Sunday, February 26, 2017

Weekly review

The flowers Aaron sent me almost two weeks ago are still so beautiful!!
I hosted preschool on Tuesday and the Mother Goose curriculum is so great. 
Tuesday afternoon the boys painted rocks. They were entertained long enough for me to play the piano for a bit and warm up a lasagna for dinner. It was a win/win for all of us. 

      

Wednesday at the library is a day we all look forward to. 

   

 

Thursday we went up to Denver and had lunch with my Chicago friends. It's the best having them in Colorado. On the drive up to Denver, we hit a crazy snow storm and I almost turned around. As I went to take the next exit, the weather cleared up so I kept going. The boys fell asleep in the car on the drive home so I drove around for a bit longer once we got to the Springs and we stopped at Barnes and Noble to play with the train. We had been gone all day and when we arrived home, I noticed a package on our doorstep and as we walked into the house, I smelled a peculiar, unfamiliar smell. I also heard a buzzing from this small, white box on the wall. Panicked, I took the boys outside to see if one of our two neighbors who do handyman jobs were home. When I noticed their cars weren't in the drive-way, I saw my other neighbor return home from picking up his kids from school. Eli ran over and said, "Adam, our fire alarm is going off. Can you help us?" :) Adam came over and could smell the smell I was referring to and recommended I call 911 to see what the smell was and to be at a peace of mind about what was happening in our home. I call 911 and my heart was racing. I haven't had to call them before and as I explained all that was going on, they sent firemen over right away. Come to find out - the white box on the wall was the doorbell and it had been humming probably since the package was delivered and was causing a burning smell. The firemen were so kind and disconnected the wires for me and checked to see the wire temperatures behind the wall were okay. Everything was cleared and they were on their way. After they left, I fell to my knees and started crying and praying with so much gratitude that our house was okay and we were okay. Soon after all of that, a man from our utilities company came and checked over everything. I was grateful for him too.

 
   

Friday morning Eli crawled into my bed and when I asked him what he was doing, he said he wanted to sleep on dad's side of the bed. Eli turns 4 in April and he seems so big and then when he falls asleep, he instantly turns into my little baby again.

 

Friday night we got groceries and the boys were thrilled to ride the horses. Best penny ride!
The weather turned cold the last part of the week. The boys were excited to go outside and play in the snow for a bit!

   

We stayed home all day Saturday making strawberry jam and organizing the house. We grabbed dinner at Chipotle and made a pit stop at Bass Pro.

 

The boys did so great at church today - it makes for a happy Sunday around here. :) We're all excited/anxious for Aaron to come home THIS WEEK!!

Denver Aquarium!

Last Sunday we went up to Denver and stayed the night with the Davis family and then on President's Day, we went to the Aquarium. It was so crowed because of the holiday, but we still had the best time. My boys are obsessed with sting rays and jelly fish and I love being at places like this and watching them soak it all in!

   

   

   

 

   

 

 

Monday, February 20, 2017

Love day

Pictures from my phone are how I remember all that happened last week...

Like visiting the fish after our Wal-mart shopping trip.

 

Making cookies in preparation for Valentine's day sugar cookies.

 

Valentine's Day!!! My favorite holiday!!

 

   

We hosted preschool and the boys were so excited to get Valentines from their little friends. 

   

Aaron sent me the prettiest flowers and love pop card. I love him. And reallllly miss him. 

   

We decorated cookies to deliver to boys' primary teachers and neighbors! 

   

Clearly little boys live here - as evident on the window! 

And this moment needed to be captured for sure. I've cried so much with Aaron being gone this time - feeling so overwhelmed at times. On this particular morning, I couldn't find Eli in preparation for our exploration day. After shouting several times and not hearing anything, I had the thought to check the car. And there he was - he put his shoes on all by himself, opened the door, and buckled his car seat. He suddenly was so grown up! It was the sweetest thing. 

   

We enjoyed the Pioneer Museum together. We had the whole place to ourselves and it is free to enter!

 

   

  

   

I learned the nickname for Colorado Springs is City of Sunshine. Of course it is! :) The daily sunshine is my favorite part of living here.

   

Cutest playroom. 

   


 

   

   

 

  

After the tour we went down the slide close a billion times that's close to our neighborhood.

 

The weather has been amazing. We're outside as much as possible.

   

Thursday night I went to the temple and it was so BRIGHT against the black sky. I felt so much peace reflecting on how each one of us can shine so bright against the wicked world around us.

   

Random pics: the boys made me Valentines (which got water on it) but the best part was when Eli said, "Here mom, don't throw this away." Okay, okay, so I like tossing stuff. But I have pictures to remember things, right!? ;)

And again, Eli and Logan and Gracie playing in the dog pin at Gracie's birthday party. So funny.