Some Summer Fun

Parks and Exercise

We have been able to go on walks every day, and Shay is better at spelling out the word because she doesn't know if we are ready for Adrian to be excited for it yet. Our mornings usually start with one Adrian movie for breakfast and letting the sun warm the world up, then we get dressed and head to one of the many nearby parks. We met up with the playgroup at a new park on Wednesday, and it wasn't much farther than one that we visit usually, so we made another trip there on Friday. Friday we actually went to 3 different parks because the morning was a walk, and then we went for a bike ride to the farther parks after lunch. The only downside is when they don't agree on the park they want to go to now that we have so many different ones, but this next week we will be going at noon to the park we get lunches at too! Sorry about not getting pictures!

Outtings

We took our first trip to the library this summer to get some books and start their reading program. The theme is dinosaurs, which is pretty fun and cute! The girls read every day anyway, but new books will help, and getting rewards for it is always nice. We had a Relief Society lunch at the Idaho Pizza Company with a bunch of friends and had a good time in the back room so the kids could run around and be crazy. Claire had skits at activity days that she explained in detail on our drive home together, and they learned to be good people in different situations. Last night we went out for a family dinner to BWW and enjoyed a night out. I had an appointment for the baby, and the kids went to a friend's house while I went, and they almost had too much fun without me! I was a little jealous that they had so much fun and kept wanting to go back.

Summer Starts

School

This was the last week of school and Shay had a different theme every day in her class, but I wasn't sure if the whole school was doing it so I let Claire choose if she wanted to dress up. There was Lemonade, camping, popcorn, and beach day, which I think are very unique and fun. Claire woke up saying her throat and head was hurting on Monday so she stayed home but felt better for Tuesday. After school she came home and her eyes kept producing gunk and she woke up on Wednesday with it dried on her eyes so she stayed home and missed the day they passed out and signed yearbooks. Luckily, she felt better and didn't have the goopy eyes so she could go on the last day and have some of her friend sign her book for her. Adrian liked having Claire home and is excited for her sisters to be home during summer. I'm glad Shay's teacher posts pictures of my crazy girl because it is fun to see! We also had a huge strawberry harvest they helped me collect on their first day of summer.

Weekend

We started off summer with a fun day going to the new rocket ship park that Adrian and I found in the morning to show it off to Claire and Shay. We also made a trip to the store to buy some gifts for the birthday parties we have coming up. There was on yesterday at a bowling alley and we have few more coming up. It was the first time the kids have bowled that I know of and Claire and Shay did pretty good remembering to take their turns between begging for money. There were arcade games they wanted to play or try to win prizes from and I paid them for letting Adrian take a turn for them and also for the chores they did that morning. Adrian liked pretending to do the games so much that he forgot all about bowling after he took his turn. As much as I dread having to micromanage him, he has a lot of fun and the parents at the party thought he was pretty entertaining. 

Spilling the Beans

 Spilling the Beans

We are terrible at keeping secrets, so we are already telling people about the big news! I had my first 8-week appointment to get an ultrasound and blood work this week. We didn't want to chance Claire and Shay telling family during the weekend, so we let Adrian spill the beans. We had a photo shoot and did the spill a few times for practice, and I got two sets of cute shots. Adrian thought it was a fun game to put the beans back and spill them again. Honestly, Chris has been the one to tell people by accident! He told his parents before we were 100% sure, and then accidentally told the girls during a family prayer. Silly boy is so excited, but we are all excited, and the girls won't stop asking what we think the gender will be and what names we are going to use. 

Black and White Days

We made a long trip on Saturday to Richmond, Utah, for the yearly Black and White Days. There was time to spend with family, the parade, which gave out sooooo much candy, and then dinner with family before we drove all the way back home the same day. Adrian had a lot of fun because there were so many cars to ask me to go into, since that is one of his favorite things to do here at home. As soon as Chris gets home from work, Adrian runs to the garage to ask to play in his car. I've stopped letting him play in mine because he wore my battery down by turning on my lights all night one time. Adrian really loved the horses and the big tractor in the parade and did a good job staying out of the road to pick up the candy. He got a lot because everyone thought he was so cute and would throw it just to see him smile. Now we have enough candy to keep them happy over the summer.

