lovelies

McKinzie is going to send me hard copies of these two in the bluebonnets. Miss them soo much. The spring flowers in Texas and my grand kids. ;)

conference weekend

My girls are great at keeping me in the know of whatever they're doing.

Over conference weekend they had their own kind of fun. McKinzie tried to convince me to stay in Texas a couple more days to do the color run with them. I will admit it was tempting. It looks like they had fun!!

Then Bailee went to SLC to enjoy conference in person! All of us were jealous. She's the first of the family to make it to conference. 

I hope they always share with me.  Although I did get this picture of Bailee off Facebook. One of her friends posted it. ;)

surprise package

Bailee called me the other day asking if I would send her her jeans. (She didn't take them with her because they didn't fit. She's been running and lost some weight.) She's not allowed to roll her jeans up past her ankle. I knew she couldn't wear flip flops there but capris?! Really?!

In this not so big box I was able to fit 3 jeans, 5 t-shirts, 2 capris, shorts, a dress, and her converse shoes she bought in Barcelona. It's so full I wasn't able to add any surprise treats for her. But there is a different kind of surprise for her. I wonder if she'll find it. ;)

pack meeting

Thursday night we had pack meeting. Carson earned another yellow bead, which makes him very excited.

The theme for the month is faith. Each family worked together to make a plaque. I think Carson's turned out great!! Any guesses why he chose the scriptures in the center? Because the glasses look like Harry Potter's!! He is ALL things Harry Potter.

more sewing

I made more towels.  I didn't do the skull and crossbones though.  If you look real close you can see a red line of the route the ship will take. It ends at ADAM!

 

I sent this to Bailee.  I used too small a font so you can't see her name very well. :-/  She still loves it.

The eyeballs on the ladybug messed up a little. Oh well, luckily Retta is one. She doesn't care.

 



 

 I made this blanket for a friend.  She's having her 7th child but 2nd boy.  Wow!!

And this for another friend in Texas.  It was a birthday surprise. I made another towel that the "x" looked a little funky so I'm keeping it. Lucky me!!

Easter fun

Saturday we colored Easter Eggs, but we did it a little different.  We used crayons.  Right after the eggs were finished cooking we colored, or waxed them.  The crayon melted very quickly.  By the time we got to the last few the eggs they were cooled off too much and it really did look like we used crayons.  

 

 

 

I do like how vibrant they look. 

 

 Easter baskets and egg hunt.

They had a hard time finding these last three.  The Easter Bunny was clever!

For church we had Stake Conference.  We attended at our building and watched it as a broadcast.  The first speaker the connection was poor so we missed part of his talk. It made me wonder if we should drive to the Stake Center, it's another 20 minutes from our house. 

There weren't anymore problems and all the speakers were great!! They all talked about the Atonement.  One speaker was so powerful I couldn't get control of my tears.  I hope I can recall these speakers each week as I partake of the sacrament.  I'm so grateful for Jesus, that he gave up his life for me...for each one of us.

McKinzie sent this picture during church. Isn't she the cutest?

 

Our Easter lunch was very nontraditional.  Grilled shrimp with angel hair pasta.  We still had deviled eggs though.  :D

 

After our afternoon nap I made marshmallow eggs.  Karlee helped coat them in chocolate.  Some kind of looked like eggs.  Many looked like something else.  Not sure what. ;)

They were delicious!!

 

 

 

I embroidered towels for all the kids.  I think it's a good reflection of their personalities. 

 

I hope my kids know the importance of Easter.  We talked about the true meaning many times.  Mason and Carson were asking more questions during FHE to better understand.  Through out the past week both of them were asking about Palm Sunday and Good Friday.  We live around more Catholics here where as in Texas it was more Baptists. I think it's good for us to be around other religions.  It helps us understand all there is to know about religious holidays. I know little by little they will understand. 

 

Happy Easter!!

 

 

first half

This morning I accomplished one of my goals. I ran a half marathon!! My time was 2:17:48. I was 22nd in my age group. I was hoping to be around 2:15. I think I did pretty good.

It was hard. I knew it would be. I walked a little at 6.5, I tried Gu for the first time. It's an endurance gel. Kind of strange but I think it helped. I also walked for a bit at 11 then again at 12. I was so tired. But I did it!!! Brian asked me why I do this when I hurt so much after. I told him I burned 1800 calories during the race. That's one reason I run. I don't eat healthy and running helps me not gain weight. ;) As Brian and I were leaving he asked me if I would do it again. I quickly answered yes! It was hard but I know I can do hard things. I think I'll try and do another in the fall.

Thank you Brian for driving me to and from my races. And not telling me how crazy I am for causing myself so much pain. I love you!!

awards

Sometimes I feel like such a loser mom. This morning is one of those times.

