October 2021 - The King-Whited Family Blog

What a Week!! New Job Alert

It was a fabulous week and after a brief 5 month hiatus, I am heading back to work. On Tuesday I was offered the position of Director of Alumni Philanthropy for the YMCA. The YMCA wants to put extra attention on connecting with alumni, so I will be focusing on the 8 camps and Youth in Government, re-connecting with past participants. It’s a new position, but I’ve been doing the same thing for 13 years at CYC, so I feel really excited about it. I like raising money and I am so excited to be able to support camps and YIG. My position is a work from home job, which I am super pumped about. The YMCA has great benefits and I will be earning significantly more than I did in my last role. So basically it’s exactly what I have been looking for and I’m super excited. I don’t start until November 15, so these next few weeks will be for getting organized and enjoying my free time before I go back to a regular work schedule.

When I left CYC in June, we dropped Augustus down to 2 days a week at school. Wednesdays he’s with Grandma Debbie and Mondays and Fridays he’s at home with me. I am not cut out for the stay at home mom life, but I have really enjoyed spending so much time with my sweet baby boy. He is funny and sweet and affectionate and we have a lot of fun together. On Monday we went to the park and played nonstop.

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He made “cookies” out of kinetic sand- he has been watching me closely because his technique was flawless! Xander was busy at school working hard!
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Tuesday was the last day of school for the week for Xander because this week was MEA. Also on Tuesday, Ruthie went to the vet to be spayed. She didn’t seem to feel terrible, and every day since we brought her home has been harder to keep her calm. She wants to run and jump and wrestle and play and we are doing everything we can to make her rest.

On Wednesday, both boys went to Grandma Debbie’s and Xander was very happy to have a Wednesday Grandma day. They went to the mall and played at the super cool play area there. They swam, they hung out. Augustus told me he put fruit snacks inside of a fruit rollup and made a burrito. It’s like paradise over there.

When they got home, I put them to work cooking dinner… actually, they fought over who got to peel and mash potatoes, and Xander was quite proud of “Xander’s special potatoes”.

On Thursday, Xander and I had a special mommy/Xander day. He has been feeling super jealous of how much one on one time that Augustus has had with both Grandma and me, so on Thursday, Augustus went to school and Xander and I planned a day of anything he wanted. We started the day at the bakery getting donuts and then (as he requested) we did several science experiments. We built a catapult, made a lava lamp, built and then erupted a volcano and a few others that didn’t turn out quite as cool. For lunch, we ordered Dominoes Pizza. We wrestled, we played, we hung out. I really enjoyed spending the day with him. Xander enjoyed the day too, but he also asked about Augustus approximately 500 times and kept requesting that we pick him up early.

We actually picked Augustus up earlier than usual, because Thursday night was a slumber party at Grandma’s house. The boys were so excited and Nate and I got to go out for sushi and cake.

Friday the boys came home and we hung out, went to the YMCA to go swimming and they helped Nate assemble a new cabinet for my office. We ordered pizza for dinner and ate on the couch (which is a rare treat!) and then ended the night with ice cream sundaes.

On Saturday, I attempted to relax and drink coffee on the couch, but instead chewed on by a puppy. We went to a party with some of Nate’s work friends. They had a bounce house in their basement and the boys got to carve/paint pumpkins. It was nice to hang out, eat, drink and for the kids to play.

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Cookie sales for Halloween were really good and I was excited to see myself tagged in someone’s instagram post complimenting my cookies.

Sunday has been wonderful- the boys were busy at Grandma’s house, enjoying themselves with playdough, science kits and playing in the exercise room. Nate and I went to brunch and hung out. I grocery shopped, washed the floors, and even had time to lay in bed and read a good book for a while.

My mom brought the boys home and then Danny and Heather came over for dinner. After dinner was some intense Nintendo Switch gaming. It was the perfect day!

I was a little jealous of all of our friends and neighbors who had fun get-aways planned for MEA break. But it felt too extravagant for us to go away somewhere when I haven’t been working. However, these last few days have been absolutely perfect. It was nice to have time to relax and hang out and play together without being too busy. I think both Nate and I, and the boys needed some down time, and it’s been so wonderful.

