Our Last Little Learner

It's super hard when your last kid has major milestones and you know you will never have one of those moments again. Tonight Brynnli graduated from preschool, and I'm sitting here trying not to cry. 

I remember when Makayla started at Little Learners in August of 2014. I was pregnant with Brynnli and now here she is graduating from Little Learners. 

 Because of Corona, her graduation was online. I think if it was in person, and I watched her sing the cute little songs, and then walk across the stage to get her diploma, I would have been a crying mess. Her graduation was so special, but so sad at the same time because it wasn't the usual graduation we were used to.

 Brynnli got the "Glowing Example" award because she is always doing what she is supposed to do. She is a good friend and a good example to all her preschool friends. Miss Aubrey started crying when talking about how great it was to watch Brynnli come out of her shell during online school, and I couldn't agree more. I loved hearing Brynnli talk to her teachers and tell them stories about things that were going on at home.

 Brynnli doesn't look too happy to be receiving her award.

 This picture just makes me so sad. Because of stupid Corona, this is how Brynnli's class graduated.

 All three of our kids graduated from Little Learners and all of our kids had Miss Aubrey for at least one of their years. We loved Miss Aubrey and know she gave each of our kids the best start to their education.

We are so proud of Brynnli. She didn't love online school, but she stuck with it and did great. Brynnli is such a smart little girl and has learned so much already. She is going to do so well in Kindergarten!

A Mom

A Mom... 

It's all I've ever wanted to be. And I love it. 

Short and simple, but I think it sums it up. I love being a mom and I love my three little cuties so much!

It's Great to Be 8!

Meet the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

We are so proud of Caden for making the decision to be baptized. Caden is as sweet as they come and always strives to choose the right. When Caden met with the bishop, the bishop asked Caden if he understood what promises he would be making when he got baptized, and Caden knew every one of them. And when the bishop asked Caden why he wanted to be baptized, he proudly stated that he wanted to be more like Jesus. 

We were asked to write a little bit about Caden that would be included in his baptism program and I wanted to include it in the blog too:

Caden has always been the peacemaker in our family. Even as a baby people were drawn to his sweet and loving nature. As he has grown, Caden has developed such a kind heart and is always looking out for others. He is a good friend and always strives to choose the right.

Caden faces life's trials with persistence and hard work. He is very inquisitive, asks a lot of questions, and loves to learn. Caden's mind never sleeps. He loves Lego and is constantly creating new things. Caden also loves sports, especially when he wins. 

We've always said, "Everybody needs a 'Caden' in their life" and we are so blessed to have him in our family. You can always count on Caden to help brighten your day with a big hug or a genuine compliment. He is such a good example and we are so proud of him and his decision to be baptized. 

We did a little photo shoot at the temple. How stinkin handsome is our little buddy in his suit? 

 Lookin like a model in this one.

Because of Corona, we were originally limited to 10 people for the baptism. Caden was feeling pretty bad that his cousins couldn't be there, but we were so lucky and just a day before the baptism they loosened the restrictions and we were able to invite 20 people to witness his baptism, which meant the cousins could come! We had our family there, Grandma Bob and Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Craig and Grandma Terry, Great Grandpa Bill and Great Grandma Bonnie, and Karen and Ann, and the Jones family.  Even though we could invite more people, we still weren't able to have all of our family there, but Caden understood.

Here's Caden and Tyler in their baptism clothes.

 Makayla gave a great talk about baptism before the ordinance, then Caden was baptized. We can't take any pictures of the baptismal ordinance, but it was perfect. Caden was so nervous that he would have to do it twice, but he was completely immersed. It was a beautiful moment.

After his baptism, Caden was confirmed a member of the Church and Tyler gave him the most perfect blessing. Caden is so blessed with a great family, health and strength, comfort during trials, strength to get through rough times, and the gift of discernment to know who is true friends are. Heavenly Father has some great plans for Caden, and I know he makes Heavenly Father proud... he sure makes our family proud.

We have the best family around and are so grateful for their support during these special times.

 We know how to celebrate, even when we have to wear masks.

 It's important to stay 6 feet apart at all times.

 I just love everything about these pictures. I may have had to bribe the girls to kiss Caden, but it was totally worth it.

 After his baptism, we had our family members that couldn't come to his baptism over to our house for a little pizza party and cake. Because Caden loves cake, we made sure he got his own.

Oh Buddy, we love you so much and are so proud of you for making the decision to be baptized. We hope you are as proud of yourself as we are. 

