Easter Sunday

 It was the perfect Easter Sunday! I have loved making this holiday more special this year. We had a really wonderful church service. A lot of musical numbers and scriptures about the Savior’s life. It was amazing. I loved it. 

Then we got to come home and be with family all day! The kids had an Easter egg hunt, they worked on a puzzle with Grandma, we watched March Madness basketball, enjoyed Brad’s delicious brisket for dinner and vanilla ice cream for dessert, and got to sing to my mom for her birthday that is coming up on Friday. It was perfect.

Family

 My parents, brother and his family all came into town today! We’ve been looking forward to this for a while now. It will be a fun week with them. I don’t get to see them very often so we’re excited to spend a lot of time together. 

Egg Hunts

 We had an Easter party after co op today so the kids got to have a little egg hunt! Luke loved it. He really loves co op. We’ve all made such good friends! 

House Cleaners

 The kids and I are pretty tired of cleaning this week, but I am loving having such a clean house. I did call in reinforcements today though and for the first time ever in my life I paid for a house cleaner. It was nice, but I think I may prefer doing it myself! I don't know what is wrong with me! We needed it this week though, so I am so grateful. The kids were pretty grateful as well!

Tenley taught Luke how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the piano today. It was so adorable. He's really excited to start taking lessons. I'm just not sure when I'm ready for him to start!

Visits

 Kade and Tenley both had their last basketball games of this Spring season tonight. Tenley made three baskets!! I was so proud of her. She made so much progress this month. Kade played great as well! 

The little boys had fun making a volcano and Kade had fun doing some art. It’s fun watching them work on projects! 

Even though my kids are amazing my favorite part of the day was visiting with a friend. Her mom is bedridden and only has a few days left to live. She and her sisters have been taking care of her as she slowly passes on to the next life. It has been so hard for her and for her whole family. Patti and I were out doing other visits and we decided to go back and check in on Stephanie. It was a good visit mainly because Patti is so good at bringing happiness everywhere she goes. She brought light into their home, made them laugh, and dissipated a challenging situation. It was amazing. I was lucky to be there. They’re an amazing family and we’re hoping these next few days go as well for them as they possibly can. Life is fragile. Even when you’re old and it’s time to go, it's not easy. It really made me appreciate life so much more. Again. Like so many other situations in my life have. I guess I need the reminder often.

Spring Cleaning

 We are spring cleaning the house this week! I love a clean and organized home and it really needs it right now. We started with the kitchen today and Kade and Tenley were extremely helpful! I can’t believe how much food we had in our cupboards and fridge that needed to be tossed. It looks so much better! Ryder and Luke were extremely helpful in keeping us all smiling! Haha. They’re such funny boys.

Flute Fesitval

 It's been a busy week of music! Tenley had her flute festival this morning. She is progressing well and she did such a great job today! She was proud of herself for getting through it all without crying. She is hard on herself and super competitive so festivals always add some pressure when she is being judged, but she took all the constructive criticism with a smile today!

And tonight Tenley had her first big babysitting job. She had three kids for 5 hours and one of the kids is just one year old! He was a handful for her but she did eventually get him to sleep and she enjoyed babysitting!

March Madness

 All of our kids filled out a bracket for the NCAA tournament and they’ve really been getting into it now! Luke is surprisingly into it the most. He chose the Florida Gators as the champion mainly because he loves alligators. He was excited to watch the game but was nervous the whole time since the gators were down most of the game. When they finally tied the game with just a few seconds left Luke was jumping up and down like crazy! And then just like that the other team scored and time ran out and the gators lost. Poor little Luke was crushed! He cried! Oh it kind of made me laugh. We couldn’t even console him with the news that Yale had won which was an upset he had chosen. He must have a competitive spirit…

Kade played in a scholarship recital tonight and played beautifully! We took the kids out for a blizzard afterward. They are the best kids!!

Co-op Day

 My kids always look forward to co-op each week. They love the chance to see their friends and not have to do schoolwork with me haha. We’ve been lucky to be able to join such a great co-op!

In science we learned how blood travels through the body with a game. The kids seemed to enjoy it and hopefully they learned a little bit at the same time!

Superior Ratings

 The sun was hiding today and it was definitely chillier. A winter storm is coming! The boys still had time to enjoy jumping on the trampoline for one more day. 

I felt like a chauffeur toting Kade and Tenley around today. Tenley had basketball practice and then went to a friend’s house. Kade had soccer practice and then church activities tonight. We also had piano this morning and all three kids got superior ratings at their piano festival! Ryder even got a perfect score! He was so excited because he’s gotten three superior ratings in a row so he gets a trophy with his name on it now! After piano he told me he doesn’t care if he gets superior ever again because he just wanted a trophy. And then Kade and Tenley told him that if he gets three superiors again he gets another trophy. He quickly changed his mind and said he’ll keep trying to get superior!

