life is good

 during bedtime after eleanor did my hair we took a couple pictures together

 the kids had a half day of school so i tried to be a fun mom and play in the backyard all afternoon with them

we started with a nerf gun fight (these are their mean faces)

 then we played red rover and hide and seek before heading to the library once jude woke up

 picture day at ballet for hazel (the antelope)

 i have found them this way several times recently

all cuddled together (sometimes eleanor wraps jude up in blankets) and they read together

their relationship is so sweet and special

 on wednesdays i take the little ones to a park between kindergarten and preschool

for a picnic and last week michael was so sweet to come surprise us

i loved it, especially because things have been busy and we haven't had much time together

 these two

 smarty pants hazel qualified herself to be the the school idaho history bee

sadly michael and i will be in paris for her competition but michael's parents will get to go

 he climbed up, threw all the books off and played me a song :)

 super tough super hero henry

 the lilacs are in bloom

so pretty

 how michael and i enjoy the sun together :)

 dolly rides in the backyard

 i love this spunky girl

 she loved riding bikes with her sisters to school

 on the way home she didn't want me to put her bike in the car 

she wanted to ride home

it was super cute

 water fight

 michael and i finally went on a date

we went to culver's for dinner (not great) and saw i feel pretty at the theater (i LOVED it)

then we shopped a little

 dave and crystal had been on a date and shopped, too

so we decided to get together and see what we'd bought after our dates at 10 

after the kids were in bed

 (we told noah we were going and he had a phone in case anything happened)

 we somehow stayed until 3AM talking, playing video games and just hanging out

it was so fun

 and fairly irresponsible

 henry was kind enough to get us up at 6:45AM so we ran 9 miles on 3 hours sleep

not our best decision but we killed our run

and loved going together, chatting the whole time, 

passing the temple and running to the river and back

 hazel made cookies when we got back

and these two both loved eating them together

 michael took olive on a little date to get the oil changed

and i took hazel on a little date to target

 that evening michael and the kids watched a movie

while i went to the temple and did initiatories

it was a perfect and i kept our goal of going to the temple once a month

(michael had already gone with the youth to do baptisms)

 saturday night i made myself a new shirt

with some super cute fabric from my mom

then sunday morning i finished a matching skirt

so i could wear it to church

i liked that it looks like a dress when it's tucked

 you can see the skirt zipper on on the back

 cute little tree climbers before church

 after church i switched the skirt for jeans and it was so easy

i love the shirt especially

 monday olive stayed home with a fever and sore throat

we had a fun day together

 a puzzle of italy that we all worked on together

we found the missing pieces after we put it away..

 yesterday i peeked through the blinds and saw jude in his favorite spot

 then he came inside with a mouthful of mud

 and promptly went over trying to get books out of the end table

and knocked it over, breaking my plant

oh well

 i let eleanor sit in the front for the first time on the way home from kindergarten

since it's just in our neighborhood

and she said, "is this what it is like, sitting in the front? like when i'm a mom?"

it was cute

 i got this cute new jumpsuit

and i love it

 life is good

as of today we're 18 days away from leaving for paris!!!