Weekend Getaway!

The weekend of September 7-9, Taylor and I had the opportunity to getaway to Breckenridge, Colorado! Huge thanks to my parents for watching our boys - which included taking Isaac to his first soccer game! And what made our getaway even more fun was going with great friends. We stayed up way too late talking each night, went hiking, shopping, out to eat, walked main street, rented a movie and did I mention eat??! It was so wonderful - Taylor and I are big believers in making time for just the two of us as husband and wife and I'm so grateful we were able to squeeze this getaway in before baby girl gets here in less than 6 weeks!!

Isaac's 1st Day of Preschool!!

The day finally came: first day of school!! Isaac has been asking for the last month when he gets to go back to school, and if you've talked to him recently, I'm 99 percent sure he would have told you that he is in the afternoon class at DCC (Discovery Canyon Campus).  This is his third first day of preschool, but he was excited nonetheless.  (He will have 2.5 years of preschool before kindergarten next year).  I love that he loves school. Here is a picture of him with some of his favorite things:

 

 Beau wanted in on the picture action.  Cute brothers!

 Full outfit...

 With his spiderman backpack (sorry, you can't see it)

 I wanted to make this day special, so I told him he got to pick where we went for lunch, we could go anywhere he wanted...and he picked TARGET! He loves his cheese pizza with cherry icee. 

 

 

BIG SIDE NOTE: While Isaac was at school, I put Beau in the bottom bunk of their bunk beds for the first time.  Operation Big Boy Bed: SUCCESSFUL!!!!!!  After school, I asked him to show me how he felt about it: obviously SUPER HAPPY!



In the theme of making today special, I made chocolate chip cookies and we had "cookie chat" -- simply put, we chatted about his first day of school while munching on cookies.  He thought that was super cool. 

 We even had one of the beautiful young woman in our ward who is about to leave for college come join us!! Isaac was so surprised to see her! Thanks for joining us on Isaac's special day, Ashley!! We're going to miss you!

 

Man...tomorrow is going to feel so boring after today... :)



Our 7 Day Family Challenge COMPLETED!

DAY SEVEN: We did it! We made it the entire challenge! We started the day off by making bird feeders.  BIG thanks to my parents for having all the necessary items :) When I told Isaac what we were doing he knew exactly how to do it and thought it was so cool that we were going to make them.  Picking out his pine cones...

 Rolling the peanut-butter-smothered-pine cone in bird seed

 Ta-da!

 Hanging them up at home

 Following the bird feeders, I had an appointment (a much-appreciated massage that Taylor got me!) and some errands to run.  So after dinner, each of us picked a family to "ding dong ditch." Isaac asked about this alllllllll day.  The tags say, "you've been ding dong ditched."

 I love this picture...this is Taylor running back after he ding dong ditched someone!

 Then we ended the night at the park with some friends.  Beau loves his popsicle!

 Isaac has been on a baseball kick ever since we got him that plastic bat from the dollar store.  Every free moment, "can we play baseball?"

And that's how we ended the night and the week long challenge.  And to wrap up this challenge, I am grateful that we did it! Of everything I planned, there were only 3 things we didn't do, one of which was getting Isaac's hair cut.  I'm grateful I planned attainable things each day and for the most part, didn't over do it each day.  My main goal was to focus on others, and not myself.  I wanted to serve others, I wanted my kids to get out and be ACTIVE, and I wanted to stimulate their brains by making and doing things they've never done.  Will they remember this week? I don't know.  Will we stop serving others after this week? No.  I don't want my kids to think that service has to be a planned thing or a large elaborate task....ultimately I want them to perceive the needs of those around them and act on it.  So hopefully this was just a starting point, if you will, for the fun you can have in serving our fellow beings.

Our 7 Day Family Challenge Continued...

DAY SIX:  Today was a much needed, chill but still productive day.  We started the day off early with the idea of going on a hike, but as I got thinking about a hike with Beau and no backpack type of thing, we adjusted and decided to go to a nearby trail called Sante Fe by the Air Force Academy.  We invited some friends to join us and it was a perfect way to start the day. 

 After we got home, the next thing on our agenda was to memorize a scripture.  Following the theme of this week, the scripture was Mosiah 2:17: "...that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." I got Isaac reciting it on video (and no it's not perfect) but we practiced it throughout the day and will continue to recite it...

After some on-the-floor play time and lunch, we made a Pinterest craft: the "Calming Jar." The idea is when a tantrum unfolds, you shake the jar and you can't talk until all the glitter settles.  Idea is really good, but the glitter in our jar settles pretty fast, so I don't know effective it will be.  Needless to say, Isaac enjoyed making it. 

 Here's a picture of the glitter swirling around...

