Chicks and Pottery

A couple of days after her birthday I took Rylee, her best friend Maryn and Avynlea over to Zamzows to look at the baby chicks. We all loved looking at them and wished we would have been able to hold them, they were so cute. I seriously would have bought a chick to take home with us but they very quickly grow into chickens and chickens are not as cute. So we just looked at them.

After the chicks I took them over to Piggy Pigs Pottery so they could paint. Rylee kept talking about wanting to go paint pottery for her birthday and I thought it would be ok to take her and her friend during track break. All three girls picked animals to paint and had fun making them look cute.

I decided to paint a bowl and really struggled with painting around the dots. I did the best I could but was not too thrilled with the final result. Oh well, it was fun to paint and hang out with my girls.

Girls Basketball

Earlier this month Kefford took Avynlea and Rylee to a Boise State Womens Basketball game. Because it was a Womens game there were not a lot of fans in the stadium to watch. That was a little sad but the girls and Kefford got free tshirts to wear and they had a lot of fun cheering on Boise State. 

Buster the Bronco spent some time hanging around my cute little family. The girls loved that and thought his antics were really funny.

Easter

Our Easter weekend started with us going to Emmett for my niece Qiana's baptism. Brit sent me the picture she took of us with Qiana. Qiana looked beautiful in her white dress and I am happy we got to be there to witness her special day.

Later that evening I got to go with my girls to the General Womens Conference. I am so glad that they made it for girls ages 8 and up.,I love being able to go with all my girls. We went to eat beforehand at Arctic Circle. Rylee chose this place because supposedly they give free ice-cream, not sure what she was thinking because we were never offered any free ice cream. But we were too full after eating to even think about ice cream so who knows what would have happened if we did want some.

The meeting was great! Service was definitely a strong theme with most speaking on it. I love the council to serve those we live with and love and to also serve in our communities making sure to serve those in our neighborhoods. I also really enjoyed the talk on motherhood. What a wonderful meeting.

Sunday morning I made resurrection rolls for breakfast. This was my first time making them and they turned out really delicious. Once all the kids woke up they went on a little Easter egg hunt and then we talked about and read scriptures on our Saviors resurrection using "resurrection eggs". After we did that we watched a couple of videos on Jesus Christ pertaining to this time of year. I was really glad to keep the focus more on our Savior rather then on the Easter Bunny and candy. He made the greatest sacrifice for all of us and because of Him I will be with the ones I love forever.

Before we went to church I let the kids dye some Easter eggs. I love how they turned out and think the pearlescent colors so pretty. I was really happy with the kit I found and thought it was so easy and definitely was less mess.

Kenedy was not inclined to smile for the camera but I caught one after she thought I was done taking pictures. Since she would not look up at me and smile for the easter basket picture I was quite pleased with this one I managed to catch.

Before we left for church I made sure to get a picture of us all. I love this family of mine and am grateful we are together forever!

The kids had to have a bunny ears picture, they are so cute!

After church I made our traditional bunny cake and Avynlea gave it some eyes and a mouth. 

Definitely a great Easter Sunday!

Cousins

We spent part of our Spring Break at the Farm. Rylee got ahold of my phone, again, and had quite a fun time taking pictures of herself with her cousins. I am very grateful that my kids are developing close relationships with their cousins. I worried for a while because my kids seem to be so much older then the majority of their Peterson cousins and I wasn't sure how they would interact. I shouldn't have worried. No matter the age difference my kids love their cousins and love to spend time with any and all of them. It brings my heart a lot of joy to see the relationships they are developing.

Rylee and Maddie

Rylee and Sadie

St Patricks Day

My Mom sent us a St Patricks day card with a little bit of money in it for us to buy ourselves a treat! Avynlea and Rylee had a well child appointment on St Patricks day and when they found out about it they both asked if they were going to get shots. I told them I did not think they needed them but I did not know for sure, they might or they might not. Turns out Rylee was fine but Avynlea had to get 3 shots :(. She was brave about it and after we were done I took the girls to Burger King to get some ice-cream cones with our treat money. Ice-cream makes shots feel a lot better!

