A Pretty Little Picnic

We had a magnificent weekend that ended with this:

Sunday afternoon picnics.  They're our new thing.  After church each Sunday, we're buzzing over to the gardens to share some sandwiches and sunshine. And that's exactly what we did on this brilliant Mother's Day.

But I have to back up.  Because this weekend, my friends, was jam-packed with memory makin'.

It all started last week when we hung out with this fun little red-head and her mama, Miss A, a friend of mine from high school.  We still like to kick back and chat over chocolate.  It's so crazy to think we used to have slumber parties and giggle about getting married and having a billion kids, and here we are, both with kiddos and hubbies...God is good!

Then Thursday night rolled around and we had the pleasure of hanging out with another little red-head and his mama and daddy- two friends we met a few years ago in small group whom we haven't scared off...yet.  =) The Hubs whipped out some kabobs on the grill and then we found ourselves at the carnival for dessert.  It was an excellent elephant ear extravaganza. (Sometimes alliteration thrills me, and I'm unable to resist it's charm.)

Then this sweet thing picked his mama a Mother's Day flower...

...And refused to hug his buddy for the camera after a billion hugs sans-camera.  Awesome.

I wish I had pictures of what happened Friday night when my mom, sister and I got together for a girls' night to celebrate Mother's Day, but lo, they are all on my sister's camera.  So you'll have to take my word for it- we had a blast.  We planned the menu for our vacation at the cottage this summer, and we laughed 'til we cried because let me tell you something, we are funny.  Good times were had by all, and we're officially making girls' night a monthly occurrence because everyone should laugh until they cry at least once a month.  At least.

Next came breakfast at the HOP.  Actually, next came Saturday, but my sunburn is so bad tonight that it has fried my brain, and I can't remember what on earth we did on Saturday.  So we're skipping ahead to this morning.  Like I said, it was breakfast at the HOP- to celebrate my mother-in-law.  Newbie was in rare form and incredibly ornery. 

See what I mean?  Not even a smile for his grandma.  Boo! I was busy shoveling food down him the whole meal, just trying to keep him happy, and wondering why on earth he chose today of all days to be so cranky.  Turns out he was busy cutting his FIRST OFFICIAL TOOTH because POW! tonight the little pearly white has popped right through!  Hooray for teeth FINALLY coming in!  Hopefully he'll wake up with a whole mouthful in the morning and we won't have to endure another 6 months of teething for one tooth!

After breakfast we went to church, where we had a guest pastor from Australia teach.  Listening to an entire sermon spoken with an Aussie accent made me and the Hubs want to move to Australia.  Such fun. And the message was awesome- the accent was just the icing on the cake, and it was some seriously brilliant icing, mate.  (Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Also, I want a safari hat.)

Once we scooped Newbie up from nursery (His first successful full stay!  Wahoo!) we headed to the gardens for our picnic.  If ham and cheddar Lunchable picnics are wrong, then I don't want to be right.

                                 

                                  

                                    
(The sheet we shared our lunch on was one I swiped from my mom, that I'm pretty sure she swiped from her mom, because I have memories of the pattern at both my mom and Mutte's house as a little girl. Though it may have been obtained through linen closet theft, I can't seem to make myself regret it because I absolutely love having it.  The tiny yellow flowers and sweeping green blades of grass in the pattern remind me of so many special memories.  One look and I am swept back to a cozy bed in a yellow bedroom at Mutte's house, or to the beach at a picnic with my mom.  It's amazing what a simple bedsheet can do for one's soul.)
                                        

After lunch, it was off to explore the gardens and work on perfecting the epic sunburn of 2011. And perfect it, I did.  My shoulders are radiating sunlight tonight.  You could throw another shrimp on my shoulder instead of the barbie, mate.  I'm just sayin'.  Ouch.

(The wading happening here?  Yeah.  Totally not OK.  I didn't read the sign We like to walk on the wild side.)

         

           

Spring doesn't get better than cute baby legs in cute baby shoes. 

    

  

And this is where you might say, "Wow!  What a busy weekend.  I bet this is where they called it a day."  But, this is not, in fact, the end of the festivities. 

[insert an "Oh no she didn't!" here]

After the gardens, we went home for an hour long nap before hitting the road again and going to visit this little guy and catch a few snapshots by the tulips before finally throwing in the towel.  That's right.  We are nothing if not absolutely pushing the limits of the how-long-can-he-ride-in-that-backseat game.  Two bowls of Cheerios and several enthusiastic rounds of "A Whole New World" later, Newbie was still smiling and we were ready to call it a day. 

The fact that the picture below occured is a pure miracle.  Everyone's eyes open?  Everyone looking at the camera?  Everyone looking happy?  Yes, please!

Newbie was really into showing that tiny little baby some love.