Hello From Corona Life

Corona Life Day.... I can't keep track anymore. Here we are into April and we are all still in quarantine. Stores and restaurants are still shut down, people are encouraged to wear face masks when they go to stores. Tyler started working from home, which he LOVES! It took some getting used to for me, but I think we've settled into a nice routine now, and I'm actually enjoying having him home all the time now. We thought school was going to resume in May, but a few weeks into April they announced that school has been shifted to "online learning" for the rest of the school year. Makayla and Caden are thrilled with it; they love doing school at home because it is easier. Brynnli hates that she has to do online school. And I'm just over here mourning my days when I could go shopping while all the kids were at school. I saw this meme and I thought it was totally written for me

I am amazed at how we all settled into a new routine fairly quickly. I am actually starting to enjoy the slower pace. I have time to do all sorts of things that I thought I was too busy for. As we start to head into a new normal, I hope I take the best parts of corona life with me and leave behind the bad habits behind.

Since Tyler isn't going into work he thought it would be a great idea to try shaving his head. I guess we have both accepted that his hair is thinning and balding. While he was shaving, Tyler accidentally cut a  mole off his head and it was bleeding pretty bad. The only band-aids we had were emoji band-aids.

 Corona life means we get to sleep in. Brynnli still ends up in our bed some nights, and I love how she was holding on to me.

 Playing dress up. Doesn't she make the cutest lil cowgirl?

 April's Super Moon was super bright. We watched the moon come up from our backyard.

 Before Corona life the kids hated to run errands with me. Now, they beg me to let them go to the store with me. I think they are going a little stir crazy.

I took the big kids on a long bike ride with me to a park. They had a great time running down the huge hill.

 Just trying to pretend I was on a beach. Didn't work out so well.

 But how pretty is my favorite tree? I love when this tree blossoms in the spring.

 I set my phone down for one minute, and I find all sorts of random pictures of Makayla.

 Brynnli made this cute picture for preschool to show how she is a bucket filler and does nice things to help others.

 See this little white spot in Caden's mouth? I thought it was a canker sore until I felt it and it was super hard. I called the dentist and he suggested we come in so they could look at it. Turns out it was a little piece of bone/tooth left from one of his baby teeth. They had to numb his mouth and dig it out, but Caden was a trooper and was so brave through it all.

 Makayla has been practicing her typing and got a certificate for completing her beginner unit. And yes, she is in her pajamas still. At home learning means you can stay in your pj's all day and nobody notices.

 Got my nails did. I have my priorities during corona life. Even though all the salons are shut down, my nail lady works out of her house and was fine with me coming in.

 So everyday the kids wake up, eat breakfast, get ready and make their beds. About 9:00 they start homework/ preschool. The kids are getting a lot better at doing their work without needing my help, but some days they still need help. Tyler came upstairs and snapped this picture. Brynnli is working on an ipad doing her preschool, I'm helping Caden with some math, and Makayla is doing her work at the desk.

 Speaking of helping kids with their math. I saw this meme, and well... truth.

So Makayla has become a little bookworm. She discovered the world of Harry Potter and well, she's a little obsessed. She has read the first three books in six weeks, and she is now reading the 4th book, which is 700 pages, and she's about half way done with it already. The English teacher in me burst with joy that she loves to read this much. Every time she finishes a book, we borrow the movie and have a family movie night. All of the kids love Harry Potter movies now.

 Now that it's nice weather, we get to be outside practicing baseball. Now if we could just get baseball season to officially start again, we would be so happy.

 Fly Girl...

 Hanging out on the swing. One of my new favorite hobbies.

 What a world we live in. Signs like this are popping up all over.

 I was really needing a date night, so Tyler arranged one. He came and picked me up, we drove around our neighborhood, then found this cute little restaurant that's still open during quarantine. It's called "Chips and Dip" Our hostess wasn't too excited I was taking her picture, so she quickly seated us.

 The food was great, but our service was even better. Our servers kept checking on us to make sure we had everything we needed and they kept sneaking bites of our chips.

Overall I would give this quarantine date night a 10/10

Tyler sent me this picture of his view out of his office window. I think Brynn just wanted to be apart of his conference call. She takes great notes.

 Because we needed a change of scenery, we headed up to the land... just our fam. It was a great get away. We did our usual... go for 4 wheeler rides, have a campfire, watch movies, go on hikes, and throw rocks in the river.

 Caden was loving being able to ride the 4 wheeler all by himself!

 When we got home all our flowers on my second favorite tree were in full bloom.

 Things are looking up.. the county announced we can move to the "orange" level, which means social gatherings can be up to 20 people, restaurants and salons can open if they follow social distancing guidelines, and you have to wear a face covering when you go out. It's not completely back to normal, but I feel like this is a great start.