Spring Break!!!

This week has been Spring Break for the kids.  We have mostly had nice weather which has been wonderful!!  Monday was the usual laundry day, then on Tuesday, Dan took the afternoon off and we drove out to Tillamook to visit the factory and got some ice cream sandwiches. 

Then we headed to the tidepools.  We had a ton of fun walking around and finding different kinds of life!  We found starfish, crabs, fish and anemones.  Eileen found a crab that she carried around with her for awhile and even put it in her pocket for a bit - and of course, since this is Eileen, it liked her pocket.  

After, we headed to Rockaway beach to play and eat some dinner.  We had packed a easy dinner to eat while we were out, so we ate on the beach and played for a bit before heading home.  It was such a fun day out together! 

Dan has spent a lot of time this week helping me get my craft room organized and set up like I want it - I'm getting so excited watching it come together and getting things organized! 

The kids got to hang out with some friends during spring break - which was nice - I'm just glad that they are making friends and getting to know people.  

Friday, Anna went to babysit for Taz and Kai so Sandi could work some in the morning, then in the afternoon, we met up and a fun little park for a couple hours.  Aaron met some nice kids around his age with similar interests (aka minecraft) and they chatted and walked around and he ended up exchanging phone numbers.  It was a boys vs girls day at the park - Taz and James vs. Evelyn and Kai - but they had fun tormenting each other.  :)  David just adores Kai, so they all had a good time.  

Saturday morning, we packed up a lunch and headed out to the coast.  We met up with John and Melissa and Sara and Matt Marler for a whale watching trip.  When we got there, we ate our lunch and found a little playground to play at for a bit, then we headed down to get on the boat!  Eileen was so excited, she was literally bouncing all over the place with excitement.  And even better - she loved it - we were not disappointed - it was chilly with the wind, but sunny and we saw a bunch of whales!!  David hated the boat once we got out to the open water and started crying and wanting to go back, but once he got in the cabin he did much better and once we got back and he got off the boat, he was telling us that it was awesome and the best thing ever.  Thankfully none of us got seasick, though others were not so lucky, poor Sara and her kids struggled with the bouncing.  It was so much fun to see them and all our kids got along great together! 

After the whale watching, we spent a bit more time on the playground for David, then we went to the beach to play for a bit.  It didn't take long for the kids to get cold and be ready to head home, so we drove home for dinner.  

Today was a great day!  This morning, we got guinea pigs.  One of James' classmates was moving and they couldn't take their guinea pigs with them.  James managed to convince Dan to let him take them, so we now have two cute little guinea pigs and the kids are pretty smitten.  Evelyn has taken a million pictures of them, James loves them (though we couldn't make it through the day with out him complaining about them being boring since Dan told them not to pick them up today and to just let them get settled in their new home) and Eileen seems to really like them too.  :)  

We got to go to church again this week since I was asked to conduct the music in church today.  We had wonderful talks and a wonderful musical number.  I'm so excited for General Conference next week!!  

School and Play

We've had a fun and busy week! James and David spent most of their free time playing outside with James' friend Caleb.  They have a ton of fun running around and playing make believe games.  As I've been keeping an eye on them I've gotten to chat with one of Caleb's dads and he seems like a really nice guy, so I'm hoping once weather gets nice, we can have them over and get to know them all a bit better.  He was kind enough to let the kids all have otter pops one warm afternoon!  

 On Wednesday, we had our first in person YM/YW combined activity!  We were in the gym and we had a great time serving the primary kids in the ward and playing games!   Wednesday was also the kids band concert, but because of the activity, we watched it on Thursday instead.  It was kinda neat with the whole virtual concert thing that we could do both and not have to choose one or the other.  James also had a dentist appointment on Wednesday which we thought would be about putting a crown on his tooth like the other place said, but the dentist said he wasn't worried about it, but had us set up another appointment to take care of his cavities...  

Friday, Dan and I had a date night, we grabbed a quick dinner and then went to see a movie at a movie theater for the first time in over a year.  It was a lot of fun to be able to go to a theater again, and we both enjoyed the movie.  Sandi and Jon also had a date that night and needed a sitter, so Anna babysat at their house and Eileen babysat for us - she wasn't excited about the prospect, but she ended up doing fine and enjoying it since she convinced the kids to watch something that she wanted to watch and they popped popcorn.  

We had a busy Saturday getting very little done, but not for lack of trying...  

Today was wonderful!  We got to listen to Steve and Claire's family - they had talks and a musical number in their ward this week and we enjoyed listening to their amazing talks and music before heading to our own ward for more amazing talks!  Then we had Sunday School for the first time!  I got to go to Gospel Doctrine and Dan and the kids had their Sunday School classes.  David had his primary class which he LOVES - he adores his teachers and when he saw them in my Gospel Doctrine class before primary, he waved at them!  In the evening we had Dan's team teacher and his wife over for dinner tonight, we had a fun time getting to know them a bit better and the kids all loved them - they all showed off all their favorite things and talked the them and played cars with them (that last one was David) and David even gave big hugs when they left.  He's such a sweet and loving little boy!  