Weather

The warmer nice weather we have been having has been so great! Adrian and I have gone on a walk to different parks almost every day, and found a rocket ship by exploring a new subdivision that doesn't have any houses or grass yet. We were also able to finish the project Chris started to expand and reinforce our gravel area for driving out of the shed we built. The wind picked up over the weekend and made everything cold, but the birthday party we went to for Shay's friend was still fun because the kids ran around a lot and kept warm. Adrian resists taking naps every day, but will fall asleep so easily in the car or if we've cuddled on the couch after an exciting morning. I hope the summer will wear him out enough to nap some days, but having his sister's home all day will make it hard for him to calm down enough to sleep.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day

Today has been so great being spoiled and making felt appriciated by my cute kids. They were up with Daddy to make me my favorite breakfast of French Toast with beautiful decorations around me. I have a collection of Lego flowers that grew by a tulip bouquet as a present from Chris. The girls got a small rose from their Daddy too, which reminds me of when I was younger and felt special on Mother's Day because my father. I got two special musical numbers from my girls because they sang a prelude song right before sacrament meeting started and the primary song too. They were asked to sing two weeks ago and chose Families Can Be Together Forever so we've been listening to it so they knew the words well. Adrian got really excited to see them singing and kept calling for them and trying to leave the seats to join them. I though we had really good youth speakers and our ward's women were all able to cram into the relief society room for our lesson. Daddy has been doing a lot of work cooking all day and having fun plans like playing in the sprinklers so I could have some quite time. 

The Week

There were some fun other things that happened this week as well. Early on, I had a book club that the host had a yummy greek themed food to match the theme of the book and also made me crave greek food for our dinner last night! The elementry school had a 'Doughnuts with Grown-ups' on Friday that Adrian and I went to that made them very happy. I rememeber last year I didn't go and they were sad so I made the effort this year and saw some friends. We upgraded Adrian to a race car bed! I drove 35 minutes just to pick it up yesterday and we got it set up before bedtime. They had a lot of fun playing in it while I was trying to set it up and he was slightly less upset to go to bed after we all prayed and gave him kisses. The girls were excited for him too and they read books in the bed with him. I now don't have to worry about him rolling onto the floor since there are sides to this bed and its big enough if we get a twin mattress too. 

Catching up!

 April

After Easter, we had some uneventful few weeks just focusing on school and making sure the girls kept focused because they had some testing days. The teachers sent out which days they were to make sure kids got enough sleep and a good breakfast the day of. I finished my teacher appreciation projects, which I made for each of their teachers, and they were able to give them two weeks ago. I think they turned out really well this year. Adrian has been learning how to make bigger messes at home, and I'm trying to clean up after all the times he has written on the walls! It makes me want to throw away every pencil we have in the house so the girls will stop leaving them out for him. He has also been acting like he is less tired during nap times. If we don't go to the park in the morning and get a lot of energy out, he isn't tired after lunch and will argue about going to nap. There was a time he kept saying no and then fell asleep on the chair! He only has skipped it completely once so far, though, and we are transitioning to a bed and not a crib, so...yay.

May

We began May with Shay's class having butterflies hatch from their cocoons, which was fun to hear about! I know we have cousins who do the same thing. We tried it with a caterpillar one year at Grandpa and Grandma Bell's home, so I know they would like it here, too. I get pictures from their classes, and I'm glad because I was bad at taking pictures the past few weeks. We have been going to our neighborhood park, and I just let them play and don't think about pictures. They were all playing a game together today, which was definitely worth capturing, though! Now that there are only 3 weeks left of school, we've been getting ready for summer and planning the trips and things we want to do. I'm hoping to find at least one new camping spot close by and get a lot of playdates planned with their schoolmates who live close. 

