Getting back into this whole school thing!

 After I drooped all the kids off for their first day of school I went to the pool at the M with friends to celebrate! After having half day school for the last 10 years straight I needed a little celebration! My day still flies by, but it is nice to have all day to get stuff done.

 I spy Cooper in the back row! I love that his teacher send me pictures.

 Multitasking at its finest: watching a show on the iPad and emptying all the trashes.

 Cute kiddos off to school early to get in some extra play time!

 Nick is the best! Without even asking he LOVES to run to the store for e to grab what I need!

 Cooper came home from baseball practice with a puffy eye. He got stung by a bee at practice and he must have rubbed his eye with the stinger still in his finger. After a quick trip to the doctor the stinger was removed and got an allergy shot in the bum he was all good to go to school.

 I have been so impressed with Aubrey and how well she likes school. Even when Cooper wasn't there to walk in with her she said, "I can go by myself and be brave."

 Aubrey is turning into a "Daddy's girl"!

 Aubrey is also LOVING homework and reading!

By the end of the first week of school it is safe to say that these kids were missing their screen time! I found all of them chilling with some sort of screen.

{Back to School} 2016

08.29.16

The first day of school for the 2016-2017 school year.

 Summer was great, but it is good to be back a routine!

This is my first year with ALL 5 kids in school ALL day!

 BIG Nick is in 8th grade this year. He is taking an early bird Spanish class so he is off to school first.

 Chloe is in 7th grade.

 Alex is in 5th grade. BIG Man on campus now!

 Cooper is in 4th grade and happy to be back at school with his friends!

Aubrey is a 1st grader now! The first day was a little rough but now she is such a big girl and just runs off with the boys in the morning to go play!

My last three in elementary school! 

08.26.16 At the Meet & Greet the Friday before school started. Aubrey was pretty hesitant, but after visiting her new classroom and  Mrs. Davis multiple times she was okay. Alex and Cooper are pros at this now. Cooper has Mrs. Berkowitz this year and Alex has Mrs. Phillips.

Aubrey's Testimony

This year in primary they have been inviting a child to share their testimony each week during sharing time. Aubrey got her reminder and I was worried that she would actually do it. 

She had me write her testimony and I wrote exactly what she said. When the time came she went right up to the primary podium and shared her testimony with her friends. I was so proud of her for getting up there and for needing very little help from me even though she was unable to read.

I like to bear my testimony.

I know the church is true.

I know Jesus lives.

I know Heavenly Father loves me and answers my prayers.

I know the Book of Mormon is true.

I know that President Monson is a true prophet.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

January & February in a NUTSHELL!

Crazy that February is almost over! It feels like 2016 just started!

Not in any order here are a few pictures of what January and February looked like for us. Hopefully I can get better at keeping up  again...

1- Haircuts for 4 out of the 5 kids. The boys tell Jenny what style they want now and she cuts it for them. They are all doing their own hair now too. Aubrey is growing hers out agin so she had hers evened out a little. 2- Jordyn had a cute little 80's rock party. Chris and I were there hanging out for a little bit. 3- Chloe and Aubrey all dressed up at the party. They all looked so cute! 4- My Panda at one of his Knights games. 5- Zach and Chris goofing off at lunch at Jason's Deli. I'm glad they have each other. 6- Coop-a-loop at one his Knights games. 7- Officer Jordan came to Cooper's scout meeting to talk with the boys about how to stay safe in their community and how he helps out. the boys loved having him there and asked him lots of questions. 8- Golden Spoon in our makeshift loft-bedroom (while our room was getting painted) and watching "Ground Hog Day". 9- Aubrey went to her Daddy Daughter Dance. 10- Hoodie and teddy bear day at school.  11- We had a "Love is contagious" FHE. the kids loved it and it was a lot of fun! 12- Nothing better than Sunday afternoon naps on Dad. We are liking 9am church this year! 13- I LOVE that these two get along! It was jersey day at school. 14- Chris and I want to run a half marathon together this year. We have only run once, so it might be towards the end of the year! 15- I started back at Weight Watchers in November and finally hit my 10 pounds gone! 16- My twinners for Nike Day. 17- I went to wake up the girls for school and at first I couldn't find Aubrey. Chloe's bedding is zebra print so I didn't even notice her and the fact that Chloe was sleeping on her head. 18- My monkeys! Cooper is always climbing trees and now Aubrey is always wanting me to put her in trees! 19- Alex and his "girlfriend", Brianna at her birthday party last week. Alex got a signed baseball from a player who used to play for the Yankees on Career Day and wanted to get a case for it for Brianna's birthday. I thought it was so sweet! 20- I LOVE hanging out with Scarlett Ann! She makes me happy!  21- Alex had his appointment with the ENT and surgery is scheduled for April 28th. It's not just the bones but all of the cartilage in his nose got shifted over too. Really disappointed that we have to wait 2 months to get it fixed. I would way rather just get it done with, I hate looking at Alex's crooked little nose. 22- Lularoe photoshoots and making little music videos was a fun way to spend last Saturday afternoon. 23- Sunday selfie as we are running out the door for church! 24- Nick started working out at the gym early in the morning too!  25- Last night was the Blue & Gold dinner for the boys. They both got quite a few awards. It was Star Wars themed and they had a father/son cake contest/auction. Chris whipped this cake up last minute and I was pretty impressed. They got the "dark side" award for their cake!