Exciting Basketball Games

 Kade and Tenley both had basketball games tonight against Foothills. Tenley’s team won by several points and Kade’s game was a lot closer but they still won! It was exciting. Tenley had fun cheering for Kade with all the other sisters there watching there brothers. This short season of theirs is almost over but it’s been so much fun!

Ring Pops

 Luke has been begging for ring pops for weeks. I honestly should have held out until his birthday in May, but his sweet little puppy dog eyes finally won me over. He had the biggest smile on with his ring pop! He loved his ninja class again today. He said he's learning how to do a back flip which is crazy! He so quick and fast and has no fear. He'll make a good little ninja.

Right after their class Kade had soccer practice and since it was one of the most beautiful days of the year we hung out there at the park. It was gorgeous!!! Perfect temperature, no wind, no mosquitos. We don't get many days like that here in Montana. We soaked it all in!

Warm Sunshine

 The warm weather has felt so nice! After church I spent an hour outside soaking up the sunshine while the kids played on the tramp. It was amazing. I’m in denial of another cold storm coming this weekend.

Tenley shared her musical talents again today. She accompanied the young women on the piano as they sand the youth theme ‘Disciple of Christ’. She didn’t seem nervous at all. I was so impressed by how well she did. 

We had another little party for Brad since the kids didn’t come out to dinner with us last night. We had a yummy dinner and dessert, a walk around the neighborhood, and of course watched the NCAA basketball selection. We’re excited for March Madness! It was a pretty perfect day.

Bradley Ricks

 We celebrated Brad's birthday today! It was actually a really busy day so it was hard to fully celebrate but we definitely tried. I did get to take him out for a fancy dinner tonight which was so nice and so delicious. We will do more celebrating tomorrow! 

Since Brad never asks for anything, I got nostalgic with his presents. Both of his grandparents had fun traditions for each birthday. His Grandma and Grandpa Hobson would always roll up a dollar bill for each year you were turning so Tenley helped me roll up 42 dollar bills for him. Then his Grandma and Grandpa Ricks would give each grandchild sugar cookies in an old school lunch pail, which obviously wasn't old school to them. Brad's little brother has the lunch pail now, but I found a similar one on eBay to gift to Brad. He thought it was pretty funny. 

His birthday present to himself was to turn his phone on do not disturb. haha. Oh the life of a Bishop...he's been dealing with some problems lately and he just needed a break. But then, of course, 3 major problems came up today. One was finding out that our old Bishop's house burned down. He had been burning weeds and thought the fire was out, but an hour later it got so big so quick that they had to run out of the house and watch it burn. It's so sad.

Tenley and Kade both had basketball games this morning out in Simms. Straight from there we went to their piano festival where Kade, Tenley, and Ryder all played so well! I love hearing them play. I'm so proud of them. They got a lot of feedback so they're a bit nervous that they didn't get superior but we will have to see. I think they nailed it.

After the festival we went to the house of our old Bishop. Brad spent a lot of time with them. They have a lot of support and they realize it's all just possessions anyway, but I am still so heartbroken for them. It is true though that it's our relationships that matter the most. Everything else is just stuff. It was a good reminder for me to be grateful for the people in my life. And I'm definitely grateful for Brad. My Mr. Fix it, problem solver, hardworking husband. He's a good one. 

A New Couch

 We sold our couch upstairs and got a new one today! I haven’t taken a picture of it yet because the whole room needs some design help now. But it will be great! It’s big enough that we should all have a place to sit now. 

Kade had soccer practice tonight on the outdoor fields and he was so excited! He had been practicing on turf indoor and that always cuts him up when he dives to stop a ball. We’ve had such a mild winter which has been sad for skiing but I loved the sunshine today! The little boys played at the park while Kade practiced. And then Tenley and Kade both had scrimmage games again tonight. And after that we came home to watch more basketball. I love watching basketball!

Brad’s Staff

 Brad has the best staff. I seriously love each and every one of them so much! We are so lucky to have such a great team at his office. Today they decorated his office for him since it's his birthday on Saturday. I think it was a fun surprise for him. It was so thoughtful!

Spring Soccer

 Soccer season has begun! Kade has a great team and great coaches and he’s so excited to get playing again. It should be a great season!

