Claire's Band Concert

TIme for the spring band concert! I love that Claire enjoys music! She is in the advanced band now and they sounded so good! It takes such a long time to progress on the piano, but for some reason these band instruments are easier/faster to master.

The Midnight Escape was my favorite piece they played. It was mysterious and intriguing and very upbeat.

So happy I could come and hear this sweet girl perform on her clarinet.

 

Wade's Kids Sleepover

Wade and Kimberlea went to Glenwood Springs for the weekend for Kimberlea's birthday so we got the kids! Yay! Calista LOVES pancakes, so we made some for breakfast. Everlee doesn't like syrup, so she eats her pancakes with fruit. The girls love to help cook and bake.

This cute boy has been a little slow transitioning to solid food. He likes to feed himself and clamps his lip together so tightly if you try to feed him with a spoon. He has not liked baby food or the pouches they have now for babies. He loves bananas and pancakes, and sometimes he will let me feed him some yogurt.

Calista and Everlee love to play! They have great imaginations and creativity and love to set up little houses. They hardly ever ask to watch TV and I love that.

I wanted to take pictures before church and Calista insisted on holding one of these mosaics  from the Palmer reunion. I never did get them put in the flower beds before winter came. She loves how sparkly they are.

Could they be any cuter?? Calista loves her siblings! She loves to hold Axel and has recently started carrying him around. When she comes home from school the first thing she does is run to Axel and give him hugs and kisses.

Calista and Everlee love to play outside and go on walks. I was hoping for some nice weather this weekend, I am so ready for spring. Yesterday was chilly, but it is nice today so we went for a walk after church. Axel was asleep, so he missed out. Taking a break at the resting rock.

These girls have always loved dolls, and they wanted to bring them with us on the walk.

So much fun.

 This is a look of pure happiness!

Such a fun weekend with these three! I was in Grandma heaven!

Austin's Kids Spend the Night

Austin wanted to go to the Innings Music Festival in Arizona. It's on a Friday and Saturday, starts in mid afternoon and goes until midnight!

There are 3 stages performing at a time and you just walk around and watch the bands that you want.

They had a great time!

We kept the kids and they were so excited that they got to miss school on Friday. Claire and Millie slept down the basement in Ryan's room. I thought they might be scared, but they loved it! Claire did a puzzle,

Maddie and Emma had a great time with the Scribble Scrubbies,

and I taught Millie how to do counted cross stitch and she started a project.

Megan is such a champ, she found out I had the kids and thought it would be fun to all go bowling, so she found a Groupon coupon that was good for up to 6 people and we went on Friday afternoon after Dagny and Lincoln got out of school. The kids had SO much fun! Claire and Millie have been bowling on field trips with school, and Dagny and Lincoln have been bowling at Boondocks, so they knew how.

We got a ramp for Maddie and Emma to make it easier. Emma didn't like bowling, she didn't want to even try, so Landon took her place. Maddie loved it though! She was always paying attention and knew when it was her turn, I never had to tell her.

Strong man Lincoln!

Claire looks for her ball,

and is ready to go.

Landon hasn't bowled for a very long time, and he had so much fun! He was really doing well in the second round, too bad time ran out and he couldn't finish the game. Out of the kids, Dagny won both rounds. She beat Lincoln by only 1 point both times and he was not happy about that! 

Bowling with all the kids was quite an adventure. Emma just danced around all the time since she didn't want to bowl. I think Maddie liked it the most, and was always so excited when it was her turn. We ordered food- pizza, chicken strips, and fries. Two times water got spilled and Megan had to run for some paper towels. It was a great time and I'm so glad Megan suggested it!

When Austin asked me to watch the kids this weekend, I immediately thought of taking them swimming, but was a little wary of taking them myself. I wasn't sure I could watch Maddie and Emma close enough without another adult. Landon came to my rescue and we headed to the Rec Center. Emma loves the zero depth area most, we did go in the lazy river for a bit too.

