Long Beach 2012

This was our third summer vacation in Long Beach. We have treasured the memories that have been made in this lovely coastal town that has become like a home away from home. We stayed in an awesome ocean front house this year that was perfect and had the most gorgeous view in every direction. We brought a huge trailer with us this year so we could pack all of the kids bikes and other fun things. There were lots of bike rides packed in for the kids which they loved and the Discovery Trail ran right in front of our house to ride/walk/ and run on. Instead of making lots of plans and scheduling every day like we usually do, this year we decided to just totally take it easy, slow down, relax and pretty much do whatever the kids wanted to do. There was lots of playing and swimming at the beach, walking to Scoopers for ice cream (of course), swimming at an indoor aquatic center, exploring Astoria and visiting some museums, visiting the Saturday market at the port of Ilwaco, and Riley  took the older kids fishing. My parents came and stayed one night with us and the kids loved having grandma and grandpa there. We had gorgeous weather for the beach that day and it was perfect. And of course we had to do our big bonfire on the beach one of our last nights there and have a major smores session. I love having this tradition with my family and I hope as our lives get busier and busier and our children get older that we can keep it a must do family trip. We always come home with lots of tired smiles, extra sea shells and souvenirs, and of course a car full of sand!

October Is Here

Well, I'm officially slacking on my blog. I can't believe I only posted three times for the WHOLE month of September. I guess I could say I just haven't had the time, but I think more than that I just haven't felt the motivation lately. But, vowing to do better from here on out and into the future. Moving on......so here's what's been going on with the family:

Kendle:

Kendle has been one busy little girl. She has been playing softball games two or three nights a week for the last month. I kind of love the night softball games under the lights, although it is really starting to get chilly. She has really improved since the spring season and has had some stellar hits. Her last game she had some great plays at pitcher and third base - one in particular from third where she ran up on a grounder and just zinged it clear to first base (seriously like the hardest throw I've ever seen a nine year old make) and *bonus* the girl at first actually caught the ball. It was amazing. It was one of those things you see your kids do and your heart nearly leaps out of your chest with pride. This week she has her last two games and although there's been some ups and downs, I think she is really going to miss it. Soccer is also keeping her busy with a few practices during the week and games every Saturday. Her team is undefeated so far and are a fun bunch for the most part. Kendle loves playing keeper and she has been working hard on improving her kicking and getting the ball far down the field with accuracy. She is pretty aggressive and will go out and dive on the ball to make saves and sometimes I have to cringe when someone almost kicks her in the head, but I guess I better get used to it. She is also making some great plays out in the field and consistently scoring goals to help her team. Her last game she had a hat trick - three goals all back to back in the first half. I think it has been hard sometimes to have her dad as her coach, but I hope that she sees that all the hard work and running (lots and lots of running) that he has them do at practice is paying off. I love seeing the determination on her face when she is going after a ball or trying to catch up with someone when she's playing defense. Ok, that is a lot about sports! Her first month of school went by in a flash and she is really enjoying it - her teacher, her classmates, and pretty much everything else. I can't say enough good things about her teacher this year, she has gone above and beyond already in some things she has done for Kendle and I'm thankful for that. In Kendle's "spare" time when she isn't at softball or soccer or reading a book, she's been enjoying learning to roller blade with her roller blades she got for her birthday and also jumping on our new trampoline. She's also excited that at her last orthodontist appointment she got her expander removed (no more metal on the roof of her mouth) and she'll also be getting her top braces off soon. Pretty exciting stuff!

Morgan:

Morgan has been growing like a weed over the last few months. Jeans that I bought him for preschool are starting to already look a little short. He is so skinny though, that it is hard to keep up with the growth and not have him drowning in the waist. He's a little muscle man and has a little six pack. He has loved jumping on the new trampoline and helped his dad put it together. He has figured out how to do some flips, but yesterday he kneed himself in the face while doing one and gave himself a gushing bloody nose. Might need to lay off of those for a while. He also got to go hunting for the first time last week and he was pretty thrilled with himself even if (according to Riley) they only got to see and shoot at a few birds. Just the fun of getting up early with dad, getting his cool camo gear on, traipsing through the fields, and stopping to get breakfast afterwards, pretty much made his day. He loves to help me make cookies, measure the ingredients, and dump them all in. He's also a quiet cookie snatcher when I'm not looking. It would be great if he could learn to play with his little brothers a little better, but for the most part he is still a happy fun boy and I enjoy the quiet time in the afternoons we get to spend together when the twins are napping. He is starting to like to read books with me more and some of his favorites right now are "The Story of Ferdinand" (the bull) and "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything." We're hoping to get him playing some indoor soccer soon.

