Tenley's Spunk, Kade's Sweet Voice, Laughter

Tenley is such a spunky, courageous little girl which is so opposite of me so it's fun for me to watch her and see her do things I wouldn't. Tonight, Brad and I took the kids out to a fun playplace with a big, steep slide. Kade sat at the top for 5 minutes deciding whether or not he wanted to go down while other kids raced around him and barreled down the slide. But when he took Tenley to the top, she went down no questions asked and she loved it and wanted to do it again and again! I love her personality!

Every night at bedtime I read Kade and Tenley a story and lately their favorite one is "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish." We've read it so much that Kade has most of the pages memorized and he loves to do the reading. I love listening to his sweet little voice tell the stories with the inflections he adds. He melts my heart every night.

Tonight Brad and I watched a funny movie together, and although laughing as hard as I was caused a few coughing attacks, it was so fun and made me not feel so miserable. 

Laughter is great medicine :)

Inspiring, Talented People

I heard one of the most beautiful hymn arrangements ever tonight written by Shari Orme. I don't know her, but I love her! She has an amazing talent and is really inspiring to me! If you have a minute to enjoy a beautiful song check it out!

 http://freeldssheetmusic.org/song/In-Humility-Our-Savior-Piano-Solo-by-Shari-Orme

And vote for her song in the contest!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I still can not seem to get over my cold. It has been over 2 weeks now! I'm so ready to feel better. A sweet friend gave me some chicken noodle soup and it was so delicious! Although it didn't miraculously cure my sickness, it lifted my spirits! And I'm so grateful for that!

Good Quotes

I love simple uplifting quotes, and this is one of my favorites!

New Dance Music

We found a new fun song to dance to!

And this video inspired us to watch a new movie tonight for our pizza party: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We loved it!

Campfires, The Hirschis

The Hirschi's invited us over for a BBQ tonight and it was so much fun! We got to cook hot dogs and smores on a campfire and it was delicious. I love campfire and smores and even though it's February it was definitely warm enough to justify doing it!

We're so grateful for the Hirschi's. Ryan is in the same year with Brad so we've been through all the ups and downs of dental school/Indianapolis with them. They are great friends and Tenley loves playing with Lydia.

Kade, Ice Cream Cones Temple Trips

Kade was so cute and so helpful today! I love moments with just him when we play, read books, or just cuddle. He is so great!

Today we tried to go to the park with Brad because it looked so sunny and warm outside, but at the park it was super windy! And Kade went down a slide with a big puddle at the bottom so then he was super wet! We decided to take the kids to McDonalds for an ice cream cone to make up for the lack of fun at the park and they loved it! I'm pretty sure it was their first ice cream cones and they did a great job eating it!

Tonight I was able to go to the Temple with the sisters I serve with in the Relief Society presidency. It's always fun to make it a fun trip with friends so we can chat on the long drive and grab a bite to eat together.

I love going to the Temple! The spirit is so strong there and I always feel re-motivated to be better!

The Zoo

For Christmas Brad's brother got us a zoo pass and we've been so excited to use it! The weather has made it hard to get there, but today was pretty mild and Brad was home so went to the zoo! We all had a lot of fun!

Questions, Early Weekends

Preschool was about the letter Q today, which took some creative thinking to keep the kids interested. We learned about queens and questions. It's always just fun to hear them teach each other what their interpretation of things are. My favorite today was when Maybrie was teaching Kade about questions. She said, "Kade, when you pop the question you have to ask me to marry you."

Kade: "But how do I make the question pop?"

It was so funny. We learned a little bit then about proposing (since Maybrie brought it up) and Maybrie loved sharing her parents proposal with us. It's crazy how different boys and girls already are at this age! Kade and Jakoby don't even know what it means to "pop the question," let alone how their parents got engaged! It was such a funny day!

I loved asking them lots of questions about their favorite things and their interests. Kade wants to be a policeman when he grows up and his favorite place to go on vacation is Aunt Heidi's house! 

What a cutie!

