Spring Break take 2

Due to Aspen going to school in Washington County and me working in Iron County, we didn't do a whole lot during Aspen's Spring Break.  But I think I made up for it during my 3 day Spring Break.  But the past week has been great and not long enough.  Oh summer break can not get here soon enough but I should be re-energized and make it til then.

Our break started on Tuesday with our normal activities, gymnastics and karate.  But afterwards, we went over to Justyn and Rachel's house for dinner.  Rachel said that the tacos would be our family Easter dinner since they weren't going to be here this weekend.  The tacos were amazing.  And we even got to play a couple of rounds of hand 'n foot.

On Wednesday, the kids and I just took our time in the morning and relaxed.  Then we headed to the store to buy stuff for Aspen's Easter hunt in school.  After we finished at the school, we headed over to the park for play group.  There were not a lot families that showed up but the kids still had fun just playing at the park.  The time at the park was short due to Aspen having school.  So Colt and I dropped her off and headed home for quiet time.  Colt fell asleep about 3 minutes after his head hit the pillow and I wasn't far behind him.  It felt nice to just be able not worry about anything and just relax.  After Aspen got done with school, we headed over to Darcee's for the kids to play while I went to the gym.  We ended the evening by having a movie party where we watched Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Thursday was another fun day.  We put together a picnic and went the Firehouse Park.  The kids really seemed to enjoy that park so I am sure we will be heading back.  After the park, Colt headed over to a friend's house while I joined Aspen at school.  She had been waiting about a week and a half for me to finally be able to come to her class and be a parent helper.  She was so excited.  And it was so much fun.  I finally was able to faces with names that Aspen always talks about.  She really likes Jacob and he was so cute.  It was a blast for me to help in her class and with her Easter hunt.  One thing for sure is that Aspen is not aggressive when it comes to competing with others for candy.  She only ended up with like 5 pieces of candy but she didn't care at all.  Colt went to his karate that evening and then we headed home for another movie.

Friday brought on a lot more fun.  I went to the gym and afterwards we headed to Jumpin' Jacks.  The kids played there for 2 1/2 hours.  I was starving but they didn't seem to be.  I finally got a call from Darcee that helped me get out and get some food.  I think the kids could have played there for at least another hour or so but when I told them we were going to play with the cousins, they were excited.  Of course, they had to have 5 more minutes to play and then another 5 minutes but I finally put my foot down and said we were leaving.  So we went and got some food and then headed over to Darcee's.  We then got all the kids in the cars and went down to the park.  We shot the basketball ball around for a while.  The kids had fun on scooters and playing in the sand.  After we played there for a couple of hours, the adults decided that we were going to Chick-fil-A for dinner.  So we took the kids back to the house and left them with Kayleeya and Hailey.  Chick-fil-A had just opened the day before so it was packed.  However, they had so many employees that the wait was not bad.  And the food was delicious.  Good thing it is clear on the other side of town from me so I won't be able to talk myself into eating there two or three times a week.

Saturday was another fun packed day.  It started by going to the Santa Clara Easter hunt.  This year there didn't seem to be as many people or they just had a lot more candy.  Colt was the first one to go and he was just able to pick up candy and candy and candy.  Then Aspen's age group went and she started by picking up a candy and then running to another spot.  Grandma saved the day by telling her to just stay in one spot and pick up all the candy there.  her age group really didn't a lot of kids because the adults started to help pick up the candy.  We had a guy just drop candy into Aspen's basket because it was big and could hold the candy.  Both of my kids have enough candy to last them til Halloween.

Saturday afternoon we headed out to our normal spot with the Watkins.  We grilled some hot dogs and did a little ATVing.  And then the Easter Bunny made his visit.  The Bunny brought Aspen a cute Easter dress, a Strawberry Shortcake book, a princess journal and "Rise of the Guardians".  The Bunny brought Colt an Incredible Hulk cape, a Batman toy and Wreck It Ralph.  After all the eggs were collected we did more ATVing.  The kids had fun going out with me, Uncle Jay and Aunt Darcee.

We finally headed back home to shower and have a pajama party to watch Rise of the Guardians on the projector.  Darcee's family also came over for that.  The kids didn't fight too bad when it was time to go to sleep and I am pretty sure that they were out when their heads hit their pillows.

Sunday brought Church and the true meaning of Easter, Christ's Atonement for us.  Aspen gave a talk in primary.  She was so excited that it was finally her turn and she did such a great job.  We just need to get her to grow a little taller so the kids can see her behind the podium.  All in all it has been a great time and I couldn't think of any other way I would want to spend my time.

