Everyday Miracles

Some everyday miracles…

Crazy fun at school on Water Day.  This is the fall asleep on the way home from school kind of fun.

Sleeping toddler boy… long lashes and tulip lips… sweetest thing ever.

We brought home a few of these pretties.  My forest dreams are coming true.

A most perfect afternoon to enjoy Ari’s Friday horseback riding ritual. 

My sisters gave me some of their gorgeous blooms. 

The big boys went camping, and Liam enjoyed being the man of the house.  The sisters enjoyed his chubby cuddles.

Blueberry lemon cake for our Memorial Day BBQ.

Ari can help herself to the chips at the buffet table now.  Independence is awesome.

I got a sneak peak of my Mother’s Day photos, and I’m waiting in heavy anticipation to see the rest.

Just when I thought the heat was getting too intense… my roses started blooming again.

A girls weekend of pampering and rule breaking.  Makeovers, foot massages, ice cream whenever, and *gasp* Little Caesar's Pizza.

Grocery shopping with our buddies.

“Peach Paradise” – Gabe.  Ingredients include homegrown peach, yellow honey mango, coconut milk, orange juice, and peach frozen yogurt.

Bella went peach pickin’ on the back patio.

Homemade pound cake with homemade whipped cream and strawberries for the Memorial Day BBQ.  We needed options.

Babysitting my adorable niece and nephew.  Had to teach them the Cup Song.

Good Friday Goodness

I’m playing catch up here. 

The older kids had the day off from school on Good Friday.  It was a windy and cool day, a rare thing in April where we live.  We stayed outside as much as possible and did Good Friday good things.

Like dye Easter eggs.  My kids like to hunt for real hardboiled eggs on Easter.  The thought has never occurred to them to ask to hunt for chocolate eggs or jelly bean filled eggs (however they get them in their baskets).  I don’t know if it’s the colored shells or what, but they eat the heck out of the hardboiled eggs and squabble over who gets which one and how many.  Without fail, every Easter, they consistently consume anywhere from 5-8 hardboiled eggs each!  Dry yolks and all.  It’s insanity. 

See those eyes?  That’s why this child gets away with so much.  I’m mush.

Ari was so excited to be dying eggs, and she held her posture the whole hour or more on a bench with no back and no footrest.  Pretty amazing that one.

Liam was in charge of the yellow dye.  I figured, at the very least, the yellow may come out of clothes easier (all the colors came out just fine).  He helped make the straight yellow, orangey yellow, lime green – basically anything that needed a hint of yellow. 

   

Making Ariana happy has got to be one of the most rewarding endeavors.  Making any of my children happy is a wonderful and gratifying thing, but Ari just makes sure to communicate to you, in every possible way, that she is loving her life and that she appreciates every everyday miracle… gently reminding you to do the same. 

 

These pretty babies were dyed with the regular old-fashioned Paas with white vinegar recipe.  No Pinterest worthy methods applied.  The kids chose their own colors and did their thing.  I just arranged them all pretty once they had dried.

Liam flew his first kite.  It was um… adorable.

  

Ariana went to riding therapy way out in the real country as she does every week.  She has such a connection with animals, and she has made so much progress from being up on her horse, Pace.  It isn’t free, and I always end up struggling to stave off anaphylaxis because of my allergies to horses and hay, but she’s worth it. 

 

Bella met a new foal.  We were told that the foal was wary of humans and hadn’t ever had any interest in them.

Bella paid no attention to that disclaimer.

The foal had a change of heart once she got to know Bella.  Bella has that effect on others.  People (and animals) love her for her goodness.  Simple as that.

Everyday Miracles

A few of the most recent everyday miracles…

The king of copycat recipes, straight from the source.  Le Grande Orange’s Kale and Quinoa salad recipe.  To die for.

The “world’s fastest growing tree”, the Royal Empress, is growing in my yard.  Four of them actually.  Three even look like they will make it.

Gorgeous peaches that are (finally) picked and frozen for use.

Muffins With Mom with my mini me.  She was so excited for this day to arrive.  She sang me a song, made me sweet little gifts, and was seriously great company. She made me feel like a million bucks.

Cool moonlight reflecting off the pooled water on the freshly irrigated lawn.  It basked our whole yard in silver light.

When life hands you half-bird-eaten peaches… make peach popsicles. 

My first peach pie!  Entirely from scratch.  It took all night, but it was worth it.

Building Megablock castles with my last doughy baby at home. 

Picnic lunches with Liam everyday.  He’s not loving the grape tomatoes... a little tart maybe?

But he is loving gazpacho.  Somehow tomatoes and vinegar together are not tart.

Perfect Mother’s Day.  Loads of attention from my family, gifts and cards, this necklace, and dinner on the patio at Chelsea’s Kitchen (or as Bella calls it, “Kelsey’s Chicken”). 

Giant zucchini from our garden.

Ramen done right with kale or swiss chard and eggs.

Bathing beneath the light of the moon.  Heaven.

Pancakes with homemade peach topping.  We were late to church that morning.

Park play dates with pretty ponies.

Holbrook Reunion Party

One of the things that both Jake and I have learned about ourselves is that we are social creatures.  If we didn’t have to cook each time, we would want to have parties at our house on a weekly basis (and I’d like to be invited to parties at least that often too ;)).  I am a believer in sharing life and sharing experiences.  I am not a private person, we don’t really need “our space”, and we are not exclusive when it comes to friends – the more the merrier in our opinion!

With that said, time still often gets away from us, and we let the days and even years slip by, because we get caught up in being busy.  So we often neglect to take the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful evening or a fun-filled afternoon with the people we love already and the people we want to get to know better, because of the perception of being “busy”.  I think a lot of the time we aren’t nearly as busy as we think we are, and we just need to stop what little task we’re working on, skip a practice or a meeting just once in a great while, and reserve time for the people we want to include in our lives.  I often think to myself, I wish I could share this (BBQ, tiered cake, movie, moonlight, joke, fill in the enjoyable experience with our friends), but it’s too late to call them, because (I’m sure they have plans with family, would think it was too last minute, can’t get a babysitter, would feel like an afterthought, are too busy, fill in the excuse) so I don’t bother.  I need to be better about this.  Life is so worth sharing.

But the times when we do remember and make the effort are so worth it.  Jake has been mentally planning to invite his longtime friends from his hometown of Holbrook, AZ ever since we wrote a contract on this house last year.  I love that they always have a place in his heart.  I can totally relate to this, as I’m often homesick for friends from my childhood in Buffalo, NY (I have never been back to my hometown since I moved 13 years ago).  Jake even purchased the second picnic table just so he could accommodate the whole group.  I was so happy to see that all of his friends made it happen and came out to have one big pot luck BBQ with everyone’s families.  We had such a great time.  This time around, I know we won’t let as many years slip by before we reunite.