Finishing Up February

I wanted to post some of the random pictures I had from the last week or so of February. We wend swimming in Grandma & Grandpa Haycock's pool one afternoon and the kids had a blast. We got another snow storm which everyone was super bummed about. It seriously felt like we were starting winter all over again... lame. But we finished off February and are on to March! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Life is so good and I'm so grateful for my family. Rick and the kids mean everything to me and I'm so happy to live life with them!

Reading books together.

Waiting at the bus stop in this nasty weather...

I was doing a workout video and all the kids decided to join
in the fun with me. Wait, did I say fun? Ha

We tried a new hair-do on Brenna! She's not too sure.

I love their little relationship. Garrett is so sweet with Brenna.

Shopping at the mall with Olivia while Kimbri
was at school. Brenna didn't like riding on the
cow too much.

They decided to both get in this tiny little
box together, haha!

The "Auntie" onesie Olivia got for Kimbri
when she was little. Now it fits Brenna!

Pretending this box pieces were x-rays. Silly kids!

Brenna loved the cauliflower casserole I made!
The other kids... not so much.

Kimbri's hair is getting soooo long!!!!

A Trip to the Park

After picking Kimbri up from the bus stop a few days ago, we decided to just head on over to the park. It was a warm afternoon, well, warmer than it had been in a while, so we took off!

Brenna was rockin a belly shirt, haha. It isn't normally like that, it just kept riding up every time she climbed up the playground stairs. She kept going up the stairs, would slide down this little tube tunnel, stand up and walk over to a place where she could crawl down and then repeat the whole loop again and again and again. I think all 3 of them were so happy to be outside and enjoying the sun. I know I sure was!

Kimbri showing me tricks on the bar. Also, it was "wear white"
day at school that day which is why she's wearing so much white.

The kids ran all over the field. It probably felt so good to them to
just run and play. You can't hardly even see them in the picture.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Well Rick has been gone for 3 weeks now, with one short weekend trip home for his brother, Wesley's mission farewell (more on that in another post). It is so hard having him gone for so long. It's like being a single parent, and it has been hard at times, especially this past week when I was having major throat issues that just would not go away. It lasted for a whole week before I started to feel some relief after being on an antibiotic for a couple days. But we have made it though 3 weeks and only have 5 more to go! We can do this!! At least that's what I keep telling myself, haha. Thank goodness for modern technology though! It's awesome to be able to FaceTime and have the kids see and talk with him. I took a few screen shots during our last FaceTime chat. Rick was doing silly faces to the kids and making them giggle and laugh. And Brenna was pulling her little tongue face she's been doing often lately.

Garrett loves to do poses and have me take pictures...

...and so does Kimbri.

My mom brought over these long skinny boxes
that the kids made beds out of. They love them!

I got to go in and be a parent helper for Kimbri's class Valentine's Day party. For the activity I brought, I made little stuffed, felt hearts and made a little heart toss. We cut 3 big heart shapes into a big piece of card board and poster board. The kids had to try and throw the hearts and make them into the heart toss. I think they had fun with it. 

Also, the week before, Kimbri did her "Show & Teach" where she taught the class how to make homemade playdoh and she passed out little samples of the playdoh we made at home to all her classmates. She did such a great job and I'm so proud of what a smart little girl she is growing up to be!

Heart hair for Valentines Day!

Brenna and Ava having a milk party
 with Grandma Haycock.

The weather has been slightly warmer an most of the snow has melted! We have been able to have some fun outside and has been good for my soul. I have truly missed Arizona winters so it has felt good to be able to go outside and enjoy the sun for a while during the last week.

Ava in one car...

...and Brenna in another. :)

Brenna has a berry obsession. She loves strawberries, blueberries, raspberries & blackberries. Any time I open the fridge, it's like she can sense it and comes running. I usually have a bowl of already washed berries sitting on one of the fridge shelves. So she goes for the bowl of raspberries and pops a few in her mouth... then decides to get a whole handful and shoves them ALL in her mouth at once. Then with her mouth literally stuffed, she tips the bowl sideways and shows me they are all gone and then tries to give it to me and grunts (because her mouth is still stuffed) wanting more, before she has even finished chewing the ones she has. 

Let's just say, she LOVES food!!!

All finished with dinner- chicken and broccoli
pasta with homemade alfredo sauce. 