In case I haven't posted enough pictures already (ha!), here's a few snapshots of the gifts I made for my mamas this year.  I had to make one for myself too because I'm a sucker for a flower vase.

And that's all she wrote.  Finally.

Fair thee well, Mother's Day 2011- thanks for the sweet sentiments and the sizzling sunburn!

Here's wishing you all a fabulous week, friends!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

To my mamas...

and to all you mamas out there!

I'll never forget what it felt like when I became a mother...

I knew I had been given the most wonderful gift,

having been entrusted with the heart of a child-

and allowed the honor of teaching him what it means to live fully, love well,

and laugh along the way.

I have been so blessed by the gift of motherhood, and I am so grateful to the mothers and grandmothers in my family who went before me, living fully, loving well, and choosing joy so that I know what it looks like to pass those treasures along to my children.

Happy, Happy Mother's Day!

Hope you're having a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend! 

Happy G-Sale Season!

There is just something about driving by billions of garage sales on my way home that makes me want to empty out every box and closet and dump it all out on the front yard for strangers to sort through and fork over quarters for.  Or maybe its because I spent all my pennies on Dairy Queen last week and I'm just aching to partake in G-sale season and looking to earn a buck in my own driveway so I can go spend it in someone else's on a fantastic pair of 2 dollar Crocs for Newbie.

I'm just saying.

There was never a better G-sale find for 2 bucks than those Crocs I found for him before I was even pregnant.  And boy howdy, does he ever love 'em now.  And they've got Mickey Mouse heads punched through them instead of regular holes to boot.  I'm a Croc freak.  And a Disney freak. And a $2.00 freak. So clearly, *LOVE* Newbie's bitsy Crocs.

In honor of Garage Sale season and all the garage sale shopping I'm not doing today, I'm going to dump all the pictures I've been meaning to share and just haven't gotten around to the past couple weeks right now in this here post.

It will be like the freebie box when you walk up to the card table with the cash box and the homeowner with her cup of lemonade:  "You took the time to stop by, so here's some freebie goodies just for funsies before you hit the road.  Also, would you like to buy a Dixie cup of lemonade or some questionable baked goods before you go?" (I'm just trying to give you an authentic garage sale experience.)

Onward!

(Plastic corn.  Its what's for dinner.)

(He's a big fan of the culinary arts...we spend 97% of the day at the grill.)

(Newbie's maiden voyage on his tractor from Mutte and his Great Grandad)

(Get a load of this beauty!  This was my father-in-law's winter project- he built this puppy from the ground up and my mother-in-law did all the decorating.  It will be up at the lake all summer long.  Needless to say, we're looking forward to "camping" with Grandma and Grandpa this summer!)

Would you like a sneak-peek of the tour?  Here's the camp stove we'll have to use.  I know its really roughin' it, but somebody's got to do it. You'll have to wait for the rest of the layout until we get up to the site with Newbie this summer for the full version. =)

Dontcha love vintage finds at a G-sale?  These lovelies have been camping out in my computer for a good seven years...

(This is circa 2005...before the Hubs decided to go bald- check out that head-o-hair!)

In other news....

Completely unrelated to garage sales, but equally as thrilling, we've got dinner plans with some friends tonight, and don't look now, but its CARNIVAL season, and we're headed to the fair for some authentic funnel cakes for dessert. 

Please pass the powdered sugar! 

...and the elephant ears.  ...and the cotton candy.  ...and the fresh squeezed lemonade. 

Why is carnival food so temptingly delicious?  The whole thing makes me want to crawl up into my sister's suitcase when she and her hubby head to Disney in two weeks because everybody knows Disney can rock out the carnival food like nobody's business. 

How's that for the most random and irrelevant post to date?!  Very well, then.  My work here is done.

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday and find yourselves a garage sale or a funnel cake somewhere along the way! =)

A Thursday Sonnet. Or poem. Or whatever. Alternatively titled: ...where are my shoes, and what's my name again?

I have disappeared

because

we are showing the house

today at 11

and

it is really

really

really really

really

difficult

to keep a home *spotless*

with a

puppy

and a baby

and a hubby

in tow.

Can someone please

explain the stream of

kibble

and binkies

and hunting magazines

always following in their wake?!?

Also,

I think we need a U-haul

Just to hide all the odds and ends

that are threatening to burst

out of my

way

way

way way

way

too full

closets.

Praying for a miracle.

Praying

praying

praying praying

praying

for the world's quickest sale

and that

this family just might be

the one

to buy our home.

*Praying*

Wishing you all a joyous Thursday, and I promise to be back with pictures of our various trips out-of-doors this week as soon as my sanity returns. =)

Weekending 101

The Park:
We hit up the park early Saturday morning...it was too chilly to stay for long, but Newbie had a blast showing his Daddy-O how he can rock it out on the slides.

