Mother’s Day Memories

What a wonderful weekend.  The only way it could have been better is if I hadn’t lost my voice.  I’m sure the kids were thinking the exact opposite .  I’ve been really getting on their nerves with packing and cleaning up lately.  Actually, it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t talk.  The only time it became a problem was when I wanted to laugh – it actually hurt.

The kids made my bed for me yesterday morning and started with the lovely Happy Mother’s Day pamperings.  I hardly make my bed anymore it seems because we somehow end up in there as a big group at some point in the day.  It’s either during reading time, or just for snuggles, or when I actually dare to shut my eyes with the little ones for an hour or so.  Seeing it made and so creatively was such a treat!  I really believe that the best presents are the ones thought out and done with time and love rather than grabbing something off a shelf at some store.  I still appreciate those kinds of gifts but I’d much rather have something like this than a piece of jewelry for Mother’s Day or any other day!

My Mother’s Day started yesterday when my dad told me to call my husband.  I thought that was kind of odd but when I grabbed my phone to call him I realized that it had been on vibrate all day and I had missed 5 calls from him.  I didn’t wait to listen to the voice mails but if I had I would have found out that Jared was in San Francisco at 1:00 pm and that he’s be arriving in Vegas at about 3:30 that afternoon.  The only problem with all of that was that it was already 5:00 pm when I was calling him back.  Oops!!!  As soon as the kids were done getting their hair cut we drove straight to the airport and picked up daddy!

It was a quiet night for me.  Jared and the kid entertained each other pretty well.  It was nice to just sit back and watch them all.  It’s amazing to me how just having Jared in the same house is so stress relieving.

I slept like a log last night but when I woke up I had hardly any voice.  I vaguely  remember Jared going out and getting me some medicine because I kept coughing, but after that I was out like a light.  I got to sleep in until 9:00, which for a Sunday is a real treat!  Daddy and the kids made me breakfast in bed, which usually just means that the kids get a head start on their breakfast in my bed .  They usually load my plate to overflowing so there’s never a problem if they share it with me.  Maybe that’s why they do that?!?

  

The kids proceeded to give me their presents that they had worked so hard on all week at school and at home.  Jacob and Joseph each gave me beautiful cards with their hand prints on them!  I LOVE presents like that where you can look back at them and actually gauge how big or small they were.

Joseph’s card was attached to a watch.  Friday, while waiting for Benjamin at boxing, we ran into World Market to browse.  Joseph found the jewelry and pointed to a watch hanging up.

Joseph: “I want to get that for you for Mother’s Day!”
ME: “Well that’s very nice of you.”
Joseph: “Can I borrow some money so I can buy it for you?”
ME: “Sure!”
Joseph: “Okay, but you can’t know about it!  It’s a secret!”

One of these days we’ll have to really get into what a secret is, but it sure was aweful sweet!!!  When we got home that day, he grabbed the watch out of the bag and a whole roll of tape and proceeded to “wrap” it for me .  He didn’t use the whole roll but pretty darn close!

           

Emma had written me a poem in class and typed it up all by herself.  For me I know how much this means to her and how much “the purplest” means because she’s so in love/obsessed with that color!  She had memorized it for me so she recited it while I read it.

At this point everything was so beautiful and perfect but then Benjamin, oh Benjamin, his gift threw me for a loop.  But a good loop!  I had to scan in all the pages to his gift because I wanted to remember this years and years from now!  I am constantly amazed at how his mind works.  He’s so much like his daddy, which is a marvelous thing!  Jared might say differently but that’s one of the things that I love so much about him!

This was when I realized how inconvenient it was to not be able to speak.  I couldn’t laugh and I wanted to belly laugh while reading this!!!  I LOVED IT!!!!!

 
 
 
 

It was one of the most unexpected gifts I received but one that I know he put a lot of thought into.  It’s hard to make those comparisons but he did it perfectly!  My favorite one is the one about dung beetles!  It’s priceless!!!  But this is so Benjamin.  He soaks up all this information all the time and then throws it back at you in unexpected ways!

Oh, I love being a mother!  I love that I get to stay home with my children and watch and help them grow!  I love that I get to experience days like today which are near perfection!  I love my Heavenly Father for giving me these four amazing children to watch over and learn from!!!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Soccer- Week 7

Since the Jacob was still pretty sick last week we missed soccer, again.  It’s been so sporadic I’m surprised they remember their coaches.  No, I’m not really but I feel bad that we couldn’t be more consistent this season.  I’m glad that it’s at least keeping them exposed.