Yesterday afternoon I realized I couldn't go to the temple this morning because Carson has a half day. Just him. So all evening I kept trying to figure our how to make it all work. I never did.

I've also been preoccupied with remodeling our kitchen. (That can be very overwhelming.)

I totally forgot about Mason's recognition breakfast, which is really a donut and hot chocolate by the way. Shortly after I got out of the shower this morning, my phone chimed to remind me. It starts in10 minutes!! Crap!!

I call Brian. He's already at his office, not close. So I text Mason to find out when he gets to school. I quickly get dressed, put on make-up (I actually consider going without. I'm really losing my mind!) and run a pic through my hair. (I hadn't washed it so this works thank goodness.)

I leave after it had been going for 5 minutes. While driving I get this from Mason, "Aah mom we forgot that today is the sixth grade recongnition breakfast" we exchange a few more texts mine mostly say Go!

When Carson and I arrive parents are flooding the sidewalk. I'm sad because I feel like I let Mason down. Carson is sad because he wants a donut.

We found Mason in the hall very quickly. He got his donut!! He was happy and life is still good. But now I want to find the paper with all the kids names on it that made the honor roll. Carson and I race to the gym where everyone is cleaning up. Panic!!! I'm scanning the entire gym hoping a parent left one one on the bleachers. Nothing! We race to a table and I see them near the donuts. I pick up the paper and Carson gets a donut. All is right in the world again. Whew!!

Congrats Mason on your awesome grades! And for bring an awesome son!! I love you!!!

records

I heard on the news today that this is the 5th time it has snowed after an 80 degree day, which was Saturday. (This picture was taken yesterday evening.)

Normally we get around 60" of snow. This year we had 84".

Brian heard a news report over spring break which said December-March was the coldest four month period in Chicago history. Average temperature 22 degrees.

Well, we were lucky (if you want to call it luck) enough to experience all kinds of records this past Winter. I hope it's over. I'm more than ready for Spring.

spring break ~ Texas

We had lived in Texas for 10 1/2 years and this is the first time we stopped to take a picture with the "Welcome to Texas" sign. A few hours before arriving in Texas Carson had asked if we could stop.  I had already planned on it!

 

Within minutes of our arrival I took these quick snapshots of these two cuties!

Saturday the boys spent the day with our old neighbor, Colton.  They all had a blast!! WE sure miss him!

When I realized Spring Break was the week following an Ambit Meeting I bought tickets to attend! It's a women's conference in Grapevine.  The two women in the middle I've met and worked with, Alice & Melynda.  Alice will be in Chicago the end of April so we're going to get together.

This little boy has not had a haircut since Thanksgiving.  He was in desperate need!  We'll be seeing him again in July, I'll need to have my shears with me I'm sure.

Carson lost a tooth one day in during our Spring Break.  Luckily the Tooth fairy found him, it's a challenge when he's in his own bed.

Monday I took both boys to their old schools to see friends.  During recess so many kids followed Carson everywhere on the playground.  He loved it!!

Mason was a little more nervous.  When we arrived in the lunchroom he hung back with me until he found his friends.  It was fun to watch, from a distance, as he laughed and talked with his friends.

We had beautiful weather!! Carson thought it was hot!!  One day it did reach 85.  Loved it!!

These boys led us through the zoo.  They did a great job finding all we wanted to see.

Can you tell we loved feeding the birds the most? :D

 

 

 I'm going to edit these two pictures and put them on my wall. 

 

I was trying to get a better picture of Retta and everyone decided to run on this wall with her.   

 

I like the shared smiles between Retta and Kinzie. 

 

Maybe I'll put this on my wall instead.

We had so much fun in Texas!! Karlee had a few sleepovers with friends and spent one day at Boswell.

I was able to get together with these two friends, plus one morning I met Dawn for breakfast. I was able to see many friends at the Women's Broadcast Saturday night too. 

It felt like home shortly after I started driving south on I-35.  The warm sun and green grass sure made it inviting. We even saw bluebonnets!!

As great as Texas was, when we got home late Friday night and climbed into our own beds...heaven!
To spend the weekend home again with Brian enjoying General Conference was very nice.  Home is where my family is.  Brian was still in Chicago, that's where we need to be.  Yes we have family in Texas too!  We miss them soo much.  I thoroughly enjoyed just being there and watching Adam and Retta play.  To sit and laugh with McKinzie was wonderful!! I miss her...

We'll see them again in July for a family reunion. 86 days, let the counting begin!  LOL
Hopefully we'll see Bailee too.!  We haven't seen her since January.  Miss my girls!!