Spring has Sprung

 

Spring was very busy as usual, but we were able to spend a lot of time together which is what matters most.  The kids were busy with sports, Brooklyn with soccer and McKay with flag football.  Brooklyn played with GSA they won a few games and she had a blast.  Her team went to Coeur d'alene Idaho for a tournament this spring and they made it to the semi-finals. The whole family went up and it was fun to show the kiddos around the city a little bit. McKay's team, the Raven's, dominated again this season.  They were able to keep the same team together from last fall.  This season they did a championship game between the top Star team vs. the top Middleton team, they called it the Ax Bowl. The Raven's came out victorious.  They went all out for the game with a tunnel to run through with smoke and confetti, medals and championship rings, and an ax for the team to keep until next season.  To say the boys were in heaven, would be a major understatement.  The kids are so lucky to have so much from support from their grandparents, they are definitely their best cheerleaders.

Craig and I hiked to the top of Lucky Peak Mountain on one of his days off, which is part of the Boise Grand Slam of hikes.  We also used our fire pit for the first time, roasting hot dogs and s'mores.  We also made it up to McCall and ate at My Father's Place and the kids shot the BB guns and played yard games.

Over spring break we just stayed in town and tried to stay as busy as possible.  We spent a lot of time with cousins going to a few different parks and hiking table rock. We also watched Missy's kids for a couple of days while they were out of town.

Easter was a wonderful week as well.  We did our best to study what happened each day leading up to Easter and to be mindful about what Easter is truly about.  We celebrated Easter with Craig's side of the family on Saturday and my side of the family on Sunday  It was a beautiful day and so glad we got to spend it with family and the kids of course got a ton of candy.

We also had a lot of school things going on.  Brooklyn had a couple of field trips to the state capitol and to the roller skating rink.  McKay got to read the book that he wrote and illustrated at school to me in the school garden.  McKay had a Spring program with the whole first grade. Brooklyn got the Presidential award at school for scholastic excellence. Brooklyn also did a whole presentation and speech about Freedom of Religion.  The end of the school year was very busy but they both did well throughout the school year, but couldn't wait for summer to start.

Once sports and school finished I felt like we could finally come up for air.  It was a busy few months and I have no idea how moms with more kids do it.  The kids are ready for a summer of fun, maybe not so excited for the chores they will have to do.  I truly do feel so lucky to be able to be a stay at home mom during the summer and be able to adventure with the kids all summer long.  Bring on the SUNSHINE!

Winter time

 

This winter season started off a little slow.  We didn't get much snow until after the new year, which meant we didn't get in quite as much skiing as we had hoped.  We went to Brundage twice, Tamarack once, and then my Mom and I took the kids once to Bogus.  Luckily we got pretty good snow each time and the kids jumped right back in, like it had only been a few weeks since they had skied last.  The kids were doing great with their turns and even tried out a black diamond and did great.  We may have gotten a little cold a few times, but nothing hand and toe warmers couldn't handle.  We were able to get sledding once at the dump and the kids had fun playing in the yard at the cabin, especially with their cousins.  We even got enough snow in the valley to have a couple snow days and some small snowmen in our backyard.

We also spent a lot of time with the kids winter sports. Brooklyn played volleyball with Star Park and Rec and McKay tried out Lacrosse with Middleton Park and Rec before Christmas.  After the new year the kids both played basketball with the Star Park and Rec.  I ended up having to coach Brooklyn's team so I didn't get any pictures of her, but she was by far the best player in the league and we will definitely be finding her a different league to play next year.  McKay's team won all but one game and he was one of the few kids that truly understood all the rules and didn't travel and double dribble all over the place.  I think we have about out grown Star Park and Rec and will be moving on to different league's, which means a lot more driving on my part.

This winter we also spent most nights watching football. College or NFL, it didn't matter, as long as there was a game on the T.V. that Craig could yell at.  Luckily we all love watching it and Brooklyn may have had withdrawals after the Super Bowl.  We loved spending time up at the cabin in McCall and loved when Grandparents came to the kids games. We loved warming up with hot cocoa and wrapping up in blankets on the couch.  Brooklyn got 3 teeth pulled to help get ready for braces.  We will go back this summer to see when they will put the braces on. We stayed very busy, but the kids love to play their sports and we love to watch them and skiing is such a fun activity to do as a family.  We love anything that allows us to be together, outside and active.

Brooklyn is a TWEEN!

 

Brooklyn is officially a tween! Not sure how I feel about having an 11 year old.  She is growing up way too quickly.  We didn't do anything too exciting to celebrate, but I think she had a great day and could feel how much she is loved, which I count as a success. Celebrations started with a day out with Grandma.  They went out to lunch and then went shopping for some clothes.  Brooklyn had fun going to the actual mall.  Her actual birthday was on Thursday and I made some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and dessert.  After school she had soccer practice and we took donuts to the girls to celebrate.  That evening she opened up her gifts from us.  She has been begging for a turtle for years and our original plan was to get one for her, but after doing a lot of research I figured out that they were quite a bit more expensive than we thought and took a lot more care than we thought.  So we bagged that idea and had to quickly come up with something else, since she had nothing else on her birthday list.  We decided on a new golf club set and bag (her old ones were way too small) and a Luke Bryan concert with Mom in August.  Luckily she thought both were pretty cool.  As Craig was showing her all the clubs her set came with, when he got to the Sand Wedge she goes, "oh the sandwich, that's my favorite club!"  It was pretty hilarious, she legit thought that was what it was called.  On Friday we went out to Blaze Pizza for her birthday dinner and then back to our house for more cinnamon rolls and to open her gift from Nana and Pops, which was a trip to the nail salon with Nana for a pedicure and manicure.  Saturday afternoon we dropped Brooklyn off with Nana to cash in on her gift.  She came home with bright orange finger nails and blue toenails and a big smile on her face.  You could tell that she was thrilled with all the one on one time that she got with her grandparents.

She is such a bright to our family.  She is happy and easy to get along with.  She is occasionally a little bossy to her little brother, but I think that is just par for the course.  She loves to read, play all of her sports, be outside, eat pizza and desserts, spend time with her friends and cousins, watch football and sleep in.  She is truly a joy to be around and luckily has a lot of people who love and support her.  She is very excited to grow up, but I am so grateful that she still wants to spend time with us and that she is still my little girl at heart. We love her so much and know that our family would not be complete without her.