Cooper (on the left) and Kale (on the right):

Our little guys will be turning 2 in November. Where has the time gone? It's been a whirlwind I can tell you. Wow, these boys are hard to keep up with. They have gotten into quite a few predicaments lately. The other day Cooper pulled his trike from the back patio inside the house, rode it through the house to the laundry room, and proceeded to somehow put two or three scoops of laundry detergent into the back compartment on the trike and also dump more all over the floor. Pretty much every day is filled with little surprises like that. Towels pulled into the bathtub, toilet paper pulled into the tub, pen on furniture, flooding the kitchen sink, getting into the charcoal in the fire pit, plugging and unplugging every chord they can get their hands on, randomly recording shows on tv, pulling all the baby wipes out, squeezing lotion everywhere........the list could literally just go on and on and on. Some days I even get tired of hearing myself be a broken record of "No, no's", "Stop that", and so on. They are squirmy and wiggly and fast, and starting to not let me hug them or cuddle as much. They are little jokesters and love to play and tease. I know they are good boys deep down, they do lots of sweet things so that I know they still love me. While I'm changing one of their diapers, the other one will hug me across my back and lean on me. We call these "backwards hugs" at our house and they are Cooper and Kale's favorite thing to do. It is cute too how at night when I am reading Morgan a story before bed, they insist on having books in their cribs to read as well. They are such good boys about always wanting to say their prayers at night, and always fold their arms at church for the prayers. They are also adamant about holding the hymn book at church as if it is some great prize. It is the first thing they want to do after we arrive and sit down in our seats. They must have their own, and they will not share with me. Ha. Cooper is pretty stingy and likes to take anything away that Kale has that is making him happy. He is kind of the bully of the two and is always beating up on  Kale. He always has to be first and has to sit in the front of the tub during bath time. I am trying to get them to share with each other but it is not easy. Kale most of the time is the big cry baby and will come running every time he feels slighted. He is better about sharing, but is also quick to go grab anything Cooper puts down for a few seconds. Kale is starting to talk a little more than Cooper and I'm hoping Cooper will start catching up. I'm looking forward to them getting along better and being good friends. I pray for it every night.

Riley is super duper busy with work this time of year. The fall is always a super big hustle and bustle and even when he is done and home for the day, he's never really done and still is getting calls and making arrangements for sales and setups. I was hoping for a calmer fall with him not coaching high school girls soccer this season, but combined with being Kendle's coach and also being the t-cysa city director this year I feel like not much has changed. But, it's all for good reasons so it's ok. I think he is somewhat enjoying coaching Kendle's soccer team, but I know he gets frustrated with some ideas of things he wants the girls to do and then maybe it's just over their heads just a little bit. He is a great coach though and the girls seem to respond well to him and not get offended when he's yelling instructions to them during the games.  The city director job is pretty tedious and thankless for the most part, (most volunteer positions are) but he has persevered and the hard part is pretty much over now that the season is a month in. He has been getting some little projects done here and there for me in his spare time, we even got one of our new outdoor lights put up and installed on Saturday, now I'm just waiting for the other three to go up. :) We bought half a cow and Riley also surprised me with a pig (isn't that what every wife dreams of?), so we are officially stocked up on meat for a long time. I give Riley a hard time that he is obsessed with meat and he keeps talking about all these different ways we can cook everything and yada, yada......I just try to smile and be glad he at least likes to BBQ and cook a lot of it.

