Day Two and Three of Spring Break

Tuesday morning we went swimming with Becky at her pool. It was nice and heated and the kids all had a blast.

That evening Grammy and Pop Pop got in town and the fun and spoiling of Spring Break began. I feel guilty at how spoiled we are when they come to visit. We had so much fun though and really a huge thank you and lots of love and appreciation go out to them for all they do for us.

Wednesday morning Paul and his Dad put together a new trampoline for our backyard. Yes, it takes up half the backyard, but the kids love it….and so do I!

We went to lunch at Cafe Rio and I snapped this oh so adorable picture of Callie and Carter. I'm dying it's so cute!

Then we headed over to the mall and walked off our huge lunches. The kids got to go on the carousel. The girls did a little shopping and I got a new pair of jeans. Yay!

Chilling with Pop Pop on the couch watching a show. These boys love their Grandpa!

Day one of Spring Break

I'd say Day one has been a pretty good success. After a relaxing morning around the house, we decided to head over to Mountasia after lunch for a little mini golf. The kids did really well and were pretty good at being patient and taking turns. It was a pretty warm day. At least a lot warmer than we have been use to. Luckily I remembered to bring some water bottles this time. We went through all of them. 

Afterward, I took the kids to Fosters Freeze for some ice cream and to cool off. 

But when we got home, the kids decided they were STILL hot, and since we had a couple hours before dinnertime, we went down to the pool to swim. The water is still QUITE chilly and I wasn't too brave about getting in past my legs, but the kids got in and swam all around and had a good time. By 5:30 I had to pull them out of the pool so we could go home and I could get dinner going. 

Tomorrow Grammy and Pop Pop get in town and the celebrating of Leah's baptism week begins. Can't wait to spend the week with family. And even more excited to see my sweet little Leah get baptized on Saturday! It's gonna be a good day.

Around here

Just a few pictures I've taken lately. 

Carter's OT suggested I get him finger paints to help with texture issues, but he obviously doesn't have texture issues on his hands. He LOVES finger painting. 

We had the most lovely Relief Society activity last Thursday night. Our President, Lindsey Smart, had this beautiful presentation of the book "The Parable of the Princesses". Then Paul gave a really nice talk on "listing" on the side of the Lord. Afterwards was cupcakes and chat time with friends. Couldn't have been a better evening. 

Cute friends Hailey and Brittney.

This was the remains of the table the Laurels decorated. I should have taken a picture when all the paper goods and candies were still scattered around. 

Me, Tina, Lisa (in the back) and Kalli. Super cute and fun friends!

Carter still falls asleep in the car from time to time. He transfers well to the chair right here and then will cozy in and sleep for a good little while. Unfortunately, that often means he won't go to bed until super late, but when he needs to nap….he DEFINITELY needs to nap and there is no keeping him awake.

This last week was the first ever General Women's Conference that included all girls age 8 and older. So that meant BOTH of my girls got to come with me. It was so cute to have them there. The speakers really geared the talks toward them and tried to make it interesting and applicable to them. I hope it was meaningful to them. It was a really nice meeting and even though Leah was quite giggly through the last half of it, I was really glad to have my sweet girls with me!

Afterward, there was this nice little photo booth area and then we left with some friends to get dinner together. I really am blessed to have many wonderful friends in our ward (for me and for my girls). I definitely don't take that for granted. I know it's not something everyone has. 

I was walking into to church this last Sunday and walked past this beautiful rose all glistening with morning dew. I couldn't pass up taking a picture of it. Spring is here!

And in honor of National Autism Awareness day today, me and Carter sported our blue shirts in support of our sweet, beautiful and wonderful (2nd) cousin Cali who is a truly special girl! I wish we lived closer to her so my kids could know her and her sister better! I have some great family members. 

And finally, here are a few of Leah's Spring School Pictures. I didn't buy any because they are ridiculously overpriced, but I think her Spring one's turned out better than her Fall pictures. I just can't believe how much older she is looking lately. 

And incase you are wondering where Ashlyn and Brandon's pictures are, Ashlyn didn't get hers yet and Brandon had a dentist appointment the day they took pictures so he missed his. 

Our week

Just moving along around here. I got to celebrate Brooke's birthday TWICE this week. Lucky me! Once with friends up here and then again the next night with our Encino friends (didn't snap a picture that night though). Had a lot of fun just hanging out and chatting with these lovely ladies.

