all the in betweens

 we have had a lot of big things going on like birthdays and easter

but i haven't posted all the little things in between

so we'll play catch up a little bit

because however mundane and inconsequential these things may seem

i'm always happy later that i recorded them

and can look back on them

so here we go...

noah's freckles are coming in nicely this year (my favorite)

 silly upside down girls

 i made my favorite minestrone for dinner a week or two ago

and michael made pretzels to go with

and they were amazing

 sharing eleanor's new balance bike

in matching nightgowns, of course

 eleanor is all up in my business allll the time lately

i can't do anything without her RIGHT there

so here we're doing the dishes and she counts them as i load them

 my friend kelli was dog-sitting and stopped by our house

and the kids loved the dog she was watching

even henry

i was this close to buying him a puppy right then

but i refrained

 we hate it when olive ends up in our bed...

she goes sideways and makes our king bed feel tiny

 poor girl had to get knocked out for dental work

it went really well and now she has 2 shiny crowns that i hate

but at least it's over and she's better about brushing and flossing than she was as a 2 and 3 year old

so hopefully we'll never have to do anything like this again

 henry was so proud of himself for finding 3 suckers...

 olive was out on a sunday drive eating her lunch

 eleanor (and noah) had checkups last week and they're both growing super well

but eleanor is being referred to the ENT to get her enormous tonsils looked at 

 we have had some glorious spring weather

 i loved noah scarfing down some cereal after school

especially the little drip on his chin

 reading in the backyard 

 cute kids playing outside

 henry loved the pepperoni pasta we had while the missionaries were over

 and i loved that they taught the FHE lesson for us

 eleanor refuses to let me vacuum without her

 tennis camp is going well for noah and hazel

 olive had a lot of fun at her kindergarten orientation

how is she almost a kindergartner?! 

 i am so grateful to have a three year old who still naps

this has never happened before

 i love my helper hazel

and so does henry

 i can pull up, button and zip ALL of my pants

for the first time in a long time

yay!

 mid-day costco date with my love (and 3 kids...)

 my lunch most days

2 eggs, a handful of spinach torn up---cooked in the waffle iron and served with avocado on top

 our kids often separate into pairs

olive and noah

 and hazel and eleanor

 i'm guessing henry will be in the noah/olive group

but for now he hangs out with me

 i love these kids so much

 olive in this outfit is the cutest thing ever

especially with a messy top knot

 eleanor was sweetly singing henry to sleep while i was rocking him

 hazel reading scriptures, michael rubbing his eyes and olive playing next to her crazy alphabet wall

 i had to show michael that noah drew him as his hero

adorable 

 henry was the cutest for church yesterday

 noah got way too hot at church in his shirt, tie and jacket

so he cooled off on the way home

and thought he was so funny

 eleanor's hair is literally gold

she's our little goldilocks

 the first time the playroom has been clean in way too long

 i ate like trash today but still got my 3 miles in...holla

 for family home evening we tried reading some family history stories my mom had spent

but they felt too distant and the kids weren't super interested so we 

called grandpa olson and he told us about how his family immigrated from sweden when he was 3

the kids loved it! thank you grandpa!!

 then we had some scooter races

 and then we set up our new (used from DI) badminton net 

it turns out it's enormous 

and the kids were way too tired 

but it was fun anyway

so there we have it

all the in betweens from the last couple weeks

quite the saturday

saturday felt particularly carefree

since it was the first time in weeks (literally) we didn't have a birthday to celebrate

or easter, or conference or anything

so i got up and ran 9 miles

i ran past the new temple construction which was awesome and i loved the river just past it

and as i was nearing home, my sweet husband and kids drove by in the van cheering for me

it was the sweetest

poor michael hurt his knee running a few weeks ago so he isn't running right now

and instead, he's seeing a physical therapist

total bummer but still supporting me running because he's the sweetest

 while i was in the shower, michael had dirt delivered for our garden boxes

so that was neat

and then he posed very cutely with the two little ones

 then we put on our matching shoes...

and took the kids to the kite festival

a little too late because it was pretty much over

so we played at the park instead

all 5 kids really love to swing lately 

 henry thinks getting pushed is hilarious

 and of course there was some rolling down the hill

i love this picture

when we got back home, we let the kids nap and watch a movie

while we shoveled the dirt in the boxes

 it was a little tiring

especially after running

but they're full of dirt (topsoil and compost)

and ready to plant

and they look so good!

 then we dropped the kids with a sitter

and went on our first date in months!

it was amazing

michael is the cutest

 we ate dinner at a restaurant called yard house

 and then got a couple desserts to go from grimmaldi's 

we thought it would be funny to take a picture sharing a cannoli :)

 and then we went and saw insurgent

we liked it

it was such a fun date! we really needed it

and the kids did so well being watched

it was a pretty perfect (and tiring) day!

noah is nine!

 today is noah's birthday

for breakfast he requested chocolate chip pancakes

then he went to school and tennis club

(michael and i went to watch tennis club today)

and came home for a nice dinner

we had garlic chicken farfalle, green beans, cantaloupe, texas toast and strawberry lemonade

noah said it was the best dinner ever

 then we let him open his presents

 he loved reading what his grandparents wrote in their cards to him

and he wants to save his money from each of them

he just finished the 4th harry potter a day or two ago

so it was perfect timing to get numbers 5 and 6 from michael's parents

 we got him a cap gun, whoopee cushion, hex shark, lego board, minecraft legos, a book he wanted,

a stomp rocket and a skateboard

he was super stoked about everything

especially the skateboard

 he had to go try it out

 then it was time for cake

he really wanted an ice cream cake

so i surprised him with this mint oreo cake from dairy queen

 the kids don't have school tomorrow

so we're letting them stay up late watching the latest harry potter noah read

(a reward for reading each book is getting to watch the movie after)

and having a sleepover in the playroom

 with popcorn and candy, of course

we are so proud of the boy noah is

he is a great big brother

and super sweet boy

we just wish he would stop growing so fast!

noah's 9th birthday (party!)

noah's birthday is still a couple days away 

but his birthday party was today

he invited around 30 kids

but about 25 came

we like that he's so inclusive and has so many friends he wanted to come

he was set on a lego theme

here's the food

lego cookies

 marshmallow lego head pops

 lego guy chocolates

 the cake

we got a costco cake since there were so many kids coming

and decorated it with chocolate lego guys we made with these molds

a little decor in the living room

 we got it all set up just in time

 for about the first hour the kids just played

we kind of planned a few games in case the kids got bored

but they had so much fun just playing

some played outside, some played xbox kinect upstairs

 we cleared out the guest bed so the kids could play legos in there

a few of the kids hardly took a break from lego building

 then they ate pizza, treats and lemonade

 and we sang to the birthday boy

 that's a lot of kids!

 then noah opened presents

 and we finally let them hit open the pinata (that michael made)

just before they got picked up

the rain was a little bit of a bummer

but the kids still played outside

and had a lot of fun either way

noah said it was the greatest day of his life

so win win

it was such a fun party!

here's the invitation i made for it