Best Buds

My two little boys really are best friends. They love love to play together and make trouble together. I bought them these cute matching t shirts yesterday and they love twinning.

Cozy Blankets

Kade wanted a new cozy blanket like Tenley and Ryder have and luckily Joann’s was having a sale today so we picked up some fabric and made him a new blanket! He’s been enjoying it tonight.

Tenley drew a few new pictures today especially for Grandpa Woodruff. I asked her if she’d feather be an artist or an author and she couldn’t decide. I told her she should write books AND draw the pictures for them. She just smiled. 

Tenley’s Artwork

Brad had to go into work today so no one went skiing. I took the little boys to a play date with friends which was nice. It’s been a while since we’ve done something like that! Tenley and Kade stayed home to get some work done. They really wanted to. Imports all of their tasks so they choose dinner and dessert tonight. And they did it! Tenley chose pizza for dinner and Kade chose Dairy Queen blizzards  for dessert. It was a fun night and I’m glad they worked so hard to get their tasks done.

Tenley has been coloring all week and she finally laid out all of her artwork. She’s done a great job! She’s going to create a story with it all now. I’m excited to see what she comes up with!

Secret Plans

I took the kids swimming today just because. It was kind of fun to plan this all by myself and not tell them until they woke up this morning. They were all pretty excited to go! And they still did their work when we got home. That’s why they deserve surprises like this.

Sweet Neighbors

Tenley amd Ryder had school today so Kade and I spent the morning organizing his closet. He makes it look so clean, but most of his drawers and bins were filled with junk. It was nice to get rid of all the things he didn’t need.

When we got got home from picking Tenley and Ryder up we found a nice gift on our porch from our neighbor. She gave us a fun Valentines project and a baby Yoda blanket for Luke. It was so nice! Luke loves the blanket and we had fun working on the project while Kade and Brad were at mutual.

Incentives

Home schooling has been tough on all of us in some way or another. It has felt like we haven’t been keeping a schedule and no one has seemed excited about getting their work done. I talked to Brad about my concerns last week and he suggested I give them charts to cross their to do items off and incentives if they complete their tasks for this week. I ordered some charts that day and they arrived yesterday. And honestly today was amazing. Kade was up early and got straight to work on school after breakfast. Tenley didn’t complain and was willing to work. We got all of our tasks completed before Brad even came home for lunch at one. It was so great and refreshing. I hope days like this can become the norm. 

I even created a bonus chart for them that they get to put a sticker on everyone they do something kind for someone else. Once they get 100 stickers we’ll go do something fun together. They’re currently working toward a trip to the skating rink. 

Children’s Artwork

Tenley and Ryder have been drawing at the table almost non stop since yesterday. We may soon have enough pictures to cover our walls with! It’s really adorable. We had watched the friend to friend church event where they had the kids draw. Kade actually loves the artist that taught them. He uses his videos a lot. Anyway it definitely became Tenley and Ryder’s favorite thing and I love seeing them at the table doing artwork!

Books

Last night Luke found a lot of fun Toy Story books downstairs and since we didn’t read them all last night Ryder read them to him today while I got ready for church. It was cute and I was impressed to hear Ryder read new words that he hasn’t read before. It made for a really great Sunday morning.

Luke’s Silly Phrases

Luke is one silly little man. It may be his age or his personality, I guess we’ll find out with time, but he definitely makes me laugh. His favorite new thing to say is, “No way!” It’s not just no anymore... He also repeats one of Ryder’s favorite phrases often which is, “What the heck is that?” And today he was playing with something he shouldn’t have so I took him away from it and as we’re walking away he said, “No, please don’t take me away!” I don’t if I’ve shared how he is at bedtime. I always read him three books, but I have to cut it off at three or we’ll be reading books for an hour. Sometimes when he really wants another book and I say no he’ll just sit there and pucker out his bottom lip while he shakes his head and says, “So rude,” over and over again. He’s kind of a sassy little man. But right now these moments make me smile. We love our little Luke.

