celebrated ten years in a big way

I haven't posted about this mostly because like is this tacky? Is this acceptable to discuss? We've kept it off social media as a rule but no one really reads this blog anymore and it's more for me and journaling purposes and I really want to be able to keep record of this whole process.

So, long story short. We bought a little chunk of land with the hopes of building a forever house for our family.

Long story long. Jazz has been scoping out the housing market for years. Always sends me new listings or things that have dropped in price... he has been ready to move for awhile but noooope not me no. First of all, moving is the worst. Just the absolute worst. Second of all, our house has been just so perfect for us for so long- we have been here eight years- longer than I've lived anywhere besides my childhood home. It has four bedrooms, but we use one of those bedrooms as a music room for the harp/piano and as the kids get older, it's becoming more apparent that we will need more living space. Thatch is in the nursery (with all of Lincoln's stuff) but Linc sleeps in Izzie's room in a bunk bed...just can't go on like that forever.

ANYWAY. We just never found anything we loved. Everything is expensive, surprise, it's California. Expensive and OLD. Is $200 a square foot PLUS needs to be gutted and totally redone. The silver lining to that sort of home is old trees and established neighborhoods. Nothing came close to even being considerable. For those kind of prices, we could build from the ground up and get exactly what we wanted. I figured we would stay here forever and just shift the kids around every couple of years. Procrastination at it's finest.

My friend Kelly and her family are 100% responsible for doing the hard work here- they found this beautiful development, built a gorgeous house, and basically made us fall in love with the idea of living across the street. Our kids are great friends, we all get along so well- the street is a cul de sac, gated, on the preserve and WALKING DISTANCE TO MY MOMS. Take my money, right?!?! We talked so much about the area and how great it would be to live by people we love. Kids riding their bikes in the street, swapping kid play dates, sharing carpool and always having extra sugar for our neighbors!

So initially it didn't look like it would be possible for a couple of reasons, one being that they weren't willing to sell us the land in the development without using them to build the house, blah blah, anyway, our prayers were majorly answered and in May we got the call that the land was ours.

We closed on our ten year anniversary, June 14th- and celebrated by eating cake in lawn chairs on our little .44 acre parcel. WE ARE EXCITED. I just never thought this would be an option, and it's taken months for me to work on what we want, what is important, how to maximize our space. I've had a ton of help from lots of people and I think it's going to be beautiful. We have a long way to go and a lot of finishes to choose- hopefully Jazz and I don't kill each other in the process. (j/k but also not j/k.)

Now we are just about ready to submit our plans to the city so they can approve them (after a couple of rounds of changes) and then we will have a building permit and then we can move forward! I'm going to post here about the build and all the exciting (to me) things we are doing. Aiming to be moved in by next summer. Feeling so thankful.

happy anniversary to us! ten years.

eating cake and watching the sunset, a really fun anniversary memory

view from our lot- across the street is Kelly's, and behind her house is the nature preserve

this was a different day- this is the view of the lot from the road. Jazz and my Dad are scoping out the back edge of the property line

McCloud Falls

A couple weeks ago (a month? six weeks? no concept of time.) we drove up north an hour or so to McCloud to hike to the falls. In all the time I've lived here, we've never been there and WHY. Such a nice hike, not too strenuous for the kids and a beautiful waterfall finale. I told Jazz it was my perfect Saturday.

Thatcher was sick proceeding that weekend and I was desperate to escape my house! We had cooler weather, the best picnic ever, and the kids did like 4 and a half miles on their little legs.

We brought our Yosemite walking sticks and of course Thatcher had to find a tiny one to match.

lower falls

He really wanted to walk the entire way but there were some cliffy stairs and stuff that made me nervous. Not to mention he was trying so hard to keep up he just kept tripping over every little rock! Endearing but also possibly unsafe. 

middle falls

my lil pal! There are few things I love more than when a baby falls asleep in a carrier. I LOVE IT. I mean, he's not asleep in this pictures but eventually he did fall asleep. Makes me miss the days of the sollywrap.

We packed a pretty epic picnic and then Jazz pulled out an ice cold soda and I wanted to marry him again.

The top of middle falls. 

isn't this beautiful!

We didn't quite make it to the upper falls, it was another couple of miles round trip and we knew we had to get the kids back to where we parked the car- but definitely next time! Jazz is sort of an introvert, stay at home kinda guy and I am more of a WHERE CAN WE GO TODAY kind of a gal, and sometimes it's hard to meet in the middle. He loves me though, and I appreciate when he can turn his homebody self into an adventure dad and take us out into the wilderness. And by wilderness I mean very tame and manicured trail near a stream with parking lot and bathrooms. Baby steps.

