A belated thank you...

Mother's Day was almost a month ago, I know, but I keep scrolling through our May pictures and always stop on the ones from that day. It was a good day - a great day. Jeremy always pampers like no other and wins the prize for the best breakfasts of all time. It is never served on a plate. It comes on a PLATTER beacause there's not enough room for everything he fixes.

So the day begins with a gut-busting delicious breakfast in bed and presents from the whole family. Trevor and Logan made sweet gifts in their classes at school and take such pride in their cards they spent hours coloring. Those are always my favorite. Jeremy gave me a flowers, a corsage, heartfelt card, gift certificate to the spa, 2 new pairs of shoes, 2 tops and $ for a new headboard. Was it Christmas or Mother's Day? I can never really tell... Thank you, thank you, thank you family - I felt so loved.

We got to spend the day with my 2 favorite mothers. Mother-in-law Karen.

And my mom, Elizabeth.

There are not enough words to express how I feel about these awesome women. I am so blessed to have you both. Thank you for being you. Love you mamas.

E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H

She did this all on her own. There was no help involved - I promise. We were sitting in church, she was coloring this picture quietly, then a few minutes later she says, "Look mommy, I wrote my name!" And by golly - she did! (It's kind of hard to see, but her name is faintly written across the top of the page.) This is the first time she's ever written her whole name all by herself. There are a lot of letters in that name too. At first I was skeptical that she'd actually done it on her own, but after I looked at it for awhile I realized that it was for real. My favorite is the lowercase letter "i". Here's a small picture of it...

I don't know if you can see, but she took some time making a beautiful dot on top.

I just love those proud moments as a parent. The small ones are always the best.

Look who's here!

Cousin Tyler is here this weekend! Jackson and Tyler were so cute this morning hanging out in their pjs and drinking from their sippy cups.

Tyler and our Jackson are so much alike - they are only a couple months apart and of course display the same characteristics for their age. They both babble what sounds like words, they scream when a toy is taken from them, they LOVE to push around the trucks outside, and they both refuse to look at the camera at the same time. These are the best pictures I could get! Love to you cute boys.

Logan's Indiana Jones Party

She's a Joy School Grad!

Lizzie had a small graduation celebration last Friday for completing a whole year of Joy School! She and her 3 classmates looked so cute in their caps. They really were so cute it was hard not to pinch their cheeks off. The whole time we were there I kept replaying in my mind the quote from Mr. Incredible... it's the scene where he's arguing with his wife about attending a 5th grade promotion ceremony... he says, "Why do they have to keep inventing ways to celebrate their mediocrity?" That's kind of what it felt like - celebrating their mediocrity. Did they really accomplish something great? The answer is no, not really. But it is still fun to get them dressed up and celebrate the END of something. So I say, "Yay for Lizzie! You go girl! You finished a year of Joy School and get to do it all over again next year!"

The Day of Logan

Happy Birthday Logie Man!

Logan woke early this morning to a pile of presents and a yummy breakfast of toaster scramblers. He tore through his gifts, taking only a moment to look at each one then tossing it aside to rip open the next one. Daddy bought him a super cool hydrating backpack with a built in water pouch. Logan thought it was cool, but Daddy was was even more stoked! Now he has a backpacking partner for sure. Logan put down 4 toaster scramblers (these are like breakfast pop tarts, but made with bacon, egg and cheese for our non-sweet eater) and a plateful hashbrowns.

The celebrations will continue today with a cupcakes and cheez-its for his class, a movie (Indiana Jones baby!) after school, dinner at Burger King (for the Indiana Jones toys, of course), then one more party this weekend.

It's hard to believe that our Logan is 7 years old today. Man that sounds old! He's such a good boy - always trying hard to please and tease. Have a great day Logie Man.

Cajun Chicken with Citrus Salsa

Ok guys, you are going to love this recipe. I got this recipe from my friend, Heather, over a year ago and finally had the guts to try it. It's so hard to try something new sometimes! I've made it 3 times in the last month. We're having it again for dinner tonight! I think the salsa the best part and totally makes the dish.

Here's the recipe:

Cajun Chicken with Citrus Salsa

3 Tbs Cajun seasoning
¾ tsp onion powder
1/8 black pepper
1/8 red pepper flakes (The cajun seasoning I have is spicy enough for my family so I usually don't add the red pepper flakes.)
4 chicken breasts

11 ounce can chopped mandarin oranges
8 ounce can crushed pineapple
2 tbs lime juice
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 tbs chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper

For chicken:

Combine Cajun seasoning, onion powder, black pepper and red pepper in a shallow dish. Rub seasoning over chicken breasts. Grill or cook in a nonstick skillet.

For Salsa:
In a bowl, combine mandarin oranges, pineapple, lime juice, jalepenos, cilantro and Salt and Pepper. Serve salsa with chicken and rice.

The Passing of a Legend

Another great one has fallen.

I came home today surprised to see Trevor sitting outside the back door balling, sobbing, moaning and wailing. My first reaction was to ask, with great concern, "What happened to you Trev?" His response, "Oreo died". Actually it was more like, "OREO DIIIEEEEEED!". My next question, (probably much like yours now) was, "WHO'S OREO?". Bad question. Oreo happens (or happened) to be the rabbit that lived in the next door at the Christopherson's in our joint backyard. As I moved around the yard, the scene with the rest of the kids seemed to be the same, balling, moaning and wailing. I had no idea that Oreo the rabbit had such a profound impact, nevertheless, not wanting to make light of others pain, I attended the graveside service for Oreo to support all the kids.

Here's the backyard memorial/grave stone


It was difficult to hear much of what was said due to the loud crying by all the kids in attendance, but I did catch a few phrases like, "HE WAS JUST A BABY" and "WHY OH WHY". I worked hard to keep myself from smiling.

Trevor felt like expressing his grief with a pen (in addition to his loud and visible form)

I then thought of the first animal (actually it was a fish) that I lost and cried over, I think I was 7 or 8 years old. I don't remember the goldfishes name (shows how much it really meant to me). I asked Jennifer if she ever cried when a family pet died. Her response, with an incredulous look was, "why would I cry?". I was glad when I realized that I wasn't the only insensitive one in the family.

FHE @ Maggie Moo's

Trevor wanted to bring his camera along on our Family Home Evening outing. He was quite proud of all his photography. Enjoy a slide show of his work... My favorites are of Jeremy swinging the kids. His head and stomach were a little woozy the rest of the night!

Mom, Mama, Mother

I came across this picture as I was searching for a baby picture of Samuel fot the last post. This one instantly caught my attention and I couldn't put it down! I knew I needed to do something with it for Mother's Day this weekend.

This picture was taken on the 4th of July in 1979 when I was only 8 months old and Mom was only 23. (Thanks Dad for writing on the back of all your pictures!) I love to look at this photo and wonder what life must have been like for Mom all those years ago. She married at 21. Had her first child (me!) at 22 and had 5 more kids over the next 11 years. She was busy for sure! Raising kids is not easy, as I've learned over the last few years. It takes so much patience and self-sacrifice to really nurture kids into well-rounded individuals. I know she mastered those traits very early on in her mothering. This picture is exactly how I remember her...calm, easy-going and ready to love at any moment. She always was the most beautiful person I ever knew. I still think that! I'm sure I felt that way because #1 She IS beautiful and #2 She gave us so much: playtime, bed time stories, home made costumes, homemade treats from scratch, and later on her listening ear was always there when any of us needed it. Mom was and still is the best mother. Even today I know she will drop everything and come running if I need her to help out. I hope to be just like her someday.

I love you Mama. Happy Mother's Day.