Since the kids are in different leagues because of their ages the first hour of soccer is always quite enjoyable.  That’s when Jacob and Joseph are playing and Benjamin and Emma actually sit and watch and cheer them on.  The second hour is quite the opposite.  I spend more time running after Jacob and trying desperately to entertain Joseph so that he doesn’t run off as well.  I guess it’s not as much fun to actually watch the game as it is to play in it.

This week, was so hot we decided to sit in the shade of a nearby tree.  Close enough so I could watch the other kids but not so close that they could see or hear me cheering.  Jacob stayed seated because it was too hot out in the open and Joseph was adventurous and ran from tree to tree climbing them as best he could.  Hey, it helped them pass the time and I was able to watch the other kids play so well.  Benjamin made some pretty awesome goals!

There was a funny bit when Joseph called me over real excited because he could finally do pull-ups!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week- Friday

Today is the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week.  I wanted the last gift to be big and impressive.  Not for the fact that I made it but to almost draw attention to my kids’ teachers and set them apart from the other teachers.  This is my chance to make the other teachers jealous of my teachers and to have others think “Wow, I wonder what she does in her classroom that would warrant something like that from her students?!?!”

I know that might sound weird or maybe even childish, but when this is really the only way that you can bring attention to the amazing work and sacrifice that your teacher has made then I’ll do it because my kids have three of the most amazing teachers in the world!!!

I made the same basic rice krispie cake that I made for Joseph and Jacob’s teacher yesterday, but I added a third tier.  I simply used a heart cookie cutter and cut out a couple of hearts to add to the top, trimmed it in coordinating ribbon, and topped it with cute toppers!  I spent more time handwriting them letters of thanks.

I don’t know if they’ll ever know how much good they did for my children but I wanted to at least express my gratitude for their efforts and persistence and I hope they could feel that this week!

Teacher Appreciation Week- Thursday

Today’s gift was such a fun activity to do with the kids.  I love when they get to help me in the kitchen, as long as they’re not “helping” when I’m working on a client order.  Since these gifts are for their teachers I thought it would only be fitting if there were helping to create them.

We started off by swinging by Panda Express on our way home from boxing yesterday.  We grabbed a few orders of fortune cookies ($1 for 10 cookies).  We brought them home and melted down some chocolate melts that I had leftover from other projects.  I showed the kids how to dip half of the cookie in the chocolate and then add whatever sprinkles they wanted.  I pulled out a bunch of different sprinkle options so that the kids had plenty to choose from.

When they were done decorating them we placed them in the fridge to harden while we ate dinner.

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After the kids had gone to bed I placed 10 cookies in each of the take-out boxes that we had grabbed at Michael’s.  I attached a simple tag to the front and just like that their gifts were ready to go.

Since today is the last day of school for Jacob and Joseph I wanted them to take their big present today.  We made the rice krispies while the big kids were at school.  It was as simple as making the treats but putting them into circular cake pans instead of rectangular bakeware.  Once they had cooled I placed them on a super cute charger that we grabbed at Michael’s for $1 and drizzled a little melted chocolate over the top of each layer.

I decorated it with a little ribbon and some cute flags to give it a bit more height and a handwritten note.

Super easy, super cute, and super kid friendly!  Joseph helped me wrap the whole thing in cellophane and he got to carry that onto the bus while Jacob carried the fortune cookies.  They were both beaming with pride as they carried their treats to their teacher.

Teacher Appreciation Week- Wednesday

I wish I had taken a picture of these before I wrapped them up.  I made a four layer chocolate fudge cake and layered it with a thick chocolate mousse.  I was at IKEA several months ago and they had these great tin cans on sale for only $0.76 so I grabbed a handful, knowing I could use them for plants or for other baking needs.  I was going to bake the cake right inside the can but I knew it wouldn’t cook evenly (burning on the sides and leaving the center under cooked).  So I made a large cake and cut it into smaller circles to fit inside and layered the mousse in between each layer.  For the very top I was going to just use regular buttercream frosting for the grass but I knew it would get messy with the kids carrying them into school so I opted for royal icing which hardened and made for a nice little crunchy candy surface.

