Rain, rain, go away

It’s been so rainy. We are all over it. We wanted to go to Ikea today but it rained all day. So it was a stay at home day. What’s better on a rainy day than tomato bisque and grilled cheese. These are 2 of my specialties. I found a quick and delish soup recipe that I love. My grilled cheese game is already pretty good, but I tried a few new things today that turned out even yummier. I used a combo of olive oil and butter to make the bread super crispy, spread a thin layer of cream cheese on one side of the bread, and then made one with fresh mozzarella, and one with Gouda. I’d use less cream cheese next time, but other than that, so tasty. 
I’m continuing CG saga, I spent my Friday night deep conditioning my fair. Life is pretty exciting up in here. 

Not thrilled with the results today, but cg is a marathon not a sprint. We’ll keep working on it. 

While I CG’d, the gang had family movie night in our empty family room. 

And Frankie sketched a baby picture of herself complete with shading. She’s pretty amazing. 

Thursday evening we had our ARM at the church and it was so good. Joey the midwife came and answered lady questions and I feel prepared for menopause whenever that happens. Lydia wrapped the evening up perfectly. She is so sweet and wonderful and I am better for knowing her. (and her wonderful momma)

The reason our family room is empty is that Bubba and Pablo rented a house! They came to us and we discussed it and went with them to look at some places. The house they found is super cute, perfect size, new carpet and paint, just perfect for them. And it’s right by St. Mary’s Lake. 

So on moving day we brought pizza and they took the girls and walked to the lake. 

The girls loved it and can’t wait to stay the night one day. 

Earlier that day I spent some time with my fav dentist filling 2 cavities. I was so numb, more so than I ever remember. Not fun. 

So that’s my last few days. Curly stuff, pizza, dentist, and rain. 

My last Valentine party

I organized my last 1st grade Valentine’s Day party. It’s so fun, I’ll miss it. But it’s also fun having bigger kids. I love the phase we’re in, it’s soooo good. 

We had a fruit kabob station for our snack. The kids favorite was the donut holes and heart marshmallows. 

We also did Conversation Hearts with chopsticks, which the kids loved and was fun to watch. 

Chris came and ran the fruit kabob station. He’s such a good big brother. 

They played Pin the Lips on Mrs. Valentine and delivered their valentines. D took hers to school in this basket, and, you know. 

I ❤️ happy kids. 

#bestbrother

And then the always fun going through of the valentines. The little Konmari’s in the making were so good about going through them, thanking them for the joy they brought, and getting rid of them. It. Was. Awesome. 

Presidents’ Day

We love a three day weekend. We had plans going in all different directions. Frankie went to Curtis’ birthday party at 10 and from there we picked Abby up to hang out with Addie. Delaney and I had a date planned, and Matt was going to work, but ended up working on home projects instead. D and i saw A Dogs Journey. She makes fun picture faces. 

This chatterbox and I had a great date. 

Before we picked Frankie up, we ran quickly to Target to do some allowance/Christmas money shopping. 

While we dated, this hotty worked in his camo jumpsuit. 😂

From there it was straigh to piano. We also finished The War I finally won which was so good. Horribly sad, but two, so good. Fhe will be tomorrow because 3 day weekend. 

Still cleaning out and organizing and found my old Personal Progress book and workbook. This is the last year of Personal Progress as we know it, and I want to complete it. 

I also snagged this cute school pic of d the day before her birthday.  😍

Piano time a few weeks ago. 

We worked on valentines while the other sisters played piano. 

Now we’re watching Get me Roger Stone and my head is ready to explode. The world is so crazy. 

Lovely weekend

I’ve been a curly girl since August.  I’ve been a curly girl forever, much to my chagrin, but I’ve been strictly following the method since August. I stopped shampooing, brushing, and using any heat on my hair. I started off slow using just safe products I already had on hand. I condition my dry hair and massage the conditioner into my scalp for a good 10-15 minutes. I got myself a scalp scrubber for Christmas and it makes that whole process so much better. I’ve slowly gotten more entrenched in the method. I’ve watched many many how to videos, made my own flax seed gel, purchased, and then electrical taped on a recommended diffuser (because it didn’t fit into my dryer), and am really having fun trying out fav cg products. It’s all so dumb and I laugh at myself and all my products and routines. Stc, sotc, co-wash, smasters, rake and shake, praying hands, and protein levels are just a few of the acronyms, techniques, and scientific bits I’ve been learning about hair. This is my awesome jimmy rigged hair dryer setup and my hair completely dry, before scrunching out the crunch, along with my clips for extra body. Because my hair dryer is super old (and I haven’t invested in the $400 Dyson... yet) it takes a long time to diffuse it dry, so I listen to podcasts. Fun stuff. 

Love this pic of a great, great grandma. And i love konmari. 

Matt and the girls played around with google earth and found papa’s house. 

Saturday was a slow day where we let the girls each take long baths and play and make imovies. 

