Saturday, April 30, 2011

Mummy's Birthday: Floppy Hats & German Chocolate Cake


There are very specific things you associate with certain people,
and for my mother,
a few of those would be:

The Beatles
Chocolate Star Candies
Sparkly Sandals
and...



German Chocolate Cake!

Making that the no-brainer dessert for her
birthday party!






This, right here, 
is the epitomy of my mom.

Sitting admidst all of her grandchildren,
with a heart so big there's ample room for all them
to remain there every second of every single day.


This big, bold, yet soft, floppy hat
is so mom!


Mom,
I love you.

Your wisdom,
your resilience,
your reservoir of love...

It amazes me.

I have so much to learn.

Thank you for showing me the way.

Love,

Your Olivia





Lending a Hand


This year Bella and I tackled the
Mormon's Helping Hands Project
at a local park.

Our task:

To locate, clear, and stake oak seedlings.


I also volunteered to take photos of the event
and loved my instructions:

"Avoid taking pictures of smiley people staring a the camera."

What?!?

But it's a bunch of Mormons!


My Bella

Happily NOT smiling.


There's the one and only oak seedling we found!

Seriously,
it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack...

or a frown admidst this crowd!

{ he-he}




Allergies aside,
it was a great day!

I LOVE spending time with my daughter,
and lunch afterwards is always a treat.

Thanks for a wonderful day, Isabella!

I love working beside you, sweetheart!

Love,
Mom

Monday, April 25, 2011

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter 2011: Eggies, Chicks, & My Peeps



A timeless tradition...





Soon thereafter,
the kiddies went to bed
and the bunny came out of hiding!


This year
the bunny was 6'2"
with beautiful hazel eyes.

The 4'11" bunny was passed out on the couch
from cooking all night long!


 He came through though,
with my favorite Easter tradition of all,
"The Mommy & Daddy Basket",
or should I say colander?

Note the contents:

Yellow Peeps (only the yellow ones!)
&
Chocolate-covered Marshmallow Eggs

What more do you need?


And after a great Sunday at church,
the same could be said about being surrounded with family:

What more do you need?



After the disastrous egg hunt the day before,
my wickedness came to the forefront again.

When it was time to hide our Golden Egg,
I insisted on putting only two pennies in it!

{ he-he }


Here we go...

Who will find the Golden Egg?











Bella!

{ Like mother like daughter! }


The second she saw the pennies she knew it was me!

{ On a pitiful note }

Even though I knew what the prize was,
I had no idea where the egg was hidden.

As usual,
the kids took forever and I started to get antsy,
and yes,
even though Samuel tried to stop me,
I started looking too!

I found it!

And Samuel made me walk away.

Hmphh!


The spoils!


I couldn't resist including this second shot.

It's a terrible one,
with nearly all the kids squinting into the sun!

That's why I love it!


 Now this is a great shot!

I LOVE when we get together!

But the fun isn't over yet...



H A P P Y  E A S T E R !

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Golden Egg...and How I Made All The Kids Cry



So, my sister-in-law hosted an
Easter Egg Hunt
the Saturday prior to Easter.

It's always a good time,
and their sweeping property makes
for a really great hunt for the kids.

Big whoop for me,
I'm a grown-up, right?

Afterall, this is for the kids!

You'd thinks so.

But then you'd be...

wrong.



Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!


The hunt began as all good hunts do...


With a free pass for the littlest ones!


And the rest are off!


The Big Kid Strategy:

Bypass all the easy eggs and go straight for the gems,
the Premium Gold Egg,
and the lesser,
but still equally sought after,
Silver Egg!


But...


W H E R E  A R E  T H E Y ?

...
Well,
that's what I started to wonder too (unfortunately),
and before I knew it,
I was nine years old, basket in hand, dirt under my nails, with a skinned knee,
 and I'm blood thirsty as all get out!

T H O S E  E G G S  A R E  M I N E !

 

That hooting and hollering?


It took a moment to sink in,
but yea,
it was coming from me.

...

I had found not one,
but BOTH eggs!


And as the realization sunk in,
the heart of every child there...


BROKE.


And my touchdown happy dance?

Well, it wasn't so happy anymore.

Oops.

Big, big oops.

...

To make matters worse,
the kids strategy backfired.

When all was said and done
the wee kids had all the candy eggs,
I had the primo eggs,
and they had,
well,
not much!

Talk about an extra punch in the gut!

...

To make amends,
my prize,
a giant Hershey Chocolate Bar,
was divided evenly among all the kids.

{ Bella wrestled the Silver Egg from me
and ran off with the four quarters. }


All in all,
those sweet kids forgave they're crazy aunt/mom!



And next year,
Samuel's going to restrain me!

{ sigh }