Spring

Around this time of year, the pictures get fewer and farther between...  Spring is my busy season for Team Dance and so a lot of things are not as carefully documented as I would like them to be.  But we had a great Spring.  We got to travel quite a bit.  My kids came with me to several events and had a great time exploring some of the west coast.  I really have a great job.

We got to spend a few glorious days in Gridley.  Bert and Charla kept the babes while Jon and I stayed down in Sacramento for the event.  The kids helped grandpa and grandma do some gardening.  They even planted the corn.

"Mom, take a picture of us pretending to pick fruit!"

Our annual Easter egg dying was successful.

Jude didn't understand why he wasn't allowed to redye the kid's already made eggs.  It was devastating.  I posted this picture on instagram and people couldn't tell if it was Asher or Jude.  The Nielsen baby mold strikes again.

Don't worry, he got over it.

Our Easter egg scavenger hunt.

I took the kids to the park the Monday after Easter.  The ground was covered in squished jelly beans and other clear signs of a large Easter party.  I tried in vain to keep my kids from eating stepped on candy.  Eventually I just gave up.  Kids are gross.

We got to do a mystery shop at the Coca Cola store.  the kids love the Float sample tray.

Asher and Jude decided one morning that they were sick of the weird brown pieces and wanted to finish all of the lucky charms marshmallows once and for all.  This method was very successful.

And a few more randoms...

Birthday Number 8

My baby Scarlet girl turned 8 years old.  We threw her a tea party with all her friends.  

Each guest got to paint their own big tea cup and saucer.  Then we pulled out our tea party finery and drank strawberry lemonade and ate chocolate chip cookie and brownie bars.  

She received a lot of fun arts and crafts sets.  Perfect for this crafty girl.

The pottery place gave her a plate with her hand print on it that all her guests signed.  We had in attendance:
Adelaide Hubble, Nicole Castro, Sofia Balyrut, Stella Hines-Lanman, Deonna Egbert, Ellie Collette, and since we had a last minute cancellation, Rhode.

We had a great time.  But it was just a moment compared to the big event to come!

Scarlet "When we got there they handed us all little teapots and platters to paint on.  And also, everyone got to bring their favorite doll.  And we made little cakes and strawberry lemonade.  And at the end, we painted a plate and I got to paint my hand.  I also got to put my handprint on my platter.  It was really fun.  I got lots of presents.  The end."

Basketball Coach Crazy Style

Soccer went so well, that Jon decided to try his hand at coaching basketball.  We had a good season and a fun little team.  Our team was always short a few players.  We lost one the first practice because the rec center put her on the wrong team.  Scarlet ended up being the only girl.  We lost another kid because he told his mom he wanted to quit after the first practice.  He did not look like a participator.  And we found out at the end of the season that one kid had a bunch of family stuff come up during the season so we didn't see him much.  So we usually only had 7 players to the other team's 10 players.  Our kids had to play more but they really did a great job.

Scarlet and Rhode had great seasons.  They both were more comfortable on the court.  Scarlet scored several times and was a good rebounder.  Rhode got a few baskets as well.  No basketball prodigies, but possibly players in the making.

2015 Started... around January I think

January in Pictures

Asher hanging out with the Coca Cola Bear.  We love our mystery shops there.

 We went out to Thai food one night while babysitting Sydnee Rosenlof.  It was a new restaurant I got a groupon for.  The food was good but we were right next to a TV that played two K pop videos on loop and both were pretty inappropriate.  Add that to the Christian Rock music playing... it was an odd combo.  But... good food.

 Sometimes I think my kids are cute enough that we should take selfies too like everyone else.  They usually turn out looking like this.

One of Jon's construction clients is a gelato store.  They make beautiful gelato flower cones.  They have treated our family to dessert more than once and it is always amazing.  p.s.  Asher has a bandaid in the middle of his forehead because of a scab right between his eyes that he couldn't stop scratching.  It was about three months old before we finally resorted to the band aid.

 Jude's face looking ridiculously messy.  He probably enjoyed something extra delicious.

We had a house cleansing and sold all of my fabric collection in a big garage sale.  We earned enough money from the sale to buy our Cowabunga Bay summer water park passes.  And hopefully the supplies went to happy homes where people will actually use it!

Scarlet's school hosted a daddy daughter dance.  Jon and Scarlet had a great time.  Scarlet remembers "they had a huge party favor table that went all the way across the gym.  And they had a DJ and there were disco lights at the top.  And they also had a station where you would take funny things and you could take funny pictures with your dad.  All my friends from school were there.  They had a 'dad break' and all the girls were dancing in a circle.


 

But dad was double booked that night, so after Scarlet got home, Jon took me out to a night at La Reve.  His clients had given him tickets, one of our first ever Las Vegas hook ups.  Afterward their friend, who performed in the show, met us and took us around backstage.  It was a fantastic evening.

Oh Jude, so cute.

Scarlet has been a lot braver in her hair styles this year.  She has also made a stronger effort to keep it regularly brushed so it doesn't get as tangly.  One day she asked if I could do the same hairstyle as the girl on her shirt.  It turned out super cute.

So we did it one other time.  Hard to resist that much cuteness.


I had a mystery shop at a breakfast buffet and invited Rhode as my date.  He was the perfect gentleman and a great dining buddy.  We ate very well.

I also got to hop along at one of Rhode's field trips this year.  We went to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.  It is... not the best Natural History Museum in the world but the kids had a great time.  I am pretty sure there were as many adults as kids there so there wasn't much for me to do but enjoy.

And more Jude... love that kid.

Palm Springs

One of my main excuses for this blog lapse is all of the time I wait for people to send me picture that they take of me.  Yes, this is how selfish I am. I never bring a camera, I expect people to take pictures of my children, and then I gripe when they don't ever get them to me.  So many reasons to not be my friend.  Sorry family, you're stuck with me.

We had a great family trip to Palm Springs for New Years.  It was the first family trip where my kids weren't the only kids!  That part was grand.  Add that to getting to cuddle and kiss my two new nephews?  Heaven.


Kylie got endowed in the Redlands temple while we were there.  Then we got tacos.  No pics of the temple... just tacos.

Jon hung out with the kids while I headed for the temple.  They could have just hung around the resort... but dad was in charge.  So instead they found a hole under a chain link fence, climbed under it, hiked up a hill, and found a cave.  They had a blast.  Dad is the king of adventure.

The kids swam and swam to their hearts content.  It was an unseasonably cool week in Palm Springs so kids had a hard time talking adults into joining them by the pool area.  But we gave in and braved the 60 degree weather frequently.

And Grandpa was always around to warm up a grand kid when they realized, yes it is too cold to swim.

 

There was golfing.  And golfing stories I intentionally blocked from my mind.  My brain does not have sufficient storage space for boring stuff like that.  Gotta conserve.

 

My mom gave each group of two a small wooden airplane and we launched them off the balcony to see whose would fly the longest.  It was even more fun than I thought it would be.

 

Our Knudson family showed up and we got to chat with them and catch up.  We also got to take some family photos.

 

Scarlet got some new clothes from grandma and had a fashion show for all of us.  She looked beyond adorable.

We played a lot of tennis this trip.  Jon and I started out really strong but then suddenly Curtis figured out how tall and coordinated he is and swept the floor with us.  I couldn't get a ball past him to save my life.

And these are my kissable new babies

And this is my baby holding a new kissable baby

And this is my baby whom I love dearly.  Even though he's crazy.