Date Night with the kids

For family night last week we decided to take our kids out on dates. I took Delaney (& Crew) and Trent took Kai. I think I reminded Trent like 3 times to TAKE PICTURES while on their date. Boy did he show me up. I think I spent so much time worrying about the pictures from their date that I forgot to take any good ones on ours!

The boys went to Maze Craze for their date and did laser tag, a mirror maze, and some laser mission.

 Afterward they walked over to Barnes and Noble to look at books and get a Cheesecake Factory Cake.

Peeking out of the dressing room at Justice

Delaney and I went shopping. She ended up with a new swimsuit, a pair of fake glasses (apparently those are cool in 3rd grade) and a fun little coin purse. Afterward we went and got smoothies.

I thought she'd want to do something more fun, but this was her dream date: Shopping & Smoothies

with our peach & strawberry smoothies

It was so much fun spending one on one time with the kids. I know that they loved it too! I think this will be something we do on a more regular basis.

Easter

This was an interesting Easter Sunday. Trent decided along with his Bishopric to go ahead and hold an early meeting before church because they hadn't met in a while with General Conference being the week or so before. That left me on duty to get the kids to church by 9 on my own like I normally do on Sunday... with the additional job having our Easter Egg hunt to see what the good bunny left us. Did I mention I did all that with 3 kids and arrived at church before 9??? Just checking.

Lovin' the fake smiles
 

One of the things I failed to do before 9 was get a decent Easter picture of the kids:

1st attempt: Kai is eating

2nd attempt: more fake smiles

3rd attempt: more interested in the neighbors

And we're DONE!

Hope you had a great Easter!

What we're up to...

Gosh it's been awhile... I really want to get back into the swing of it with blogging, but for now I need to play catch up. Here's what the Church Family has been up to:

Delaney was asked to attend the Shamrock Invitational- her first gymnastics meet. She did wonderful! 

1st Place Overall in her division

She LOVES 3rd grade, loves her friends and is a great big sister. I am so thankful that she was born first in our family!! I can pretty much guarantee that at some point during church Crew will get rowdy and I will have to step out into the hall. I can also guarantee that Delaney will be reverent, act like Kai's mom by telling him to be quiet, and will clean up all the stuff out of our church bag by the time I come back in. 

Kai started his second season of soccer recently. He is doing significantly better this time at listening to the coach and being where he is supposed to be. He is older now, but still the smallest on his team. Every one always comments on his killer smile and dimples and I just say "I know. It saves his life every day."

I'm also happy to report that Kai is doing well in kindergarten. His teacher tells me that all the kids really like him and that if he does get in trouble it's because he's trying to make them laugh. Hmmm... sounds like his father's son.

And guess what this little man is up to...

That's right. I can barely believe my baby is 2!! He is growing up way to fast, but he has us cracking up every day which is the fun part about this age. He is OBSESSED with sports. I have to make sure I'm on time at church because our ward is huge and if we are late we have to sit in the overflow where the basketball hoop is. He will shout "SHOOT the ball!" over and over again.

He counts to 10, knows his body parts, sings "twinkle twinkle little star" "I am a child of God" and "Happy Birthday to you." He calls fruit snacks "naks". He wants to go outside 24/7. He loves his binkie and blanket and doesn't want one without the other. He is super affectionate and snuggly. He takes a 2-3 hour nap and says "night night mama" when I lay him down. He has a temper and will stomp one foot if necessary. 

Trent is the busiest man on the planet right now. He works 12 hour days M-F and puts in about 7 more hours on Saturday on top of being the Bishop of our ward. He is a good husband and daddy though. He loves his family and makes sure to give us focused time when he is home. The best part is that he makes sure to take me on a date once a week.

I have loved staying at home with Crew during the day, doing play dates and getting to go on field trips or volunteer at Delaney and Kai's school. My nights are busy with running kids to and from practice,  date night, girls night, or work.

Life is great. When we focus on our family, things just go smoothly. 

Search the Streets!

Delaney and her two best friends got lucky enough to all get the same teacher this year. 

Not only do they spend the school day together, but the minute they finish their after school snack they want to go to each other's house to play. 

 One of the things they do is make up songs or plays. They told Mrs. Steele that they wanted to stay inside for recess one day so they could practice a play they made up and make tickets for the show. She offered to help them make the tickets. In their minds, the play was going to be put on at our house in front of the families only. Imagine the girl's surprise when Mrs. Steele asked if she could buy a ticket and come. "You would come to our house?"

