Target

Ryder and I had a fun morning at Target today. He had fun trying on different hats and he picked out a really awesome Christmas present for himself which I hope he will forget all about by tomorrow!

I got a call from the Elementary school that Tenley was sick and I needed to come pick her up. Poor girl has thrown up twice now and I hope it's just a 24 hour bug!

Since Tenley's been sleeping Kade and Ryder played a lot together while I made dinner. Basketball and cars. They are cute boys!

Toddlers

Ryder is my little independent, yet dependent little guy. As long as he knows where I am he happily plays and is willing to take care of himself, but if he can't seem to find me he hates it! I caught him dishing up pretzels for himself today. I though it was cute to see how independent he was and how he figured it out on his own without whining to me. But then when Kade and Tenley got home from school and were hanging out in the living room, I snuck away to get a quick 20 minute power nap. A few minutes later Ryder was walking around the house screaming my name. As soon as he found me he got his blankets and an Ipad and crawled up on the bed to snuggle by me and play games while I tried to nap. He's a funny little guy!

Playtime

Ryder woke up feeling much better today! Poor Kade must have caught the cold though and had a bad asthma attack last night. I can't tell you how grateful I am every single time that happens that we have our very own nebulizer at home to help him breathe. It is a miracle machine and he was able to go right back to sleep after the albuterol treatment. Kade woke up feeling better too thankfully.

Since Ryder was feeling so good we had a lot of fun playing today with cars! He's a fun little buddy to have around all day.

Christmas Decorations

We got our Christmas trees up and some other fun decorations. I really love this time of year! Ryder seems to as well. Whenever we drive around at night and he sees Christmas he'll yell out "Christmas! I love Christmas!" It's adorable.

My poor little Ryder has been sick with a bad cold, though. He had a bad fever tonight and just wanted to cuddle. He wouldn't eat much but did ask for some cereal for dinner. He ate it all and then went back to cuddling. How is it that kids are so sweet when they're feeling so awful? I hope he's feeling better soon!

The Boise Temple

Going to the Temple with the adults is another fun tradition I've missed. We were able to do a session together this morning and it was wonderful. My sweet niece Haley took care of my kids again! I really appreciate her and my kids love her!

Black Friday Shopping, Couples Date Night

As I mentioned, it's been 7 years since we've been with the Hobsons in Boise for Thanksgiving and it was fun to recreate some fun traditions we used to have. One of those was the girls going shopping on Friday. Lesa, Haley, Heidi and I ventured out together to a few stores and the mall and had a great time! It was crowded, there was a lot of traffic, but I had so much fun shopping with girls! I don't often get to do that and I really enjoyed it. Brad and Grandpa and Grandma Judy were sweet to take care of the children.

Another fun tradition was adult date night! The adults were able to get together for dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant and then yummy homemade chocolate shakes at Bryan and Amy's house afterward. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed more cousin time! They had a pizza party at Jared and Angie's house and could have happily stayed there all night!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with the Hobsons in Boise. We realized it had been 7 years since we had been there! The food was delicious, we loved catching up with everyone in person, and our kids loved running around with their cousins! Brad was so helpful with the rolls. Making 8 dozen homemade rolls was a lot of work and I so appreciated Brad's help! I'm so grateful we live close enough to make these family holiday events. I'm so grateful for family. I'm so grateful for Brad and for each one of my kids. My heart is full.

Thanksgiving Break

Today was the first day of Thanksgiving break and it was so nice to have Kade and Tenley home with us! Ryder was especially grateful. They danced in the living room while I made german pancakes and then they helped me get all packed up for our trip so we could leave right when Brad got home from work. We had about a 9 hour drive to Boise and we didn't leave until close to 3, but we made it safely by midnight and are excited to spend the holiday with family!

School Projects

Today was the last day of school this week for Kade and Tenley. Kade's class made a lot of cool Thanksgiving things and Ryder loved the hat he made. He wore it all night even while helping me make dinner!

Family

I am so excited for this week! We get to travel to be with family for Thanksgiving and I love being with family for the holidays. Some of the family we'll see this week we haven't seen since the beginning of July so it feels like a long time! Brad was quizzing the kids at dinner about all their aunts and uncles names that they'll be seeing. It's sad that they had a hard time remembering some of their names, especially the older cousins that they don't play with as much. But when we pulled up a family photo they did a lot better naming everyone when they could see their face. We have a big family! It may be crazy when we're together but it is SO much fun!!