Kenedy and Ryker had their appointments a couple of days later and they asked the same thing about the shots and I told them the same thing I told the girls. What do you know, Ryker was fine but Kenedy had to get 2. We had things to do right after the appt and I didn't even think about getting them an ice-cream as well, Mom fail! I will have to make it up to them.

Here are the stats for the kids visits, nothing surprising here.

I sent this picture to my family to show my Irish pride. It always surprises me the lack of wearing green that I see around town on St Patricks day. I like celebrating it and try to remember that it is not a huge holiday and try to give people a pass and not judge ;). 

I made the traditional corned beef for dinner with green mashed potatoes, green kool-aid and a strawberry spinach salad. Avynlea, Ryker and I were the only ones home for dinner. Kefford was not home from work, Kenedy was getting ready for a play performance and Rylee was out birthday shopping with her Grandma. I wanted to wait for everybody before we ate but I was leaving as soon as Alison got back to go see the play and the food smelled so good I could not wait! My Mom also sent some themed mustaches which we wore for a couple of minutes at dinner before they got too itchy and we had to take them off

Rylee took this picture of herself with my phone and I wished she would have taken a picture wearing her mustache. 

Another Happy St Patricks Day in the Peterson home!

Rylee is 9!

Rylee turned 9!!!! Oh how this girl loves her birthdays, she has been excited for months and has told me many, many times exactly what she wanted for her birthday. She kept talking the day before about who was going to be the first person to wish her a Happy Birthday. She speculated that it would probably be her Dad because he is usually the one to turn on their bedroom light in the morning and wake them up, but, surprise, it was me! 

As soon as she got up she was wanting to open all of her presents. I let her open the present from her Grandma Bonnie which was skittles and money and then I let her have her new top and pants.

I posted this collage on Instagram to wish Rylee a Social Media Happy Birthday. She was such a cute and chunky baby and is such a beautiful 9 year old!

Of course I had a full day of dance classes to teach and the girls were so good and patient to come along and help me. I wish they could help me every day I have to teach. All my dancers behaved and danced better having "big girls" there watching and Rylee and Avynlea were such good helpers for me. I also loved having them in the car with me keeping me company, it was fun to talk to them about my classes and get their feedback on things they saw.  Rylee had my phone during most of my classes and spent her time texting her Aunt, her Grandma's, her friend Maryn and her Daddy. She sent pictures of herself to Maryn and Kefford and got Kefford to send a picture of what his day was looking like. She is hilarious!

For dinner we had Rylee's favorite, Spaghetti and meatballs, we had a late lunch and so nobody was too hungry and took small portions, including the birthday girl.

Finally she got to open the rest of her presents!

She loved everything she got but was most excited for the Art set. That was the present she has been talking about wanting for months. It was fun to see her so thrilled with the things she received! 

Rylee wanted an Oreo cake with Oreo frosting so I crushed up oreos and added it to the chocolate cake batter and then I put crushed oreos between the layers and on top of the cake. It tasted so good! Still not very hungry, everyone either took a really small portion or did not have any cake at all.

Rylee's Favorite Things

1. Dinner: Spaghetti and Meatballs
2. Dessert: Ice-cream sandwiches
3. Candy: Skittles
4. Color: green and blue
5. Friend: Maryn Ross
6. Scripture Story: When Jesus walks on the water
7. Primary Song: Book of Mormon stories
8. Radio Song: Shut up and Dance by Walk the Moon
9. Book: Trading Faces
10. Movie: Aladdin
11. TV Show: The Amazing World of Gumball
12. Toy: Stuffed Animal Bunny, Cheeks
13. Thing to do: Swimming
14. Place to go: YMCA
15. School Subject: Reading and Art
16. Favorite Restaurant: Golden Corral
17. Favorite Sport: Basketball
18. Favorite Disney Princess: Jasmine