I am SO excited it is officially fall and we are having some cooler fall weather. I think as I get older I enjoy the cooler weather a bit more, it's like a nice crisp refresher after the summer heat. I've been getting out the fall decorations and went and bought some huge containers of mums this weekend. Also found a good deal on some big urns to put them in by the garage and the front door and some smallish pumpkins to add autumn flair.  It sure makes everything look happy and festive. I love all of the oranges and reds and yellows that are starting to be seen in the foliage around here. I love the month of October and all of the fun things it is filled with. Birthdays, holidays, lots of sports and outdoor festivities and next week I'll also be getting a new niece! Can't wait. I loved listening to General Conference over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed every talk. I especially loved President Monson's talk where he told the story of being a young boy and leaving his five dollar bill that he had worked so hard for in the pocket of his pants that were sent to be washed. It was a sweet coincidence that he told this story, as just the night before I had a long conversation with Kendle about how she can start earning five dollars a week to save up for some things she has been wanting. She did not seem to think that five dollars was very much money and that it would take forever to earn enough money for the things she wanted. I'm glad she could listen to our prophet tell his story about how hard he had worked for that "small" amount of money and how sad he was that it would be ruined and that he had the faith to pray for it's safe return. I'm looking forward to getting my new treadmill set up and being able to get back in a really good running routine. I feel like I am going to be starting at square one since my workouts have been somewhat sporadic since the summer, but I know it will feel good just to be doing it consistently again.

Well, I guess this super long post can make up for my lack in posting last month.

Coming to a Close

Next week is our last week of summer break before school starts. Things are wrapping up and the nights are starting to get cooler and darker earlier. This time of year is always filled with highs and lows. We're trying to hang onto summer for a little bit longer, especially now that we are finally having "real" hot summer weather. But, I am also at my breaking point that I reach every summer where I am ready for school to start again. This is the time where I start organizing and cleaning out with a vengeance. It's time to clean out the closets and dressers and get set for a new school year. Next week is Kendle's birthday (she'll be turning 9!), the fair, and sports practices are starting. Here is a little more of what we've been up to:

*Kendle's team competed in a 3 on 3 soccer tournament last weekend at Columbia Park. Her team did extremely well and although they didn't get to play in the championship they really impressed us and played super hard. We were there all day playing in the hot weather and we only had four players so those girls ran their little legs off and never gave up. They won three out of their four games outscoring the teams they defeated by at least six or seven points. One of the most ironic moments was when the coach of the team that beat us went to complain to the people running the tournament that our team was being "too physical". As if it wasn't enough that they beat us, but I think he was just kind of scared because we outscored them in the second half and if we would have played like that in the first half we would have smoked them and he knew it. Just kind of funny how a lot of the other coaches took it so seriously and were just yelling and screaming at their players. I'm so glad Riley does not do that with Kendle's team. We were wishing we could keep all the girls together for their team this fall because they would be so awesome. I think the highlight of their day was going for ice cream afterwards and they more than deserved it.

We are also attempting to let her play some fall softball. I don't know if it's going to work out that well or not to be doing two sports at one time, but I told her coach we would have to just play it by ear and make whatever we could that didn't interfere with soccer. It is pretty laid back and mostly fun though so it's not that big of a deal if she misses something here and there. Just fun to keep her skills going from the spring and get some more game time in. Kendle's favorite part of summer is staying up late at night. She thinks that is a real treat.

*Riley has been doing lots of soccer related extra work lately. What? That's nothing new you say? I know, I know. He's started doing private training sessions for goalie's and is training two high school players in the evenings and mornings whenever he can squeeze it into his busy work schedule. He also is volunteering as the team coordinator for Pasco's tcysa. The spot was vacant when he called to check on Kendle's team and with all the problems we've had in the past he decided to just step up and help make the organization a little better. So now he also serves on their board and goes to their meetings once a month and hopefully can help impact some positive change. Needless to say, it is a LOT of work to put together every team from Pasco and there had literally been nothing done when he assumed this responsibility three weeks ago. Despite all of that,  he is pretty stoked to be getting to coach Kendle's team this fall and helping her team rebuild their skills.

*Morgan has been growing this summer and is a skinny, muscly little guy. He plays hard all day long and helps me by being my "garden monitor". He checks every day for veggies that are ready to be picked or need water. He always has interesting questions to ask, or cute little stories to tell me throughout the day. His favorite thing this summer has been sitting around the fire pit at night making smores. He asks us every night if we can make a fire. I think that boy has eaten his weight in marshmallows this summer. We've tried taking his training wheels off his bike a few times and will keep working with him on that because I think he is going to get it really soon. He loves riding his bike and racing Kendle. He is excited for preschool to start in a few weeks so he can go school supply shopping with me to pick out his own things just like I did with Kendle. He is a rocket of speed and jumping and playing all the time.

