Bike Rides

We (as in Christopher) finally got all the flat tires fixed on all the bikes.  It was such a beautiful day that it was screaming for us to go on a bike ride.  Andrew shocked us all when he just hopped on his bike and starting riding like a pro.  It was pretty incredible.  This kid is constantly amazing us!

Kallie got this bike for her birthday last year and is finally getting comfortable on it. 

Check out this cool dude.  He had to have sunglasses so I let him borrow mine.  Nine is so much fun.

Christopher thought he was in for a nice easy ride….and he was….until we decided to ride back and let Andrew ride in the trailer with Zack.  Suddenly adding another 40 pounds up hills makes it quite a work out!

We ended up going for a nice long ride.  The kids did amazing and we are loving living near bike trails again!

Raman Noodles

During our last trip to Utah Andrew was introduced to Raman noodles.  He loved them and talked about them everyday when we got home….asking if I had purchased any yet.  Every morning he would run into the pantry and see if they had magically appeared.  The morning he actually found them he was just over the moon!  This is him first thing in the morning, begging me to make it for breakfast.

I told him he had to wait till lunch so he hurried and had a bowl of cereal then immediately asked for lunch.  We are still working on the fact that time needs to pass for lunch time.  Anyways, all morning I was peppered with questions about Raman noodles.  My favorite was why Jesus named them Raman noodles.  I finally gave in and made him them at 10 am. 

He ate one bite and said he was done.  Hasn’t eaten them again or asked for them.  Maybe it was a faze?   Or maybe I can’t make them as well as Uncle Alex.  Either way I’ve got 10 bags of Raman noodles no one will eat.

Spring Break

The kids had this week off for Spring Break….which was heaven.  Well, it didn’t start out that way.  On Monday the kids woke up around 9am and by 11am I sent Christopher an email and told him homeschooling was OFF!  They had been home two hours and I was ready for them to go back.  We had a little chat, worked out some kinks, and made it a great spring break.

We have finally found a food Zack likes.  Can you guess what it is?

One of the things we did this week was explore the kids love to cook.  We made a menu with each child taking a night to plan, shop, cook, and serve dinner.  They did such a great job and it was so cute to see them get so excited about making the meal.

This is Andrew and Kallie waiting for Andrew’s cookies to get out of the oven.  This is the kind of teamwork I love!

Notice the little thumb prints in the cookies?  We used those as our testers instead of taking them to our friends house.

We took the kids to our friend’s house in Sandia Park up in the mountains.  The kids had so much fun and just disappeared into the yard.  They live on ten acres and loved playing in the forts, barns, play house, slides, and a hundred other fun things.  I loved it because I was actually able to chat with my friend!

Andrew loved this cool bow on of the bigger boys let him have.  He was stomping all over the place shooting the bows and got really good at it!

Our friends have five boys and one girl.  Ben is in heaven whenever we hang out with them!  They pulled out their army gear and set up into the pitch black night to do whatever boys do in the mountains in the dark.  They had so much fun and invited Ben to stay to campout in the yard.  He was elated!

He kept telling everyone how his Uncle Mike was a real army guy.  He loved all the knives, guns, pockets, sticks, and all the other boy stuff they had!

The mom sent me this picture of the boys the next morning.  Ben said they had so much fun and didn’t go to bed till early in the morning.  They heard coyotes, told stories, just chatted, and froze.

The next day we met up with them again to get Ben back at an awesome park by the temple.  We had a little picnic lunch and played for a little while.  Ben was so sleepy he actually was begging me to take him home so he could take a nap.

Zack carried this balloon everywhere.  If it is round and can pass as a ball he is all over it.  Shopping in the produce department is a nightmare with him!  Cantaloupes, tomatoes, oranges, apples, and kiwi are torture that he can’t have them and throw them!  I once gave him a watermelon to hold in the cart and it drove him crazy that he couldn’t pick it up and toss it out. 

Zack in the swing pointing to the balloon I was holding.  He wanted to hold it while he was in the swing.  Look how happy he is when he gets it back!

Kallie loves to swing and do monkey bars.  This park had both, and GRASS so she was in heaven!  Benjamin and Trey swinging.

Kallie was so sleepy we fell asleep like this one day.  Out cold.

Every time Zack goes into the backyard he puts both feet in the dog water bowl then goes about his business playing.  Socks or shoes – it doesn’t matter.  He’s such a crazy little man.

It’s getting pretty hot here in NM.  Andrew’s soccer coach brought the boys a cold tent to rest it.  It was so cool they didn’t want to get out and play!  The coach had to force them.  it was really adorable!  They kept asking if it was their turn to be out so they could go into the fort.  Andrew scored a goal too!

Our soccer star is Zack.  He is so hard to take to the boys soccer games.  He only wants the balls he can’t have.  Like the balls the bigger kids are playing with or the kids on the other field.  He is quite the ball thief!  I spend the whole game chasing him and apologizing to other parents for taking their soccer balls.  When half time comes he runs onto the field and kicks the ball around all by himself.  He is amazing!

tonight we got together with some of our friends for Sunday dinner.  There were a ton of kids there and everyone was having a blast.  Then someone knocks on the door and asks if the child on top of the car belongs to anyone.  Any guess as to who that child was?

