Finances

We learned about taking good care of your finances at church today so Brad decided to have a family lesson about it tonight. We haven’t really involved our kids in budgeting but we’re trying to do better because we think it’s important. Brad gave them all the amount of money he makes in one month with Monopoly money and then we went through our budget to show the kids where all that money goes. I think it was educational to them and Ryder loved the ‘game’. We also played the game of life together tonight. It was a good Sunday.

Busy Saturday's

We had a busy fun filled day today. Luckily everyone seemed healthy enough so we were able to do the things we had planned. We all cleaned the church this morning and I made sure the kids got some donuts and chocolate milk afterward. Then we took the kids to they symphony. It was kid friendly and they made it so much fun! Two older men narrated the whole thing and made it educational in the funniest way. They played some of my kids' favorite songs, that they've mainly learned from Little Einstein's. "Morning Mood" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg were the ones they loved. We also heard Can-Can, the Star Wars theme, and a lot of other great stuff. It was just an hour which was the perfect length I'm so glad we went!

After we got home, I left again to make it to a Stake Relief Society meeting. Elder Griffin of the Seventy spoke about becoming. It was uplifting and fun to be with friends.

We couldn't resist the sunshine so we took Keena to the dog park and enjoyed the warm weather! It was a great Saturday.

Legos

Kade was feeling a little bit better today but he still stayed home from school. He spent most of the day building a sweet LEGO set. Brad was bummed to miss a fun ski day with Kade, but maybe we’ll have one or two more days on the hill this season. 

Ryder, on the other hand, was doing much worse. He was very lethargic and spent all day on the couch. He finally ate some food tonight and perked up a bit which was nice to see. Hopefully tomorrow they are both heathy!

Selfies with Luke

Kade stayed home from school today because he’s not feeling well. He and Ryder both had croupy coughs all night long. Ryder acted fine today, but poor Kade was still not feeling well. He got a lot of rest and even a nap this afternoon.

My other boys and I read a few books and played on the floor. Luke loves to see himself in the phone! It was hard to get a selfie of us because Luke would crawl so fast to get closer to the picture of himself. He’s a funny boy!

Super Heros

The kids got to dress up like their favorite super hero for school today. Kade just wanted to wear his Captain America shirt and after some thinking Tenley decided to dress up like her teacher. Tenley loves her teacher so much. Her teacher has had a hard year as she has battled cancer as a single mom of three young boys and shown up to school to teach as much as physically possible. And she's always so happy, sweet, and kind! She truly is super woman! Ryder decided to wear his 'Dad is my Hero' shirt. He is definitely deserving of the hero title as well. We are lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing people!
For mutual tonight we had a lip sync battle with the young men. It was so much fun! My laurels won. They were amazing! The priests did a really great job as well. I was laughing so hard! We have such great youth.

Crazy Hair Day

It’s Spirit week at school! Today was crazy hair day. The kids had fun with it and Ryder wanted to join in as well! He really wanted a colorful Mohawk but his hair is too short and I didn’t have any hair dye so we had to be creative. He was happy with it at least!

Happy Days

Ryder helped me clean the kitchen this morning. He loves helping! And then he cuddled with Keena on the floor. It was kind of adorable. Ryder really likes Keena. We had friends over this morning which was fun as always. Piano lessons this afternoon was extra happy. The kids were all so pleasant and that makes a huge difference! There was time at the end for them all to play a little game together. Ryder loves when he gets to participate! 

We came home and the kids immediately started riding their bikes outside. Their neighbor friend Katarina came to join as well. It was sunny and warm and perfect. It was such an amazing day!

My Kids

It was the end of the day and I realized that I hadn’t taken any pictures yet. So I made Kade take a selfie with me. He’s a good sport! 

I can’t believe how big he is. He’s getting so mature and I love the boy he has become.

All my kids are so special. Every night when I put Tenley and Ryder to bed, I say a prayer for Tenley (even though we just said a family prayer) and then she says her own prayer. Then we ask Ryder if he’d also like to say a prayer. He usually says yes, but sometimes he’ll say no. Then he’ll pause and say, “Wait, I love Jesus! So I’ll say a prayer!” It’s so cute.