*Cooper and Kale have been wild little boys this summer. They love playing outside and getting really dirty. Also, if there is even an inch of standing water anywhere they will find it and wreak havoc. I've taken to letting them sit at the picnic table and eat whenever I can because they are SO messy. It gives us all a good excuse to eat outside though and it's fun. Except for the bees and wasps have been really bad this year and Kale got stung a couple of weeks ago when we were eating dinner outside. They love to go on our morning walks and cruise the neighborhood. They are still the biggest cry babies I've ever seen and super clingy. I keep thinking they will grow out of it, but maybe I'm just destined to have super clingy mama's boys? They are getting to be good helpers though and love to help do little tasks like wiping down the table or putting their dirty clothes and shoes away. Their favorite thing this summer has been running around naked in the sprinklers and eating a gazillion popsicles. If that is all they got to do in a day they would be happy boys.

*My summer has been pretty great for the most part. I made it a goal to do at least one fun thing with the kids every day even if it was just something little like going for a milkshake or letting them help me make some treats. This is the first summer in a long time that I have been able to be outside a lot and take the kids to go and do more. I've gotten super tan and am almost as dark as Kendle and Morgan. I've tried not to let the constant messes of summer and my untidy house stress me out like it usually would. I've loved my daily walks with the kids and also just having those lazy afternoons when the twins are napping where I can sneak out the backyard and put my feet up in a comfy chair and soak up the sun with a good book. I've tried to just enjoy my children more this summer because they are growing up way too fast. I need to work on being more patient with all of the little voices around me wanting my attention. Yesterday I went to my parents house and my mom and I made strawberry and raspberry jam. I am trying to get stocked up for the year and keep Kendle in good supply for all of her peanut butter sandwiches she eats. My favorite thing about this summer was having Riley home more and having our schedules be a lot more laid back.

Hopefully we are can try and fit as many more fun things in as we can before school starts on the 30th.

Week in Review

This week we had two games for Kendle. Her game on Monday night was very cold and windy. ( I read somewhere that the weather is supposed to be cooler than normal this month). She is hitting so much better now and really knocked a few hard. Wednesday we had much better weather and the girls didn't have to worry about wearing lots of layers of clothes, some were even in shorts. Kendle had another really powerful hit and some good plays that almost made some outs. Their team is improving a lot and Kendle is having lots of fun with it. It is funny to hear them do the one cheer they know, over and over again. We are liking the week night games and having our Saturdays free.

{Kendle's playing catcher.}

Rileys high school team played Kamiakin on Tuesday night. It was another freezing cold and windy night at Lampson stadium. The game would decide if Southridge would be out-right league champions or share the title and be co-champions with Pasco. So needless to say, there was a lot on the line which just added to the heated rivalry between the two teams. It was a very crazy game, I've never seen so many yellow cards handed out and one of the refs lost his composure and grabbed one of our players, but ultimately the Suns pulled off a 3-0 victory to become Southridge's 1st ever boys soccer league champs. Pretty exciting, emotional, and satisfying for everyone present and who has been involved with the program. A lot of the younger players have really stepped up and proved themselves. Now we are waiting to see who they will be playing next week for their first playoff game. This has been one of the worst years for injuries as well with three players out. Even though they can kind of be knuckleheads (like most teenagers) Riley is really proud of these guys.

Morgan this week has been loving the sunshine and getting dirty outside. He thinks that it is hot enough to start turning on the water and trying to get wet. Really, then all that happens is that he gets covered in dirt and grass and turns into a walking mud pile. But I love him anyways. He always asks to have zip lock bags so he can collect and keep his treasures from outside. We currently have a bag of grass and a big stick sitting on the kitchen counter that "must be kept safe". At preschool yesterday they painted cute flower pots with a flower planted inside for their moms. He was so proud to bring that home and have me show everyone. He keeps running around shouting "Happy Mother's Day" at random moments.

