Spring has sprung

It has been a busy Florida winter! I always expect life to slow down after Christmas, but somehow it doesn't?? Here's my quarterly recap on life!

Squeezing in some 2023 pictures. Russell's first 3D print! There have been oh so many more since then. They are loving it! The boys are also selling items at school and have made a decent profit. :)

End of Christmas break fun with friends.

Trampoline park with friends. I couldn't slow down the other 3 for a photo. Ana had a blast on her first visit.

Running errands with the whole crew before they went back to school.

We went swimming with manatees! In retrospect, it would have been better to leave Caroline behind- she was pretty scared the whole time and didn't last long in the water. But, it was a really cool experience for the rest of us. We were so close to so many manatees. The boys loved it and just had to quit when they were shivering too much from the 70 degree water!

We did some December strawberry picking.

Happy New Year!! We had our usual fried food frenzy. We even did fried ice cream this year!

Ana turned 2!

A few of her favorite gifts:

Our 2 January babies! They have a special bond.

Thomas had a great 8th birthday! Ever the foodie, he requested steak and scallops for his birthday dinner.

I dropped the pan of brownies I made for his birthday party, so they became...

brownie truffles! It took forever, but the kids did love them.

I'm a terrible party photographer and only snapped one photo! But we did his party at the park this year and it was perfect! Beautiful weather and the kids just entertained themselves for 2 hours. Happy birthday Thomas!

A friend brought over birthday treats :)

One of his bday gifts was a sushi date with mom and dad. He loves sushi and can eat quite a lot!

A favorite birthday present: new pens!

100 days of school! Caroline's responses are priceless.

Grandma Caroline

The boys' grades did decades day for the 100th day of school. They love their 70s glasses.

Book character day. The school dress up days are never-ending!

Twin day! Caroline got to twin with her teacher/class, but Ana ended up wanting to wear her jacket for the photo so they kind of twin too.

We are still enjoying gardening! Ricardo planted passion fruit vine at the base of the treehouse so it will eventually wind around the whole thing. It's growing pretty fast already!

First starfruit crop!

Ana is a pretty good helper too.

They started construction on our pool! It's almost done now and it's been fun for the whole family to see the progress.

I've been extra busy the last few months because I've been practicing for the Easter Lamb of God production coming up very soon! There have been a lot of formal practices and also practicing at home. Ana noticed me writing notes on my music and has taken it upon herself to write notes on plenty of other music since then. Little kids definitely watch your every move! Also, I think she might be left-handed.

Caroline had some friends over one Friday night since her brothers got to attend a school event that she was too young for. She planned it all out and they did karaoke and had a blast. At one point they were all upstairs in her room listening to her favorite KidzBop radio, and I caught a glimpse of her teenage years.

Dinner in the treehouse!

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a fun day with lots of sweet treats, time at the park, and then Ricardo and I had our fondue at night when the kids were in bed. The best part was the letter Russell wrote to Thomas to try to get him to stop fighting with Caroline. So many lessons learned having siblings!

My parents were able to come home for a brief transatlantic visit in February. We were able to keep it a secret from the kids and they were very surprised. The boys were a little confused at first and almost seemed to think my parents might get in trouble for coming home during their mission. Caroline assumed they just missed her and came to see her. :) Ana seemed to remember them and was so cute with them.

German treats!

My brother and his wife got sealed in the temple (part of the reason for my parents coming home). It was great to be there for them!

Thomas was baptized the next day. He was so excited and it was a really special day.

Lots of cookies made to celebrate!

February was busy with lots of extracurricular activity and competitions! First, the boys competed in a piano competition. They did well and had fun learning some cool songs.

They also competed in Odyssey of the Mind (Ricardo was the coach). They built a complicated car over the past few months. It was a lot of hard work! I am so impressed with what they were able to figure out all on their own.

Other random snapshots of life. Playing queens and asking their servant (me of course) for all kinds of food.

Helping big brother with the dishes.

Fun playdate with friends on a day off school.

Having lunch with Russell at school. He was helping her throw out the garbage-one of her favorite pastimes.

Saturday morning fun!

All four playing together before school.

Roller skating field trip!

Exploring one of our favorite Florida parks on another day off from school.

Ana started climbing out of her crib in January. We've never had to deal with this particular toddler issue before! It's been rough at times getting her to sleep, so she has been sleep deprived a lot the past few months.