Catching Up

I posted a while ago about how our computer was on the long list of things the twins have destroyed. We are still waiting to find a good deal on a possible lap top instead of a regular desk computer in the hopes that I can then take it and hide it and they won't be able to mess with it. In the meantime I am thankful for my smart phone and Riley's laptop from work that he has been so kind as to let me use the last work or so. But that's the boring stuff, here's what else has been going on:

Kendle started softball and so we are now on overlapping mode with soccer and Riley's high school coaching schedule. So far, no major mishaps or crazy scheduling conflicts. Helps that Riley also coaches Kendle's team so we can plan practices on days that work with everything else that is going on. Her soccer team has so far been enjoying another hot streak and remains undefeated. She's been enjoying attending the competitive league trainings on Friday afternoons and is looking forward to that starting after regular soccer is over. She's moved up to the age for softball where they actually pitch to each other, so this season should be interesting. Lots of ducking and evading wild balls I'm sure. Her team seems pretty fun though and her coach is nice and very organized. School is going good for her, she had another excellent review at parent teacher conferences and although it's nothing new, it is still nice to hear that your child is excelling and being a star student. Almost makes up for how they act at home right? She stays consistently pretty far above grade level in every subject and currently her favorite subject is writing. Anywho, we love her teacher and wish she could move up to 5th grade with Kendle next year. Kendle also loves their reading buddy days when they get to read to the kindergartners and anything else she can help with at school. She has made some new fun friends this year at school and through sports and just really enjoys life for the most part.

Morgan and the twins have entered the dirty season. It's starting to get nice enough to play outside a lot so they love to dig in the dirt and by the end of the day they all look like pig pen from Charlie Brown. I am constantly sweeping up dirt and doing laundry but at least they are happy and somewhat self entertained. I read somewhere the other day that little boys should play outside as much as possible because they thrive with touching, seeing, and experiencing learning firsthand especially in nature. I guess my boys have that covered! Morgan made a cute bird feeder at preschool today and was excited to come home and hang it up in the backyard tree. He has been anxiously checking it for any bird activity since then. He is also a flipping machine on the trampoline lately. He can do all sorts of tricks and entertains us. Cooper and Kale are SO close to being fully potty trained. It has taken so much longer with them because it is just harder with two of them, but I've tried to keep at it and they've almost got it. I think we need to throw a big end of diapers party here pretty soon! I'm trying to enjoy this stage of life with them, but as many mom's know the terrible two's can be pretty terrible at times. The only way to get through it most of the time is trying to laugh about the crazy stuff they do I suppose. Sometimes I just wish they could both be happy and content at the SAME time, they are always the opposite of each other.

Spring Break --- Her and Morgan both went to Seattle/Tacoma at the beginning of spring break with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law and some of their cousins. They got to go to the science center and the zoo and they had a fantastic time. Last Friday Riley took them on a fishing trip up past Dayton a little ways and they had a blast. They left super early in the morning while I was still asleep. Kendle was the super fisher and caught not only the biggest fish, but the most fish. Riley said she loved it and was so excited every time she caught one. Morgan had fun too, but most of the time would rather look for sticks or cool rocks. They came home and were very hungry, tired, dirty, but happy kids and I'm so glad they had a fun time to get away with just their dad. Later that night we took Kendle to meet up with my mom in Kennewick so she could spend the night at their house and travel to Portland with her the next day for my twin neice and nephew's birthday party. She had a great time seeing her cousins and having one last day of fun before spring break was over. I think the kids had a fun spring break this year.

 


I still don't have much "spare time" these days, but I'm finding that I treasure and enjoy our family time much more now when we are all busy. I'm also finding that I treasure and need my workout time to help me get rid of stress. I think Riley can tell the days I didn't get a run in because I may be a bit more grumpy! I feel like I've kind of reached a stale mate on the weight loss, but I guess something is still working because my clothes are getting looser. Someone commented to me the other day that my "skinny" jeans were looking kind of baggy. I think I lose weight from the top down and the feet up and then it all meets in the middle. The hardest part to get rid of. My mom and I were joking that we needed to market a new brand of jeans called "Big Waist, Skinny Legs". I'm hoping that now that the weather is nice I can take the kids for more walks or run around the track during Kendle's softball practice's. I can't wait to get out and get some more yard work and gardening done and do some spring cleaning to the exterior of the house. I just love spring and how beautiful everything starts to look. I miss the green grass and the flowers. I also have a long list of home projects I want to get started on in the next little while. I know Riley is excited for that! I think at this point he will be glad to do anything that doesn't involve fixing toilets. Ha, ha.