Yep, it was Andrew.  He decided he was just going to chill out on top of the car.  Very proud parent moment.  I didn’t know if I should get mad at him or be proud at him for getting all the way on top of the car!  I can’t believe this little man will be five on Wednesday!

So that’s a quick rundown of our week.  Hope you all had a great week!!

Locking the blog

Hi Everyone,

We are locking our blog until we get a problem figured out.  If you get our blog updates by email this will not effect you....I think.  I hate locked blogs, but until I can figure out how to block one site, I'm going to lock it.  If you want to get added to the email list let me know and I'll add you!

Thanks!

And….

 

Kallie is now the pro baker at our house.  If there are brownies, cookies, or a dinner to be made she is hard a work by my side.  I’m loving this!!!  Tonight she made beef stroganoff and it was amazing!

With the warmer weather Zachary is loving the slides!  He laughs and giggles as he goes down the slides.  it is just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen!

Benjamin had to make and decorate a cake all by himself for scouts.  This is his two layer chocolate easter themed cake.  It was amazing!  He was really proud when he took it to scouts!

Since it’s spring break right now and the kids are home and they all have an interest in the kitchen I’m letting them cook!  They plan the meal, write a shopping list, go shopping with me and then cook it.  Benjamin made tacos yesterday (I made the shells) with a chocolate cake (like the one above).  Kallie made her favorite dinner tonight and it turned out amazing.  Tomorrow Andrew is making homemade Mac and Cheese.  They love cooking because the chef doesn’t do dishes in our house!  I love watching how proud and excited they get when they make the meal. 

Quick Run Down

So just to remind myself, here’s a quick run down of November ish – February ish….

My Dad came to visit us for Thanksgiving!  I must admit I felt pretty special .  We showed him around ABQ, Santa Fe, had my first ever cooked by me (and Christopher) thanksgiving dinner, shot some BB guns, saw Christopher’s work and just hung out and had fun having my dad here.

Ben and Kallie had their first piano recital.  They both did amazing!  Kallie refused to smile in ANY of the 25 pictures I took because her favorite candy bar was chosen by another student.  Life is hard sometimes.

The week after my Dad leaves we move again.  Oh and we bought a house which I LOVE!  Thankfully my mom timed her trip perfectly to help us unpack.  I don’t think she was planning on that when she bought her ticket (we didn’t know we were moving then), but it worked out pretty nice for me!

Oh and she didn’t tell the kids she was coming.  They were shocked!

Kallie got her ears pierced….only 8 months early.  Nini had a hand in that one.

We go to Utah for Christmas and sadly this is the only family shot that turned out. 

There are a ton of grandkids!  We had a great time hanging out with family and cousins! 

Christopher’s brother Nathan is on his mission in Taiwan.  He sent all the men ties, the boys bow ties and the girls hair scrunches.  We all wore them to church that Sunday….well those who braved driving down the mountain….I wasn’t one of them….but my kids and Christopher represented well!

I FINALLY convince Christopher to get a hair cut and trim his beard!  Amazing how you can go from homeless to handsome with clippers.

Benjamin competed in the Pinewood Derby along with 40 other kids.  (well maybe not that many, but a lot more than we are used to!)  He named is car “stealth”.  He was so proud!

Amy, Ava, Sierra, Victoria, Grandma, and Lisa came to visit us!  We promptly went shopping and also put them to work helping me paint chairs.

How quickly does a baby go from this….

to being ONE!  Grandma brought the cutest birthday in a box for Zack….the theme was BALLS of course!  He loved it!  It made it so special having Grandma, Lisa, Amy and her girls here to celebrate with us!

Birthday cake was a hit!

We have our first ever snow day!  Well actually it was a two hour start delay due to dangerous road and weather conditions.  Here’s a picture of that day!  Utah, Idaho, and VA friends feel free to laugh.

We decide to take a trip to Utah and Idaho to meet our two newest nieces.  Megan and Terrence’s Ms. Kennedy….

An Mike and Brittany’s Ms. Gwen

It was a crazy weekend.  We drove from New Mexico to Utah.  Played with Chris’s family for two days.  Picked my dad up at the airport late Friday night then headed to Idaho early Saturday morning….except for me.  I stayed in SLC for a few hours then picked my mom, M and T up at the airport and drove them to Idaho to surprise everyone….my mom always likes to surprise people when she travels.  We had fun playing with my family for a day in Idaho and seeing Gwen get blessed then heading back to Utah on Sunday.  Monday we got back in the car and drove to new Mexico.  Good things our kids are such good travelers!  Oh, did I mention we brought our two dogs too?  Yep, we are insane

This picture should be up higher, but I can’t move it.  This fast trip fell over valentines day so we got to go out with everyone for valentines day!  It was so fun to see everyone and have some adult time….I’m not sure the kids even knew we were gone!  They love their cousins….on both sides!

So that’s a super super short condensed version of life up till March.  I’ll add March tomorrow.