We are super excited because Brad doesn't have school tomorrow or Friday! Yay! It will be nice to have a long weekend with him.

50 Degree Weather, Energy

It was so sunny and so warm today! I felt like I barely needed a jacket outside! I wished we didn't have to go to the grocery store this morning and could have done something outside instead, but we still enjoyed rolling our windows down and feeling some warmth from the sun.

I also finally feel some of my energy coming back after the cold I've had. Since I wasn't completely exhausted and miserable, I stayed up late reading a book with the window open because the breeze felt amazing. It was so nice!

Soft Tissues, Lydia

My sweet friend brought me some soft tissues today since I've been sick and I never break down and buy actual soft tissues. I feel so pampered now!

Who knew I'd ever be so grateful for these?!

We also got to play with one of Tenley's favorite people today, Lydia! She is the happiest little girl I know and she is so fun to be around! We love having her over!

Daddy Cuddles

Who doesn't feel better after a snuggle with their Daddy? 

Tenley is such a daddy's girl!

Valentine's Day

We had a fun Valentine's Day watching the snow fall and making a yummy dinner for Brad. It was a good day and I'm glad I was able to spend it with the people I love the most!

Kade and Brad made me this cute play-dough heart.

Yummy chicken cord on bleu, green bean casserole, cheesy mashed potatoes, and orange rolls. And chocolate cake for dessert! 

My cold go Tenley sick :( Poor girl.

Valentine's Day Parties, The Winter Olympics

Today we got to go to a Valentine's Day party at our friends house. The kids were excited to get their Valentines ready and they had fun decorating their own bags at the party. It was a lot of fun!

We've been having a lot of fun watching the winter Olympics. Kade loves the speed skiers, ice skating, and the snowboard half-pipe. He tried to re-in-act the sweet snowboard moves tonight on the couch. It was adorable! I'm excited to see more ice skating! That has always been my favorite. I grew up loving Oksana Baiul. My parents even took me to watch her skate one time! It was a dream for me.

Kade's Favorite Part of the Day: Going to the Valentine's Party at Heather's house. (He loves Heather!)

Edenbrooke

Tonight for book club we discussed Edenbrooke. I loved this book! And it was so fun to discuss it with friends. It is such a sweet love story.

Cinnamon Rolls

Today my sweet friend gave us some cinnamon rolls and they were so delicious!

Cinnamon rolls remind me so much of Brad's mom. Every time we were there we could always expect homemade bread and warm soup the night we arrived, and homemade cinnamon rolls at some point during our stay as well. They are always so good fresh from the oven. I love having those good memories come flooding back every time I eat a cinnamon roll.

Brad's thoughtfulness, Little Ceasers, Articles of Faith

This afternoon I was watching a few of my friends kids and when Brad walked in from school he sat down for a minute and took in the scene. It smelled like poop, there were toys all over the floor, and the six kids were running around. He finally said, "Why don't we just pick up a pizza tonight?"

Thank you, Brad, for the offer! 

Although I really wouldn't have minded making something myself, I was grateful that he was willing to do that. Luckily Little Ceasers is just a few minutes away and the kids love their bread sticks!

Tonight for Family Home Evening we learned about the articles of faith and Kade is trying to memorize the 1st one! After reading through it with him I realized that it is basically what he bore his testimony on a few weeks ago. That was cute! I'm excited to go through all of the articles of faith with them.

Big Boy Jackson, Jakoby, Baby Jax

My kids have some great friends! It is so fun when Kade, Jackson, and Jakoby get together. They have a blast playing together and always hate to leave each other.

After Sacrament meeting every Sunday, Jaxson will come and grab Tenley's hand and walk all the way to nursery with her. It is adorable! Even though she would rather sit and color and he'd rather run around and jump off furniture, they still love each other!

Home Movie Theaters

Today for playgroup we joined our friends for a movie at a nice home theater. I now understand why this is on Brad's list for our dream home. It was so much fun! We enjoined sitting in the comfy chairs, watching a movie, and allowing the kids to run around and scream as much as they want...because there were no strangers to bug! It was awesome

Quiet Time

I had an hour of quiet time all to myself this afternoon and it was so nice! I got out some of my old favorite songs that I used to play all the time on the piano to play again and then I started new book! It was so refreshing.

