The Up Side of All The Wind

Usually, we hate the wind here.  I mean, who really ever loves wind?

But, it does make for great kite flying.  When it's not gusting at 50 mph, at least.

It was really fun to watch the kids and Blake playing around.

Contemplating the joys that riding scooter can bring... but, that sheet is just so appealing.

I have the power!

Actually, you might notice the princesses.  It's a giant bubble wand.

The wind also makes for some fun, bubble chasing.

And all you have to do is hold the bubble wand up and the wind does the rest.

And we're back to the sheet.

Daddy Daughter Love

Schnuggles!

Then we headed in from the wind, made some brownies, licked out the bowl, and... went back to the sheet.

Are you picking up on a pattern here?

How To Brush Your Teeth

A Lanaya Tutorial.

First, do a pre-cleanse with some essential oils.  Today I'm using Serenity.  When there is peace in your mouth, there is peace within.

Now, it's time to get started.  Start with the front teeth.  That's what the world sees first when you smile, so this is very important.

I like to raise my pinky when I brush because I'm a princess and if that's how princesses drink their tea, that's probably how they brush their teeth, too.  You can never be too thorough in princess practice.

This is a delicate process, do you have to bring that camera in here?  Do you know how mad I'm going to be about this post when I'm 15?!

Whatever...

Sometimes, I like to get in really close to make sure I've removed all of the Cheerios remnants from my back teeth.

Then I brush my cheeks.  This really helps with halitosis..  Babies should never have bad breath.  Babies' breath should remind one of sweet little white flowers.

Wow, now there is a pretty baby!

I wonder what we're having for lunch?

Sorry!  I got distracted there for a minute.  Anyway, that's pretty much it.  When you have only 8 teeth, brushing really is pretty easy.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  I think I'm funny, at least.  And I'm totally in love with that chubby little baby bum.

Just thought you should know.

A Rare Mother's Day Gift

The kids' annual Suzuki Graduation Recital happened to fall on Mother's Day this year.  How nice is that?!

They were pretty excited for the chance to perform.

Love my virtuoso.

And those chubby ankle rolls.

Getting out some energy before the big show.

And yeah, Trey pretty much wears pajamas all day every day.  They are comfy.

A graduation recital means that they start with the most accomplished students playing the most difficult piece they've learned.  That was just one girl this year.  Pretty impressive.

Here's what it looked like by the time Kayli took the stage.

And what it looked like when Bryce joined in.

She enjoyed the performance, but felt that it was a little long.

It takes a long time to get this many musicians on stage to play together.  It is always so neat!  Great job, kids!

I Love My Job

Dare I say it?

This year's Mother's Day was the BEST EVER.

There, I dared.

I love being a mama.

Blake captured some really great faces of the kids that morning.  I don't know if that was intentional, given that we wouldn't be celebrating Mother's Day in our home without them, but I thought it was sweet.

She thinks she's smiling.  Of course, my smile in this photo is none-too-genuine either, so I guess I'd better work on that first.

This, though, this is 100% bona fide genuine Trey.

Love it.

And this is all Bryce, too.

Love it.

Love her.

The kids made me some really cute gifts and cards.  That's a hand print stem with thumb print flowers.  How cute is that?!

He refused to have his hands dipped in paint to make my gift during nursery at church, but I'll keep that messy smiling face anyway.

I love how excited they get to give me their creations.

A running belt so I can start logging some longer miles now that I have at last found the PERFECT shoes.  Which I received early because I'm spoiled.

I (sometimes) love that my kids are growing up.  It's fun to see what they think is funny and clever.  And that it's not all that different from what I once thought was funny and clever.

If you really want a fun afternoon, go back through the blog and track Trey's sheet.  Remember that it once started out as a queen-size sheet.  See what it looked like in May?  You should see it now...

Cute picture frame made by Kayli.

Tasty quiche (one of two) made by my sweet Blake.  I'm so proud of his skills!

Most of my cards and pictures.

All morning the kids kept hounding Blake with whispered questions and pestering.  I had already opened my gifts (all of which I previously knew about because I picked them out), breakfast was served and delicious, love had been shared, and I could not figure out what could possibly be left undone.

And then Blake relented and gave me this:

And I burst into tears.  That's never happened before.

But, this is one of the most special things to me in the whole wide world.  It was my grandma's.  When I got it after her death, it was in kind of sad shape.  It was a broken locket, tarnished, on a broken chain.  But, I loved it and cherished the way it reminded me of her.

Blake took it to a local jeweler and had it fixed up.  Polished and replaced the chain.  And we found out (as is frequently the case with things belonging to my grandma) that it was even nicer than I knew.  I wish I had her here to ask her for the stories behind so many of her possessions.

And mostly, just to hug her and see her again.

So, you can see, this was one of the most amazing Mother's Day gifts Blake could give me.  And I wear it every chance I get.

And it makes me happy.

This made me happy, too.  But in a different way.  It came at the end of a tasty dinner, all prepared by Blake.

He's pretty amazing.

So, this Mother's Day came with lots of love, fun, and none of the frequently-present guilt.  That was really nice.

We talked briefly with our own mothers, for whom we are always grateful.  They are both amazing women, clearly skilled in raising amazing children, and make the best grandmas we could ever wish for our children!

But the conversations were brief because we had a busy evening.  More on that to come!

Lanaya Standing

The following pictures from early May are pretty self-explanatory:

So proud!

Figuring out how to get down from standing always seems to be the hardest part of the trick.

Now, that she's mobile, she always seems to end up in my face when I try to get down on the floor to get pictures from her level.

Girls' Night

Well, I definitely think we need to find more excuses for Blake to post on the blog here.  I loved reading his perspective for a change!

Lest you think that the females in our home just sat around twiddling our thumbs, we had our own fun while the boys were out camping and throwing rocks and eating yummy snacks.

First was a mother and daughter ice cream social at the church.  We made hair clips and Kayli and I made matching rings.  It's always a bit of a treat to do girly things with my non-girly girl.

Then I told her she could pick anywhere she wanted for dinner.

She chose Arby's.  Lanaya's expression here mirrored my own enthusiasm for this fine dining establishment.

But, the good news is that we could get it to go, so we could go home and get started on our movie night.

Kayli is becoming a Roald Dahl fan, as I am, so I rented "Matilda".  I'd really like her to read the book and knowing the story line tends to be a big motivator for her.  Matilda is one of my all-time favorite books.  I don't know how many times I read it and I'm excited to pass that on.

I love these girls.  Did I ever tell you just how thrilled I am that Kayli has a sister?  There's just something indescribably special about sisters.  I'm so excited to watch their friendship grow over the years.

This little lady didn't last long.  She finished up her tortilla and then it was off to bed for her.  But, Kayli and I lasted through the whole movie.  We wrapped up our fun weekend with muffins (I envisioned a bonding moment while we made them together, but she asked if it was okay if she worked on her art while I just made them--she is not a big fan of kitchen projects. :)  We went for a run while they baked. It was fun, but I realized that I really need to lay off of the pressure when trying to encourage her to make it two miles.

And then the boys came home and helped polish of the tasty muffins and we were happy to all be together again.