Art night at school with the glockenspiel

There was an art night at the elementary school. The first part of the night was a program where kids got to give a little concert with the instruments they were learning in music. My favorite part of the whole night was hearing Jocelyn say glockenspiel over and over again...

Karaoke kids

Brent had to order some sound equipment for church but had it delivered to our house since the church is torn down at the moment. He also had to unpack and check the equipment when it got here so we had a spontaneous karaoke night. It was super impressive how loud and proud they all sang. They made their mom proud with their power but not necessarily precise singing. 

Spartan baby!

Seriously awesome day watching my bro John R. Rice spank his second spartan race. Seriously motivational...So much fun! And fun to watch my cousins too who ran the race! The first time John did a race he ended up doing 220 burpees, 15 on every obstacle that he fell on. This time he only fell on 2 obstacles the whole time. He even nailed the spear throw while being tangled in the rope. It was super windy and since the course was outside of Mesquite NV it was sooooo dusty....like dusty in every nook and cranny. ... and then there was the running miles in the really cold river. But afterwards he didn't even seem too winded or miserable. Impressive! And even after the race there was the final obstacle of finding the car in the ginormous parking area. Who knew gray was such a common color for a car. 

good dad

Ever since we moved in the kids closet shelves have driven me insane. They were made of the wire and had supports like every 6 to 8 inches so you couldn't actually slide a hanger on the rods. So after much debate on shelves vs hanging space Brent designed some great closets. The best part was he made Cami and Taryn help him with the work. He taught them how to use a power drill/screwdriver and how to putty and paint.  He taught them how to measure super carefully so you don't have to redo things. It was a super moment of good dadhood and I am so thankful my girls are learning how to help themselves in life and how to be literate around a workshop. It is definitely such an awesome thing to have a handy husband....

snow day...

So winter was really pretty mild here and it usually is. It has snowed 2 or 3 times in the last 10 years. And on a crazy freak day at the end of February (when flowers are usually starting to bloom) it snowed for an hour or so. It was so exciting that Creed and Jocelyn decided to make a snowman and Brent stopped working long enough to take a picture out his window. Pretty Crazy!

There was great mourning the next morning when the snowman came tumbling down....

2nd grade assembly

Jocelyn had her second grade assembly in February. Their school is a "Leader in Me" school and they follow the 7 habits of being a leader. Each grade this year chose a habit to talk about at an assembly. The 2nd grade chose habit 5 "seek first to understand then to be understood." Jocelyn is usually content to be in the background of these things (like she REALLY tries to fly under the radar) but for some brave reason she volunteered to do a speaking part. She talked about how listening with her eyes and ears helps her to understand. She ended up being part of a video too. She did a really great job and hopefully she felt like she did a great job so she'll be able to volunteer again if she wants to.

End of an era but little boy heaven

An old church here in town had to be knocked down because a natural spring underneath it was making the foundation not earthquake proof.The church will be rebuilt after it is regraded and moved on the lot slightly.  While it was really sad for all the older population that attend this church it was little boy heaven to watch it get knocked down. Every day for several weeks (now months) after kindergarten we have had to drive past to watch the big equipment work. On the day it came down we were there watching for several hours. It was seriously a little boys dream come true! 

Glimpses of happy

Sometimes its the small things like sharing blankets, a laugh, or a hug that make life good....Ususaly its the small things that are the best...

Valentines dinner of love

Valentines day was so crazy busy this year but we carried on the tradition of a love dinner. We had to stagger dinner a little with certain kids starting earlier/later but everyone got their favorite...or at least one of their favorites for dinner....and hopefully everyone left feeling loved.  

Cami requested pita pizza so all the kids made their own personal pan pita pizza. Brent wanted a Margarita pizza and I tried a new recipe for the crust. It doubled as a good bread stick (made out of cauliflower).  Creed made sure we all got ICE drinks and Jocelyn as always requested artichokes. Taryn got her fruit dip/chocolate fondue. I was really happy with salad. As always we used the china (the only time all year pretty much) and ate by candlelight until the candles got blown out more than once and then I wouldn't relight them.... And hopefully as always we remembered how lucky we are to have each other and how lucky we are to have the people we love love us. 

when your kid reminds you of you

Creed has taken to eating Cheetos with chopsticks....just like Brent did when he was young...good times and clean fingers....

Delayed bday date with my girl

So after Cami was done fluing and we found a spare weekend (February by this point poor kid) she got her birthday date. She actually had a hard time deciding between birthday date and party but since it was so far after the fact she went with date. She requested Olive Garder and watching The Greatest Showman. I think it is great when your child requests something that you also enjoy...Somehow the dinner was a fiasco and that was sad but she got her alfredo that she dreamed about and we got a comped meal so win win ish....we would rather have just paid and had a great experience but since it was not great its great we didn't end up paying...Then we went to the movie and it was awesome. She has been singing the songs ever since...and playing them on the piano...which has been pretty awesome for me to hear too. Anyway, we just feel lucky she is ours because she is exactly the kind of kid you would choose if you could choose....

glimmer of hope

I walked in and saw this and had to capture it....What the what?!? They love each other despite hormones being our constant "friend"....There is hope that in the future they will be each others friend.....I hope so since they are both so awesome and both so lucky to have each other!

little boys and their toys

On the way home from kindgarden the other day we stopped at the car wash...It is definitely a win win when I get a job done and boys think they are being treated. Nothing is a cooler toy than a tool/equipment...especially one you can see up close and in detail...

working the night shift

I love love love this kid. As he is getting ready for bed he says "Mom I need my police man jammies...I'm working the night shift tonight..." And yes he slept like a champ. Good work dude!

Big boy birthday date...

Because January was just pretty crazy and because a birthday in January is pure crazy post Christmas Creed got his birthday date a little delayed (end of January instead of beginning). He wanted to go to pizza factory again and ride bumper cars. So away we went and discovered that Pizza Factory does number shaped cakes for birthdays and he was so happy and that and the fact the girl combined his ice cream and his root beer for a float. Best waitress ever. He then of course begged to climb on the old fashioned fire truck for a while. After that we went to Fiesta Family Fun for the bumper cars and video games. He was in little boy heaven and Brent was in big boy heaven. Somehow they decided they were racing me in the bumper cars and what do you know? They won! (Creed was too short to drive his own so Brent assisted with the petals) and rubbed it in a little.....Mostly I was just freezing and couldn't wait to get back inside....Creed was still a fan of ride on video games and the firefighter hose shoot game. Despite me  being sad that he's never had a party with friends he always has fun on his mommy daddy creedy date...and we let him chose date or party so I guess he is getting what he wants most for his birthday anyway....and I do love that what he wants is hanging with me...