To All the Moms Who Know What It's Like....Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms who have ever curled up next to their little one and fallen asleep in a toddler sized bed....Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who have mastered changing diapers on your lap, standing up, in the backseat of your car or in an airplane...Happy Mother's day
To all the moms who cried when your baby had their first round of vaccinations and still wish you could always take their pain away....Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who carefully test to make sure their child's food is just the right temperature but never get to drink a hot cup of coffee themselves..Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who have left their crying child at school/daycare then gotten in the car and cried yourself...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who have ever thought their own child is the most beautiful, special, gifted child in the world...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who sometimes wonder if they can send their child back...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who laughed the first time your child repeated a bad word in the right context...Happy Mothers Day
To all the moms who have ever refilled their child's bath when the water gets too cool, but only allow themselves two minutes in the shower...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who have substituted their own child's name into a favorite fairytale or song...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who have played the part of the pacifier fairy, the tooth fairy, and the fairy godmother...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who have stayed up late packing lunches, baking cupcakes or finishing a science fair project...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who can read Good Night Moon without glancing at the page...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who know the tricks for getting Desitin out of hair, permanent Marker off of walls and the throw up stench out of the car...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who know when to stand up for their child an know when to sit back and let their child handle it on their own...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who have rested a hand on a sleeping child's chest to check that they are breathing...Happy Mother's day
To all the moms who have found a stolen pack of gum in their toddlers pocket and marched them back to the store to return it...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who give nose-nuggies and butterfly kisses and high fives...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who would rather leave their own suitcase behind than forget to pack a child's favorite Lovey...Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who kiss boo boos, blow noses and wipe faces using their own saliva... Happy Mother's Day
To all the moms who chauffeur their kids around to practices, lessons, and games so that they may be better versed in all things than they ever were...Happy mothers Day
To  all the moms who have forgotten on occasion to pick that child up at a practice, lesson, or a game...Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms who cheer on the sidelines at kid-pitch baseball games that drag on til dark...Happy Mothers Day

To all the moms who buy tickets to performances which take place in their own living and buy lemonade which they have made, from a stand in front of their house...Happy Mothers Day

To all the moms who can tell what their child's temperature is to the tenth of a degree without using a thermometer...Happy Mothers Day

To all the moms who have ever said "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all"..Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms who want to say "I told you so" but don't....Happy Mothers Day

To all the moms who wake up every morning wishing for 10 more minutes of sleep and no matter how many years they awaken early to little voices,they will never become a morning person...Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms who think a trip to Target by themselves is a mini vacation and all those who have left their shopping cart in the middle of an aisle to carry out a screaming child...Happy Mothers Day

To all the moms who know there is no worse sound than your own whiney, cranky, crying child...Happy Mother's day

To all the moms who know there is no sweeter sound in the world than when your child says, "I love you"...Happy Mother's Day!

Our Easter Ideas

"Happy Easter" read a banner I made to match the napkins and plates above the dessert table. The centerpiece was made of layered yellow and green peeps and topped off with similarly pastel colored candy robin eggs.  I arranged tulips in a narrower container and placed inside the larger vase. I made egg shaped cake pops dipped and white chocolate and decorated with pastel confetti and glitter. I also made coconut cupcakes and frosted with vanilla frosting. I set the cupcakes in an over sized muffin liner which I had glued ribbon from end to end to make an Easter basket for the cupcake.  The dinner table was set with napkins tied with a variety of pastel ribbons and a small wooden egg.  Some brightly colored eggs nestled in a Waterford crystal bowl helped set the scene.

Easter Blessings

This Easter the Lily Pad hosted our first holiday.  Jim and I have been married for twelve years and we have had the pleasure of being a guest at our parents' for holiday meals ever since, however this year we decided it was our turn.  We decorated the house and got baking and preparing several days ahead.  Aunt Tammy brought the hams, Nanny Lil brought the potatoes, Aunt Kathy brought the salad, so we did the honey glazed carrots, lemon green beans, a couple of quiches, rolls, and two broccoli and cauliflower casseroles.  For dessert I made egg shaped cake pops, sugar cookies, cupcakes, and carrot-cake with cream cheese frosting. Nanny brought a butter cake and Nanny Lil made a chocolate pie.  We feasted and enjoyed the beautiful day. The kids loved staying in their own home for a change and had fun with all their relatives.  They eventually came down from their sugar highs from all those chocolate bunnies in their Easter baskets and the three Easter Egg hunts we attended earlier that weekend.  I love the traditions of these hunts, the one around our house and our neighborhood   I love how our bunny carefully labels each basket and hides the baskets filled with goodies, books and a couple special toys in a perfectly chosen hiding spot.  This year it was Cameron's basket which was the hardest to find, but luckily we all helped him look and it was found just before breakfast.  It was a blessed day filled with sunshine, family and yummy treats.