Family, family, family

Man, it has been great to be closer to family.  Not only are they there to help me when I run into a problem, but it is just fun to get together.  My brother's and sister's family and I got together on Friday evening for dinner and to play at the park.  The kids had fun playing with each other and the adults had fun talking and sharing stories.  Then we went back to my brother's house and learned how to play a new game.  I can't remember the name of it but it is like Settler's of Catan/Zarahemla.  It was pretty fun and I just about beat Rachel.  Saturday morning my kids spent a few hours with their dad.  I went to the temple with my free time.  It was good to go back and I need to go more often now that I actually live in a city with a temple.  I will, however, try to go a different time other than Saturday morning.  With the age change on missionaries, the session was jam packed.  The man told us that last Saturday they had 28 missionaries go through the temple and today there were 20 scheduled.  I am glad that there are so many boys and girls deciding to serve a mission.

When I got the kids back, we headed over to Darcee's house so Kayleeya could watch them while I went shopping with Darcee.  It was good to have some sister time and discuss life's problems.  Too bad Hollee wasn't there :(  After shopping, we headed to the movies to see "The Croods".  Justyn and Rachel treated us to the movie and it was a great movie, very funny.  After the movie, we went back to Darcee's and she amazed us with her memory.  We were reminiscing about high school and elementary and walking home in the snow.  She could remember her teacher's names and our exact address.  It was incredible.  Now we need to get her to record it on paper. But that will never happen.  It is always fun to hear the things that your older siblings did when they were young.

Today the kids and I went to church.  It has been fun having them every week for the past little while.  The kids are doing much better during sacrament meeting.  I have gotten a couple of compliments on how well behaved my children are.  So I must be doing something right.  Colten was asked to do the scripture and prayer today in Primary.  He did a great job.  He pronounced each word I told him, may not have been understandable, but still he tried.  I was also asked to substitute in Aspen's class.  It was fun to sit in Primary and watch my kids.  Aspen answered lots of questions for singing time and she sang nice and loud.  Colt was singing on and off but not causing problems so I was happy.  Then in Aspen's class, she was so excited to have me there.  It was fun to teach a bunch of 5 year olds.  They will actually answer your questions whether they know the right answer or not.  When do they lose that ability?

I am still waiting to hear back on a job in St. George and I will be applying for another one this week.  I hope that I can get one so that I can start looking for where the kids and I are going to live and figure everything out.  I have been so blessed to have my parents around to help me through this rocky change.  But I think my kids have been blessed most of all because they have loved being with their cousins.  I love that they are getting to grow up knowing their cousins and family.

It's finally Spring!!!!!

Life just gets a little bit better when the sun is out, doesn't it?  The kids and I are still keeping busy. 

Aspen is doing awesome at school.  She has come home on more than one occasion talking about this boy named Jacob and how she is best friends with him.  I think I am going to have to check this kid out.  She is also doing very well with gymnastics.  She loves to do the monkey bars at the park and do headstands, with a little help.  Once we are more permanent location, I will try to get her back in dance.  She has absolutely loved having the cousins to play with.  She is always asking to sleep over at the cousins house.  She is really into ice cream right now.  Every time when she has some down time, she will ask to have some ice cream.  She has also added some colors to her favorite colors.  Instead of just pink, she also likes purple and red.  She still loves to dress up and play with dolls.  She likes to do what the big girls are doing.  While over at Justyn and Rachel's house, the older girls made up a dance to a One Direction song.  Aspen wrote a song on paper and then sang it for everyone.  She likes to act shy to have everyone watch her but I think she truly enjoys it.  She is also quite sensitive to other people.  She will always come give me a kiss when she can tell that I am sad.  She also uses it to her advantage.  When she can tell I am getting upset with her, she will come give me a kiss.  How can you be mad at such a cute little girl who just gave you a kiss?  I am going to have to be tougher on her :)  Yeah right.  Aspen is truly such a delight and can a bad day be great.  I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Colten is growing into such a cute boy.  He still loves his electronics but doesn't throw his big fits when I tell him no.  He will still argue when he doesn't get what he wants.  He loves to "fight" but he doesn't require a person to fight with.  He is more than capable of fighting with himself.  He will use either pillows, play swords or light sabers.  He is kind of fun to watch the way his mind thinks.  He is still in karate and seems to really enjoy that.  His teacher had a death in the family but didn't know how to reach me, so we should up twice that week and his teacher wasn't there.  Colt was sad that he didn't get to do karate.  He is a typical boy in that he always wants to win.  To keep the peace, I usually have to tell Aspen to let him win.  He has grown up a lot since moving down to St. G.  He, too, loves playing with his cousins.  However, Aspen and him have a lot of time to play together and they do well together.  If the TV is off, they can be found in their room playing with all their animals and rarely are they fighting.  Colt keeps me on my toes and in the grocery store but he is my little guy.  I have been blessed with patience because of Colt.  I am no where near a perfect patient person but Colt will keep testing me, probably for the rest of my life.  :)

I am busy just trying to make it through to the end of the school year.  I have been truly blessed to have my student teacher who literally does everything.  She is pretty independent and doesn't accept help until she has reached her breaking point.  So pretty much like me :)  I was able to put together my resume and apply for some jobs down in Washington County.  I had an interview yesterday so just praying that I can get something.  I had a much needed girls night out with Darcee and Rachel.  We went to see Parental Guidance and then out to dinner and just talked.  It is nice to have some me time once in awhile. 

