Keystone & Cousins

We had a mostly good week getting back into routine! Construction plus Spring Break at home was kind of just some wild and crazy times, but it felt good to get back to school and macros and playgroups and soccer and just the things that feel like a good rhythm around here.

Westin and Bennett started soccer this week, Westin had a super adorable third grade music program, Michael had a Reading Rainbros night where they watched Women Talking, we had the missionaries over on Friday, and Sunday was just hard. Why do Sundays so often seem like they have a target on their back... we'll try again next week.

This weekend we made a quick day trip to Keystone to see Diana's family from North Carolina while they were here to ski for their Spring Break. First we stopped at our new little (huge) piece of Texas, Buc-ee's! Haha the boys loved it and it was pretty impressive. Breakfast burritos all around plus Beaver Nuggets for the road to share with cousins. Then we went to the condo and immediately hit the pool. We spontaneously decided to go skiing while there because Diana was nice enough to let me borrow her gear and Westin borrowed his cousin's and Danny gave us both a little lesson. Westin did his first trips down the bunny hill and that was so good for him! I haven't been skiing in 18 years but I was happy to feel like I feel the same as last time I went. Which is by no means great but give me a green hill and I'll make it down alive haha. Sometimes it feels like I never know what will feel completely different post-babies. I was convinced I'd now be sick on roller coasters and hate them but I actually feel just fine on them still. But sometimes I see a core exercise in our workouts and think they're going to be no big thing only to learn I cannot do the exercise AT ALL when I try. So, happy to have my first post-kids ski trip down :)

Then we had a late night home and a laid back Sunday. Being with cousins is making us so excited for reunions this summer!

Strawberries in the sunshine with Camden.
This was my favorite five minutes of my day.

Luna has gone from absolute crazy to pretty good to good to great to really great. 
Such a sweetheart.

I can't get enough of these at Costco.
Word on the street is that they're going away,
I need to go buy them out.

Ready for that musical!
He told me he refuses to sing but I have a feeling he'll change his mind with a little peer pressure :)

Their music program is so cute.
They sang such fun songs with so much cute choreography.

I'm the fun mom that takes you for free Rita's for the first day of Spring!
I'm the scattered mom that takes you the day AFTER that promo happened! 
Whoops :)
We got some anyway and then went to daddy's work to share with him since he had to go straight to a dinner with reps that night. Too many dinners lately!

First deep clean for my grandma's piano in probably its life.
It was so fun to see all the dust go away and all the keys get cleaned and everything.
Especially after all the floor construction around it.

Our piano tuner is such a sweet grandpa. He likes showing the kids the inside of how things work.

First time to Buc-ees!

Breakfast burritos at Buc-ee's before Keystone. I think we'll stop here before and after many road trips :)

Cousin time! This was just before we spontaneously decided to go do a quick ski lesson for Westin and me.

These cousins look like brothers to me.

Successful ski days for the beginners! We really tackled that bunny hill :)

Colors in Keystone

 Michael:
made applesauce and apple cider this week again, which involved cutting 60+ apples from our tree. He loves using as many of those as he can and our house smells really good when he does. He came with me to Camden's eye appointment on Wednesday and I was grateful to have him there... it took both of us plus the assistant to get Camden's eyes dilated and it was not fun. I was grateful we were there together. He's also the best DJ on road trips and I like listening to the playlists he makes. I put zero effort into finding new music but I like that Michael is good at it.

Maddie:
has 6 more weeks of growing this little baby boy. We went to Keystone for the weekend, which is our last family trip before baby, and it made his arrival feel closer to be on this side of the trip. Katie was so sweet this weekend -- she's no nonsense when it comes to bodies and what they need and after the first day of being all together she called guest services at her condo for a wheelchair, and pushed me all around Vail the next day. I can't say it didn't hurt my pride, but I can say I went to bed that night in far less pain than I usually do these days and I felt grateful that she knew it would just be a better day all around if we added wheels. Vail was beautiful! I had never been there before and it was so fun to see. Michael rolled the wheelchair outside and was sitting in it while watching the kids play on the playground while he waited for me and Katie and Ryan to go to Vail. I came outside and saw him sitting there and thought of how I always watch him running around playgrounds chasing our kids and I felt so grateful and lucky that he is able to do that and just seeing him sitting in that chair watching them made me start crying. #pregnant.

Westin:
is going through an "emotional growth spurt" which is what I'm naming those times when suddenly we feel off our groove together after being in a groove for a while, but it just takes extra patience and extra looking for the good and helping him feel what he feels, and we'll get back to a good groove soon enough. It's just interesting how when one kid feels super easy, and another one has some challenges happening, when the challenges start to resolve the super easy kid seems to have some come up. He has wanted someone to lay by him at night for a bit for the first time in I don't know how long, and in Keystone he wanted to sleep on the floor next to me rather than in the other room on the pull out couch. My dad was always so responsive to me when I wanted him to stay by me until I fell asleep after he read to me, and I really appreciated that, so I'm trying to have patience with Westin's new needs during a time when I feel SO done with my day when I get to my kids' bedtime. He's a sweetie.

Bennett:
will take care of me when I'm old. He never left my side when we got the wheelchair out in Vail. He'd walk right by me with a hand on the armrest of the wheelchair, and stay close to me, and Westin had a few meltdowns here and there that were sometimes directed a Bennett and he never responded or reacted in any negative way at all. He just held his sweet Bennett space the whole weekend and seemed to be extra aware of me when he saw me rolling around instead of walking. It melted my heart and I just see how much he sees people and how sweet he is. His most repeated sweet phrase right now is, "You're the best mama." And I say, "you're the best, Bennett!" And he says, "No, Jesus is the best. And everyone in the world is the best." And I'm like, if you can go through life thinking those two things then you've just got the two greatest commandments down and your heart just came that way. Sweet boy.

