March 2018

One Sunday morning we got a knock on our door very early in the morning.  Our next door neighbor was at the door and he told us that his son had come home at 3:00 am and hit our mailbox.  We looked at and were shocked that he had broken the entire thing in half.  He must have been going pretty fast still! They were so kind and promised that when we got home from church they would have a new mailbox ready for us.  We felt so bad watching them work out there all day, especially when they ended up having to rent a jackhammer and tear up the concrete base and mix up cement to pour a new one. He ended up working all day long but he did a fantastic job.

Kaylee had a super exciting birthday this year because she turned 8!  We have been talking about getting baptized in every FHE since the beginning of the year and she was really excited about that and starting Activity Days.  We were lucky enough to have Sharon, Rob and Mom and Dad come out for her baptism. I was worried about having just a few people from both families but I thought it went as good as it could have and we found lots of fun things to do.  We went to COSI, took everyone bowling, went on a Big City Scavenger Hunt, played games and chatted a lot. They especially loved jumping on Uncle Robert. He was a lot of fun for them to play with!

The day of the baptism went perfectly. Both Grandmas gave a talk, Grandpa and Uncle Rob were witnesses and Richard did a beautiful job on the confirmation.  Kaylee had a huge adorable smile on her face the entire day! We invited a few of our friends over for cake at our house afterwards and it was a really special day. We are so proud of Kaylee!

Grandma and Grandpa had to leave the day before Brooklyn's birthday so we let her open her presents before they left. She was so excited to get a Plasma car and has used it constantly since. Although she often has to fight her sisters for it! On her birthday the girls were back in school but Sharon and Rob were still here so we took them to the Conservatory and then out to lunch at Wendy's, which was the perfect day for Brooklyn. 

Easter was on Conference weekend this year so we didn't go to any big hunts like we usually do but we did dye lots of eggs!  This was the first time I've used an actual dye kit and it was Brooklyn's first time ever and it was a hit!  Kaylee especially loves it and could probably dye a hundred eggs if she could. In between session we did a small egg hunt with the Solanos at the church and let the kids run around and burn some energy in the gym. 

On Easter we got to listen to Conference but by the end of all the sessions our kids were done sitting down and listening so we decided to save our usual Resurrection Eggs for FHE the next day.  One fun surprise was that Kenna came to me and said she decided she wanted to chop her hair off.  She had mentioned a few times in the past that she would one day but she seemed sure and before either of us hesitated too much, I took her in the bathroom and chopped off at least a full foot of hair!  I'm not sure either of us expected it to be that short but she says she loves it!  She looks like a completely different girl now but still just as adorable!

February 2018

The girls had a daddy- daughter dance at their school so lucky Richard got to take two beautiful girls to the dance! Once again, it was mostly the girls dancing with their friends while the dads talked but they all seemed to have fun anyway.

We went to another fun craft day at the Conservatory.  They have so many fun activities here. This really has ended up being my favorite kid place in Columbus! Who would have thought?

Sometimes the girls get out the brush and spray bottle and pretend to do Richard's hair.  Usually they just throw a few bows in his hair but this time Kaylee stayed really committed and gave him a fabulous do! I took it out that night but I should have made him go to work like that the next day ;)

Kaylee got to create her own Valentine's box for the first time.  We saw an idea online of a vending machine so I helped her create her own. I thought it turned out really cute and she said everyone in her class was impressed. And it wasn't too difficult so win/win!

In the past, we have gone to Chick-Fil-A for Valentine's Day with the girls instead of doing a romantic dinner with just Richard and I because they always have a fun theme and activity.  However, this year I wanted to try a mixed up menu with the girls. They requested pink pancakes for dinner so we made those (in a heart shape) and then gave them a silly menu for dessert. Richard was the waiter and took their order and we even gave our restaurant a name: Al Azar.  I think it basically means a la carte in Spanish. We must have had Halloween on the brain instead of Valentine's because most of the names were gross like Zombie Brains but the girls had so much fun ordering those gross things without knowing what they were really getting.  Richard wanted to trick them and put at least one gross thing on their ice cream so he named cherry tomatoes "Angel Kisses", hoping they would pick the sweet name.  They all liked it so much, they requested we do the same thing for an FHE treat the next week. 

An Aquarium store not too far from here hired someone to pose as a mermaid to help bring customers in.  So we had to go and meet her! It was a little lame because they just had you walk past the pool where she was sitting and you could take a pic with her and she would give you a "mermaid treasure" (a little colored glass rock).  But the mermaid wasn't talkative and so it made it kinda awkward to just go up and stare at her sitting in this pool. But they still talk about it so she made some kind of impression!

Brooklyn hasn't been into coloring very much but one day we got out the crayons and coloring books. Instead of coloring at all, she sat there and ripped the paper off all the crayons for over an hour.  I was impressed with her concentration!