Got this little boy in a cute suit this morning, but had a hard time getting a photo!

Saturday

We had a fun filled Saturday today and although I normally really love and appreciate slow and lazy Saturdays, today was really great. This morning we went to Kade's friend's baptism. It was really nice and Kade was so excited to be there. Then the kids and I needed to make a quick trip to Walmart. I usually always do the shopping during the week while the kids are at school so it's been a long time since I've had all three kids with me at the grocery store! It was kind of fun. Beside the fact that the store was so busy!
Tonight, the kids and I played some games together and then Kade got to go have a pizza birthday party with his friend who had been baptized. He was so excited and had such a blast!

Ice Cream Cones

Brad and I don't really enjoy eating fast food, but the kids love it and they get to play at the play place afterward which they also love and Brad and I actually get some quiet time to talk. They also love the ice cream cone treat at the end and Ryder does a pretty good job eating it by himself! I took a video of him eating it because it was so cute and he looked at me and said "All done!" He did not like being video taped. It was funny!

Parent Teacher Conferences

I got to meet with Kade and Tenley's teachers tonight and hear all about how they're doing in school. It makes me realize what great kids I have when the teachers have nothing but great things to say about my kids. I feel really lucky. Kade is really excelling and is joining a science team every Thursday to focus on science projects. The teacher said it's normally for 3rd graders and up but they'd like him to join. What an awesome, smart boy I have! And Tenley is a sweet and helpful girl. Her teacher said that she can always count on Tenley to do what she's been asked to do. I feel so lucky to be their Mom.

Play Dates

Ryder and I got to play with some friends today. My sweet, amazing friend is from Mexico and she made us all some super delicious Mexican food. It was so good! And Ryder had so much fun playing with friends!

Sunshine, Books

The sun came out today, most the snow is melted, and the high was well above 50 degrees! It was beautiful! Ryder and I rolled the windows down on the way to pick up Kade and Tenley. When we got to the school and were waiting for them, Ryder was loving looking out the open window. It's nice to enjoy the outdoors in not so cold weather!
Kade got some special books in the mail today. He loves the 'Who Would Win' series and Brad found that he could buy one that the author would sign. The author did sign it and sent an extra book to Kade just because. Kade was so excited to see a package in the mail addressed to him directly from the author! He's in heaven.

Sunrise

I was up early this morning for a church meeting and I got to see the most beautiful sunset! It was a beautiful day and seems to be warming up a little bit here which is wonderful!

The Past 12 Years

Brad and I got to celebrate our 12 year anniversary today! We didn't do anything fancy or extravagant but it was still a great day. We took the kids out to a nice dinner with us. They were actually really excited and felt pretty special that they got to celebrate our special day with us. Beside the long wait the dinner was delicious and the kids were so good! I am a lucky girl to have such a great husband and such wonderful kids. I definitely fell asleep tonight feeling very blessed.

Movie Night

I had a hair appointment this morning and I came home to see that Brad had put a T.V. over our fireplace! We had talked about it but it was still a bit of a surprise. The kids were excited when they got home from school and so we all watched a movie together upstairs with the fire on. It was really cozy.

Hot Chocolate and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't happen to have any pictures of the yummy hot chocolate or the warm, gooey pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that I made today, but they were delicious. The weather is so cold so I've been having at least two cups of hot chocolate every day. It's so good! And since it's November I had to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They're Kade's favorites and he was excited. It's the little things that brighten a cold winter day! Just like this sweet face of my cute boy that I get to hang out with all day.

Ryder's Lessons

Ryder taught his very first family home evening lesson tonight! He seemed apprehensive about it, but I helped him through it and he was so proud of himself after he was done! What a cutie!

Nursery

Our ward has been undergoing a lot of changes lately and with that has come some awkward and funny situations. Today we learned that the nursery leaders thought Ryder's name was Jacob. They called him that all day today and almost convinced Ryder that his name was actually now Jacob. After church whenever we called him Ryder he'd say, "No! I'm Jacob!"
Oh my word. We laughed a lot about it and finally got Ryder to let us call him Ryder again. Phew. Good thing, because I did not want to change his name.