Brothers Everyday

To say Alice is excited to have her brothers home everyday is an understatement. She wakes up and asks for them, almost as if she is expecting me to say they are at school. She hugs and kisses them right away in the morning and fights naps like no other because she wants to "play with brothers!" She is one lucky lady to have two awesome brothers who love her and love every minute they get to play with her. They show her how to hold the bat, gently toss the ball to her, laugh when she runs off with both the ball and bat, shell peanuts for her at the ball game, encourage her to go down the "scary" slide, hold her hand when she needs, and everything in between.

Summer Reading

I know we are only a week into summer and many times good habits fall to the wayside in summer but I really hope we can keep it up until the new school year. Jaxson has regressed with reading in years past over the summer since we didn't keep at him about reading and Asher has really started to take off at the end of this year and I would love for him to not lose the momentum. Jaxson has already finished three books, all three about Minecraft and below his reading level, but still THREE! And Asher has read to me three, early reader chapter books. We are still working our way through the Magic Treehouse books so we should have plenty to read this summer. Alice also signed up for summer reading and got to pick out her own book to keep. As soon as she saw "Chickaboom" she grabbed it and ran like she was getting away with something.

Colton was with us the day we signed up for summer reading so we had lunch and played at the playground where I had to explain to them what tetherball was (what?!?) and show them how you win by beating them over and over again. I always was too shy to play as a kid but I had no problem schooling these boys all day.

The Latest

I have missed keeping up with our family on the blog. I love being able to read through the adventures we go on together and look back on those small stories that are so fun to relive through stories and photos. So on to our not so exciting weekend, but still worth remembering.

The weekend that is a kickoff to summer spoiled us with wonderful weather. Laura and I are working our way through the couch to 5k program so this weather was perfect for us to go push our lung limits. Greys Lake is the perfect spot as it is mostly flat and easily navigated even with alot of people out and about. We are nearing the end of the program and finding these longer runs are pushing us (read, me!) to my limits. But I have never ran in my life and any time have tried even remotely, I have felt like death. Like I was going to die from lack of oxygen. I secretly wished I could be a "runner" seeing those out and about running and seeming to enjoy it. So I agreed to start this program with Laura to see if I would end up really enjoying running. Or just to find out if I would indeed die. So far neither have happened. I have not died but I don't love it. We will see how it works out. We haven't done a running selfie yet, but will get on that!

Friday we enjoyed a special celebration for Asher at school. His teacher gave each student a unique award to describe them as she has gotten to know them over the year. He got an award to celebrate that he is open-minded. He definitely goes with the flow and doesn't let much get in the way of his happy disposition. We are so excited for him to finish his Kindergarten year and see what 1st grade brings.

Alice is practicing being in Kindergarten and working on her balance on their special chairs! 

This weekend brought many photo shoots which kept me busy and up early. The boys have been loving playing outdoors with the warm weather and neighborhood kids. Alice is gaining some independence and learning how to let herself outside. Often with mismatched shoes and chasing after her brothers without letting us know she has left the building. This will be an obstacle this summer to make sure we know where exactly the little lady is.

That moment when you realize your shoes don't match. 

For Memorial day we enjoyed the weather with the neighbors, grilling and yard games. We are so excited to get this summer started!

Taekwondo Take Two

After nearly two and half years of watching Jaxson practice Taekwondo Asher has decided he would like to start. So he got all dressed in his outfit, tied up his white belt, and off he went. He was timid and a little shy but overall did a great job. Jaxson helped in his class and he loved a role of helping. Jaxson has now moved up to a brown belt and is in the senior belt class. It is a lot more difficult with all directions given in Korean and more advanced skills.

It is nice to see him begin and it also makes me proud to see how far Jaxson has come from starting when he was 5!

Cute little Asher all dressed and ready for some side kicks!  

Jaxson standing up with the instructors while speaking to the group of incoming white belts. 

Jaxson also helped in the colored belt class as well. He is standing up with the instructors at the end of class. 

While On Break

The kids just enjoyed ten days home over the holiday break from school. We did so many activities and enjoyed family visiting from Los Angeles. Here is our break in pictures! 

Alice was helping us clean up and leaving a trail of step stools along the way. 

She was thinking of all the ways she would break brothers lego creation. 

We cleaned to prepare for guests. The boys loved this part. hahahaha

Alice has been a big selfie taker lately. 

This image was on my phone about 20 times. 

About 10 copies of this Alice gem

I helped her with this one. 

Then I had another 30 of this one

Christmas Eve snuggling in the morning. Or elbows to the face... 

Christmas Morning! 

Santa nailed it with a guitar! 

Alice has been the best Mommy with her carrier and new baby doll from Grandma Elaine! 

There is always a wrestling match happening. Always. 

We all went to Glazed Expressions and painted pottery. We are going to get our finished products soon to see what we ended up with! 

Alice just wanted to sword fight with her paint brushes!  

Indoor playground fun was great. The kids ran and had so much fun. Jaxson did get pummeled with the chair swing they are in in this photo. He just walked right behind the chair with three kids in it at the perfect.. or imperfect.. time. He was airborne and I have to admit I was slightly concerned. He shook it off and got right back to playing. It was pretty impressive. 

Colton and Jaxson got the first sparring match on the new sparring mats during TKD. 

Science Center with cousins and friends! 

On the news at noon! 

Jaxson received his BROWN belt during break! 

Alice tried to convince us she needed cheese balls for breakfast. 

The boys received smart watches and when they realized they had step trackers it was on! Asher has racked up over 20k steps each day. 

New Year's Eve with family and friends!! 

Alice and her best neighborhood friend! 

Well, I got one of them to smile. Alice left the photo at just the wrong moment.

 For the last day of break the boys wanted to build a fort with their new fort building kit and sleep in it. Dave and I worked for longer than I want to admit building a fort for them. We started with big ideas but realized it wasn't going to work after trying really hard for a very long time. 

This was before we told Alice she can't sleep with the boys. 

And now they are at school after many tears for wanting to sleep in today. Now we have get to look forward to our big spring break trip!!