Kiwi Co

 I really don’t mean to just talk about Luke all week, although it is his special baptism week so maybe it is appropriate. He was just so resourceful with his setup today. He, of course, had another kiwi co box to build and he set up his trashketball build from two days ago to the side so he could throw things away, and then he set up his tools box build from yesterday to the other side so he had all of his tools nearby. He even begged Brad for a wrench so Brad found some old tools that he doesn’t use anymore and look added them to his toolbox/workstation. It’s so adorable! 

My Dad, Yard Work, Kade’s Dates

It was my Dad’s birthday today and his last day of work! Luckily my brother lives near and was able to celebrate his retirement and birthday with him! I’m so excited for him to enjoy this next fun phase of life. He worked so hard for so many years. He’s the best Dad and he deserves this!

 It was a beautiful day today so we were able to get a lot of yard work done. I cleaned out the garden beds and the kids and Brad dig holes for the sprinklers. It was hard work but it felt good to get it all accomplished! Brad planted seed in the dirt surrounding our new patio so hopefully soon we’ll start seeing grass grow there. 

Kade went on a fun date with friends tonight. They picked crazy ingredients out at the grocery store and then went to a friends house to make dinner with it. Then they played a lot of games. He has such fun friends.

A Basketball Hoop

 We got the kids a basketball hoop for Christmas and Brad finished setting it up today! Kade and Ryder helped a lot as well. As excited as the kids were about getting it, I may be even more excited. I have so many good memories from growing up of shooting hoops with my little brother. I hope I’m able to make a lot of new memories playing basketball in the front yard with my kids now. Tonight was a good one. It was dark by the time it was ready to be used so the kids got the spotlight out and played for an hour and had the best time.

Family Projects

 Christmas lights are over taking the inside of our house right now. It’s such a big project to put them up, take them down, and keep them working in the Great Falls wind for that matter. But, Brad and I do agree that it’s good to have a project to work on together as a family. Like it or not I guess this is our project. And whether I like it or not I should probably help with it more! We are lucky, though, that it isn’t snowing and it isn’t freezing! 

Kiwi Co

 My kids are grateful for kiwi co every single month. We heard the doorbell ring this morning while they were still in pajams and I saw that it was the kiwi co package. They ran to the door, opened the box, and started building right away! 

I'm glad they had something to distract them since we didn't end up going skiing today. The snow still isn't that great, but we've been wanting to go. Then this morning Brad had to go to his office to check out a leaking pipe outside. Luckily the water didn't come into his office and it was city pipes so the city came to fix it. They had to shut off the water to his office while they fixed it, but since he wasn't working today it didn't affect him. The timing couldn't have been better!

Cleaning Day

I may be crazy but I really love cleaning day. It feels so good to work hard and then enjoy our clean house. I did most of the house cleaning today because Tenley, Ryder and Luke were weeding the garden and Kade was helping Brad replace the steering cable in the boat. It was a big project but they got it done! And Brad and I still had time for a date tonight!

Bunk beds

Ryder and Luke have been sleeping in bunk beds for a while now and although Luke has been enjoying it, Ryder hated climbing up and down the ladder each night. Their room is small but we took the bunk beds down and made two twin beds work in their room. They’re both really excited about it! Hopefully they keep it this way for a while!

More Visitors

We have a new visitor today! Danny arrived this afternoon for the week. The kids are excited to have more visitors. They helped me out with a yard project this morning. We still had rocks to move around the yard since we put in the new garden beds. All four of them were really helpful so I took them out for ice cream this afternoon. That made it all worth it to them!

Garden Fences

Brad and I spent the morning putting up a fence around our garden. Keena will dig it up so we had to invest in a fence. I think it looks great though! Now we need to figure out how to keep the birds out of our raspberries!

Sewing

Day 54

Tenley found some fabric in the storage closet and then told me she wanted to sew a blanket. I got out the supplies, taught her what to do, and she did most of it by herself! She says she loves sewing now. Of course when the boys saw her new blanket they wanted one too, so we headed to Jo-Ann fabrics (their first ever trip to a store since Covid hit!) and they picked out some really great fabric. We’ll finish making all the blankets tomorrow. But it turned into a great rainy day activity!

Drives

Day 53

I never knew how much I loved just going for a drive until Covid hit. Brad had to run some errands today and even though he didn’t need my help o wanted to join him. It just felt good to get out and see something other than our own neighborhood! 

Lots of progress is being made at Brad’s office! I hang up a few pictures every time I’m over to check it out. Baseboards are going in today and it really helps make it look more finished. 

We had burrito bowls for dinner and Tenley designed hers all cute. She loved it so much that she had me take a picture. 😆 

Blanket Battles

Day 31

My girl Tenley has been so talkative lately. She seems to be hanging out with me more, probably because the boys have been playing video games more and she doesn’t care for those, and it has been so much fun for me! 

