another week in the books

Walt loves his friend Addie. Every day he gets so excited to take Olivia to the bus and pick her up because he gets to see Addie! They are so cute together!!

 Olivia was upset about something and I found her in my closet under a laundry basket and in one! haha

 Walt had a great mustache after a delicious smoothie!

 Austin was going to go home early because his friend Matt couldn't come visit and drive home with him but a big storm came it and it snowed!! The kids loved it and it was so fun watching Beau try to eat the snow!

 We spent our last days with Austin trying to pack in all the fun we could. With all the gloomy weather and having Beau we didn't get to explore very much with Austin. We went to Michaels work to see the Spheres. They are 3 big balls that have amazon (HAHA) plants growing in them. Its pretty amazing!!

 The kids loved exploring!

 Its three stories tall and the second floor has a birds nest to sit in. It is about 60% humidity in the spheres during the day and at night they bring it up to 100%. The lights adjust to give the plants the exact light they need and the misters sense when the humidity changes and just like at the grocery store little misters spray the plants.

 The entire building is glass so you can see the awesome view all over the city.

 They have over 700 species of plants.

 Every Amazon elevator has white boards in them.

 Out side of the Spheres is a little place for the kids to run. They loved it.

 Beau was hilarious when ever Michael came home. He would crawl to Michael, roll on his back, pee, then lay at his feet and not move. Michael would come home and in his deep voice tell Beau that he was the alpha male! haha!! Beau listened really well to Michael.

 Our laundry routine is still going well. Dad even kept the excitement going by carrying them into their rooms in their laundry baskets! They thought that was pretty funny!

 We heard so much about the University of Washington's cherry trees in the spring that we made sure to visit this year. There were SOOOO many people!! The trees were beautiful!! I was more impressed with the buildings. They were incredible!

 The kids loved getting out for an adventure.

 Im soaking in all the snuggles I can with this baby! She really isn't a baby anymore but I still pretend she is!

 Hint number one that I need to take!! She was pretending to go potty on a chair in the playroom!! I guess its time to start potty training!?

 Austin left early Sunday morning so he said his goodbyes Saturday night. I don't know if the kids quite understood that he was leaving. They asked where he was in the morning and for the next few days pointed out any Prius or golden retriever. They refer to the guest room as Austin's room still and every night we sing happy birthday to Austin and Beau! haha!!

 Ellanore wouldn't stop picking her nose to take a good picture... Ellanore and Austin had the sweetest relationship. One time at Home Depot she couldn't see where he went so she started yelling "AUSTIN!!! You Ok!? AUSTIN!!!!?" She walked around the house every day yelling for him. She loves her uncle Austin!

 Olivia loves Austin!

 Walt was "too tired to smile" but ran in circles after the picture! Walt and Austin had a cute relationship too!

 I made Olivia push the stroller up our steep hill since austin wasn't around to do it!

 You know it is going to be a late night when they fall asleep picking Olivia up from the bus!!

 I was laughing so hard when Walt rolled over one morning and was stuck!! hahahaha!! It looks so weird!!

We have some adjusting to do no that Austin is gone. We have loved having him here. He has been a huge help to me. I have seen so many blessings having him around to help watch the kids while I helped at school 4 days a week. He put groceries away, he encouraged me to make great dinners, he was always around to talk to, he listened to me vent. He was a great friend. I struggle with being "alone" a day. It is hard being far from family and starting over with making new friends. Having Austin here was a blessing straight from a loving Heavenly Father. He knew I needed Austin. I will forever be grateful.

Austin is heading home

In November my brother Austin texted me randomly to ask if I would be willing to let him come live with us. I immediately called to see if he was being serious! After a month of planning he decided to come and I was so excited! He drove up with my family for Christmas and after my family left he moved into the guest room. 

While he has been here I have prayed a lot to know how to serve him. I wanted to make sure what ever Heavenly Father had planned for him I was able to help with! I knew that the idea of him moving here wasn’t random or a coincidence, it was part of Heavenly Father’s plan. I just needed to see what it was. 

One night last week as I was making dinner I was thinking how I felt sad I didn’t make the most of having Austin here. I wanted more for his stay. Then a quiet voice whispered in my heart “Lauren, I didn’t send Austin to live with you so you could change his life. I sent him to help you and bless you while you live in Washington.” The simple words hit me like a ton of bricks. I began to cry as I thought of how hard this gray winter was but how much easier it had been because I had Austin with me. I thought about how I was struggling as a mother before he came and how he blessed my life and made things so much easier. I thought about the friendship we had created and all the fun we had. I thought about how much we had grown together. 

Austin is going back California tomorrow and I’m really sad this blessing is coming to an end. I know more blessings will come but having Austin here for the last few months has been so important to me. Heavenly Father is so so good. He truly does have a plan and as I do my best to follow it I see the blessings pour down. Things are still hard but I look back and see so much good and happiness. 

busy but fun week

This is about 2 weeks worth of pictures. We have been soaking up all the sun the last 2 weeks. I love it! Michael has been working from home a little more lately and I love it. The weather was nice and warm and the sun was shining so we went on a fun walk down a boardwalk though wetlands. 

 We only have 2 more days left with Austin so we have been trying to do a lot of fun things with him. We will really miss him and Beau.