The twins have been loving the nice weather as well. I've been opening up the sliding door and letting them go play and they love to go in and out and are amazed I'm giving them some freedom. Mostly, they love to dig in the rocks and I just cross my fingers that they don't eat too many. Something new they've been doing is when they find random things on the ground (which happens often because my floor needs to be swept a gazillion times a day) they'll pick it up and bring it to me and say "Uh oh". It's cute because they think they are helping me by picking it up and then I tell them to go throw it in the trash. They are also starting to get the doodling/drawing bug and wanting to scribble on anything they can get their hands on. I better stock up on some Magic Eraser's.

This week I've been battling a horrible cough that just won't go away. I'm going to try and get in to the doctor this afternoon and see if they can help me. I don't think I've ever coughed so hard in my life and my back and ribs are so sore. I feel like once I get going I can't stop. It's been pretty hard to get some sleep this week and I'm really glad it's Friday and today is a laid back relaxed day. I just got a new book I'd been waiting for in the mail and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend and hopefully getting some more yard work done. I've been needing to plant some flowers in my pots and do all of those type of things that I usually have done by now. I just don't want the wind to come along and tear them to shreds! Last year it was warmer and most of my flowers were already blooming. I did look the other day and I have some big peony buds that are waiting to blossom, so those will be pretty. They get really huge. Hopefully we can get our broken play set taken down this weekend and get working on our fire pit area we're going to replace it with.

Well, I'm hoping for Mother's Day all my children will be obedient, get along with each other, and just be overall good. A mom can dream right?

Happy Mother's Day Weekend everyone!

Swirling Thoughts

I have not had much mind to blog lately. I've had an unlucky cycle of being sick the last few weeks and have a sinus infection that's put me in a fog the last few days. Lots and lots of thoughts swirling around in my head, but not sure if they are things to share or not. Life has been pretty hectic and seems it will stay that way until June or so. I failed to take any pictures of our family dressed up on Easter, we had planned on doing family pictures last weekend as well with my photographer sister home, but the wind and weather made it impossible. Maybe we can try for a do-over this Sunday. I feel bad for not taking and posting more pictures of the kids since they are growing up so fast. Hopefully I can do better at that the next little while, although the twins make it their personal goal to make it as big of a challenge for me as possible.

Tuesday I celebrated my 31st birthday and while I can't say I was particularly excited to be a year older, I can say that it felt good to know that I like the place that I am at in my life right now. Riley and I had to laugh about just how much effort it takes to spend time together these days. He wanted to take me out to dinner, which meant we had to go pretty early since he had soccer practice at 7:00. So we dropped the kids off at their favorite babysitter's house at 4:30, went to dinner, picked the kids up at 6:00, and then headed back to Pasco so Riley could get his car and change to go to practice. Then I went and took the kids to get something for them to eat for dinner, got the kids fed, homework done, house cleaned up and everyone in their jammies and ready for bed, then Riley's mom came to sit with the kids while they were asleep so we could catch a late show of "Water for Elephants".  Kind of a crazy day, but fun nonetheless. It is hard sometimes to find the time, but it's worth it. We are kind of just hopelessly exhausted these days and we are lucky if we can stay up at night to talk to each other without passing out during American Idol.

Cooper and Kale had a doctor's appointment last Monday and are still right on track with being almost the same size. They are almost 18 months and about 28 pounds, getting taller and thinning out a little. They are already starting to lose some of the chubbiness and roundness in their little faces and that makes me sad. They are still doing everything together, and are both teething again this week. Even though I know they do things like this, it still always gives me a laugh and a sense of wonderment when I look in their mouths and see the same exact tooth trying to come through. I hate to give them labels at this age for fear it will unknowingly brand them for life, but Cooper is definitely the mastermind mischief maker at this point in time, and Kale is still the hugger and the love bug. I always think back to how I carried them when I was pregnant and how Kale was the one that was up higher by my ribs and side of my back like he was trying to be as close to me as possible and didn't want to let go, and Cooper was the first born - head down ready to go and get out and be part of the world.

I think out of everyone, Riley has had the best week. On my birthday he made a BIG sale at work and their high school team also moved into first place in their league. Lots of good stuff happening. We have some fun outdoor projects to get started on soon and lots of softball and soccer to keep us busy this weekend.

