Birthday Week

Birthday week was fun and super busy. I can't believe how old they all are. We took the big 4 year olds to breakfast on the morning of their Birthday and then later I took them on a date to get an outfit for their build-a-bear bears and a treat. At the end of our date they both said, "Mom this is the best Birthday ever!" Which made me want to buy them like 5 more outfits for their bears, but I resisted. They are so sweet. I also took cupcakes to preschool for them the next day and they loved that!

On Weslie's Birthday, Kevin, Oliver and I went and had lunch with Wes at school. We brought her a pink cupcake and she was excited to show us the special Birthday Girl pin she got to wear in class. After school I took her to build-a-bear and she got to pick out an outfit for her bear. She picked a Cinderella dress of course :)

On Friday night Grammy, Grandpa and aunt Madi came over for dinner, cake and presents. The girls got spoiled rotten!! I seriously don't know what we'll do for Christmas because the bar has been set and we don't have any more room in our house for anymore toys. The big gift for them to share was a new Barbie dream house from Kevin and I. I had a lot of fun assembling it and getting it all ready.

Photo Dump and Quick Update

Just a couple noteworthy things that have been going on lately in a word vomit, run-on sentence post:
Sophie and Remi gave their first talk/scripture in primary and they were so brave. I am so proud of how much they've grown this year!

Weslie was Fancy Nancy in her school's book parade. Unfortunately we were just behind her class in the line but Grammy ran up to cheer her on and let her know we were there. Mom fail.

The twins started ballet. Sophie loved it the first week and Remi was nervous but now they have switched and Remi is totally thriving. Sophie is a little apprehensive about class but loves ballerina's and is brave and goes anyway. Last week she had a hard time and when they lined up to do an activity Sophie got in line behind Remi and Remi reached back and pulled Sophie's arms around her to cheer her up. She also got her backpack for her at the end of class and went over to make sure she was okay. It was a super tender moment. They have been relying on each other a lot more in just the past couple months!

Weslie started gymnastics and LOVES it. She loves climbing around and it has been such a good fit for her and a wonderful outlet for all of her crazy energy.     

Oliver now refuses baby food-even sweet potatoes and just wants to try real food. The only food he really likes is baked goods and meat...like he eats a boatload of chicken and beef. What kind of 10 month old does that? He still hates fruit for the most part. He's our savory guy I guess. He is a crazy moving machine who loves to climb everything, especially the stairs. He is such a boy and is so interested in everything and the way things work. This year has gone by much faster than any of the other "baby years." I still can't even believe he is ours sometimes. He is the real deal! He is such a joy and has brought such a balance and tender spirit into our home. He is always happy and snuggly and we are all completely smitten with our handsome little guy.

I got to have lunch with Weslie at her school while the twins were at Pre-K and that was really fun. She was excited to show me how she orders her lunch and to sit at the family table with a few friends. I can't believe she is so big!

Kevin went on his second trip to Europe this year, although this one was only one week and not two. Those weeks are really hard for me. He was only in Oslo this time. Last time he did Dublin, London, Berlin and Oslo. He is thriving at work and is the "go-to" guy for everything. I'm so glad he is doing so well and that he loves what he does. Being so awesome sure does require a lot of time though!

While he was gone the dishwasher broke, which added to an already long and frustrating week. When he got back he hardly had time to look at it and he was off again on a last minute trip with the ward to muck houses in Houston in the hurricane area.

I was not thrilled he was leaving us again so soon and with so many household needs building up but I was glad he got the opportunity to go. Heck, I wish I could've gone, but alas it's more practical for me to stay home with the littles. So, for now I can serve by staying home and allowing/making it possible for him to go. I was pretty impressed with the way my 2 friends and I coordinated, shopped and packed everything for our guys with just a few hours notice. Divide and conquer! 

My Birthday was also the week before he went to muck houses but I wanted to wait to celebrate it until the week after because I was an anxious wreck about having to TEACH RELIEF SOCIETY for the first time on that Sunday. Luckily my mom was able to come and help me get all the kids to church and take Oliver 3rd hour so I could teach. I was so nervous...like physically sick for 2 weeks, got a blessing, read the talk every day and poured like 6 hours of serious preparation into that 30 minute lesson.  I'm so glad I did it though and so I'm proud of myself! It went really well and I really did feel inspired and strengthened. It was a really great experience and I grew from it, but I'm glad it's over!
While Kevin was mucking houses, mom and I finally made it to the Matheney/Black Balloon Festival party. It was their 20th anniversary and they had a tethered balloon doing rides. It was so cool to finally cross a hot air balloon ride off my bucket list. The only thing that would've made it better would be if Kevin was there with us. The basket was pretty wobbly and you had to squish people into the basket to keep it weighed down before people could get off and oh my gosh it was so hot when they pulled on the lighter! It was so pretty. The girls all loved it and Weslie was totally tall enough to see over the edge, but Kevin and I definitely need to go on an untethered ride without the kids.

It seems like Kevin and I have hardly had time together the last few months. We both have so much going on and at the end of the day we are both exhausted! It has been need-to-know conversations mostly. I feel like we are both more adults than ever before and it is HARD. We basically never fight anymore-either because we are so tired or because we just don't have time to care about the dumb little things. We've both been stretched and have grown individually over the past few months but I think more than anything we have grown stronger as a team. I sure love that guy and I hope things slow down a bit soon!