Weekend Wrap-Up

Hello! Hope this post finds you all well as we are in such an uncertain time in our nation.  Needless to say, our travel plans to Universal for Spring Break have been indefinitely postponed because of the coronavirus but we are trying to make the most of it.  Here's what we've been up to.

Baking.  A lot of baking. We're trying to balance out all the sweets by doing extra workouts.  Kids have been so good about running or bike riding each day. 

We made Kase's birthday favors for his class (if he ever gets back to school- if not, we can gift them to neighborhood friends).  "Jump UP and DOWN and celebrate! Kase is 8!"

Took a social distancing excursion to the Sculpture Park.  It felt great to be outside and kids had so much fun exploring.  And also playing Pokémon Go.

We also stopped by the Capitol and kids raced up the stairs.  Kael was the uncontested winner and proved himself again later on a big hill!

We went back again the next day because Kent couldn't find his credit card and we thought it might be there.  This time it was with Tyson and my dad! Meanwhile, Kylee and Brooklyn were at Grandma's baking brownies.

Later Brooklyn joined us for a movie at our house- she got her first car ride with big cousin Kael as a driver!

Kids woke up this morning to a few St. Patrick's surprises.  I had bought the shamrock necklaces for us to wear at Universal but they still enjoyed them!

We found out the kids are going to be off school for 4 weeks at least.  We are using the time to learn some new skills.  Kylee is worried she won't get to have Family Consumer Science at school this semester so she asked me to teach her how to sew.  She did great! We've been coming up with a list of skills the kids can learn over the next few weeks.

A few other things we've been up to- saw the movie Onward (before the social distancing suggestions came out) and it was so surprisingly good!  I didn't have super high expectations but it was a really sweet movie.   We also spent some time at the gym, got pedicures and had one last dinner out (again, before the social distancing).  Kylee had a big group of friends show up and play garage ping pong, order pizza and hang out all night.  We made chocolate chip cookies for them all and had such a fun night.  Tonight we have plans to see Kent's family and we are all looking forward to that.

We are trying to come up with lots of activities to do in the house and in the fresh air, but away from lots of people.  I'm looking forward to spending some extra time with my own people and being "forced" to slow down (no sports) is going to have us coming up with some creative things to do!

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful for Kylee and that other people notice how special she is too.  She came home from Team Awards day and she got three awards!! Sunshine (from her art teacher), Passion (from her PE teacher) and Encourager (from her Civ teacher).  Love this girl and am so proud of her.

I'm thankful for the times I catch Kael in a chatty mood.  The other night when we were watching the Jag basketball game, Kael was having so much fun telling me about his friends and stories from school.  He was laughing so hard and I loved hearing all about it.

Kase was super thankful for his Target gift card from Cindy that he finally got to spend! Walking around Target picking out new Pokémon cards was the perfect way to spend a rainy Monday afternoon!

I'm thankful that today is the last day of school before Spring Break! Can't wait to spend time with my people!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday I was stopped over at my sister's new house and helped them unload a few boxes from their moving truck.  It is going to be so awesome to have them just a short bike ride from our house and have Huston at Ashland Ridge next year! Love their new place, too. That afternoon I went for a long walk with a friend then after school Kase played outside with friends, Kael had track and Kylee went to Starbucks with friends. Later Kael had some friends stay the night and Kylee and Kent stopped by the Simms new house too.

Saturday Kylee was up early for a volleyball clinic before her tournament.  Kent went to the office for a bit and Kase went to a birthday party at Adventureland Inn.  He had so much fun! Kael and I went out Pokémon-ing for while- it was so nice out!

Kent had gone down to the volleyball tournament for the morning few games then I went to watch the afternoon while he went home with the boys.  Kylee's team played well and didn't lose all day!

 They had one pretty long break but made the most of it with a fun photo shoot! Love this team.

Meanwhile Kase was still having fun with his buddy.

Later I got a message from Kael- love that he takes time to send me sunset pictures while he is out Pokémon-ing!

Kylee's team won the championship! It was a long, fun day!