Brandon and Carter both got haircuts. I think this is the first haircut Brandon has had that hasn't been just a basic buzz cut. He's been wanting a mohawk for a while now. Funny thing is he won't let me fix it every morning. So he just wears it down. Silly boy. Might as well be buzzed. Oh well! He looks SUPER handsome in this photo. And yes I'm biased, but still!

Starting to get ready for Leah's baptism. It's coming up soon. Just ordered her dress this week and got it in the mail just three days later. It fits perfectly and she looks beautiful in it. She's so excited for her big day!

All three kids got their award for getting 150% on their AR reading goals, so Friday morning was awards ceremony central. Although I felt bad I had to miss Ashlyn's award. Luckily Tina snapped this photo for me. I missed it because I had to take Carter to a new OT doctor and it was his big evaluation appointment. I probably spent close to an hour and a half with this new therapist (who I really like by the way). She gave me some ideas and tips to try with him while we wait to hear if our insurance is going to cover any more visits. I surely hope so. It would be so nice to finally get him eating like a normal picky 3 year old instead of a cracker and milk eating only 3 year old. It's time to get some real nutrients in him, instead of just calories.

Spent Friday midday with Callie and Carter. We went to lunch at Cafe Rio and then over to the mall to walk around for a bit. I usually let Carter pick one activity to go on (there are two trains and one carousel at our mall). He chose the carousel. And then threw a fit about wanting to go on the train too (as usual), but there was no way I was caving on that. But he sure looks cute on the carousel ride with Callie. So I'll chose to ignore the huge fit he threw afterward. 

I also got to go see Divergent opening night. It was SOOOO good! I totally loved it. I want to see it again. I think I might. 

Saturday was nice and relaxing. I went to a kickboxing class in the morning and then we took a picnic to the park with the kids. On the way home we stopped at Menchies. They have key lime pie flavor now. IT WAS SO YUMMY! This treat was courtesy of Grammy and Pop Pop who wanted to let the kids know they were proud of them for doing so well in school. Thanks Grammy and Pop Pop! I didn't get the good grades, but I help with homework! Does that count? 

That night Paul and I got to go on a double date with Camille and Kevin Johnson. I don't think we have ever gone on a double date with them. It was so fun though. We had plans to go to dinner and then bowling, but we sat and chatted at the restaurant for so long that we nixed bowling and finished the night at cold stone. And yes, for those of you keeping track, that was TWO treats for me in one day! Yikes! Good thing I went to kickboxing right? 

I'd say it's been a pretty good week.

But lest you think my week was perfect, there were multiple, meaning multiple times DAILY, of breaking up fighting kids, times outs for throwing fits, nagging girls to practice piano and constant reminders to the kids to get their homework and chores done. But I don't like to dwell on those types of things. (wink wink)

Honor's Band

Ashlyn tried out and made Honor's Band. Only two students from her school's band made it and she was one of them. She was so excited! She practiced a bunch to get her try out song just right. 

She had three practices that were an hour and a half each. Plus more practicing than normal at home, plus regular band practice, but by the time the concert rolled around she was ready. They played at Canyon High with the Canyon High symphonic band. Not together, but side by side alternating songs between the two groups. They played three songs, "Indiana Jones theme song", "Radioactive", and "James Bond theme song". And she did great.  I'm SUPER proud of her. She practices all on her own and really enjoys doing it. It really makes it easy when I don't have to nag her about practicing. I can see her going far with the flute. It makes me so happy because I can tell it's something she just really enjoys doing!

Callie's Cheer Banquet

We got to go to Callie's Cheer Banquet with her family. It was really fun to get to be there with her and help celebrate her four years as a Cheerleader at Canyon High. She got some awards, one of which was an Academic award for having the fourth hightest GPA of all Canyon Cheerleaders, including Freshman, Sophmores, Juniors and Seniors. I'm super proud of her! We also got to watch a slide show of pictures from the year with a special section of it dedicated to the seniors. I know she loved Cheer and will miss it. I'm proud of her for sticking with it and still being able to keep her standards. That couldn't have been an easy thing to do. She's a strong girl!

Around here

I was getting ready for bed last night when Brandon walks into my bathroom. He's half asleep and walks past me to use the bathroom. This is how he ended up on his way back to bed. Haha…funny boy. He literally laid like that for probably 5 minutes before I escorted him back to his own bed. 

AND…super exciting news around here. Carter is eating Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. We won't go into the tears and time that was involved in getting him to eat his first bite. But suffice it to say, that he likes them and this is his second night eating some for dinner. Tonight it was an entire half of a sandwich. This is HUGE news. HUGE!!!!