Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets lately. We have a great view from our house.

I'm thankful for March Madness this year.  Kael has been so into it and it's fun to watch with him!

I'm thankful for a free afternoon on a sunny Tuesday.  Kase and I spent the entire day outside, shooting baskets, digging in the dirt under our deck, catching bugs- it was awesome.

I'm thankful that Kent volunteered to run to the store Sunday night when we discovered we were nearly out of chips.  Sunday Night Date food typically involves chips and salsa.

I'm thankful Kylee gets Kase a toy every time her team wins Team of the Week at school, which has been nearly every week lately.  She always picks out something for Kase.  She's an awesome big sister.

I'm so, so thankful for my new phone.  Kent is the best. He surprised me this week and came home during the middle of the day with a new phone for me!

I'm thankful for my ah-may-zing neighbors.  Seriously the best.

Happy Thursday, guys!

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a lovely weekend.

Friday, Kase and I went to the mall to see the Easter bunny and even though he told me he was "just going to wave" at the bunny, he did end up sitting on the bunny's lap which made for a cute picture. He also rode the train and had a fun time in the playplace (which is exactly when and where my headache stopped- go figure!) and found a friend to play with their for quite awhile.  Then we got a call from Kent who asked if we wanted to meet him for lunch.  What a fun start to our weekend. 

Friday night we celebrated Kent's great uncle's 70th birthday with family.  We had a great time and the kids keep talking about how they want to go back to Neela's house! 

Saturday was a busy one.  Kent took Kase to an Easter egg hunt, I took Kylee to Ninja Warrior class and my dad wanted Kael to come help out in his backyard.  Kael helped him burn a pile of wood and they also had fun shooting Kael's pellet gun. 

That afternoon Kent's brother and (soon to be) sister-in-law came over to hang out. The kids couldn't.get.enough of them! Kase was pulling Kaity all around the house..."Hey Kaity, look at this! Hey Kaity, wanna see this?!"  We so enjoyed spending the afternoon with them.  Then we had a lazy Saturday night around here.

Kevin stood up to pick something up and Kase snuck it and sat underneath him- ha!

Sunday morning Kylee was so excited to wake up and give us some Easter surprises.  She had gifts for all of us and they were so sweet.

Later we made our way downstairs where the Easter Bunny had left some fun surprises. 

We went to the early service at church- the kids looked so nice all dressed up!

After church we stopped by Kent's grandparents' house for a visit, then had lunch at the other grandparent's house before going back to Grandpa Keith and Grandma Cindy's for an Easter egg hunt! The kids loved all their candy and surprises and we enjoyed spending the afternoon with Keith, Cindy, Kevin and Kaity. 

We headed home by late afternoon and stopped by my parents' house, where the kids got even more treats and surprises! We wrapped up the day with our annual egg-cracking contest, where Kent was crowned champ, then had a kickball game before heading home. 

Looking forward to a great week ahead!

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful for my village. I've been having some bad headaches all week and I've had friends and family offer to take my kids for the afternoon, I've had one friend let me borrow her peppermint oil, I've had a brother-in-law do chiropractic adjustments, and I've had one friend deliver her famous guacamole to me! While this week has been no picnic, I certainly couldn't have gotten through it without everyone!

This week though. Seriously.

Kent worked late several nights which none of us are used to.

The weather was terrible.

Kase's threenager behavior is wearing on me. Hard. And it seems emotions are running high with Kael and Kylee, too. 

The Hawkeyes lost, UNI lost in an epic way. 

I evidently broke my cell phone. What an inconvenience.

Kase smashed his head twice- once on a door and once on a counter and both left giant goose eggs. My anxiety over Kase's head injuries couldn't be higher.

I lost my wedding ring, you guys.

I'm so ready to turn the page on this week but it's not over yet so I'm trying to find the good.

Kent worked late a few nights but got home early the others, which led to some fun family time in the evenings. Glow in the dark jump rope and glow in the dark basketball and baseball were involved! Fun memories made.

Warmer weather is right around the corner.

I'm blaming the full moon plus the fact it was the week after Spring Break (staying up late, eating less healthfully) as the reason for extra emotions this week, which means next week will be a dream, of course.

None of us are basketball super fans around here so no hearts were broken over the losses.

We had an older phone around here that my super techie husband was able to get working for me. He put all my "stuff" on exactly as it was on my other phone. Also in the meantime I was so thankful Kael had a phone I could use!

Kase's head is fine and the bumps have already faded to light bruises. I do think he should wear a helmet during all wakeful hours, though. Just sayin'.

