Park Days with Friends

Ryder, Luke and I met up with friends at the park this morning. The weather was sunny and warm and the kids had so much fun running around. I’m grateful for the friends they have and that they get to see them so often!

Wind Storms

 The boys and I have been enjoying getting into a routine. We have breakfast and then go for a walk every morning. I will be sad when winter sets in. We may just have to bundle up and keep the tradition going!

This afternoon a crazy windstorm blew through. The winds got up to 80 mph! The boys enjoyed running around in it. Thankfully we didn’t lose anything or have any trees break. Our basketball hoop is still standing as well!

Back to School

 The boys and I started school again today! It was really nice to have a schedule again. We started working on things inside but then Luke wanted to have school outside. It was great weather and we enjoyed it. The boys would rather be free but they actually did a pretty good job focusing and getting the work done. We practiced the piano and read books as well! We felt very accomplished. I hope every day goes so well!

The Drive to Missoula

 It was Kade’s last day of seminary for the school year today. He had a friend who has a tradition of biking to seminary and school on the last day so Kade and several other friends joined him. I think he had a lot of fun. And I think he’s excited to have a few months of sleeping longer!

It was such a beautiful day so the boys and I had school on the patio. It is heaven and I’m so grateful for the nice patio!

We were supposed to leave as a whole family for the weekend to Missoula with Brad for his dental conference but Kade has so many tests and projects for school that he just couldn’t miss. Brad and I decided to get away together and leave the kids at home. The kids are excited for a party but I will miss them!!! 

The drive to Missoula was gorgeous with everything getting so green. We also drove through a crazy rain and lightning storm. It was neat to see over the mountains. It is beautiful here!

Co op Friends

 Today was our last day of co op for this school year. It’s crazy how fast this year went by. We’ve had so much fun with our friends and have loved this year. I had the best team teachers in Physics and I will miss them! 

After classes we had a huge pizza party and glow in the dark dance party to celebrate. The original plan was to play at the park but it rained and snowed this morning so we went with plan B and had a blast! 

We’re all so grateful for this amazing group of people we get to be with. We can’t wait for next year!

Co op Showcase

 We celebrated the end of the year of co op tonight! It was a fun celebration down at the church. We got to see all the kids’ projects, hear some of them sing, and eat dinner together. We have such a great group of families! The kids had such a great year.

This morning was so nice that the boys decided to do school outside. I love our patio!

Tenley’s Help

 It turned so cold again. We woke up to frost in the house and snow on the distant mountains. And more wind… I think I hate being cold. But we are lucky to have a warm house and warm clothes. 

The boys got to run some errands with me this morning. We took Ryder to the orthodontist and then we went to get the car tires rotated. We made it home before Tenley had even woken up! I’m always amazed by how long she can sleep. She was so helpful with the boys when she was awake though. She helped Ryder with his math and piano while I helped Luke. And she was so patient. I was so thankful for her help. 

Luke had a football game tonight in the frigid weather. I’m seriously wondering if spring sports are worth participating in here in Montana! But he played his heart out and had fun!

Movies and Flag Football

 Thursdays are the best! And today was really good. It was so quiet and peaceful while the kids worked on school today. I love it when it’s like that. I think they were so focused because they knew that when we were done we would get to go to the movies. Motivation is always helpful. 

We all went to see Project Hail Mary this afternoon when Brad and Kade got home. It was such a good movie! I’m glad we went to see it at the theater. But it was really disappointing to get there and find out that the popcorn machine wasn’t working! But the kids still got a soda at least.

After the movie we headed to the football field for Luke’s first game of the season. It was freezing! But he played hard and couldn’t wait to get home to warm up. Ryder’s game was a few hours after that so it was even colder! It was below freezing with light snow falling. Montana spring weather is so unpredictable. But he played hard at well! I hope it’s sunny at their next game!

Social Time

 We were back at co op today after a week off for Spring Break. The kids were so excited to be back with friends! Luke also got to bring something for show and tell for his class. He chose one of his kiwi co projects. His classmates thought it was awesome. And then after co op Luke and Ryder got to go to Otto’s house to hang out all afternoon which they always love. It was such a good day!

Golden Eggs

 We had our Easter party at co op today and the kids got to do an Easter egg hunt. I was happy the weather cooperated and we had a perfect sunny spring day for this! Ryder ended up finding a golden egg with $10 in it! He was excited about that! 

Learning

 Luke’s excitement for learning is always so refreshing. He loved doing school today. He even took pictures of his work to come show me in the kitchen. It makes homeschooling so enjoyable when I get to see my kids enjoy learning.

Math

 I had to drive to Bozeman today for an appointment which meant I had six hours in the car by myself. Not too long after I had left Ryder called needing help with his math problems. Luckily it was something I could do over the phone with him. And they were actually fun brain teaser problems! It kept me awake and it was fun to have school time with him even if it wasn’t in person. For the rest of the trip I had a good book to listen to which was so nice.

When I pulled up to the house the kids were holding the ladder against the flag pole with Brad nearly to the top of the 20 foot pole putting up the tree lights. It was scary to me at least, but he finished his tree and the lights! Finally!! We’ll see how it all holds up in the wind. 

Luke’s Wit

 Thursday mornings are the best. I love that it’s the last day of school for the week and that we don’t have anywhere to rush off to early in the morning. I let the kids sleep in this morning and I enjoyed a quiet morning. When we got around to school, Luke’s assignment was to figure out what time it was on the clock and if it was AM or PM based on the description. He got to one that said, “You ask your older brother to play with you, but he is too busy. He says he can play later, so you find something else fun in the meantime.” He turned to me and said, “This is exactly what happens to me every time Kade gets home from school! And it’s even the same time!” He’s a funny kid! Ryder had a unit assessment today and did a great job! And Tenley ended up getting the day off! Our internet was down all day and her classes are online so she was pretty happy about that. She earned the break though because she had to take a huge text yesterday and scored an A! 

Brad, Kade, Tenley and I went to the varsity high school volleyball game tonight. Brad’s hygienist Melissa’s daughter is a senior on the team. She’s pretty amazing! We had fun watching them win!

Field Trips

 We took a little road trip to Craig today to hang out with friends at the corn maze. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the drive was stunning! We saw so many fall colors. The corn maze was awesome. The kids got lost for a little bit. There were a lot of other games to play as well. Luke beat a huge group of kids in Gaga ball. We had such a fun field trip!

Otto and Co op

 Oh how my kids love co op day! It’s the one day where they’ll jump out of their bed to hurry and get ready after I wake them up. I think it’s manly Otto that they love and not so much co op, but maybe I'm wrong.

Ryder and Tenley learned how to make soap today which is apparently a pretty intense and dangerous process. They had to gear up for it and luckily no one was burned. 

The rest of the day was a crazy whirlwind of appointments, games, and practices. It’s hard to keep it all straight but life is good!