Friends and Fun

We've had a fun week!  On Monday, we were invited over for FHE and dinner, so we headed over in the evening and we had a great time getting to know another family in the ward and eating yummy food and playing games.  David just adored his new friends and was talking about them all week - then he was excited all over again when he got to see them in church today!  

Wednesday, Anna had her first Cross Country meet - Dan and I (and David) met up there to watch her run.  She is still trying to get her times back to what they were in August, but she did great!  It was funny because the other team's colors were purple and white - so at first, both Dan and I started looking for her among the purple runners before we realized that we weren't in Anna anymore and she is probably on the other team now.  

In Young Women's we all seemed to be having game nights - Eileen brought a couple games from our game cupboard to play, and they closed the night with hide and seek.  Eileen found a pretty epic hiding spot, but it took her a little too long to wiggle into it, so she was found.  Anna's class seemed to be playing something or other, and Evelyn's class was playing get-to-know you games

James has spent most of his non school hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday outside playing with a boy who lives down the street.  

Saturday, the weather was beautiful!!  We all spent most of the day outside and enjoying it.  We did some clean up inside - then some yard work outside, a bunch of walking - including taking Koopa to the groomers and picking him up - walking and runs and playing with friends.  It was a fun and exhausting day!  

Today was wonderful.  We got to go to church again because I was doing a musical number - the first one I've done in over a year - it's so wonderful to have a bit more music in church again!  The song went well and everyone was very sweet.  I'm used to getting nice comments from people after church - but new to COVID musical numbers was the number of texts and emails - both from sweet members of the ward and our High Councilman, but also from family members that had tuned into the broadcast to listen.  

In the afternoon, we had fun playing games together and coloring.  :)  Then in the evening, we went to the Treu's house for dinner.  We had a great time with lots of yummy food!  

Teeth and Cats

 We've had a bit of an adventurous week.  Monday night we had our ice cream party - I got some ice cream and toppings and we had a fun family night at home making and eating ice cream sundaes.  

James had been having tooth pain since Saturday and after trying to get ahold of the dentist for 3 days, I finally went to the office to see if they could do anything - they couldn't they were booked solid, but they knew a place that could see him soon, so I called them and they got us in on Tuesday afternoon.  Turns out he had a big ol' cavity and so they did a pulpotomy and and cleaned it out, but they still had some concerns, so they said if he tooth was still hurting in a couple days to let them know.  He was so funny - he was a great patient, but he was also very chatty - when I snapped this picture of him (which he didn't want me to take) he was still trying to talk to the dentist!  

Wednesday the youth activities were fun!  Aaron got to play kick ball, and Eileen and Evelyn were both doing baking activities!  It's was a bit crazy trying to coordinate that, but they both seemed to have a good time and it seemed to go well overall.  

Anna was finally able to start cross country, we finally got ahold of someone who could give us information and she has been able to run again - plus so far, her knee is doing fine, so the stretches and exercises that the doctor gave her have helped a lot.  

Thursday James' tooth was still hurting so the dentist gave him a prescription for an antibiotic which will hopefully get him through until he can see a regular dentist.  

David is so funny - Anna let him draw on her tablet - he would color the whole thing one solid color - then he wanted it sent to me - then he would color the whole thing in another solid block of color and send it again - he did this at least 10 time - and I got a TON of text messages like the ones below! 

Anna even tried to get him to do more than one color - but this was all he wanted to do!  By the end he had figured out how to change colors himself and even had a pretty good idea of how to send it to me.  

David has been loving the slightly warmer weather we have gotten - he loves to ride his big wheel tricycle - he says multiple times a day "come on mommy lets go outside and I can ride my bike!"  And then he rides up and down the block and has a blast!  

Saturday afternoon, we did a girls date with Sandi and Kai and me and my girls.  We went and walked around the mall and window shopped and chatted and had a fun time together.  We had dinner at the food court and enjoyed a fun evening together.  

We got home just in time for John and Melissa to stop by with their kids for some games and fun.  They got there just in time to do scriptures and Come Follow Me with us, so we all parked in the living room and read together.  David just loves his cousins!  Then we had a blast playing games and hanging out!  

A friend of mine had to leave town for a funeral and needed someone to go over and feed their cat, so Eileen had a great time going over in the evenings and feeding the cat and taking care of him and then petting him for a bit - he's a very sweet kitty who loved all the petting and attention!  

Church today was wonderful!  We got to go in person and we got to be there for a fast and testimony meeting.  Plus I'm excited because I've been asked to do a musical number - so we get to go next week too and I get to sing!  I'm so excited!  James and David both had their primary meetings and David just loves his teachers!  They don't live too far away from us and walk near here all the time, so one day when David was out riding his tricycle, they were walking by and David recognized them and was so happy to see them!