Ryder’s Birthday

 We celebrated Ryder’s 11th birthday today! He’s growing up way too fast! We had co op this morning so we were a bit rushed but he was able to have his crepe breakfast and all his friends sang to him at co op. I made him lunch when we got home and Tenley made him a Frappuccino for a dessert. He requested chicken fettuccine for dinner and ice cream pie for his birthday treat. Brad had a shorter stake meeting so he could come home and have dessert with us and watch Ryder open his presents. He got a Lego set, an outdoor basketball to use our new hoop, church socks, and a magnifying camera which was pretty cool!

We’re so grateful for our Ryder! He has such a big heart, is always willing to help and work hard, and is a smart boy! 

A Rubik’s Cube

 Ryder worked hard most of the morning to solve his Rubik’s cube. He hasn’t played with it in a while but he and Luke were cleaning up their desk and he found it again and wanted to solve it. He found a YouTube video to help him and after a lot of effort he finally got it solved! 

Tonight was Ryder’s turn to plan family night and he chose to watch the first Harry Potter movie because he just finished the first book. He liked the movie but he said he liked the book better.

Birthday Dinners

 We took the kids out to Ryder’s restaurant of choice tonight for his birthday. He chose the pizza buffet restaurant. It also has an arcade which the kids have never played at but have always wanted to so as a special treat they got to play in the arcade as well! Ryder and Luke had so much fun together! It made for a very enjoyable family night out!

Cucumber Land

 We went skiing as a family today and it was the best snow of the year! It’s still not great but it was a significant improvement. We had so much fun. We stayed together the whole time and could keep up with eachother for the most part. More often than not I was the last one to the lift. Luke is a speed demon! Luke also kept requesting to go down the Cumberland trail. He calls it cucumber land lol. He loves it because it goes through the trees and has a lot of jumps. I was impressed with the air everyone got. We stayed until close and were pretty exhausted by the end of the day! 

Survivors

 I have to admit that my subject heading is over dramatic but we do feel something like survivors today. This afternoon while Tenley and Ryder were at the kitchen table working on school and Luke was in the kitchen with me making lunch we had a 4.2 magnitude earthquake. I can’t remember ever feeling an earthquake like that before. It took me a minute to process what was happening because it seemed at first that maybe a big truck was driving by or an airplane was flying over really low, but then we realized it was an earthquake. Luckily no damage was done!

Tenley had another volleyball game tonight and they won again! I love watching her play!

Big Hugs

 Luke was so bored this afternoon and was begging all of us to play a game with him. I was making dinner, Kade was practicing the piano, and Ryder was outside playing basketball. Tenley played a few games with him but when she stopped he was sad again. Ryder made his day when he came in from playing basketball and asked Luke to play chess with him. Luke gave him the biggest hug I’ve ever seen! I love seeing my kids do nice things for eachother!

Rare Days

The kids and I were all so tired after co op today. I know Tenley was tired because of her early volleyball practice but I’m not sure what was wrong with the rest of us! I decided to throw all of our rules out the window and we turned a movie on and relaxed on the couch together before we even had lunch! 😂 My kids will know how rarely that happens. But sometimes it’s fun to do things like that. It creates a memory they’ll remember. And we all definitely needed some rest.

Ryder and Luke must have had plenty of rest because by dinner time, I gave them several assignments and they willingly helped with everything! It was great!

New Games

 A sweet friend of mine gave me a new game for my birthday. I tried it out with Ryder and Luke today and we had fun with it! It was manly just a really good excuse for me to sit down with my kids and play. I really need to do it more often! They’re so much fun to be with.

Musical Numbers

 A few days ago my friends reached out asking if it would be possible for me to do a last minute musical number for sacrament meeting. I said yes because I’ll take any chance I can to get my kids to sing! The meeting was all about temples so Kade and Luke sang ‘I Love to see the Temple’ together. Luke had a little solo part at the very end. It was so adorable to me! I think a lot of other people enjoyed it as well. Brad had to be an hour and a half away at a branch conference so that was sad but such is our life with his calling right now.

