Rain, rain, go away! I feel like I am singing this song everyday..... all year.... what. the. heck.
We got to go to Logan's cousin Mason's wedding in Arizona at the end of January. The other day Elsy turned to me and said, "I miss the sun in Arizona." Oh my goodness, girl. I feel you.
That being said, today was actually sunny which was oh so nice. I am so ready for suuuuumerrrrrr.
But until then I will continue to try and come up with crazy ideas to keep us entertained in the house. Which means more sensory bins! I cooked up some spaghetti and then tossed it with some food coloring and a little cooking oil so it wouldn't stick and then kids played with it forever. Elsy said it was even better than playing in the sugar from the week before so I felt like that was a win. They played with it forever and once I told them they could actually eat it they did... as you can see from Elsy's blue mouth. Ewww. Seriously, Tommy will eat cold spaghetti but he wont even touch a pasta noodle that is covered in yummy homemade mac n cheesy, ooey gooey goodness? I just really can't wrap my mind around that. I will say that for the next few times we had pasta for dinner he actually ate it! Which was my whole goal going into this sensory bin nonsense. Seriously, I used to think sensory bins were a joke... Come on, just send them outside to play and discover!... but then I lived in rainy Seattle. So this one was fun but it was a one timer because the noodles get old and gross quick... and there is oily cooking oil all over the floor that is not quite as hard to get up as sticky sugar... but almost. ;)
My workout buddies. It used to just be Elsy on the treadmill but Tommy has now joined in these days and I think its cute.
Logan has started coming to the grocery store with me a little more lately. I think it is because we are bored in the evenings and have nothing else to do in this winter weather. When he comes he always picks out the good stuff that I never buy because I'm cheap (or don't want the extra calories in the house!). Things like extra sharp cheddar cheese... that kind of thing. Lately when he comes he takes the kids to the fruit stand and helps them pick out an 'exotic' fruit for us to take home and try. We have now done pomegranates, kiwi, grapefruit, and coconut. And maybe you don't think those are exotic but they are to us! Haha! I am a banana, apple, strawberry, orange, and grape kind of mom. Tommy liked them all but Elsy not so much.
Tommy liked them all but Elsy not so much. I couldn't believe it when Logan poured the coconut water into a glass and Tommy downed the entire thing. Everybody else wasn't to keen on it. Although, Logan does like coconut meat because it reminds him of his mission.
Some other things we have been doing is cooking experiments. One of my goals is to try to make more healthy snacks for my kids to eat. Many of which are fails. (Look at those cute waiting feet, though!)
One of which was homemade gummy bears. Ew. Gross. They were super sour and nobody really liked them. I thought they turned out cute though.
Homemade Cheesy Carrot Crackers... fail.
Banana Applesauce Oatmeal Bars... fail... well I guess those ones turned out but nobody liked them but Logan and I.
Zucchini chips... fail. (If anyone knows how to actually get them crispy before they burn to a crisp I'd like to know.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars... I actually really liked these but the kids weren't to crazy over them.
Another fail were my baked pumpkin chocolate chip chia seed muffins I made last week. They were ultra yummy... until the middle of the night when they weren't. Why do I always forget chia seeds give me such stomach problems? I was soooooo so sick after those.
My kids still love to eat No Bake Energy Bites and constantly have those in our fridge. I make those seriously all the time. And we also always make Buttermilk Banana Bread Muffins all the time as well. Those are great to have on hand for quick breakfasts.
Like I said, she has grown out of naps. BUT! If you put her pillow and blankie on the couch and tell her to 'rest' that apparently doesn't count as a nap hehe.
So our stake has this awesome Zumba class that meets at the church every MWF from 9:30-10:30 that I love to go to! It is a hard time of day for me because I usually want to be done getting ready for the day by 9:30am but when Elsy has Joy School its easy to just go over there and dance a good workout. They open the nursery toy closet and the kids play in the overflow. Anyway, Tommy really likes to lay in the middle of the gym floor where everyone is dancing and play with his cars. Can you see him right there in the middle? He is to cute. When Elsy comes she likes to dance by me. Today Tommy even joined in and it was so fun.
Our friend BriElle invited us to the park to play. It was the first time back at the park in like, two months probably! All the kids wanted to do was swing on the swings though. And Tommy wanted his hat down over his eyes the whole time.
Elsy has been complaining about leg pain for months. She always is telling me her knees or her legs are sore. "No they don't hurt! They are sore!" I did some digging and figured it was just growing pains and left it alone for a few months. But then it started to get more frequent and several times a day and it would interrupt her play even. I did more research and started to get worried it was something more serious so we decided to take her into the doctor. She was a trooper as they felt all over her legs, had her run, walk, jump, etc. And of course, her legs weren't feeling sore then. Doesn't that just always happen when you go to the doctor? The all the sudden aren't hurting anymore, or aren't wheezing anymore, or aren't coughing anymore. Ugh. Anyway I asked if they would do an X-ray and they did. She looked so cute and small up there on the X-ray table and she was giggly and just did a great job. Turns out she was fine after all! She had something called an ossification center in her right knee but they said that shouldn't be causing her any pain and is totally normal. I decided to stop worrying about it. And it turns out, all we needed to do was pay for an expensive X-ray for her to stop telling us her legs were sore. *sigh* I have been working with her a lot and am starting to realize when she does say she is sore she is usually just tired or even bored. So we are working on correctly labeling our feelings.
For family home evening we decided to practice flying on an airplane! Tommy turned two the day after we flew back from Arizona so he still qualified as a lap sitter. Logan found a YouTube video of someone's view taking off and landing from an airplane window so we acted it all out a few times. The kids were so excited to fly and I was too.
We sadly booked both flights there and back super early in the morning... like, wake up at 2am to get there in time type of early.
