The Greatest Girls Trip!

Our first Snarr girls trip with all 5 girls able to attend! Yay! Syd came up with the theme, "The Greatest Girls Trip" as a spoof of "The Greatest Showman." She gave us each a sweatshirt that says "greatest" to go along with the theme. I love spending time with these girls, they are such great examples and friends to me. I feel so blessed that I have them in my life.  Beginning in January 2018 we participated in a weekly challenges together. We rotated who would come up with the challenge and if you completed the challenge each week Syd put aside $10 to spend on us at the girls trip. The money was good motivation but more-so we motivated each other and wanted to accomplish the tasks because they were so worthwhile. Some of the challenges were spending quality time with your kids each day, deep cleaning, scripture study, couple prayer, exercising etc. It was a growing experience for each of us and we grew closer together because of it as well. We hope to start up with the weekly challenges again this January!

Syd kicked off our girls trip with a surprise yacht ride. But this wasn't just any yacht ride, our hosts, Danny and Lina served us the most delicious meals they cooked from scratch on the boat. Cheese plate, shrimp, avocado egg rolls, hamburgers with every fixing you can imagine, mini cheesecakes and blueberry tarts... we felt incredibly spoiled! When we got on the boat we joked that we felt like we were on the bachelor or real housewives... you can always find them on a yacht! haha

 

 

 

 

 

We visited the beautiful San Diego Temple together. Cousin Sharlie, who lives in the area met up with us and joined us in the Temple. It was sweet seeing her.
 

 Syd treated us all to pedicures!

 

 We took an aerial silks class... very appropriate for the theme! We were all a bit sore and nauseous (so much spinning!) afterwards but it was worth it and I loved it... am pretty certain I am going to look into classes here in San Antonio. 

 

We spent an evening at Belmont, riding the rollercoaster, eating beaver tails and spontaneously we made a music video on the street. Yep, gave us a good laugh (and I'm sure the on lookers!). I think people thought we were professional, until they realized that we clearly were NOT. Haha! The video can be seen on my you tube channel. 

  

 

Syd treated us to a lovely breakfast buffet at Hotel Del Coronado.  

 

 

We ended our fun with a picnic and the play, Chicago at the Moonlight open air theater. 

I am missing these girls and already excited to plan our next girls trip!

Camping Out

We took a quick little getaway to the perfect camp spot, just 45 minutes from our home. Our friends, the Cardon family, joined us. We camped out right by the river, where we could rope swing and climb the trees to jump in the water. Tin foil dinners, s'mores, late night chatting and sleeping in tents... it had been quite a while since we had done that and it was so much fun, we are planning on going again soon!

First Day of School 2018

 

After an incredibly busy Summer, we welcomed the new school year with open arms. I was ready for some quiet and time to get things done, while the the boys were ready for more structure and learning (according to me).
Finn started kindergarten. Wait, what? How did that happen so fast? When I visited the school for a parents meeting, I found myself teary eyed, not only because Finn would be going to school for a full day 5 days a week but because I felt love and safety there at Redland Oaks Elementary School and my overall impression was that he would be cared for here.  Finn loves socializing and likes to keep busy with arts, crafts and exploring, so I knew that kindergarten would be good for him.  However, when I saw that he only had one 15 minute recess in his 7 hour day, I had a panic attack. I thought, NO WAY, he won't survive! I wanted to call the school right then, at 11pm at night and tell them they are crazy and that little ones need free imaginative play time. Surely there was a mistake in the schedule!? Luckily they weren't open at the time and didn't end up getting an earful from me. While I still feel like a 15 minute recess is ridiculous, I realize there is gym, music time and possibly other free play in the day, so I decided to see how things go before complaining to the school. I'm happy to say, so far, so good! Finn behaved really well for the first week of school; at parent/teacher orientation we noticed that he could write his name, color in the lines and be a helper better than a majority of his class! However, he began to misbehave and was even sent to the principals office one day for running out of the cafeteria and hiding in his classroom. As the parent, I was devastated and Ben and I set up reward systems at home for good behavior. At first the reward didn't seem to be working because he kept getting into trouble, but after experiencing some consequences and giving him positive reinforcement (telling him he is a good kid and it's a new day) he has begun behaving well again. Hallelujah! Finn doesn't complain about going to school and likes his teacher, Mrs. Gallardo. I love hearing about his day and seeing how is learning so much and excited to learn more. We are only a few weeks into the school year but I have a feeling this will be a great year!