Snow Days, Service Opportunites

This morning we went sledding with some friends. Tenley and I only stayed for a little bit, though, because her feet were cold and she wanted to watch Elmo. She is turning into a little bit of a diva already! We had a lot of fun while we were out though!

My new favorite dance party song: Classic by MKTO

Tonight we had a little Relief Society activity where we went and did some service work at the Ronald McDonald House. I love serving there because I think they are such a great organization and they are near and dear to my heart because they served me while Kade was in the hospital. Only 5 of us were able to go, but we were still able to get a lot of work done! Some of the women sorted and organized donation boxes in their storage room in the basement, and I cleaned and sanitized all the children's toys with a friend. It was fun to have a good conversation with a good friend. She said exactly what I needed to hear to help me through a struggle I've been having and I couldn't be more grateful to her. She has such a profound, yet simple way of saying things and what she said really touched my heart and made me feel so much better!

I love being able to serve with such wonderful women! Not only does it feel good to serve and help others in the community, but I always feel that I've been so blessed from it as well.

As we left one of the Fathers that was staying there for his child thanked us for what we did and was impressed that we would take the time to do that. I'm so glad I went.

School Cancelations

Another big storm has hit us so Brad's school is canceled for tomorrow! That makes me so happy. We love sleeping in and having a warm breakfast with Brad. 

Since we knew the storm was coming the kids and I took advantage of the dry roads and went to the Children's Museum today. It has been a long time since we were last there and luckily not very many people were there today. We had a blast!

Kade's favorite part of the day: Playing with Dad (like always!)

Super-Bowl Food, Testimonies, Tenley

Last night after church we made some yummy snacks and watched the Super-Bowl. Kade loved all the yummy food, especially the shrimp, which is so weird to me since I'm not a huge fan of sea food. Tenley enjoyed the food too, but the game was not as much fun to watch since we were cheering for the Broncos. We still had a fun time as a family!

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting at church and since Kade has been earning money I tried to teach him how to pay his tithing that morning. He was so excited to give his money to the Bishop! Then after talking about testimony meeting and telling him how anyone can go up and bear their testimony he said he wanted to do it! I asked him what he thought he'd say and he said, "Mom I can do it, I want to be brave!" He wouldn't even let me go up with him and since there were a lot of people getting up to bear their testimonies I told him to go up and sit by Matt (a member of the bishopric) and wait his turn, then set up the stool for him to stand on and bear his testimony in the microphone. He followed the instructions well! Brad had no idea what was going on and was extremely surprised when he saw Kade walk up there! But Brad and I were both nervous about what he might say! Kade's testimony was so sweet and to the point! He said, "I'd like to bear my testimony. I know Heavenly Father. I know Jesus. I know the Holy Ghost. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." 

It was perfect! I was so proud of him! And so impressed! I have to credit his wonderful Primary leaders! Last week they taught the kids how to bear their testimonies so after church Kade asked Brad and I to bear our testimonies for him and then he did it once for us. I guess that was all the courage he needed to get up and bear his testimony in sacrament meeting! It was so neat to see!

Tenley has been so funny today. I've been trying to potty train her, which has been more difficult then it was with Kade. After she goes she always gets a sticker and an M&M out of a jar. Before I wen to take a shower this morning I helped her go to the bathroom, gave her an M&M and then ran upstairs. I guess I didn't realize that the jar was still accessible for her, because when I came back down she had eaten all but 3 of them and the jar was half full to begin with! Yikes! Oh well, no more M&Ms for Tenley I guess.

Date Night

Tonight Brad and I got to go out with some friends to a police academy and practice shooting in a simulator. It was so cool! I love knowing generous people who are willing to share their connections! It took me a while to get the hang of how to shoot, but I eventually got the hang of it and had a blast. Brad did a great job! Now I'll feel a lot safer if we're ever in a crazy situation!