(Like I've mentioned before: they have the best teacher EVER!)

Stars of the Show: Aubrey, Delaney & Lizzy

 Now imagine OUR surprise when the girls came home on Monday with tickets to a play that we didn't know existed letting us know that it would take place at 4:15 on Wednesday and Mrs. Steele plus several kids in their class would be coming!

The tickets sold out and Mrs. Steele had to print more. Lizzy's mom and I made up bags of popcorn and brownies. The girls told a couple neighbors that they could get a free ticket by working the cash register at the front or passing out popcorn.

The play was really cute. It was about a girl who gets mad at her mom and decides to run away (No idea where they come up with such things :) Her little sister copies everything she does, so she follows. Next there is a costume change where Delaney and Lizzy turn into two not-so-bright army guys. I knew these girls had a funny sense of humor, but they were so clever in making up the funny lines. They are told by the girl's mom to "search the streets" and find the missing girls.

There were a ton of neighbors and school friends who bought tickets and came. At the end of the day they had made almost $40! 

I LOVE that their teacher inspired them to do this so big. I LOVE that the girls were brave enough to perform for that many people! I LOVE how creative Delaney and her friends are! They are such talented young ladies!

The three little pigs

Snow day

It finally decided to snow in FEBRUARY. I didn't think I wanted any this year, but it was so much fun sledding with the kids that I decided I am a fan of snow now and again. I just don't want to drive in it.

My latest Project

I really wanted to throw these colors in the kid's play room so I took on a little project. I found a picture on the internet that I liked then painted my own little spin off. Here is how it turned out:

I'm no painter, but in my children's eyes, I am a real artist.
Oh how I love them.

Valentines Day

We had another great Valentines Day this year. The kids always look forward to a surprise when they wake up. 

 I got to babysit Crew's best friend Boston who is one of my favorite little boys in the world.

Delaney & Mrs. Steele

 Then off to the kid's Valentines Parties at school! They have the BEST teachers this year which I am so grateful for!

Kai & Mrs. Hellbusch

Relay Race

Love Bug

 After the kiddos went to bed, I had a big dinner made for Trent and I to have our own little date. I am going to say that I don't usually make ribs but these were the BEST ribs I have ever had! They just fell right off the bone. We had sparkling cider in our fancy champagne flutes, ribs, cornbread, herb oven roasted potatoes, and bread pudding with a cinnamon syrup.

I love the four little loves in my life. Our lives are very busy and stressful at times, but they are my anchor.

Makin S'mores

It has been so warm all winter that we took advantage of the weather for family night and hung out by the fire making s'mores and playing in the backyard. 

I love my family. 

I love that my kids are each other's best friends.

(Even though some days they need being reminded that.)

A little "yoga" in the yard

I am thankful for all the joy that these three little pigs bring into my life each day.

2011

I can not believe that 2012 is here. I'm pretty sure that 2011 took the cake for our family as the craziest year in the many we've shared. I turned 30 for one thing... but that's not the craziest part:

       In the summer, Trent got called to be the bishop of our ward at church. We were incredibly nervous but felt that you can't turn down a calling from the Lord. We thought we knew what it meant to have hectic schedules but we realized we really didn't know just how hectic life could get. A short month later, Trent's boss at work told him that he could no longer keep him on the salary he was paying him and would have to make him a contract attorney which meant he'd get less work and only get paid for the work he did. Trent had already been looking for a new job and knew that there was nothing out there. It was an extremely stressful time for us. We eventually decided to look at jobs outside of Kansas City that ensured we would have to move.
       We knew that the most important thing we could do at that time was have faith and try as hard as we could to do all the things the Lord asks of us. At the end of October Trent decided to call a law firm here in town he had previously interviewed with when he saw a job posting pop up. He knew that it was really hard to get a job with this firm and that you had to be in the top 20% of your graduating class for them to even look at you (which he was not.)  He talked to the lady there and she said "It's funny you should call because the boss just asked me to call you today. He wants you to come in and talk with him."
      Trent left that meeting with a job. We got to stay in our home and keep the kids in their school and not have to leave the ward. We know that the Lord is aware of us and we are so thankful for all that he has blessed us with.
     I learned so much in 2011. Not only did I learn to rely on the Lord, but I learned about SERVICE. I learned what real FRIENDSHIP was. I learned what some of my WEAKNESSES and some of my STRENGTHS were. I learned how to LOVE more deeply.   I am a different person from learning these things.
      
We are excited to see what 2012 will bring.