Thatcher James- 22 months

Been awhile since I've done an update on lil' Thatcher. Can't believe we will be celebrating his second birthday in just a few months. NO STOP IT.

Oh Thatcher, we love you SO HARD. He's like my little pal and we spend a lot of time together. Here are some things I want to remember about Thatcher James at 22 months.

24 pounds, wearing 9-12 month shorts, 18 month rompers, 18-24 month jammies. He is tall and narrow! Size 5 moc. He's had two haircuts and is in desperate need of another one, but I love his fluffy ginger hair, I can't cut it!

One of my most very favorite things in the whole world is lifting him out of his crib in the morning or after nap. He is all warm and sleepy, he is zipped up in his sleep sack, his cheeks are pink and his hair is all fluffy. He is happy to see me. Best feeling everrrrrr. Our routine is to zip him up in his sleep sack, hand him his two lovies- stuffy and lamb lamb, and give him his beloved paci. My kids have all been very attached to something soft- Isabelle still sleeps with her Olivia doll and Linc has the grey owl in his bed. Thatch likes those two little stuffed things- they both have tags on them and he fiddles the tag between his 2nd/3rd fingers or 3rd/4th fingers and its just really cute, he reaches for the tags as soooooon as it's time for bed. He knows. We do the five ducks song and the goodnight book every nap/night. And this is so sweet- when we are gone out and the kids are home with a sitter- Isabelle has taken it upon herself to be in charge of Thatcher's routine. She does THE WHOLE BIT. It's so sweet, she loves him so much and he is perfectly content to have her put him to bed.

Thatch is quite chatty! His favorite word is NO. But sometimes it's two syllables like Noooo-Aahhhhh. Very dramatic. His vocab also includes: yes, yay, mom, dad, go, boat, bubble, please, duck, hi and bye, dog, whoa, uh ohhh, hot... he understands 99% of what I say to him and can actually follow directions pretty well. He waves at everyone and everything, this cute little pageant queen wave. His main goal in life is to BE BIG. Like the big kids! Go and do what they do, he copies them constantly. He has an especially sweet relationship with Isabelle, she is so kind and careful with him. She sits and plays with him, helps him find things, gets him a snack. Everyone needs a sister like Isabelle! Thatcher must be nearing two because he throws this hilarious mini fit when he doesn't get his way...except he is so tiny and sweet it's kind of funny. If you ask him to smile- he gives this hilarious cheese face.

He loves to play toys- peoples, cars, trains, his favs are all the Cars characters. Loves them, knows them all, it's fun. He will loooove Carsland when we go to Disneyland in the fall! When he gets to watch a show, he can't contain his glee. Sometime I should video it, he gets SO EXCITED. And he sits in the big rocking chair like it's totally his. Cars and Planes: Fire and Rescue are his favorites. loves watching airplanes in the sky. Loves being outside, period! He is the king of snack food. Eye roll. He likes breakfast okay, yogurt toast fruit cereal. Lunch is pb and J. But dinner is tricky- he doesn't eat much of anything. We just keep trying and give him a hail mary vegetable pouch before bed! Will eat a popcicle or a fruit snack anytime, anywhere. And ketchup! Seriously he licks it off of french friends. Doesn't actually eat the fry, just the ketchup. (Morgan he might be yours?)

Can't remember a time before Thatcher. I know I always say that about my kids after they are born, but it's true. He has always been a part of us, here or there, and the joy he brings to our family is immeasurable. I wish I could have ten more kids, it goes so quickly and it's kind of a bummer that eventually they are going to leave me. Cue tears.

cheese face

falls asleep in the car alllll the time

this is my favorite. always. 

school's out for the summer. (well. pretend this isn't a month late.)

IS THIS THREE POSTS IN A ROW WHAT IS HAPPENING!

No, I'm just reallllllllllly behind.

Here's a couple things from the end of school that I want to remember.

Linc finished Kindergarten this year with Mrs. Kikut. We MAJOR LOVE Mrs. Kikut and are sad to grow out of her class- she's just the best. Lincoln got like ten inches taller. (Or maybe that just what it feels like to me?) Linc is like Mr. Social. He knows everyone- says hi to people from school when we are out and about which just cracks me up. His favorite things about school were recess and field trips. I got to teach them music once a week and I'm always amazed how much they learn! They are smart and remember from week to week- I got to know a lot of his little friends which was really fun.

last day of music!
I don't know why this is blurry, bc it's not on my photo viewer? blogger is failing me!

