Build a Bear for his birthday. After great debate, Dylan chose Chase from Paw Patrol. The kids had five days of being spoiled by Granny, especially the cuddle bug Cora. Cora stayed all five nights at Granny’s hotel, just the two of them and I am sure cuddled every second of it.

Dylan is a hugger. He loves you, hard. I have been calling him crash lately because he does just that. His kisses come at you profuse and occasionally HARD. This picture below explains it perfectly. He has so much love to give, brace yourself puppy.

Our family took a six night staycation at Universal Orlando. The weather was gorgeous, the crowds were very low and we could walk right onto rides. We just had a ball. We actually only intended to stay two nights and packed up and checked out each afternoon only to decide at 5 pm that we did not want to go home and book another night. What could be a better life than to swim all morning til lunch then hit the the most amazing playground all afternoon and evening? Universal has the greatest play areas for children besides all the rides and experiences they have to offer.

Universal has a Mardi Gras celebration and parade and they are celebrating 25 years of the parade. The floats, costumes, and joyful energy is so outrageously great that we saw the parade 6 times! The floats throw Mardi Gras beads and the kids love that. They leave each parade with four pounds of colorful beads. Our backyard fence is now extremely well dressed! The kids enjoyed giving the beads away to others later in the evening. Adam had family in New Orleans and went often to Mardi Gras as a kid and I think he particularly enjoyed the food and festivities.

Voodoo Donuts is the ultimate in donut art and an absolute must have.

We finally rode Hagrid’s new coaster and  it is without a doubt the best coaster I have ever been on in my life, sorry Disney. The acceleration, smoothness, unexpected events and story take the cake. Brooklyn was brave enough to ride and she loved it, although her body was overwhelmed by the intensity afterwards. We watched the animal show and pet the stars, and had many late nights where Dylan fell asleep in the car before the hotel.

Best stay cation ever.