We got a lot of snow last night and since Brad had to leave so early to get to his meetings, Ryder was willing to shovel for me! It’s actually the third time this year that he’s gone out to shovel. He says he enjoys it and I’ve appreciated his help so much. He’s been turning into a huge helper for me!

Saturday

 Tenley had a volleyball game at 8 am this morning so we had to leave the house at 7! That was early for us on a Saturday. Her team played so well the first game and a half but then their fatigue started to show. They went to three sets and her team barely won by one point. It was crazy! But I was glad they pulled off a win. Tenley was up to serve on the last set and helped the team come back in the lead with seven great serves in a row. Her entire homeschool team from last year was on the side watching because they had the court next for their game. She had a lot of pressure on her but she handled it so well!

The rest of the day was filled with chores and relaxing and watching a lot of basketball. A perfect Saturday.

The Temple at Night

 Kade had the day off from school today. It was the end of the quarter so he had finals all week and then the day off today. He did so well on his finals and he still has a 4.0!

Brad made waffles for us for breakfast. It felt like the old days when all the kids were homeschooled. It was nice.

We drove down to Helena this afternoon to hang out and go to the temple. Our first stop was Maverick because our kids are obsessed with the drinks. Then we went to Costco to do some shopping and have dinner and then we headed to the temple. It was so pretty to see it lit up at night. Our ward’s youth had baptisms planned so Kade and Tenley joined with them and Brad and I went to a session during the same time. Ryder and Luke hung out in the church together and were so good! We got home late but the stars were beautiful to see on the drive home. The sky was clear and they were so bright! Apparently I don’t get out enough at night time! 

Middle School Volleyball

 Tenley had her first middle school volleyball game of the season tonight and she played great! Her coach is amazing and she has some pretty amazing teammates as well. Her team won in two sets. It was fun to watch her play at such a competitive level. This is her first year playing with the public school and not on the homeschool team. As much as she loved her old teammates she was ready to play at a higher level and she was really excited to be an outside hitter. Her homeschool coach always put her as a setter and that wasn’t where Tenley wanted to play. So I hope she really enjoys the season! I know we’ll enjoy watching her play!

Brad and My Kids

 It was my birthday today and Brad and my kids made it so special. I got a lot of sweet notes from family and friends as well. And two of my friends even took me out to lunch today. After Luke woke up he asked, “Mom, is there anything I can do for you today?” It was such a sweet offer! Brad and the kids took me out to dinner and Tenley made me homemade chocolate ice cream with homemade waffle bowls. It was delicious! They all got me really thoughtful gift as well. Brad got me battery powered heated socks for skiing and I can’t wait to try them! 

Some things about getting older aren’t a lot of fun, but living another year with Brad, Kade, Tenley, Ryder, and Luke and watching them grow and learn makes it so rewarding, beautiful and worth it!

Kindness

 Tenley has been spoiling everyone this week. She made a bracelet for Luke with Florida Gators colors and put it on his pillow yesterday. She made another bracelet for Luke with Dukes colors today and hid it in the pretzel container. Luke eats pretzels everyday so it was bound to be found by him! And then today she surprised Ryder with a Frappuccino when he came inside from playing basketball. She’s amazing!

Family History

 Brad pulled a tooth for Luke yesterday that had been bugging him. He had to numb him with a shot but Luke was tough and it went well! He prayed last night that the toothed fairy would actually show up. Apparently the tooth fairy hasn’t been very good about bringing the kids money the same night they lose a tooth. Luckily the tooth fairy actually came last night! He was pretty happy.

We had a special Sunday school lesson with the adults and youth today about the new ward temple plan. One of the ideas was to learn more about our ancestors together as a family. I’m excited to do this! We started tonight by learning about my Grandpa Feveryear. We read his obituary and I shared with them the few memories I have of him like his wonderful belly laugh. 

A Basketball Hoop

 We got the kids a basketball hoop for Christmas and Brad finished setting it up today! Kade and Ryder helped a lot as well. As excited as the kids were about getting it, I may be even more excited. I have so many good memories from growing up of shooting hoops with my little brother. I hope I’m able to make a lot of new memories playing basketball in the front yard with my kids now. Tonight was a good one. It was dark by the time it was ready to be used so the kids got the spotlight out and played for an hour and had the best time.

