loving books

As soon as Mason walked in the door after school he said he needed to go to the library. He's been having PARCC tests this week and he finished a 400 page book in two days!! When he finds a series he loves look out!

After dinner I took the boys to find books. Mason ended up checking out 5 huge books!! He was grinning from ear to ear. He wanted to stay and read. He didn't want to leave all those books. It was so cute!

Carson found his 4 books quickly and started to read while he waited for us. I'm so glad they love to read. 

Minutes before we left for the library Carson came in and said he fell out of a tree. He said his face hit the roots that are growing out of the ground. Poor guy... :( We might need to ban him from climbing trees by himself. 

fun day

Today was a busy day. Partly my fault because I scheduled a couple appointments too close. 

Carson had his last early morning orchestra rehearsal today. The 3rd graders also did a demonstration for the 2nd graders so they could decide if they want to play an instrument next year. Carson loved being able to share his knowledge. 

The boys had dentist cleanings this afternoon and then shortly after Karlee needed to get a vaccine for school. I booked the appointments too close so I had to pick up Karlee when I got the boys. I didn't plan enough time in between appointments. Sometimes I wonder if I'm losing my mind. :)

We got the fire truck room! 

Today is one of the many days I'm grateful Karlee has a license. I left for visiting teaching before 5 while Karlee picked up mason after his robotics club. She also finished preparing dinner for the family. 

When I got home I found these boys heading out to ride. They are becoming more and more confident so now they need to wear helmets. They didn't mind at all, as long as they can ride. 

If you look closely you can see a wand in Carson's hand. They made a great compromise. They would ride together then take breaks and cast spells. They had a blast!

Brian started a blanket Sunday. It's for a baby. Just for because. I love these colors. I love when he crochets. 

I love my family!!

Pinterest success!

These past many, many weeks we've had very traditional FHE treats. Today I wanted something new. I found it! 

These are Chex Scotcharoos I found on Pinterest. Super easy and amazing! Mason was afraid they would taste too peanut buttery, but they have just enough. The chocolate also has a little peanut butter and butterscotch chips. Perfect combination!! 

I'll be making this again!

all about CJ

Thursday evening was all about Carson. He had his orchestra concert at 6. They all did a great job! It was held at Haines and it was 3-5 grade students from two elementary schools. 

For the last song all of then preformed together.  It amazes me how great they sound with them being so young and having only 17 hours of instruction. Carson loves playing the viola! I hope he continues to enjoy it. 

Later that night we attended pack meeting where Carson received his Bear badge and one gold arrow! Way to go Carson!! We worked hard to earn this early as the Cub Scout program will be changing in June.

With the concert being at Haines Mason decided to stay at school until the concert started. He had robotics club that went until 4:30. If he rode the activity bus home he would get home at about 5 and we needed to leave at 5:10 for the concert. It worked out well that he stayed. I brought a hotdog for him so he wasn't starving. ;) He said while he waited he worked on his homework then read. These past couple years he has found a love for reading.

a new look

We've been talking about a change and we jumped in with both feet Saturday. We cut off branches and then Brian pulled out the roots with his truck. He loved it!! We both were so glad we didn't have to dig out the roots. 

And we didn't need a 4x4 either. :D

Woot! Woot!

Friday fun

No school on Friday! It was so nice. We slept in a bit while Brian and Karlee still had seminary. There are three school districts that attend our seminary class. When two districts are still in school seminary is on. 

Carson's friend Grant came over in the afternoon the weather was beautiful!

This shot turned out cool of the water balloon hitting Carson's back. It didn't pop either!

Karlee catching some sun! She even got a tan line. 

We played a little Pictionary Man and Pit too. We had fun. We're ready for summer any day now. 

kids spring break

I keep forgetting to share the fun things the kids did during spring break. 

Mostly, they hung out together. ;) By the look of this picture I dare say Mason spent most of his time on the computer. Which is his kind of vacation!

They all went to a movie, Home, and played on some toys at our sad, sad mall while they were waiting for the movie to start. There is a movie theater and three support stores, nothing else...

I think they all had a fun week. McKinzie said she felt like she was on vacation too. She was able to sleep in, shower late, and even tried out our jacuzzi tub! Aww the life!!

I'm so grateful McKinzie was available and willing to come hang out and take care of everyone. I wish we could see her more often though. I have to remind myself, we were the ones to move. 

accomplishments

Wednesday was the recognition breakfast for the A/B students at Haines. We were in attendance, of course!! 

Mason had one B and all the rest A's. He's so smart! I have super smart kids. They are so much smarter than me. I'm glad too. 

This past week I was able to finish the last three blocks for my quilt. Don't get too excited for me. I still have to attach them with sashing, do a boarder around the whole thing, do the back panel, quilt it all then bind. Yes. Lots more to do. That's ok. I'm loving it!

Oahu ~ Day 5

We arranged to have a late check out so we decided to spend a few hours at the beach before we head to the airport. We didn't want to leave. This really was like a second honeymoon for us. We loved it!!

 

Do you see all the people at the top right in the ocean? We hung out there quite a bit.  The waves would come crashing over our heads at times. Sometimes crashing from two different directions. It was great!

 

I didn't mind all the people on the beach with us. I loved the feeling of the sun warming me to my bones!

 You know I bought a stick for my phone to take wide angle pictures, but I had to have a case on it to fit.  I don't use a case. What was I thinking?! Brian's arms are just as long!! I guess I need to work with him to get great shots!

When we arrived at the airport Sunday night it was dark. I had no idea that it was mostly open and they had these landscaped areas. Such a beautiful place to visit.  I hope we can make it back one day, maybe Maui next time.  :D

Oahu ~ Day 4

This was probably our favorite day of our entire vacation.

We left the hotel about 6:30 to go snorkeling.  We've never snorkeled, we were nervous. On our way to Hanauma Bay we stopped off at a park to get a few pictures with this Indian Banyan tree.  The vines/roots were cool.

 

This is Hanauma Bay!! So pretty.  We watched a video to learn about the Bay and to be environmentally friendly. Down on the beach we rented gear.

 We dropped our things on the beach, headed to the water to put on the gear and off we went. I'll admit it was a little freaky, at first, to put my face in the water and breath. There were a few times I had to remind myself to slow my breathing, to breath deep. Once I relaxed it was amazing! We saw many, many fish! There were a few times the water was so shallow and the coral high that there was barely enough room to swim over.  Brian didn't always have enough room.  We both scrapped our knees or elbows on the coral too. We will snorkel again!! We loved it!!

 After a few hours we decided to head out. I was surprised at how many people kept coming in. All these people in the below picture just finished watching the video. It was like this all morning.

One of my favorite roads we drove on.

 

After snorkeling we were starving. Brian noticed a burger place off Waikiki beach. Oh man!! It hit the spot!



 We cleaned up after lunch and headed North. We wanted to attend the Laie Hawaii Temple. Our friend, Tori, told us about an amazing shaved ice place that was a must try. (She gave us lots of tips for our trip. She did an amazing job. She should be a travel agent. Her tips were that good!)

Brian had raspberry. I had tropical. Which was guava, papaya, and coconut I think. We both loved it! But there's a twist to this. You can have ice cream and beans with it. We both had ice cream, the beans sounded odd.

 

 

 As we left I noticed a few coconut trees! So of course we stopped to take a picture.

 Here it is! Isn't it beautiful!?! We were able to take a few pictures before we attended a session. Then I got a few more afterwards.

This day was wonderful! Relaxed, slow paced, beautiful, with a few hours of service at the temple. We didn't want to go home the next day.