We have had such a chilly and rainy spring! I really just wish it would warm up so we can do all those fun spring things outside! Garrett and I went to the bounce place with some friends last week to get out of the house.  We needed to get out to use up some energy and do something fun.  Garrett had a blast running around and playing with his friends that joined us.  I think it really helped Garrett during the week to do something fun. 

It did warm up one afternoon and the kids loved it.  They took their cars outside and played in the front with them.  We also planted some flowers this week in out pots on the deck and in our hanging baskets.  The kids picked out a packet of flowers and I let them plant them in some pots.  They really think it is fun to have their own flowers to be responsible for.  They love to water them, even though I think they are drowning with all the rain water plus what they pour into the pot each day. We will see if anything comes up.

 Sunday evening we went to my parents house to have dinner with them.  It has been a while since we have seen them and been out to their house.  Courtney is back home for spring semester and it was so fun to see her.  We had a nice BBQ, thank goodness we got a break from the rain! We then played some family baseball.  It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed taking turns batting and running the bases.  Lucy told me this morning that she thought it was so much fun to play baseball with the family. It was a family game!

 

Tail Waggers

While we were at the library doing our spring crafts the other week they told us about another activity coming up.  Tail Waggers, they have service dogs come and visit and let the kids read to them.  Lucy was so excited and wanted to do it.  We signed her up and she got to pick out 2 books to read to the dogs.  Each child would get 10 minutes to read.  Lucy picked out 2 books and I was proud of her for challenging herself.  She wanted to pick books she knew really well so she wouldn't stumble.  I was proud of her for picking a book she didn't know very well and working on it.  She took her book to school that day so she could practice during independent reading time.  While I was making dinner she practiced reading to me while we set the microwave timer.  The kids were so excited to go see all the dogs.  Lucy got to read to 2 dogs, the first one was Cody.  The kids really liked her and Garrett wanted to pet the dog the whole time Lucy was reading. 

 She then read her second book to a smaller dog LuLu.  Lucy really liked this dog because it would snuggle up and rest her head on Lucy's lap while she read to her.  This was Lucy's harder book but she did great.  She needed help with a few words and the dogs owner was so nice to help her and was very patient as she listened along with the dog to the story.

It was such a great activity! The kids loved it and we will sign up again next year for sure.  It is great practice for the dogs as well.  It helps them learn to sit still and listen to people.  Lucy had a blast and we had a fun time doing it!

Our New Home: The Basement

We love having the basement finished in our new home.  It really adds to the space and it really is just an added bonus that came with the house.  When we were thinking about building finishing the basement was not on our list of things to have done.  It would have been a long time before we would have ever finished the basement.  So it is nice that the house already had that all done.  I will go days without even going down there.  It is a whole separate part of the house that we really don't use a ton.  I still have to remind the kids to play down there.  They aren't use to being far away from us playing but when we all go down there or if they are down there together they love it.  There is so much space to really spread out and play.   I love it because if they make a mess and want to leave it out to continue to play with I don't have to worry about having them pick it up.  There are a lot of things that will probably change with the basement as the kids get older.  For now we are loving the open space and room for the kids to play! We also love the great storage room and can't wait to get some shelf's in there to organize things a little better. 

 

 

 

Planetarium

 Saturday afternoon we headed to Forest Park  to go to the Science Center.  The Planetarium is celebrating their 50th anniversary.  You could see any of their shows for 50 cents.  We bought tickets ahead of time over the phone and I am glad we did, she said they had been selling out all day.  We walked around the outside for a little while.  There were several people there with telescopes that you could look at the sun.  There were also fun things to look at like dinosaurs and jets. 

We saw the show about our sky at night.  They showed us what our sky looks like right now and pointed our different constellations and planets.  It was really interesting and the kids really enjoyed it.  JJ and I both know very little about those things so it was fun to learn a little during the show.

Forest Park was beautiful with all the tulips blooming, especially in front of the Jewel Box. After we were done walking around the science center we headed out to eat at a restaurant owned by a few of my High School classmates.  It was pretty good, we got a couple of their special pizzas and we all thought it was pretty tasty. It was fun to go out to eat somewhere different and it worked out nice since we were down there.

After dinner we came home and relaxed at home.  JJ and the kids played ball in the backyard and then we spent the evening relaxing.  It was a fun busy day!

