America's Got Talent

Our favorite show to watch as a family right now is America's Got Talent. The kids look forward to it every week and it usually takes us a few nights to finish a whole episode. Tonight we watched it with popcorn and the kids loved it. And they always tease me when I cry at all the emotional parts.

Packing is coming along pretty slowly it seems. We have one more week!!!

President's Day

It was so nice to have Kade home with us today since it was President's Day. We slept in and then took the kids to the movie Storks. It was cute! Brad was nice and bought the kids some popcorn. It was a huge refillable bucket and I think Tenley probably ate close to a whole bucket on her own! She really loved popcorn.
The sun finally came out in the afternoon so we went for a bike ride! I love riding bikes. Kade gave us all a great lesson tonight on prayer. And Brad taught the kids some more about the plan of salvation using some things he had while on his mission. It was a great day.

Safety

Today was a little emotionally exhausting. This morning my parents, siblings, and me were on a group text planning a fun family reunion, but then my Dad texted to inform us all that the high school my mom works at was on lock down and there were reports of a shooter there. For the next 30 minutes or so we all kept each other updated. My mom was able to text and say that she was fine. It ended up being a prank. There were no shots fired and no shooter, but until that became clear I was a mess. I hate that things like this actually happen in the world. I'm so grateful that my mom is safe and was apparently in no harm at all.

My kids were so cute today. Tenley has gotten Ryder into coloring. He loves to color a picture and then bring it to me, just like Tenley does. I need a bigger wall to put all their artwork on!

We had a lot of vegetables to eat tonight so Brad told the kids that if they could eat as many vegetables as him then they could have two desserts! Kade ate them up pretty quickly! It took Tenley a while longer, but she finished them all as well! They requested homemade cookies for dessert along with ice cream topped with hot fudge, whip cream, and m&ms! That's a lot of sugar!

We ended the night cuddled up watching National Geographic while my yummy new candled burned (I needed some shopping therapy earlier!). The show Human Planet is one of my favorites! I love learning more about the world and different cultures. It is amazing how people live in different climates and different parts of the world. It is truly an eye opening show. I've never felt so small! The world is a big place.

Hot Chocolate

This cold weather has got me craving hot chocolate every day. We have a really great cocomotion hot chocolate maker that we've had ever since we've been married and it makes the best hot chocolate! But for some reason I haven't been able to find it and hot chocolate isn't really the same. When we got home from church today though, Brad was sweet enough to search around for it and of course he found it for me in the most obvious place. I can't believe I couldn't see it! Then, he preceded to make me hot chocolate, with whip cream and mini chocolate chips, and clean up his mess! I was in heaven. It was really sweet of him and the hot chocolate was so delicious! His helpful behavior must have rubbed off on Tenley because when we got to the Simmons house to make dinner, Tenley wanted to help!

Brad and I watched The Nativity Story movie this afternoon with the kids. It's one I hadn't seen before, but I thought it was really good. It gave me a different perspective on some of the aspects of the story and I really enjoyed it.

The Movies

Tenley wanted to go to the movies for her birthday so we went out as a family and saw Hotel Transylvania 2. It was a cute and funny movie!

Fun Dates, Sleepovers

Brad and I got to go on a date tonight and we decided to try out Studio Movie Grill, which is a movie theater that also serves you dinner during the movie. It was a fun new experience! We watched the new X-Men movie and really enjoyed it.

While we were away Kade and Tenley got to have a party with their friend Jaxson and they even got to have a little sleepover with him! They had a great time with the Woolfs.

Hugs, 4 Leaf Clovers

I caught the kids playing the piano and giving each other hugs today. That makes me so happy!

The kids and I took Brad to our favorite picnic spot for dinner and we challenged ourselves to find a four leaf clover. I was the lucky winner! I guess this means we'll have a lucky year now!

Shorts, The Pediatric Clinic, Car Races

Today was hot enough to wear shorts as we played at the park! It was so nice to dig through some boxes and pull our shorts for all of us and enjoy the sunshine and friends today!

After the park I took the kids to the Dental School to have their teeth cleaned. I've grown to love the pediatric clinic there. They make the experience so fun for my kids. The room is decorated so cute, they get a prize at the end, and the staff and doctors are awesome!

Occasionally while I make dinner Brad and the kids like to race cars on the kitchen floor. Tenley loves to go pick them up after the race, hand them back to the boys, and then race again. It is adorable to watch!

Tenley is celebrating her victory!

The Movie Theater

Today we took the kids to Despicable Me 2 at the theater. It was Tenley's first movie at a theater and she really enjoyed it for the first 45 minutes, and then she just wanted to run around. It was a cute show, though, and we enjoyed getting out as a family.

Manchester Parks, Kade's Friends, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote

Our little complex has about 5 different parks that we like to play at when we don't have enough time to drive somewhere to a  bigger park. Kade has them all named; the dinosaur park, the pink slide park, the bumpity-bump slide park, the rock climbing wall park, and the once little pink slide park but now cool new red slide park (they just put a new slide in there :)). They are all super fun for the kids. Their favorite one is usually the pink slide park because it is by the creek and they love to throw rocks in the water, but the last few days Kade loves going to the cool new red slide park because they got a new slide. He ate his dinner super fast tonight so that we could go there with Dad before bath-time. It was fun!

Kade has some awesome friends and he got to play with a lot of them today! This morning we went to the "rock climbing wall" park with baby Jaxson (he calls him baby Jax because he also has a friend more his age named Jackson). Then after lunch his friend Jakoby and his sister Taylee got to come over and play. Kade and Jakoby played for about 3 hours straight. They never fought, never asked to watch a movie or T.V., never even asked for a snack, and really didn't even want me to play with them. They were in their own world racing cars around the house, flying airplanes everywhere, playing pirates, and building things. It was SO CUTE! I'm grateful Kade has good friends that he loves to play with.

Tonight before bed, Brad let the kids watch some Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote videos he found on Youtube. That is a classic, fun cartoon and it is really sweet to watch in HD!

Kade's Favorite Thing: Playing with Jakoby