We came home and had a nice, relaxing family night. Sunday morning the big kids slept in.  Daylight Savings Time is not usually my favorite but it was so nice having them rest until well after 9:00! Then we headed over to the Simms' new house for Berkley's birthday party! The cousins were all so happy to see each other and they all played so nice.  We were glad to get together to celebrate this cutie turning 3!

My crew spent the rest of the day outside! Playing with friends, cousins, taking walks, playing Pokémon, ping pong in the garage...it was so, so nice out.  We grilled out for dinner and enjoyed a nice family night.

Looking forward to a short week!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for late night Pokémon-ing with Kael.  Yes we are at Georgetown Park and yes I am in my pajamas and yes it was actually only 7:30 so not really late night but I love spending time with him.  He created me an account (Poke-mom- punny, right?!) and we have had fun getting some fresh air together in the evenings.  He's an awesome kid.

I'm thankful that Kent was able to hang with the kids and get them where they all needed to be on Tuesday night while I hosted Book Club here.  He took the big kids out to eat while Kase was at baseball, then he took Kase to Sonic after camp.  He really enjoyed getting to spend time with the kiddos kind of one-on-one and I really appreciated him keeping them entertained so I could entertain my friends!

And Kase was thankful for this foot long hot dog.  Ha!

 I'm thankful for Kylee's determination.  She woke up on late start morning and now that it's finally light enough early enough, the first words out of her mouth were, "Is it warm out? I want to go for a run."  I love how much she loves running and how much she wants to continue to push herself and make herself better.  Also I am thankful for Kael, who rode his bike along with her so she didn't have to be by herself!

I'm thankful that we only have one more week of school before spring break! Wahoo!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Found a fun surprise in my mailbox- the Parks and Rec guide has a picture of Kylee in it!

This one is still loving his Legos.

He was Friday reader this week and we found out early on in the week that he was going to get to read in front of his class.  He was really nervous and wanted to pick a good book so we practiced and practiced and by Friday he was ready to go!

His teacher sent a picture and said he did a great job.

So proud of him.  He also got Main Event for passing his math fact tests!

Kase, Kylee, Kent and I left Friday right after school for Bettendorf.  Kael had sleepover plans with friends and I was so thankful my parents were able to hang out with him over the weekend and get him to and from where he needed to be! He really enjoyed spending time with them.

We got to the hotel and Kylee's teammates all arrived soon.

Two of the girls had birthdays that week so they had a little cupcake party in the lobby.  The adults all had fun hanging out too and Kylee was a good sport about letting Kase hang with them for awhile!

Saturday morning the girls were off to a great start.  They won every match!

Right before their semi final match Kylee got hit in the face with a ball and got a bloody nose.  She sprinted to the bathroom and when I caught up to her there was just so much blood.  Two trainers came in, closed off the bathroom to the public, got her ice, gauze, glucose tabs...it was really something.  They couldn't get the bleeding to stop and after awhile they told us we might need to go to Urgent Care! Kylee did NOT want to do that so we just kept trying and finally it slowed down enough.  She lost a lot of blood and was super pale and didn't play the rest of the day.  She was such a trooper about it though and felt well enough to sit on the bench to cheer on her team!

Kase and another teammate's little sibling were so worried about her and kept peeking in the trainer's room.

 I was so happy the girls were able to win the tournament and step up to fill in for Kylee! Her nose was still bleeding for the championship pictures! Poor girl!

 They decided to celebrate the win by playing laser tag.  A few of us adults and siblings joined too- so much fun!! And I was glad to end the day on a high note as Kylee finally started feeling better by this point.

It had been a long day and I was glad to get home and see Kael too! Sunday everyone slept in then we spent the day enjoying the beautiful weather.  Kael and Kylee cleaned out our cars for us which was so awesome. Kent studied, Kael went Pokémon-ing with friends, Kase played outside with friends, Kylee got a manicure with a friend and Kase had baseball and Kylee had volleyball.  A fun, full day!

We've got a busy week ahead of us! Getting super excited for spring break so we can enjoy some family time and have life slow down for awhile!