Easter and Rain

Easter Saturday

We had guests over for Easter weekend so life was a little crazy and I didn't get to write last week, but we had a great time. There was our city's eggstravaganza at a park that we met our friends at with huge bouncy houses, booths with games, food, and ending with an egg collection. All the eggs sit on the ground and they have a count down so the kids can run in and get them at the same time. It is nice they separate the ages so Daddy went with Claire and Shay while I stayed with Adrian. He wasn't very intersted until I literally picked him up and put him in front of the eggs! They were mostly filled with little easter toys that they of course wanted to open right there in the grass, but we convinced them to walk to the car. We had a lot of fun in the beautiful sun in the after noon and even brought our table outside so we could eat dinner in the nice weather. Time ran out to decorate eggs, I had everything prepped but the kids were having way too much fun. 

Easter Sunday

On Sunday morning, the kids came to get us up so they could go find the hidden eggs in our backyard, but adrian wasn't awake yet. I started making vaguely bunny shaped pancakes for breakfast until everyone woke up, and the kids showed off the things in their baskets. They filled their baskets with eggs while I finished cooking and we all enjoyed a fun morning together. The fun matching outfit I got for our family were white dresses for the girls with a bow that matches Daddy and Adrian's new ties! I have a dress that has similar colors and a hair sash to wear as well. Our guests had to leave eventually, and we were able to catch up on the General Conference we missed. The girls aren't good at watching quietly and listening, but they kept themselves busy with playing. I wonder when they will start be interested...

Spring

This past week has been very rainy which has been great for our yard! The rain ruined my plans to work out in the yard so we missed out on mowing and a front yard project only got started so now it's a mess from the rain. The girls had spring pictures at school on Thursday and decided to wear their pretty new white dresses which made me a little worried. They are really good at making their cloths messy and luckily I could use bleach to make it white again so we could wear it for church today. They also had Friday off of school and we got to visit the library and have a fun day together. Yesterday, we went to a charity clothing swap in the morning and had a fun play date with Shay's classmate during Adrian's nap time. 

Sickness and Surprises

Home

This week has had a few ups and downs. I had a rough week being sick and feeling very icky even though the weather is becoming so beautiful and it would be the perfect time to start going outside more! This is not the right season to get sick and I think I gave it to the rest of my family because the girls just started complaining about not feeling well last night and today. We all have running noses, sore throats and hopefully its only a short virus and we can get rid of it with our new hot tub! It was delivered on Friday and has a circulation problem that needs to be fixed, but it works enough that we were able to use it today. Shay was very disappointed it wasn't warm enough by friday night and even more upset it wasn't ready by Saturday! We were all pretty sad about not getting to use it right away, but once the circulation problem is fixed it will be a nice way to play in water that is warm instead of freezing in a small kitty pool. Adrian even enjoyed swimming and throwing the ball back and forth with us in the tub so missing out on going to our special Church program was over shadowed by the excitement of the hot tub.

Party

Shay had two birthday party inviations this weekend! The one on Saturday was at the fun arcade Wahooz and Claire was invited to come too since the girl's who had the birthday is in our neighborhood and we've played with her at block parties. Chris took them because I was feeling so sick and I hear all about how much fun they had when they got home. They were excited about the prizes from the arcade and the water games that were now open that weren't the last time we had a party there. The other birthday party was a skating party today, but since Shay was feeling so sick we didn't get to go and had to say sorry for missing out. I want to set up a playdate this week so she can give the birthday present to her and make up for not being able to celebrate with her. It is easier than bringing it to school, especially since she probably will miss tomorrow if they don't feel better by the morning. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 St. Patrick's Day

We had cheeky leprechaun visitors this week, leading up to St. Patrick's Day. On Sunday, the girls found googly eyes on some of our pictures and their bikes, and kept asking who did it, but when no one knew, we all realized it was probably a leprechaun. On Monday, they woke up wondering if there were more eyes, but instead they found an interesting powder and liquid on the counter. The note told them to pour the water into the magic powder, and it turned green! They went looking for 4-leaf clovers, and Shay actually found one to use in her trap. Then, they forgot to set up the traps, and Daddy and I did really simple ones before we went to sleep. In the morning, the traps were all shut, so we thought we caught some lephrecans, but there was only candy left behind! We found the milk green in the morning, and then at lunch, the jello I made had cookie cutters in it from those tricky leprechauns.