I decided to give the kids a bath last night, Saturday, so we'd be all ready for church the next day. I was bathing Brenna while Kimbri was getting pjs on after she had already had a bath. I got the girls all taken care of and ready for bed when I went to find Garrett to get his bath started.... this is how I found him:

He fell asleep at 6pm! And because of it,
he woke up way too early at 6am.

Kimbri is getting pretty good at writing! We are working on having her make spaces between words but she is getting good at sounding out words and writing what she hears. Anyway, she writes people notes all the time. Since I haven't been feeling good the past week, she made me a card and taped some of her Valentine candy she got at school on the card for me. She is such a sweet, thoughtful little girl. 

In case you can't read kindergarten writing (haha) it says:

"Dear mom, I hope you are feeling better today.

I love you. I want to play with you today.

I love you.

Happy Valentines Day. Bye."

 (she even turned the "V" in the word, Valentines into a heart, so cute!)

I seriously love her so much!! And it was hilarious because right after she gave me the card she said, "Even though I gave you some of my candy, I really want to eat the jolly rancher still."  She is just so darn funny and I said, "of course you can eat the jolly rancher" :) What a sweet little girl.

Brenna all ready for church today!
It was her last Sunday before she will officially
be in nursery! How is she that old already?

A Trip to the Fire Station

So this last week for our ward play group, we took a trip to the Mapleton City Fire Station. I'm in charge of the play group as part of being on the RS activities committee so when someone mentioned the fire statin idea, I called and they were so willing to host play group for us! We had a good turn out with 20+ kids plus parents. 

First, 2 ladies who are volunteer EMTs showed the kids the inside of an ambulance and explained a few things about what they do. Then the real hit was when they let all the kids take a ride on the stretcher. They sat about 5 kids on it at once and made it go up and down like a little ride for them all. It was pretty funny and I got a video of when it was Kimbri and Garrett's turn. 

Penn, Garrett, Kimbri

Then one of the firemen showed all the kids what kind of tools they use and what they have to wear. He gave any kids that wanted to, a turn to dress up as a fireman. Then he took us out back and pulled a fire truck around and sprayed water out to show the kids how far it can go. They all thought that was pretty awesome too. At the end they let the kids climb into one of the fire trucks and passed out fireman hats, suckers, pencils that change colors when they warm, and a firefighter coloring book. I think everyone loved it and had a great time! 

A Weekend with Rick

Rick came home last weekend for his brother's farewell. Wesley is headed to the Ciudad Juarez Mission in Mexico! So Rick was able to drive up on Friday after his rotation and be here for the weekend and drive back Monday. It was a quick trip but it was so nice to see him and have him home for the weekend. 

Saturday morning we got up and it had snowed a little, so we all got warm clothes on and went outside together and built a snowman. The kids had a blast building it. Then my dad hooked up the sled he made to the snowmobiles and pulled us all on the sled. There wan't a whole lot of snow but there was just enough that we got to have a fun little family ride :) 

After playing in the snow, we went inside and got changed out of all our snowy clothes and headed up to Orem to go out to lunch together. We went to Texas Roadhouse. Yum! The kids looooved the rolls with cinnamon butter. And I think they filled up so much on them that they didn't eat much of their actual meal, haha. We also used a coupon for a free appetizer so we got cheesy fries. Rick got chicken smothered in gravy with a side of mashed potatoes and I got a chicken salad. We had a lot of leftovers. I love having leftovers! 

We headed back to Mapleton to see Olivia all dressed up and ready for her "Sweethearts" dance. Then my mom offered to tend the kids so Rick and I could go run some errands together without the kids. We ended up just going and getting some grocery shopping done so I could be all set for the week when he had to head back to Arizona on Monday. It was nice to just have some alone time together, even it was just going grocery shopping. 

The next day we got up early and got everyone dressed and ready for 9am church for Wesley's farewell. We headed to Salem and dropped off the beans and Cafe Rio style ranch dressing for the luncheon afterward, and then headed on over to the church. It was great that Rick was able to come home to see his little brother before he leaves on his mission. 

We spent the rest of the day in Salem, relaxing and visiting with one another. It was fantastic. And can I just mention one more time that it was such an amazing weekend with Rick home?! These weeks apart are hard so it's just extra sweet when we get to be together, even if it's just for a couple days.

Pulling the girls on a sled. 

Rick, Garrett & Kimbri

Garrett helping build the snowman!

Brenna was really loving walking around in the snow.

Kimbri gathered up rocks for the mouth and buttons and we
used baby carrots for the eyes and nose.

We were all on the sled while my dad drove the snowmobile
that pulled the sled. It was so fun!