swimming lessons.

***before i officially start this post, i just want to say that this is my 500th post. holy smokes! when i started this bad boy, i never would've imagined i would write this many posts. but i did it! and, although a lot of what i write is pretty useless, i am excited to have it as a keepsake of these special years. so.. here is to 500 more!***

sportball ended last weekend.

it was a fun activity for the boys to be involved in.

each week they got to try playing a different sport.

soccer - football - tennis - golf - volleyball - baseball..

and, now that sportball is over, we have officially started our next activity.

swim lessons!

chet and holden (and me) are in swim lessons out at the okotoks swimming pool.

our first class was on wednesday, and it was a big success.

i was worried that 1 (or 2) of the boys would be nervous and it would complicate me getting them to their different classes at the exact same time.

but no one was nervous, and things went as smooth as ever.
infact, they didn't want to leave!
and the next morning, they woke up asking if that day was a swim lesson day too.

there were only 2 little problems.
(both of which were only problems for me.. my boys couldn't care less!)

problem number 1:
holden was approximately 4 times the size of everyone else in his class!

haha it was too funny.

while we were waiting for class to start, i saw all these moms coming in carrying babies in carseats and i was thinking to myself, "hmm i don't remember seeing a class offered for kids that small.. i must have missed it on the schedule."

well... i didn't.

those teeny tiny, squishy babies were actually there for the same class as holden - all 31 solid pounds of him!

oh well, holden and i rocked all the activities waaay better then the rest of the class.
(it helps when you can hold up your own head!)

and heck, it turned out to be an extra workout for me too.

 because it's a whole lot harder to toss a top-of-the-charts 2 year old in the air, then it is to toss a squishy 8 month old.

so we win.
(even though all the other moms are totally at home talking about my enormous child right now, dang it).
but, in my defense, holden is well within the age range for the class.
it's just a ridiculous age range is all: 6 months - 3 years.
the person who designed the class has obviously never had a kid!

problem number 2:
swimming pool locker rooms honestly make my stomach turn.
i can't handle them.
i want to hurl as i watch my boys carelessly walking through puddles of hairballs and toe lint.
i turn into such a mean person when i'm in those repulsively, skeevy things.
and i feel dirty for days after leaving them.

anywho..
this past week has been crazy busy. so much to do.
i am thrilled it is the weekend!
it has been so nice to hang with my 3 favorite boys.
and - go figure - we spent our saturday afternoon swimming!

{this is the only picture i took of either of the boys at sportball.
chet is showing off his ribbon.}

family day.

yesterday, for family day, we drove out to bragg creek for a family 'adventure'.

we knew chet wouldn't be nearly as excited to go on a walk or a hike, so we strategically called it an adventure.

and it worked like a charm.

it was snowy and cold, but it was pretty.

and it was nice to be outside.

we walked in the trees and along the river.

i preferred being in the trees because it felt warmer, but all the boys liked being down by the river because they liked trying to break big chunks of ice off the riverbank and watch them float away.

boys..

our valentines festivities.

on wednesday, we had a valentines party with all of chet's joy school friends (and a bunch of their siblings, including mr. holden).

the kids played games, made mailboxes, delivered valentines in said mailboxes, and ran around like a bunch of crazies.

on thursday, matt and i took the boys out on dates.

matt took holden to a toy store and out for frozen yogurt.

when he came home, you could tell he felt very special.

i took chet ice skating.

chet has been asking to go ice skating for months, and i have been procrastinating taking him because i knew it would be hard for him, and chet prefers when he is good at things!

but we went for it.

we drove to the indoor skating rink, paid to get in, paid to rent skates, tied up our nasty rental skates (oh man, i forgot how much work that is!), and headed to the ice... where it took of all 4 seconds for chet to end up laying flat on his back on the ice.

and then he wanted to go home.

but, i managed to convince him to give it a few more (dozen) tries before giving up.

it took us about an hour to do 3 laps around the rink - i guess that was to be expected with a mom who hasn't skated in years, a boy who has never skated, and the fact that we stopped for breaks at every penalty box and team bench!

i'm not sure if he will be asking to go skating again anytime soon, but he still enjoyed being on a date.

i loved spending time with him too, and that it gave me a chance to talk to him about how you have to practice things to get good at them - because everyone sucks at skating their first time (don't worry, i chose more toddler-friendly words), but the people that don't give up, and practice often, are the ones who excel.

on friday, matt and i went on a date.

we had accumulated a few gift cards to the keg, and were excited to use those.

but then when we got to the restaurant, we were told it was a 75 minute wait!

ugh. 

we waited it out - and the tasty dinner was worth the wait.

plus, we went shopping while we waited and i got new running shoes!

it was a fun night. but that's not especially shocking - i love going on dates with that boy.

on saturday, we made valentines crafts and decorated grandma maralyn's door with them.

and we spent some time hanging with grandpa larry.

i am such a lucky girl to have 3 handsome boys in my life. i love them to bits.

... and that this winter has been somewhat kind to me.

our boys were puddle jumping again this weekend!

missionaries.

matt and i were in the student phase of life for several years of our marriage.

so it felt like we never really had any outstanding financial goals - other then the obvious 'stay out of student debt' one.

now that we are out in the real world, and making money, we have set financial goals that are exciting to try to achieve.

especially for goal-oriented me.

i have never really struggled with paying tithing.

i grew up watching my parents faithfully pay tithing, and have never had a hard time following their example.

but a while back, i had forgotten to pay ours for longer then usual, and it kinda hurt to pay it.
not to the point that i thought not to, but just to the point that it made me stop and think about what i was doing.

i paid it.
i knew doing so would be a blessing, but was not expecting anything especially notable to happen.

and then almost instantly i saw a blessing. it was crazy.

i knew, without a doubt, my Heavenly Father was showing me that i don't need to worry - He's got it all under control.

i am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves and watches over me.
and who blesses our family with so much.

speaking of money, i picked up a new little job at the start of the year.

i am now:

1. (and most importantly) a wife & mom extraordinaire.

2. a part time receptionist at an orthodontic office.

3. the official cook for the calgary mission home :)

haha cooking is not something i love, or am particularly good at, but i applied for the job and got it.

so every few weeks, i am in charge of making a meal for groups of missionaries, ranging from 10-50.

sometimes they are for missionaries arriving to the mission, sometimes for those leaving, and sometimes for a zone conference.

i think it will be a good opportunity for me learn new skills, and i also think it is good for chet and holden.

i take them along with me so they get to be my helpers and learn to serve others.

this week, they even looked like little missionaries.
pretty cute ones, i might add :)

little tent.

chet and holden played in this tent for hours this afternoon.

literally, in the tent for hours.
and, in case you can't tell from the picture, it's a small tent! haha

my favorite part was listening to their conversation.

they always interact with each other differently when they think i can't hear - in a good way.
and, little did they know, i could hear everything!