Camden:
needs glasses and I cried when we found out. I really cannot imagine that and I'm just so bummed about it but grateful that he has such good health overall and that we caught his astigmatism early. There's a chance he'll grow out of the need but it doesn't seem likely. We go in next Wednesday to get his glasses and then we'll start working toward wearing them full time which sounds..... impossible. But we'll take it day by day. He did better in Keystone than last time when it came to bedtime, and we skipped his nap this weekend which had me stressed out less because there was less pack n play crying time. I am trying to soak up the sweetness of this stage but I really look forward to when we can travel with no pack n plays, or nap times, or crying when putting kids to bed and everyone can just sleep where we're sleeping without stress. We did haircuts Sunday night when we got home since it's picture day tomorrow and Camden did NOT like the experience. But we're good for....6 weeks. Oh boys and their haircuts.

This one is starting to love to color,
even when he's not just doing whatever his brothers are doing.

Always sneaking smiles at me.

Our apple tree is finally slowing down a little,
Camden loves the all access snack pass.

Passed these cuties taking our friend Rupert on a walk
on my way home from a doctor's appointment

This appointment was a total bummer...
dilating Camden's eyes was NOT a fun process,
and we were so surprised he needs glasses.

Rupie and the boys wrestling.

Homemade apple cider, ready for Keystone!

He woke up early in Keystone
(and early all the other days, wherever he is)
but Michael and his older brothers were out on a moose hunt already,
so he needed some serious distracting while he kept asking for "Daddy huggie!"

Then he started posing haha.

So many boys!

Grandparents, Boys Weekend, & Keystone with Kindal

This week was rejuvenating in so many ways!

Grandma and Grandpa Miner

came to visit us and I feel like I can get so caught up on life while they're here. We took them to the CSU Flower Gardens, they watched the boys while Michael and I got thai food and a movie date in, they stayed home with napping Camden so that we could take Westin and Bennett to the Paw Patrol movie, my mom watched Camden while my dad helped me install my stair runner, they walked my kids to school 3x a day so I had my first week in forever where my hip/pelvic pain was way more manageable, my mom is a pro at using produce around so suddenly we were eating applesauce and apple zucchini bread and soups and delicious things, we played Cover Your Assets with Westin and he thought it was extra fun to beat grandparents :), we watched Nate Bargatze Netflix comedy shows at night and just laughed and laughed, and my dad brought copies of the same crossword puzzle from the newspaper in Cedar so we could do them together and I just loved that. We are so happy when family can visit us, it's the BEST.

They stayed with my boys during Thursday and Friday days until Michael got home from work, so I could go on a Keystone weekend with Kindal for all things Lighten Print, and just to have a little girls weekend before baby boy comes here and owns my nights for the next year. The minute I left I noticed Michael's tire pressure light was on, so I texted to see how long that had been on. It was new as of that day... of course :) Then 50 miles down the road it started flashing, which I've never seen it do, so I had to turn off my podcasts and stay in the right lane and pray myself to the nearest Costco tire center which was 17 miles away. I just really didn't want to stop at a random spot that might take forever or not have what I need but I didn't know if it was smart to not pull over right away... but through prayers I made it there and checked all my tire pressures.... 35, 34, 36... and 14. Michael and Bennett had visited a stone masonry place the day before and I think they ran over a nail on their adventure, and it was unfortunately not reparable so I had to wait a couple hours for a replacement. But honestly, waiting in a Costco for two hours without kids, I mean..... easy. Easy easy. I was so grateful it wasn't worse. Then I had a new tire and got on my way.

Kindal and I had the best weekend. We worked on our website, our blog, setting up a new email list so we can keep in touch with all our Kickstarter backers in new way plus have a new way for people to subscribe from our website, planned social media systems, talked about holiday plans, started brainstorming illustrations/outlines for our next book, and just caught up on life and had fun eating food and being together and having time to just actually talk in person and not on Marco Polo. Such a glorious weekend.

Michael and the boys had a fun boys weekend, and he even let them all sleep in our bed one night. Even Camden made it until about 1am, which, I am shocked. Never could I ever sleep with all my children in a bed haha. I won't lie, it was REALLY fun putting just one person to bed, brushing just one person's teeth, feeding just me, and sleeping how much my body wanted to sleep each night. I've long since stopped sleeping through the night which is a shame and a wasted opportunity during that solo weekend, but it was at least very restful in its own way still.

The boys started soccer this weekend and I was sad to miss that! They're on the same team and I can't wait to watch one of their games. They thought going to a movie was so much fun. And they've been looking forward to boys weekend for a while, but they were happy to see me when I got home :)

Such a happy, rejuvenating week

Bennett could not peel his eyes away from the big screen for a picture haha

"Bennett, smile!" Haha still no eye contact

I may have taken a nap.
The boys were shocked I slept through the final Paw Patrol rescue scene.
I'd like to say someday they'll understand, but.... #pregnancy.

Bedtime books with grandpa

Last time I used a staple gun while pregnant was with my upholstered chairs and I swore I'd never do something like that in that state again. Never say never :)
I'm so happy to have this done.

Music time for Benny

Weekly swim lessons. Bennett has come so far with his fear of water!

Downtown Splash Pad with Grandma and Grandpa

We rode the gondola in Breckenridge and it was so warm that day!
Time for fall.

Kindal testing out her new camera. She's so talented at so many things!

This is soooo cute to me.

Westin looking 18

Potstickers and rice by the river.
Dads are fun.

This cracks me up. Never could I ever catch a wink of sleep in this situation.

Carrot harvest!