Basement Progress

This month we got window treatments (roller shades) installed in our basement. We also got them put in on our main floor and replaced the ugly blinds we had. Slowly but surely we are finishing this basement of ours!

Kids

 March photo download of the 3 kiddos! They went to Joe and Becky's this month so that Russ and I could go out for our anniversary. Overall all 3 of them get along pretty well together. About as much as you can expect for siblings. Brooks fights with both of his siblings. Maybe it is the curse of being the middle child.

Brooks

Brooks has been very in to basketball as of late. He is outside shooting hoops in the snow every single day. He is also lifting weights to get stronger. Haha! He will frequently ask Russ if he is as tall as Shaq or if LeBron can dunk it on our hoop at home. He cracks us up!

Showing me his muscles

Shooting hoops with Dad

Tracing the letter T with a truck at preschool

Comp Soccer

Indoor soccer has officially ended for this comp team Hallie was asked to sub for. It was a challenge for her but she improved every week. It was good for her to not be the best on her soccer team, for once, and learn from her teammates. She learned what it looked like to be aggressive and is learning how to use her body to help her succeed. She has great field vision and had so many great passes to her teammates. She is fast and once she figures out how to sprint while dribbling the ball she will be really good. This comp coach, Parker, was fantastic and taught her so much. He kept saying "how much potential she has" and was so good to Hallie. Parker kept making sure that Hallie was planning on going to tryouts for the upcoming comp season (which she says she wants to tryout so we answered yes). This was a really great experience for her. She was challenged and there is room for improvement but the girls on the team weren't so far ahead of her that it wouldn't be attainable for her to reach their level. If she chooses to she could be really good at soccer. I am proud of her. She made an impression at a soccer camp about 6 months ago. When the director was asked who could sub for Parker's team Hallie's name was the first one mentioned. She is awesome and it is fun watching her grow her skills and natural talent. 

Happy Anniversary!

14 years!! FOURTEEN freaking years! Holy crap. That is a long time. I can't believe we have been married that long. Things haven't always been easy, especially each time we add another human into our family but I sure love my Russ and the life we have created together. We have literally been together for so long that I have about a million memories with Russ. The other day I saw a post that said, "Your spouse is the only person who has ever loved you for who you are. Your parents love you because you are their child. Your siblings love you because you are their sibling. Your children love you because you are their parent. Yet your spouse is on another level, they choose you. Don't take that relationship for granted." I will forever be grateful that Russ chose me and still chooses me. He is the only person that knows everything about me and still choose to love me. I will forever choose him and am excited to make a million more memories with him!

Homemade card to Russ and I from Hallie. She is always so thoughtful in this way. She makes something for everyone all the time. It is really cute!

Saying that something is in our "fav 5" is an inside joke of ours. So, it was really sweet to have him say I was his "fav 1." And I always LOVE his homemade cards!

I gave Russ some Dunder Mifflin stance socks. We have been huge fans of The Office for forever. We watch an episode or two pretty much every night before bed. 

I also had a bracelet made for him. On the inside it is written in Russ' moms own handwriting and from her own words taken from her journal, "Please remember how much I love you." 

The actual excerpt taken from her journal. Makes me tear up every time thinking of her writing this to Joe and her kids knowing that she would be passing away soon. 

Russ gave me a sweat tank. I really needed another one of these. I workout every single day and wearing 1 sweat tank for the whole week is really gross. I am also getting some treatments on my face to hopefully make my pigmentation a little more even. Pregnancy gave me some melasma that I'd like to get rid of. 

We luck out that some of our very best friends (who happen to be our neighbors) have their anniversary two days before us! We celebrated with them by going to dinner at The Cultivate and an escape room afterwards. 

We thought we were smarter then we were and picked to do the hardest escape room they had. Welp the escape room humbled us because we were not even close to escaping in the hour time frame they gave us to do so. It was all of our first times doing an escape room but I think next time we will have a better idea of what to expect and how to look for clues to solve the mystery. It was a blast anyways!

On our anniversary, Hallie (and Brooks) attempted to do a puzzle of the temple Russ and I got married in. They made us a little card and gave us a bowl full of sticks of gum that we had in our treat cupboard. Haha! It was really cute though. 

Happy Birthday Stockton!

We had a monster truck themed birthday party for our monster truck loving boy! His face when he saw the monster trucks decorations all around our house was priceless. We had his grandparents over for cake and ice cream and presents. They gave him some new clothes, a sports center toy, monster trucks and Russ and I gave him a monster truck backpack with a set of 12 trucks. He is always wanting to steal all of the trucks Brooks got for his birthday so it was time for him to get his own, even if they are replicates of what we already have. I think he had a great party and I sure loved celebrating him! Cutest two year old I know!!

New clothes from Grandma Becky and Grandpa Joe. He is oddly particular about the clothes he wears. I always find it funny that a two year old can have such a strong opinion about what he wants to wear. It was no surprise that shortly after cake and ice cream he was wanting to change into his new clothes.

Trucks Russ and I gave him

Setting up his trucks on one of Brooks' toys he got for his birthday

He then stood up all of his trucks