Playing Catch Up!

Life is crazy busy and even my best intentions to not let my blog go have gone by the wayside!

I sat down today to work on my Shutterfly books (I'm almost 6 years behind) and realized how useful my blog has come in handy for doing my books, especially since I can't remember what I did yesterday! So before I work on my books I wanted to do a little update. Theres no way I will be able to make it a complete update, but just starting with this new year...

02.17.16

Today Chloe got braces! She has been dying to get them on ever since she had her original evaluation 2 years ago. At one point she even wanted them on for her birthday. Crazy girl! And in about 2 months or so Nick will have his off.

Valentine's weekend was spent at the ball field. Over the 3-day weekend between the 3 boys we had 17 games. 

 My Knights boys!

 Chloe and Aubrey were there too! For the most part they were good sports about being at baseball ALL weekend! And they looked so cute on Valentine's day decked out in their pink and red!

 Chloe and Rylee Iversen hanging out NOT watching the game.

 After pool play Nick and Cooper's teams made it to the semi's. Cooper's team won 6-0 to take first place. Nick' team did really well too, 6-1 to take first also! I am so proud of all 3 of my boys. They played their hearts out and did AWESOME!

Both #61s took first place!

[Broken Nose]

02.09.16

 Last week Chris was pitching to Alex in the cages when one of the balls hit Alex square in the nose.

 Chris immediately knew it was broken and we took him to the emergency room. Cooper was so scared for is brother that he jumped in the car and I didn't even know it. While we were driving to the hospital I mentioned that we should say a prayer and my sweet Cooper said, "I already did!" 

I think that Alex looks just like Josh in this picture. 

First cat scan

 You know this tough guy had to be in a lot of pain to want mom to hold him like a baby. 

The cat scan confirmed what we already knew, both bones in his nose were broken. The PA came into to talk to us and without any warning just reset Alex's nose. He was so brave! he just sat there and when she was finished he said, "I heard that!!" 

Right after the PA reset his nose.

***Now that the swelling is gone it is clear that his nose was NOT reset properly as it is pretty crooked. We go to the doctor next week and we will see what is in store for our guy. 

FLORIDA {Girl's Trip}

01.07.16

We took a red eye on my birthday and flew to Florida to see Laura and Sarah.

 We arrived in FL early Friday morning and we were beat! After a short cat nap we headed to the beach  for lunch and to relax. Later that night we went out to dinner and spent the evening roaming Target!

01.09.16

We started Saturday off with a little run around the lake in Laura's community. 

 And then we were off on a Miami Jet-boat tour. More of a CRAZY ride to get us completely soaking than a tour for sure. #holdtightholdtightholdtight  

Off of that boat onto another one for parasailing! I have always wanted to try, but have been to scared. Laura and Heather rode together and Rhiannon and I  went together. It was so much fun! Pretty relaxing and surprisingly not scary at all!

We had lunch at this really cute restaurant. Kind of reminded me of "Friends". 

And then to lay out at the beach again!

Sunday we went to church in Laura's ward. I know the church is true wherever you go but it was neat to see how different it was down there. 

 We had to stop by and see the Ft Lauderdale temple. It was beautiful!

Monday we had to go back to reality! It was so nice to be with friends and get away for the weekend and enjoy some warmer weather! So many memories were made. I'm so thankful for these girls and the friendships we share!