harry potter world!!!

*On Saturday the kids and I joined my dad for a hike. Kendall and I accompanied them about 1/4 of the way, then headed back to the car. My dad and Cam continued on for a few more hours.

After we parted ways, Kendall and I stopped at Starbucks since we needed to kill some time before the library opened. She loved her cotton candy frapp. :)

 

*This morning we are headed to Universal Studios!!! We are soooo excited. Normally Chris and I are terrible at keeping secrets from the kids and have never kept a secret for this long (we decided to go a couple months ago). Below is what they found, hidden in an Easter egg, buried in their cereal. The funny thing is that I have analyzed and analyzed about how I wanted to surprise them...only to then mix up the order of the papers...so they read the first one second. Oh, well. They are BEYOND excited and so are we!!! Harry Potter here we come!!!

39

*My 39th birthday was this past Tuesday. My sweet little Kendall surprised me with breakfast, complete with a diagram. On the menu was a cup layered with different cereals, topped with whipped cream, caramel, and chocolate chips. So cute!!

That night the four of us went out to dinner. Perfect night.

*Last week at work was very long. April is an extremely busy time for me as I'm assessing kids who are moving to kindergarten, but have higher levels of need to where we are trying to figure out the best placement for them (general education, special education class, a few support services, etc.). I've been having to work more from home than I have all year and will need to continue to through next week. I'm tired.

*Today the kids and I went up to Oak Glen. It had been far too long. We hiked the loop, then I rewarded them with apple cider floats. :)

 Kendall insisted on stopping at every nature sign so she could copy down the plant/flower it listed in her notebook. It was quite cute.

 

*A couple of weeks ago I met my friend, Jen, for dinner. I LOVED her birthday present for me. We were actually fortunate enough, back in the day, to see a live taping of, Saved by the Bell: College Years. We were huge fans!!

*I've started watching Madame Secretary when I ride the bike in the mornings. I'm really liking it.

shopping day

*Last weekend Chris and I got to go out to eat to celebrate a belated Valentines/anniversary and an early birthday for me. :) The kids were at a birthday party, so we headed to our favorite, The Cheesecake Factory. I had a FANTASTIC veggie burger with sweet potato fries.

*I had an Endoscopy on Thursday. Basically they put a scope/camera down my throat all the way to my stomach. I've been having flare ups of pain, difficulty swallowing, etc. for the past two years. They didn't find anything abnormal, which was nice to hear, yet also a tad frustrating because SOMETHING is causing those symptoms. 

*I've been having a lot of weird health stuff the past several months. As a result, I have been VERY non-active. Now that I'm feeling better, Cam and I put a hike on the calendar. I've been attempting to get ready by getting in some early morning bike rides before the kids get up.

*Cam is at a church event all day so I decided to take Kendall on a, "girls outing". We went shopping and out to lunch and I had so much fun with her. She has been begging to go to Justice and I told her I would treat her to a new shirt...which turned out to be a sequin pillow. ;)

*We've started a somewhat nightly tradition of letting the piggies out right before bedtime. Sounds not so thrilling, but we love it and get a kick out of watching them walk around. :)

sick, sick, sick

*Spring break came and went. I had been SO excited to have a week off with the kids. We had planned a two-night stay at the beach. All that went out the door the day after Cam got back from science camp. First he got sick, then Kendall, then I did. Mine lasted the longest and I wasn't normal for 14 days. Ugh.

For the first part of the sick bug the kids were up at Debbie and Wayne's. This was SOO helpful to me in that I could stay in bed all day long without needing to take care of anyone else. I'm incredibly grateful to Chris' mom, who not only took care of my kids, but Chris' dad as well since my kids got him sick too! :(

Here they are making pizza with grandma, which she sent back with them and is always so handy to have in my freezer.

We had to cancel our beach trip, which was so disappointing. Chris bypassed all the sickness, thankfully, and was able to do a few fun things with the kids since I was out of commission.

He took them to John's Incredible Pizza one day, which was the highlight of their break. :)

 

My dad took Cam on a bike ride one morning and Chris took Kendall and the quad girls to breakfast.

He took them out to the desert one day to a park and Sam's Club.

I forced myself to do a couple things with them even though I felt rather yucky. I just didn't want the break to pass with me in bed the ENTIRE time. Here we are having a picnic at a park.

*This week back at work was a busy and long one...but I honestly didn't mind too much because it was just so nice to feel like a human again.

*Today the kids are going to a birthday party. Can you tell I'm running low on gift bags? :)

 *We are now on the last Harry Potter book. I'm so sad just thinking we are nearing the end. My favorite times are reading to the kids. Luckily this one is a long one so I'm sure we won't finish until the summer. :)