Little things

"The little things are all the big things are! Added up, day by day. When it's gone, you'll wish you realized that those small moments--those regular moments--were in fact...the entire thing. They were all of it. They were where the Light was all along."

-Emily Mitchell 

These moments are the entire thing. I am glad for them.

Layla loves on her chickens the majority of her free time. She introduces all of her friends to them. They live in a box in the garage right now, but two of them are just about big enough to go outside. Eric (with Layla's encouragement) has been hard at work building their chicken coop. For now, she just brings them outside occasionally on beautiful days. They roam a little, but mostly they get held a lot.

Kyler and Kacin lost a little bit of their wisdom on the same day. They both had all of their wisdom teeth removed at the same time. Sad that I only got pictures of Kacin because he went first. And by the time Kyler came out I was trying to take care of both of them and got it a little crazy. Like literally crazy--I got some good videos of the funny things they said! Alas, only videos so no documentation here. But Kyler was entertained by his lip and Kacin wouldn't stop talking. Haha. They both lived off of ice cream for days. And now we are glad that is behind us.

Arizona couldn't be more perfect than it is right now. We spend as much time as we can at the park or at on walks and bike rides. Brinn is a whiz on her scooter now. Which is kind of dangerous because if she decides she is going to go somewhere she zooms fast and it is hard to keep up with her.

 



Two Elsa's had a play date. Brinn loves her friends fiercely. 

Kyler got asked to MORP!


The writing in ketchup was awesome.

I love our neighborhood so much. We have so many good people, especially good kids around us. Perry feels included with a group of boys his age and my heart bursts with happiness about that. They play at the park, ride bikes, and shoot basketballs. One evening they worked hard on another cool project. They built a maze from the landscaping rocks in a common area. 

Their entrance signs were my favorite.

 

They worked hard to clear all those big rocks to make paths all over the area. Perry came home beaming with pride about their project. What great little boys. That's how childhood should be spent.



Kyler. Kyler. Kyler. Thank you for leaving this picture for me.


We decided to take our gingerbread house and destroy it in a big way. We saved some fireworks just for this purpose.

Perry wanted to try his nerf gun on it first though.


When that didn't cause much damage, someone jokingly suggested he use his wand to whack it. So he did. And that definitely destroyed the house. 


We still tried to put the house back together to light fireworks underneath it, but the house was already in pieces so we didn't see the reaction we anticipated. 

So then we attached pieces to the fireworks. The gingerbread men and the Christmas trees pieces did look pretty with the sparks of light exploding around them.




We had the Schlinks over for dinner and family game night.

Definitely one of our most impressive Jenga rounds.

On MLK day, we took advantage of the day off to finish celebrating Eric's birthday. We went to Benihana's for lunch. The kids had no idea what to expect so it was fun to see their reactions to the show.

And they sung to E. 

No oe knew for sure what would happen to the wrestling season, but with a hundred rules in place the boys are allowed to officially wrestle for the school year. They both started on JV. With all the restrictions, we just watch the matches at home. They are only two matches in and they have each had a pin. 

They came home from wrestling practice and collapsed. There were sweat puddles on the floor when they stood up. I think its safe to say that they have never been stronger. Or more tired. They practice for hours each day. It is intense. And so incredible. And I think they are seeing the positive results from all their hard work.

 

These little things are all the big things.

these days

This is a catch up quick post right here. It's a snapshot of many little things that have been documented on my phone over the last couple months. 

Starting with this little friend of mine.. I'm sure her Layla Belle best friend/sister helped her do this one with the stickers.

Night time cuddles...

Layla and I have been reading the book "Wish" together. We are slowly plugging away chapter by chapter when we get some time in the evenings. Reading with my kids is one of my favorite parts of being a mom. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like right now, but I love when we do get a chance.

Well, let's just say that Kyler made a memorable night the time he let a friend cut his hair into a mullet.


Kyler goes to in person school for four classes and two classes are online. He is taking journalism and writes for the school newspaper. He is thriving! He is such a talented writer. I LOVE reading his articles.

We got in a few good trips to the splash pad.

We were getting a new trailer hitch installed on our van so we had to be in mesa. My heart always skips a beat when I'm home in Mesa. I especially fell nostalgic when I see that diving swimmer Motel sign--a historic landmark that is so close to my childhood home.

I took these three to the zoo on a beautiful day before our membership expired.




We decided to hike hole in the rock after our zoo adventure.




Layla wanted to be photographer, too.

This is one hike that Brinna can hike the whole way. She was so proud of her hiking abilities! And loved hiking hand in hand with her big brother.

Eric and I went on a double date with our friends for Axe throwing.

Guess who walked away with "Lumberlord" stamped on her leg?! hahaha It was pure luck that I won the last game.

I joined my friend at a women's conference at her community christian church. I loved being surrounded by good women and joining them in worship and hearing some comedy and inspiration.


We took these three best friends to the natural history museum in mesa. I was surprised, but Brinna was terrified the first time she saw the dinosaurs. She screamed out of terror and clutched me tight. And we were not even inside the museum yet. I was able to talk her through it and we were brave together as we went through the museum. By the end, she was feeling comfortable and we were able to enjoy the rest of the museum. 

Some good dinosaur faces here! Roar!

It was darling seeing them grab onto each other's hands as we walked around the block.

Perry and Brinna's relationship melts my heart. Their sibling love runs deep.




Layla prepared a fancy dinner for us one night. He favorite part of meal prep is setting the table. 

When my parents came into town, my dad joined these girls and me on a hike.

Beautiful sunset!


The weather is becoming so lovely (though definitely on the warmer side compared to most years. We are setting heat records in arizona this year!). It's nice that we can enjoy our backyard a bit more. We sat outside for a sunday family church meeting one day. I think that we will do that more often!

THis is how most sundays go--arguing, messes, and some wrestling.

As much as I love my boys, I just can't end this post with that picture. haha. So here is another beautiful view from our sunset hike.

 

I'm so close to being back in real time! whoo hoo!