Easter

We had a really great Easter. It is so wonderful to know that we have a Savior that died for us and paid the price for all of our sins. I know that he lives and that we too shall live again after this life. We had lovely beautiful spring weather on top of it all and that just made the day perfect. I love spring time and the feeling of the earth coming alive again.


I really wanted to take pictures of everyone before we left for church but we were running late ( I know, it's annoying to even say you're running late when you have 1:00 church). However, we still don't get ready until it's close to time to go or everyone would destroy their clothes. So-- I insisted on taking some when we got home and by that time everyone was not in the mood anymore. Go figure. So this is as good as it got. Can't wait for the day when my boys are all grown up with families of their own and complain to me that their kids never hold still for pictures. Then I can show them pictures like these of when they were little.

 





The kids enjoyed what the Easter bunny brought them in their baskets and made short work of a lot of the candy. We had a yummy brunch with apple butter braids and scrambled eggs. After church we had a delicious dinner of ham, potato casserole, rolls, salad, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. We did an egg hunt for the kids after dinner and it was so entertaining to watch the kids looking in all the nooks and cranny's of the yard. Riley did hide a few in some pretty interesting spots, mostly for our own amusement to see if they would be able to find them. It was a fun day and a good way to end spring break. I'm thankful for wonderful days like these.

The list keeps growing...........

It's official. The twins are going to financially devastate us. In the last few weeks we have had to replace 2 toilets, we are now in the market for a new computer thanks to their constant button pushing and rebooting skills - aka - killing it, and I'm frankly afraid to see what happens next. We've also had to buy new bar stools and I wish we had a way to bolt them down to the ground. Oh, and let's not forget my previous treadmill that they broke the power chord on. Quite the list right? Yes, they've racked up quite the tab and sucked dry my patience reserves.  I keep asking myself, what am I supposed to be learning from all of these frustrating experiences that just seem to keep on happening? I know that when you pray for patience it is not automatically granted to you, rather you are given situations to hone that specific virtue right? I don't think that's working for me. Maybe Cooper and Kale were really sent to our family for the sole purpose of keeping us humble and to prevent us from gathering too many worldly riches. On the flip side, we now are expert toilet replacers and I suppose have involuntarily added a few more updates and value to our home. Yeah.

Well, I suppose next time I am having a bad day I will think, are my toilets working? Have I had to take any one for stitches today? Ok, maybe life isn't so bad.

Pinterest + Polyvore

I love clothes a lot. You can check out my pinterest style board if you want to see how much. I like trying different styles and not putting myself in a box. Sometimes it's easy to get in a mom slump where I only wear workout clothes, or jeans and a hoody, but it makes the days that I do put more of an effort into it that much more of a treat. Dressing up for a night out, church, or a special occasion is fun and it's nice to wear something other than the normal everyday attire but if I had to pick one style that fits me most, I guess it would be leaning towards the sporty athletic look. I own a few too many pairs of athletic shoes and usually my wish list contains a few more. I can't fight it.

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite looks I created on polyvore just for fun today. Some sporty, casual, dressy and everything in between.


This first look makes me feel kind of like a mini celebrity. When I pinned it to pinterest, I didn't really expect 13 other people to repin it, let alone 113! Crazy. When I created this "Soccer Mom" outfit, I was trying to find something that balanced between normal casual clothes and a semi-sporty look.





Here's another take on it:





And one more for football season:




 Here is one of my favorite fun happy outfits, I just love yellow:





And another one in some tangerine for spring:







A couple of my favorite dressy outfits:











I love this for a nice fall weekend:






Wintertime:



Vacation:






So there is a small sampling of some of the outfits I've created. I love putting things together and finding inspiration for new ways to wear things I already own or things I see in the stores. It's a fun hobby and almost satisfies my need to shop.