My wedding ring was found. I'm not a person who takes my rings off, like, ever so it was super weird that it went missing. Kent found it in our bed- still no idea if I took it off in my sleep or if it fell off? Either way, I felt like I was holding my breath all day until it was found.

While it has been a trying week, there have been lots of good things and I would love to share one.

Kael has been working on a biography for several months. He interviewed my grandma awhile back and today he got to bring his very professional (hard-cover even!) looking book home! He was so anxious to show grandma! He proudly read her each page and let her keep the book to show all her friends. The bond these two have is so, so special. 

Here's to hoping the rest of the week is easy!

Spring Break Part III

Thursday morning we spent just hanging around home.  I let the kids use some Silly String in the garage, and also they had fun making slow motion videos on Kael's phone.

Here are a couple pictures from when they spent some time with Grandma the other day.

New chalk!

Thursday afternoon Kael had his March Madness basketball camp, which he's done every year over Spring Break for several years.  Kase was with my mom for his day to hang out with her, so Kylee and I went to paint pottery at a cute little place in town. 

That evening, she had a friend spend the night, so Kael and Kase had a movie night in Kael's room.

Friday we spent the day here.  We played outside a little, then dyed Easter eggs.  We had a fun little egg cracking contest on the deck.  Then we thought about going to Perfect Games or SkyZone, but I had a migraine so we ended up staying home.  The kids and I had fun watching the Hawkeye game, and were soooo excited when Kent got home around dinner time!

Saturday morning Kylee had her Ninja Warrior class.  She loved it! It's totally her thing.  Ever since we started watching the show, she's always said she wants to do it, so when we came across a class for kids Ninja Warrior- she was really excited.  Can't wait to go back next week!

Saturday evening we spent celebrating our neighbor turning 40! We watched the ISU game with them and several other neighbors.  We were so thankful Keith and Cindy were willing to come down and hang with the kids!

Today after church we watched a (very sad) Hawkeye game with some good friends.  Although the game was terrible, the company was wonderful.  Later Kent went into the office for a few hours and we just kind of got caught up around here, getting ready for the week.  I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm sad to see Spring Break come to an end! June 8 seems awfully far away for my big kids to be done with school!

Spring Break, Part II

Spring Break continues to be a ton of fun for us.  I'm just so, so enjoying spending the week with my kids.

Tuesday morning we picked up Casey's donuts. 

My mom offered to take each of my kids for a day during Spring Break so she got to spend time one on one with them and they got to feel special, having Grandma all to themselves! For Kael's day, he chose to have my mom take him to visit my great aunts.  I'm just so proud of this kid- he has such a big heart.  I can't think of many other ten year olds who would choose to spend their day visiting a nursing home? 

After their visit, my mom took him out for pizza, then back to her house to bake cookies. In the meantime, Kase, Kylee and I spent the morning playing outside at the park, then had some friends over in the afternoon.

I forgot to mention that our boomerang got stuck on the top of our roof so when my mom came to pick up Kael, she found me on the roof rescuing it! Normally that's a job I would reserve for Kent but he won't be back until Friday and the kids really wanted the boomerang down.  I don't love heights so they were surprised I was willing to retrieve it!

Tuesday afternoon we stopped by my sister's house to play for a bit, then picked up a few groceries when I discovered my phone didn't work.  Ugh.  Went to Verizon where they told me I could come back tomorrow to get it fixed.  I was bummed, but my day brightened a little when a friend told me it was Free Cone Day at Dairy Queen so the kids and I went there and they were so excited.  It's the little things, right?

That night the kids had a sleepover in Kael's room. Kase didn't last the whole night in there but I love seeing them have fun together.  Woke up Wednesday morning and my phone just started working again! Hooray!

Wednesday was Kylee's day to spend with Grandma.  She helped her decorate for Easter, had lunch at Leaning Tower and delivered a goodie basket to my grandma.  So sweet!

While Kylee was away, the boys and I stopped at our favorite park. I was a little chilly so Kael let me borrow his sweatshirt. He's certainly growing up. 

Wednesday afternoon the kids stayed and played at my mom's while I went out and got a good start on the April birthday shopping. Then we ended up having a later dinner at Chili's with my parents before heading home to bed.

The kids woke up this morning to some trickery from a leprechaun.  Holidays are so fun with kids.  They ate Lucky Charms and searched for gold coins around the house.  We have a fun day ahead and are SO thankful for the family that has helped us make Spring Break fun while Kent is away! And so, SO thankful that he gets home tomorrow!