Twinners!

I went to Aubree Hope's Baptism on Saturday and when I got back I saw that Rylee and I were color twins. Well, we both had on yellow, her a shirt and me my sweater. I thought we needed to take a picture together so I basically forced her to comply. 

Avynlea ordered matching bracelets for her Kenedy and Rylee and she was pretty excited when her little package arrived. The bracelets are pretty cute!

Sunday night Emily came to visit with her kids for their Spring Break. They got to join in on our Sunday night Come Follow Me discussion. I took this picture of Ryker leading the discussion. I figured I need to not only take pictures of him being Angry. He is a handsome guy and did a good job leading our discussion.

Fun with Heather

It is Spring Break and that means Heather came to visit!! Yay, it is one of my most favorite and anticipated times of year! She arrived on Wednesday and when I got up Thursday morning I got dressed and then went out to sit on the couch to read my scriptures. When Heather came down she was also dressed and ready for the day and we laughed when we saw that we were both wearing striped shirts. After I took our picture, (Heather has a mouthful of food), documenting our twinning I changed my shirt. Twinning is fun when you are little girls or at Disneyland not as Adults running errands ;)

I took her to Crumble, a yummy cookie shop, so we could both try it out. We could not decide on one flavor so we bought a box of the four specialty cookies to share, Funfetti, Nutella with sea salt, Rocky Road and Peanut Butter & Jelly. We ate the Funfetti one while we walked around Hobby Lobby and that one was ok, but nothing to write home about. When we got home we tried the peanut butter & jelly. That one was amazing and I still cannot stop thinking about it, it was a winner and I will definitely be getting that one again! 

After Hobby Lobby I stopped to get some gel polish on my nails and I got red with white polka dots in anticipation of our upcoming Disney trip. They turned out so cute and I really love them!

Whitney asked me if I could watch Laney so she and Dustin could go to the Temple. I was happy to have Laney over but I was a little worried that she has hit the stranger danger phase, I did not want her crying because she wanted her Mama. I shouldn't have worried, she was great and the only time she cried was when Kefford came into the room. She did not like him at all and I finally had to banish him to the upstairs so she would stop crying. Laney is a joy and such a cute little chub-a-lub!

Kefford and I have been wanting to go back to Eureka!, the restaurant we ate at for our 20th anniversary. We loved the food and wanted to go back to see if it was as good as we remembered. I wanted to take Heather with us so she could try it out and we decided to go Friday for lunch. The kids were all in Nyssa enjoying their spring break with their Grandparents and cousins so it was just us adults heading out to lunch. 

Kefford and I both got the same things we got the last time we went and it was definitely as good as we remembered! I love the food so much! Heather agreed that it was really tasty and we had a great lunch

After we got back home Heather and I played a couple rounds of Skip-Bo, it was a fun day!

OOTD, Hair and Dr's visits

I often, mostly all the time, plan my Sunday hair and outfits as I lay in bed trying to sleep. This one I was especially loving and was pretty proud of myself for how cute it looked. When I thought it up I wasn't too sure how all the polka dots would look but it was pretty adorable.

For my hair I planned to curl it and then do a top know. After I did all of that I thought it needed a little more oomph so I added 4 braids. I really liked how it turned out!

I was trying to get a good picture of my side pony to maybe use on my instahair page but I was doing it during scripture study and was trying to be sneaky so nobody would notice. It is not a picture I am going to put up on my page because I don't like it enough for that but I like it enough to put on here :)

Wednesday I had an appointment with my lady Dr. I had told Heather before that I think she looks a lot like Christi from Dance Moms and how it is a little unnerving to have her examining me. While I was listening to her answer one of my questions I was very sneaky and took a picture so I can show it to Heather. I really hope she remained clueless.

Avynlea's Choir Concert

I had a Relief Society birthday dinner to go to the same night that Avynlea was performing in her school choir concert. I felt bad not being able to go but I thought it was fine because Kefford was going. When Avynlea found out I wasn't going she was really disappointed and let it slip that she had a duet that she was really excited about that she kept quiet as a surprise. I felt really bad about that and told her I would go watch her when she performed at the Middle School Choir Festival the next week. That was a great compromise and I was really happy to be able to go and watch Avynlea perform. Her friend Sadie started off the duet and then Avynlea joined in. It was pretty impressive because they were singing A Capella while walking down the aisles in the auditorium. I was nervous on Avynlea's behalf but she did such a great job and I loved watching her and listening to her sing.

