{iPhone Rewind} :: April

Eli's notes from Pastor Milt's sermon <3

Reading a letter he got in the mail from Granny {with help from his trusty assistant}

Me: What is this on my mirror?

Aiden: It's a rainbow, Mommy

Me: Well, let's not draw on Mommy's mirror anymore, ok?

Beautiful flowers from my love

Wanting to offer Mommy snuggles when she's not feeling her best. I sure do love them!

It's April. And we are still experiencing below freezing temps. It didn't snow, but I am ready for WARM weather, please!

Maddie wrapped up her year of Pioneer Girls! Now I have a ton of badges to sew on to her sash :)

They have loved decorating and setting the table recently. I love how they work together, offer Mike and I pictures of the two of us together to look at, and how Aiden likes to look at pictures of himself LOL

Sharing his science book about "Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Other Things" with Granny and Grumpz :)

He has been super focused on Perler Beads recently...

Behold. Captains Law, Judgment, and Conviction! {From The Mansoul Chronicles}

Maddie and I {finally} got haircuts!

At the park with Daddy :)

Kid art on Daddy's office dry erase board

Tossing the football

"I love you" flowers are the best :)

We're diving into crochet with Maddie! She's actually doing pretty well for a beginner :)

Father Daughter Dinner

Maddie has been doing Pioneer Girls this year, and she has been absolutely loving it. They had a Father Daughter Dinner this weekend, and she was able to do a fun date with her daddy, which she also absolutely adored. And my heart was melting all over the place.

It reminded me of all the Father Daughter Dances I did with my dad growing up for Girl Scouts, and how special those were. I loved the themes and getting all dressed up, going to dinner {usually Olive Garden, because when you're 8, that's the fanciest you can imagine haha}, dancing the night away with my daddy and friends, and we usually ended the night with a frozen yogurt parfait at TCBY.  The best nights :)

So now, watching Maddie get all excited about getting dressed up, helping her curl her hair, letting her borrow a fancy purse, and watching her beam with excitement as her daddy opened her car door as they headed off for their night of fun...I hope it's a special memory she always remembers.

This one was also special because Grandma and Papa were also here to see her off. I also love that her brothers were so excited to cheer her on and tell her how beautiful she looked. 

As is typical whenever she comes back from Pioneer Girls, she was overflowing with energy and excitement, spilling out her words so fast because she is just so happy to share all of the fun she had. She talked about the yummy dinner and cake, and about the dancing and limbo and the conga line. She talked about the talk that Mr. James gave, and she just couldn't wait until next year :)

My. heart. just. can't. take. it.

**We got back the professional photos for this event, and so I wanted to add them here for the memories!**

Pinewood Derby Race!

The kids have been building pinewood derby cars, the boys with Mike during the Father/Son program, and Maddie during Pioneer Girls. They came up with their designs, cut and painted their cars, added wheels and weights {all with help}, and it all led up to the big race day!

They were all so proud of their cars! This was their first go at designing cars, and they were all going for fun colors. And I love that they did most of the design and work themselves, just getting help with the big tools. 

Maddie's group was up first. Sweet girl was just happy to be with her friends, which was good because her little car was just not very fast haha. I'm so thankful she didn't seem to mind and that she had a great time!

I love seeing her with her little friends...but why is she so tall??

The boys were up next! Both of their cars did fairly well, with Eli's winning a few heats. Both boys were also just excited to be part of the race, and they had fun too. Eli came in 3rd place overall, and I was a little surprised that Aiden wasn't further up in the rankings, based on the heats he won. Poor little guy was pretty upset that he didn't get a trophy, but it was a good opportunity to learn good sportsmanship, and he did a great job cheering on his brother and the other boys.

Overall, the kids had fun building and racing their cars, and they are looking forward to racing next year!

{iPhone Rewind} :: January

We were late to see Christmas lights, but we decided to pack up the kids and drive through the Bull Run Festival of Lights on New Years Day. It was still fun and totally worth it :)

January was filled with lots of snow!

Math is tough, but Aiden works really hard

Hands down my favorite card from my brother's service. The one that made me laugh and cry {in a good way} the hardest.

We made Viking ships for History!

"Mommy, take my picture!"

The kids are making pinewood derby cars! Step 1: design, cutting, and sanding :)

Learning map grids in Geography

Mommy/Daughter Pizza & Movie Night with Pioneer Girls. Loved getting to spend time with this sweet girl and her friends {and their moms}

Sequence with Daddy :)

Math time! Counting that money :)