Just another update post

So, I have been feeling really blah lately. I've been sick for the last week or so and it's pretty much zapped any motivation or extra energy I might have had in reserves. It's pretty much just completely wiped me out. I'm soooo tired and I feel like I'm just dragging and moving in slow motion every where I go. I keep coughing up nasty junk and my ears feel like they are plugged. Today is the most fitting cloudy and overcast/slightly rainy day to match my mood and I felt like mother nature was giving me the silent ok to just bring it down a notch or two and take it easy.

Kendle had her first softball practice last night and she said it was fun. Her coach seems like a good guy and really enthusiastic so I'm taking this all as a good sign. The practices are right during dinner time however, so our meals will become even more erratic than they already are. Between that and Riley not getting home until 9:30 or so most nights I usually wonder why I bother. This is the time of year when easy quick meals are a regular thing. I love softball season though, and I love it even more when it's actually warm outside. Kendle asked me last night if she could start going running before school. At first I was like, are you really my daughter? Ha. Then I thought, hmmm...maybe that would be good for us to go do it together and I could get my runs out of the way in the morning. I don't know though, my warm bed feels pretty comfortable to me in the mornings. They've been working on passing their times tables at school and she was so glad when she passed her "All's" which is a big worksheet of 100 multiplication problems of all the different numbers. Now they are moving on to fractions and I'm kind of not really fond of fractions, so we'll see how much help I can actually be to her.

Morgan rotates through movies and has a new favorite every week. This week it has been "Ratatouille".  I'm not sure why all of a sudden he likes it because I had been trying for a while to get him to watch it, but it's now in permanent rotation. Morgan got to travel with Riley to Seattle last weekend for soccer and got totally spoiled with tons of attention from all the girls on the team, swimming in the pool, tons of yummy treats and snacks, and the whole back of the car and the DVD player to himself. He is still a momma's boy when he wants to be, but is getting pretty independent as well and likes to keep a pretty precise day-to-day schedule just like he has since he was a baby. He is getting more particular about how he likes things however and we have been having some tantrums and meltdowns the last few weeks. In his mind no doesn't mean no, it means keep bugging mom until she eventually can't stand listening to me anymore and gives in just to get me off her back. I have to remember to really just stop and listen to him sometimes, because that's all he really wants is for someone to hear what he is saying and give him a response back. He is still loving preschool and can say the whole Pledge of Allegiance and it sounds so cute.

Cooper and Kale are growing up so fast. They run, jump, climb, push, shove, fight, throw, and get into anything they can. They are 17 months now. Some days I feel like I can't take a step forwards or backwards without stepping on them because they tag team me like shadows and are always right where I am. Sometimes it is really frustrating, and other times it just makes me laugh. I try to make sure and get down on their level to play at least once or twice during the day so they can look into my face without craning their necks. They love to act like they are going to give me a big hug or kiss and then reach up and pinch my nose at the last second. Their eyes literally gleam with mischief. Cooper can have some major attitude when he's mad at me and actually stomped to his room backwards (looking at me the whole way) and slammed the door the other day. I got some good chuckles out of that and every time I think about it. He has learned to give a great high five though.  Kale is still the more sensitive of the two and loves to come try and brush or comb my hair. He also likes to run up and give hugs. They may still look a lot alike, but their personalities are very distinct and different. Such fun boys they are though, I just wish they liked to play with regular toys instead of plug ins and chords and the computer.

Riley is still the busiest guy I know. I hardly see him these days between all that he has going on. It will be such a relief to us when his club season is over and we can have one less thing on our plate. His sales job with Sprague has been really demanding and busy the last month or so and while that is a great thing, it also means a crazy amount of traveling or going back into work after or between soccer practices to stay caught up.

This month is a busy one with birthdays, games, Easter, and school activities. Lot's to do and stay caught up with.