 She was then part of a small group of students that sang a part in the song on their own and that was fun to watch and listen to as well. She is the third girl from the right.

 Meridian High School Drama was performing the play Annie so I bought tickets for me and my girls to go and watch. It was super cute and i liked the girl who played the lead role, she did a good job. It was so fun listening to the music that I loved singing when I was a kid and I am really glad we went.

Rylee was super excited to turned 12 for lots of reasons but one of the main reasons was so she could get her own email address. She sent an email to Kenedy and Kenedy thought it was so sweet she put it in her instagram stories. I thought it was cute how much Rylee repeated that she had an email address.

I also found this screenshot in my pictures that Rylee took on Sunday while she and Kenedy were talking over FaceTime.

Avynlea has been good about studying her Come Follow Me lessons and she took a picture of her setup one day.

I took a couple of pictures of Ryker when he was mad at us again. Someday when he is a Dad complaining about his stinker kids I want to show him these pictures and remind him of what he put us through. 

St Patricks Day

I wore my new Lucky shirt on Friday in honor of St Patricks day that fell on Sunday this year. I wasn't planning on wearing it on Sunday but I wanted to get some use out of it so I wore it to my meetings on Friday and to teach dance. 

I went to one of Brigitte's classes to help her try costumes on her dancers and one of the little girls had the cutest person drawn on her hand. I loved her creativity and the use of her two hand freckles for eyes. 

I told my kids that now that Rylee was older the Leprechauns don't play mischief in our house anymore. Ryker asked if they still got chocolate coins and seemed really sad at the thought that they wouldn't get those anymore so the Leprechauns made sure to leave some chocolate gold along with a box of Lucky Charms.

Taking some pictures while doing my hair with the thought of putting them on my instragram hair page. I usually end up not putting them up because I am a chicken but I can put them in my blog book.

I wore my green Ireland jacket with a jean skirt to church because it is tradition to wear my jacket on St Patrick's day. I didn't get a picture of my outfit but I loved  it and it was a crowd pleaser at church.

After church we had our traditional St Patrick's day meal. Corned beef, red potatoes, green salad, green jello, green lemonade and homemade french bread. It was delicious!

Happy 12th Birthday Rylee

Rylee's birthday morning started out with sprinkle pancakes and a candle. She has been so excited for her birthday and we were off to a good start with this delicious breakfast! Since she was turning 12 and that is when we start letting friends stay the night at our house Rylee asked if Serena could spend the night. I told her that would be great and we made the plans with Serena and her Mom for Serena to stay over Friday night . Unfortunately Serena got the flu that week and had to cancel the sleepover. Rylee was disappointed but got over it quick so she could enjoy her birthday.

Rylee really wanted to open her gifts that morning but I told her she had to wait until after dinner, she was bummed about that but then asked if she could open the gifts from her Grandma's. I told her that was fine and she opened the one from Grandma Alison first and got stencil art, a drawing pad and money. She opened grandma Bonnies next and got skittles, gummy worms and more money. She was a happy 12 year old with all that fun stuff!

After breakfast we got ready for the day and I had previously asked Rylee if she would wear a dress on her birthday. She did not like that idea at all and asked me why. Rylee asked me previously if we could go out to lunch to Panda Express on her birthday and I told her yes. When she questioned why she had to wear a dress I fibbed a bit and told her it was tradition. She quickly asked if Avynlea had to and I fibbed again and told her yes. I then got Avynlea alone and told her she had to go along with it. What Rylee didn't know but everyone else was aware of was that about half a year ago I bought tickets for Rylee and I to go watch "Wicked" on her birthday. Rylee has never let me forget that I didn't take her when I took Kenedy and Avynlea because she was too young. So when I saw that the musical was coming back to Boise and one of the dates was on her birthday I had to get tickets. I think it is fun and important to dress up when one goes to the theater and so hence the need for us to wear dresses. 

Kefford took Ryker and Avynlea to shoot guns and ride dirt bikes with his cousin Coby and I took Rylee with me for a morning of errands and an afternoon of fun.

We headed to the Village first so we could visit the Green Apple boutique and pick up a gift for Grandma Alison. I then needed to get some Lucky Charms and chocolate coins for St Patricks day so we headed to Zurchers for the coins and the new Market Street Albertsons for the cereal and to check it out. 

