Snowman Competition!

The day after we got all of that snow we were planning on going outside and building a massive snowman with our boys. I told them that if the snow started to melt and drip from our pergola than that would mean it was warm enough to build a snowman. While we waited to the temperature to warm up so we could build our huge snowman, Brandon saw a post from a ward member talking about doing a snowman building competition. They said the winner would get 20 dollars to Mr. Yo's donuts in Windsor. We were already planning on building a massive snowman that day and now that there was a competition involved we were all for it. GAME ON!!! We were going to win this thing. As soon as Kayden went down for a nap I went outside with the boys to start making our snowman. Brandon had a work call when we went outside so we only got the bottoms of the snowmen done. Then we had to wait because they were too huge for me to lift them on my own. As soon as Brandon was done we were able to finish our snowmen. The snow was melting super fast. So we needed to get it done before the snow all melted away. haha 

Emmett rolled this huge snowball all by himself. It was huge!! I still can't believe he did it all by himself, but, he did!! It was pretty heavy. So for a little body like him to do that, I was pretty impressed. Ethan and Wyatt were really impressed with how big he rolled it. 

Then while we waited for Dad to get done with his phone call the boys decided to bury each other. haha 

Who needs a sandy beach to bury people for fun! haha We use snow over here in Colorado! haha 

Then Ethan built a little chair for them which they enjoyed sitting on for a little bit. 

We were pretty proud of our snowmen!! 

I thought it would be fun to make 2 big snowmen and have them be social distancing. With the pandemic and everyone having to stay 6 feet apart I thought it would be perfect. As I rolled the bottoms of the snowmen I stood back and thought that they looked like they were 6 ft apart. I had Ethan grab the tape measure and we found that they were 6 ft 1 inch apart. Man am I good!! haha 

Our sign just says it all!! haha 

We used food coloring in a spray bottle to spray on the color on our snow people heads. Of course one was a man with a hat and the other was is lady with the bow! Brandon did a great job making a bow on her head. 

After spraying color on them to give them their hats and spraying on a mask the color started to bleed. So we put real face masks on them. Everyone that drove or walked by would say how great our snowmen were. They all loved them. We were pretty proud of them. We ended up taking second place and got 10 dollars to Mr. Yo's. Our friends that put on the competition gave the 1st place win to one of their neighbors. We still think we had the best out of all of them but, at least we took 2nd and got 10 bucks to Mr. Yo's. Totally worth it! 

How do you plank?? haha 

Nothing like planking over the melting snow running down the gutter. haha 

After some snowman building fun we let the kids watch a movie. We turned on some Harry Potter. 

Not sure that the kids liked it all that much!! haha They were just a little scared! Thankfully this didn't give them nightmares and the movie ends on a good note. They still wanted to watch the next movie in the series which I think is funny! We have had some good fun during this pandemic. Sure it feels weird not being able to go many places. That and the paranoia anytime we leave the house. Anytime Brandon would leave to pick up food or run an errand I would say to him, "Don't get the Corona!" haha Anytime I would go out Brandon would say, "Stay safe and come back to me!" haha That and all the sanitizing that we have been doing after picking up dinner or lunch or grocery shopping it has been a little hard. But, we have really enjoying our family time! This is the only time in our life (most likely) that we will get to have Brandon home with us as long as we were able to during the pandemic. Sure we were not making money but it was nice to have him home! So we will miss having him home when he does start working again. Until then we will enjoy having him home and all the family time we get to enjoy right now. It is the one positive to this whole Pandemic. 

More Fun in April

This is how we have to go to the store now. haha Brandon headed to Walmart and I texted him reminding him to wear a mask. This was the picture he sent back to me. haha 

Italian cream sodas!!! Oh ya!!!

Venturing out to run some errands. It seems that I go to the store every couple of weeks. When I do this is basically how I go. I have my mask, gloves and clorox wipes. After I get my groceries at Costco I wipe them all down as I put them into the car. Then I don't worry about them having the virus on them and I can let the boys help unload the car when I get home. At least I match. haha 

We got a notice from our HOA stating that we couldn't have our boat parked in our drive way. They also sited us for our basketball hoop that is on our house. So Brandon moved the boat into the garage and we left the hoop up. He figured if they said anything again he would take it down or try to fight it. The only reason they noticed our hoop was because we had our boat out in our driveway. I had no idea we couldn't have it parked out front. People have their cars parked in their driveways all time. How much different is a covered boat? Anyways, now it is taking up a ton of space in our garage. I guess it works until we can figure out what else to do with it next fall. 

Gardening time has also arrived. 

Brandon spiked Kayden's hair with just some water and this one little clump of hair kept sticking straight up for a couple of days. It was so funny!! 

His favorite toy.. the remote! haha He really could care less about watching the TV. He just wants to change the channels. haha 

Another regular thing we did in April was getting some exercise. 

Even Kayden was getting in some exercise. haha

Each of the boys took their turn with doing some pull ups. So naturally we had to let Kayden try. His face was so funny. He wasn't sure what to think about it. 

One evening Kayden was having a really hard time going to sleep. We brought him downstairs and gave him a mum mum and before we knew it he fell asleep on Brandon's lap. It was so precious!! 

I love that he was holding Brandon's fingers. I love these precious little moments. 

Yet I was a little bummed I wasn't holding him and getting that cuddle time. 