That night we double dated with the Dorns to see Sarah’s play She Loves Me. It was super cute and we have amazing friends. 

This morning we had a good ward council. My favorites are when everyone participates and shares ideas and it’s like a true council. We had that today. Matt had a meeting after church (that he’d forgotten about), so I was walking out to the car with the girls, and chatting with Alecia when she reminded me that I actually had a meeting with bishop. I realized it was the third Sunday and she was right. 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️ she offered to take the girls to her house, which everyone was thrilled about, and all was well. Our exec-sec is out of town so I didn’t get a reminder and even though my word for the month is preparedness, I am seriously unprepared. All’s well, I give myself a whole lot of grace, and onward and upward. 

We went to the Mc’s for dinner and their new puppy mo-mo came up wanting me to hold her. Silly puppy. 

I made pioneer woman creme brûlée for dessert and was so excited to use the dessert torch I bought several months ago, only to realize it needed butane. Lack of preparation rears it’s ugly head again. But really, how was I to know? We threw them under the broiler and they were pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Not perfect, but we’re willing to keep trying. 

The girls are absolutely in love with mochi and she gave Delaney several good night kisses. It was super sweet. We are going to miss these friends of ours. I just can’t even think about it yet, but I know I want to spend as much time with them as possible before Utah steals them away. 

Date night and Preparation

Just a quick check in. I Marie Kondo’d 3 boxes of pictures this afternoon, which means bending over them, and always hurts my back. Usually the back pain goes away as soon as I stop, but not this time. My back spasmed the whole evening until I got home and put heat on it. Getting old is so rad. 

I took pics of some of the more memorable pictures and shared them with the featured memorable people. Like this cute one of me and little baby Frey. 

Ivonne and I at Cheddar’s. Babies. 

Baby Lu and auntie Alli gaming it up. 

I don’t know who took these pictures, there’s a whole series of Lexi in front of this mystery car I don’t recognize, and I love them. This one is my fav. Lex was so tough. 😂

My train! How many people can say they worked on a dinner train. And did it while raising up such cute kids!

Memory lane is fun to stroll down. With a bum back. 

Sweet Alecia offered to babysit tonight, and even though we’re going to a play tomorrow, I’m not one to pass up free babysitting. Matt and I went to see Isn’t it Romantic and it was fun and cute. My back bothered me the whole time, but popcorn for dinner makes everything better, even if Matt disagrees. 

Yesterday was V. Day. My sweet hubs and I dug the valentine bin out of the garage on the 13th. We put out a few decorations and I took a few things to my last 1st grade Valentine’s Day party, and then I put everything back away today. Yup, 48 hours. I went through and Kondo’d the box though, so it was still worthwhile. 

Because we hadn’t gotten the bin out, we didn’t have our valentines mailboxes so I improvised and did a scavenger hunt where they found small gifts along the way instead of giving them a gift everyday. And since I’m obsessed with getting rid of things, they got less than 14 things, which was perfect. 

They had fun running around finding gifts. 

Then we watched a movie to celebrate. On a school night. What, what!

In other exciting old lady/mom news, I changed some parts on Rhonda and even though her battery isn’t lasting super long anymore, (who’s is?!) she’s working like a champ again. And no wonder she wasn’t picking up much, that spinner thing was wrecked. 

My word for the month is preparation, which is tricky because I came into this month like a wrecking ball and haven’t improved since. I struggle with being prepared often and this month has been exceptional, soooo? I’m thinking about it a lot, so that’s something. And in fairness, I’m doing a lot of preparation on our home, so that’s something too. Halfway through, looking to bring it back around. Fingers crossed! 🤞🏼 

Road trip!

Tuesday was Delaney’s 7th birthday. So weird to have my baby be such a big girl. We got donuts for breakfast and headed out just before 9:30. D ate a bunch of road trip snacks and Bubba bought her a Reese’s at the wawa in Virginia with the cheap gas. Piggy girl after my own heart. 

Everyone was excited!

These two were thick as thieves. 

D can be kind of prickly, so I always think it’s precious when she’s sweet with her sibs. 

She even played with  bubbas hair while he slept. 

We got to Great Wolf by 12. I had done a mobile check in and they had texted me to let me know our room was ready, so that was sweet. We met up with one of their characters right away. 

Part of D’s gift was to play Magic Quest. While the boys unloaded, the girls picked their wands and chose their names. Delaney was Queen Laney Bug. Frankie was Water Horse (she originally wanted Seahorse, but that was too common), and Addie was Lady Everly. 😂

We got a nice military discount on a Kid Canp room and the girls loved it! We rarely splurge on hotel rooms, so the girls thought they were hot stuff. 

Bubba brought her gifts, some gum, putty, and LOL’s - she was in heaven!

We had packed a bag with our swim suits and covers because we didn’t think we’d be able to get our room before 4, so everything was easy. We had also packed hoagie fixins and snacks, so we changed and ate a quick lunch. 

We were able to swim at 1, and we were all ready to hit the park!