January 2018

Richard really wants to keep up his family's tradition of going out to breakfast on New Years Day so we headed over to IHOP.  Even though it is really close to our house, we still had to drive over since it was 5 degrees that morning!  

And even though the winter's are SO cold here, we still have to get out and play in the snow when we can. It doesn't last very long but is still so fun! The girls even built a mini ramp off the side of our porch and rode the sled down that little hill over and over again. And they thought it was hilarious to bury each other in the snow and then try to escape from the snow that had been packed down on top of their legs.

Richard and I finally upgraded to a queen-size bed.  I don't know how we've lasted this long on a double but I loved our bed so much that there wasn't as big of a hurry to get a new one.  Unfortunately, as we were moving our old mattress down into the basement, Richard pulled the mattress and it slipped through my hands as we were going down the stairs.  One of the staples was sticking out and it ripped through my hand!  It hurt incredibly bad.  When I sliced my finger with an olive can two years earlier, it didn't seem to hurt as much as it should have, but this one definitely did!  It was on a weekend night and I didn't want to go to the emergency room unless I absolutely had to.  We FaceTimed Tony who told me it probably did need stitches but he told me how to keep my hand wrapped up to heal the best way possible if I didn't end up going so that is what we did!  

One freezing day, the power went out in our whole neighborhood just as I was getting back from the grocery store.  The good news was that I could just leave the groceries in the car outside and nothing would go bad.  The bad news was that it was 10 degrees outside and we had no heat!  Brookie and I wrapped up in blankets and snuggled on the bean bag and it was honestly one of the best afternoons of my life.  Sometimes we don't realize how distracted (and completely reliant) we are on electricity unless it goes away!  We read lots of books, pretended to be hiding from monsters, played board games, etc.  It was a great (cold) afternoon!

December 2017

We went to the same library celebration that we went to last year where we got to meet Santa. They have little crafts to do, food, choirs and performances, and of course, Santa.  I didn't know how Brooklyn would react this year since last year she was pretty freaked out, even with her dad being Santa, but she walked right up and sat on his lap!

Since this is our first Christmas without Holly, I wanted to pack in lots of activities to keep us busy. Plus, someone had shown us a kids version of the Church's Light the World calendar and I wanted to do as many of those as we could. For one of the service ones, I saw a website that showed where you could make and send cards to cheer up kids in hospitals around the country.  I thought it was a fabulous idea and so we made cards one night for FHE and put jokes inside them.  Sometimes I don't think I'm very good at art and other times I really surprise myself. I had so much fun drawing these Disney characters and was super proud of myself! Kaylee also drew this little Olaf that I thought she did a really good job on. Hopefully some kid somewhere will like them too!  It was a fun project and I could see us making that a fun tradition. 

Another thing that I was so proud of myself for was finishing McKenna's stocking.  Even with me not working on it for a few months with our move, it took me less than a year and it was my first cross-stitch project in YEARS (and definitely the biggest one I have ever attempted).  Now I just have to keep motivated to make 4 more!

We found lots of fun Christmas activities around Columbus to keep our minds off of the fact that we weren't with family. We went and saw Christmas lights three different times at places all around the city, saw the huge holiday train setup at the downtown library, went to the Conservatory where they have giant poinsettia trees and a gingerbread house competition, and went to the Museum of Art. 

We also tried to do all kinds of traditional things at home like make sugar cookies, making gingerbread houses, cutting out paper snowflakes, doing a few crafts Mom had sent us, sleeping under the Christmas tree, acting out the nativity, etc. I thought we would be really sad and lonely but we kept so busy that it helped us not think about it as much.  I'll have to remember that for next year!

This was the first year that I thought the girls should get each other presents, but I didn't want them to spend money.  So I told them to make a thoughtful gift for each other.  McKenna wasn't really into the idea and made something super quick.  Kaylee on the other hand was super excited and really tried hard to think of something thoughtful for her sisters.  She made a badge/button thing for Brooklyn to pin on her shirt and then made this super cute cat for Kenna. She was SO excited to give it to her and I was super proud of her for working hard on it and making it personal and thoughtful!

I was feeling so happy and Christmas-y all season and we had really tried hard to focus more on giving and Christ.  I was so content on Christmas Eve and had that feeling of "Nothing can go wrong, everything is amazing and I could feel this way forever!"  And then we woke up on Christmas... that feeling left SO fast as we had kids whining about what they got or asking for more presents or fighting over things they just got.  ~sigh~ At least it lasted for a little while. But it makes me realize so much more what is REALLY important at that time of year!  

Richard took Kaylee and McKenna each on a date during the break. McKenna chooses the pet store every single time, even though Richard tries to talk her out of it. But it's what makes her happy! And Kaylee chose to go roller skating.  She is getting pretty good!