5 Things I love about Rylee

1. I love that she can be so independent and be fine with being on her own. If she has nobody around to play with it's not a problem, she is good with being on her own. A lot of times she actually prefers being on her own because then she can do what she wants without anyone else getting in her way.
2. Rylee is starting to build her own testimony of this Gospel and reads her scriptures and really tries hard to say sincere prayers. She loves going to primary and activity days and loves learning about our Savior. I love the questions she asks when we are talking about Gospel principles because it shows she is listening and really wants to learn.
3. This girl says the most random and funny things. She has a quick wit and is so much fun to be around. She likes making others laugh and has a really fun personality.
4. Rylee is my cuddle bug and I love having her snuggle with me. She knows when I need a hug and is awesome at letting me know she loves me. She is also a hugger with her friends and cousins and I think it is cute to see her running up to them when she sees them and giving them a big hug.
5. Rylee has big ideas as to what she wants to be when she grows up. So far the list includes, professional basketball player, artist, pilot and cowgirl. She has also told us that she wants to be a Bishop when she grows up so that she can listen to peoples problems and then tell them what to do. She is not appreciative when we tell her she cannot be a Bishop and does not think that is quite fair. I told her that being a Mom is awesome because I do a lot of listening to other peoples problems and telling them what to do. I am not sure she is convinced.

I love Rylee so much and am so glad she is mine!

Beauty and the Beast

Kenedy was able to try out for the school musical and actually be in it this year. Last year she landed a part in the Musical but had to drop out because of conflicts with cheer. We were all so excited that she was going to be able to be in this one because it was Beauty and the Beast! Kenedy was a townsperson, a wolf and a few different enchanted objects...a spoon, a dish and a napkin. I bought tickets for our family to go see the play on Saturday night and was really looking forward to it!

Kenedy, Megan Warner, Keri Walsh, Kaci, Lauryn Warner, Ashlynn Rich, Carter Baumgartner

Lauryn Warner and Kenedy

Saturday night Kefford and I took our kids and met Trista and Austin along with Makayla and Ally at the school to watch the performance. Alison and Brit and her older two girls were supposed to come as well but they all were really sick and had to back out. I was able to sell Brits tickets, one to Ally, so she could get her money back and Alison gave her ticket to Makayla. It was fun that they could come and watch the play with us.

I was really impressed with Meridian High's performance of Beauty and the Beast. The costumes were awesome and it was such a fun play to watch. I had a really good time and loved watching Kenedy perform!

Austin Avynlea, Trista, Ally, Kenedy, Rylee, Ryker and Makayla

Kenedy, Lauryn Warner, Megan Warner, Kody Burch, Wilson Dowdle

Kenedy and Madison Black

The girls got to take a picture with Belle after the performance and Avynlea had to have a picture with the cardboard cutout of her favorite princess.

I made plans to go again the next Thursday because what this school does which I think is so cool is have two different main casts so that more kids can participate and Gabi was not in the cast performance I saw and I wanted to see her and some of Kenedys other friends who were not in the other one. Alison was feeling better and decided to come over to go with me. I was really glad she did because it was fun having her there and I know she enjoyed watching Kenedy as well. This was a popular play and tickets for each night were being sold out fast. The play started at 7 with the doors opening at 6:30 so we got there at 6 to buy tickets and they were already sold out! It was nuts how crowded it was in that lobby! I was feeling bummed out that we were not going to be able to get in but they put us on a wait list and we managed to get seats, hooray! 

I loved it just as much the second time watching as I did the first! There is a part at the end of the Be out Guest song where they let off confetti canons and the loud noise made me jump the first time I saw it so I wanted to make sure I was prepared the second time I watched it so I would not jump again. Well, I got distracted by something and my mind was not paying attention so during this second performance, when the canons went off I jumped harder and even let out a little scream it scared me so bad. I was so embarrassed! It was a good night anyway and I was glad to have been able to see it again!