I used this adorable printable from my friend Jen over at Eighteen25.  She used it in a pot of actual grass but I just took it a little further and made a cake out of it.  I put each of the kids’ pictures on a flower cut-out and slipped it in there too.  They turned out so super cute and a lot easier than I would have thought.  This will be a great lunch snack for the teachers or a dessert to share with their families!

For Joseph and Jacob it was a little different.  The boys only have school Monday - Thursday so I knew I wanted their big cake for tomorrow and I didn’t have enough energy to make three different cakes today and tomorrow so I opted for something a little more useful for their teacher.  I have a bunch of clipboards in my craft room so I grabbed one and a had the boys pick out which theme we would go with.  I had Sesame Street ABC’s and monkeys.  They opted for the monkeys!  I think it had to do with the fact that we used them for Jacob’s last birthday party and they still remember them .  A little cutting, inking, glueing, and stickering and we had a beautiful clipboard for the boys’ teacher!

             

Joseph created a beautiful letter and Jacob got to be the lucky one to carry it into class.  She’ll be able to use now and even if/when she decides to become a Developmental Specialist and work with the state or on her own.  She’s a wonderful teacher/therapist and couldn’t be happier to have her in our lives!

Teacher Appreciation Week- Tuesday

I was more prepared for today as far as teacher treats go.  I found these great jars at World Market for only $1.99 each.  You really can’t go wrong with something like that!

They had that nice green tint to the glass which made it feel more vintage.  I printed off a couple of labels to give it that look of an old apothecary jar.  I got a bag of sixlets (chocolate covered candy balls) and poured them in the jars.  Being a stay at home mother of four little ones I always have a little stash of chocolate to help me through the day.  I’m sure that teaching a classroom or 20 six or eight year olds could have the same effect and so I made sure that they had some chocolate at their disposal .

It wasn’t until this morning that Emma looked at her jar and said, “That looks amazing!  I wish they were all green because that’s Mrs. Daskas’ favorite color!”  As soon as she said that Benjamin piped in that Mrs. Sauceda’s favorite color was red!  You can’t say something like that to me and expect me to forget it or just let it go.  So, I quickly dumped out the candies and sorted the red and green ones out and put them back in their respective containers.

I have to admit that it looked nicer that way!

            

Teacher Appreciation Week- Monday

So, remember how I was telling you that things are slipping my memory and I can’t seem to stay on top of things any more?  Well, today was no different!

Actually it was late last night that I realised that today was the start of Teacher Appreciation Week at the school.  I had wanted to do stuff, just like I’d done in other years, for the kids’ teachers but I hadn’t planned anything out.  So, I scoured my craft closet for anything that I could use for the first day’s gifts.  Luckily, I had saved a lot of those glass jars from Michael and Amy’s wedding.

I grabbed a couple of jars and used some Goo-Gone to get the sticky residue off the sides.  I had a 60 pack of pencils just for our everyday household use that I had to break into.  I’ll just have to replace it another time.  A few minutes on the computer and I have a great little tag for their teacher gifts.

I know some people might not understand why I’d go through the trouble especially since I forgot anyway.  Education is a bid deal in our house.  It extends past the hours that the kids are at school and I know how important it is for them at their age in securing a love for learning and seeking out that knowledge in their futures.  We have really been blessed with amazing teachers who have fit each of the kids’ personalities.  There were times when Benjamin would have a teacher and I loved how well he progressed and so had secretly hoped for that same teacher for Emma.  When she was assigned a different teacher I was apprehensive and maybe even a little sad but it turned out to be better that way.  I guess with each child being different and having different strengths it’s better that they have someone who can work with those strengths and really make them blossom.

And that’s exactly what has happened!  My kids’ teachers deserve a lot more than just this week of recognition but I hope that this week they can get a little glimpse of how truly thankful we are for them!

Seis de Mayo

I know, I know.  Cinco de Mayo was yesterday but my family was so nice to postpone our celebration until tonight.  The kids just haven’t been feeling all that well, albeit much better than a few days ago, I just wanted them to get to bed early so that we could go to church.  Well, that plan blew up in my face!  We got to bed early enough but no one, not even me, got up in time to go to church.  I completely overslept.  I think all the sleepless nights are adding up.  I could have pushed it and had the kids rush to get ready but with all the crazy sicknesses that are going around I knew it would be just my luck to have them catch something else and then spend all of next week trying to get them better.

My dad made his ever-famous enchiladas!!!  They smelled divine when you walked through the front door.  I think it’s so funny that even though my mother is the hispanic one it’s my dad that makes the mouth-watering Mexican dinner.

