a day in the country

at the end of march we celebrated a very belated birthday with dad/bar bar.  it was such a nice, relaxing day for all of us.  the kids had a great time, as always, exploring the yard, their special trees and bar bar & gigi's big garden.  brooke was a little disappointed that it wasn't harvest time, but she did get to plant some seeds with gigi :)  gavin had the best time playing hide-n-seek with bar bar and brooke.  he begged bar bar to do it one more time and one more time and one more time!  gavin especially loved when bar bar would jump out from hiding and give him a little fright.  so many smiles, so many shrieks of delight :)  it makes me happy that my children enjoy the place that i grew up almost as much as i do.

a beautiful day for a birthday

we raced in the door from selling lemonade, cleaned everything up, set our outdoor table, fired up the grill and just about then kevin walked through the door.  phew!  somehow i made it all happen.  then the phone rang - my doctor calling to tell me the problem with my big toe - it was broken.  ok, great.  moving right along... kevin grilled the steak while i whipped some cream for dessert.  then we all settled outside to enjoy time together as a family and the plentiful sunshine and warm breeze and a delicious dinner followed by an even better dessert (kevin's favorite).  it was a beautiful evening.  a perfect evening for celebrating the man we love so very much.

our first lemonade stand

the month of march brought the most perfect weather.  for the first couple of weeks brooke begged me to have a lemonade stand, but it just never worked out.  then brooke went to her friend lynn's house and had a lemonade stand there, and her heart was set on having her own.  so, on a super busy day (kevin's birthday) when brooke asked me, i just couldn't say no.  we quickly fired up the juicer and made fresh-squeezed lemonade.  i was struggling with figuring out how to get all of our supplies down to the other end of the street given that i could barely walk (ended up being a broken big toe).  then i walked out into the garage and voila! - the wagon that we rarely use called my name :)  we piled up the wagon with a pitcher of lemonade, a bag of ice, cups and a few paper towels. brooke made a sign for the side of the wagon and decided she would give the lemonade away for free.  she's a sweetheart that girl of mine :)

brooke pulled gavin and all of her supplies in the wagon until she reached the spot that she determined was just right for her lemonade "stand."  i was nervous that no one would be around on this particular afternoon and that brooke's little heart would be broken, but we were in luck.  within seconds we had a swarm of neighborhood kids around us, and brooke acted like such the little professional lemonade seller :)  the mail lady even stopped for some lemonade!  i'm pretty sure we served every single kid in the neighborhood before running out of lemonade.  brooke was thrilled and gavin thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it.  brooke even raised $5.00 for charity, AND we made it home in time to prepare a special al fresco birthday dinner for kevin.  a success all around!

giddy up!

i'm not sure which i love more - throwing a fun party or attending one!  lexi and kenzie turned two, and we were invited to the lemoine ranch for a cowgirl party!  antje really outdid herself with all of the perfect details of the party.  she handmade so many of the decorations and had tons of fun things for the kids to do/enjoy.  i was so busy having fun that i didn't get many pictures of the evening, but i love the ones i snapped of brooke and gavin with the photo props.  everything about this party was so stinkin cute!

waitress

capturing moments like this brings me the greatest joy because i never, ever want to forget them.  without photographs, i know i would.  the details captured in these photographs just make me so unbelievably happy... the blanket as tablecloth, the table settings, the apron, bowls overflowing with play food, and of course, my beautiful girl.  brooke has always been so observant.  she watches and listens and absorbs absolutely everything.  and then all of a sudden she's acting out an idea or reenacting a scene like this one of a waitress in a restaurant.  she knows just what to say and just what to do.  and she had the most well-behaved guests :)

cousins at play

i have such a long list of things to be grateful for - like the incredibly mild winter we had where we played outside during every single month and especially the effortless way that my children get to spend time with their cousins every single week.  i sure don't take either of these things for granted.  on this particular day in february, we picked jackson up from school and had lots of fun playing sports outside including a very competitive game of "who can get the frisbee?" between jackson and gavin.  i love watching these two boys together.  jackson's just old enough that gavin can be his typical rough self with him and jackson can give gavin some back.  one minute gavin was tackling jackson, and the next minute jackson was tackling gavin.  but as soon as the smiles and laughter faded into serious competitiveness, i called the game off before anyone got hurt.

when megan came to pick jackson up, all the kids enjoyed some play time down by the creek that runs into our property.  they called it their lily pond, and they used gardening tools to explore the area.  i couldn't stop watching them and couldn't help feeling completely blessed by family.  brooke and gavin are so lucky to have so many cousins to grow up with.  cousins that they love and adore and truly consider the best of friends.  every single one of them.

5 pictures from brooke's 5th birthday party

right before we left for disneyworld, we had a quick little birthday celebration for brooke with our families.  i had said we wouldn't do a party since we were going to disney, but i just couldn't pass up the chance to celebrate brooke's birthday with family.  brooke's 3rd birthday was the last time family was able to attend her party, and i knew she'd feel extra special having a special day with those she loves most.

i'll always remember this party as being the most low-key birthday party i've thrown to date.  i didn't even clean my house :)  i did, however, stay up all night (literally) baking and decorating a very special princess castle cake for brooke.  i started baking way too late (like dinner time), forgot to grease & flour the pan which i realized after the first cake was already in the oven :(, made a second cake and then did some major decorating!  this was my first time truly decorating a cake, and i really wanted it to be special for brooke.  i have to say, i was pretty impressed with myself.  the cake ended up looking just like the picture that came with the pan :)

we sang to our birthday girl, had cake and opened presents.  brooke got a lot of money to take with her on our trip to disneyworld!  i loved that brooke enjoyed her little party just as much, if not more, than any of her other birthday parties.  she didn't want anyone to leave and told me she wished everyone could stay all day.  lucky for me they didn't because i needed a nap :)