Linder Ward Kids

Isaac Caroca, Kenedy, Megan Warner, Trey Hallenberger and Gabi Caroca

Kenedy and Grandma Alison

Hike to Table Rock

March means it is track break for my elementary school kids. I love having my kids home with me and have been looking forward to track break for quite a while. Unfortunately I realized that a lot of track break was going to be me dragging my girls around while I taught dance classes all week. I felt really bad that we couldn't just relax at home finding fun things to do. Because I felt so bad I really tried to find fun things to do in the spare time we did have. 

One of the Tuesdays we decided to go hiking up to Table rock with a friend and her kids. Rylee had a fever the night before and I was worried about her and that we would have to change our plans but the morning of she came bounding down the stairs saying she felt great. I figured we could still go since she seemed better so we packed lunches and after dance class headed out to go hiking. We have done this hike many times before and my kids love it and always do really great. This time after we got started it was becoming apparent to me that Rylee was back to feeling not great. She was needing frequent stops and was really lethargic. 

I took this picture at one of our stops and Rylee was feeling so terrible she couldn't move from her resting place to get in the picture with the rest of the kids. 

Ezra, Avynlea, Jules and Logan

Rylee

We finally made it to the top and Rylee perked up a little after we ate our lunches. 

After spending some time at the top Avynlea was starting to complain a little about not feeling good and I decided we needed to cut our time short and get going home so the girls could relax and rest on the couches. I loved being able to spend time with my girls and felt really bad that they were not feeling good. They were sick the next morning and it broke my heart that I had to leave them to go and teach dance. I felt like a terrible Mom and am so grateful I made the decision to not teach next year. It has stopped being fun and has become almost a burden and I don't like that feeling. I really tried to find a sub but nobody was available so I had to leave my girls and make do with calling them to check on them after every class. I did stop at the store to get ingredients to make green smoothies when I got home, which tasted terrible. Seriously, what in the world? My friend drinks them daily and goes on and on about how delicious they are so of course we wanted to try them out. Not good. not good at all. The next day we left out the green and just made fruit smoothies and those were so much better. Live and learn!

"Oh No, She Has The Hives"!

Avynlea had her PACE presentation the end of February and was excited but more nervous. She came down that morning telling me that her legs had weird rashes all over them. I looked and saw some red marks but was not too concerned about it. I had her get dressed and get her morning stuff done. I took Ryker to school and when I got back I checked on Avynlea and saw that she had little red marks starting to appear on her face. I realized that she probably had hives and started looking for some Benadryl.  Of course I did not have any so I told them I would be right back and went over to 

Wal-greens calling my mom to get her advice on what to do. 

When I got back with the medicine her hives had spread even more and I was really worried about what to do. Avynlea absolutely did not want to miss her presentation so I had her go to school and then right after regret that decision because I got a text from my Mom saying that I really should be watching her to see if it gets worse. I drove over to the school and saw Avynlea on the playground and had her come with me to the Nurse's office to talk to her about it. She pulled in her teacher and we agreed that Avynlea would be moved up in line so she could do her presentation first and then I would take her home for the rest of the day. I stayed with Avynlea while she went to class and just sat in a chair keeping an eye on her. Her hives were getting worse and worse and the nurse came through to give her some more Benadryl. Finally her presentation was complete and I checked her out and took her home.

While we were leaving I glanced at the lost and found as we passed by and found a baggie of animal crackers that I swear came from our house. Avynlea and Rylee both denied it belonging to them but I have my suspicions. I took a picture of them and then threw the baggie in the trash. Who was the crazy person to put food in the lost and found?

Avynlea's hives were not going away and the next day I took her to the Dr. After asking question after question to figure out if she could be allergic to something the Dr decided she was probably reacting to an illness and told us to give her some Zertec once a day and if it didn't clear up after a week to bring her back in and then they would do some extensive allergy testing. The hives were coming back off and on all that week and then got really bad the end of the week. I was really worried but then they disappeared and have not been back. I talked to my mom and sisters about it and a couple of them said that they have gotten hives before after illnesses so I guess it runs in the family.