Saturday Stake Easter Activity

We had a blast at the stake Easter activity.  The egg hunt of course-

I read a blog post about getting in front of the camera. So, here is Troy's best photography skills :)

Katelyn did wonderful. She still refuses the sippy cup unless we undo the lid. 

Slushies! Liam had three. 

 

Face painting! Troy's favorite activity. 

The three legged race that was an epic failure. 

The bouncy house. 

Great day!!

Our typical day in pictures

Wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed. And sit together on the stairs.. Okay not really. 

Read books and then play with what we've got. 

Eat a snack, go outside, play with our neighbors if they are home. 

Katelyn is starting to walk a little more each day. Still not a big fan of it.

While Katelyn and Liam nap (usually there is a small overlap) Troy and I do his reading book, writing letters, counting, shapes, etc. Definitely not everything everyday.

Happiest girl in the world when she wakes up.

We usually go on a walk in the afternoon. Our complex looks like a resort right by the main area. We come here sometimes, if no one is here. 

I don't have the rest of the day because it's much more hectic between 4-7. But they do like to watch Daniel Tiger, Super Why, or Jake and the Never Land Pirates while I make dinner. Katelyn sometimes takes a second nap, but her schedule changes every day to be honest. Not because I don't try to keep her on a schedule, but she is happier if I follow her lead. 

I don't have any pictures of things that are not so pleasant. Like all of the potty training accidents. The dishes. The spills. The cleaning up. Repeat 50 times. The endless dirty clothes and towels. The whining over wearing pants if its cold. The fighting, time outs, and apologies. Repeated 10 to 40 times each day. The gradual louder sound of my voice when they don't listen. The word no! don't! stop! With a distraction for Liam and sometimes an explanation for Troy. The handprints on recently cleaned windows. But it's real. Real growth in my children that I get to watch everyday. I can't really explain it. It's SO frustrating at times and patience literally feels like it runs out and I am a bad mother until Ben gets home. But I'm seeing progress. Progress in my expectations of myself and of my children. Each day I try harder to be close to the Lord. Family scriptures and prayers have been a great joy in our night time routine. I leave feeling grateful for the day and for the chance to improve the next. Well, after my personal study, prayer and a bowl of ice cream, that attitude is more apparent. ;)

Our Weekend

We found out there are two Ikeas here. We needed to get lots of kid plates/bowls etc. Plus it's a fun store to brainstorm when you buy a house! We are looking forward to do little projects together. Nothing bought yet, but this little table sure caught my eye. The boys played house for a good 20 minutes. That is a long time for Liam. 

On Saturday we went to the park with the Bicks. I love that they live close. 

This bouncy house below was for a birthday party at the park that we were not a part of, but Troy ran over to it. As I tried to stop him the birthday boy invited him to come and his mother was very kind. The boys Loved it. 

I played prelude for church this morning. It's something they do in this ward. You sign up for prelude like you would a musical number, but less pressure. However, today the bishop asked everyone to be quiet and listen. It wasn't too bad, but definitely more nerve racking than I had planned on. It worked out. I'll be playing the harp in two weeks for the actual musical number. It's good to have opportunities to keep me practicing. Ben teaches the deacons every other Sunday. I wish I could watch him teach. I listen to his preparations and I love how he relates to the boys. He really tries to make sure the boys stay interested and engaged in the lesson. I know two things he tries to do is 1. know each boy's name and call on them to share thoughts and 2. Think of applicable and engaging questions that will cause discussion. I know the curriculum is great with this. 

We are looking forward to Easter! I've been looking at tradition ideas to start in our family. I love this book. I got it from Melissa Garza. It's by her mom, Jill Connelly. Ben and I had fun deciding which ones to implement this year. 

I love thinking about the resurrection and the fact that we can live as families together forever. When I think about forever, it actually overwhelms me. But when I think about never being separated from my family, I am relieved and overjoyed. I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and all He did and does to help me. I'm grateful for Sunday to help me remember the real reasons behind all the little things of day to day life. I'm grateful for the agency to choose Christ and the safety that comes from following Him. I'm trying to be more grateful when I continually see how much I am not in control. But really, I shouldn't want to be in control. 

April so far

Troy made a basketball court for his cars. He was SO excited to show me. 

We only have one car right now. Shopping for a second. Until then, we walk where we can. Troy is a trooper. 

We discovered a Petco near us today. Awesome!!

Katelyn loved the birds. 

Troy and Liam loved the lizards. 

The zoo suddenly seemed overpriced... ;)

We are anxious to swim. I remember swimming every day when I was younger.  

When people ask us our hobbies, we usually say, " the park." Realistically, it's just the best place for all of us. Everyone has a good time, so that's where we go a lot. 

Yeah, this only lasted a couple of seconds. Not quite climbing big trees yet.

Katelyn is back to her happy self after a week of crying and fussiness. Happy baby = Happy mommy! 

It's always been a mother dream of mine to bake with my kids. I think I was picturing the ones in the commercials. Troy did pretty well actually. He loved measuring. Liam was very excited, messy, and kind of prolonged the process. 

Liam did stay still when the mixer was on. 

I hesitate to post the next picture. Yes it took awhile, but it's probably one of the only crafty things I do because I enjoy doing it. Sugar cookie cut outs. I finished them when the boys were watching a show. Not spectacular, but I had fun. We made them for conference weekend. Troy had been begging me to make these for awhile. Here are a few. 

The boys decorated theirs after I was done. They loved it. 

Liam ate his frosting and cookie seperately. He spilled frosting on his sock and quickly licked it up. Don't want to waste any! I love that little crazy 3 year old. 

Troy is getting so big and helpful. We registered him for kindergarten yesterday. Crazy!!

I knelt down to pray the other night. It had been a "growing in patience" day. And as I put my hands together, I saw a sticker that Troy had put on my hand when I tucked him in. For some reason, seeing that sticker gave me a rush of motherly love for my little ones. I'm grateful for general conference. The messages help me refocus and be better as I think about them often. Yay for Mormon channel!!!! 

Someone asked me the other day how I get through tough young mother days. I answered, "the Mormon Channel." Conversations, enduring it well, and conference talks are my main ones. They keep my perspective. Because that's what I really need, every day. 

Surprise Morning

So, I'm anxious to get into our house. This didn't help. I heard a woman outside frantically crying and yelling swear words when we first opened our windows in the morning. It faded out as she walked away, so I didn't think much more of it. We got ready and decided to go on a walk. I opened our garage to 

A police car. But no cop. The boys thought it was awesome. We went on our walk and I saw a police officer taking samples from an apartment window. The apartment was only about 20 feet from ours. Yeesh! I started to get scared. I kind of stayed around the cop car until the officer came back. The apartment had been broken into and everything was either stolen, broken, or shredded. The woman had a little baby too. They weren't home when it happened. But I felt SO bad for her. I wanted to offer help, but she left and I thought, it probably wouldn't be wise anyway. She was more angry than scared and I had never met her. She came back later with another woman. A friend, I think. 

Too many "big city" things happening lately. Anxious to move to the suburbs. We will still have an alarm system, and I know we will still be at risk, but it just seems a little safer where we will be moving. 

Looking to May 23rd. It technically could be earlier if the seller's house is finished and they want to move sooner, but I'm not counting on it. Plus, I really like being close to some very sweet friends. We will see!