trial run in nursery

A week before Colby hit his 18 month mark, which is when he is allowed to attend nursery, he had a "trial-run". Kevin had to go to a different ward for his Stake calling, and I was teaching the Laurels, so Colby needed a place to go :)  The nursery leader had told me a month or so before that I could start bringing him, so I figured I would take her up on her offer.

 I only took him for the third hour to ease him into the whole situation. I din't think Colby knew what to expect, but he seemed excited about being a big boy. He didn't seem nervous at all, and went straight to playing and having fun.  I walked away, hovered by the door for a few minutes, then headed to class.  I was a little nervous during class, and rushed to pick him up as soon as church was over.  He was happy and smiling, and I was a relieved Mom. 

Apparently nursery was exhausting though, because he was fast asleep before we made it home!

last game of the first season

I am so happy that Brooke enjoyed her first season of soccer!  I also really liked that they had practice right before each game, which made it a Saturday-only commitment. Practices normally started at 9 or 10 and lasted about 45 minutes.  They would then have a short devotional about being kind, following the example of Jesus, etc. Then it was potty break, and time to move over to the game fields.  Everything was super organized, which I loved. Brooke's coach's name was Frank, but his wife (pictured above), also helped on occasion. Their daughter Emily was also assisting.

I can't decide what I liked watching more, practice or the games. During practice I really was able to see her improve on her skills and technique, but games were fun because they were more fast-paced.

Since this was their last game, they received medals at the end. Brooke was on cloud 9, even more so because Sister Parr (one of her favorite people), came to watch the game. She is seriously the greatest and shows such love to Brooke.

Nothing's better than sharing your special game with such a special person!

I am so proud of our little soccer player, and hope that she wants to play again next Spring.  Possibly Fall, but it might be too hot for that, haha.

easter festivities

First up on the Easter activity list was dying (and coloring) Easter eggs!  I bought a kit for "glossy" eggs, which was a little different than your traditional dip-in-the-dye method. You basically painted a shiny coating on the eggs, which was far less messy and a total win in my book.  I just gave Colby some markers, and he went to town.

 

My friend Shelby mentioned that she normally goes to the Walnut Ridge Easter celebration, so we figured we would go as well. Kevin was at a scouting thing for church, so I was on my own with the kids.  (This is the same church where Brooke plays soccer, and I was totally impressed with their free event.) We met up with Shelby and her family just as they were about to go on this huge slide.  They let Brookie hop in line with them, and I was surprised that she was totally okay with going on her own.  It really was a huge inflatable, and she had never done anything like that before.  She loved it though, and I was proud of her for being brave. 

They did an inflatable obstacle course, a tiny bounce house, and then we entered Colby into the "diaper dash."  Shelby suggested that I go try it, but when I saw that all the other moms had small babies, I felt kind of silly.  The relay was for babies who weren't quite walking, and although Colby fit the category, I just felt like I was cheating or something because he was so big!  I walked away, but then a little bit later we went back over and I just asked the requirements, and they totally let him in. Shelby offered to sit with Colby at the starting line so that I could be at the end, coaxing him to the finish line (where they had little rubber ducks as incentives, haha!).  I told her to hold him tight because he would probably just go straight for the duck, but he proved me wrong!  They said go, and he just sat there!  I think he was overwhelmed and confused by all the shouting and cheering from people around the fence.  The other 3 babies got the hang of it, and one baby was almost to the finish line when Colby TOOK OFF!  He is so darn fast with his bum scoot that he beat the little girl that was literally almost to the finish line when he started.  My boy won the diaper dash, and it was so so hilarious. One lady said, "Woah, that kid came out of nowhere."  Hahaha, it really was so funny to watch.  We won a box of diapers, so I was pretty stoked about that.  I just wish Kevin would have seen it in person. 

Then it was on to the little petting zoo.  Colby saw the bucket of brushes and kept saying "brush" and "pease", until I relented and let him brush those sheep and goats. He loved it so much, as did Brooke. They had a small trailer with other animals as well, but it was so crowded, so we didn't stay long. 

Last, but not least, was the Easter egg hunt!  Brooke was so excited to be there with her friends Pyper and Presley. There were so many kids there, but the church had like 10,000 eggs in the field, so everyone went home with something. 