Sick Days and Snuggles

This week we started strong with beautiful weather and playing outside. But by Monday, Xander was sniffling and Tuesday was his first official sick day home from school. He spent the day resting and eating freezie pops, and also missed his swim lesson. Augustus was healthy and got to show off his swim skills to Nate (who took him to the Y this week).

Xander bounced back quickly and was back in school the next day. Unfortunately, by Friday, Augustus was sniffling and we had another day at home with snuggles, freezie pops, and lots of kleenex.
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Saturday, both boys were feeling good and we were ready for some fun. We did some Halloween crafts with our buddies from down the street. We made mummies, foam pumpkins and then painted small pumpkins.

Then we pulled out ALL of the Paw Patrol toys we have (which are enough for a small army) and played all day.

We decorated our house with some cool skulls (that light up at night) and skeletons. I baked Halloween cookies, and then quickly got enough orders to sell out!

Xander had an afternoon play date with Leo. Both boys are enjoying kindergarten, but missed each other!

Sunday the boys were with Grandma Debbie. They played, they swam, they were busy!

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We had some sick days, but overall, the week was great!

Legos, Chili and More

Hudson is 10 months and Ruthie is 8.5 months old and they are maniacs. They barrel through the house, chasing each other, wrestling, biting and playing. They are trouble makers who continually steal things off the end tables (the remote controls, the ipads, books, a box of kleenex), and who stand directly under my feet while I cook dinner (if I end up with a broken neck, it will 100% be because of them). But they are our sweet babies and while we would certainly have a cleaner house and yard without them, I’m glad that they are part of our family.

We are 6 weeks into kindergarten and on Friday we had conferences with Xander’s teacher. It was really fun to talk to her about how he’s doing. We didn’t have any concerns, and she was very complimentary of how well he gets along with other kids and his academic progress. She showed us samples of his writing- his letters and numbers are looking good. Her updates are LONG and detailed and I love them. I love seeing videos that the art, gym, french, drama and music teachers share. It is so fun to see him learning and growing. Augustus had bug week at his school and did a lot of fun projects with insects.

Xander got a super cool gift from Aunt Kara and Uncle Jud (and baby Nell)- a lego hat! You can make your own designs with tiny little pieces. He spent a long time on the perfect design and was very proud of himself.

On Friday, Xander had his first day off and so we took a family trip to the Lego Store at the Mall of America. Augustus picked out a lego set within about 3 minutes. Xander shops the same way I do, which is to say he looked at and touched every single lego set in the store and then agonized over the right choice. 45 minutes into our shopping trip, I was fully prepared to buy the 7000 piece Millennium Falcon set just to get us out of there, but luckily, Nate was able to help him find a great set for 6 year olds. We went out to lunch and then headed home, where Xander spent 2.5 hours totally focused on building an underwater sub station. It turned out super cool!

On Friday night, Nate and the boys had happy hour with the whole neighborhood, but I missed out as I was volunteering at a YMCA fundraising event. I have hosted trivia night for CYC for many years and several years ago, I started also hosting the YMCA trivia night (with the same questions I use for each CYC night). It was a super fun night and I got to see some of my Y friends, which I always enjoy.

Saturday was another neighborhood marathon of fun. We started the day with coffee, hot chocolate and donuts, as well as a Bags tournament. The littlest of the kiddos have recently been stripping down as soon as they get together and running through the neighborhood in just undies. I will be reminding all of them about that when they are about 14 years old. Gussie and the girls literally spent the whole day in underwear, but if the weather cooperates, I am happy to let him run wild and free. We all hung out until lunch, at which point we all went home to eat and rest.

At 4, we all started heading back outside and at 5, it was time for the chili buffet- not a cook off, because no one wanted to criticize anyone else. We had 4 kinds of chili, cornbread, cookies, chips, grapes… it was a full buffet of food. I tasted all 4 of the chilis and they were all excellent. We had so many people outside and even one random neighbor who happened to be walking her dog and we lured her in. It was quite a spectacle! We stayed outside until it was completely dark and then we dragged the children inside for baths and bedtime.
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Sunday was another gorgeous, unseasonably warm day. The boys spent the day with my mom, and then came home and ran right outside to play until dinner and then after dinner. We are loving this gorgeous fall weather and I hope it continues let us be outside for weeks to come!
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Catch Up and 6th Birthday!

