Golf

My little boys and I stayed home all day today and it was wonderful! We played marbles a lot. Brad went golfing with a friend and after I picked Kade and Tenley up from school we dropped Kade of at the golf course with his Dad. He was excited. The rest of came home to relax and Tenley and Ryder were big helpers with making dinner!

Survival

My two little boys and I ventured out to run several errands today. Running around town with a baby carrier in my arms isn't easy. It made me want to get all my errands done this next week and then spend the rest of the school year at home with the boys. I had to nurse in the car and Ryder used a sandwich bag in the car to go to the bathroom because we couldn't find one in the mall. Fun times!

School

Kade and Tenley went back to school today. Brad got to come and drop them off with us. I love that he starts his day later on the first day of school just so he can do that.
They were both really excited to go! They love their teachers and they couldn't wait to play with their friends at recess again. They both had a really good day!
It was weird to have such a quiet house today! But it was fun to see Ryder in a different light. He's very funny and creative. I like watching him entertain himself. He has such a fun imagination! He played with his marble track a lot and some of his racing cars. I'm so glad I have him as my buddy again!

Crazy Kids

My three oldest kids were extra wild, loud, and crazy today. They fought a lot and I had to discipline them a lot. They must know that school is starting tomorrow.
Even though they bring a lot of chaos with them, I'm definitely going to miss them when they go to school all day tomorrow.

Lego Wars

My early morning church meetings were cancelled today and it was nice to sleep in and help the kids get ready! For some reason Tenley really hates the Sunday Mornings that I leave to go to meetings so she was really excited to hear I didn't have to go today. It made the day pretty nice and relaxing!
While I made dinner the kids had lego wars with Brad. They've been wanting to do that with him for a few days now and they were loving the attention and fun playtime!

Legos

This morning we took Kade out to breakfast. We like to take the kids out to dinner for their birthdays, but Kade requested breakfast at Golden Corral instead. He ate a lot and he loved it!

The rest of the day was really low key and I loved it. We've been busy the past 3 to 4 weeks and it was so nice to have no plans. I sat and built legos with my boys for almost three hours! It was kind of fun. We finished Kade's huge ship that he got for his birthday and he loves it.

We also played outside a bit. I found some water guns on sale that Ryder doesn't want to stop playing with!

Adventures with Dad

This morning we all wanted to go for a bike ride on a new trail, but Brad was expecting an important package from Fedex for his office so Luke and I stayed at home while the rest of the family went on a fun adventure.
Luke took a nap and I got to play the piano for an hour in a quiet house! It was heaven. Then Luke and I did laundry, cleaned the house and listened to podcasts.
Brad and the kids had a crazy adventure. The trail they took was on the other side of the river from where we normally going starting at Rainbow Dam and going all the way to Ryan Dam. It was 10 miles total on a gravel road. It was hard! There were big hills, dead snakes, and fresh bear droppings! I think they definitely took a road hardly ever traveled. Kade pushed through it even though it was the hardest bike ride he's ever been on! (His words). They all came home smiling and were excited to tell me all about it.

The Waterpark

Kade's fun filled birthday week continued today with a trip to the local water park. He's been wanting to go to this water park ever since we moved here and we haven't taken him until now. The kids and I got there around 2 and Brad didn't make it until after work around 3. They kids were so excited for him to show up because then the real party began! I sat with Luke, took a nap and snuggled him and everyone else rode slides, swam, hung out in the lazy river, and body surfed. We all enjoyed it. It was a great afternoon!

Little Momma

Tenley loves taking care of Luke. The first thing she wants to do when she wakes up is hold Luke and she's always anxious to get him back after I'm done feeding him. I wonder how she'll do being away from him at school all day. I think she'll miss him a lot!
She made sure he got some tummy time in today and she helped get his pajamas on tonight all while taking a ton of pictures. She's an adorable little girl and is going to be one amazing momma someday.

She takes good care of Ryder too. :)

Our Big 9 Year Old!

We got to celebrate Kade's birthday today! He woke up a little bit earlier than usual. He said he was excited to build his Lego set that he bought himself yesterday with the money he got from his birthday party on Saturday. We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast, went to swim lessons, had lunch and played at McDonald's, had a few of Kade's friends over for a play date, ate ham and sweet potatoes for dinner per Kade's request, and had cake for dessert. It was a busy fun-filled day!

We really are so lucky to have Kade in our family. He is smart, funny, and such a big helper. He loves legos, playing with friends, swimming, basketball, flag football, and playing the piano. He's the best!

Selfies with the birthday boy!

Mom Life

We're home and back to the grind. Laundry, grocery shopping, and after being in my Mom's beautiful home I feel like I need to clean and organize my house more! But that will take time. It feels like each time I go to do something one of my children needs me in some way or another. Luke needs to eat, Ryder needs help getting dressed or going to the bathroom, or pretty much anything, Tenley wants a picture printed so she can color, Kade...well I guess he's actually pretty independent now. But still, there are a lot of needs! And I know that right now at this time in my life I should put my children's needs above all the other things. So I'll organize my house in five years. Lol.

I dragged all four children with me to Walmart today. Tenley and Ryder wanted to pick out a present for Kade, we had groceries to get, and Brad asked me to pick up three 40 pound bags of fertilizer that were on sale. We started with the groceries and the cart I had picked was not that easy to turn. It got even worse the heavier it got! So by the time we added the 120 pounds of fertilizer it became impossible to move. We found another cart to put the fertilizer in and Kade and Tenley helped me push the second one. I was so grateful for their help! We were definitely quite the spectacle today though!

Lloyd Newell

As I've mentioned a few times we have a little family tradition of watching Music and the Spoken Word every Sunday night during dinner. Well, the keynote speaker at the dinner banquet for Brad's dental conference happened to be Lloyd Newell, the voice of Music and the Spoken Word. Kade and Tenley were pretty jealous that we got to have dinner with Lloyd Newell! Brad and I were able to meet Brother Newell afterward and we talked to him about our children and how much they like him. Brother Newell encouraged us to attend Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday morning so he could meet our kids who actually knew who he was! We took him up on his offer and left my parents house early this morning to make it to the broadcast. I sat in another room with Ryder and Luke and Brad, Kade, and Tenley were able to attend the conference. They had a great time! Even Ryder had fun meeting some choir members and watching the broadcast in the theater room.
After the broadcast they all got to go up and meet Lloyd Newell. He is the nicest man ever! His inspirational messages are so good and he writes them all himself every week! The kids enjoyed it and we're so glad that we made the effort to be there.

(I'm so sad this picture is blurry...a stranger was nice enough to take it for them, but next time Brad will have to double check and make sure it looks good!)

Pool Parties

My sweet sister threw a birthday pool party for Kade today. It was so much fun! The kids swam for hours and didn't want to get out. Ryder loved her slide and he really loved the diving board. We had pizza for lunch and cake and ice cream for dessert-Kade's choice. And my whole family was there. I love hanging out with my whole family! I was sad it was only for one short day. But it was a great day!!