We left right after the hunt because I had plans at noon with friends. 

Then Sunday was Easter, and although I had tried all month to explain the true meaning of Easter, the kids (mostly Brooke) were most excited about the Easter bunny visiting our house. 

After church, family (minus Papa who was still in the hospital from foot surgery) came over for lunch and an Easter celebration. All three girls received Moana barbies from the Easter bunny, and they were constantly pushing the buttons on their dolls to make them sing.  It was noisy, but fun!

Waiting for the hunt to begin...

Kevin and Jeff hid the 6 dozen eggs Melanie and I filled. 

The kids had a blast, but surprised me with how quickly they gathered up all of those eggs.

I helped Colby Buddy since I didn't want him scooting all over the grass and getting grass stains on his shorts.

The perks of being with Mama are that you get the eggs hidden up in the trees :)

Full baskets...

We sure missed having Papa there, but we Facetimed with him so that he felt somewhat part of the day's festivities. 

I am so grateful for this family of mine, and for our baby on the way.  I had felt so so sick in the mooning, so we actually missed church.  Of all the weeks to miss, I hated missing Easter Sunday, but I also felt so awful that I didn't think I could physically make it to church. On top of the pregnancy nausea, I also had some sort of cold that was accompanied by aches and chills. Since we were hosting, I was supposed to wake up early to get a roast in the crock pot, so Kevin woke up with me and was super helpful getting everything ready for the dinner.  He let me go back to bed for a few hours while he took care of the kids.  It was exactly what I needed to be able to function for the rest of the day.

I am so thankful for the chance we had to celebrate the Easter season, and I'm forever grateful that our Savior rose again on that third day.  I bought a book (that came late) about ways to make Easter more meaningful with young kids, and I'm excited to implement all the ideas next year with my cute little people.

april with the littles

Poor Papa has had a rough couple of months with multiple foot surgeries, but we tried to visit him and send love as often as possible.  He missed seeing his grandkids and spending time with them. I could tell that Brooke was a little hesitant to go near Papa in his hospital bed, but by the end of the visit, she had snuggled up next to him to do a look-and-find together.

One evening, as Kevin was out doing year work, Colby decided that he wanted to be in the car. The moment I set him in, he stood up, grabbed the wheel, then leaned over and started pushing ALL the buttons, haha.  I took him out several times, and he would go back to the car, say "car", then make a car noise.  It starts young I guess, haha.

Brooke was invited to a 5th birthday party for her friend Charlie from soccer.  Brooke talked about the party for weeks, but it really made me nervous.  I wasn't sure if it was expected that I would just drop her off, but I wasn't comfortable with the idea at all.  Her parents were the soccer coaches, and they seemed like nice enough people, but I just didn't feel right about dropping my 3 year old off at their house.  I finally texted the Mom to find out if it would be okay if I stayed "since Brooke was only 3", haha.  I figured that by stating her age, I would justify my protectiveness!  The Mom said that was totally fine, and she said that Charlie was really hoping that Brooke would be there. I had to take her picture because she was so darn excited.  We had gone to the toy store to find the perfect gift, and came home with a Moana barbie. We showed up at the party, and Brooke was the only kid there for a while, so her and Charlie had a great time.  They had rented a huge bounce house, and the girls had a great time playing together. I just mingled with the other adult family members there and tried to work on my conversation skills. I am always so busy with my kids that it's rare for me to have an uninterrupted conversation with another adult.

One afternoon, I was feeling brave and I let Brooke paint her own toenails.  It looked rather messy, but she has to start somewhere, right? Nothing that a little nail polish remover and a Q-tip couldn't fix :)

I rarely practice the piano because when I do, the kids swarm to me and want their turn playing (pounding) on the piano.  Colby was pretty happy to sit there and pound away.

We met our play group friends at the park after story time, and Brooke and Elias had fun together on the teeter-totter. I don't feel like Brooke plays with Elias very often, so it was fun to see them together.