Crazy Week

This has been one hectic week with double soccer practice and all the other usual things and running around. We've been getting Riley ready so he could leave on his trip to Las Vegas yesterday. His girls U-15 club team is playing in the college showcase tournament there this weekend. There will be college scouts from all over the country there to check out the players in the tournament. He flew out of Pasco yesterday morning and their first game was at 8 am today. He just called to tell me they were down by 2 points and then came back to win it 3-2. He said the other team was really good and his girls stepped up big time and played hard the last half. Great way to start the tournament! I'm hoping the girls can play up to their full potential and put it all out there and that they have a good experience. When I talked to Riley last night they were just getting back from check in and dinner and he said the weather was perfect and warm. I'm trying not to be too jealous. Only four more days of me single parenting, but hey who's counting!

{Here is a picture of Riley and his team from a few weeks ago when they won this tournament}

Yesterday felt like THE longest day ever but I got a ton of stuff done. I cleaned house and organized and did laundry like crazy. I finally got some of my kitchen cupboards that have been driving me nuts reorganized -- you know the kind that every time you open them you feel like everything is going to fall out on you.  I even managed to squeeze in a little workout later in the evening although I really was not feeling it and did not want to. Since yesterday was St. Patrick's Day I made some green snickerdoodle's for the kids in the afternoon and when I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner (it's always either spaghetti or breakfast when they have their choice, they are not too fancy) they chose breakfast so we made green pancakes and then Morgan decided he did not want his eggs and sausage to be green. (I can't say that I blame him, too much food dye kind of grosses me out). We all wore our green yesterday. Kendle said not many kids in her class or at school in general were wearing green. Who knows if there was a lot of pinching going on or not.

Our kids have all been coughing and hacking and having runny noses like crazy the last few days. Last night I just crossed my fingers I could get some sleep. I rubbed the twins and Morgan up with some Vick's baby rub and wrapped them all up good. For my sanity's sake I had to go in and give Morgan a cough drop and his own bottle of water. Everyone miraculously slept through the night without much trouble.  I have been feeling a sore throat coming on myself, but I've been trying to fight it off the best I can. I told Riley before he left, that it never fails when he's out of town we all get sick. It's sadly becoming a tradition that I'd like to break. Luckily though, the sun has been shining and everyone has been in pretty good spirits regardless of how they're feeling.

Well, I'm glad it's Friday. I hope the rest of the weekend fly's by and Monday comes quickly. Next week is going to be an awesome week. Can't wait. Riley comes home Monday, one of my best friends Kristen is coming to visit, and my little sis will be home for a few days to boot. Lots of fun and visiting and ladies nights in store. Yay! It's gonna rock.

I love Fridays

This has been another long but good week. Riley started high school boys soccer on Monday so now he has high school practice every night plus double duty with girls club practice Tuesdays and Thursdays. He and the other coaches think they have a really promising boys team team this year. We're hoping for a good and fun season. We just found out some of their boys who were facing appeals got approved to play this season, so that is great news. His girls club team were tournament champions last weekend and Riley was really proud of them. They really outscored their opponents and played hard. I wish I was able to go watch more of their games to be there to support him and all of his hard work. They travel to Seattle again this weekend. We also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary this week. It was without much fan fare, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes when life is as busy as ours is. Riley asked me if there was anything I wanted him to buy me, but I had already ordered some things for our house so I called it good. Aren't we romantic? Ha.

The kids were super jazzed up to have my mom come up last night to watch them so I could go to our Relief Society dinner at the church. She brought them dinner, made paper airplanes with them, kept the twins out of trouble and had everyone in bed with the house clean when I got home. To say she is incredible is an understatement. I can't believe she can do all that she does, and that was after a full day of work at her full time job. She's pretty much my hero and I have buckets full of appreciation for her. If anyone deserves a long extended relaxing vacation it is her. The Relief Society dinner was really fun and it was good to get to visit with so many people I have not been able to get to know until now and put names to faces. We have a really great ward full of fun women.

Today has been a really nice Friday morning. The kids have been contentedly playing, I've stayed in my comfy clothes, nothing pressing is on the horizon and it's nice to relax a bit -- scratch that. One of the twins just spilled a full glass of water someone left on the counter all over the floor. (Have I mentioned how they are climbing up on everything now? Pretty sad I can't even keep things up on the kitchen counter safe anymore.) Ok, two towels later and it's cleaned up. Tonight Kendle has her end of season basketball pizza party at Round Table. It should be a good time, she played with some really fun girls this year and we really like her coach. He's thinking about doing a traveling team for some of the girls maybe in the summer, but not sure if we're ready to hitch a ride on that wagon yet. We'd love him to coach Kendle again though if she got the chance.