It’s been a busy and fun 2 weeks. Xander had his first school picture day. The boys are rocking swim lessons- Xander’s class went to the big pool last week and I could see that he was surprised and nervous, but he did great! He’s learning to tread water and Gussie is doing SO well putting his face in the water and being comfortable jumping in.

Gussie is loving his Wednesdays with Grandma Debbie, and Xander continues to feel like it’s a deep injustice that he has to be in school EVERY day, while his brother gets to be at Grandma’s.

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We spend every afternoon after school outside in our front yard. After school-dinner is playtime for everyone, and then we all go inside to eat, and then after dinner more neighbors join in until we all set a group timer to make the kids go inside for bath time. It is so wonderful and I hope the weather cooperates for as long as possible!

Xander got some level one reading books from Grandma Renee and has been doing SO well. He can read full sentences and even read to a bunch of his friends one afternoon. His personality is so much like Nate, but every now and then, he bosses everyone around, commanding them to sit and be quiet and listen while he reads, and I think, “oh there’s some Natalie in him as well!”

Last weekend we went to 2 birthday parties- on Saturday we went to a party at the apple orchard. It was totally insane, but I got to meet some of Xander’s friends and their parents, the boys got to run around, play, and take a hayride, so it was good. Nate was at a golf tournament with Jake, but you’ll have to take my word for it, because taking a photo is easily forgotten!

Last Sunday was Phoebe’s birthday, so Gussie and I got to go hang out with all of his friends, while Xander had some one on one time with Grandma Debbie.

This week was homecoming at Xander’s school, so Monday he got to wear PJs to school. Gussie and I were busy at home and at the park.
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Tuesday was swim lessons.
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On Friday our neighborhood had a pizza party- similar to our chicken sandwich tasting extravaganza of the summer. This time we sent 4 families to 4 different local pizza places. We got a large cheese and a large pepperoni (thin crust only) at each. We tasted Davannis, Skinners, Italian Pie Shoppe and Carbones. We rated sauce, cheese, crust and overall. Italian Pie Shoppe was the winner, but Davannis was a close second. The kids drank kiddie cocktails and ran around. It was a fabulous night.

On Friday night, right before Xander went to bed, he asked me if there would be anything surprising in the morning, “ya know, like streamers or balloons or a scavenger hunt?” For the record, the answer was no, I had NOT planned any of those things- I had planned a birthday party only. But my darling boy has gotten used to special days being extra special, so after I tucked him in, I printed off some lego heads, wrote down some clues and set up a scavenger hunt. I put up a few streamers and went to bed.

He woke up at 11pm (Nate and I were both already asleep) and 2am asking to get up. At 6am, he basically DEMANDED one of us get up so we could help read clues. We made him wait until Augustus woke up and then they ran around the house finding the clues. The prize was that next week (on Xander’s first day off), we are going to Legoland to buy legos, but both boys were a little disappointed that there wasn’t an actual prize in hand.

The morning was LONG as we waited to head to the park for Xander’s 6th birthday party! But finally after lunch, we loaded the van and headed out. We rented the park building (which we’ve done several times before), but this was the first time we’ve needed it. “Light drizzle” as the weather had predicted was actually POURING RAIN. The kids decorated lego guys, ran around screaming (in a fun way), we cut the cake, played a game, and then the rain cleared up and they got to play on the playground. It was a very fun day!
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Xander got 2 lego sets he already had, so this morning, we stopped at Target to return them. Xander also got a giftcard, so yes, I let my 6 year old free with $70 to spend. He still has no concept of money, because he picked one small thing and generously agreed to buy a toy for his brother and only spent $13 total. At this rate, he will have many more shopping trips ahead of him. He was VERY proud to be able to ring everything up and pay for everything himself. He’s a very grown up 6 year old!

Today the boys were at Grandma Debbie’s and Nate and I relaxed all day. It was a wonderful day, with 2 very tired boys at the end of the evening.