One HOT afternoon, Brooke and I heard the ice cream truck. I had explained the concept the previous week when we heard him, but it was right before dinner, so I told we couldn't buy ice cream.  This particular day, the timing was perfect, so I introduced her to the novelty of the ice cream man.  I grabbed some cash and we flagged him down.  I couldn't believe that the ice cream bars were in the $3-5 range...but I felt like we had already committed.  I was sure that Brooke would pick one of the ice cream bars with the gumball eyes (the ones I used to love), but she chose a simple fudge bar.  I chose a huge banana and fudge bar to share with Colby.  The kids were so thrilled, and as we sat on the driveway, we talked about how fun that was, but I reminded them that we couldn't do it often because it was super expensive!  I told Brooke that my friends and I used to wash cars in our neighborhood to have money to buy ice cream from the man who would drive his truck around our neighborhood every afternoon during the summer.  It really brought back a lot of memories.

Colby knows the drill that when he goes poop, it's time to change his diaper.  I had carried him into my room, and I set him down on the floor in my bathroom while I grabbed the diaper and wipes.  I handed him the diaper, and he scooted over to the carpet, laid down, and waited for me, haha.  It was pretty funny.

And last, but not least, was Brooke helping me type out the menu for our vacation.  I took responsibility for creating a menu for our family trip to the beach, but I then needed to put together all the recipes, make lists of ingredients, create a shopping list, etc.  I was really happy to do it, but it took WAY longer than I anticipated.  Brooke was trying to be patient as I typed and organized everything, but finally said, "You can type what you want to eat, and I'll type what I want to eat."  It was pretty hilarious, so I let her have a turn :)

conference weekend

We always look forward to General Conference for many reasons!  It's always spiritually uplifting, and we love our tradition of camping out in Grandma and Papa's backyard.  We started the tradition when Brooke was a baby, and have kept it alive ever since. Well, due to the threat of bad weather, Grandma and Papa cancelled the conference campout, but Kevin was determined to make it happen, but at our house instead.  

But first, Brookie had a soccer game to play!  She was so excited about her game, and about possibly scoring a goal. She had a great game, but wasn't assertive enough to score that elusive goal, haha.  She was always right by the ball, or where she needed to be, but she wasn't quite aggressive enough to take it to the goal. I have loved watching her improve each week as she gets a better understanding of the game. 

Since the league is run by a Baptist church, they always have a devotional between the practice and the game, and both teams hold hands at the end and say a prayer. It's pretty cool to see the community unite like this in a common Christian belief.

And because Kevin adores his little girl, he bought her a ring pop from the snack bar on his way back from the bathroom. She was in heaven.

We made it home just in time to listen to the first Saturday session, then it was time to set up the tent. The kids were so excited, and wanted in on all the action.

Once the tent was up, Kevin and I started making a mental list of everything else we needed from the house and garage, but Brooke took matters into her own hands and started making an actual list.  Just so that we didn't forget anything, haha. I love this girl.

We watched the afternoon session, then ate a delicious smoked brisket for dinner.  Since the brisket took way longer than anticipated (and we didn't eat dinner until almost 8 PM), Colby was super grumpy and ready for bed.  I wasn't feeling confident that we could all sleep in the tent anyways, so I put Colby to bed, and we roasted marshmallows with Brooke over the stove since we didn't want to build a fire at 9 o'clock at night.  It was the lazy way, but delicious nonetheless! Kevin even added peanut butter to the s'mores, which really took them up a few notches.

Sometimes the simplest things can have the biggest impact.  Brooke loved the one-on-one time with us, especially since we were doing something out of the ordinary.

I opted to sleep in the house with Colby, and these two campers slept great in the tent. When the rain started at 6 am, I wondered if they would come into the house, but Brooke didn't wake up until almost 9.  I was pretty impressed because it was raining HARD, but it was pretty dark from the storm, so maybe that helped?

Colby was excited to join in on the fun the next morning :)  I love seeing the enjoyment Kevin gets from doing fun things with our kids.  He really is the best, and Brooke and Colby love spending time with their Daddy. And I got to sleep comfortably in my bed, so it was a win for everybody!!

Sunday was more conference, and I actually was able to listen to the afternoon session since Colby took a long nap!  I really do love conference weekend, but it's not always easy to listen attentively when the kids are playing and need my attention as well.  Luckily, we can listen again and again, so I know I'll get more from the talks in the coming months.