Chrisedes

My youngest brother Chris got married to this beautiful gal, Mercedes, and it was so much fun to be with them in the tri-cities area in Washington state.

We left the boys, but Rivey came with. I like to keep a close eye on her while she has her asthma problems. She was so awesome on the long 12 hour drive! 

 Mercedes' family has this beautiful home and yard. I was jealous with how much grass they had that didn't have one solitary weed in it! I have been pulling weeds from my yard for days!

 We had sparklers at the end of the reception and everyone was twirling them around in random ways. I took this picture real quick and to me it looks like a heart!

 An outtake of a few pics with my sisters Katie and Mary. It's not very often we get to all be together. Thanks Chrisedes!

Seis

 After Halloween we had Ninja Turtle costumes that Julian loves to put on. Julian's cousin Hendrix then fueled their love for all things ninja, so we threw a little ninja turtle party for Julian's birthday.

I like to put a pin on the boys announcing their birthday the day that it is. I'm still waiting for the day that they are embarrassed by it. We're good so far. 

 My first try at fondant was sub par at best. The ninja turtles turned out scary, but at least it makes room for conversation. 

 The base of the cake is a strip cardboard of cardboard glued together with fondant wrapped around it. The ninja turtles are mostly made of play dough because I didn't have enough fondant, then fondant wrapped around that. Everyone was disappointed they couldn't eat the ninja turtles. Oops.

 Julian's gift for his birthday was a ninja turtle lego set that I had bought off clearance a couple months ago.

I asked Julian to show me he was six. This is what I got. 

Julian is such an awesome kid. He is funny, reserved and aims to please. I love this little man.

Hoppy Bird-day!

It was this little chick's birthday. On Easter. Happy times! So I got out an old Halloween costume and snapped this gem. 

Then I made some cakes, because it was my oldest son's birthday too :) River was born 2 1/2 weeks early to land on Liam's birthday. Pretty awesome sibling love going on there.

 

 I don't know how many more birthdays will be on Easter, but I tried to think of something to go along with the fun aspect of easter, and then combine the two cakes into one. These cakes were the best I could do.

 I asked Liam if he wanted to celebrate with River and he was really excited to. So far he's been thrilled at sharing his birthday. I think he'll continue to enjoy his birthday as long as I am sensitive to his feelings about being separate with River or not. He was a little bummed about his birthday landing on Sunday, but I am a stickler about celebrating the birthday on the actual birthday, and we made the best of it.

Riv's Easter/birthday dress 

 The boys thought the bunny was creepy when they saw it for the first time. It is a bit possessed.

Sweetness

River is in a stage where she just wreaks sweetness wherever she goes!

First Day of Spring

Since moving to a new home we've found an abundance of daffodils surrounding the east side of the house. I knew they wouldn't last long, so as a way to celebrate the first day of spring, River and I decided we'd visit some of the elderly ladies in our neighborhood and drop off a little sunshine and flowers. It was a great success, and the flowers were only a bonus to River's sweetness.

 While dropping off the daffodils there was one older woman who came up to my car. She thought I was her daughter from Idaho because of my license plates. I felt a little bad because she was so excited. I asked if she'd like some flowers (I had one bouquet left) and she was so flattered about it. Me and Riv are going to drop by another time soon. Another woman called me later and told me I must have known she needed something that day. Her daughter went to the hospital that day and she wasn't feeling the best because of it.

Another sister left me the most thoughtful thank you card and plate of yummy cookies. She had company over that night and was so appreciative of the flowers. I hope me and Riv can do this every year. It made my day more than anything. 

I feel so much love and respect for women of all ages, but find I am drawn to these older women's strength, experiences and wisdom. I like to meet these amazing women because I know they have so much to offer. We are more alike than we think. I am so grateful for each friendship I have with all of you amazing women.