Birthday Pampering

It was three decades (I just can’t come to terms with saying 30!) ago today that my mom and dad learned I was on the way…to their surprise as I was a touch early. 

The story of my surprise arrival is pretty fantastic, something I am just now learning to appreciate as a young mom.

In effort to celebrate the triple decade milestone…really, we’ll look for any excuse for a little pampering…we celebrated with birthday pedicures…my dad was gracious to watch the kiddos (which might explain my super relaxed smile in the photo ).

I still have a few more hours to enjoy of my twenties as it’s not official just yet…and I couldn’t imagine a more sweet way to savor and enjoy my last day of being 29.

Thank you for the sweet memory Mom!

Be blessed.

Blessed!

Tonight the doorbell rang…I answered it and look what I found!!!!

To my surprise and honor, I found a driveway filled with sweet neighbors and friends all ready to celebrate my upcoming birthday.

They brought roses from backyard gardens, cards, gifts, bubbles, a balloon and most importantly…ice cream!!!!

It was such a gift to become acquainted with new faces and watch kiddos run play as they wore themselves out in the yard.  The squeals of  joy over bubbles and ice cream brought such simple joy to my heart.

I couldn’t be more grateful for the neighborhood that God has blessed us with…both C and I often stand in awe of how thankful we are.

I have such sweet memories of growing up surrounded by my neighborhood friends and look forward to our kiddos enjoying the same. I also look forward to barrowing cups of sugar, taking care of kiddos in a pinch, hearing stories about older neighbors raising their families and sharing life with these sweet people.

What a surprise and a sweet way to kick off this birthday week.

K…thank you thank you thank you! I am so humbled by your friendship…thanks for loving our family well.

Be blessed.

Chairs

One of A’s favorite new things is climbing into chairs…not big ones, just chairs her size.

She climbs up…sits back…smiles as if to acknowledge her effort…and then crawls down. The process is repeated over and over and over again!

The simple joys of being little!

Be blessed.

All in a Day’s Work

Little A getting ready to go to ‘work’…

That cabinet before…

During…

After…

She’s stealth…you never know when she might take the task on…but the aftermath leaves you knowing that she’s come and gone…and enjoyed every minute!

Be blessed.

The Shirt Says it All!

My Grandma found this shirt for my mom…on Friday, she put it on and we all followed its strict orders with joy-filled ‘obedience’!

We started our weekend off with none other than cartoons in bed…

Followed by a traditional lazy cabin breakfast…

Little A enjoyed her food as usual!

The breakfast shenanigans wore Little A out…she headed for her morning nap while we enjoyed a quick bike ride.

Grandpa lovingly prepped the ‘Ross’ bike which probably hadn’t been ridden since the late 1980’s (it’s the bike that my brothers and I learned to ride on) for B to enjoy. B helped put the training wheels on in typical B fashion.

After the ride, and some ‘cabin lunch’ we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful summer weather. One group headed out to enjoy the boat while the younger/older crowd stayed back to man the cabin and the beach…

The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the simple joys of the ‘cabin home’…windows open, rocking chairs, eating, throwing countless balls for 4 pups, riding tractors…simply being together.

The day was capped off with the first fire in two summer seasons. B was thrilled to have the chance to eat a s’more sandwich and took the entire fire experience in in his typical tentative and inquisitive fashion.

It was such a treat to get to simply be together…making memories.

Happy Summer.

Be blessed.

Swim Lessons

B just graduated from ‘Little Level 1’ of swim lessons.

The lessons were two weeks long…the first few were rather challenging in that our little guy was less than impressed by the thought of getting in the water.

Ms. K worked her ‘magic’ and he loved it by the time the lessons were over!

While B was waiting for his turn to swim, he would stand on the ‘island’ and yell “Mommy, I making smaaart choices!!!”…with a grin on his face from ear to ear!

Happy Summer!

Be blessed.