Update on Cadence

Our Cadence is such a joy to me.  She says something every day that makes me smile, or usually laugh right out loud. 

The other day Cadence was asking me when her dad was going to fix something of hers, and I said she had better remind him, that he'd probably forgotten.  She says "right, him has a lot of stuff in his head", then looks at me and says "you just have a little".  Not quite sure how I'm supposed to take that.

Cadence asked me once who Jesus' wife is?  Always thinking.

Cadence has discovered a new favorite place to eat.  There is a noodle place close to our house and her and I always share a steak pho.  I love that when her broth gets low that she asks me for more soup water.

Our ward had a little carnival the other day.  Jason did face painting for the kids.  Cadence loved hers.  She had wiped it off a bit before I got a picture. She cried when I washed her face before bed.

One of Cadence's favorite activities is puzzles, and playing with Adam.

Love that girl of mine.

First Dance

Now that Ashton is 14 years old he's old enough to go to youth dances.  He really hasn't shown an interest in going and I haven't pushed the issue.  On Saturday morning I got a text from a friend whose kids were inviting Ashton to go to the dance with them that night.  I wasn't sure he would be interested but he quickly said he'd like to go.

So off he went to his first dance.  It's fun to see him grow up and take his first steps toward independence.  I often think of how quickly time has gone and it makes me realize how little time we have left with him in our home full time.  I try to remind myself to really enjoy this time we have together as a family.

I wish I could slow time down just a bit.  What a great kid!

Literary Ladies 2017

I'm a few months late, but here is what my bookclub read in 2017.  I love bookclub.  We have about 12 people in bookclub, but with schedules etc we have about 5 - 6 that come on a regular basis.  I don't mind.  If we have a few or have a lot we always have a great time.

January 2017
I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai
I enjoyed this book.  Malala is an amazing young woman who stands up for women's right and was shot in the head on her school bus and survived. We had a great discussion.

February 2017
The Dinner - Herman Koch
This book got a mixed reaction from our bookclub.  I found it an interesting read, and made for a good discussion on how far each of us would go to protect our children.  For this meeting we met at a restaurant.  Very fun.

March 2017
We each read a book on a topic we were passionate about and then shared with each other why.  It was great to see a wide variety of interests.  Art, sewing, music, travel, etc.

April 2017
Fifteen Dogs - Andre Alexis
I thought this book was ok.  I was disappointed in the ending.  Maybe it's because I'm not much of an animal lover.  Some in the group quite liked this book.

May 2017
The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton
I've read other books from Kate Morton and loved them.  This book was no exception.  Excellent read.

June 2017
The Only Pirate at the Party - Lindsey Stirling
Memoir of the electronic violinist.  I must admit I didn't finish this book.  It didn't really grab my interest.  I do however find Lindsey Stirling an amazing musician.

July/August - took a break for the summer.

September 2017
You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News
Shocking but Utterly True Facts - Cracked.com
I skimmed through this book reading facts I was interested in.  This wasn't a book I typically would read, but it did make for an interesting discussion.

October 2017
Sweetland - Michael Crummey
Another book that got a mixed review from the group.  I quite liked the book and I think after discussing it as a group a few of the readers warmed to the book as well.  It does have some bad language.

November 2017
Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie
What can I say - it's Agatha Christie - excellent book.  For added fun we went to the movie together and then met at a restaurant to discuss the book and the movie.  I liked the few changes the movie made so that I could enjoy both versions.

Another great bookclub year.  We've already had some great reads in 2018 and I can't wait for more.  Thanks to all our literary ladies for making this group so fantastic.  Happy Reading!

17th Wedding Anniversary

On March 24th Jason and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.  I am so blessed to be married to such a fabulous man.  We had a fun night together.  We went to the Olive Garden for dinner - yummy breadsticks and salad and then to the movie Black Panther.

The gift for a 17th anniversary is furniture.  A couple weeks prior Jason surprised me with a little vanity he bought me on kijiji.  We went to Ikea and found a little chair and a mirror and then we set up my vanity corner in our bedroom.  I love it!!! It is so nice to have a designated spot to get ready every morning.  It has lots of storage and it keeps our bathrooms free.

Happy Anniversary My Love!!

Random Going Ons

Cadence has beautiful hair.  It is so thick and wavy.  What a lucky girl.  Sunday I attempted french braids for the first time on her.  It was a bit tricky with a wiggly 4-year-old, but I thought it turned out pretty good.

