Lately in the Bjorkhood

I've been a blog slackin'. 4 weeks is for sure my record. But never fear, I couldn't possibly deprive you of the play-by-play of a whole month's worth of our ever so exciting lives. I wouldn't do that to you.

Therefore, I give you a summary of the haps in the Bjorkhood....

Tom was working too many hours for anybody's liking so we surprised him at his office one day for a quick 20 minute lunch and chair spins.

We followed it up with a visit to the mall for a much anticipated train ride. We spent almost 4 hours there just walking around and playing to pass some daddy/hubbyless time.
My friend, Penny, hosted a girls' night for my birthday. I was even serenaded a couple times. (I don't think either of these girls read my blog so hopefully I'm safe posting these pics.) This is the time the girls' night ended. I got home right as Tom was waking up for Seminary. I threw up after the whole half hour of sleep I got before Everett woke up. (The closest I'll ever get to a hangover, I'm sure. My body apparently can't handle that little of sleep anymore.) P.S. It was totally worth it.
Speaking of birthdays, Tom and I actually did not go out for Tikka Masala. Gasp! We went to Macaroni Grill. Tom thinks I must be going through a mid-life crisis, but really it was just close to the movie theater where I wanted to go afterwards. Old age is making me practical. (Wait, scratch that...I just stayed up 'til 4:30 a few nights before.)

And speaking of dates, Tom and I went on a really fun one (not our creative monthly one). It was a Living Social Deal---outdoor ice skating and frozen yogurt. It was ffffrrreeeezzing and we were absolutely terrible, but it was hilarious and oddly romantic.

The girls started gymnastics again and they absolutely love it! Our attendance has been a bit sketchy from being out town, but luckily the girls have no concept of time and haven't noticed.
We said good-bye to our good friends, the Mollers. We are not happy about this. They were pretty much our first friends when we moved here 7+ years ago. We will miss them dearly! We threw them a going away party along with some of the world's most fun people. I almost peed my pants several times.
A leprechaun visited our house for St. Patrick's Day. Seriously, where have I been?! This was all new to me this year. Reese came home one day from her friend Sadie's house all excited about the leprechaun trap she was going to make. They had it all planned out---hers and Sadie's leprechauns were "going to have sleepovers and play-dates" once they caught them. Unfortunately both leprechauns barely escaped these clever traps. Darn! Maybe next year!
Reese started reading lessons and has really taken off. We started this book last summer, but she lost interest pretty quickly. I had zero desire to push her since she was only 4 so we made the plan to revisit it this coming summer. But she woke up one morning last month begging to start again. What a difference it has made to wait until she was ready. She often asks for several lessons a day and is now picking up on it so quickly!

The kiddos have been lovin' life outside now that the weather is nice. One afternoon when we were out, I asked Claire to keep Everett safe while I grabbed something out of the garage. I walked back to this cute little scene. (They were quite mesmerised with the garbage man driving by.)
The kids and I visited my family in Vegas for 2 weeks (more on that later, hopefully). We were only supposed to be their for one week, but Tom's car officially kicked the bucket while we were gone so we extended our stay so I could shop the Vegas car market while Tom looked up here.
After 2 1/2 weeks of researching, scouring craigslist, dealing with the world's most obnoxious car salespeople, then feeling like my head was going to explode from all the frustration, we finally found something that worked for us. It's a 2009 Honda Odyssey and I really quite love it! This was definitely earlier than we had been planning on (it always is), but you gotta do what you gotta do. I was dead set on either a Sienna or an Odyssey, and in the end this is the one that won out. Really just because of right place, right time, right price.....although I am a bit fearful of being disowned by my Sienna owning family (4 out of 4 of my van owning siblings have Siennas) .
Other than that, we've done a bit of Pinteresting (marble race track with pool noodles)
And the rest of my time has been spent wrestling Everett for diaper changes and chasing him around helping him not die. (He's going for the marbles in the picture above!)

And that, my friends, is a taste of life in the Bjorkhood!