Monday, May 15, 2023

Feels like summer

Summer is so close. We can all feel it and it's getting harder and harder to get moving each morning for school. We're counting down the days to SUMMER!

We eat lunch and dinner on the deck each day. I love the view from our deck. It feels like we're in a cabin. 


My mom asked for a picture of Adelaide for her grandchildren wall so I snapped a few of her. I love when her glasses match her clothes. She really does have the happiest little smile. 


The girls wrapped up their music class and got to make little purchases for the craft. They love Ms. Meghan. We attended a school event for Austin's peak class and then stopped by this nursery on our way home. I loved it and want to go back and just spend time walking through it again and again. 


I have a goal to make a quilt this year and I've started sewing away. Now that everything has been cut, it's fun to sew. I'm doing a little each day and I'm excited to see it all come together. The best part is my friend gave me this adorable material that her mother, who just recently passed away, gave her. I'm calling this my friendship quilt. 

We also had Blue with us for few days. It's so nice to get our dog fix and then send him on his way. We've fallen in love with him. 

 
I took him on a walk to the temple on Saturday morning while every slept. 


We had our usual soccer games on Saturday morning and then the girls had their little music showcase. 


Each semester they get an instrument and this time is was a triangle. 


Somehow we were all exhausted but we squeezed in a few hours at Worlds of Fun again. The boys are getting braver and braver and try a new rollercoaster each time we go. 



Our friends also have season passes and they joined us this time. They're pros at the park so they were giving us all the tips and tricks to make is successful. 


Sunday was Mother's Day! The highlight of my Sunday was watching my kids sing with the primary children. They sang the first verse of "A Child's Prayer" and then the women in the ward were invited to stand and sing the second verse. We then sang the duet together. I had tears in my eyes as I sang the words to my children to "Pray, he is there. Speak he is listening. You are his child. His love now surrounds you. He hears your prayers. He loves the children of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven." It was a memorable and unique experience and one my mother heart will always cherish. 

I'm setting a new Sunday goal for our family and it's to be outside for a few hours together. Just us. We went to a park and walked around this beautiful path and then Aaron helped the kids toss in their fishing polls. All of the kids caught a fish!! Eleanor's fishing poll was lucky because she caught 4 fish. Eli then used it and sure enough, he caught a fish! 







I'm so grateful for my own mother who I think about daily and give thanks for her example to me of loving the Lord, sacrificing for her children, keeping a clean house, serving those around her, making music a tradition in our home, being frugally minded, praying multiple times a day, worshiping in the temple, keeping a journal and I could go on and on. I'm so grateful for my own mother's sacrifice in baring children so I have siblings. 

These two are the cutest best friends. Adelaide is going to be so lost without Eleanor next year. For now, I'm going to focus every second on making each day count that they have together. 



 

Sunday, May 7, 2023

May is here!

             

  I made it a point this week to enjoy some quality time with the girls before summer comes and before Eleanor heads to kindergarten in the fall. We went to Wonderscope one day and then the Hallmark museum. It was a good reminder to me about how important it is to make my kids my priority. 






I love how creative my kids are. 



On Saturday morning, my dad surprised us and came to the kids' soccer games. We love our papa bear! He was driving through and stopped for an hour and then gave us money to go out to lunch. We love little moments like these!





After soccer games, Aaron planted our garden while the kids and I attend a Kentucky Derby party. Our friends are so fancy!




For Christmas we gave the kids season passes to Worlds of Fun. We went last night for a few hours and we had a blast. Adelaide keeps talking about the rides she went on at Disney World. I laughed because we spent a lot more money going to Florida last year and here is Worlds of Fun in our backyard and she loved it just the same. 




                                                  

Aaron finished up seminary this week. I feel like I murmured a lot this past year and I hope to do better next year with supporting him. It was a big adjustment for our family and I had a lot of appreciation for my own seminary teachers and family members of ours who have taught seminary. In church today, a seminary student bore his testimony and I had tears in my eyes as I felt so grateful that the seminary kids could feel of Aaron's love and concern for them. 




Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Finishing up April

Here are some snap shots of April: 

I'm obsessed with Adelaide's little cherry sandals we found at a second hand store. 


Eleanor is playing soccer for the first time and she dances on the field. Dancing is definitely in her blood. 


Aaron brought our compost pile from the backyard to put on the front flower beds. We laughed when this cantaloupe seed popped up. We also have pumpkin plants that are growing! Duane called me an accidental gardener. I'm hoping the flowers I planted actually come up! 


Our temple is closing in May so I was grateful I could squeeze in some temple time before it closed. The temple grounds were beautiful! 


We had Blue stay with us with the boys, Aaron and Grammy and Grampy went to a hockey game. As I was putting to the girls to bed, Blue laid on the floor in the girls' room. Eleanor has come a long way with Blue and now she loves having him around. 


Soccer was freezing Saturday morning, but it was fun having family to cheer on the kids!


Austin's team was short several team players so Eli got to play on Austin's team. It was fun having the boys play on the field together! 



After soccer, we ran to a robotics tournament where Duane's cousin's kid was participating. The boys loved it. All the kids did!


The girls and I used our free zoo pass and enjoyed the morning at the zoo. I texted my friend last minute to join and lucky for us, she had passes to ride the train and carousel. The girls LOVED it! I'm grateful for generous friends!





Several of my friends are moving away next month so I planned a simple girls weekend - we had BBQ for dinner and then hung out at my house. Then we had a family BBQ on Saturday afternoon. I sure love KC because of the great families we've met here!


Sunday naps - Adelaide loves sleeping in Eleanor's bed for nap time. Adelaide was very excited to show me this worm she found outside. 



I took Eleanor to kindergarten round up! Will she really be going to kindergarten in the fall?! HOW?! She loved everything about school and wishes she could start tomorrow. We've been to the school so much with the boys so it's fun for her to now feel apart of the school! Here's to enjoying the time we have together before school starts in the fall.