The slides have been closed for remodel for a VERY long time, and they are finally done! The kids loved them and spent most of their time on them.

This slide requires a tube,

this one doesn't. They are both enclosed slides so they are quite dark inside as you are going down.

Claire looks so relaxed!

Dagny's turn.

Maddie was begging and begging to go on the slides. Landon said he didn't think she was tall enough and I couldn't see a measuring spot. She was so forlorn and kept saying how she wished she could go on them, so finally I decided to ask the lifeguard. The measuring stick had fallen down, the lifeguard got it fixed, and guess what??? She is tall enough! You have never seen a happier girl! When she got to the top, she was a little scared and Claire had to give her a big pep talk and come down a couple of times herself before Maddie had enough courage. But once she did it, there was no stopping her. She was continually on the slides for the rest of the time that we were there. We stayed for over 3 hours! 

Her face says it all!

I brought a little bag of popcorn for them to eat during one of the safety breaks. They were just the cutest sitting on the stairs!

We went to church on Sunday and Austin and Melissa got home in the late afternoon. What a great weekend we had!!

 

Landon's Birthday

I asked Landon what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday and he picked this applesauce/spice/raisin cake with brown sugar frosting that I know he loves. 36 years old means 9 candles, 3 plus 6 equals 9!  A new way I came up with for doing candles on adult cakes.

Time for presents!

A new tie! Landon is the Chief Compliance and Audit Officer at Denver Health and has to dress up every day, so a new tie is a never a bad idea. They make such cool ties these days! This was is black with teal and purple in a paisley pattern. I tried to get a picture, but it was too dark and the pattern didn't show up.

As soon as Landon got a glimpse of this present, he got a big smile on his face.

Our family played Fantasy Football for the first time this season. Britta and Kade set it up and got us going, and it was REALLY fun! Landon has never been a big football fan, but he is now! He had a lot of players from the Lions on his team and he started watching them and learning about them and now they are his favorite team. He was pretty excited about these socks!

 But Lincoln was not! He got a horrified look on his face when he saw them. Lincoln is a Chiefs fan all the way,  he loves Patrick Mahomes, and Landon and Lincoln have had a lot of go rounds about who is the best team. Landon loves to tease Lincoln about it, and he didn't think this was a very good gift at all. He gave them a swat and ran away from the table.

Landon's hobbies are running, jigsaw puzzles, and riding his motorcycle. He also loves reading and listening to audio books on his long commute to work. He takes his kids swimming almost every Saturday and is a great dad, even though he loves to tease them. Happy Birthday Landon!

Home Depot Kids Workshop

Wade started taking his girls to the Home Depot Kids Workshop last year. It made me so happy and brought back memories of when we used to take Blake, Britta, and Ryan. I just love the aprons and the pins they give each month. Delwyn usually goes to help, sometimes I go and sometimes I don't. 

The girls are getting good at using tools,

and Calista just needs a little help tightening up the screws.

Grandpa helps Everlee with a screwdriver.

Time to hammer! Brave dad to hold the pieces!

Calista always loves to pose for the camera! I don't know where she got it, but she's dang cute!

A candy box for Valentine's Day! They decided to take them home to paint as painting in the store can be chaotic and a bit messy.

 Fun stickers to decorate the box!

Maddie and Millie Play Basketball

Maddie is playing basketball for the first time and she is so excited!! After watching Claire and Millie for a few years, it is finally her turn!

Her team is the Fire Hawks.

It is so much fun to watch kids play when they are first learning a new sport and learning all the rules. The score is pretty low, but they don't care and just have the best time.

I didn't realize I didn't take any pictures during an acutal game, just when they were warming up. She loved to run up and down the court and always had the biggest smile on her face. Go Maddie!

 

I guess I was really into the games this season, as all of Millie's pictures are of warming up as as well. 

Getting ready to make a shot!

 Millie is a little shy, so it surprises me that she can be a little aggressive when it comes to basketball. She's not afraid to get the ball and follows the action instead of hanging back. Great season Millie!