I have the biggest stack of books waiting to be read, but I have a confession. My bed time reading routine has been sabotaged by Netflix (cue the Beasty Boys).  I have been loving catching up on past seasons of some of my favorite shows and also watching movies. Friday Night Lights was hands down one of my favorite shows ever and it is now officially over (tear) so I've been going back and watching some of the older seasons where I missed a lot of episodes. I also love the Masterpiece Theater classics and loved their newer version of Wuthering Heights with Tom Hardy from Inception. I even got Riley into it which is really saying something. So maybe this weekend I can get some speed reading done so I don't have to keep renewing my books/and or racking up late fees. :)

*Random thought for the day -- I really, really love the song "And so it goes" by Billy Joel. Might be one of my all time faves. Just listened to it when I had my itunes library on random shuffle this morning and it always makes me stop and think what a beautiful song it is.

Well, nap time for the babes and running time for me. I'm out!

Not much is new around our place. It's been freezing cold the last few days and when it gets that cold, it just makes me want to throw chores and productivity out the window and instead curl up with a blanket and a book in front of the fireplace. It was 9 degrees this morning when Kendle left for school, it's definitely a hot chocolate type of day. I'm hoping this is one of the last cold fronts before that earthy, rainy spring weather starts making it's way in the door with March. But at least the sun is shining, so I will take that and be happy with it today. I think I got caught up on my vitamin C intake for the year by eating at least half a box of those yummy little cutie oranges and it's making me long for warmer weather.

I've been rearranging furniture and getting some organizing done this week and also enjoying my new vacuum which I can use on our hard floors. Kale absolutely hates the vacuum with a vengeance and pretty much doesn't stop screaming and crying until it's not only shut off, but put back into the closet and out of his sight. Cooper doesn't mind it so much as long as it's not coming in his direction, if it is he will promptly sprint off to a safer location to observe what I'm doing. Morgan hated the vacuum at their age as well and he still covers his ears when it gets too close to him. It is a lot louder on the hard floors than on the carpet, I will admit that. I bought some new area rugs and the kids have been loving them and actually want to spend time in the living room now. I should have got some a long time ago. I also ordered some new curtains and a cool lamp this week which I'm excited to get.

Kendle has her very last basketball game tomorrow. Sad to see the season end because it's been really fun, but it's getting over at a good time just before this next week when things get crazy again with Riley's high school soccer season starting. Now he'll be overlapping club and high school until the end of May or so and then we'll be throwing Kendle's softball into the mix as well later on in the spring. Riley also has a home tournament with his club team this weekend. They are supposed to be playing at 8:00 in the morning tomorrow and I don't even want to imagine how cold and uncomfortable that will be. Those are tough girls -  that's for sure. I feel so bad for them and just hope nobody gets an injury or pulled muscle related to the cold. I don't know who's more dedicated, the girls or the parents who sit out in the cold to watch them.

Kendle was super excited when she came home from school yesterday. She got a new book for the AR points she has earned and it was the next Percy Jackson book she has been waiting to read. Talk about stoked. She's tried to check it out at the library but it's always checked out since it's a popular book I guess. She was one happy reading machine last night. I guess I will have to give in and read them so I can know what she's going on and on about. She's also started reading the Lemony Snicket books and really liking those.

My family has been telling me how deprived they have been that we haven't had any home made cookies or treats in the house all week. (I think they are just spoiled) I should use up the bananas in the freezer and make some banana bread at least I suppose. That's one of Kendle's favorites. I've been craving pumpkin bars, but those can be pretty dangerous as I find it impossible to not want to eat the whole pan. Might have to make it a baking weekend and make some big batches to stock up the freezer with for later. I've also got some new books to review on my book blog and hopefully I can get around to that this weekend as well.

Well, I have had to stop and start writing this post about fifty times to keep the twins from injuring or maiming themselves. They have mastered climbing up on chairs and everything else in this house so it takes constant vigilance to prevent one disaster after another, so that's all for today!