rainy weekend + fhe

the weekend was a rainy cold one. brooklyn was sad that park dates were not an option. however, daddy saved the day on friday evening. we went as a family down to the legacy trail for a little run. after multiple attempts by keni kate to bail out of the stroller, he turned around and headed for the nearest playground. we didn't get rained on, not one drop. on our way there and on our way home it poured. we lucked out. the girls loved the playground and got out a lot of pent up energy.

that night, we ordered in and hung out with the jeremy ruesch clan. nice and relaxing. saturday morning, james took brooklyn to the church for a ward activity, and i went house shopping with jeremy and chels. after that, it was too rainy to do much else. we relaxed, i organized a few spaces in our house that needed it desperately, and by six, we were tired, hungry, and ready to just relax.

instead of the usual sourdough pancakes we've been doing on sunday mornings, we switched it up for some french toast sticks. even though brooklyn has had these multiple times in her life, she thought they were greatest thing ever. kendall tried a bite and wasn't a fan. of course.

the girls (+james) were obsessed with watching worms, birds eating worms, and the like due to all the rain we got. here are the girls watching a huge gross worm slither around in the covered patio.

church was good. it was the usual. it was also my last sunday without a calling. i'll be teaching the thirteen year olds in the ward from here on out. it's a calling i'm excited about and little intimidated over. i think it'll be fun. definitely a good learning experience.

the girls all ready for church.

brooklyn took this next picture without me even knowing. i love it. keni hanging out in the office, at the window. she loves windows!

laundry was done today, and not much else. i had no energy. so, we did a lot of make believe, some tv watching, and a quick run to maverik for a free drink. a good day overall. i got dinner ready and then we waited for james to come home. we ate quickly and decided to hang out outside. it was a beautiful evening. i had to snap some quick pics, but i'm sad, they just don't do it justice.

james has said that he doesn't care if we end up having all girls, and i think he means it.

we waited outside until chels and ellie bean arrived. jeremy is out of town for work so i invited them to join us for fhe. i made sure to have coloring pages and a three minute lesson. we talked about being happy. a simple lesson, but an important one i think. the girls mostly colored and played with other toys, but i got a few responses out of them. and for our fhe treat, chelsea brough butterfinger drumsticks. delish! perfect for a night like tonight i'd say. 

i love the beginning of the week and i especially love starting it with fhe. it helps me get through mondays. i'm hoping to have some more energy tomorrow and the days that follow. we're having a big cousin get together saturday evening here and i have a lot to do. there's no time to waste. but i'm so looking forward to it!

 h a p p y  t u e s d a y 

for family night.

we started the day with none other than, good ol' laundry. i'm telling you, if you don't already have a set day for laundry, DO IT! it has changed my life and i wished i had started doing it the day i got married. it really just makes my weeks so much better. anyway, i got all the laundry but one batch done and got the shopping bug.

shocking i know.

so i packed up the girls and we headed for city creek. the weather was beautiful. we spent most of our time watching the fountains, or splashing in the fountains. we only went to one store and were back home in less than an hour but it was the perfect little break. and can i just say how much i love being less than twenty minutes from downtown slc again? i love it!

back at home, brooklyn did some art/pretending and kendall did lots of chewing on things, playing with/getting in brooklyn's way. and i blogged, prepped dinner, made dinner, and then we waited for daddy to come. but not before i made him stop to pick up some texas roadhouse rolls to complete our dinner.

brooklyn has been so into dinner parties and dance parties. anything party really. so she set the table for our 'dinner party' complete with a table cloth, flowers, and decorations at everyone's place. she was proud.

for dinner we had something i saw on studio 5 and they turned out so good! meatloaf cupcakes with sweet potato frosting. fun huh?! the rolls were the perfect touch. and now i have leftovers to make sandwiches with for a few days. win-win.

after dinner, james gave our fhe lesson. i told him to choose a scripture story. i wasn't surprised when he chose one of his favorite book of mormon heroes, enos. brooklyn listened pretty well. kendall was just so happy to stand at the table and everyone in the same room. it was a good short little lesson. complete with singing 'i love to see the temple'. then james was off to do a group project and the girls and i went for a walk.

they love being able to sit side by side. kendall thinks she's just as big as brooklyn. it's so cute.

brooklyn helped me make peanut butter cookies for our fhe treat and we called it a night. kendall was in bed by 8:30, but before that starts to sound all wonderful. she was then awake at 9 and i made her cry for an hour and half until she fell back to sleep. it was rough. but she was a happy girl this morning and that's all i care about!

a little monday.

ahh monday...

...laundry day...

i got the laundry started, all of us showered and ready, and out the door to target by ten thirty. hip hip hooray. we were in need of diapers (and maybe some discounted cadbury eggs) so we took that as a sign to get out of the house earlier. it was a quick outing, and we got home just in time to put another batch in the wash and watch studio 5. i love studio 5. did you watch today? did you see that grilled cheese/tomato soup casserole? i'll be making that this week. yum!

once all the laundry was done, not all of it folded and put away, we met up with chelsea and ellie for a park date. the weather was amazing. we couldn't just stay inside folding laundry. it was a good two hour park run. the sun felt so good. sad it's not hanging around tomorrow.

we got home and played, then i started dinner. james got home and we ate. according to james, we have a new regular in the rotation. taco haystacks. we love hawaiian haystacks over here, and this was a fun little change up. really good, and mostly healthy. i did use brown rice.

after dinner, i cleaned up while james entertained the girls, and then we sat down for family home evening. our lesson was on 'a house of order'. lately brooklyn has been really into cleaning her room and making her bed. she asks to do chores to earn things. and i've been trying to show her how much better her room feels when it's clean and everything is in it's place. so the topic just seemed right. she was totally into it and hopefully got something out of our short little lesson. for our fhe treat, we went to dairy queen to try their buster bars. oh my goodness. so good. so huge! and so good. go get one! we took our ice cream to a nearby park to eat them and then wandered over to the library. just a nice low key evening. and SOOOOOOOOO nice to have james with us just relaxing and enjoying a care free night. it was awesome. 

and now, the girls are asleep and i'm so ready for bed.

 i think i'll leave that laundry until tomorrow. 

an update with an overload of pictures.

i have a lotta pictures and only a little brain power. so, i'm going to give a very few-worded-breakdown...

the weekend:

lots of family time

swimming with friends

an instacare visit (paranoid about an incident at the pool that we thought may have resulted in a secondary drowning. haven't heard of it? look it up!)

addie's royal birthday party

planted our spring grass

church

visited grandma & grandpa brown

monday: 

met up with the jeremy ruesch family after dinner for dessert at pizza pie cafe

FHE

tuesday:

rainbow pancakes for breakfast

story time at pottery barn kids (along with sidewalk chalk and tattoos)

another visit to grandma brown's

park time

wednesday:

tracy aviary ($1 wednesdays all through march!) with chels and ellie

and there you have it. a sloppy update, but an update nonetheless. we're hoping this weekend to get in some more park time, cousin time, a date night, auntie googs is coming to stay with us, and maybe even a nap.

h a p p y  t h u r s d a y