Soccer and a little sick

This weekend we had a little playtime in the backyard.  Luke really enjoyed playing soccer.  He was out there for a least an hour going back and forth practicing his soccer. He loved it! Then he wanted us to play so we would race him across the yard and get some exercise of my own.

I think we are a pretty healthy family but this year we have be stuck with some mystery sicknesses.  Like a weird stomach bug that Lilly had 2 weeks ago. On Thursday I could tell I wasn't feeling 100% nothing more then a head cold and a case of laryngitis.  The kids got mad at me at times because they wanted me to talk and well I just couldn't.  Having no voice was challenging, try getting the kids out the door for school. Let's just say I climbed the stairs many times that morning. Having a conversation was no fun I would get talked over all the time and no one would listen to me.    This week Max has caught something that didn't sit well with him.  He ran into my room this morning at 5 a.m. not feeling well.  So he stayed at home today eating toast and applesauce.    

Lets hope that we are all good from here on out but I will admit sometimes it is just nice to slow down and have a pajama day.

This Week

This week we had a few fun adventures that I wanted to make sure I write down.

Tuesday night Kevin came home and surprised me with tickets to the Suns game.  He snagged the tickets form the Pepsi guy at work. So we frantically tried to find babysitting on a school night and to make it just a little more challenging it is also YM/YW on Wednesday night.  Thankfully Uncle Kyle came through for us. The kids were excited to spend time with him and we got our sitter.  

We felt young again, going out on a date in the middle of the week, checking out the Suns in a box suite. But then we felt very old because when 10pm hit we were tired and wanted nothing more then to be in jammies and be in bed. So we enjoyed the game saw the cool fire when the players come out saw the Gorilla and a little after 1/2 time we headed home.

Friday morning was a special family day.  We went to the Gilbert temple open house.  The temple is beautiful and it was so wonderful to be there as a family and share with the kids why I love the temple.  I asked each of them what they liked about it. Lilly and Max said the chandelier and Luke talked about the baptismal font.

So happy to have this temple here and can't wait to get to work inside.

January 14

Here we are a new year and I totally forgot that Sunday was the 12th.  Then I started to question if I should even continue this year.  I mean my days look very similar.  I went ahead and took 12 pictures on the 14th. I guess my quest this month is to see if I want to continue this and how to put a spin on it to make it exciting for me. Any suggestion would be great. So here we are 12 pictures on the 14th.  I still think that one day in the future I will look back on these a appreciate capturing a perfectly normal day just now I'm missing the thrill of it all.

1.  Luke bummed out that he has to get dressed for the day.

2.  Preschool prep all the names out for them to find when the come in.

3.  Fish graphing today.  Always a big hit and pleasantly surprised that they did so well.

4.  Dropping off Max's tablet to get fixed. Carrying sleeping Luke in my arms.

5. Off to pick up the kids from school. Luke rode his bike I walk/ran beside him.

6.  Waiting for the kids.

7. Lilly on the walk home.

8. Max always walking in front of us too busy to wait for us slow pokes.

9.  Dinner baby roasted cauliflower and broccoli. Max really loves it roasted.

10. Hey had to sneak a photo of me in today. Not my best hair day.

11. Practicing the piano. She is improving so much. So proud of her.

12. Luke reading his oval book for Kevin.  He is so proud of himself that he can read it all by himself.

A Few Things Before Christmas

I am determined to blog about our Christmas even if it is January. We had our annual candy house decorating party.  The McHenry's joined us and the kids got to invite one other friend.  Luke was really able to get in on the action this year. Of course eating more candy then he put on the house but he had a great time with his buddy Micheal.  Micheal was our little candy thief.  When the kids were done, he managed to sneak back inside and take candy of any house he could reach.  I'm so happy that he enjoyed himself, the little cutie.

Max took a new approach this year and smeared frosting all over his hands. Then made some house and shortly after smashed the whole thing. See Max and Cody having a great time.

The girls took their time, made patterns and were precise on every placement of candy. Yep boys vs girls.

We did your traditional rounds around the neighborhood for the best Christmas lights.  We made up awards again this year.  The kids got to secretly deliver them on the doors and run back to the car before we are caught.  Just a fun little thing that we love to do.

This year the 2nd grade did a wonderful performance of the  Nutcracker. I was so pleased Max knew all the music and knew his part so well. (Here is my mom fail. I did not bring my zoom lens to the performance. So it is not properly documented).  He even expressed interest in seeing the real ballet.  If he said he wanted to go to a ballet I was going to take him, this might be my only chance.  

We went to a small production with his classmate and mom.  Lilly came and brought her friend Mary.  I won't lie there was a little drama before the show.  It was about having to dress in nice clothes.  There were tears but he made a commitment to go so I was going to make sure he went. When we got there he perked up. It was so great to see his face light up when he recognized  the music.  He might remember the experience differently when he is in therapy, but I'm still sticking to my guns and saying that I'm glad that we went.

On Christmas Adam I let the kids open up their presents from Nana and Papa. New sleeping bags to sleep in under the tree. And as you can tell Max is just about as bad a Luke for not holding still in the picture.

I think they finally fell asleep around 11. They were super excited that night well duh it is only one more day until Christmas. 

First Things First

Well hello blog.  I'm not going to start at the being it is too daunting but I do I hope to write about all the magic leading up to Christmas, a joyous Christmas day and a lovely winter break. The best place to start is now, a wonderful weekend.
For Christmas I bought Kevin a night at the Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort & Spa. How could I complain, a date night, I would have Kevin all to myself and NO KIDS. It was a win for me too.  We made a whole weekend of it. On Friday the kids went off to Amber and Pablo's and we made our way to Tucson, AZ. But before we started our road trip we enjoyed lunch at Cheesecake Factory. Again I have to stress that I was able to finish my thoughts and sentences without interruption.  We checked into the resort walked around the grounds and headed out to check out the UofA campus and night life were we found a quaint Italian restaurant with bad pizza and good pasta.  They also did not serve Pepsi or Coke but RC cola. Weird right? Before bed we hit up the hot tub under the stars. Back in our room we started to watch The Great Gatsby and feel asleep. I guess not interesting to keep us awake.  We slept in b/c we had no kids to wake us up and ate breakfast at the resort restaurant.  Omelets and waffles so yummy!
After breakfast Kevin found a 5 mile hike close buy so after checking out we started up the trail.

We made it some pools of water took a photo and turned back.

We were on the trail for about 3 hours.  It was so nice to talk and walk. We talked about what a blessed year we had. We talked about what we wanted in this year. We talked about kids, work, movies, music, food, fitness, God, and missions all without interruption.  A dream I tell you!!!

One of the best parts of this trip is that it didn't end there.  We got home about 3 showered dressed and headed out for yet another night of fun. Dinner at Pita Jungle and a movie, Walter Mitty. I ate myself sick with popcorn but still had room for ice cream. It was there that Kevin discovered that he left his credit card at the restaurant. So we spent a little more time in the car got back in the car and started home.  

We woke up Sunday morning and were pretty excited to pick up the kids. We missed them.  They had a wonderful time with their cousins.  I'm so grateful that I had no worries about them the whole time because they were with family who love them.  

With the new year comes a new church time. Somehow we get to meet at 1 pm rather then 2 or 2:30 or even 3. We are so thankful.  Today was bitter sweet for me today. Here is our Sunbeam. 

Which means I no longer have babies in nursery. Everyone is growing up.  I peeked in on him and he was singing his songs and sitting in his seat.  I think he did pretty well.