Ski Day with Family and Friends

 Showdown had a deal for homeschoolers at the ski hill today so a lot of our friends were up skiing today. It was fun to hang out with them and help them learn how to ski. Tenley’s friend Ava was there skiing for her first time ever and she made so much progress that she came on a few blue runs with us! She was amazing. The snow still isn’t great. We tried to avoid all the rocks that we could but it was inevitable at times. We still had such a fun time as a family and with our friends!

Learning

 Luke’s excitement for learning is always so refreshing. He loved doing school today. He even took pictures of his work to come show me in the kitchen. It makes homeschooling so enjoyable when I get to see my kids enjoy learning.

60 Degree Days in Mid-January

 I can’t believe we’re actually living in the middle of Montana right now in January enjoying sunshine and 60 degree weather. It wasn’t even that windy today. It was such a gorgeous day! I’m just hoping that winter doesn’t last through May since it seems to be getting such a late start. Either way, we were happy to enjoy being outside today!

Mom Life

 Tenley’s early morning volleyball practices hit her with exhaustion today. She came home from practice at 7:30 and fell asleep on the couch for three hours! She is definitely not used to waking up so early. But she’s still having fun and she’s happy she gets to play. 

Brad was at stake meetings all night tonight, but like I said earlier this week I couldn’t be more grateful for my kids on nights like tonight. I love hanging out with them. I love being a mom. After we cleaned up dinner Kade got his homework done, Tenley practiced her flute, and Luke and Ryder were playing with the dogs. It was a simple night but it was such a happy one for me.

Our Elders

 For the past three months we have had the most amazing missionaries serving in our ward. They just got news last night that they are both getting transferred. We will miss them! We had them over for dinner tonight one last time and had a great time!

Sundays with my Kids

 Brad had such a busy day today. I felt so bad for him. He left just before 8 to attend a Ward conference, returned home at 2, had a meeting at 4 to prepare for the Stake audit, and then had another meeting from 7-9 to discuss Stake communications. But he made the best of it. We were happy to have time with him for dinner.

The rest of us enjoyed sleeping in and going to our afternoon church meeting. When Brad is so busy with his calling I’m always so happy to have my kids around!

Ryder and Luke’s Tent

 Ryder and Luke have engineered some very creative secret passage ways with their tent in their room. When I put them to bed tonight I learned that they’ve piled almost every stuffed animal we have in the house on the sides of their blanket tent and certain stuffed animals when moved reveal a secret hiding spot or a secret tunnel. I was impressed by their creativity and each day I’m having a harder time convincing myself that the tent needs to come down. It’s too adorable to destroy!

Kid Parties

 Tenley made the A team in middle school for volleyball! She is so excited to make new friends, learn from a new coach, and play at a higher competitive level. I’m so excited to watch! The downside was that A team practices at 6:30 in the morning. Tenley is our night owl and loves to sleep in. But I think she’d do anything for volleyball. She got herself up and ready to go this morning and Kade dropped her off at the middle school on his way to seminary. 

Brad and the kids got the rest of the Christmas lights down today. The worked hard! And then they got to have a kids party and were able to do whatever they wanted while Brad and I were gone at a party. They always love to have a kids party together. Kade picked up a pizza and they watched YouTube shorts and played video games. Haha

Family Projects

 Christmas lights are over taking the inside of our house right now. It’s such a big project to put them up, take them down, and keep them working in the Great Falls wind for that matter. But, Brad and I do agree that it’s good to have a project to work on together as a family. Like it or not I guess this is our project. And whether I like it or not I should probably help with it more! We are lucky, though, that it isn’t snowing and it isn’t freezing! 

Luke’s Two Front Teeth

 Luke had been missing his two front teeth for a while but they came in just before Christmas. They are quite large and very white. He and Ryder like to call himself Tow Mater. I think he’s proud of his teeth!