New Rules

 I was running errands a lot today. Relief Society visits this morning with my friend and then dropping Kade off at basketball practice, taking some things to Brad's office, picking Kade up from basketball practice and then heading to a lesson with the Elders. They're teaching a boy Kade's age so it was good for us both to be there. But, apparently while Kade and I were gone things were not going well at home. Tenley has a fever and was on the couch all day. I told the little boys that when they were done with their electronic time they should go outside to play because it was gorgeous! They did play outside for a little bit but then Ryder wanted to come back inside and Luke was not ok with that. He was mad, screaming, and threatened to throw rocks at the window and break Ryder's Legos along with other things. It was awful! Parenting is hard and kids aren't perfect, but this was worse than what I've had to deal with for any of our other children. We need to make some changes so we have new rules and boundaries with Luke now. He is a sweet kid but he is learning bad behavior and we need to fix it. I also need to be more present or he needs to be coming along with me. Luke seems to understand how serious it all was and he also understands our new rules. Sometimes it takes a bad moment to give us the motivation we need to make good changes in life. That happened to us today. Luke is still learning right from wrong and hopefully we can all be better teachers for him! Seriously, it's hard to imagine such a sweet face saying such mean things!

Ninja Class

 I've had at least one child in a ninja/parkour class for about 6 years now! It started as a fun class for Ryder to go when He was 3 and Kade and Tenley were in school. The rest of them have all since joined and they loved it! Today, Luke was old enough to join their class with them! I love it because now they all have class on the same day at the same time! Luke has been counting down the days all week! He was so excited. And he LOVED class. He was really brave and tried everything he was asked to. He can't wait to go back. 

Kade had a basketball game in Belt tonight. Everyone seems to cringe when we have any sporting game against Belt. It's a small town and I think those kids practice every second that they aren't in school so they are pretty good. Ok, they are really good. So whenever you play Belt you know it's going to be a really tough game. Tonight was no different. At half time it was 32-4. Our team was losing, but Kade had scored half our points which was awesome! They didn't do much better the second half. But I was still really proud of Kade. He played really good defense, had several rebounds, and some points! 

Tenley's Big Heart

 Daylight savings time is rough. Especially when church starts at 9 am and the kids were out past 10 pm last night playing with friends. But, somehow, we all got out of bed and made it to church on time. Just barely. Luke was the hardest one to get going and he ended up walking into sacrament meeting with his blanket in his hands still. He really didn't want to wake up!

Tenley about melted my whole heart today. I know I've mentioned before how emotional she was the first time she spoke in sacrament meeting. It was hard for her. Well, when we walked in to sacrament meeting her friend June was up on the stand getting ready to give her talk and she could tell she was also emotional. Tenley decided to go up and sit with her to help her through it. It was the sweetest thing. She had June smiling and laughing and even though it was still hard for June and she was still emotional, I really think Tenley made a difference. I love seeing my kids making good choices and being kind.

Scrimmage

 Kade and Tenley both had scrimmage games today. Kade's was first and he played hard. They switched up the teams a lot. It was just a fun way to get some practice in. Then Tenley got to play with her team. She's been learning a lot and having a scrimmage game was a great way for her to learn even more. She played hard as well. Her face was bright red when they finished! Poor Kade and Tenley have my fair skin and they always hate when their faces get so red playing sports. But it just shows how hard they're working! 

Tonight Kade got to go hang out with a lot of his friends and Tenley got to hang out with her friend Mae. Since our older kids were gone, Brad and I decided to take just Ryder and Luke out to dinner. It seemed a lot less chaotic even though it was our two little boys. They were on good behavior and ate well. 

Funny side note. Tenley was telling me the other day how different Brad and I are at least when it comes to what music we listen to in the car. I guess Brad's been listening to 50s music with the kids in the car. That is definitely not something he's always done, but he's been enjoying listening to it with the kids lately. And then the kids get in my care and we listen to a lot of current pop music. They say they like both styles though. Anyway tonight with the little boys on our way home from dinner the song 'Cheek to Cheek' came on and those boys got a huge kick out of that title! I don't know why things like that get little boys to giggle so hard! 

Party Boys

 Brad, Kade, and Tenley all went to the Helena temple tonight with our ward youth. They enjoyed it but they got home pretty late! Ryder, Luke, and I had a fun party night together. These boys are so happy and care free and it makes me so happy. They were excited to make popcorn and watch a movie. They chose Frozen 2 because they love Olaf so much. I'm so grateful for these silly, funny party boys!

Tenley’s Flute

 The little boys and I got to music lessons early enough to hear Tenley playing her flute. She always practices in her room at home so I don’t hear her play that much but she is doing such a great job! It sounds beautiful and I’m so glad she’s kept with it!