Birthday Dinners

Tomorrow is Tenley's birthday so today we had a dinner celebration at the Simmons house. Tenley chose steak, mashed potatoes, rolls, and carrots for her birthday dinner. Then we had a delicious ice cream cake for dessert. So yummy!

Half Marathons, Burgers

Today I ran a half marathon with my friend Kacee. It was tough, but it felt so good to finish it! The best was seeing Kacee's husband Chris, and Brad and the kids cheering us on along the route. It was really motivating! And Kade was there to finish the last little bit of the race with me which has become favorite tradition. I'm excited for when he's old enough to run a real race with although I'm sure he'll leave me in the dust!

Tonight Brad took us all out for burgers and it tasted so good! The restaurant even had fry sauce which I loved and they had cute little saddle seats for the kids to sit on. It was a good day.

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!

Princess Preschool

Doing preschool at home with Tenley has been great! After we drop Kade off at Kindergarten, we put Ryder down for a nap and then we have princess preschool! Thanks to my amazing friend Heather for the amazing ideas and resources! 

Ryder

Ryder was extra grumpy tonight for some reason, so instead of listening to him cry and cry and cry, I picked him and he was my little buddy as I made dinner and set the table. It was fun to have a little helper tonight, but hopefully we won't make it a habit!

Kade The Dentist

Kade has had a loose tooth for a while now but he didn't want Brad to pull it this time. He tried pulling it out with pliers the other day, but said it was too painful. Today he was playing with it a lot with his tongue and it finally came out! He was so excited to tell his Dad that he pulled his tooth out with his tongue! He was pretty proud of himself!

New Friends

Kade loves his new friend Tanner and he was able to come over and play today! They had a blast!

Movie Night

Brad was gone all night at a work meeting so the kids and I stayed up a little late together and watched Planes Fire and Rescue. I normally would have read a book or been on my phone or done some chores around the house, but after I put Ryder to bed Kade asked, "Mom, will you please watch it with us?" His sweet voice got to me, and I put my to-do list out of my mind and just sat and watched a movie with my cute kids.

 I was in the middle and they each rested their little heads against my shoulders. I couldn't have accomplished anything better tonight.

Playgrounds

Brad was holding Ryder during Kade's football practice so Tenley and I played on the playground together and had a lot of fun. She insisted on pushing me on the swing which I didn't mind. I love my little girl!

Conference Weekend

Conference was amazing. So many good talks and so much inspiration. I loved it! Here are a lot of my favorite quotes since I couldn't narrow it down.

Falling Leaves

We went on a bike ride by the river today. It was a beautiful fall day and the leaves from the trees were falling on us as we sped by. Brad, Kade, and Tenley were all teasing each other and Ryder was happily along for the ride. I kept asking myself, "Could life get any better?" I feel so lucky to have such good kids and such an amazing husband.

Daddy

How is it that a bad day is instantly better once daddy walks through the door? Even a good day just becomes that much better when Brad gets home from work. We love him so much!

Blessings

The rental market here in Lewiston is sparse. There aren't a lot of options let alone good options. Brad and I spent months looking before we moved here then one night I noticed the house we're in on Craigslist 4 minutes after it was posted and I called right away and luckily we got the rental. 

At the time I remember the owner thinking it must have been meant to be because I called him so fast after he listed his rental. It hasn't been until recently that I've started thinking that he might be right.

 We now live right next door to a family that have been good friends with the Simmons for years and have been becoming great friends of our own. 

AND, a few weeks ago a car stopped by while my kids and I were playing in my front yard and out walked one of my good friends I made from work when we lived here 5 years ago. I found out she lives just a few house down from us! 

AND, when I registered Kade for kindergarten I initially wasn't able to get him in the school closest to us and in the AM class like we wanted but the morning that school started the district called me and they got Kade in! I was so happy. He has two friends from church in his class and he made another great friend named Tanner. He's been asking me for weeks to have a play date with Tanner. I finally met his mom and learned they live down the road from us as well! He is ecstatic! I'm so grateful that he found such a good boy to be friends with and that they live so close to us.

 Whether or not this rental house was meant to be ours, I feel so overwhelmingly blessed to be here and surrounded by such great friends and neighbors. 

Snuggles

Some days I just need snuggles on the couch with my kids! I love them!