Happy Mother's Day

This week was an incredibly busy week. First, since we hadn't done much the previous week due to Keira's illness, we had a lot of catch up work to do now that we were all healthy. We also had a lot of preparations that we needed to do for the weekend with a Primary Activity and Mother's Day.
Sunday (5/3/09) was Stake Conference, and it was a broadcast at the stake center. We were all shocked to learn upon our arrival that the satelite was not working, and they were working to try to at least get an audio. They were able to get the audio working about a half hour into it, and it ended a bit early, so it was an unusual stake conference, but it is always nice to be able to go to church with Kris and Linda. Afterwards, we joined them for a meal and enjoyed the pretty flowering trees. This photo and the one above at at Kris and Linda's.
Papa made Keira a paper crane that flapped it wings. She LOVED it, and here she was sitting it atop Soren's head. Fortunately, he didn't mind and it made for a cute photo.

Later in the day, I went to see my friend Melissa S in Milford with Soren. We had a good time catching up and her son Braden enjoyed having Soren visiting.

We also had some outdoor fun with bubbles that evening.

These are the trees in our neighborhood. They are so pretty right now, too bad they will make a huge crab apple mess later.



Monday was our first day of catching up with lots of errands. It was a beautiful day and we were able to enjoy a lot of fun in the yard.



Tuesday was Cinco de Mayo! We started off the morning with more errands but made time to get some lunch before the mad rush at Baha Fresh. We also enjoyed the beautiful weather. I felt like we were waiting for the rain all week long because it was forecasted but didn't come most days.



We also attended a twilight storytime at the library. Keira had a pretty good time, as well as Soren. He really seemed to enjoy it.


Finally, Keira had been asking to bike all day, and with the weather forecast not looking well for the rest of the week, I let her bike for a little bit before bed. She had the cutest smiles on her face the whole time.

On Wednesday, we started off the morning with a Presidency Meeting where I realized how much work I still had to do for our primary activity scheduled on Saturday. I was at least able to come up with a plan of attack, even though I didn't get much done for the activity today. Linda also helped us out by watching Keira and Soren at Maybury so that Ryan and I could get in a bike ride with Michelle S since the weather held out. This is our only picture from today. Soren looked so sweet asleep, I couldn't resist.

Thursday was a huge day for us, and the rain finally came so it was just as well that we needed to do indoor activities. We were able to hit a record breaking 4 stores in 2 hours that all required driving between them to get everything we needed for the Primary Activity. It could not have worked out more perfectly, and I know that the only reason this did work out so well was because I was doing church errands for the most part, and only squeezed in one thing that was just for us. It did help out that I chose to go to Commerce where all the stores I needed to go to are close to each other, and the industrial engineer in me made sure to plan out the store opening times with the errand length and perishability of the items. We hit Michaels, Home Depot, Costco, and Meijer all in that order! Once home, we did manage to have a bit of silly fun in the kitchen "getting" each other with oven mitts and fingers.


Soren required an outfit change, and I wanted to capture his rolly polly-ness. He is so cute and chubby!

Friday was a pretty fun day. We went to Storytime at the library and Linda joined us. We also went down to Block's to pick out our flowers for the patio. It is a haul, but it is worth it for the selection and prices. We went too late last year and missed out on everything because they sell out fast and then close down for the season. These are photos from the library. Keira was a bit shy today since we had a break and the class was pretty large and loud today.



Saturday was a super SUPER busy day. I started the morning at my primary activity. It went really well, and the weather managed to hold out for the duration. The highlight of the activity was that we were able to arrange to have a handcart similiar to what the pioneers used to cross the plains. The station that I prepared was pioneer games, and it was a hit as well. This was Keira's first primary activity that she actually was able to participate. Even though she isn't a Sunbeam yet, Elise and Lizzie from the presidency were also there. Below is a photo of Keira with Lizzie and her mom, Michelle L leading the demonstation of the handcart.
Keira and Elise are boarding the handcart.


This is one of the many games that I made for my station. Keira is supposed to be flipping a beanbag in the air and catching it on the opposite end of the stick.
Soren is just being cute as usual.

While I attended the primary activity, Ryan rode with Kent and the Wolverines and it was a challenging ride. We were fortunate that the weather held out the entire time of our activity and Ryan's ride. It started raining as I was leaving the church and Ryan was packing up his bike. I went on a 5 mile run in the rain and was joined by Valerie B for the middle portion. Before Keira's nap, she was so funny. She made the observation that I was wearing a "crown" in our wedding picture. It was pretty cute how excited she got. She is so into princesses right now. After naps, we went to Valerie and Kent's for Guitar Hero. We had a fun time hanging out with them and Keira and Soren had fun as well.

Sunday, today, was Mother's day. We started the day with a huge breakfast before church and then went to Kris and Linda's for dinner. We had a great dinner and did our present exchange. My mother has not yet received her gift, so I cannot divulge what we did for gifts or put up more photos (but I think I have plenty). Here our some of our purchases from Blocks earlier in the week. This is part of my mother's day present.
Keira was being helpful in tidying the patio. She was trying to escape the fence to get rid of the dead plants.

This picture of Soren reminds me of a photo of Keira in the tub.

Keira in tub, I think she is about 8 months old in this shot, so not too different from Soren.




Up for next week, we will be doing a photo session at JC Penny and I will be traveling with Keira and Soren to Westerville to visit with my parents.