Rylee found the cutest little baby pineapple at the Albertsons and tried on some cute Leprechaun hats at Zurchers. She was a fun errands buddy and didn't once complain about all of the stops we had to make. She really liked exploring the new Albertsons because of all the fun samples they had.

After we got done with the Errands it was a little past 11:00 and I pointed out the Panda Express that was across the parking lot and mentioned we could eat at that one. Then in thinking about it I decided to go to one closer to the Morrison Center and I looked up Panda Express on Google Maps and found one really close to where we were going for the play. So without saying much to Rylee we got in the car and drove to Boise. This is where I started to learn how unaware and not suspicious Rylee is. If it were Avynlea she definitely would have put two and two together but Rylee just blissfully went along with everything I did no question. We got the the Panda and enjoyed eating our food. We were a little bit filled up from all of the samples and so whatever we couldn't eat we boxed up to take home.

After our meal we still had a bit of time so we went to the Trader Joes that was across the parking lot to check it out. I was not too impressed with the food and products but Rylee found a cute little succulent that she loved and I bought that for her since it was a reasonable price.

Once we were done there I decided to head over to the Morrison Center to find parking and go inside. When I got to the parking lot there was an attendant standing there and I rolled down my window to ask if we were at the right parking lot. I asked if we could park there and he asked if we were here for Wicked, when I told him yes he said we could go in. As I started to drive away from him I looked at Rylee since this was the first she heard about us going to Wicked and she looked shocked. I quickly realized her shocked expression was not because she just found out we were going to see Wicked but because she thought I lied to the guy to get a parking spot. She said to me "Mom, you just lied to him!" and I said "no I didn't" and pulled out the tickets and told her Happy Birthday. Once she realized that I did get her tickets and we were going to see the show she was so excited! We laughed and laughed about how she thought I lied to the guy just to get a parking spot. I told her I didn't fib to the parking attendant but I did fib to you about why you had to wear a dress and I apologized for not being truthful. She, of course, was quick to forgive me and asked if everyone else knew about this. I told her everyone but her was in on it and that I made Avynlea tell a fib also and I apologized for that as well. 

Once we got inside we had to wait a few minutes before they opened the doors into the theater and we sat on some couches and chatted for a bit. I told Rylee we had to use the restrooms before the show started because it would be a mad house during intermission. We were grateful we went before when during intermission when we went out to get a drink and stretch our legs we passed the longest line waiting for the bathroom.

We had such a good time and of course Rylee fell in love with the musical and we talked about it all the way home. I am so glad that I waited to introduce Rylee to this amazing musical until now because she was old enough to understand it and really pay attention.

After we got home we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and then she was allowed to open her presents.

She got mascara, an Aladdin shirt, dry erase markers and rollerblades for her birthday! She loved it all and had to try out her rollerblades immediately! She also got a clear lipstick and a pineapple sign for her bedroom wall that I forgot about until later. 

After a while I got out her cake and we lit the candles and sang Happy Birthday. She requested an Oreo cake so I made a chocolate cake with whole Oreo's baked inside it with homemade chocolate frosting and crushed Oreo's sprinkled on top. It was so good and we all loved it. 

This was a great day for Rylee and I really enjoyed spending lot's of one on one time with my baby who is now 12!

Rylee's Favorites...

1. Dinner: Spaghetti and Meatballs
2. Dessert: Ice-cream
3. Candy: Skittles and Twix
4. Color: Navy Blue
5. Friend: Serena Ioset
6. Scripture Story: Jesus feeds the huge crowd with only 2 loaves of bread and five fish
7. Primary Song: I will be what I believe
8. Radio Song: We are Young by Fun
9. Book: Maze Runner by James Dashner
10. Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2
11. TV Show: The Flash
12. Thing to do: Swim
13. Place to go: Both Grandma's Houses
14. School Subject: Reading  

5 things I love about Rylee:

1. Ever since Rylee inherited Kenedy's old room she has kept it pretty spotless. This was a huge surprise for us all because she was not the neatest when she shared a room with Avynlea. I love that she has an appreciation for a clean room and that she keeps it clean with keeping her stuff put away and making her bed. 