While the food he made is spicy it’s not fire-in-your-mouth hot!  The way my mom was waving her hands at her mouth you would have expected to see flames leaping out at any second .  Jacob solved the problem by having two glasses of liquid at his disposal.  One with pink lemonade and one with water.

The big kids took advantage of the beautiful Sunday evening by eating out on the back porch.  I think they’re also really happy to be out of the house and free from sickness.

Art Festival

Tonight was so much fun!

I have kept Joseph home for the past couple days from school because of his cough and I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t get worse.  I knew that the school was having an art fair but wasn’t planning on going because of Joseph.  That was until I just about got my head chopped off from the other kids because they wanted to share their work with me.  I figured that it would be okay to go for a little while and the big kids would get homework passes for tonight’s homework.

The school was completely transformed into galleries where different art work was being held.  Each of the kids got a scavenger form that they needed to fill out in order to get their homework pass for the night.  It was so wonderful because it introduced and elaborated on different pieces that were on display.  The kids had fun walking around and finding the answers.  I thought that was a pretty good way to get the kids really involved in the night but also a wonderful way for them to earn that homework pass.  I love the fact that it wasn’t just handed to them but that they really had to work for it.

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The art room was “transformed” into the sculpture gallery where you could find

As we made our way around the school there were pieces that I recognized from the kids bringing them home over the course of the school year.  Originally I dismissed them as colorings, not really realizing that they were learning shading, composition, and different famous artists and they’re artwork.  It was wonderful to see the pieces of art that were discussed over the year and to see examples of the children’s interpretation of those pieces.

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One of the many highlights of the evening was seeing the little envelopes next to each art piece for people to leave comment cards in.  The kids were thrilled when they saw that people were leaving comments on their work!

“Gallery K” had one entire wall devoted to the Preschool’s artwork.  Ms Carri had lovingly named it her farm but omitted the prefix ”old”.  Each of the children decorated ducks with tissue paper, finger-painted their pigs brown, and made black dots on their cows using the edge of a cup.

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We have so much to look forward to when these pieces get taken down but for now they’re up for all the world to see.  Well, at least all the world that passes through the school halls!!!

GREAT BOOK!

I love reading which was probably the only upside to having sick kids this week.

I was able to finish three beautiful books by Sarah M. Eden.  They were clean, relatively short (250 pages), and so sweet.  I’m a huge fan of Jane Austen which probably helped me fall in love with these books since they are set in the same time period.

It started when a dear friend of mine offered to lend me her book that she read in one night.  She warned me that it was addicting but I don’t think I really believed her.  24 hours later, The Kiss of a Stranger was read and I was searching for more books by the author.  Come to find out she had two other books that came before this one and a spin-off of one of the characters in the book.  I quickly downloaded them to my phone and started reading.  I think this is something I’m going to invest in.  I’m in my car so much that it only makes sense to have more books downloaded.

I love when you can find a good book that sucks you into the pages and you’re almost heartbroken to leave.  My nights were spent with a huge smile on my face, even though there was no one around to see.

My Friends

I know you can’t see their faces and I know I won’t remember all of their names 10 years from now but I know they’re my friends.  These are some of the members of my ward family and they are amazing people.

It seems that in each place that we move we automatically have a support group and friends because of the church.  With that as a foundation, as I get to know those members there are a few that stand out and that I bound with a little more than others.  In each ward I have left with at least one, if not more, long-lasting friendship.  There have always been the pseudo-mother/father figures and as we had children they became pseudo-grandparents.  Then there are the friends that have lasted from high school and other that started because we became family.

The one connective thread in all of these friendships has been the gospel.  I’m looking forward to seeing what new friendships I can create in Florida!

Dutch Oven Cook-off

As if we hadn’t had enough ward activities the past two days, we had our high priest dutch oven cook-off tonight.  I’m sure the food was wonderful and that the park and weather were amazing too but I have to admit tha I wasn’t really paying much attention to any of that.

At 3:00 this afternoon I got a call from Jared asking me what I was doing.  At that time I was doing naps and food with the kids after a long morning and afternoon of soccer.  I wasn’t in one of the best moods and answered that I was busy and asked if it could wait.  He then asked me if I could do him a favor and drop by the airport.  Me being completely clueless asked him what for?!?!  You see where this is going?  Well I didn’t!  He said that he’d love us to come pick him up but he could take a taxi home if we were too busy.  OH!!!  We rushed down to grab him and finish our errands with him in tow.  Everything seemed to be a million and one times better than before.  They were the same chores and errands but our whole family’s spirits were lifted with him home.