A Wedding:
One of the Hubs' good friends got married on Saturday, and we had the great delight of celebrating with the groom and BEAUTIFUL bride.  Seriously.  The bride's dress was gorgeous and she was breath-taking, making the whole thing all the more fun because who doesn't love a fantastic choice in bridal gowns? We had a hard time finding a sitter for a wedding our entire family was invited to, so Newbie tagged along.  He did really well, but as soon as everyone stood up to welcome the bride, I panicked and swooped him out of the sanctuary because we were dangerously near the end of our cheese and Goldfish supply, rendering me helpless in the event of a mid-ceremony meltdown.  Newbie explored the weeds growing up through the pavement while his mama craned her neck around the church window to see and hear what she could of the wedding. 

(The chocolate fondue was a real hit with Newbie.)

Trip to Grandad and G-Mama's
Since we were in the neighborhood, after the wedding we went over to G-Mama and Grandad's house for STEAK NIGHT.  We ate like kings.  And it was good. Newbie dug into some chicken and avocado and though he was in Heaven. Yum.

Baby Birds
I love babies.  G-Mama had a nest of baby Cardinals resting in one of the bushes on the side of the house, so we crept down to take a peek.  They were just as fresh as could be, barely a bit of down on them, and their sweet little beaks as tiny as a crumb.  I got in as close as I could without disrupting the branches and snapped this shot of a wee one in the midst of a yawn. 

Church
I'm a pansy and have avoided the church nursery like the plague for the past year.  Partly because I thought it literally might be teeming with the plague, and partly because I've never left my little man with anyone but his Daddy-O or his grandparents because I am a wimp with a capital "W".  But we miss getting the full-on church experience without having to exit early for diaper changes or meltdown control, so yesterday was the big day.  Unfortunately, Newbie only lasted for half the service before our number shot up on the paging screen and the Hubs had to go rescue our teary-eyed little man. I am so grateful to have such an awesome set of nursery volunteers and children's ministry staff, because I loved that they paged us as soon as he started to lose it instead of letting him cry for the rest of the service.  LOVE. Knowing they'll call us if he needs us totally put my heart at ease for trying again next week. Even though he ducked out early, we're counting it as a success because a) he made it half way through without freaking out, and b) his mother didn't have to be resuscitated after dropping him off. 

The Gardens:
After church, we zipped on over to the gardens for a picnic lunch and some family fun.  We spent the afternoon playing in the big sandbox and walking the grounds while Newbie napped in the stroller.  It was so much fun to spend a quiet afternoon outside with my boys, and the sunburn I came home with was just an added bonus. We had to buy our first bottle of baby sunscreen on our way to the gardens, (we just kept him out of the sun altogether last summer) and I'm adding babies lathered in sunscreen to my list of favorite smells. *LOVED* the sunshine we had yesterday.

A Great Recipe:
Last night I stumbled upon two fantastic recipes, and I just had to share:
Southern Living's Southern Sweet Tea
Super delicious Peanut Butter cookies that I made last night and almost entirely demolished in an hour. SO good.  And quick. And easy.

May Flowers:
Technically, this isn't from this weekend, but if a fantastic weekend flows into a fantastic Monday, I figure its worth noting. =)  MY TULIPS BLOSSOMED!!!!  Wahoo!  I've been waiting on these lovelies all month, and they finally, finally obliged.  Newbie and I made an adventure of skipping his morning nap to go explore the blooms and cut some to bring inside for a bouquet. 

Then I really went May-flower-crazy and went to work cutting out some magazine clippings to display on our chalkboard in the playroom.  Newbie is making so many connections and is so in-tune with his surroundings, that I wanted to jump on the chance to enhance his learning by sharing more flowers that we can take a look at throughout the day.  He has already noticed them and had a blast pointing at them while I named their color.  It is such fun to watch him explore and learn!

Partners in Crime:
Again, a Monday happening rather than a weekend happening, but these two just had to make the post.  Check out Newbie's latest trick:

Opening Opie's kennel, climbing in to grab his blanket, pulling it out, and watching Opie try to shred it to pieces.  Hey, if that's how we get our Monday afternoon jollies, I'm game...better he feeds him the blanket than the puzzle piece and the plastic hot dog bun that were on the menu last night! 

We're laying low today and finishing up laundry and getting the house put back together after having neglected it for a good three or four days in the name of weekending and family fun! But there's lots on the agenda this week including Newbie's tumble class, a return trip to the gardens, and plenty of fun in the 60+ degree sunshine forecast for this week...we might even go for a sneak attack DQ trip in there somewhere. (A "sneak attack" being when you trick your common sense- the one thinking about the up-coming swimsuit season- into thinking a small vanilla cone dipped in chocolate is a really good idea.)

Wishing you all a blessed Monday and some May flowers!