2. I love that Rylee has taken up Violin and that she works hard to learn this new instrument. Because of her piano background she was a couple of steps ahead of all the other kids in her beginners class and she works hard to stay on top. She does a good job practicing and her only complaint is that the rest of the class is not learning as fast as she is and she wishes she could move ahead in her songs faster.

3. Rylee started Young Womens at the beginning of the year and when I introduced her to the Personal Progress program I told her she could do it in a year if she wanted to. The program is changing at the end of this year and I don't know what the change will be but if she was motivated she could earn her medallion this year. Of course Rylee is motivated and when she sets a goal she works hard to earn it. She is already halfway done with the program and will probably finish way before the end of the year. I love that she sets goals and works hard to accomplish those goals. 

4. With the start of Young Womens Rylee has also been able to go to the Temple. I think it is so cool that she could go do Baptisms as an 11 year old. We have been going every week since the start of the year and she loves it and is always excited and ready to go. I love watching her develop a love for Temple Service and love how her Testimony is growing because of her choice to go to the Temple each week.

5. Rylee has a funny sense of humor and is constantly making me laugh. I love her dry wit and the funny things she says and does. She is always a fun buddy to hang out with and I love going and doing things with her. She is my friend and I love her a lot!

3-14 = Pi Day!

I get my love of celebrating holidays from my Mom. She was the best at making traditions and we loved them all! Pi day is a fairly new holiday that some genius came up with and I have embraced it fully! It is a day to celebrate Pi and what better way to celebrate Pi then with Pie! Chocolate pie and pizza pie to be exact!

I made a delicious chocolate pie and then I put together our pizza pie. I was only making one pizza and we all have different likes for our toppings so I made sure to include something for everyone. I put pepperoni, bell peppers and mushrooms on a part for me, pepperoni and jalapeños for Ryker and Kefford, plain cheese for Avy and Rylee as well as Pepperoni for Avy and Rylee. It was perfect! in honor of the day I had to include the symbol of Pi with bell peppers on our pizza and chocolate chips on our Pie. It was a delicious dinner and everyone was satisfied. 

Beautiful Avynlea

We saved the chocolate pie to eat for later because we had to go to Rylee's first Violin concert after dinner. She wore her dress while she ate and I did not want it to get dirty so I made her put on an apron. She sure is a cute one!

Rylee had to be at her school an hour early to warm up her violin so I took her and then saved seats in the gym for the rest of the family who all got here minutes before it started. Alison came to watch Rylee which was super awesome but she left in a rush right after so we did not get a picture with her in it. 

Rylee did an amazing job and it was so fun to watch her perform. She is getting to be a good little violinist and I hope this is something she sticks with all throughout her middle school and high school days.

Ryker was not thrilled about having to sit through the concert and after Rylee was done performing he left to go wander the halls.

The orchestra teacher had a fundraiser and promised the kids if they reached their goal amount she would let them pie her. Well they reached that goal and so after the concert she got a plate of whipped cream pushed in her face. It was funny watching her beforehand, she kept stalling and it was clear she did not want to do this but she was a good sport and took one for the team.

After concert selfie! 

Selfies

I really love the green color I got on my nails for March, it is the prettiest spring green and it reminds me of lime popsicles. 

 Meridian Middle started an instagram account and one of the pictures they posted had the cutest girl in it! I was so happy to see a picture of Avynlea that I took a screenshot of it so I could save it. She said this was in her English class and they were interviewing each other.

 Madi Eberhard was competing in a scholarship pageant and asked me if I would do her hair for the big night. I was happy to help her out and made sure to have her tell me exactly what she likes and doesn't like for her hair so that she would be happy with the end result. I did a wrap around braid into a curly messy bun and she was really happy with the results!

 I have been hearing about the little monster Rylee has been working on in her consumer science class, aka home ec, for a long time and we were both really excited when she was finally able to take it home. She made her monster a shirt, a vest, a book bag, little books and bookmarks. It really was the cutest thing I have ever seen and I love her creativity. She is amazing!

I also love the hand marks on her face left from a good night of sleeping on her hand ;)

 Any opportunity to cuddle with my baby is gladly taken even if it is while I am reading and she is playing on her Kindle. Time well spent

 Rylee and I had fun playing with the bunny filter on instagram

 Kefford did not like being a bunny and kept his nose covered until I changed it to something better...conversation hearts :)

 and more selfie fun for Rylee.