Spring Break

The girls were home all week and helped me with some of my projects, while playing with each other and making a mess of the house. We had a friend over to play for a few hours on Tuesday, and on Saturday, they went over to the neighbors' to play for a few hours. I was looking forward to taking bike rides and going to the parks around, but it was still cold early in the week, and we only got warmer on Thursday. We did do a few crafts that Shay got for her birthday like making resin jewelry and using these aquabead things. Then on Friday, it was really hot, and we did a mini camping trip in our backyard! Shay helped me set up the tents, and Claire was helpful when Daddy did the fire. We found out too late that our big marshmallows were sticky and wouldn't be very good as s'mores, so we made Rice Krispies treats instead. The girls played baseball with Daddy and only hit it over the fence once, and we stayed up telling stories around the fire. When we tried to put Adrian to bed in the tent, he didn't like it at all and kept pointing to the house so he could go 'nigh nigh'. Not wanting the kids to be alone in either the house or outside, we moved the girl's small tent to the living room, and they camped in the tent for two nights.

Adrian

We have had a few fun moments with him this past week because he is learning to express himself with his words. Daddy made him a quesadilla, and Adrian thought it was delicious, so he would take a bite and say 'hmmm', and now he does it with a lot of foods he likes. He has also started telling me when his diaper is full by spreading his legs and pointing, saying 'boo'. I check him, and sometimes it isn't very full, but he poops within 30 minutes, so maybe he is starting to understand the urge to go potty. Last was today at church when we walked to nursery, he was excited to go and play and went running in, and when I picked him up was excited to see me too. He ran to me and then started yelling, "bye bye" to everyone as we walked out, and then repeated "dada" when we looked for dad. He is learning things so fast, and it is fun to see him so happy about life. 

Happy Birthday Shay!

 Shay

It's technically a week late because her actual birthday is the 1st, but we celebrated as a family with cupcakes and presents after I finished my post last week, and her party was yesterday. She is now 7 years old, and I hope she felt super special because we did our best to make it a full week of her deciding meals, helping me plan the party, and having the birthday banner up. On her birthday, I made cupcakes, and she was supposed to help me decorate them, but she ended up napping and waking up to the surprise of the rainbow she asked for. They were vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for both her birthday and the party, and she said they were beautiful both times, even though I was self-conscious that they looked messy...I'm just not practiced with frosting...

Roller Party

We had 17 kids at the roller skating party! Most parents stayed, and a few even skated, so it was fun, but keeping track of Adrian and the party favors I brought meant I didn't get a chance to talk to many of them. The place was busy because it is a public place, and there was another party at the same time, but right after us in the party room. They give us the whole 3ish hours of public skate time to skate, and a certain amount of time in the party room for eating, singing, presents, and all that stuff. Shay helped me find all the kids that were invited because I didn't know what some of her classmates looked like, and all but one kid got a party bag before they left.

 

The Other Birthday

We also had another birthday this past week, Buttercup! She didn't get a party, although it would be fun to get some dogs together to play. She did get a new bone; I couldn't find one as big as the one from Christmas, but she liked this one. It took her a while to understand it was hers because she kept licking it and letting it sit next to her and looking at me. It was kinda funny, but eventually she started in on it and finished it before the end of the day! We also had time to go to a park this week, given how warm it was, my toes got cold because I was in flip flops, but Adrian didn't even need his coat. I am getting excited about spring and didn't even remember Daylight Saving Time at all today! We were almost late for church, but we still made it, and Adrian did some balance practice when waiting for his sisters to come outside afterward.