Aspen had spring break last week but unfortunately I didn't.  So my family stepped up and helped take care of the kids.  The kids had lots of time with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  I don't think they ever wanted to come back home.  This past weekend the kids and I just relaxed.  Saturday we took care of some chores around the house.  That night we went out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa.  Aspen wanted to go to Denny's so that is where we went.  The kids pretty much ate everything on their plate.  Then Grandpa spoiled us by taking us to DQ to get a dilly bar.  On Sunday, my friend Joy and her family came down.  We went up to the Dixie rock and hiked around for a little bit.  Aspen got to see an old friend from school, Kai, so she was in heaven.  I don't know what I am going to do about her and these boys :)

Lots of pictures and weekend fun

Well life has started to settle down tor this Higgins family.  The kids spent last weekend with their dad and I was able to finish the parade of homes with my parents.  Last Saturday was my Grandpa's birthday and we had planned to go out with him along with my cousin Mylisa.  So we planned to go to Chuck A Rama.  When we got there, they had no power so we decided to try Red Robin.  We got there at about 6:30 and they said it would be about 35 minutes.  We waited and waited and waited.  We kept asking what the status was and they would say 5 minutes, they are just cleaning off the tables.  Needless to say we waited almost an hour and a half before walking out and going back to Chuck A Rama.  It was a long night but it was good to see and spend some time with family.

This past week was SEP week in Washington County which meant no Kindergarten on Monday and Tuesday.  So I made arrangements for Aspen to come up to Cedar and visit her old kindergarten class.  She loved it and so did her teacher.  We might try to do it again but I will just have to see.

This past Friday my mom decided to have all 9 grandkids over for an Unbirthday Party.  And make it a sleep over.  Well because I am living with her I was the only parent that was allowed at the party.  Boy was it an adventure.  We had 5 girls and 4 boys.  The girls all seemed to get along pretty well.  The boys were out to pick fights.  Alijah was a bigger pill than usual, Trent only wanted to play with Jeramiah, Colt was crying because everyone was picking on him.  It was a rough night.  And I told my mom I would not do it ever again :)  They some what calmed down when I put on the movie, the classic "The Lion King" on the projector.  For the most part the kids really sat down and watched the movie.

Saturday I made the kids pancakes for breakfast and then my mom took them over park at the school.  Then parents started to show up about lunch time and go their separate ways.  I have never thought that my two kids were so quiet until having the other 7 be gone.  It was like heaven :)  I was able to get through some of the stuff out in the garage and find some spring clothes for the kids.  Yes, it is March in St. George so that means shorts and short sleeves :)  I wasn't able to find mine which means they are somewhere up in storage in Cedar City :(  Oh well, I will get to them soon enough.

In the afternoon I took the kids to Fiesta Fun to go mini golfing.  I would show them both how to hold the club and then just let them do what they wanted to get the ball in the hole.  I would also tell them to keep trying if we were going to be waiting for the people in front of us.  So they had quite a bit of practice.  After golfing we went over to the theaters to see "Wreck It Ralph".  The kids had already seen it with their dad but talk about it all the time, so we went again.  It was a pretty cute show and I have never seen Colt sit through a 2 hour movie before.

We came home and got baths so we didn't have to do it on Sunday morning.  My kids love the bath and can play for a long time.  When I finally pulled them out and got them dressed, they watched a Dora show and then headed to bed.  I had bought Colt some new Sunday clothes because he has been wearing floods for a couple of months.  He looked so sharp and handsome.  I had actually taken quite a few pictures earlier this morning but found out later that there was no card in the camera :(  So these pictures are actually after church.  I love when I get to take my kids to church.  They love going to primary and learning about Jesus.  Today Aspen drew a picture during sacrament meeting of her and Justyn in the baptismal font.  I was above them looking in.  She wrote "Wen Aspen gets 8", When Aspen turns 8 is what she meant.  It was so cute and so unexpected.  I just love her innocent approach to everything.

There will be quite a few photos posted because there are some random ones from my ipod.

 
 

 

This next group are the miscellaneous pictures from my ipod and most of them are ones my kids took.  So enjoy :)