As for, Fox, he is attending the same mother's day out program as last year, two days a week. His teacher is Ms. Michelle. She taught Finn and would tell me all the crazy/bad things he did each day. So far, she has not commented about Fox. He seems to enjoy going and I think he behaves better for others than he does for me at home.

As for, Sweden, she is home with me and I get as much done as I can while she naps for a couple hours. I enjoy having some one on one time with her and will occasionally drop her off at mothers day out when she turns 18 months old.


 

  

 

Age: 5 years old

School: Redland Oaks Elementary School

Teacher: Mrs. Gallardo

Favorite Foods: spaghetti, chili, salad, carrots with ketchup, popcorn, root beer

Favorite Toys: legos, Nintendo, hatchimals, kinder eggs, bike

Favorite Things to Do: swim without his swimmies, ride his bike without training wheels, draw/paint/craft, swing

Favorite Color: Blue and orange
Favorite Places: Zoo, Chuck E Cheese, Thin Air Trampoline Park

Talents: Finn is a really good artist and he can can glue, cut, paint etc. really well. His drawings of people continue to get better.  Finn is so loving and giving- he enjoys crafting and making things to give to others.  Finn is helpful around the house so that he can make money and buy things that he likes. He is learning well how to earn, spend and save his money. Finn is friendly and can be really silly and goofy- we love it when he makes us laugh.

Loves: cuddling with mommy before bed, singing primary songs, saying the prayer, watching movies, playing games on his i-pad or Nintendo with his dad, arts and crafts, animals (especially frogs, lizards and bugs), and playing with friends.

 
Age: 3 years old

School: Thousand Oaks Bible Church (two days a week)

Teachers: Michelle

Favorite Foods: spaghetti, bananas with pb, popsicles, pretzels

Favorite Toys: legos, dinosaurs, farm 

Favorite Things to Do: swing, sand box, watch movies (especially Rock Dog)

Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Places: Library, Zoo, Chuck E Cheese

Talents: Fox builds really cool castles with his legos and is really creative and imaginative, he is sweet and affectionate, shares (giving in to his sister's squeals if she wants something).

Loves: dinosaurs, animals, bugs, movies, the song "Glorious" from the movie "Rock Dog" (he asks me to play it ALL the time), going to the library and playing in the house there, playing in the sand box, playing "i-spy".

 

 

Summer in San Antonio

Some of the fun we had this past summer in San Antonio...

We splashed in the Guadalupe River, where the water is clear, just low enough and is moving slow, that is perfect for playing in.

Summer buzz cuts! We buzzed them pretty late this summer because we were busy traveling. However, once they were buzzed it felt a little more like summer-time! Even daddy buzzed his hair after sporting a man-bun for quite some time.

 

 

We had a lemonade stand... the boys love to make and drink fresh squeezed lemonade and were begging to do this for quite some time. We set up shop on the sidewalk outside the elementary school and made lots of sales! One customer gave them a $20 bill because she had been given that when she was a kid and wanted to pay it forward. How sweet! The boys spent the money on toys and sweets at the store.

Playing on our neighbors swing-set.

 

 Six Flags with some of our favorite people, the Cardons!

 

We spent lots of time at Hemisfair splash pad, sand box, and playground. Although, my kids favorite part is visiting the chickens in the coop on the property.

 

 

  

Ben took the boys fishing and brought home lots of fish that we cooked and ate for dinner!

We spent a weekend at our friends, the Teachout's lake house and went wake boarding, tubing and fishing off their boat. The kids especially loved playing at the sand bar and catching tiny fish and baby turtles in the net.