I felt a little bad that my heart wasn’t in the cook-off.  I was being a bit selfish and didn’t want to share Jared with the rest of the ward but I knew he had friends that wanted to see him too.

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Michael showed up for some fun and food.  He kept the kids occupied which didn’t take a whole lot of effort.  They love it when he’s around!  They played frisbee and soccer.  They played on the swings and ran and rolled around on the grass.  It was a beautiful night and it was so nice to be with friends again.  With last night’s dinner, tonight’s get together, and church tomorrow we will have spent a lot of time with our ward family this weekend.

In all honesty, we couldn’t wait to get home with daddy and just hang out together!

Late Night Visitors

Last week John had called saying that he and Hannah were going to be in town and wanted to get together.  I had accepted not realising that we had scheduled our dinner on the same night as our YW spaghetti dinner.  Regretfully, I had to call and cancel but offered to meet up with him later that evening.  We decided to meet up at our place after we were done at the dinner.

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The kids had a blast playing and talking and catching up with each other.  I’m afraid that Hannah might have been a bit overwhelmed because she had four cousins vying for her attention.

She’s going to be 10 in a few short months and that’s really hitting home.  I remember when she was born.  Even though I wasn’t there (living in London at the time) I remember coming home and spending Christmas with her and loving every minute I spent with her.  She has become a beautiful and well-rounded young lady and I can’t wait to watcher her grow up over the next 10 years.  I only hope that our being so far away won’t hinder that at all.

Crazy Hair

Today was Cra-Z Hair Day at school.  I forgot!!!  Things are slipping through the cracks and I’m getting frustrated.

I never would have forgotten something like this but it seems like I’m forgetting a lot these days.  I booked dinner with my in-laws on the same night as our YW camp fundraiser.  I forgot about the art project both Emma and Benjamin wanted to do for school until late last night.

I felt like crying to my kids this morning but then sweet Emma held up her hands, palms facing out, and said, “It’s okay, mommy!  We didn’t need to do it for a grade.  We can do it next time.”  The thing is we can’t do it next time because there won’t be a next time, but I understood what she was saying.

Emma came in this morning with her plan for her crazy hair which we finished in just a few minutes.  Benjamin chose to sleep in and went with flat hair.  I guess that’s crazy because he usually never goes like that.

It is what it is but it’s so confusing and frustrating to be working and doing things all the time and feel like I’m still not getting everything done.  Just two more months and then maybe things will settle down or I’ll at least get used to what’s going on now and I’ll get better at it.

Death by Lettuce

Tomorrow night is our ward’s YW camp fundraiser.  We’re doing a spaghetti dinner.  It looks to be a lot of fun but also a lot of work.  I ran over to the church tonight to help set up chairs and tables.  I can’t do a whole lot, or as much as I would if Jared were here, but I helped out where I could.  In fact, I ended up taking four of these boxes home with me!

Each box contained 24 heads of romaine lettuce!  By the time I got the kids to bed and started working on this I realised it was going to be a bit more than I thought.  It wasn’t that it was hard but the washing and chopping took more time that I had expected.  By the time I finished one box I had a 13 gallon garbage bag full of chopped lettuce, ready to use but I also had a 13 gallon trash bag full of the icky bits.  By the time I’m completely done I’ll have 8 13 gallon trash bags full of lettuce!!!  A friend of mine has horses, chickens, and rabbits.  I think I’ll drop off the bits to her tomorrow so that they’re out of my house and go to good use.

Dinner Plans

I was getting dinner ready and trying to wrangle the kids into doing their homework when I got a call from my dad.  He asked what I was doing and I replied that I was “trying” to make dinner.  He told me to stop and come out to dinner with him and mom.  It didn’t take me long to drop everything and heard the kids into the car .

It was so much fun to just go and relax, not have to worry about making the food or cleaning up afterward.  I guess you need to do that every once in a while.  Although, it seems to be that we’re doing that more frequently since Jared left.

I love CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) for the simple fact that the kids get dessert with their kids’ meal.  It solves a lot of problems.  My kids thought they were so special because they got dessert.  Usually we pass, but tonight we didn’t have to.

