Easter

We were able to find time to decorate Easter eggs at my parents, as we do every year. It's tradition, even when there weren't grandkids! My parents also have done a big Easter egg hunt for the kids that they look forward to every year! I love it as much as they do!

 Thankfully the weather was actually nice for our egg dying so we could have some time outdoors also. The kids play so good together. Presley is the perfect little babysitter for Jordan!

 He really wanted to eat an egg......or so he thought. This was so funny that I couldn't help but capture the wild child that he is!

 That face!

 Easter morning the girls were excited to find eggs in our house. It takes them a couple minutes to find all of them but they love it.

 Yes, there was bacon in her Easter basket....man she was so excited and said it was only for her!!

 Then we got ready to head to my parents house for their Easter gathering. This girl, so freaking cute.

 The Moeller Coaster is always a big hit with the kids! Why does Presley look so grown up?

 Then we headed over to Terra Park to fly some kites, play with the remote control car and spend some time on the playground running around enjoying some good weather.

Piper - Soccer

After 'playing' when she was 4 and basically just watching her team play, she has now been begging to play soccer after watching Presley play the last 2 years. I wouldn't let her play until she actually started in school. So finally this spring we signed her up. She can be really aggressive, but man, she is little and she (and the other girls) don't know much about positioning or anything but I love watching her play!

Learning about throw in's and corner kicks vs goal kicks is all new to her but she is learning quickly.

That smirk! :)

Girls on the Run 2019

So in order to get a little caught up, I'm going to randomly post about the last 2 months in no particular order.

Presley decided to do Girls on the Run again this year. Which I was excited about b/c I really do love this program. It is so uplifting and motivating for girls and to see 900 girls come together do to this 5k is just so cool. They spend 8 weeks talking about friendship, healthy eating, self confidence, bullying and of course, practice running.

I did some running to prepare for it....however I never ran more than 1.6 miles and didn't run the last 2 weeks before the race. I was not as prepared as I was last year but didn't think Presley was either. 

Presley and Addie

 Addie, Presley and Leah

Normally they only accept 20 girls per school....however, they had such a big waiting list for our school that they accepted 40 3rd-5th graders this year! A huge thank you to the 3 coaches for all the time they put into this!

We don't think this sign was actually for Presley, but it obviously caught our attention! So we are pretending that some nice person decided to motivate us and buy a sign for her! :)

This girl ROCKED this 5K this year. I think the 75 degree weather was a huge factor after running in 95 degree weather last year. She kept me motivated and we ran at least 2 of the miles if not more. I was so proud of her (and me!).

Steve and Piper were able to join us and cheer us on at the finish line. It is so cool to see all the people lined up cheering everyone on! Piper was very disappointed that she couldn't run with us though!

Right now Presley says that she is NOT going to do this again next year. She has had some ankle issues but she would rather just run and not 'talk about feelings' like they do as part of the program. What a dork. I hope she changes her mind. I think it is motivating for both of us!

Miss Me?

I know, I know....I was super sad to get 2 weeks behind but now being 2 months behind it just gets overwhelming. You don't know where to start, do you just skip over the last 2 months like it was nothing? We did a lot of fun and good things in the last 2 months that I just don't feel like I can buzz over. Maybe I need to do one post for each month that I missed. Hmmm......

I really started to think about all the things I was missing to document for the kids. Realizing that there is no way I'll remember everything so I feel like I have to get some things documented! So I'm starting now.

This will be random for now. I will get caught up and hopefully continue on like there was no gap in 2019.

- Work. I started a new job in March. I won't lie, it has been rough. Not hard or difficult at all. Just completely NOT what we thought it would be. Honestly most days I don't really work. Not too different than my previous job. I talk and read a lot. I've been trying to help with some different aspects of this job, including helping put together job aids, helping those who are struggling and being an overall voice for the team, we'll see this continues b/c I really just like to sit in my cubicle and do my job. Also we were told we would have flexible scheduling (not just 8-5 because honestly who works those hours any more?) and that eventually we would have 1-2 days of remote ability....now, they have gone back on both of them. I can deal with not working remote, but the 8-5 just doesn't work. Thankfully my new manager has been flexible with my hours when I need to work early so we'll see if it changes in the near future.

- Piper. This girl is a reading machine. She has been begging me to go to Half Price Books to get the Junie B Jones books that we don't have. We finally were able to get a couple and then she complained she didn't have time to read. I let her know that any time I am reading on the couch at night or the weekends that she is more than willing to join me instead of watching TV or being on her Ipad! :)
She moved up to level J in school, which in general is a 2nd grade reading level. Her favorite books to read are Junie B Jones which is a level M and Magic Tree House which is level N. Don't get me wrong, there are totally words that she doesn't know but the words that she does know or can figure out are crazy amazing to me!

- Piper. Her teacher is having her tested for ELP (enhanced learning program...basically TAG) so we'll see how that goes. We don't really know anything about it except that she might be in more 'challenging' groups next year.

- Presley. Since we got back from our recent trip (more details on that later) she has been amazing! Very few breakdowns, super sweet and loving. She might have actually missed us! She still can't leave her sister alone as much as she should but she has been enjoyable lately!
Today was a big day for this 10 year old. We broke down and got her a phone. I never thought we would do this for our 10 year old. Basically she is going to stay home by herself 1 day week this summer, so the phone is needed. And really, this MIGHT be 5 days all summer. She is going to be taking the bus home in the fall and Steve won't always be home when the bus drops her off, so she'll need it then.
We thought about the Gismo watch or whatever it is, but really why spend that money now when she was probably going to get a phone in the next year anyway. I got a new phone and she is using my old one with EVERYTHING removed from it! She has 5 phone numbers to call and text message and a couple games to play.....but nothing else. There is no social media and she knows that we have access to everything (but she still tried to ask if she could use her finger print to unlock it....NO!)

- Steve. He has spent the first 4 months of the year waiting and looking for work to do at work. He drives around, makes appearances with the office people, makes phone calls, goes to Costco, runs errands, and is handy to have around in case there is something you need done or something we need from the store. However, all that is changing. His life just got a whole lot busier with work and he hates doing it when the weather is nice! Especially right before we take our annual trip to Okoboji, when his big job starts. Of course. Doesn't help with I'm supposed to be working 8-5 and kids activities always start before 5:30. (And if they start at 5:30, I still can't get them there on time if I work until 5 pm)

- American Idol. I love it. I always have, I always will. I am watching the finale right now and I can't tell you how many times I have cried. I just love normal people, dreaming big and having good things happen to them and seeing them cry, UGH!...…...Since the beginning I said Laine Hardy was going to win, but Alejandro is giving him a run for his $$....we'll find out in the next 10 minutes.