Teapots and Blossoms

Dear Blog,

I'm so sorry to have neglected you in such a shameful manner.  My family is now over the flu and the nasty stomach bug.  Life is almost back to normal.  I promise to be more diligent in updating you.  As a token of good faith, here are some shots from sweet Kate's first birthday party.  I think the world of my dear friend Trish.  She was kind enough to agree to let me host Kate's party yesterday...even though she knows I have a tendency to go a little loco when it comes to planning.  I just can't help myself.  Trish wanted the party to have a tea and blossoms theme in teal and pink.  I love teal and pink.  We had so much fun putting it together and Kate was absolutely adorable!

Don't you love her little dress?

The cake was made by Trish's friend and neighbor Sarah.  She's starting her own cake business and these were the very first flowers she had ever made from gum paste....amazing.  The cake had an almond flavor and was absolutely delicious.

Kate has just started walking but she walks so incredibly well....everywhere...non-stop.  She was cracking me up with this balloon.  I made both of the teapot canvases.  The button teapot was super easy and fun.  I realized while making the other canvas that even though I thought I knew how to decoupage, in fact, I do not.  Of course after seeing Mommy at work, the girls needed their own "campuses" as they called them so they could "make art" as well.  They've already been busy creating masterpieces this morning.

See you again tomorrow.  I have some fun pictures of Jacob to share.

Our "Forever" Vacation

We’re home, again. We cut our trip to Yosemite short by a few days because 4 out of the 5 of us have a nasty bug. I seem to be the lone man or in this case wo”man” standing. We had planned to stay until Monday but noone was sleeping well enough to warrant the extra few days. This was our second trip as a family to the National Park. The girls were much more interested in Yosemite this time around….or at least I think they were. Anna kept “oohing” and “aahing” on the way in, saying “Look at those rocks! They’re amazing. I love it here, Mommy! This place should be our “forever” vacation.” Lauren, on the other hand immediately told us she didn’t care for the place because there were “too many rocks and trees”. Although having said that, she was practically in tears this morning when we were leaving “U-sem-a-tee”.

Our visit this time around was quite different from the first. Our timing was only different by about two weeks but two years ago it was a true winter wonderland.  (Pics below from our trip in 2008)

This time the temperatures were in the mid 40’s-50’s and although there was definitely some snow around, it wasn’t nearly as much as before. We did attempt a little sledding but didn’t get a snowman built. The girls were happy though that we did get to enjoy a fire and have the requisite s’mores.

 Everything is just better with s’mores.

Doug and I were excited at the prospect of having our nicer cameras with us this trip but with everyone under the weather, we honestly just didn’t get many pictures taken.

We’ve decided that when making a reservation, in addition to the normal questions:

~Preferred date and time of arrival

~Smoking or non-smoking

the reservationist should add a category: ~What camper type are you?

We’re always the family that gets stuck next door to the “Stay up until 1 in the morning, pacing the floor, talking at the top of our lungs, drinking until all hours” camper type family. I’m pretty sure if questioned our appropriate category would be something like this: “The go to bed obnoxiously early and wake up obnoxiously early family”; subcategories as follows:

~6 year old wakes the entire floor up at 0430 in the morning fighting with 5 year old over who gets to play PBS kids first on the laptop and slams every door in the room

~5 year old talks, makes that yells at her sister in her sleep periodically through the night and wets the bed

~Infant with an eagle scream, cutting teeth, and dealing with the flu wakes up the entire family at least once an hour, occasionally bites

Yep, that’s definitely our category.

One extra funny tidbit from the peanut gallery on this trip: For Anna’s special treat this trip she selected an explorer’s backpack from the Lodge store. It had binoculars, a hatchet, a knife, a shovel, a magnifying glass, and a compass watch. While we were driving around the park yesterday afternoon, Anna kept looking at her compass watch telling us which direction to go. She finally yelled, “Okay, now it says we’re going to Nebraska!” Well, I have to give her credit for knowing her state abbreviations…NE could be Northeast or Nebraska. I guess it’s all in the way you look at it!!

Here are a few of the shots from this trip.  I seemed to be on a tree kick this year!

 

 

 

Wow!

I am totally blown away.  Our circus party was mentioned on Party Perfect!!  If you've never been to Party Perfect, you should go right now!!  She features the cutest parties and the site is chock-full of inspiration. To say I'm excited would be an understatement!

