A Morales Minute

We had a luncheon today so the boys could experience a little fun with the house decorated since they weren't here to see the party. The girls liked being able to keep the decorations up longer. It made for a fun activity after church and a yummy lunch. 

Finally! We were able to have Lindsey's 16th birthday party. We do bigger parties for 8th, 12th, and 16th birthdays. Lindsey wanted to do a murder mystery dinner for her 16th birthday. I bought the party package and was feeling a little overwhelmed of how to do everything. I didn't quite understand how it worked. I kept putting off figuring out how to do it all and then the covid pandemic hit and everything shut down. Everyone was told to shelter in place for 6 weeks. Lindsey's birthday was smack dab in the middle of that. So no party celebration, no murder mystery dinner. Needless to say she was so bummed. While this pandemic still isn't over things have opened up a little and more people are willing to get together so we decided to go ahead and have Lindsey's party.  The boys went to stay at their Aunt Bel's house since she had the girls over a couple weeks prior. Having them gone made it work well for me. I was able to put all my focus on decorating for murde...

  Happy 17th birthday to my Lindsey girl! She rocks being her own self. She has a confidence about her that I admire. She loves family and friends to the fullest.  She's enjoyed having Olivia play softball this year. It's been so fun seeing them go off to practice then come home and laugh about their day. They had a great game today and Lindsey did a great job pitching. I liked cheering out to the birthday girl and letting people around know. This girl...she's something special.  After the game we went to Grandma and Grandpa Morales's house so they could give Lindsey her birthday gift. She got some fun gift cards!   Next stop was Grandma and Grandpa Naylor's house for dinner. But first, Lindsey gets to lick the whisk for homemade marshmallow creme.  Sundaes for dessert! Happy birthday Lindsey!

We're finally getting the patio done! The cover is about done. It's been a fun process to watch. With the kids having all their school via zoom while they're home it was kind of comical for them to have the construction background noise during their class. Sometimes the microphone would pick up the noise so they'd have to explain to the teacher what the noise was and turn the mic off. Now that the patio cover is about done the next crew has come in and ripped out the old concrete patio. He took a sledge hammer to the concrete to crack it and then used the tractor to rip up larger pieces and take it out.  While they were here we figured now is the time to have the front grass strip next to the driveway ripped out and paved because Jaime is wanting to get a truck and that'd be the new parking spot for it.  Time to pour the concrete  I went with a stamped and stained design rather than just brushed concrete. Helps to dress up the space and make it more of an outdoor li...

Jaime and Olivia are making cookies while watching a movie (I may have taste tested the dough...a few times :D ), Aidan is enjoying relaxing while he watches the movie, and  Tyler and Lindsey are playing catch. We generally don't play sports on Sunday but Lindsey was wanting to help Tyler out with working on catching his football. I appreciate her giving him some love and attention.  I loved seeing everyone having a good time today and doing things with one another after Jaime and I got back from our short getaway. It shows me that they can be ok and have a good time with one another while their parents are gone. I've been blessed with such great kids. Where it really matters they are helpful, responsible and kind to one another. I love it.   

Going to Coeur d'Alene resort is pretty much a tradition we do every year now. This time we went for just a short over night trip with Brandon and Sarah. We thought we would see how the kids did without us and not having someone stay with them. We left Friday afternoon and got back Saturday afternoon so the kids weren't alone that long. Lindsey and Olivia did a great job holding things down at home while we were away. We got to do a couple of firsts on this visit to the resort.  We had our first time eating at Beverly's at the resort. The food did not disappoint! It was all so good. Their orange rolls were yum! This was our first time renting an igloo to spend time in while visiting and having dessert. They only have them out during the winter and we were here the last week the igloos were up.  We stayed warm with the fireplace and heater that were in the igloo...and my blanket. :) We were served sparkling cider...they had to hunt one down since we said that we don't dr...

The girls had their first softball game. We're finally getting a few normal moments during this pandemic. This season still won't be a normal one. Less games and no playoffs but they're happy to get something.  Lindsey pitched and did a great job. She had some great plays and catches. This is Olivia's first year playing softball. She's enjoyed learning, loves her coaches, loves to play, and my favorite-- she enjoys playing with Lindsey.  They have a blast together. Look how much taller Olivia is!  

  Lindsey's first day of her Junior year in person! She only has two classes at the high school because of running start at CBC but she's happy to get some in person instruction. CBC is still all online. However, this means I get 2 hours of the day with no one else home! It's my time to finally get some cleaning done without it being undone as soon as I leave the room. :)