 Next, we made the "Question Jar." The idea behind this is that we all put questions in this jar and every night at dinner as a family we will draw a question and discuss it.  Some are fun, some are serious, some are church related, etc... For example, "If  you could play any musical instrument, what would you choose and why?" .... "Why are the scriptures important to you?"  .... "Who is your favorite superhero?" ... "What does it mean to be reverent? How can we be reverent?" .... etc.... it was fun to do this together.  AND, I even threw in some really silly things....so tonight at dinner, Isaac picked the first question (idea is one question at dinner) and lo and behold, what was the FIRST thing Isaac picked??!?!? Hahahhaaha....he handed it to Taylor to read and Taylor says, "Are you kidding me???" So the first one picked was one of my silly ones! It read, "Everyone stand up and do Ring Around the Rosie" hahaha, so sure enough we did and it was definitely silly and funny.  We did end up drawing two tonight and the second question was, "What is your favorite sport to play and why?" So if you are at our house for dinner, expect to answer a question!! :)

Other things to note of today:

-Taylor has been studying for his investment license for the past two weeks and took the Series 6 test today and passed!! Yahoo!! Now he gets to study for the insurance portion for the next two weeks.  So proud of his hard work!

-Had an ultrasound this afternoon to make sure everything was ok since I've been measuring small.  We learned that I am still measuring small but everything looks fine! It was a treat to see baby girl again!!

-And lastly, DATE NIGHT! Taylor and I have really been trying to make date night a priority every week and I truly look forward to it! But due to the last two events, our planned activities were somewhat cut short for the day.  

Our 7 Day Family Challenge Continued...

DAY FIVE: You know, it's fun to wake up each morning and hear Isaac ask, "So what are we going to do to help someone today?" So today started off with a trip to the nearby Barnes & Noble-- we've never just gone to sit and read.  So Isaac picked up a book immediately upon entering, so we sat and read it and Beau grabbed nearby books to look at. 

 Of course had to play with the train table...

 And decided that today was the day we were going to start focusing on really encouraging Isaac to learn to read.  So we picked up some books and he has already read it three times today.  Well, I shouldn't say "he read it" because he has basically memorized the pages -- so we're going to work at teaching him HOW to read it. 

 Following Barnes & Noble (which was a lot of fun) I told Isaac that we were going 'Dollar Store Shopping.' I told him he had $5 to spend however he wanted.  So he picked an FBI kit (which he wore all afternoon and on our evening walk), a baseball bat and ball, a shark to play with in the tub, a jump rope and some jolly ranchers.  Beau got a squishy ball. 

 After lunch and a baby shower, we came home and wrote letters to people.  Again, he got to choose who to write letters to.  We picked up stickers the other day and he told me what he wanted to say on the letters and I wrote it word-for-word ...

 And yes, he even wanted to write one for our dog, Yaggy. 

We were spoiled to have Dad home this afternoon so as soon as we mailed our letters (and may I just make note because I wanted to remember this tidbit of info, while Isaac and I walked to the mailbox, I asked if he'd hold my hand.  Initially he said, "no mom!" and then he said, "well, I'll walk next to you" and next thing I know, he grabbed my hand! So we walked hand in hand to and from the mailbox ... ahhhh, I love it.  I gotta keep taking advantage of these opportunities before he won't want to! So numerous times I kept telling him how much I love him and how special he is).   So.... after we mailed the letters, Isaac went out back and played baseball with dad. 

Following dinner and an evening walk,-- oh, insert service note-- when we got home from our walk I encouraged Isaac to bring our neighbors empty trash can to their garage.  He thought about it and then said, "Yep, I can do that."  -- Once home, Taylor taught Isaac how to jump rope.  Isaac was so excited every time he jumped over the rope.  And the last thing to take note of, tonight was the night (2 months shy of being 5) that he is sleeping on the top bunk in his room.  Once he gets used to this and Beau gets a little older, we'll move Beau in! Isaac was soooo excited about being able to sleep on top.  When we asked if he wanted to he gave us the non-ending head nod.  And a picture to prove how happy he was:  

I love this "I love you" sign stage! We have this thing where I make the sign and he "pinky promises" our pinkies together and we say "I love you forever and ever!"

Our 7 Day Challenge Continued....

DAY FOUR: Today was my "top of the top," "best of the best," culminating day of this challenge .... and it totally didn't go as planned.  (Seriously there is a life lesson in that sentence).  I had planned that we would donate some stuffed animals to the children's floor at a local hospital.  Well, this morning after we piled up some stuffed animals to take to the hospital, Isaac decided that one of the stuffed animals was just "too hard to give away." Which include a full on melt down with tears.  I'm thinking, 'Really? You didn't even know this stuffed animal existed until 20 seconds ago!!' But...this was about service, not tears.  I didn't want him to have a bad experience....and I sure didn't want to coax him into it and then have another meltdown at the hospital.  ....sigh..... So he kept it and picked a different one to donate.  Well, when we got to the hospital, Beau was WAY too excited about surroundings and trying to get a picture was a struggle, after we finally got his attention long enough to take one, we went over to the Pediatrics unit to donate. 

 As we approached the nurse station and we are at that "ah ha" moment, that "this is the moment I've been looking forward to the most for Isaac!" we told the nurse why we were there and she looks at us and with a bit of a "seriously??" tone she says, "are those used??" Um yes.  "We don't accept used stuffed animals." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Ok, I totally understand why and do respect that, but THIS WAS THE MOMENT!!!!! She was gracious and kind to thank us for making the trip to donate, but I was SO BUMMED.  And also bummed I didn't think about that beforehand!! So... off we went here to donate them...