We’ve been picking out pictures for the office. Eek! I love designing and I can’t wait to see how this all comes together!

My friend Becca called me today. It was so nice to catch up with her and to talk to a friend! Marco Polo, FaceTime, and phone calls have been lifesavers during this quarantine. Technology is amazing.

Brad and all the kids got into an epic blanket battle tonight. He would throw blankets at the kids and they’d try to run away. And then they would hand the blankets back to Brad to have him throw them back at them again. Luke was loving it. And surprisingly there wasn’t an incident or any tears at the end! 

Pillow Towers

Day 29

Ryder told me several times that today was the best day ever. The funny was, though, was that it was a completely normal and typical day. We did a school lesson this morning, had lunch, the kids had electronic time together while Brad and I ran into his office to check in the demo. They made so much progress today and I’m getting so excited! Then we had dinner downstairs and Kade chose a movie. But while we watched dinner Luke and Ryder built a huge pillow tower and ran around the basement to then gal into the pillows. They were laughing like crazy together and having a blast. I think they will be best buds when Luke gets a little older. Ryder loved having a little buddy.

Our Little Helpers

Day 27

We all went over to the office this morning to help leaf everything out and get ready for demo day on Monday. I wasn’t too sure about bringing all the kids but they ended up being a HUGE help! Kade and Tenley took all the drawers downstairs from all the operatories and the sterilization room, Ryder helped me load boxes and get things off the top of the shelf, and Luke did a pretty good job of staying out of the way and keeping himself entertained. We were able to get 90% of the work done with their help in five hours! We brought them home for lunch and let them stay home to watch a movie while Brad and I went and finished everything else up. I’m so glad we were able to get it all done today! 

A Storage Room

Day 26

The shelves in the storage room are finished and they look amazing! I’ve already started moving things back into it and there is sooo much space! 

Brad and I spent more time at his office today meeting with our contractor and the electrician. We will start demo on Monday so we need to move things out of the office tomorrow! Yikes! It’s a busy but exciting time.

Kid’s Piano Recordings

Day 24

Brad worked today but I did get to meet him for lunch. We had a meeting with a contractor to go over ideas for an office remodel. Since the office will be mostly closed for the next month or so we figured this was as good a time as any to give the office a little update. It will be a lot of work but it will be so nice in the end! 

This afternoon Kade asked me if he could record his piano music like I do so he could listen to it at night time. They all took turns recording their favorite piano songs. At first Ryder was sad that he didn’t know how to play the music from Kade and Tenley’s piano book, but then I told him to just make up his own songs like I do. He did a great job! They are happily listening to their own piano music recordings now while they fall asleep.

Teacher Parades

Day 12

Last night we heard that our family and friends in Idaho are under a state-wide stay at home order for three weeks. Only essential workers are allowed out, or you can leave for essential purposes. This afternoon, we got the same news for our state of Montana. Brad will still be able to work on emergency cases but the hygiene department had to close. 

Brad and I left today to get more shelving material to build more shelves in our spare room downstairs for storage. I’m grateful that we have a project to keep us busy! 

This afternoon the kids’ school had a teacher parade. Many staff and teachers drove by honking their horns and waving to the students. It was so fun to see them all! The kids enjoyed it. It was a really nice gesture.

Brad made yummy treats for us all tonight (muddy buddies) and Luke was his little helper. We’re still healthy and happy and thoroughly enjoying all of this extra family time. I’m so glad that social distancing doesn’t count if you’re family!

Beautiful Curbing

Our yard made so much progress this week! Our awesome curbing guy came and gave us super beautiful curbing! I love it so much! Brad and I moved a lot more rock and finally got the tramp set. 

Kade was at scout day camp all day and we missed his help! Tenley was my big helper with the two little boys. She kept Ryder entertained all day. They had a lot of fun together and made a huge mess of the house, but they were happy, so I didn’t mind at all.

Hardworking Kids

Our landscaping work continues! We moved almost all of the rock from the side of the house to the backyard. We probably had 70 trips with the wheelbarrow. Those rocks are heavy! But the kids were troopers and enjoyed helping. Kade’s friend stopped by to play and ended up helping us as well for a bit. We’re lucky to have such helpful, hardworking kids!

We were so thankful for the kids’ help that we decided to take them out for dinner and bowling. We even caught disco bowling which the kids loved experiencing for their first time. 

Working hard and playing hard always makes for a satisfying day!

June

Ryder was up early this morning so he did yoga with me. He’s actually pretty good!

I can’t believe it’s already June! I really feel like May flew by. This will be a fun and busy month as well! We are all excited for school to get out for the Summer.

We got more yard work done. Kade was a rock star at digging trenches for the sprinkler lines. It’s fun to feel like we're making progress!