so mad little critter

 

This was the casualty of his tantrum. Seems fitting. 

goodbye seattle girls night

I have amazing people in my life right now. Whom I am going to miss terribly. They sure made my day when they surprised me with a girls night out.

Of course, Eric trying to be inconspicuous and sneaky about the evenings plans made me quite suspicious that something was up. . . But it was such a fun surprise when these ladies showed up at the park and whisked me away from my family and took me to a mysterious location. 

We ended up in Edmonds where we ate a yummy Italian pizza dinner and then walked onto the ferry.

 

 

 

 

We ate yummy crepes when we disembarked.

 

 

They also gave me a Seattle bag filled with Seattle things--salish lodge preserves, cherries, lavender soap, a Seattle magnet, etc. It was the sweetest gift! I am going to miss Seattle and, especially, these ladies like crazy.

 

these days

I am addicted to netflix. Eric pointed out how many episodes (and therefore hours) of a certain show I watched yesterday. I used to relish the quiet and spend my down time studying or reading or creating. And I used to avoid the tv until after the kids went to bed. Probably because I knew this would happen. But I let myself watch a show during the day, and because of the convenience of my phone, it has turned into watching shows while I get ready, fold laundry, eat meals, cook dinner, and while I walk round the house cleaning up. I feel like I should say that I will show some self-control and put my phone down more often. But instead I'm just saying how life is right now. But if I'm still glued like this in a few weeks, I'll need an intervention. ;)

A few weeks ago, I had a day when I was not feeling well. Which just amplified my feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and overwhelmedness with everything going on. I threw myself on my bed holding in the tears. I started to pray and poured out my thoughts and feelings to my Heavenly Father. Time and time again, I know he hears and answers me. This time, when I ended my prayer, I looked over at my shelf. I thought about reaching for my phone, you know to check my email or scroll through facebook. But instead I decided to reach for the Ensign that was laying there. It was the general conference edition. I randomly opened up the magazine and read the address I opened to. It was President Uchtdorf's message entitled "He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home". It was exactly what I needed in that moment. How could I ever doubt that there is a God who knows me, loves me, and helps me? And just like President Uchtdorf said, "His invitation is simple. 'Turn...to me.' 'Come unto me.' 'Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.' " I came unto Him in prayer. I chose to reach for that Ensign. And he blessed me with the comfort, answer, and inspiration I needed.

Layla's preschool celebration is today. The boys get out of school next week. One more month until we move down to Arizona.  Life is speeding along.

family picnic at microsoft

Microsoft threw another fun bash for families. We ate so much. kettle corn, ice cream, sno cones, bbq, lemonade. Our tummies were stuffed.

A new thing this year was a big water slide. We could hardly get Perry to eat because all he wanted to do was get on that water slide. Imagine the disappointment when we got over there and they told him he wasn't tall enough. Thankfully, the worker cheated a little and let him go down just once. 

 

 

 

And when kyler got off of the slide, instead of climbing out like I thought he was going to, he threw himself down under the water with a huge splash, soaking me, Layla, and a family of four walking by.

The kids had fun with water balloons, rock climbing, a bounce house, and obstacle course. 

 

Perry and Layla got balloons--a pink pony and  a sword.

 

And all the kids sat to have their caricature drawn!

 

 

 

 

It was no easy task getting Perry to sit there and smile. Thank goodness for the artist's batman tattoo! I've never been so grateful for body art.

 

 

I wish I had a picture of Layla when she first sat down in that chair to model for her picture. She was trying so hard to be still and smile. Too hard. The more we told her to smile and relax, the more she shrugged her shoulders, widened her eyes, and drew her chin back revealing double chins. The artist asked her if she was in pain. And I all could do at first was laugh. I finally got myself in check and became a good mom and helped her sit forward and smile more naturally.

 

 

We also took the perfect picture for our 2016 Christmas card:

 

ballerina

Someone's getting excited for her recital...two more weeks until she hits the big stage.

5th Grade Camp

Kacin and Eric packed their bags and traveled by school bus to spend two nights at camp Orkila.

The 5th graders had a blast at camp. And Eric counted himself pretty lucky to get to chaperone a bunch of crazy 5th graders.

This little hike was a highlight of the trip for Kacin. It didn't surprise me to hear that every free moment Kacin, Caleb, Grace, and Kate spent together.

These are some pictures from Kacin and Eric's day time activity group.

Kacin was lucky enough to get two of his good friends from his class (and church) in his cabin group. Here they are on the ferry over to the island.

Kacin made it up on the high ropes course.

Classic 5th grade right here. Because life is not complete without a dab. 

these days

Kyler is doing an english unit that includes writing and performing monologues. I have loved watching him practice and perform for us at home! He impresses me with his confidence, expression, and creativity. I was never that comfortable and confident at the age of 12. But I am so glad that he is! And he has every right to be because he is so smart and fun and extremely capable.

I taught my last week of co-op preschool. I'm so glad we did this. It has worked out perfectly for me and for Layla. On the last day that I had the kids we held a bike-a-thon. The kids had fun riding their bikes on the course. I stamped their hand each time they went around.

one kiddo abandoned his bike for an easier method.

Popsicle time!

 Ellie got her recital costume. Precious girl.

While we waited for Kacin's baseball game to start, Kyler and I had a nice stroll down the mill creek trail.

We finally took Kyler on his easter-promised date. We went and saw Captain America with him.

I woke up one sunday and decided we were walking the almost three miles to church. It was a beautiful day for it. And resulted in some good conversation with my older boys. But of course the 10 minutes that Layla actually got out of the stroller to walk resulted in a twisted ankle for the poor girl.

Flattering picture, I know. But let's document the fact that Layla and I have been enjoying some really good bike rides all around.

The cutie found daddy's sweatshirt.

Kacin's baseball season is winding down. They won their first game in the tournament! It's been a fun season for sure.