Spring Break Fun

Last week was spring break week, so that meant that the kids didn't have school on Monday or Wednesday, and we also didn't have any homeschooling assignments to do on the other days. Our normal evening activities were cancelled too- no Wednesday night church, and David didn't have to teach karate on Monday and Thursday. So, we were looking at a week with very little on the calendar. I was excited about it... until I saw the weather forecast and realized that it was going to rain every. single. day. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we weren't going to see the sun AT ALL. My visions of spending time at the park and in the backyard and evenings outside and going on walks went out the window, and I realized that we might be in for a LONG week stuck inside.

We ended up having a really good week, though! We managed to find things to fill up our time and get us out of the house. And I enjoyed my time with the kids at home without anything that we had to get done. Because we homeschool three days a week, I get a lot of time with my kids anyway (which I LOVE and is a big reason why we've chosen this schooling format for our family), but usually we have school work to get done on our days at home. I really do enjoy schooling my kids (especially Aubrey... we aren't doing a ton with Jude since he's still in preschool) because it gives our days some structure, which is nice. I'm also pretty goal oriented so it works well for me to have assignments that I know I need to complete each day. But it is something that we have hanging over our heads everyday in a sense, and it was just really nice to not have anything that we HAD to get done all week. It made me really look forward to summer break. 

Here are a few highlights from our spring break week: 

Our adoption case worker came for our second post placement visit on Monday afternoon. Our agency has to complete three post placement visits before we can finalize our adoption. Our case worker just comes over and visits with us and sees how Francie and the rest of us are adjusting. I think it was pretty clear to her that we're head over heels in love with Francie and we're adjusting just fine :) In about three months, she'll come one more time and then hopefully we'll be able to finalize this adoption! Right now our adoption attorney is working on something that will get rid of the "legal risk" associated with our adoption, and after that we'll be able to post pictures of Francie! I'm hoping that will happen in the next couple of weeks. I cannot wait to be able to share pictures of our sweet girl! After our case worker left, we went out to dinner. We ate at Beagle Bagel which is one of my favorite lunch places. It's nice to go at night because it's never crowded for dinner. 

We had a low-key day on Tuesday. We stayed home and I got some cleaning done. The kids watched movies and played all day. I was glad to have Bunco that night. Even though we had a good day at home, it's always nice to get out after being at home all day. We had Bunco at my friend Megan's house, and it was so much fun! I even won a prize for least games won. Haha!

Jude had been desperately needing a haircut, so my mom said that she'd meet me on Wednesday to help with the other kids. My dad and brother ended up coming too. I had to laugh as we walked in with our entourage. I was thinking, "How many adults does it take to get a kid's hair cut?" Apparently quite a few ;) Aubrey went first and got a trim. I'd been trying to convince her to get her hair bobbed again for the summer. I think her hair looks SO cute shorter. She wasn't having it, though. She likes it LOOONG. I did insist on a little trim, and she was ok with that :) Jude was up next. He had been talking about wanting a haircut because his hair was in his eyes and bothering him, so I was hopeful that it would go well since he was on board with the haircut. When he finally sat in the chair to actually get the hair cut, he FREAKED out. He's been nervous about haircuts the last several times we've gotten it cut, and it seems to just get worse every time. I could just tell that he was really scared and anxious about the whole thing. The girl who was going to cut his hair said that if he started "turning red" she couldn't do it because she's had three kids throw up on her. Alrighty then. I didn't think we were going to be able to do it for a while, but between my mom telling Jude that we could go to Target for a treat afterwards and games on my brother's phone, we got him calmed down. He was still tense the whole time, but we managed to get the hair cut. It's shorter than we usually go, but I think he looks so cute and grown up! After the haircuts and a trip to Target, we ate lunch with my family at Corner Bakery. Fun day!

Looking pretty after her trim :)

He wouldn't pause in the coloring for a picture of his haircut. And um, we're still working on that grip :-/

Sweet girl snuggled up to Bop Bop.

So after nap time, I went to get Jude and he had a big wad of gum in his hair. Ughhh! He said he didn't like his haircut, so he just put the gum in his hair. Little stinker! Thankfully, we were able to get it out with some coconut oil. But no more gum for Jude for a long time. 

We didn't have any big plans on Thursday, so David offered to take us to lunch. We don't go to lunch with David often, but we should do it more. It was fun! We ate at Schlotshzy's. 

The kids got a cookie with their meals, and they all shared a bit with me. The huge piece was what Alaina gave me. It was literally half of her cookie. This perfectly demonstrates what I was talking about in her birthday letter when I said that she's a really generous child. Sweet girl :)

That afternoon, I straightened up the house because we were having friends over that night. Our friends the Logans came over for dinner, and we ordered pizza. They have three little girls, so between their kids and our girls, Jude was HUGELY outnumbered. We heard a lot of, "Jude is growling at us!" or "Jude pulled my hair!" Poor guy needs another rough little boy to play with. Haha! We had a great time with our friends, though!

We had another low-key day on Friday, which was nice after a somewhat busy week. That night we went out for Chinese food.

Before we left for dinner, Aubrey lost her FIFTH tooth. They're falling out left and right!  

Alaina wore her hair in "Anna braids" for two days (see previous pics), and when we finally took them down, her hair was super crimpy and wild :)

David and I watched a movie that night after the kids went to bed.

On Saturday morning, we went out for brunch- we've kind of made that our norm on Saturday mornings lately. When we got home, we did some yard work. It was a little overcast and even drizzly at times, but we were determined to get outside for a little while. We pulled weeds, which was much overdue. The kids loved picking up the weeds that we pulled up and putting them a bag. I loved that they enjoyed that so much. Haha! I can't wait to plant some flowers in a few weeks! The rest of our day was uneventful but good :)

I'm thankful to have had such a good week when I was worried going into it that it would be rough. We're ready to jump back into our normal routine now, but I've gotten a taste of what life might look like this summer with my four kiddos at home full time. And I like it :)