The Pirate Party (a.k.a. Captain Ryder Rae is three!)

On Saturday our baby boy turned three.  We just can't believe how fast time goes by.

Before the party, we had our birthday doughnuts on his special birthday plate.

 His grandi and papa spent the night so they got to be with us to start the day of celebration!

Our little captain:

and his first mate:

It was a perfect day celebrating our son.  We had a scavenger hunt that ended with a treasure chest piñata and lots of candy.  There was sword fighting and dressing up and lots of laughter.  Ryder is still talking about how much fun he had and when we could do it again... We count that as a success.

Our friends Alex took pictures for us and made a little video.  He captured the day perfectly!

ryder's 3rd birthday from Alexander T. Pavone on Vimeo.

Some more pictures:

I am so thankful for the memories that were created that day!

party time

Tomorrow my little man turns three years old.  I just can't believe how fast it goes...

We are getting ready to celebrate big time with our family!

I have been collecting and making stuff for months:

We are having things for people to dress like pirates, go on a scavenger hunt and find treasure...

Ryder is so excited about his pirate party!

I can't wait to celebrate our little man!

Have a great weekend my friends♥.

odds and ends

Here are a few little things that have been going on around here:
We have been going back and forth to ouor peditricians office tryiong to figure out when Eden is teething and when she has an ear infection.  Three out of the four visits in the last few months have been for teething.  So of course when she actually has an ear infection, I write it off as teething.  I feel like I just can't win with it.  I am so happy that she got the medicine she needed and has been back to her old self.
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We picked up Eden's first year birthday plate that we made a few weeks ago.  

I love how it came out!  It's bright and cheery and yellow and gray will always remind me of Eden!

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Ryder is increasingly more and more fascinated with the camera and taking pictures.  He doesn't like to be in them because he wants to stand with whoever is taking the photo to see the picture.

I wonder where he gets it?

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Ryder's Uncle Andrew and Aunt Mal hooked him up with his sweet ride.  He LOVES it and wants to be in it every chance that he gets!

When he isn't riding in his carseat in the big car, he is cruising our street in his car, giving all the neighborhood kids a ride. It is so cute! 

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My Eden Marie weaned herself from nursing at 13 months exactly.  I was really excited to hit the one year mark and to not have ANY trouble this time around with breastfeeding.  I am not going to lie to you though, I think we were both ready to be done.

Speaking of my Eden Marie, here is what she is up to if left unattended for more than two seconds:

She has recently learned how to wave good bye and hello and to blow kisses.  I makes Kit and I melt every time!  She is a pistol.  She is going to give us a run for our money, which my mom loves to gently remind me that it's only fair since that's exactly what I did to my parents.

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Our new favorite book is "Brown Bear, Brown bear, What Do You See?" by Bill Martin and Eric Carle.  

We learned the song through his speech therapist and Ryder LOVES it.  It is probably the most requested book right now.

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We booked our weekend away to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary!  I am so excited!  

We are heading up to Napa Valley and staying in Calistoga at an incredible resort.  

I can not wait!  My parents are going to be with the kiddos and I know that I will hardly be missed.  (It will be my first time away from Eden and my first two night away from Ryder.  It will be a great chance to get away and relax!

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So those are just a few of the little things that are going on in our neck of the woods.  I hope that you have a great day, my friends!

my favorite go-to recipe: taco salad

I was realizing that I have been making this dinner a whole lot lately and the family LOVES it and it's filling and pretty good for you too, so I thought I would pass it along.  (Hey, Food Network will not be asking for the recipen or anything because it's super basic, but it just might be right up your alley.)

The best thing about this recipe is that I always have the main ingredients on hand at all times, so I can make it pretty much any time.

I just brown ground turkey, with taco seasoning:

I heat a can of our favorite beans (we use pinto or black bean)

Then we serve the turkey and beans on romaine lettuce and then we top it with tomatoes, avocados, grated cheese, green onions, and salsa. (Sour cream is really tasty too if you have it.)  We will top it with a few crumbled tortilla chips for some additional crunch.

The kids LOVE the turkey and beans and can't get enough of the avocados.  This will definitely be one of those recipes that the kiddos remember from their childhood! It's so easy and the family loves it.  Those two factors make it a winner to me♥.
Did I mention that Eden loves this dinner!?

Also, if you need any help with kitchen organization, Eden Marie is your girl!

creating: framing life verses

Ever since we chose Eden's verse for her dedication celebration, I have been wanting to have it printed up and put on one of her walls.  I found this print through ETSY at Fancy That Design House and it was just perfect, i ordered one for both Kid's rooms.  

(Zephaniah 3:17 is the verse we chose for Rdyer as well).

So here is where we ended up placing them:

In Ryder's room (before):

(after):

Eden's room (before):

(after):

 I glued some of my grandma's vintage yellow buttons on the clothespins for fun and I loved how they look.

I literally read this verse out loud multiple times a day and my hope is that it's a blessing to both of our babies...

Easter recap!

We had the best time this weekend celebrating Easter.  Here were some of the highlights:

On Saturday, we took the entire day as a family day.  We colored eggs, did an easter egg hunt, made a basket of goodies for the kiddos, enjoyed lots of good food together and spent lots of time in the beautiful sunshine!

Coloring eggs:

(Eden was down for her morning nap so Ryder had free reign and our full attention.  He was in heaven!)

Enjoying the sunshine and egg hunt:

(The daisy basket that Ryder was using was from the first easter basket I put together for Kit when we were first married.  I'm sentimental and it's sweet to see it used over a decade later...)

The easter egg hunt ended in his room where we hid his basket:

(I was so excited for him to see it! 
It was really fun to put together.)

 He loved it!

The glasses were a huge hit!

(Well, maybe not as much for Eden♥)

On Sunday we went to church.  It was incredible!

Eden was definitely ready for a nap.  Can you tell?

After we went home and everyone rested.  We hung out with our friends and community from church.

It was so fun to be together!

I hope that you had a wonderful weekend getting to celebrate Easter with people that you love.

HE IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!