Tents and Costumes

Brad, Jared, and Kade went skiing today. The hill had some fresh powder and it wasn’t too crowded so they had a lot of fun. Kade got some pretty big air on some of the jumps.

The rest of us stayed home and had a fun and restful day. We watched movies, built a tent, had a dance party and took naps. Well, Luke and I napped at least. Tenley and Ryder laid down with us but only for a few minutes and then they went to play. Luke is having a hard time going down for naps lately so I’ve been laying with him until he falls asleep. I really don’t think he’s ready to stop napping, or maybe I’m just not ready to have him stop. It will be a weird day when none of my kids take naps anymore!

Toy Story

Luke is loving the Toy Story movies right now. They’re a welcome break from Cars and Planes. He’s even got out all the action figures and tonight he and Ryder pulled out some Woody and Buzz costumes. They are adorable in them!

Brads brother Jared is in town. We love having guests! We took him to our favorite local burger place tonight and they plan to go skiing tomorrow.

Above Zero Degree Weather

It’s crazy how warm 12 degrees can feel! After living with way below zero temperatures for several days, walking outside with Keena in 12 degree weather with sunshine felt like a dream! A lot of my neighbors were out as well enjoying the heat. Lol. It was beautiful this afternoon. 

Kade’s friends came over for boys group this morning. They’ve really been wanting to build a cool hot wheels track so we forgot about our normal plans amd they did some research by watching Dude Perfect and Mark Rober and then they got to work on their own epic track. They were quite inventive. Their track started on a stool and curved along the couches and then ended with the car hitting a basketball that they then wanted to go through the hoop below. It took several tries but they made it work! Their next desire is to video edit the whole thing. They all had so much fun and time went by so quickly. I’m glad I just let them do their own thing. 

Tenley and Ryder had a great day at Christian school. They both came home so happy. I love hearing them tell me about the Bible stories they learned about. It’s been a great year with this group of friends.

Ryder

Ryder was a happy little man and when he’s happy like he was today it is so infectious. We had the sister missionaries over for a little lesson tonight. They taught us about sin and the atonement and they even had a magic trick to go with it. Ryder loved it! He even re did the lesson for Brad when he got home from work since he missed it. The sisters challenged the kids to be extra nice to each other this week and to say sorry if we fail and try to be better. Ryder has taken this to heart and tried extra hard to be kind to everyone the rest of the night. Hopefully he remembers the challenge tomorrow as well!

Exercise Buddies

I woke up with a headache this morning. That never happens. I went back to sleep for a bit instead of getting up to exercise so my whole routine was thrown off a bit and I ended up exercising with Ryder and Luke! Luke is a tough little man and he loves to join in. It was entertaining for sure.

This afternoon Tenley’s (boy)friend came to give her a Valentine. It was so sweet. He used to live on our street but they moved away last year and she hardly sees him now. It was fun to see him here for a little bit.

Valentine’s Day

We finally went back to church today for the full two hours! It was so nice to be back but I know It will take Luke a while to get used to. We won’t be having nursery for the time being so he came with me to class. He did pretty well but he had a few meltdowns. Kade passed the sacrament and he seemed very confident and as though he knew exactly what he was doing. He’s such a handomse young man. Tenley and Ryder seemed to enjoy their new classes. I really like my new class and my new team teacher Sister Farnsworth. It will be a great year! 

We had a yummy dinner and dessert tonight. Even though we don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day over here, I still like to show my family some extra love in small and simple ways. Food is one of them!

Acts of Kindness

I haven't been feeling well today and I am definitely not myself. Brad and Kade have been a huge help in taking care of the house and the little boys. Kade did all the dishes for me today and Brad changed a poopy diaper! I was grateful for their help and grateful to be able to get some rest. Hopefully I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.

Tenley was able to have a friend over for the day which helped because it kept her busy and Kade and Ryder played much better together.

Hide N Seek

Our city broke a coldest temperature record for the day. It used to be -21 for today but the new record set today was -33. It’s frigid!