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After feeding them and loading them up with sugar I thought it best to go for a walk around Town Square.  We ran around at the park and even walked over to H&M to do a little shopping.  I love that store!  The prices are great and they even have a kids section right in there so you can get something for everyone.  This trip, we just looked.  Although we couldn’t get away from the kids trying on the hats and sunglasses!  Such characters!!!

Oh the Humanity!!!

My poor boys were initiated into the boys’ hall of fame today.  After administering first aid right before bedtime this is what my boys looked like .

Benjamin received several rug burns after taking a tumble after boxing class today.  We didn’t have time to do anything about it because we were heading to scouts for his award ceremony.

Joseph sustained some pretty deep cuts to his knee and almost pierced his earlobe after falling down in the river rocks at the park for the award ceremony.

I guess this is what it means to have boys!  We better make sure we have good coverage in our new health plan.

Peacock Walk

After eating chili and smores, and playing on the playground at the park, Papa thought it would be fun to take a short walk down the road to where the peacocks are.  It was such a beautiful night that a walk seemed like the perfect thing to do.

We didn’t get too far from the park before we started spotting peacocks left and right.  We followed one right up to a big group of others.

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We watched the peacocks for a while and then realized that there were a bunch of horses just a little ways after the peacocks.  Their owner was out feeding them and we asked if we could watch and even help.  Papa showed the kids how to fan the hay out in our hands to make it easier to eat from our hands.  I couldn’t get over how beautiful these animals are.  We won’t have things like peacocks and maybe even horses where we’re going.  I’m sure we’ll find some other animal that we can watch and pet (vultures and alligators off that list).

We spent a good 30 minutes watching, petting, and listening to the animals before we headed back to the park.  I’m going to miss nights like this.  Too bad it won’t last long here either.  The weather will get too hot here soon enough that even a night walk will be out of the question.  But for now, we’ll enjoy it!

Our First Pack Meeting

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Tonight we had Benjamin’s first pack meeting!  He was so excited because he was getting his Bobcat award along with other awards for things he has passed off.  I think he’s really getting into the spirit of scouting!

It was a little crazy getting to the meeting today.  He had boxing from 4-5.  While he was in class I ran home and grabbed his change of clothes along with my agendas for my YW meeting, also tonight.  I picked Benjamin up and took him to the church at 5:15 where he changed and I gave the YW presidency everything they’d need for their meeting.  I skipped it so that I could be with Benjamin on his big day.  We raced over to the park at 5:30 just as his pack meeting was starting.  Phew!  As it turned out, even after the pack meeting I ran by the church to see if they were still doing the YW meeting, which they were, so we were there from 7:30-8:30 until we all had to get home to our families.

Since Jared couldn’t make it I had tried to invite as many people there to support Benjamin.  My mom actually brought me a little present.  She bought me a lanyard to wear to each of these meetings and that’s where Benjamin and the other boys will put their mother’s pins on.  She wore hers to show me what it will look like after all three of my boys go through scouts.  One side (yellow and blue) is for cub scouts and then when they move onto boy scouts (green and red) they continue adding pins to that side.  I’m so excited!

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The boys passed off a bunch more stuff at today’s pack meeting.  Each den was in charge of creating something (starting a fire, dinner, etc).  We had a wonderful chili dinner with smores for dessert.  Before starting the fire and roasting our marshmallows we all gathered at the fire pit for the award ceremony.

Benjamin was up first.  I left my camera with my little brother and when I got it back I had over 60 pictures taken .  What a nerd!  He got his patches and belt loops and I got my very first mother’s pin!  Joseph enjoyed looking at it but I had to make sure that he knew it wasn’t his.  I think it all looked a bit like his Disneyland lanyard and pins and I didn’t want him to run off and try to trade it with anyone .

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It was a wonderful evening with family and friends.  It could have only been made better if daddy were there to clap and cheer Benjamin on, but I’m so glad that there were so many people who love him that were there to support and love him.

 

My Space

When I came downstairs this morning this is what my space looked like!

I love how Jacob just completely disregarded getting dressed while Joseph is completely overdressed for a day that’s supposed to be in the 90′s.

My sewing machine is covered up there on the table because I was fixing some clothes that needed repairs.  I can’t believe how quickly boys go through pants.  Emma wears hers out too but over a two-year period.  She’ll wear her pants one year as regular, full-length pants and then the next year she’ll wear them as capris or long shorts.  All it takes is 10 minutes on my sewing machine and we’ve got a whole new wardrobe for the coming summer .