Our ward for the past few years has had sister missionaries.  We love having them over for dinner and building relationships with them.  I think it is so great for the kids to spend time with them and I hope it helps them want to serve a mission someday.  A sweet sister is being transferred this week so she asked if she could come over to see us one last time.  We had a great visit and shared some icecream cake.  We wish you all the best Sister Jones.

Cadence all ready to run errands with mom.  She's got her baby, phone and purse.  Such a girly, girl!

The kids were very excited to receive letters from Nani.  They sure miss her, but we all love to hear all her happenings in the Montreal mission.

I sure love these two.  Cadence and I both enjoy having Adam come in the afternoons.  He is such a good little boy and he and Cadence are such good friends.  It helps that he is extremely easy going and usually lets Cadence be the boss. 

After about a year Ashton got his braces off recently.  That's a gorgeous smile Ashton!  I'm not quite sure what was up with his hair that day.

The boys bought band hoodies from school.  I'm thinking we should have gotten Bowen a larger size.

Hope you've enjoyed a little peek into our lives.

A Unicorn Birthday

On Saturday our sweet Cadence turned 4 years old!!  She is growing up so fast and is such a joy to have in our family.  She's sassy, funny, full of life and my constant little companion.  We have the greatest conversations and I love spending each day with her.

Her special day started with opening her birthday dress ( a tradition I started last year), and a little unicorn necklace.

Then we headed to the mall for a surprise visit to Build-A-Bear.  She picked a cute unicorn and had fun selecting a couple of accessories to go with her new stuffie (a saddle and a brush to comb her).

After a little lunch we headed home to open more presents.

All the presents were a huge hit, especially her baby unicorn fingerling.

After playing with her new toys it was time for dinner.  Cadence had requested all her favorite foods - macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, and cheese puffs.  Yummy if certainly not very nutritious!

I made Cadence a unicorn cake (are you noticing a theme here?).  It was a little sad, but I tried, and Cadence LOVED it so that's all that matters.

 

While eating her birthday cake Cadence kept saying "this is the BEST birthday ever!"  We love you so much birthday girl.  Happy 4th Birthday!!

General Conference

Not only was this past weekend Easter, but it was also General Conference weekend.  I love General Conference.  I love being able to stay home with my family and have a relaxed weekend together listening to inspired messages from our church leaders.  My boys have started watching the entire weekend with me.  They usually are building lego, or playing on their DS's but I know they pay attention as they make comments.

The Saturday night Priesthood session was the first time both boys could attend with their dad now that Bowen has turned 12.  They were excited to come home and tell me all the great changes.

Sunday morning we all watched that session without any distractions.  It was so wonderful to see a new prophet, and 2 new apostles sustained. I know these men are called of God, and I support and sustain them.

We made a special brunch of eggs benedict.  My favorite - so delicious!!

Then we watched the 2nd session.  So many exciting changes and inspired messages.  I got so much out of the talks and am anxious to read and study them further.

I made Easter dinner - not a very traditional one, but yummy just the same.  We had roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, yorkshires, carrots and corn, with brownies and icecream for dessert.  I forgot to take any pictures, but it was enjoyed by all.

Cadence really enjoyed Easter.  I don't know how much of the true meaning of easter she understood but we'll keep working on that.  She picked her favorite easter egg friends and lined them up on the TV stand and throughout the day she'd go over and pet them and put them back.  So cute!

It wasn't very nice spring weather, but it was warm, cozy and springy in our home.  Such a great weekend.

Easter Fun 2018!

This past weekend was full of Easter fun.  We started off by inviting cousins Dane and Bennett to join us for breakfast and then to decorate easter eggs.  The kids had lots of fun and decorated about 45 eggs.

Then we had an easter egg hunt.  Unfortunately with so much snow still on the ground we had to hide the eggs inside.  The little kids all had 12 small eggs filled with candy to find and the big boys had 3 large eggs filled with candy to find.  Cadence loved it so much she kept rehiding her eggs and finding them again.

Later that afternoon Cadence and I made some easter treats - rice krispie nests with candy eggs.  We had a bit of rice krispies left over and made a few bunnies as well.

Sunday morning the Easter Bunny had brought baskets with easter goodies.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!