STATE FAIR: HIGHS & LOWS

I LOVE festivals/fairs/amusement parks/parties/carnivals/fiestas etc.  Something about the bright colors and the music and the fun draws me in every time.  So when the fair comes to town, I always feel the pull, but we can only make it work about every other year.  This is what Bella wanted for her birthday, so we carved out the time - here are the Highs & Lows!

High:  We had the most perfect fall weather this weekend, and it was truly a lovely afternoon.

High:  The petting zoo is right at the front, and it is always a hit! 🐐🐑🐄🦙

Low:  The fair is crazy expensive. 💰 We set a budget before we went and let each kiddo have a ziplock bag of money with a certain amount to spend.  This meant that they each got to choose how to spend that money, whether it be rides or games or food for animals or snacks.  This also meant we got to keep up with baggies full of cash, and competing desires of four kids.  It mostly worked, and I mostly bit my tongue when a child wanted to pay $5 a SECOND time to throw ONE dart to get a slightly larger stuffed animal.  Carnies might actually be thieves.

(Waiting on siblings is hard)

High:  Seeing each kid love the activities they did choose.  Because we made them only pick a few things, they really ended up loving what they did.  I love seeing my children enjoy things!

Low:  Some kids got a little fixated on certain things.  William played the duck game once, and the rest of the time we were at the fair, he begged to go back to play again. 🙄  Picking a rubber ducky up is so thrilling, especially when you receive a Bubble Sword.

High:  We actually got to watch a reptile show and the sea lion show.  The kids were enthralled, and it made for a nice break in the middle of everything.  Seeing an alligator turtle that was over 125 years old was a highlight, and sea lions are so dang cute. 🥰

Low:  There was an offer for kids to take pictures with a snake.  I have NEVER liked snakes.  It took every bit of self-control for me to not act as nervous as I felt while seeing a snake wrapped around Lily's shoulders.  Violet changed her mind, which I was grateful for.  Lily made sure to tell me she wants this picture in her photo album. 😳

High:  I find the fair to be visually compelling, and I love taking pictures there.

Low:  Children seem to be always thirsty, and then they seem to always need to use the bathroom.  But not when you want them to use the bathroom - whenever the liquid hits their bladder.  We did so many unscheduled bathroom stops at inconvenient times, and it was hard to not grow increasingly irritated.

High:  Fair food.  We didn't really do much of the fair food, but funnel cake just never disappoints.

High:  Sweet family memories.  Here's the deal - we came home rather exhausted from the whole experience.  But, it was worth it.  We want to stay connected as a family and having time like this is a huge part of that for us.

I'm thankful for this time and also thankful that the fair only comes once a year.  That would be another high. 😏

SPENST SUMMER SPONSORS

I wrote a post like this at the end of last summer, and thought I'd follow it up with the Spenst Summer Sponsors 2019 edition.  Instead of breaking this one into levels, I'm including each sponsor at the same level, because we could not have made it through without any of these.

WICHITA, KANSAS:  The kids and I spent a fair amount of time in Wichita this summer for several reasons.  In fact, the last time I was there, someone at church said, "Do you just live here now?"  Not exactly, but we had a blast with cousins and Nana and Papa, and the kids also really enjoyed spending time with relative's pets.  Because that is the kind of thing that makes impressions on you when you are a kid.  3 out of 4 of the trips I drove the kiddos solo.  Miraculously, this was doable and even enjoyable.  I just put on movies for them and popped in my AirPods and the hours fly by.  Road trips have come a LONG way for us in the past year.

TRAMPOLINE PARKS:  This summer we've had memberships to not one, but two, trampoline parks.  We have a LOT of energy that needs to be burned somewhere, and it doesn't matter what the weather is doing, you can always go to a trampoline park.  As a bonus, you can often meet friends there.  And there is WIFI.  It's mostly amazing, until I have to dig a twin out of a ball pit.



TOPO CHICO:  And really sparkling water in general.  We drink a lot of it.

