Tag: large family

SXM

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We recently got back from one of the most fun vacations EVER!! I knew Beckett would enjoy it because he’s such a natural born beach bum but I was surprised at just how much he loved it! I was even a little nervous about Lucy being away from her friends for a couple of weeks but she found every free wifi spot available and kept in touch. Ha! I have so many pictures ahead so go grab a cup of coffee or a Pina colada (Beck’s new favorite) and ENJOY!

it was pretty neat to see “our” Patriots plane right when we landed!

We spent the first week at Oyster Bay and the second week at Dawn Beach Club. We hit up a ton of beaches, ate at the Lolo’s (and a ton of beach side restaurants), shopped around Phillipsburg, spent the day on Pinel Island……..

Finally got to see the Heineken Regatta

Had a nice date night (thank you, Mimi and Baba for babysitting)

(It was goooooood)

and witnessed some of the most beautiful sunrises

We were pretty sad to see the 2 weeks come to an end. Beckett is already talking about “next time”

Haha! The kids sure knows how to travel.

I also have a ton of videos saved in my Instagram highlights at Instagram.com/jillfriary

Holidays 2021

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Yup, we’re just gonna roll up all 3 in one post so I can have all of my pictures together.

Thanksgiving:

Christmas:

New Years:

Is it just me or do the holidays go by quicker and quicker every year? I loved having everyone around this year to celebrate with us. We had a full house on Thanksgiving but Christmas was a lot smaller than we’re used to….. Emma didn’t get here until Christmas night and I forgot to take pictures. BOO!

November/December photo dump:

Halloween

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I’ve been on Pinterest all afternoon looking up Thanksgiving and Christmas aesthetics so I figured it would be a great time to put up my Halloween pictures. We are down to 1 (ONE!!!!!) little trick or treater now. Lucy went off with her friends this year. This was our 26th year trick or treating as parents and all I could think of was “man, that flew by”.

We started off the festivities by hitting our local Trunk or Treat. Beckett met up with his new best friend (who gifted him this cute ghost Beckett cookie).

We carved our pumpkin while listening to all of the traditional Halloween music we’ve been listening to for all of these 26 years. Ha!

Then it was off to trick or treat!

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I usually can’t wait for it to be over so I can start concentrating on Thanksgiving and Christmas but right now I’d give just about anything to relive all 26 of our Halloweens together. ❤

Autumn Little Things

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Oh, I just love fall so much! There is no better way to kick off the season than a nice day at the apple orchard.

On our way home we stopped at our favorite pumpkin patch and then over to a neighboring town for their annual fall festival

Beckett is getting ready to wrap up his soccer season.

He got his first kindergarten virus

His sweet new friend from school dropped off a get well card and some treats

We went to the Red Sox game

It felt so good to be back at Fenway after 2 years!

Beckett turned 6!!

Halloween decorations went up

And of course the Halloween jammies came out. Putting the Halloween decorations up put me in the Christmas spirit. Ha! I’ve been having so much fun planning out my decorations for Christmas!

A few more photos from the month:

King for the day

He was loving riding his bike around the skate park

Pumpkin everything!! Well until it’s time for peppermint everything!!

Monkey!!

Megan sent me this snap because she knows I love Snoop

Ha!!

More Beckett:

I’m pretty sure I didn’t have one picture of Chloe in here. She’s been loving college but we’ve been lucky enough to have her home a few weekends. I’ll have to take more pictures! 🙂

Happy Fall!!

Beckett’s First Day of Kindergarten

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After many weeks (maybe even months) of going back and forth between keeping Beckett home for another year of homeschool and sending him to kindergarten, we decided to send him. I waited until the last minute to make that decision. I made plans for both. I joined a homeschool co-op and picked our curriculum. I also bought new shoes, a backpack, and a lunch box. It wasn’t until I went to the kindergarten open house that I felt 100% comfortable sending him. The only thing that is different than when my girls went to K is that he has to wear a mask. Everything else seems completely normal.

The day before school started we took Beckett on a test run so he would know what to expect:

How cute is he?????

A few pictures from the first day:

His lunch 🙂

He wasn’t too excited to go back for day 2. That night while tucking him in to bed, I told him how much I loved him and how proud of him I was. He looked up at me and said “how many more days do I have of this crap?” Ha! Yup……. he fought me that 2nd day. It was very short lived. He came home that day tired and happy. Now he looks forward to going.

This is how he came home today:

My sweetest little prince.

I can’t believe how big this sweet boy is getting! Love you, B!!

June Pictures

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Let’s get some of these pictures on here before I forget 🙂

My littlest girl turned into a teenager this month. I’m not sure how in the world that happened so quickly!! That present she was so excited about opening was a Disney Loungefly from Tracey. She is OBSESSED with Loungefly backpacks!!