Since our circus pictures appeared, people have been so kind and said the nicest things.  It's really made my year!  Here are a few other wonderful blogs who have been nice enough to mention us as well.

Little.Lovely: Here and Here

Bits & Pieces: Here

Tania McCartney: Here

THE BEAN AND THE BEAR

Hip Hostess:  Here

A New Era

We had such a fantastic time with family in Wisconsin.  It was so good, in fact, I'm having to work hard to convince myself that we don't need to move again right now.  I mean, we're still not totally unpacked from our move to this home last July.  There were just so many nice moments and I'm very thankful we all had a chance to spend some time together.  One of the highlights of the trip for me was a visit to the farm on Saturday.  The house was built by Doug's grandfather and has been passed down in the family.  It is now owned by Doug's wonderful cousin Linda, who was so gracious to have us all over for lunch after the funeral service.  The land up there is truly God's country.  It's just open and beautiful for as far as the eye can see.  Doug has so many fond memories of his childhood summers spent at the farm and it makes me happy that our children had a chance to make some of their own memories.  When you walk onto the porch, it just smells like home.  I can't exactly pinpoint the smell but it's a combination of apple pie and cinnamon, and homemade soup; everything warm and welcoming.  The stairs still have the same creak they had when Doug was a child.  There are tons of pictures hanging on the wall of family from 100 years ago up to today.  It tickled me to walk by a table and see a picture of  Doug and his sister as children dressed for a special occasion, perhaps Easter, just sitting there on top of a stack of other family memories.  It warms my heart to think about all the family that have passed through those doors, eaten at that table, and shared so many special times.  On the way home, Doug mentioned that he felt a bit sad because being at the farm reminded him that we are truly at the end of an era.  With Ruth's passing, everyone from that generation has now moved onto a better place.  For me, I took comfort in the fact that even though those before us have passed on, the house and land are still links which tie us to them.  The family is still gathering together and the house is still full of love and laughter.  New memories are being made and the family bond is being strengthened.  It may be a new era but what a wonderful legacy. 

We're home!

We made it home safely from Wisconsin last night around midnight.  The service for Ruth was beautiful and we had a wonderful visit with family.  I'm busy trying to get caught up with laundry and such around the house today but will try to post some shots from our trip later today.

Back Soon

Going to pay our respects to Grandma.  Be back Monday!

One Year

Today marks one year since Doug retired from the Air Force.  A whole year....a lot has happened in 12 months time.  We moved to a new home, Doug has had two new jobs, Grandma moved in with us, and the kids have sprouted.  We've completely, thoroughly enjoyed having Doug home with us each and every night. It's amazing how quickly you forget what it's like to spend months at a time without a husband or Daddy in the house.  I like this way much better.  I've asked him if he misses it.  I mean, look at how beautiful this is.... 

Honestly though, I think we keep him too busy to even think about it.  Here's to many more years at home with us every evening.

Snow Time

Yesterday we took the kids up to the mountains for a little sledding.  It was the baby's first time in the snow.  He seemed to be okay with the idea as long as he was being held.  Don't even think about trying to put him down though.  Overall, everyone had fun...until we lost Lauren.  She had already discovered a small river next to a snowbank and given me a heart attack in the process.  She rounded out the day by disappearing when we were on our way to the car.  One second she was there and the next she was just...gone.  I retraced our steps expecting to find her right around the corner but she wasn't there.  I began to call for her and asked if anyone had seen her but with no luck.  I went up to the balcony and made a frantic visual search but still no luck.  I looked over to see Doug standing at the corner of the building still without her and I panicked.  I began to cry.  I walked back down to the lift area and noticed that Doug was no longer standing there.  I began to run over (as well as I could in snow boots and carrying a 1-year old).  Thankfully, as I rounded the corner he had her in his arms.  She was bawling and so was I.  Apparently she went to the back side of the first-aid station and got stuck up to her waist in snow.  She couldn't get out but didn't bother to call for help.  Needless to say it scared me to death.  Life comes at you so fast.  I'm just thankful it all worked out.  She was pretty funny when we got her back to the car though.  She told me, "Mommy, tell Daddy that I NEVER want to come to this place again!"  So much for our plans for a family day in the snow!!