SWIMMING POOLS:  This is the no-brainer sponsor of all summers always for us, but now that every child is more or less swimming, the pool became a wonderful place that even inched towards relaxing.  We aren't all the way there, but mostly, the pool outings were pretty great.

VBS/DAYCAMPS:  This was the first summer in 3 years that the twins were home all day every day, and John told me way back in December that I needed to have a solid summer plan.  This plan relied heavily on various VBS and Daycamps, and I am so thankful for the programs we found that helped the kiddos have fun and learn more about Jesus and gave Mom a breather from all the togetherness.

SUMMER MOVIES:  At the beginning of the summer, I also mapped out every children's movie and the date it opened and bought tickets for every dollar movie that we would be in town for.  I did this with several friends, so we had a consistent movie party almost every week.



DATE NIGHTS:  With all of the extra time with the kiddos, John and I needed to double down on date nights.  It makes a huge difference when we are able to connect with one another and often other adults, and I'm so thankful.

I cannot believe that another summer is basically in the books.  I both loved the bonus time and also really wanted school to start.  But it did start, and we're all glad to be getting back into a routine.  Though I am missing the routing of going to the movie once a week.

JANUARY HIGHS & LOWS

We're almost through the entire month of January, and I haven't broken a single New Year's Resolution.  Because I didn't make one. 😬 I never do. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Here are some of the highs and lows from this month!

High: Celebrating my dear sister/friend's baby who will be here anytime now!  We had a mini Fiesta with a few fun friends.

Low:  We realized that the twins were sneaking candy/treats/iPads into their room and hiding them to be pulled out at their discretion.  Obviously, we've had to shut this down, and I *love* the time it takes to make sure nothing is tucked under their pillows or behind their laundry basket.

High:  We celebrated a big year with our team and the holidays by going bowling with everyone from our restaurants.  This turned out to be a great move and much less stressful than past parties.



Low: I got a text from a fellow mom giving me a head's up to ask Lily about the excitement at school.  Y'all, there was a snake in their classroom.  Not a pet one, either.  A wild one.  I'm not here for it.

High:  Seeing Bella as a fake 100 year old with fake gray hair for the 100th day of school.

Low:  Seeing John as an actual 37 year old going actually gray.  He was letting the girls pluck out the gray hair.  (- i actually don't mind the gray hair at all.  on him.)

High:  My sister came in for a few days with one of her sons.  We went to a Justin Timberlake concert, painted a room at my house and planned quilts for her to make for the girls' new room.  It's always so fun to be together!  She is so great at helping me actually complete projects since that is not really one of my strengths.

Low: For weeks, Violet has been talking about her teeth.  I thought it was just that in kindergarten, lots of kids lose teeth.  None of hers have budged.  However, as I looked, I realized that she has actually grown two new bottom teeth without losing any.  Come to find out, this phenomenon is called "Shark Teeth."  So now we are wiggling those teeth every chance we can get to help them loosen up and hopefully not need to have them pulled by the dentist.



High: I've reconnected with several old friends this month whether in person or on the phone, and it has been such a gift!

High:  Hosting a PJs and Popcorn night with my adoptive/foster moms group.  What a gift to have such a tribe!



Low:  Having leftover popcorn and no self-control.

High:  I finally redeemed my Mother's Day spa morning which was amazing.

High:  We've had pockets of warmer moments this month, and we've jumped on all of them to get out of doors for everyone's sanity.

Low:  We've slipped into a Polar Vortex.  (to be fair, we actually haven't.  it's cold, but we are still allowed to leave our homes, so it's clearly not as cold here as the Midwest and North)

High:  We celebrated Maya's 10th birthday - it's such a gift to be in contact with the twins' birth family!

High: Fun nights with friends!  We recreated the "Kitchen Sink" dessert from DisneyWorld.




Low:  Not realizing just how ridiculous I looked while wearing this hat I grabbed to stay warm.  So glad that my friends love me anyway.

High:  Finding these tasty little Key Lime candies on Amazon.

Low:  Eating them until the roof of my mouth is torn up.  I didn't know that could happen.

That about wraps it up!  Stay warm, friends.