We ended our homeschool journey at the beginning of the month. It was honestly one of the BEST things we’ve done together. I LOVED having her home with me but she decided to go back to school with her friends for her 8th grade year. As much as I’m going to miss having her home with me, I’m SO ready to be back on a routine in the fall.

The flowers have been so beautiful this year!! I find myself walking around snapping pictures!! Ha!

Beckett finished up soccer for the spring. Watching him play was one of the most entertaining parts of the year so far. Haha! He really doesn’t know what’s going on with the game and his mouth definitely moves quicker than his feet out there. BUT he was SO proud of his soccer medal he received. He even scored his first goal during the last game. He kept yelling to everyone around that it was his first one.

He says he’s more of a football player……….we’ll see

Father’s Day

Megan with her oldest friend in the world

And me with mine

A few more pictures from the month:

Of course they’re all of Beckett 🙂 All caught up. Happy June!!

May Little Things

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Happy June 1st!

I can’t believe that we are in our final days of homeschool. It seems like we just started and here I am starting to pack up my little classroom. It’s a little bittersweet for sure! May was a gorgeous month. We had so many warm days and spent a ton of time outside.

We started going back to the library on Fridays and even had movie date!

We celebrated Emma’s birthday

And Mother’s Day

Soccer continues but finally without masks

I took Chloe, Lucy and Beckett to the beach

We moved Megan back into the city….. I didn’t take any pictures because it was pouring. I’m already missing having moments like this

A few other pictures from the month

As sad as I am to end this school year, I think we are all ready for the summer break.

Homeschool

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Welcome to our homeschool classroom. If you told me last year that I would be a full time homeschooler, I probably would’ve believed it. HA! Seriously!! It’s something that I always wanted to do but was too afraid to take the leap. I have been following homeschool vloggers on YouTube for years.These vloggers totally have their act together and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

When our school district announced that they were going with a hybrid model we decided it would be best for our family to homeschool Lucy. Even though homeschooling was something that I always wanted to try, I wasn’t sure that I could pull it off. I spent weeks researching different curriculum and what would work best for us. I went from doubting myself and my ability to properly homeschool to being REALLY excited about it. I was in tears when I got the approval letter from our superintendent.

I had a zoom meeting with the elementary school last night regarding kindergarten for the fall. Once again I feel myself on the struggle bus. I’m not sure what the fall will look like over here. I wasn’t happy with the things I was hearing. I KNOW that the schools are doing their very best to make things feel normal for the students and families. I’m just not sure if public school is right for our family RIGHT NOW. I’m hoping and praying that things will be back to normal in September. If not then I’ll be adding another student to my classroom.

I think I can handle it.

Disney

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We went to Disney!! When our girls were little we went every year. All of my kids love Disney but none as much as Chloe. I always called her my Disney baby. She was only 3 years old when we started going. She was too little for a lot of the rides so we spent a lot of time on the benches eating Disney snacks and people watching. She LOVED it!! She’s always called it her happy place 🙂

With graduation coming this year I knew that I had to take her on one more “kid” trip. I spent months planning every second of this trip. Even though things didn’t go off perfectly (I ended up in urgent care) it was definitely a trip we will always remember.

I’m so glad that we got the trip in when we did, Disney shut down 2 weeks after we got home. I’m also glad that we got to stay at “our” resort one last time with Chloe. I loved keeping things the same for so many years with my 3 big girls but I think we’ll find a new Disney home with Lucy and Beckett to create new memories. With all of the new attractions coming to Disney over the next few years I have a feeling we’ll be going back again and again. Right, Jon??

Halloween

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This was our 24th Halloween trick or treating as parents! The scene looks so different from where it was only a few years ago. We are down to two little trick or treaters and pumpkin carvers over here. A little bitter sweet for sure.

We made sure to put on our annual pumpkin carving playlist while carving the night before Halloween

Beckett has been obsessed with all things Toy Story this fall so of course he needed to be Buzz Lightyear

Lucy was the cutest little she-devil

We met up with our friends to trick or treat

And came home with a ton of candy!

I miss the days of having all of my little trick or treaters here together but I never let that stop me from enjoying these days with my last two littles.

Christmas music has been playing through the house while I put out my turkeys and pilgrims. Our thankful leaves are filling up and I keep trying to convince Jon to let me put the tree up early. The holidays go by so fast so I plan on slowing down over the next two months. I’m in cozy, nesting mode right now, eager to welcome home Emma and Megan for Thanksgiving weekend!

A video from our towns trunk or treating: