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Holli Pool Photography

Photographer + Filmographer: Stuarts Draft, Augusta County, Staunton, Waynesboro, Harrisonburg VA

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December 2019 - Letters to Our Children

Mason, Rylan, and Elli,

Here’s what our November looked like.

a trip to PA for Daddy to help Pap work on the new built-in cabinets for the living room

A weekend visit from Uncle Darrin, Aunt Mindy, and Dawson. Daddy and Uncle Darrin did a job, working on making a ditch beside our driveway to try to keep it from flooding so badly the next time it rains. A neighbor put off fireworks one of the nights they were here, so we got to watch those from the front porch!

I somehow don’t have any pictures from this, but Pap came on a Friday/Saturday and put in the new built-in cabinet in the living room!

Olivia’s wedding in Lynchburg

Thanksgiving (Turkey/Gobbler Trot — Ry ran the mile, and Mason ran the 5k and got 1st in his age group! 28 minutes & something. We watched the end of the parade at home before going to Nonni’s for the meal. This year it was us, Nonni & Poppy, and Aunt Michele, Uncle Wesley, and Jill.)

Closing Ceremonies for Fall (we talked about our favorite parts of fall this year, and then we got hot drinks from Milmont on Black Friday) and Opening Ceremonies for Christmas (we decorated for Christmas while listening to Christmas music. Actually the 3 of you decorated the upstairs tree, pulled Daddy’s old stereo into the hallway, and listened to "the Cowboy tape.” Then later that night we watched the new Grinch movie and ate frozen pizza and popcorn. We Facetimed with Daddy because he was working).

We had Nonni and Poppy over for Nonni’s birthday dinner. She chose a meal that you loved, Mason -you had like 6 helpings. We also got bad news about a spot on Poppy’s head this month. He’s going to have surgery to remove the melanoma.

We spent a while this month researching, visiting stores, and then buying a new sound bar to go in our new built-in space.

We tried to write down a lot of things that we’re thankful for and put them in this pitcher this month. It was really sweet….and then the pitcher got knocked off the table and broke.

Quotes from November:

“We went to college for 10 years to become goodlums!”
— Mason (meaning "hoodlums")
“I-you in MY roon!!!”
— Elli -- how she expresses that she wants us to be in her room at bed/nap time
“You’re under attack by the English Channel!!”
— Mason
“Daddy wasn’t sleeping in there! ....Well, why didn’t I hear him snoring??”
— Rylan
“I wish we didn’t have school on Veterinarian’s Day!”
— Mason
“I wish I was lazy so I could watch movies and do whatever I want.”
— Ry
“Mommy, my nose leaking!!”
— Elli, when her nose was running
“I’m keeping this a secret at school cause I don’t want anyone to see me cry. But I miss my blankie. And I miss you.”
— Ry

I love you three!

Love, Mommy

Thursday 01.16.20
Posted by Holli Pool
 

November 2019 - Letters to Our Children

Mason, Rylan, and Elli,

We had a big adventure in October, where Mommy and Daddy were gone from Sunday until Saturday morning….in California, visiting Uncle Tony and Janelle, and the three of you stayed with Nonni and Poppy. Mommy and Daddy started the trip by driving to Grandma’s house on Saturday night after you went to sleep, then we slept for 2 hours before Pap and Grandma drove us to BWI, and we flew from there to LAX.

When we got there on Sunday, we went to an Angels vs. Astros game; ate at In N Out; raced super fast go carts; went to Anaheim Packing House; and visited Downtown Disney (falling asleep in the car on the way back).

On Monday, we started with a yummy breakfast at the Early Bird Cafe; visited a car museum; ate Din Tai Fung at South Coast Plaza; went to the Lab Anti Mall for coffee and to hang out; visited Orange (and got an orange from an orange tree); watched the Steelers game while eating at Wing Stop; and Daddy got a donut/ice cream dessert at Afters to end the night.

Tuesday was our explore Fullerton day where we spent most of the day walking anywhere we went. We had Taco Tuesday tacos; visited a music store, thrift stores, antique stores, and other little shops; tried Boba (woah….surprising, even with a description to explain it first); played at an arcade; and got coffee and a cupcake. Then we went to an Asian market to go shopping for supper and breakfast food. Uncle Tony and Janelle made us a yummy supper! We also sat on one of the balconies to watch the Disney fireworks, but for some reason they never went off that night.

Wednesday was our big music/photography day. After eating at Mr. Katsu (where Daddy tried and enjoyed coleslaw on his sandwich!), we went to the studio to help Uncle Tony set up all afternoon for the band (North Morlan) coming to record that night. The band got there in the evening after we had finished setting up, and Mommy took pictures while they recorded their song. It was a long, but very cool day.

Thursday might have been our busiest day. We had Filipino spam and eggs for breakfast, while watching This is Us; drove to Newport to check out Fashion Island (and ate at Yard House - yum!); drove to Balboa Island and got Balboa bars and walked around shops; rode over on the ferry to the other part of Balboa where we got coffee and rode the ferris wheel; drove to Crystal Cove State Park to hang on the beach until sunset; went to Great Park in Irvine to ride a big balloon….but it was closed for maintenance (wah!); went to Irvine Spectrum to walk around a little bit (I mean, do we even have malls in Virginia? These places are insane!); and finished the night by eating at Burger Parlor! It was such a fun day.

After a crazy morning with keys locked in a running car in the middle of the street in the dark, we ended up missing our flight home. We were supposed to get back to see you three on Friday night, but the flight we ended up getting took us to Denver for a layover and then on to Dulles. It was 10:30 pm when we got to DC, so you got to stay an extra night with Nonni and Poppy (and saw the new Lion King in theaters!), and we came to get you Saturday morning!

We heard that you boys didn’t fight while we were gone, and Elli you did great for Miss Rosie on Tuesday and Thursday - and you got to play with Evie one day!

The Saturday we got back, we went to the British car show at Ridgeview Park. The next weekend we had our family’s Fall Opening Ceremonies. We decided to go to Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville. It reminded us of the Apple Barn in Tennessee (except it ended up being WAY more busy and more fancy) which we always liked to go to in fall in college. Everyone got a treat, plus we bought some apples, apple salsa, apple sauce, and an apple pie (expensive).

The Friday after that, I took you to the karate place in Staunton, because you had a pizza party there and got to break a board with some of your friends. Y’all had done karate for two weeks in PE at school, so this was the end celebration of that. We went to Klines with a couple kids from Ry’s class and their moms afterwards too.

We also had a fun fall party at our house with friends that Saturday. We haven’t done that in several years, and since I was a little more organized this year, we were able to plan for it. Nichole’s family and Kenzie’s family came over. We had soup, hot dogs, some appetizer snacks, apple cider, apple dumplings, and s’mores out on the patio. The kids had nerf gun fights in the play room and made a big fort/jumping/pillow/blanket-craziness mess in the living room. It was a fun night.

We went to Pennsylvania at the end of the month for Daddy to help Pap work on the built-in thing for our living room. We took a long way up on Friday, since Daddy was off of work and y’all had a half day of school. We rode on Rt. 11 for a lot of the time, and we stopped for coffee in Greencastle before we got up there. For supper that night we went to a new (to us) pizza place in a different town. We also got to see a little of the World Series while we were there, so that was cool. (Daddy, Uncle Tony, and Janelle saw both teams — the Astros and the Nationals— play during this season, which is really cool and unlikely!)

Of course the very end of the month was Halloween. It was POURING rain this year, so Safe House was moved to the gym at church. I actually liked it better in there, and I think the three of you liked it too. Elli, you were a ballerina, Mason, you were Captain America, and Rylan, you were some random, cute, mix of superhero characters.

Mason, you have fun in school. You like being the one to make other people laugh, and you have lots of friends. You still say you don’t enjoy school, but when I see you there, you are definitely enjoying being there. You seem to like math facts more than reading (on your own —- but you still LOVE books being read to you). This month we’re working on our fourth book of the Laura Ingalls Wilder series at bedtime —although we missed the first two books, so we’ll have to go back to those.

Ry, I got to go on a fieldtrip with your class this month! We went to the fire station down the street from the school. You were very happy to have me there, and I was very happy to see your cute face and hold your hand for almost the whole time. We have not done a great job with dates recently, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to owe you some when next year comes. I heard that you mostly did a good job going into school when Poppy dropped you off when we were in California. And you’ve been progressively getting better at going in since then.

Elli, you are cute and a handful at home. Since you’re the only one here most of the day, you have strong, loud opinions that you like to share with me. You have lots of new words, and it’s getting easier for people who don’t know you to understand you when you talk.

Here’s our quote from the month!

“When I grow up, I’m not going to go straight to buy a house. I’m going to go straight to buy a video game.”
— Mason's attitude towards Mommy and Daddy's dislike of video games

Love you, and you, and you,

Mommy

Monday 12.09.19
Posted by Holli Pool
 

October 2019 - Letters to Our Children

Mase, Ry, & Elle,

Man. I cannot get caught up on these letters. But I’m determined to do it before the year is over! Here’s what September looked like for us.

We went for a family adventure to a new-to-us park in Charlottesville on Labor Day and loved it! The water part is super fun, the ground is bouncy under the play places, and it’s easy to see the whole area as a parent.

Elle Belle, you turned three at the beginning of the month! Daddy was home on your birthday, so we opened some presents in the morning, took you out to lunch at the Cheese Shop (where you didn’t care about your sandwich and only wanted chips) and then got you dessert at the donut place (where you got ice cream, not a donut). For supper, Nonni and Poppy came over, we had homemade pizza, dessert on the patio, and a few more presents.

We liked the Charlottesville park so much that we went back again the next week! This time we explored a little more in the grassy area and the walk way. We also went to Wegman’s and ate supper from their hot bar. Everyone got a dessert on the way out too!

Ry, we’ve had a hard time getting a date in for you every month, but we were able to go out to your favorite date place - Waffle House - again last month! First we went to the Fastrax place in Waynesboro. We rode go-carts together, played a little, and watched some boys in the batting cages. After that we went to get our date meal at Waffle House. :) On the way home we stopped at Stump so you could play for a little bit on that playground!

I think you’re really getting into the groove of school Rylan, even though you still cry when you get dropped off some days. You talk about friends at school sometimes and you’ll sometimes tell me about things you’re learning. You went through a phase this month where I tried to go over your verse with you, and you would say, “That’s not my verse!!” even though I knew it was. You would still get 100 on it, even though you refused to study it at home. You also got your first experience in the principal’s office this month. You got one of your classmates in trouble when you said that she did something that she really didn’t do. They believed you, and they even called her parents! Mrs. Kinder later saw on the video monitor that you had lied. You seemed to feel bad when Mrs. McConnell talked to you about it, and the next day you wrote an apology to the girl.

Our popcorn jar was full enough for us to have a movie night this month. We had homemade pizza (I’m getting better as I practice every Friday), I made homemade popcorn for the first time, and we watched the Lion King! The two of you decided you like Aladdin a little bit more, but you still liked this one.

We went to Pennsylvania for Marion Days again this year. We got there incredibly late Friday night (and went straight to bed). On Saturday we had Root Beer floats (or just ice cream for some of you) at the bank in the morning; went to the elementary school to see the school and play on the playground; and ended the night at the fire station where there was a pie contest/auction (Grandma got 2nd on both of her pies!) and a meal. One boy even took us around the fire station at the end of the night to give us a little tour.

Mason, you had your first cavity filled last month. Rylan and I stayed in the room with you during it. You looked very brave, but you said that it did hurt- and your lip got a little pricked somehow during it. I think you’re still liking school more this year, although you still say you don’t; you seem a lot happier. Really great news — at the beginning of September, during the Night of Worship at church, you decided to give your life to Jesus!! You got a cool new Bible to read after that, which has been fun to read together. We’re still making our way through the Laura Ingalls Wilder books at bedtime, and you like them a little more than Rylan. He usually falls asleep while we’re reading.

Elli, you’ve been talking so much more this month. You have speech once a week for 30 minutes (except when it gets canceled, which seemed like it happened a lot for a little stretch), and you’re liking that as long as I stay in the room with you. You’ve gotten used to the boys not being here during the day, but you still will ask “Ah Bubby? …. Ah ‘cool?” in the morning occasionally. (“Where’s Bubby? …At school?”) Just this month you started to cry when I leave you at night time. You want to hear songs and then you say “Ah you MY roon.” (“I want you in MY room.”)

I think I have been getting lazy in writing down quotes, because I only have one this month!

“Daddy, why do you have whiskers? Did you used to be a cat?”
— Mason

I love you, sweet kids.

Love, Mommy

(These bottom pictures are some that you took, Mason, during music practice one Sunday morning).

Friday 11.01.19
Posted by Holli Pool
Comments: 2
 
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