A pretty normal and chill week.  Some fun things from the week...  The kids like putting together shops in their room that we can all come shop at and use pretend money to pay for the services.  This weeks they did...

Fortune telling

Stanley selling his stuffed animals, that pretty good hand writing and drawing for Stanley.  And he did it willingly!

McKay and Stanley started tumbling and enjoyed it very much.

Beautiful cotton candy morning sky.

My car suddenly started leaking a ton of oil, so that went to the shop for a while.

McKay used some of her birthday money to buy circus balloons.  I told her we would watch YouTube videos to learn how to create things.  She surprised me with figuring it out on her own.

Then she decided she wanted to sell them and earn about 7 dollars!

Then the next day she was up and running again but Stanley wanted to join in ad sold suckers.

Ands sold out like a champ!

McKay and Clifton made a powerpoint of what Christmas means to them.  They talked about the Light the World tradition we do and why it's important.  They turned it in and won the district wide contest which got them 25$ gift card.  They were thrilled as, was I.

Sunday Alex headed to Washington to spend time with his parents and help around their house.  

We had a Sunday bakeday bake off.

Mini cakes.

Broken Bow and SNOW!

 Update on the kids -  I have failed to keep up to date with he blog and can't remember exactly what happened this week with them.

Back to school and regular life.  So not much going on during the week.  I have been focusing on finding new healthy meals the whole family likes.  I found two that everyone liked, big victory for me.

Parmesan Chicken, red potatoes and cauliflower.  

And pasta e fagioli.

 

Lots of cuddles and reading.

Play date with friends.

I taught my first own gym class.  Not just subbing anymore, Thursday morning is my class!

Then we decided to use Grandma and Grandpa's money towards a trip to Broken Bow, OK.

On our way we had to make a quick stop in Paris, well Paris, Texas.  

Then we got to a cute cabin and enjoyed being in the woods again.

So ready for a fin weekend away.

The next day we got up and explored things Broken Bow had to offer.  We went to mine for some cool rocks and play on a pirates ship.

But first we enjoyed the beautiful sunrise.

 

Then we headed over to an animal rescue center were you can pet and feed all the animals.

So many friendly animals to say hi to.  We all loved this place so much.  They helped injuries animals get back on their feet or helped adopt them out that maybe couldn't return to the wild.  

Then we headed on a hike!  Mountains, uphill, views, oh man I miss hiking.

It was so nice to let the kids run around, be loud and get dirty.

Then dinner by the campfire.

And a fun night splashing in the hot tub.

The next morning we headed out pretty quick cause there was a chance of snow coming.

After a long drive home we were pretty sad that we didn't get snow at our house.  But about an hour the other direction they got snow so we decided to hope back in the car and go play for a little.

New Year and Stanley turns 6

 Updates on Clifton -

We are half way through the words for his spelling bee and they are getting really hard.  I have to look up pronunciation for most words.  He his feeling defeated but I'm hopping he keeps trying his best and gives it his all at the spelling bee. 

Updates on McKay -

Has been pretty sad that she can't do a cartwheel like most of the people in her gymnastic class including Stanley.  She has been working on it daily and almost there.  She gets in her head so much, that's really what's holding her back.

Updates on Stanley -

Turned 6!  He was thrilled to get more presents and to celebrate him.  

He’s the kid that never listen’s the first, second or even tenth time.

He doesn’t walk in orderly fashion.

You can hear him from a block away.

He will stop mid run/task if something catches his eye.

He has a hard time keeping his hands to himself.

He’s the one who makes all the loud noises until someone yells at him to stop.

He’s the kids you ask to get shoes on and comes back with food for you to open.

He tries every ounce of my patience.

His heart break cause he doesn’t know what is so wrong about what he’s doing.

Time has no meaning.

He loves to cuddle and makes sure to get a hug and kiss from everyone before bed each night.

He loves fiercely

Has the best excitement about the simplest things.

He loves to make you smile.

Has the best belly laugh there is.

He will become instant friends with anyone.

He is deeply passionate.

He will play any game you want as long as he can play with you.

He lights up a room with his goofy smile.

Has the best imagination.He is so many things. He is just himself! Although he has struggles, he has SO many gifts. And we love him just the way he is.

Updates on Hazen -

His talking is so dang cute.  Some times we can't understand what he is saying but he is doing so well and putting words together.  He repeats everything he hears, everything!

This week was pretty laid back.  On Tuesday we did go to Epic indoor water park to celebrate McKay and Stanley's birthdays.

It was pretty empty which was great!  We had so much fun playing.

New Years eve we decided to have a couple friends come over.  We see them all time and they had no symptoms so wanted to bring in the New Year with friends.

Cute donuts to decorate.

McKay made posters

We played minute to win it games with the kids then turned on a movie for them while the adults played some games.

Then we made little count down and balloon drop for the kids

A super fun evening and we feel very blessed we have good friends to ring in the new year with.

The new year we decided to start out playing together as a family.

Arcade and bowling fun.

Stanley's birthday we baked him a Pokemon cake with a surprise inside.

He loved it!  His reaction is worth everything.