"New" Furniture

A friend of ours was giving away a cute little end table that I decided to pick up to use as a craft table for the kids. They have been loving it so far! They sat and colored the whole time I made dinner and Kade ate dinner at his little table tonight. We just need to pick up some cute chairs or stools for them to use as seats, find a cute way to decorate the wall it's by and it will be so fun!

Smiles

I follow this blog of an amazing woman that used to live near me. She has three little boys and recently lost her husband, but what she writes on her blog is so uplifting and optimistic. She truly inspires me.

Her last entry was about service and how a simple act of service can be done through a smile. She said,

"Sometimes, even just a friendly smile, can have an eternal impact on another's life."

I love that thought and it makes me want to smile more!

Today Brad made the kids smile by drenching them with the hose while they were jumping on the tramp.
 They loved it!

Triumphs

Kade has been loving riding his bike around and asks to do it every day. I love seeing him being so excited about something and I especially love seeing him make so much progress!

This morning I tried to convince him to go down the "big" hill around our complex but He didn't want to. This afternoon I tried to convince him again to do it and I told him how great he's doing on his bike and how capable he is of riding down the hill so he finally gave in!

He got going pretty fast but he did it! And, of course, he loved it!

It was so fun to see his face of elation and triumph when he got to the bottom.

I love my little man Kade!

Kade's favorite part of the day: Riding down the big hill!

Dinner Invites

I did not have the best day at church today...

So by the time we got home I was super exhausted and not wanting to cook anything for dinner when our awesome friends called and invited us over! I was so happy!

We had such a fun night with them AND she made my favorite dinner, Cafe Rio! AND one of my favorite desserts, homemade Oreos.

It was seriously just what I needed. :)

Tenley loves to kiss all the boys!

Baby Showers, Dads

This morning a few friends of mine and I threw a baby shower for another friend. It was a lot of fun! My sister-in-law Heidi was the inspiration for the food and decorations. She throws the cutest showers and is very talented when it comes to throwing parties! I was grateful that I had her to call and talk to about it!

During the shower Brad took the kids to the park to play, have a picnic, and to give Kade a chance to ride his bike more. I'm so grateful for what a great dad Brad is to our kids!
I've always felt lucky that I have such an amazing dad who took time to spend time with me and talk to me when I was younger and living at home so it means a lot to me to see Brad being the same way. He is the best and Kade and Tenley are lucky to have such an amazing father!

Stand A Little Taller

Brad and I received the book "Stand A Little Taller" by President Gordon B. Hinckley from his Mission President and wife for our wedding. It is one of my favorite little books. It has counsel and inspiration for each day of the year and it is always uplifting to me. Often the day I choose to open it and read it I read something that is just what I need to hear. I love it. 

For tomorrow the counsel is on Encouragement. President Hinckley says, "...it is important to know that when one of us is down, it becomes the obligation of his friends to give him a lift."

I hope that tomorrow I can be that kind of friend to someone.

Birthdays

Today we celebrated Kade's 4th birthday! It was such a fun day.

I made him german pancakes for breakfast, we had some friends over to play for a few hours, we picked Brad up early from school and went out to lunch with him, Kade went and saw the new movie Planes  with Brad this afternoon, he got to ride his new bike, he had his favorite food for dinner (watermelon and hot dogs) we went to Orange Leaf for dessert, and then he got to open his cool presents from his grandparents!

It was a long exhausting day, but we had a blast!

It makes me sad when days you have looked forward to for so long are over.

Kade's Favorite Part of the Day: Playing with all of his new toys.

Birthday Parties, Southern Folk

This morning we had a birthday party for Kade with his friends. It was super simple but a lot of fun! He loved it.

Kade and Jakoby trying to jump and shoot at the same time.

We played a pirate treasure game and they put their hand over their eye like a patch. It was adorable.

He couldn't wait to open presents.

We had a fun picnic outside for lunch.

Cupcakes are messy!



Tonight I was able to visit a friend in the hospital. She is a bit older than me, but I treasure the time I've had with her and the things I've learned from her. She is one of the most amazing people I know. She has such a good heart and I'm so grateful for her example.  She has good 'southern' values that really impress me. She values her family and the time she is able to spend with her family. Her son was telling me how much he loves homemade biscuits and homemade pasta because of the traditions they were in the home. He said "You get so much out of making meals together as a family that you can't get from a meal in a box."
I really appreciated that insight and have a new goal of letting my kids get involved with cooking. I want to start those traditions and have those memories with them.

Brad

Brad has a crazy way of making me laugh in hard situations. His sense of humor is one of my favorite things about him. He can be a little cynical at times, but sometimes that is exactly what I need. 

Last week when we were in the E.R. with Kade he did something that shocked me so much that it almost made me laugh. Although, I'm sure his mom did not appreciate it at all and I felt horrible that she learned of our situation this way.

Brad and his mom had been texting earlier and we were planning to face-time with her on Wednesday night, the night Kade ended up in the hospital. So in response to her questioning if we were available to video chat, Brad says;

"Uh prob not tonight. We're having a bad day. Kade is super sick...worst ever. We took him to his dr. around 2:00, they called 911, he got an ambulance ride to the big children's hospital, now we're moving from the ER to the ICU. I'll call u when we get settled there."

Wow. 

Well he summarized it all pretty quickly! What a way to find out. I'm sorry about that Mom Hobson! But I know you'd agree with me that Brad can be pretty funny sometimes :)

Simple Days

It was so nice to sleep in our beds last night! And this morning we were lazy and took our time getting ready which was also so nice! Once we were ready we headed to our favorite park for a picnic and a game of "Go Fish." Then we came home and took naps (I think we're still trying to catch up on sleep).

For dinner we decided to go out to celebrate Kade's birthday next Wednesday. We took him to Red Robin and they even sang to him and gave him an ice cream sundae! He loved it. Afterward we took him to his favorite outdoor mall playground and played for a bit. 

We enjoyed being all together! It was the perfect day.

Kade's Favorite Part of the Day: Southwestway Park