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Dec 1 2015

family feasting

Posted by hayley
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If you know anything about me, you know I’m not much one for cooking. I do it because people in my house need to be fed, but otherwise I have zero passion for kitchen activities (unless we’re talking about a batch of fresh cookies, duh).

So for me to volunteer to host a family Thanksgiving, plan the menu, and handle all the cooking was just short of torture a miracle. Just kidding, kinda.

Songbird caught a crafty whim in the morning and designed our decor.

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

My parents (“Oma” & “Opa”) brought my grandmother from Indiana to join in the fun. It’s been 2 years since we last spent time with “GG” and the kids loved keeping her busy with board games while I worked on the bird.

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

One thing I can do is follow a recipe. The meal was a lovely hodge podge of recipes plucked from Pinterest, timeless favorites passed down from Handsome’s Grandma Lois (the kitchen queen), and Ree Drummond’s (the Pioneer Woman) turkey step-by-step.

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Since all my efforts were food related, the tablescape lacked creative flair. I think everyone was just happy I made something edible! :)

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Songbird practiced her penmanship with personalized place cards, too.

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Yes, Opa is grateful for indoor plumbing… aren’t we all.

Pumpkin pie and Tassie cookies rounded out the dessert portion of our feast – a most wonderful Thanksgiving celebration!

Family Feasting greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: family, holidays, our life, thanksgiving
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Oct 5 2015

sleep under the stars

Posted by hayley
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If you read this blog for the DIY content, then my apologies for all the family posts. Lately life has been a lot more experiences and a lot less projects. But if you don’t mind all the pictures of my kids, by all means continue. :)

Some things are just tough to do with infants and small toddlers: tent camping is certainly among them! Both Handsome and I grew up sleeping under the stars with our families as kids and it’s an experience we remember with fondness.

camping-11

Eager to share the simple wonders of “roughing it” with Songbird and Bug when the time was right, and with the Virginia evenings finally cooling off, we packed up the crew.

camping

No, we didn’t adopt 2 kids!  Those extras belong to our friends who joined us for our first ever family tent camping weekend recently.

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In our house, these same 4 kids would be complaining of hunger, boredom, and squabbling over toys within an hour. But throw them into some dirt below big tall trees with a couple shovels and hammocks and they were happy as clams with no real complaints for 2 whole days.

camping-8

One thing we did to stay busy was Geocaching. If you have kids and have never done this, go look it up NOW. Basically, it’s a worldwide treasure hunt guided by GPS. There is an app for your smartphone to both locate and navigate to the caches. They are stashed literally everywhere (maybe even in your neighborhood) and can be anything from a tin full of Pokemon cards to a paper listing the names of everyone who has found it. The only rule is that you have to bring something small to trade for the treasure you find and leave the main container in place for others to hunt later (for example we exchanged a beer bottle cap for a wooden block). It’s not really about the treasures being amazing, but rather the adventure in finding them together (some are very well hidden) and letting the kids lead the navigation.

camping-4

camping-3

We found 4 caches, with each child getting a chance to lead by GPS. They stayed motivated long enough to walk a total of about 3 miles, even if the littlest legs did get tired by the end. Praise God for Daddys with strong arms.

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S’mores and headlamps are a must, of course. I attempted a round of Kumbaya, but was shot down mid-verse. We all sang “Let it Go” together instead (yes, even the Dads). Hehehe.

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The campsite had a great boat rental dock and the bigger girls were pumped to power their own pedal boat around the river.

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So much fun, that Bug didn’t even make it the 5 minute drive back from the water.

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It’s a bittersweet thing when your littles grow up and out of the infant phase. On one hand, I miss the baby snuggles, all the monumental “firsts” and kids who nap on the regular. On the other hand, we are really enjoying doing new things with kids who can go all day, eat anything and don’t require any special equipment.

If Handsome and I have our way, we’ll be packing up the tent to explore new woodland adventures at least a couple times a year from here forward!

camping-9

Tags: family, geocaching, our life, parenting
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Sep 30 2015

mini family reunion

Posted by hayley
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Moving away from the West Coast was a prosperous leap for our little foursome, but it also meant leaving a majority of Handsome’s family behind. Spread throughout California and Arizona, they rarely have reason to venture eastward and Handsome’s intense work schedule isn’t very accommodating to us vacationing back west either.

The great thing about family is that your hearts are knit together no matter the distance. I married into the most wonderful group of humans and there is no real distinction between “his” family and “my” family – they are so easy to claim as my own! But the truth is, these past couple years have been an unfathomable test of the heart for these brave and beautiful people.

mini reunion greyhouseharbor.com

Three years ago, after being blindsided by several health concerns, Handsome’s dad suddenly passed away. Last September we also lost his aunt (his Dad’s only sibling). All too young and all too soon our family was left with a generational void too great to bear.

My father-in-law with Songbird (2011) and our Aunt with Bug (2012).

family

This vintage photo of them is all kinds of 80’s awesomeness… one of my faves.

Scan 49

Partly a celebration of Gram’s 80th birthday, partly a show-and-tell about the life we’ve built on the east coast, and partly a time to reflect with tears and laughter on all that’s happened; this month we had the great fortune of having Handsome’s grandparents and his cousin visit us here in Virginia for a long weekend.

mini reunion greyhouseharbor.com

It was precisely the good medicine we all needed. We cooked up favorite family recipes, cooled off in the pool, enjoyed ice cream at the oceanfront, snuggled up for movie nights, perfected the funny face selfie and even tried our hand at colonial living.

mini reunion greyhouseharbor.com

mini reunion greyhouseharbor.com

mini family reunion  greyhouseharbor.com

mini family reunion greyhouseharbor.com

mini reunion greyhouseharbor.com

We fit in as much fun, hugs and good food as the weekend would allow.

The void is still there, of course. But filling our hearts with a new chapter of happy memories is a welcomed treasure. In the end, the stories, photos and time together are all we have to continue the legacy of love left to us by those we cherish the most.

mini reunion greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: family, our life
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I'm Hayley. Wife and mother by day, DIY enthusiast by night. Fueled by sweet tea and jelly beans, I own power tools and know how to use them. Consider yourself warned.

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