Puddle Jumpers

I'm doing a little catch up to wrap up April and thought these pictures were appropriate for the weather we're having right now.  A much different feel the last day of March compared to the last day of April.  Still a lot of water around but not from melting... from raining!  And it actually felt a lot nice our that day than now!  Owen had some new mud boots to try out and they definitely kept his feet dry.  Except when they kids jumped too hard and the inside filled up with water, that is!

 

 

As silly as it all looks, I did get plenty of people stop and tell me what a good mom I was for letting my kids play outside.  They had been itching for this all winter.... and long for warm weather to return!!!

A Hike at Baylor

After a couple really busy week/weekends it was time for me to have a little fun kid time.  Baylor Park had a maple syrup event going on last Saturday so I decided to bring the kids out for it.  The weather was absolutely perfect!  Finally, I nice spring day to do some snow melting!

They had a "syrup shack" setup where we could see the boilers they use to cook down the sap into syrup.  It's a long process and just a 40 to 1 ratio of sap to finished syrup.  Then we were told we could go out to the woods where they were tapping the sugar maple trees.  I was told it was a 15 minute walk but with my kids it took closer to an hour!!  The road was muddy and icy and the kids snacked the entire time and stopped numerous times to try and find animal hiding spots.  But I just had to remind myself that the real reason we were out was to have a nature outing and just enjoy being outside.  I think we accomplished that and kudos for my kids for walking the majority of the 1 mile hike just to get to the tapping location!  Plus, I got a few fun pictures out of the deal too!

 

 

 

 

 

Here was a fun photo-op.  Wish I would have taken Owen's little hat off for the picture - there was no way I was getting him to give up his fruit roll-up either!

 

After the last set of photos it wasn't too much farther until we got to the tapped trees!

Then the hike back.....  My goal at that point was to make it back so the kids could have ice cream by noon, when the event ended.  By this time it was really warming up and the kids were tired - oh, and snacking again.  I felt like I was on an episode of The Amazing Race as I tried to hurry the kids along through the now sloppy dirt road.  Once I attempted to carry Owen, who was refusing my assistance, and slipped and fell into a big muddy puddle.  UGH!  But luckily we met up with some of my dad's cousins who helped me out!  She put Megan on piggy-back and I carried Owen and we made it back making good time!

Whew, what a workout!

Rachel's Coffeehouse Bridal Shower

On Saturday, March 22nd, my mom and I got to host a bridal shower for my sister!  So many things that we've been planning for awhile are finally starting to happen!  We decided on a coffeehouse theme since both Rachel and Nate love coffee and they went on lots of coffee dates early on.  We really focused on the coffee theme both decorations and food.  For the decorations we filled vases with coffee beans and hand-made colored coffee filter flowers.  We framed sayings that played up the theme.

 

We made a beautiful banner using more coffee filters which read, "love is brewing".

Then, every coffeehouse has a tip jar for the barista, so why not at our 'coffeehouse'?  Guests shared some favorite household and kitchen tips for the bride-to-be!  I even learned a few things myself :)

We had fun putting together a small coffee bar.  I dipped some sugar cubes in navy almond bark and also made my own french vanilla creamer which sure got the people drinking lots of coffee!  And, what would our coffeehouse shower be without a lovely plate of biscotti!  The lunch menu was just as wonderful but I didn't get pictures of that.  Pesto-chicken croissant sandwiches, Caesar salad and fresh fruit were delicious!  And a pillow mint dessert added for a bit of nostalgia to the party as well.

I snapped a quick picture of Rachel and Grandma while we finished up lunch.

I totally made Rachel cry with my gift - mission accomplished!  Three photo books:  a small guest book to put out at their reception, a 12"x12" book of their engagement pictures that I took for them, and a recipe book filled with family favorites!  The recipe book was definitely a labor of love but totally worth every minute spent on it!

Love you, Rachel!  Thanks to everyone for coming and making the shower a success!  Next stop:  Wedding!!!