Next project was painting the island. We put the bead board on our Island a really long time ago and we finally got around to painting it. 

First watermelon of the season. It was a WIN! It was the best watermelon and totally worth the purchase. 

Kayden was not super into it the first time he had it. I was so surprised that he didn't seem to like it that much. All of our other boys loved watermelon so much when we first gave it to them that they couldn't seem to get enough in their mouths fast enough. So to have Kayden not really be into it was very surprising. Luckily, he warmed up to it after a few tastes. haha 

Along with all the new apps we have been using for school, the boys discovered "storyline online". It is a super cute website where famous people read children's books online. The boys were infatuated with it and were watching/listening to a story while they ate lunch. I was ok with that since it was books they were watching and listening to. 

A little bit of Golf!

We tried to get out and golf as often as we could. The course schedule filled up super fast because so many people were not working now. When they said that golf was ok to do because it was outside and they could regulate it so people social distanced we were able to go. We had lots of beautiful weather before our golf outing. Then when we were set to golf it was windy and cold. 

I was so glad I had brought a beanie and fluffy blanket for Kayden. He seemed to stay a little toastier than the rest of us were. 

I was not enjoying myself out in the cold wind. I could barely feel my hands. 

The boys still enjoyed it for a while. 

This is how Kayden likes to go golfing. haha Since we have been walking the course instead of taking a cart Kayden has been wanting to get rides. He gets tired of walking so he rides on Dad's golf cart. He loves it and ends up pretending he is a baby cheetah or a horse or some kind of animal. haha 

Did I mention that I felt like baking all the time?? Well Brandon wanted us to try out this key lime pie recipe. It turned out super yummy!! 

Our boys are such goof balls. The way Emmett's hair was that day it reminded us of zoo lander. When we asked Emmett to make a pucker face he got all embarrassed. So then the other boys wanted to do it and get their pictures taken. So thats what happened. 

Look at that tasty piece of pie. 

Oh wait what?? We asked for nice weather. Not snow!!! 

After so much nice weather we got dumped on. We had a solid foot of snow. It was crazy!!! 

I had to go out and shake off our trees. It was a very wet heavy snow and I didn't want our tree branches to break off. 

Being stuck inside during this pandemic has made me do some crazy things!!! 😜

Not like I wasn't getting enough sweets with everything I was baking. I just needed a little extra with a spray of whip cream. haha 

Kayden makes this monkey face all the time. It is his favorite face to make and he makes a Monkey noise with it too. It is seriously the cutest thing!! I LOVE it!!! 

He is such a cute little guy!! 

He loves going into the basement. We started to take him downstairs when the other boys were playing in the basement and he absolutely loves exploring all the big boy toys downstairs. Anytime we walk downstairs with him he does this shrill excited squeal. It is so funny!

 

Wyatt was pretty proud of his magnetic tile "purse" as he called it. 

So much fun hanging out in the basement. 

Look at all that snow!!! 

Just some more video chat time with class mates. 

Then Kayden hit 11 months old!! I can't believe he is going to be a year old soon. He is growing up way too fast!! We just love this sweet little boy! He loves Mac and cheese, mandarin oranges, bananas, avocado, cheese, cooked carrots and peas and eating the same food that we are eating. He gets super excited and does his squeal whenever he rounds the corner to go to the stairs or when he crawls around the corner to the computer area. You always know that he is going over to one of those places when you hear his squeal. He also loves going downstairs into the basement and when the boys brush their teeth upstairs. If the boys are upstairs in the bathroom and Kayden notices he gets super excited. Then when we take him upstairs into the bathroom to watch what they are doing he squeals so loud and then he busts up laughing while they brush their teeth. Well not while they are brushing their teeth. He laughs hard when Emmett spits into the toilet. We are talking full belly laugh!! It is the cutest thing!! Just after turning 11 months he started to clap his hands and click his tongue. When you say good job to him he will start to clap his hands and gets this huge smile on his face. He has added a lot more different letter sounds to his mumbles. He has added B sounds and G sounds and N sounds. He will go between saying, baba to nana to what sounds like he is trying to say good. It is pretty cute! He loves to walk around the house holding onto our fingers. We have tried to get him to walk between me and Brandon but he wont start moving his legs unless you grab onto both of his hands. In fact he will search for both of your hands and then take off as soon as he has both. It is really cute but tiring on our backs as we walk him around the house. haha He will walk around the couch and even the cabinets like a pro. As long as he has something to hold on to he will take off. I am sure he will be walking on his own soon. Then I will be running after him all the time. haha He still takes 2 naps each day. Sometimes he will take a third one if he didn't sleep very well for the first 2. However, most of the time it is just 2 naps. Sometimes he will fight the second nap and just stay up the rest of the day. Which seems crazy for him to only get 1 nap in. He goes to bed around 8 and gets up anytime between 7:30 and 8. Sometimes he sleeps a little later than 8. For the most part he goes down for naps and bed really easily. If he is tired he will just go to sleep as long as he has his binkie and the end of his blanket. We still wrap him up just under his arms and then hand him the end of his blanket that is extra. He will lay there and just hold his blanket in his hands and go to sleep. Sometimes he will spit his binkie out and suck on his blanket. He just loves it so much and it is so cute!! I still can't believe my baby is almost a year old! He has been such a joy in our family and we are so excited to see what the next few months brings for him.