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

The beginning of March felt far from spring like around here but we certainly made the most of all the snow.  The kids loved sledding, snowman sculpting,  igloo constructing and hot cocoa slurping.  Cameron made some serious money shoveling neighbors driveways which he quickly spent at the 7/11 in town. We definitely had some blizzards to remember and enough school snow days to make any child happy and drive any mother to the brink of insanity.   One highlight of all that snow, was a trip up north with Nanny and Ampa and the rest of the Lil family.  The girls got on skiis for the first time, and aside from the cold, seemed to enjoy the thrill of the wind in their face as they zoomed down the bunny slope ( a very small incline). Poor Avery had bilateral pneumonia for the trip, but rallied and was feeling much better by the last day. It was so much fun catching up with all the Lils and spending some quality time all together. Having so much family around was also ideal as it allowed us a lot of time to go off skiing with Jameson and Cameron who have mastered all the trails and especially like the challenge of black or double black diamonds.  What a great family sport skiing is- three generations, outside, enjoying the beauty of the mountains, the fresh air, the thrill of the descent and the company of loved ones.

April is starting to feel a tad more spring like.  The sky is clear, the daylight hours are long and the first daffodils are peeking out of the ground.  We have dusted off the bikes, broken out the chalk, and set out to start enjoying the warmer weather.  A yard cleanup is in order, but I for one am looking forward to getting outside and enjoying our new deck and welcoming spring!

Wordless Wednesday!

First day of spring and I'm done with the Snow Clean-up! It's not the shoveling snow that's the problem- it's the indoor clean-up, keeping the kids entertained on all these snow days!!!

Mermaid Activities

As a prize for earning enough stars on their chore chart, the girls were going to be allowed to watch The Little Mermaid movie for the very first time. Tracking down a copy of the movie was no easy task, thanks to the Disney vault, but luckily Amazon came through, and the movie arrived just in time for family movie night, which at our house, occurs most Friday nights. In honor of the movie premiere at the Lily Pad we had an entire afternoon devoted to an "Under the Sea" theme.  We kicked off the festivities with an indoor beach party in the basement playroom. I cranked the heat and my bikini clad mermaids splashed in the kiddie pool which I hauled in from the shed and with Jim's help, filled with a couple inches of warm water. We also filled some containers and buckets with a little more depth so the girls could experiment with objects that float and sink.  After the pool party, we set out to make  a Little Mermaid craft. The girls painted two paper-plates then glued on seashells and sequins. I then stapled the plates together to make Ariel's clam-shell house.  We printed images of Arielle off the computer and glued her in along with some green seaweed.  We folded Arielle and the seaweed so they would pop up when the clam-shell was opened. For dinner I served fish, more because it was a Friday during Lent, not really thinking about the theme.  In hindsight, serving Flounder for dinner before watching the Little Mermaid wasn't the best idea but I think it went over the Littles' heads. We snacked on Goldfish and Swedish fish as we watched the movie and although there were a few scary parts where the girls had to hide there eyes and one part where Ella shouted, "Oh My God!" with nervousness that the prince wasn't actually going to kiss Arielle and break the spell, all in all it was a great family movie and the boys even enjoyed it!

Happy Birthday to the "Bestess" Dad Around!

We celebrated Jim's birthday over the weekend, a two day celebration for a very loved dad and husband.  Jim and I enjoyed a fabulous dinner out in town on Saturday night at a brand new steakhouse- a trendy spot for a trendy guy. If you know Jim, you know he's not the kind of guy to splurge on himself, so it's our job to spoil him.  Sunday, Jim got to sleep in while the kids and I made a yummy bacon, cheese, tomato and mushroom strata.  Jameson made a tasty fruit salad to go along with it as the girls set the table.  After cards, presents and brunch, I was hoping to have a nice relaxing family day, but between church, two kid birthday parties, four tennis lessons, a hockey game and a basketball game- it just wasn't in the cards.  We did finish the day off with a nice little birthday party, some Chinese take-out, and homemade chocolate cake. And of course no birthday party would be complete with out a big game of duck-duck-goose around the dining room table. Happy Birthday to the most amazing man in our lives. I hope this 34th year is the best so far!