Mother's Day recap 2016

Mother's day brought such sweetness to my heart.  I woke up to the kids showering me with home made gifts and beautiful flowers.  

They had made their Mother's Day video of questions and we watched together while I woke up with a cup of coffee.

Ryder pulled out a gift that he had made in school:

The sweetest thing about this gift was that it was sent home on Friday afternoon, after the kids had been working on it over the last week.  Before we got home on Friday from school, I was instructed that I could not go into his backpack, that there was something REALLY special that he needed to hide and then asked me for ideas on where to hide it.  After I gave him some ideas of places, I was asked to wait in the garage while he hid it.

He came out with a huge smile and said

"You have to wait until Mother's Day, but I promise you will LOVE it!"

I absolutely did...

Then we headed to church:

 Eden made this for me in her class:

 And there was a card making station where Ryder made me this:

While Kit worked at the second  church service, the kids and I went to lunch:

After which Eden took a nap and Ryder and I played catch in the backyard for close to an hour.

 dusting of my junior high mit...

Ryder could not have been sweeter with how he was "coaching" me on my throws and catches...

I asked if I could be on his team and he said I would make a better coach...
Kit made dinner:

 And the kids tolerated some pictures for me...❤︎

We ate like kings:

The day was so full of thoughtfulness and love and I walked away with a grateful heart for this gift of motherhood!

Mother's Day 2016

Green Eggs!

Last week, one of chickens started laying eggs that were GREEN!  When Ryder and I saw them, we were unglued with excitement!  That told us two things:

1. All four chickens are now laying eggs which means that

2. We for SURE do not have any roosters!

I really had no idea how fun it would be to have fresh eggs!

The other day, Ryder and I happened to see one of the chickens actually LAYING the egg because of how she was perched in the roost...  It was fascinating!

Magnolia Tree Park

Eden and I were able to check another park off of our Tustin list...

This one was very fun, and very similar to Laurel Glen Park.  Eden and I had been having a hard day communicating and getting frustrated with each other and so getting outside was exactly what we needed...  It also was perfect because it was right down the street from our house so we brought our lunch and then headed home for naps. It made for a really nice outing for the two of us to turn our day around.❤︎

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"She is delightfully chaotic; a beautiful mess.  Loving her is a splendid  adventure!"

~Steve Maraboli~

Thrift store for the win!

I REALLY enjoy thrifting but I realized that I really don't take the kids with me when I go.  I am realizing more and more that Eden makes the perfect buddy for some of these outings and we end up having such a fun time doing something special together.

We hit up a Savers last week and found some fun treasures!

 Our loot:

~a Calvin and Hobbes comic book (it was my favorite comic strip growing up and found one for 99cents!)

~Thick pink Target legging pants for Eden

~Two glass Hobnail jars for our mantel and our coffee table

~A milk glass dish for Eden's rings (That matches one I have for my jewelry.  She was so cute how she was excited to match...❤︎)

~And a cardboard/magnet dress toy set for Eden

The paper doll set was a HUGE hit!

I am excited to do this more with my kiddos and see what other treasures we can find to enjoy!

Big Bear 2016!

This weekend we went to Big Bear to celebrate time with our close friends from college.  They are our people, the ones that you pick up right where you left off.  The ones that could never be out of your life because the history that we have ties us in such a beautiful connection of community and love.  Here were some little highlights of our trip!
The Cabin:

Heading for dinner once we got there to one of our tasty traditions:

 We were a little hungry...

The kids went nuts getting together for the whole weekend!
From meals and out door time, to dance parties, wrestling, games, and movies... these kids laughed and played like siblings...

Out door time...
We rode bikes and played baseball by the lake...

 

The next day we woke up to snow!

 

The girls headed for our annual thrifting and coffee time:

 These guys are pretty amazing!

But this guy...

Trying to get the kiddos in one picture...

The family time that this trip allowed us to have was such a gift!

Sweet friends~ 

We love you all so much!

We can't wait for the next time that we all get to be together!