Weekly Update

The kids were slow to wake up Monday morning. I don't blame them; they looked super comfy:

That morning we said our final goodbyes to Grandpa John. Tenley surprised me by being extremely touchy with him and kept wanting to go pray and hold his hand. Some of her prayers and the sweet things she said to him tugged at my heart. It was so sweet and I knew it made him proud. Saying good bye is never easy:

(RIP Grandpa John- we'll miss you!)

After saying good bye, Tenley and I drove with my Mom, Gram, Aunts and niece to the mercy lunch. Grandma Cath gave them water in champagne glasses to make them feel extra special and they thought it was so cool:

We did some catching up with family and family-friends that we haven't seen in such a long time, but mostly the kids were happy to try everything from the cookie table (an Ohio classic at every get together):

After lunch, we went back to my in-laws, rested, took baths and played in our PJs. Ashley came by to visit with her pup, Jacobi, and the kids were excited to see them:

Went met the family at Gary and Lauren's beautiful new home and had the best night. The kids ran wild, built sandcastles, ate too much cake and Handle's ice cream and kept us all busy with their crazy energy. We sat around sharing stories about Grandpa and ended the night with a bonfire. It was the perfect way to end our day:

The kids all slept in while I snuck off to get my butt kicked at Pure Barre Youngstown Tuesday morning:

When I got back everyone was up and ready to play outside:

Grandpa Jim came over and made the kids giggle so much:

We said some last goodbyes before we had to start heading to the airport to catch our flight:

The kids were exhausted and quickly fell asleep on the drive; which was nice because I got to chat with my mother-in-law the whole time:

We are going to miss everyone SO much!! Being around our family helped ease the situation; I'm so glad we were able to be with them. We flew back to Vegas from the Akron Airport and had a great experience. The airport is so small and has the cleanest kid's play area. The kids loved it and it sure helped pass the time (so did the Buckeyes):

The flight to Vegas is a whole hour longer, but felt like 10 hours longer. Maybe because we couldn't wait to get home to Pearly:

Our trip to Ohio was quick because it was unexpected and we didn't want Tenley to miss too much school. We got back to our school routine Wednesday morning. Tenley made Jackson a birthday card before leaving and was so excited to go back:

That morning I watched Luke and he was so good as we all went grocery shopping:

Ev got in extra cuddles from Pearl that afternoon; she missed her so much:

Tenley brought back her school work and I thought the picture she drew of her family was so cute:

She had make-up homework in her folder and wanted to finish it right away so we got busy:

Ev slept like an angel and I had to wake her up Thursday morning:

While Tenley was in school, the twins and I went to Barnes and Noble to buy some new books before we came home to play:

Tenley brought home a picture of her and Isla from school:

Wes was back at T-ball practice Thursday evening and I was sooo excited because I didn't have to work!! He looked so cute and is good when he's actually paying attention. They were practicing catching the ball and throwing it to first base and he kept catching it and yelling, "I caught it, Mommy!" as he ran it to me every time! It was the cutest thing. I can't wait for their games:

(Ed's dad found Ed's glove from when he was a little boy and we brought it home with us!)

Ev had a bit of a stuffy nose and could've slept all morning Friday, if I let her (wish I could have!):

Per tradition, we always bake Ed a strawberry pie for his birthday. Since we both worked Saturday, we had to bake it Friday to surprise him. Ev loves to cook and immediately went to get her apron when it was time to roll out the crust:

I let her roll it too long and the dough stuck to the wax paper:

We had to make it again, but she didn't mind. By the time we finished, it was time to pick up Tenley from school and go over her school work:

Ed worked overtime Saturday and I also had to work, so I had to wake the kids up at 5:30am to go hang with Britt while I taught class:

(Thanks SO much, Britt!!)

After teaching, I took the kids to T's first cheer class. Tenley has been saying she wants to do cheer since last year, but hasn't been old enough. A girl from her dance class switched to cheer so now that she's old enough we decided to take a break from dance and give this a try. Gymcats is so different and Tenley doesn't really like it because it's more structured. She was used to doing what she wanted and how she wanted. As a paying parent, I LOVE that they work so closely with the kids to make sure they are doing everything correctly. I reminded her that nothing easy is worth doing. She's accepted the challenge and choose to stick with it:

The kids were wiped after our busy morning and the twins fell asleep on our drive home:

We celebrated Daddy early because I worked Sunday morning and didn't want him to have to wait all morning to open his gifts. Plus, I'm too impatient with gifts and the excitement eats me up inside. The kids were excited to eat pie, sing and open presents with him, too:

Opening presents with 3 kids around should be an olympic sport and Ed would definitely win the gold medal:

Ed only wanted to relax for his birthday so we did just that! Stuffed cabbage is one of his favorite meals so I made him a new recipe, Unstuffed Cabbage, and it was delicious:

Thanks to everyone who expressed kind words to my family during this week. We appreciated everyone's kindness, rides to the airports, dog-sitting, etc. We love you all so much and are beyond blessed with amazing people in our lives!

Until next time! :)