Isabelle finished up second grade and is excited for third! I hear this is where the homework gets serious and I'm not terribly excited about that. Sweet, sweet Isabelle- she is so kind and so helpful in the classroom. Her favorite subjects are art ALL DAY EVERYDAY. And maybe science- she likes to learn about animals. She really liked her teacher and worked hard in class. Isabelle has a group of four or five girls that have been in the same class for four years now and they are so sweet together! 

Can you believe how different in just a year!

this was from career day the last week of school
Isabelle wants to be a horse trainer
Lincoln wants to be a professional baseball player.
A close second place to "Ninja Trainer" which wasn't quite school appropriate.

Now just about a month until school starts again. Actually exactly a month. I feel like summer used to be longer? School started after labor day? I don't get it. Anyway, pretty soon we will be packing lunches and gathering school supplies and I'll miss these summer days.

Lake days.

We endure blistering hot summers here for a few reasons- one of which is that there are several lakes conveniently located about twenty minutes from our front door. Throw a boat into the mix and we will probably never move away! The kids totally love being on the lake- tubing or even just swimmin around! I have to say, Thatcher in a tiny life jacket signing "more" when the boat stops is pretty freaking cute. 

We usually pack a picnic, which always tastes better on the boat. We had a yellow searay when I was a kid- a family boat- and we spent every Saturday out on the lake. We would come home so exhausted and a little sunburned and they are some of my most favorite family memories. Seeing my kids out on the tubes, with their little legs flying around, my dad driving them around the lake, eating mom's chocolate chip cookies, wiping cheeto fingers with wipees. Things I want to remember. 

Iz and Jazz

waving at the tubers. I mean. Seriously.

Thatch isn't super into floating.

he prefers to chill here. rough life

Occasionally, we head to the other lake, to Brandy Beach, where there is just a hint of sand and a shallow beach area perfect for the kids to swim in. 

waving at anything that moves

Linc is swimming with the board, Izzie is up on that big platform

She's just the best big sister and he loves her so much for it.

the boys worked on bringing up this log for like an hour

Baby on a jetski

Summer

Five weeks in and so far we have all survived! I love summer. But I will say that summer is NO JOKE. By the time I sit down at night usually around 8 or 8:30, I've been on the clock for 14 hours. a lot of the time it's without a break or any real alone time, CONSTANT VIGILANCE. Lol. I find that I have to have a schedule to maintain my sanity. Play dates are wonderful, getting out of the house is key, and doing all my grocery shopping at night works well. Once I even got a baby sitter in the middle of the week just so I could run errands without the kids! Sometimes you just gotta do it.

So far the theme of the summer is SWIM. Swim ery'day. We have this little junior swim team again this year, almost every morning for an hour. We get up, do our chores (kids have a little dry erase checklist) and get out of the house. From 10-12 is our busy time, whatever activity we have planned for the day, and then Thatcher goes down for his nap after that. Hallelujah. Sometimes the kids have quiet time in their room so I can eat lunch in peace. Sometimes they watch a show. It's surprisingly still pretty busy!

Things I love about summer: I don't have to wake up super early and rush to get lunches made and kids out the door. As we know, mornings are not my forte. I also love the low pressure schedule, I definitely cook less and eat substantially more hotdogs. The kids play so hard that by 7 pm they are pretty tired and pass out quickly. I also have less laundry since we mostly wear swimsuits. I love that I get to spend more time with my big kids during summer even if they make me tired. It's super hot now (105-110) so if we aren't in the water, we aren't outside. Lots of science experiments, trips to the library, buckets of toys, crafts, movies, etc.

We've been to the lake a bunch, had play dates at our house, play dates at Grandma's house, spent time with out cousins, been up to McCloud for a big hike. I keep up on my Instagram (@miccolene) pretty well- I keep wondering what will happen to the whole blog thing when Instagram is so much easier and quicker. I love being able to go back and read about our family memories on here, so even if they are few and far between, I'm going to keep going.

golden hour at the lake

most recent dance recital. maybe my favorite one ever!

accurately describes his energy level

meeting baby samuel! grandbaby #18

Burley's maiden voyage

loved it

swim, all the time swim

no one has more patience than Isabelle

just a quick stop to see Max. Thatch is zoomin a car around.

nevernude

Happy Anniversary- #10! Tacos and flowers, it's like he knows me.

living her best life.