March in a Minute

A couple things that don't have pics so I better mention them now: girls' night at "Melo's for a belated birthday celebration-I definitely need more of those, taking the kids with me to book club because I just needed out of the house after Andrew being out of town for a whole week, and a random date night. We had a baby-sitter booked but no plan for what to do. We ended up using a gift card we'd been given to go get Mexican food and then went to the church to do our cleaning assignment because we were busy in the morning and hadn't found someone to switch with. We listened to music and talked while we cleaned. It was random and unexciting, and yet I found it fun. I guess any chance to hang out with and talk to my favorite guy uninterrupted is pretty awesome.

This was a super fun home school activity. Everybody gets a bowl of colorful goldfish, sorts them, and graphs them. Then we ask questions and talk about everyone's graph. Everyone could get involved and get something out of it at their own level.

This two crack me up. They love each other so much that they play all day and then drive each other crazy

They did all of this without me. I knew something was going on, but I really didn't want to know what. I call this exploratory play and strength training.

Super handsome 11 month old

These moments make my momma heart so happy.

We got passes to the Oakland Zoo! We've only been once so far, but it was awesome to meander and follow the kids' lead knowing that we'll come back soon.

Adaline knew EXACTLY what she wanted to do for our date. Pick out fabric to make her a skirt and then get ice cream.

More picnics on the deck. These best friends are just two cute.

Andrew ran the hardest 5K of his life. It was super hilly and almost complete on trails, but he said it was gorgeous and worth it.

He told me he went up there because he had to fix some things like dad...fellow boy moms, this is normal, right?

Being home also means Adaline could have a playdate with her friend who has kindergarten the opposite time that she did.

Doing activities during the curriculum fair.

In order to make more date nights happen, we've been trading baby-sitting with some friends. One night, they really stepped it up and had a themed craft complete with chocolate coins.

One big highlight of the month was driving to the snow with friends. We basically headed towards Tahoe and once we found enough snow to play in, we pulled over. I somehow forgot to bring coats for myself and Andrew, but luckily it was a sunny day and we were fine. We went sledding, built a snowman, dug a cave, and threw snowballs. Afterwards, we changed into t-shirts and had pizza in Sacramento.

melting crayons because I was just going to throw them away.

Prepping for the flights!! I was pretty nervous about flying solo with all the kids, so I packed all kinds of snacks, puzzles, mazes and coloring books, dry erase crayons, picasso tiles, card games, sticker games, and more. Two flights. Four kids. One mom. Stay tuned to hear how that went.

Playing soccer while Adaline was in dance class.

Almost two years ago, my parents and three youngest siblings moved to South Dakota and I haven't been out to visit them since. It's a 25 hour drive and we don't have the money for plane tickets for our whole family. Well, Andrew had a 2 week training coming up for work that was out on the east coast. In the process of trying to think of what the kids and I could do while he was gone, I got the idea that I needed to get out to see my family. Since flying was out of the question financially, I clearly had to drive. About a week and a half before the trip (which I kept claiming was dependent on me feeling good and the weather) I called my mom to chat about the logistics I'd been working out the night before. I was planning where we would get gas, which parks we would stop at, and how I was going to leave at 4am, pick up my brother in Utah, and then continue driving until 11pm then do it again the next day. I said something like, "mom this is so crazy and I don't know if I can do it, but I have to! Dad and the boys (my brothers) have never met Alex, and they haven't seen the rest of us in a year and a half!" She said something about how she hadn't realized that before now and then my dad called her and she had to go. Shortly after, my dad called me saying that he had talked to mom and he had lots of Southwest points we could, so I should go see if there were any flights that would work for us. Hallelujah! Cue tears of joy! It was still an incredibly long 15 hours of traveling, but that's half what it would have been and there was no risk of me falling asleep and killing my family. Hooray!!

We left a couple days before Andrew's work trip and came home a couple days after so that he would be able to get us to and from the airport. We got to stay for a whopping 15 days (not including our days of travel). It was awesome! My brother who was going to come with from Utah, even still got to come. We all had so much fun and I loved watching my siblings build relationships with my siblings and parents. Since most of the trip actually happened in April, you'll have to wait to hear about it.

The traveling went amazing. we met the nicest and most helpful people. We had to leave the house just after six, but the kids were super excited and such good sports about it. While waiting for our first flight, a man offered to help carry Michael's carseat onto the plain. His wife ended up sitting next to Matthew-since Matthew wanted a window seat-and he sat across the aisle from me. This was our almost 4 hour flight and it was the BEST one. The wife was a kindergarten teacher and helped Matthew with is mazes, coloring, picasso tiles, puzzles, and snacks for the whole flight. She helped him clean everything up when it was time to land and was just generally wonderful helping him. The husband held Alex for me, put him to sleep, and then held him while he too a great nap (I know that made the rest of my day so much easier than it would have been. I was able to give all my attention to helping Michael with his snacks and activities. It was all pretty uneventful!! After the flight, the same couple helped us carry our stuff off the plane and get to our next gate. They even kept an eye on a couple of the kids for me so that I could go to the bathroom with the others. They were the absolute sweetest and I hope I get to pay it forward one day.

We had a three hour layover due to a delayed flight, and I was just starting to wonder how we were going to occupy ourselves with so much stuff to carry around when a sweet couple offered to watch our stuff if we needed to go get food or go anywhere. It was soo much easier to keep everyone happy and entertained being able to walk around without the back packs and carseat. We got ice cream, built forts, ran, jumped, climb, and generally managed to stay sane.

This picture kills me! Who is this wonderful child who chooses to eat celery when she has ice cream in her other hand?

For our second plane ride, Matthew, Alex and I ended up together with Matthew and Adaline sitting across the way on either side of a sweet, young grandma. She kept them entertained entertained with a puzzle app, and earned all kinds of blesses in heaven when she cleaned up Matthew's throw up and changed his clothes for him during landing. I absolutely had angels watching out for me on these plane rides. Next thing we knew it was lots of hugs with Harris and Nama, playing tetris to fit everything in the van, and then just a short 3 hour drive to their house, for an arrival time of 11:15pm. We were exhausted but excited and couldn't help but staying up for a short while to play with their new puppy and chat with everyone.