 I have been taking full advantage of the having extra help at home so I have been able to help in Olivia's class A LOT!! Last week I went to her class to help every day! One of the days I was an art docent with another mom. We taught the kids about Monet and Jackson Pollock's art styles. The kids then did their own artwork. They turned out so cute! I love going in and being so involved.

 After we got home we let Walt and his cute friend Addie try it too.

 Every Wednesday this month is FREE Chick-Fil-A!! This time we went before school so Olivia could eat some yummy breakfast.

 I saw that Build-A-Bear had a Unicorn in the store that was exactly what Olivia had asked for for Christmas. Ellanore and I went and got one she can stuff on her birthday next month just in case they run out. Im so excited for her to see it! Ellanore is the cutest little shopping buddy. She carried the bag around and looked at everything in the windows.

 She saw some Paris Hilton perfume that had her looking like a mermaid and she was so excited hahah!

 We threw all my pennies into the fountain!

 We even saw the Easter Bunny!! Ellanore wasn't so sure about this bunny. She wouldn't sit on his lap or even touch him. She wasn't afraid of any characters at Disneyland but she wasn't into this bunny! The pictures they took were really funny! I didn't want to spend thirty bucks on them.

 I have been watercoloring a lot lately and I love it.

 I seriously can't tell you how happy we are about all this sun!

 I took a corner of flowers off my big picture and wrote a little note thanking Olivia's teacher. Her teacher showed Olivia and when Olivia got home from school she asked me to paint her some flowers. She picked out all the ones she wanted.

 I love playing with fruits. I have also done oranges and lemons and pineapples.

 I love finding cute pictures of Olivia on my phone. She took a few of Michael and I sleeping haha.

 Austin and the kids and I took a nice hike down to the beach. Its a mile and a half hike down to the water. It was a beautiful day!

 I needed to be quick and if Ellanore walked it would have taken us all day to get down so I had her on my back. It was fine going down but we had to hurry back up the hill and I thought I was going to die!!! This hike is steep!

 This was Beau's first trip to the ocean.

 The kids had fun throwing rocks in the ocean and running away from the water.

 All the trees around here are starting to bloom! Its BEAUTIFUL!! I can't get enough of them! Im so excited to go see the tulips soon!

 I have felt sad and down about teaching my kids to work but lately things have been coming together. We have found a fun way to get laundry done on Thursdays. I quickly throw the kids their clothes and they have to put them in their basket before the next piece of clothes comes flying at them. Then they take it into their room and fold what they can and I help with the left overs. Its not a big deal but its been life changing for me! Im excited about teaching my kids to help around the house. Ellanore was mad I was making her put her clothes back into the basket after dumping them out a few times ha

 Olivia was spot light last week. Olivia got to sit in the spot light seat all week for lunch and snacks. On Friday after lunch I brought in sugar cookies at her request. The class then sings her a song as she walked around the class giving everyone hugs, high-fives, or fist bumps. They she calls on students raising their hands (which was everyone in the class) and they tell them what they like about Olivia. It was so cute! I love this little girl. Things are changing, she is growing up. We are leaving behind a hard time in our relationship as we learn to communicate better to each other and get through challenges. I miss my cute chubby cheek and curly hair little girl but the little girl Olivia is growing into is amazing! She is beautiful inside and out. She is creative, smart, hard working, kind, a great leader, sweet, sincere, a good friend, and so loving! Im so grateful to be her mommy.

Dad came home early on Friday and we went to a park. The kids keep asking Michael to come home before the sun goes down and it makes me happy now that we have a few extra hours of sunlight each day!!

 We had some sneaky Leprechauns come visit out house! Olivia made a few traps and escaped! He turned our milk and toilet water green!! The kids were going crazy with excitement when they saw it! Since we had green milk our pancakes were green too!

 We tried to go visit the new Spheres at Amazon but we got there and found out they aren't open on the weekends. Michael took us up into his building to play some fun games to make the trip to Seattle worth it. The kids had fun running around his building.

 Ellanore is a fun little grocery shopping buddy when she has something to keep her busy. I made her some rings out of the bag ties and that had her entertained for a little bit.

 Our new favorite family game is Uno. The kids do really well playing it and we had a lot of fun for FHE!

 After a year with no batteries I finally put some in Walters Lighting McQueen car. He has been racing it around the house for the last 3 days. I love hearing him belly laugh all day!

 After school Olivia asked for a bowl of cereal. She has been really good at getting things for her self lately. Austin called me downstairs to see something and this is what I saw... haha!

 Beau and I have a complicated relationship. I love him and he is SOOO cute!! But not when he nips at me all the time. Its only me, not the kids and definitely not Michael! I bring out the playful side in him or something because the second I walk out of the room he snuggles Austin. I try to take advantage of calm moments late at night. He really is so cute!!

 Ellanore and Beau have a cute relationship. She pushes him around and tells him what to do all day.

 The girls have been in dress-up clothes since we came back from California. I love seeing them bounce around in my old dance costumes.

The rain has come back and Austin leaves this week so there is this gloom that is kinda hanging around. Lucky for us Grandma Woolley and Auntie Rachel will be here next week to help us transition into new life without Austin.