While I was doing dishes after dinner, Ryder asked me if we could play a game when I was done. I said yes and he decided to play hide n seek. We had fun and the kids found some great hiding spots. Luke always loved to hide with me but he’d always giggle when the seeker was close to us. Someday he’ll learn to be quieter! 😂 

Indoor Activities

When I woke up this morning my weather app told me it was -26 degrees outside. I don’t remember ever seeing it that low before even considering the wind chill factor. It’s absolutely crazy! I didn’t step outside once today. Although I’m a little bit curious to know really how cold that feels. The kids tried it out tonight though. They wanted to see who could stand outside the longest. Luke came in first, then Tenley, then Ryder, then Kade. Kade was out there for over two minutes in his shorts and t-shirt pajamas. 

Luckily we kept ourselves busy inside our warm house all day with school, movies, art projects and the 3D pen.

3D Pens

Brad got the kids a 3D pen for Christmas and even though Ryder begs to play with it everyday, I finally got it out for the first time today. It’s actually really fun and we al enjoyed learning how to use it. Ryder already wants to play with it again tomorrow!

Mystery Science

Mystery science is a great online resource that is one of my favorite ways to teach my kids. Even Luke loves watching the slides and learning along with us. Today we learned which animal has the largest heart. Kade knew the answer would be the Blue Whale before the lesson even started! Then we made huge paper hearts. That the little boys and Tenley had fun coloring.

A Warm House and Eternal Families

The Montana winter has arrived. It is freezing cold outside! Ok it’s actually below freezing. I feel so grateful each night we go to bed that I have such warm and cozy covers and a heat blanket. It keeps me warm all night long. 

Ryder, Luke and I were able to get out of the house today to visit some friends for Jack’s birthday party. My boys had so much fun! 

Tonight one of my former young women called to ask Brad and I some questions for an assignment she has on eternal families. It was fun to talk to her and Brad about the goals Brad and I have for our family and how we go about meeting them and what is important to us. Good communication, discipline, traditions/habits, love, and family activities came up a lot and they are all really important to us. A family like the one Brad and I have isn’t very popular these days. Our religious and personal beliefs aren’t popular these days either. But we’re in this together and our faith in God is the driving force for our actions. 

At-Home Church

Today may have been out last at home church meeting as a family since we plan to head back to church next week for full two hour blocks. The ward leadership has been busy preparing and I’m excited to be back teaching the primary children! It will be good and I hope it all goes well.

Ryder finally got to play in the snow today. He wanted to all day yesterday but he was too busy with his friend. It was -1 degree but he still played out there for a while and Luke had fun joining in.

Tenley taught us a great lesson. She always prepares so well and really cares about giving a good lesson.

We made fondue tonight to eat while watched the super bowl. It was delicious and made for a fun evening!

Birthday Parties

Ryder’s friend Robbie had a little birthday party today and since Tenley is good friends with his older sister Vera, Tenley got to join as well! I dropped them off at 10:30 and didn’t pick them up until after 5! They went to the trampoline park, had pizza and cake, and played. They had a lot of fun. 

Luke and Kade had fun here together at home. They exercised with Brad and we learned that little man Luke is really good at sit ups! We also went to Brad’s office to hang some mirrors and then after picking up Tenley and Ryder from the party we all went out to dinner. It was a fun night as a family.

Fresh Powder

We woke up to snow on the ground! It’s been a while since we’ve seen snow in our grass. The ski hill has been getting a lot of snow this week so Brad took the three oldest up to play in the powder. Ryder hasn’t ever been skiing in such deep powder and it was pretty hard for him but he said he still had fun. He even tried going off a little jump!

Luke and I had fun together at home. He’s such a happy and talkative little man and I had fun being with him. He helped me organize our storage room and freezers. Sometimes they get so disorganized. After I put him down for a nap it was so quiet. I wasn’t used to that. 

The storm got really bad as Brad and the kids drove home but luckily they made it home safely!