Things that have made me smile lately

I don't care who you are... there are some days as a stay at home mom where you are looking out the window ready for your husband to be home.  You know what I mean... disciplining all day, headache, no shower... you get the picture.  Well... I had one of those this week and Ben took us to the T-Rex restaurant for dinner.  It is quite a treat and the kids loved it.  There are dinosaurs all over this place and many things to ooo and ahhh over.  In this first picture you get some of the reactions to it.  Zeke was saying in his little raspy voice "Oh MAN" and Gwen was saying "amazing".

After the restaurant we visited the fountain.  I did not want them to get all wet, but Ben encouraged me to just let them be kids... so I did.  And they had a ball.

We recently redid the kid's bathroom which included knocking down popcorn ceiling, painting, painting all woodwork and trim, new hardware, ect.

Snagged these for free from my neighbor when they didn't sell at the garage sale.

Yesterday I thought I'd let the kids paint in the bath.  This was all fine and good until I got a phone call and while I was on the phone they painted their hair, inside their ears and in their cracks.  I was... um... not impressed.

We used leftover cardboard to make a doll house.  Here they are painting it.

My herbs this year.  Dill, thyme, oregano and grapefruit mint.

Basil and some cacti.

Chives

One baby broccoli in our garden.

The caterpillars were getting into the garden and I diligently picked them off.  I think they have moved on.

I have made many clippings from our rose bush this spring.  It's lovely.

Tomatoes

My new two planters.  Now I just have to fill them with dirt and plants.

My girl.  Today I caught a glimpse of her and thought "gee whiz, you look like me!"  Honestly, she acts like me too a lot.

My boy.  He does everything Gwen does and loves telling me what "role" I'm playing.  He'll say "Gwen is mommy, you daddy, me baby. OK?"

Baby Pepper

My friend Janna sent me this photo.  She cut into a pepper and found a baby pepper!

Spring 2012

Spring has been filled with many happy times and parties and gardening and flowers... needless to say, I love spring.  I have been absent from blogging for a while... but my adoring fans have inspired me to continue.  How could I not want to share some photos and memories with you all?  

This is Zeke having a smoothie.  This day his hair was sticking up all over, he had on a crazy outfit, and I thought his purple mustache just was ADORABLE.  Lately he is obsessed with spiders and how they are creepy and dragons are also creepy and he is always on the lookout for them.  He also enjoys acting like a kitty cat and will meow appropriately when asked any question.

This is my little buddy from down the street, Luke.  He has the blondest hair you ever did see and is always on the move.  I can't hardly catch him in order to give him a kiss.  I thought he was cute trying on a pair of high heels at the garage sale I had recently.

and best of all... we were able to see Beki get married yesterday.  She was lovely and happy and the couple looked at each other so tenderly that it about made everyone cry.  (it DID make me cry)  God was honored and they are happy.  Here are the Barreth brothers.  They haven't all been together in some time. :)

Beki and Jeff.

My girl.  Gwen was supposed to be the flower girl, but alas, she was in a mood and wouldn't do it.  Ah well...

My paper bouquet as a table decoration. :)

Kids

Taco Pinata

I am hosting a pampered chef party next Friday and the theme is "fiesta". I thought it would be funny to have a pinata the shape of a taco. I know... I need to get out more. Here it is. I thought I'd fill it with hot tamale candy and maybe a gift card to a local grocery store as the grand prize.

My wonderful husband knocked down the popcorn ceiling in the kid's bathroom... so the project is started. I feel like there are always multiple things I could be doing at any given moment. Most of it revolves around dishes, laundry or discipline these days!

Easter Pictures

Here's some pictures I took this afternoon. These are some new additions on our homestead. They are raspberry bushes and I'm sorry for the huge shadow... but they look like sticks anyway right now. Maybe we'll have raspberries!


Ben built a new planter for me. This time he made it taller so that the rabbits can't get in there and eat. I think it would have to be a jack rabbit to get in there this time. So, that makes 3 planters we have to plant veggies in.

Some Easter pictures I took of the kids... the day after Easter.


Real smile...

Posed smile...

I love this photo of Gwen. She has that same look of "knowing" on her face a lot... even when she was a baby. I call it the look of intelligence.

This first one is the dress Gwen chose to wear as her Easter dress this year, but we have so many lovely choices of dresses thanks to my nieces' hand me downs that I couldn't resist having wardrobe changes for our photo shoot.

But I Like It

This morning we were getting ready to go to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group and I got Gwen dressed in this cute sundress and I told her to put on some shoes. She came in with one blue sock, one pink sock and black shoes. I told her that her shoes didn't really go with what she was wearing and she said, "but I like it mom." After I took a few seconds to look her over and giggle a little bit I decided to let her wear it. Aren't I a nice mom? :)

My two cuties. This afternoon it's the Easter photo shoot. We'll see how that goes.

Easter

Thanks to my fabulous Mother-in-law, Ben and I got to go on a date Friday night. We got these plastic spoons from a frozen yogurt place. We thought they looked like little shovels so we kept them for the kids. I know, you really needed to see these right? What can I say? Enjoy the small things.

No Easter would be complete without the rabbit jello mold. Here's ours this Easter.

I sang at church today and I made these hot cross buns to bring. I thought I overbaked them, but there were only two left, so I guess they weren't that horrible. :)


Look at this cutie that helped me with the jello rabbit.

I have no Easter pictures of the kids in their outfits... but will get some soon. I had to be at church at 5:30 this morning! After 7 services at our church, 150 got saved. That's what Easter is all about after all.

Paper Flower Bouquet

I know I've shown you guys this already... but I thought you needed a closer look. I spent so long on this thing that when I finished it today I said out loud, "it is finished." I have no idea how this will be used in Beki's wedding, but I am happy to say that my first paper bouquet is accomplished. I tried to keep the "something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new" theme in it. The something borrowed is a piece of my veil I wore on my wedding day. The something blue is the paper I chose with blue roses. The something old are buttons I got from Ben's Grandma when she was getting rid of some old craft things. Something new is the holder I got from Oriental Trading. :)



I like the buttons.

Completed

and almost completed... the paper flower bouquet.

Spring Flings

I don't know about you, but I get excited when I find an unusually large fruit.

We went to Ernie Miller Nature Center yesterday with our small group friends. It was a lovely day and the kids had a nice time walking the trails. Here is our beloved Andy sitting on a bench.

The kids were excited to check out this frog.



I love spring!