I know that they will still go to someone who wants them, but still, this was soooo not how I planned this day/memory to be.  Following that, we went to the mall to take advantage of JCPenny's free kids' haircut.  We walked in and I expected we might have to wait 20 minutes or so and the gal looks at me, "Do you have an appointment?" Um, no.  "Would you like one?" Um, hello, yes.  "Our next available is Friday, August 17." Say whhhaaaattt???? Who would have thought that you have to have an appointment for JC Penny's!!! Soooo, we weren't really on a roll anymore on our "planned day." See, I wanted Isaac to get a haircut so we could go home and have a "photo shoot" with the boys.  Oohh well.  We did a little shopping... where Isaac was spinning and fell on the floor smacking the back of his head (yep, this falls into the kind of day we had).  

This was lunch (before the fall!)

 Luckily, one of Isaac's friends wanted to have a play date with him, so as soon as I told him that he perked right up and then his head didn't hurt as bad.  He played so hard with his friend that he asked to lay down after dinner! AND, the last thing after dinner was a "glow stick bath tub." At first, Beau was a little freaked out but shortly warmed up to the idea and they had fun.  Might be the newest hit in our house!

 And to follow suit....a picture of the boys at the end of the day. 

Obviously this day didn't go as planned, and I apologize if this post sounds like a large complaint, I was hoping it would be more comical at this point (because it wasn't very funny earlier!) :) But my point in including the details and let downs of the day is because sometimes what we have planned isn't always how it plays out and I'm trying to keep this challenge "real" and not some "cherry-pickin'-rosy-perfect-day." There were definitely bumps in today's plans, but I am so grateful that these two boys make it all worth it and that I even have the opportunity to be with them all day. 

Our 7 Day Family Challenge Continued....

DAY THREE: Today was more focus on the "family-fun" aspect of our challenge.  We woke up and literally went right to the park.  We met up with some friends and played for a little while.  I was terrible about taking pictures today, so this is a picture of the boys at the park a while ago.  Taylor and I love how Isaac looks so happy and how Beau is like "Uh oh....please don't let go Isaac." 

 We went straight from the park to the pool.  We were there for about 3.5 hours.  Isaac has been into playing in the sand lately and Beau is content as long as he is eating -- which includes eating complete strangers food.  Yes, he is a mooch and I promise he is fed at home! (So embarrassing!!)

 While Beau was napping, Isaac and I did "mini-marshmallow construction." We built a house with a driveway for a car to drive on ... can you see it?! haha!

Following Beau's nap we met up with my parents for dinner -- today is their 33rd wedding anniversary, what better way to celebrate than with your kids and grandkids?! My mom showed up late and Beau kept running up behind her "hugging" her say, "Nana! Nana!" As soon as dinner was done we jetted out of there (Taylor was at church) because I was having some serious pregnancy growing aches/pains....oh the joys! Apparently all we did this morning really wore me out!

Our 7 Day Family Challenge

Saturday night I decided I needed a boost to my step.  So I decided to challenge myself to seven days of service-oriented, family-fun days.  I really wanted to get my focus off of unimportant things and on to things that matter and that will teach my kids.  I also know that for me, if it's not written down or planned, its much harder for me.  So I literally wrote down things to do for 7 days. 

DAY ONE: (No pictures) We made bread together and then delivered 3 different loaves to three different people in need.  First was a family who just suffered a tragic loss in their family.  Second was a family who just had a new baby.  And third was a young man about to leave on a mission. 

DAY TWO: We started the day off by delivering a card and some cookies to a local fire station.  I even had the boys wear their firefighter hats.  Here we are outside with Isaac showing the card and cookies.   

 This next picture was an attempt of getting a picture of Isaac handing the cookies to the fire chief, but I was too slow or he was too fast. :)

 The firefighters were great to the boys and showed them around and let them get in the truck and ask questions.  We ran into a lady we know that works there and she went above and beyond for the boys. 

 Following the fire station, we got six balloons and Isaac got to choose six friends to deliver them too. We wrote "Thanks for being my friend. -Isaac" on each balloon.  Yes, this may sound super corny, but Isaac loved it and his friends (from what their moms told me) loved getting a random balloon on a random day!

 Following our FHE on service *wink, wink* we went outside for some "ice cube painting" which is simply food coloring and water in an ice cube tray....I really didn't think about how messy it would be, but I knew as soon as I handed one to Beau that he was going to think he could eat it rather than paint with it....oops.  Oh well....if he is still green when you see him, you know why :)

 And a picture at the end of the day... love these boys!!!!!!!

Today was a good day for the Housley's....!

Today was Beau's first day in NURSERY!!!! Taylor and I have been counting down the weeks and days to today!! And Beau was a complete champ and went in and never looked back! Wahoooo to being 18 months old!! :)