Our Private Art Show

The kids went into art overdrive

and within minutes created enough pieces for a small museum!

Within minutes,

that small museum was born

out of our kitchen!

Complete with a bench they dragged in for Samuel and I

to sit on and ponder each piece!

Artist are notorious for being drama-mamma's,

and these guys were no different.

There was some heated squabbling over who

got the best real estate.

Apparently the oven door is a hot spot...

My kitchen was beautiful for all of two days before

the clutter drove me crazy and the artwork

went into everyone's personal collection!

...

T H A N K S  B A B I E S !

An American in Paris

To celebrate the last day of school

we dined 'al fresco'

and presented them with a surprise:

We were all excited,

and everyone could hardly wait for the sun to go down!

All nestled in...



We ate TONS of caramel corn & cherries and

by night's end were ready to sleep under the stars!

Heaven!

...

What a great school year, ladybugs!

We love you so!

XOXO

Mom & Dad

School's Out...

With the onset of the last few days of school we

celebrated some milestones!

Owen completed his first year of pre-school with

a bash at the park!

He loved his classmates,

and with the exception of getting spit on,

it was a great experience!



 Way to go, guys & gals!

 

Moving on up,

Iris Luciana advanced from kindergarten to the first grade!

That's no small feat and we are so proud of our Duck!

She had a wonderful year with a great teacher and

something I will never forget is seeing her postiviely

rocket into reading!

Iris, you are amazing!

Celebrating with a little graduation cake... 

...which isn't easy to do with these guys hanging on every bite!

Thank goodness she's wonderful at sharing!



Next up, Ava!

My new big bad third grader!

I was able to swap babysitting with a sister in our ward

so I could help out at her end-of-the-year field day. 

What a blast!

I was bummed I left my camera at home,

but seeing her and her classmates run around and

getting drenched to the bone was pretty funny.
...

Ava,
we love you, girl!

How is that you are growing up right before our eyes?

You did great this year and we are so proud of all your acheivements,
especially your progress in math!

Bella ended her fourth year with a Heritage Lunch!

She was all gun-ho to make mole',

but I talked her into a spicy dessert instead:

Cinnamon & Cayenne Brownies with

a rich Chocalate Ganache 

She made them all herself,
and to my dismay,

brought home an empty plate!

...

Come fall she'll be entering her final year of elementary school!

Yikes!

I'm choking up as I type...

sigh.

This is what's supposed to happen, right?

They grow up,
get bigger than you,
leave home...

Well, we're not at THAT point yet,
but the fact that we're anywhere CLOSE
to any of the above is startling to me.

Deep breaths...

Enjoy and savor the now...

...

It's been a few weeks now and all of the hoopla

has officially come to an end. 

I have ALL of my babies with me

every single minute of every single day now
and I'm loving every minute of it!

{ Note }

We've come to the mutual understanding

that asking me the same question over and over again

will result in a chore!

Hence the abilitly to love "every minute"!  

...

H A P P Y  S U M M E R !

In-house Sleepover

Sweet dreams!



A New Generation of Friends

Tonight we had another great

"Girls Night - Playdate"

with my girlfriends from highschool!

As you can see,

the kids were thrilled to get together again!

The daintier babies opting to dine indoors rather than al fresco!

If looks could kill...

this is Elizabeth to a "T"!

How is it that sometimes our kids can LOOK nothing like us

but BE exactly like us?

Owen,

if you can't take the heat...

{ smile } 

Nice char, son.

Gabriel

He stayed clear of the flames but was

never far from the goods!

The sugar is ingested!

Here comes...

T H E  S U G A R  B U Z Z !

Of course, Iris thought this was GENIUS!



Thanks for coming guys!

We loved visiting and
can't wait to see you next time!

The Best Mother's Day Ever!

I have the best kids in the whole world

and every single Mother's Day they spoil me shamelessly!

I confess,

I eat it up!

And how could you not with all the tasty treats

set before me!

After a delicious Greek dinner of Lemon Chicken & Rice Pilaf

I tore into my bouquet of chocolate dipped strawberries!

Now that is my kind of "floral" arrangment!

 My little ones,

Thank you for a truly wonderful day!

You mean the world to me,

and I absolutely LOVE

being your mother.

There is nothing greater,

or more important,

than you.

Your father and I are blessed beyond measure!

Love ALWAYS,

Mom

P.S.

And Samuel,

I know you're exhausted...
thank you, sweetheart!

Oh, To Be a Kid Again...

We had the wonderful opportunity of

attending the baby blessing of our new niece, Aubrey.

Of course,

that meant all the cousins had the rare opportunity

of attending church together!

Can you tell they're happy?

The best part?

The car swap!

Whose going to ride with who to the luncheon?

Life is good...

P E A C E  O U T !



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 }