pheasants

On Presidents Day, Kit got to do his first pheasant hunt with our friend Garret from church and they just had such an incredible time!

He got two pheasants and a chucker.

He had a great time and he is looking forward to the next adventure.

(I'm looking forward to the tastiness that he is going to create for an upcoming dinner!♥)

highlights from our weekend

We had a very full weekend, that was full of connection and making little memories together.

We took the kids to one of our favorite food spots, Taco Mesa in Costa Mesa.  

Their blackened chicken tacos are just the best!

We are so thankful that this man is HOME!

We attended a marriage conference held by our church where the speaker, Dan Allender gave such incredible challenges and words of wisdom through scripture with humility and vulnerability.  

If you ever have a chance to read his books or to hear him speak, please do it.  You will not regret it.

I am just so in love with this man!  

I really love that the story that the Lord has for me includes "us", that we are team that lives life together, that fights for each other and that calls out the best that that person can be.  We are better and stronger and healthier together than we are apart and I am thankful that this man leads our family the way that he does.♥
While we were at the conference, the kiddos were with their Mia and Papa visiting my Grandma Marie.

After the conference, we grabbed some tasty lunch before heading home:

And then we came home to these sweet faces:

I just can't even stand it!
We are in such a busy season with Easter coming and to have a weekend that was so full of good things was something we were prepared to welcome!

weird confession

I have  a really weird confession: I love to mow our lawn.  I love the smell of fresh cut grass, it makes the house look so much better, and most importantly, it's a way that I feel I can help Kit.  I feel like I appreciate our yard and what we have so much more and I also feel like I have really accomplished something for our home!

Oh my Toro...

  One of the best parts is that the kids love to be outside and "help" me with yard work.  Here is one of the cutest gardeners you will ever see:

 So determined!

I just love this face so much!

Thanks Eden for all your help!♥

thrifty ice cream for the win!

While Kit was gone, we went and got Thrifty's ice cream right after breakfast.  Yep! Kit had been gone 6 days at that point, I was on a total weary mode and had promised them a sweet treat the day before...

 They chose strawberry and I felt totally justified that it was a fruit flavor.

Whatever helps me sleep at night, right?♥

 They can't wait to have "ice cream for breakfast" again very soon!

it led to some very happy campers:

By the way, having Kit home is just the best!

 Can't get enough snuggles and I can't stop laughing at Eden's face in this photo:

The "crazy eyes" say that she is not letting her dad go on any long trips any time soon...♥

Creating spaces

I recently tackled a little corner of our house that I have been playing with in my mind since we moved in almost 10 months ago.

So I found this table at a wholesale warehouse:

 This purchase catapulted me into wanting to finish this space.

Note: this was the first time that Eden had come with me NOT being in a baby carrier and her mind was BLOWN!

She did not want to to leave these bears!

I found this lamp on clearance at HomeGoods:

 I made it my own:

 And here is the finished corner:

The space provides a really nice light in the evening and has given the entry way so much more warmth!

I absolutely love where we live.  There have been SO many projects, large and small, and it's funny how with each one, the house feels more like us, and like ours.  

Our House: Our entry way stair reveal!

While Kit was in India, we decided that since we would be staying with family and having a more flexible schedule anyway, we would have our stairs refinished.  We talked about our stair project here. So this is where we left it:

Oh goodness did it need help.

After researching stair refinishers in the area, we met a contractor named Daryl who has been doing these types of projects for 35+ years.  He is amazing! 

We stayed away to be out of his hair, so I don't have any photos of the project, but man are we excited about the final product!

We are still figuring out what we want to do with the railing, but the stairs make such huge difference to the entry way of our home!  I can't stop looking at them...♥

Our preschool Trike-A-Thon

This last friday our preschool held a trike-a-thon fundraiser to update our schools playground equipment.  Ryder did so great!

I can't even tell you how old he looked.

He did AMAZING!

 All the kids got medals and there were snacks and high fives when everyone was finished:

I am so sad that Kit wasn't able to be there, but man does this kid have his dad's genes!

Note: Ryder has a bigger bike that he usually rides but he told me he feels faster on this bike since it's like his dad's.

(Kit's bike is a Specialized...)

I was not going to argue with sound logic like that!♥