Family Bike Rides

It was sunny and warm today! 'Jacket weather' as Ryder would say. It was beautiful! The kids didn't play electronics at all. They were either in the backyard jumping on the trampoline or in the front yard riding bikes and scooters and having snowball fights. They had a blast together and the fresh air was wonderful.

We took Tenley on her first bike ride on the Rivers Edge trail and she did a great job! It was so much fun. Such a good day. :) I’m so excited for Spring!

Alone Time

With Keena out of sorts we weren't all able to go skiing today. Tenley was happy to stay home and go to 'pajama day' at school. I also stayed home with Luke, but Ryder joined Brad and Kade on the hill. He was SO excited to be one of the big boys and go skiing. He had lots of fun going on a real lift for his first time!
It's been a long while since I've had some time to myself and it was so refreshing. I definitely love being with my husband and kids and would choose that over anything else, but alone time is necessary I think even if it may not be very frequent. Luke was so sweet and fun to cuddle. After I put him down for a nap I did some cleaning and played the piano for almost two hours. I don't know why I love that so much, but it is one of my favorite things to do. After Luke and I picked Tenley up from school we went out for dessert. We tried out a new coffee shop and their desserts were delicious!

Keena

These past few months have been hard with Keena. Because of the cold he hasn’t been getting as much exercise as he needs which has made him extra rambunctious. He has chewed on and ruined a lot of things. Most recently was the $100 heat blanket we bought for him to keep him warm in the garage. He absolutely destroyed it! We definitely considered giving him away but the kids wouldn’t allow it. They love him and promised to start playing with him more. They’ve been doing a great job. And today we had him neutered to hopefully help matters even more. We’re not supposed to let him run around for a week. Hopefully he isn’t wanting to. It may be hard to keep him caged up!

Spring

Today was the first day of Spring and it was another beautiful sunshine day with walks outside and the kids jumping on the tramp while I made dinner. It was amazing!

Ryder had a blast having his friend over this morning and I came home from mutual to Brad playing games with the kids. My heart is so happy when I see things like that! 

Sunshine

It was the most beautiful day today! The sun was shining and it felt so warm. Tenley and I took Keena for a walk this afternoon in sweatshirts and Ryder rode his bike a long with us. It was so refreshing.

Luke

Watching our little Luke move around and explore is so much fun. He's pretty content to just crawl around by himself and find whatever he can grab. It's been so nice to have a happy healthy Luke again!

St. Patrick's Day

Tenley was so excited to celebrate St. Patrick’s day today. She made a leprechaun trap and made sure to wear green. Kade saved me and had some gold coins to put in her trap left by ‘the leprechaun’. I had a meeting this morning but Brad made the kids green waffles for breakfast and I made some green rolls for dinner.  It was fun to celebrate the holiday a little bit.

Brad's Birthday, Festival

We got to celebrate Brad's birthday today! We love him and our so grateful that he’s ours. The kids spent all morning making him cards and pictures. I didn’t help them or give them any direction and I loved what they came up with! Brads favorite presents are ones that are practical or ones that don’t cost any money. The kids won on their homemade gifts.

Brad and the kids took Keena for a walk to the dog park and then we went to Kade and Tenley’s piano recital. They call it festival and an adjudicator was there to judge them. Tenley was so nervous. She cried about it yesterday and today. When we walked into the piano room and saw another student being judged Tenley got even more nervous! I was in the back of the room trying to keep Luke quiet but Brad calmed her down and helped motivate her. She did an amazing job! The judge loved her second song so much that he said for the first time that whole day (it was 4 pm and he’d been working with students every 10-15 minutes since 9 am) he didn’t have anything but praise for her. I was SO proud! She didn’t even smile at this which makes me laugh. Afterward she was so relieved and says she won’t be scared to do it again someday. Kade rocked his songs too! It was a great experience for both of them. 

We took them out for ice cream afterward to celebrate and then to dinner to celebrate Brad. Yep, they totally spoiled their dinner with ice cream but they deserved it today! Haha.

We ended the night with cake for Brad. It was such a good day. I love the weekend. I love watching my kids do hard things well. I love birthdays. And I love family time!