Lucy's First Ball Game

We signed Lucy up to play pitch ball this year.  She has been so excited to play and she loves it.  She is at the age where she has to kind of just try a whole bunch of things and see what she likes best.  I also find that she can't all of a sudden at age 12 decide she wants to do something.  You have to start young to be able to learn and get into a hobby.  I kind of worried about how she would do since she didn't do t-ball or anything but we have worked with her at home and she has learning quickly and improved.  She has games every Saturday morning and for now practice as needed.  I am glad there isn't a huge time commitment.  JJ was sad to learn that he will miss pretty much all of her games but we will be glad to have him when he can make it.  He practices and works with Lucy a lot at home, thank goodness for our nice new big backyard! All morning Saturday Lucy was so excited to go play her game.  As we went about her morning she would ask me how much longer.  Finally it was time to go and she got her uniform on.   

Lucy takes the game very serious and is always in "ready" position!

 JJ was lucky to get off work a little early so he could be there at the game with us. His staff is so nice and booked fake appointments in the last slots so he could leave early.  He volunteered to help out if they needed him and they happily had him help as 1st base coach.  He loved every second of it! He wishes he could help out more.

 

Lucy got to bat twice and she did great both times.  The coach pitches the ball and you get 5 throws and then you hit off the T.  Lucy has really improved with her hitting and we practice a lot in the backyard.  She didn't get a pitch hit either time.  Several of us noticed that the coach wasn't throwing good pitches and barely any of our team hit from a coach pitch.  Lucy had never hit off a T before and it took her a while to hit the ball off of it.  We are glad our main coach will be back next week to pitch to them. 

When Lucy hit the ball she did great running to first, and got a high five from Dad!

She ran all the bases and made it home both times.  She was happy about that, and excited to tell us she got 2 runs.

 Garrett is a handful at the practices and at the games.  He keeps very busy and brings his glove and ball so he can play his own little game.  At the practice when the coach would have them run Garrett would always jump up and go run with them. He wishes he could play with them, or at least be out on the field.  He loves to play with Lucy in the yard and I think I will have to sign him up for t-ball soon.

 

 Everyone on the team did really good and when they were done they gave high fives to the other team.  Lucy can't wait until next week to play again.   

She played great and we are so proud of her!

Friday Fun

Friday was JJ's day off and he was able to spend the morning with the kids and running a few errands.  He got happy meals and took them to Lucy's school to have lunch with her.  She was really excited to have such fun visitors come eat with her and loved her happy meal.  It has been a while since we have been to eat lunch with her and it always makes her day.  

 I was able to spend my morning attending the temple.  Our stake had a fill the temple weekend for the Relief Society.   I was glad it worked out for JJ to be home with Garrett so I could attend.  It was a nice session and then they had lunch for everyone.  It was fun to enjoy lunch with a few other sisters from our ward that were also there.  The temple grounds were beautiful with all the tulips blooming!



Ellie's Baby Sprinkle

 Thursday evening some ladies at church gave Christy and Ellie a "sprinkle".  It isn't a shower since it is her second but she was showered with so many nice gifts and everything was beautiful.  They had so many cute decorations all over the house and lots of yummy treats and food to eat. It was nice to visit with people from their ward and see some familar faces.

 

 Everyone gave such nice gifts, once lady by hand cut out this picture for Ellie.  It has her name, birthday and birth weight, what a special gift! We were all amazed that she did that by hand and just cut it out!

 My Mom, Christy, Ellie and Me.  Ellis was so good during the shower, she is such a happy baby!

I am glad I was able to go help celebrate Ellie!

Garrett's Vase

I have been trying really hard to sit down with Garrett each day and do a little something with him.  Or either just really sit and play with him for a while each morning.  I am not as busy anymore, no pressing house projects hanging over my head.  Just little ones that have no time line other then my own.   We sat down and did his little vase project from the library together and he really enjoyed it.  I am glad we brought the stuff home.  He loves to glue things and went alittle crazy with the glue stick.

 After we were finisehd with that he colored a handout they gave us at story time and also wanted to glue tissue paper to that and then he wanted to cut.  He spent a good time just cutting random things on that paper and had a fun time. 

 Here is his finished vase, turned out really nice!