Here are the kids so early in the morning eating breakfast before we go to the airport! Elsy always gets a Go-Gurt for snacks because she doesn't like cheese sticks and Tommy gets a cheese stick because he can't figure Go-Gurts out.
Sadly, all four of us got little colds right before we left that ailed us whilst being in Arizona. But that's life I guess.
Elsy and Logan before take off!
And my little lap buddy and me! Tommy was so fascinated with the luggage trains. The kids were just so excited and were such troopers on the whole trip. I was really proud of them, especially since Logan and I may have been more cranky than the kids.. Eeek.
A nice lady on the flight was reading the new Chip and Joanna Gaines book (from Fixer Upper), The Magnolia Story. I asked if she liked it and she ended up giving it to me as we landed because she finished reading it on the flight. I thought that was so sweet of her!
When we landed the sunshine, palm trees, and cactus greeted us. Since we had just had a coconut, it was still fresh in Elsy's mind and she was so excited to see "coconut trees!" and she got Tommy to chant about them with her on the bus ride to the car rental center. I had never been to Arizona before so it was all a new adventure for me as well. I got all excited about the tall cactus that were "just like the movies!" I really need to get out more haha!
The kids fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel. Elsy woke up first and got to spend some quality time with Great Grandma Atkin, who actually funded our trip out to Arizona, along with Great Grandpa of course! We were so grateful for the opportunity to see everyone.
The night we got there was Logan's cousin Emma's baby shower. It was Peter Rabbit themed and was just absolutely darling. When they told me it was going to be outside on the patio that night I couldn't believe it. An outdoor baby shower in January!! But it was just fine and so fun. Elsy got to go with me and she followed the example of a couple other little girls there and started eating a whole carrot! I was amazed and she loved it.
We shared a hotel suite with Logan's parents and it was fun to just hang out with them and chat. They had some room service phones that we unplugged and the kids played with them the entire time we were there.
So Logan's cousin Mason was getting married to a super sweet girl named Dallas. We spent a lot of time at Logan's aunt Tracy's house. Near their house was a walk along a canal and a pretty nature reserve area that we saw tons and tons of bunnies in.
Along the walk was a little mini farm with some donkeys, goats, dogs, a pig and some ducks. We got to feed and pet them and the kids loved that too.
One of the places we went that I really enjoyed was the Gilbert, AZ temple.
While we were walking around Elsy fell and smacked her knees and nose on the pavement. I got to sit with her and try and calm her down and it was a sweet moment. Logan took a picture of us sitting.
A few family photos. :)
We got to sit and talk about some of the architectural symbolism while we were there. I just thought it was one of the most beautiful temples and in the lighting it just seemed like such a calm, pristine place. I loved how there were rows and rows of palm trees. Did you know that the palm leaf is a symbol of victory? I thought it was so neat that there were rows of palm trees leading to the entrances and all around, as if they trees were shouting hurrah! just for us. And I thought about how neat it is to be worth to enter the temple, and really what a victory that is in today's day and age. It felt like all the trees were saying, "Hurray! You did it! Welcome to the temple!"
We showed up on Thursday and on Friday the Hanes showed up! Elsy and Ella were so happy to see each other.
We went on another walk again. This time my kids stole some carrots from the donkeys and an apple. I never thought I'd see the day when my kids were eating raw carrots like that but they were! I attribute it to the great Octonaut, Tweak. She is a rabbit and always has a carrot in her hand and is always saying, "Faster than you can say, 'Buncha muncha crunchy carrots!" The kids really like Tweak so I guess it was natural for them to want to be like her. There is just something so satisfying seeing a half eaten apple in one hand and a half eaten carrot in the other.
Last time I was at the grocery store I bought a big bag of long carrots and the kids have actually been eating them now and then.
Saturday was the wedding day and we had a lot of fun! Again I couldn't believe we were going to an outdoor wedding and reception in January but it was just beautiful outside. And it was such a pretty wedding. I can't believe we didn't take one picture with the bride and groom. That is just awful.
Before many guests showed up to the reception Elsy rocked the dance floor all by herself. She danced and danced for such a long time. The food was amazing, the company was even better, and the weather was fantastic.
Ella and Elsy dancing with Uncle Marshall! He ended up coming last minute and that was fun to get to see him as well.
Off to the side of the reception they had a bunch of games for the kids to play. There was a hat stand with a bunch of cowboy hats, lassos to practice with, bean bag tosses, etc. Elsy found a wheelbarrow that I think was a decoration but she just wheeled it all around.
And this little girl ate several tops off of several cupcakes. I loved the fact that they had a crepe bar. :P
And then all too soon it was time to wake up in the middle of the night again to go home. We had so much fun and were sad to leave. We loved hanging out with David and Natalie, Marshall, Holly's family, and everyone else!
Tommy loved riding in the backpack and Elsy loved rolling around in the car seat. Security got a little funky but it all worked out. I felt bad but I had to smile at how seriously Logan was taking everything. He was 'in the zone' trying to get us to where we needed to be. But we got there with time to spare so that was a blessing.
Here we are! Off to conquer the world at 4am. Phew. Those were some tire days and I'm not sure when we will be ready for another trip like that but it was a great one for the books.
When we got home we all went straight to bed. When we woke up we looked up a random ward (since it was Sunday) and went to their sacrament mtg. We have been trying to make it to a sacrament meeting, even when we travel and I have really liked it. For a while in our marriage if we traveled on Sunday we just treated it like a regular day of the week. After all, you have to buy gas when you are driving so might as well pick up lunch too! But we have really been making the effort to try and pack lunches and make it to some sort of church on the Sabbath in order to honor it and still make it special in some way, even though we can't do it in the traditional manner. And I have really felt like it makes a difference for us. It helps bring the Spirit into an otherwise crazy and long day.
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