Longbeach Girls Weekend

I am so luck to have a mom & sister that I enjoy spending time with. The three of us took a girls weekend together to Longbeach (my mom sponsored the trip, thanks Mom!), one last hurrah before my sister becomes a mommy again :) We had such a good time talking, laughing, sleeping, drinking coffee and roaming the town & beach. We also surprised Jess w/ a mini-baby shower for baby Jackson, coming in June. Our trip was short, but DEFINITELY sweet! Thanks also to our generous and hard-working husbands for watching our kids so we could do this (especially Geoff, my brother-in-law who did this while feverishly fighting off the flu!). We are blessed women.

Silly happy kids

Easter at Nana & Grandpa's

While we were in San Diego for a family wedding, the kids got the special treat of staying with my parents in Seattle. My sister's family also joined them early on in the weekend, and when our flight got home on Easter Sunday, we all joined in on an egg hunt & super delicious Easter meal (soooo good, Mom!). I am super good at taking pictures of my kids with an Easter egg perfectly covering one eye. He is risen!

Goose eggs

Kyle was super excited to bring home a couple goose eggs to wow the girls. What a fun, foodie Dad these kids have! I think they were impressed with how much bigger they are than chicken eggs. Marin mentioned later that she was a little worried about that little goose baby that might be trying to get out.

Kindergarten Orientation

The times, they are a-changin... Kyle and I with our oldest Marin, 5 years old... heading off to kindergarten orientation at our new school!

San Diego

Kyle and I got a real treat in April. A kids-free weekend in San Diego to attend the wedding of Kyle's cousin, Tim and his beautiful bride Kelly. The weather was gorgeous, and the company was fabulous (lots of cousins & family there to party down with!) Such a blessing to do this, and a HUGE thanks to my parents for watching our kids in Seattle.

Boys & Tools

Stick-em-up Dad.

Wheels

The girls got some new wheels for Easter (still adjusting, it's hard to let go of that little red trike)... And Max, well you can tell what he thinks of his Daddy's wheels! :)

'Tude Muffin

The stud muffin has a complete 'TUDE now! Attitude oozes out of those cute little cheeks, however I still can't get enough :) He still melts my heart. Now straight to time out.

A picture's worth a thousand clips

Those of you with little girls will understand what this means: Maddie's alter ego is apparently Fancy Nancy... The child has a white-knuckled grip on all her precious dresses and ACCESSORIES! Here's a small sampling. I love her.

One Year Ago

One year ago, we had a miracle happen in our family... Strolling down memory lane and remembering God's goodness & provision...

My. little. baby. LOVE!!

Field trip with Max

Max and I went with my moms group on a tour of the local firestation... He REALLY liked the red hat they gave him, and was brave enough to climb in the firetruck. It's pretty fun walking along with my wee one holding on to my finger. Special moments with my boy ... :)

New Hair

Preschool girls

Girls being cute and funny. Seriously, that's the end of my blogpost.

Introduction to Manhood

Kyle recently gave Max a crash course into manhood... Three hours in the garage with Dad & Poppy workin' on the motorcycle. From what I hear (I was out with the girls at a tea party), the boy loved it. Of course he did, it's time with the boys gettin' dirty and being manly! :)

Friday Night (de)Lights

About a year ago, I got serious about a subject that was just bugging me. It was that dreaded hour of every mother's day, around 4pm, when we ask ourselves "WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE FOR DINNER?!?!?"... So, a year ago I got serious about a monthly meal plan. It has been AWESOME and has totally energized our family's eating. I've noticed that food in our  home is generally healthier, yummier, and just more interesting. A side benefit I didn't expect was that I am actually starting to ENJOY COOKING (gasp).  One can only make Tuna Melt Casserole a certain number of times in a week before a revolt happens. And I am just super happy that this area of our life has been transformed from total 4pm chaos, to a calm planned approach resulting in variety & enjoyment by my entire family.

But you see, this is not the purpose of my post :) The PURPOSE is to highlight what happens on every Friday of the monthly plan. Friday is Kyle's day... He volunteered to have a "day" since he enjoys cooking, and we are ok with once a week take-out when he's not in the mood to cook. But when he IS in the mood, we are in for a real treat. He is such a good cook. I want to cry every time he cooks, it's that good. I may also be crying tears of joy that I am not cooking (didn't I just say I enjoy it now? hmmm...)  :) Anyway, and because of this, my children will literally eat ANYTHING the man cooks.

So this blogpost is dedicated to a recent delish meal of clams & mussels, garlic bread & tasty broccoli. The kids gobbled it up, we were fighting over the remains. LOVE MY HUSBAND THE CHEF!!!

Tromping around...

We had a middle-of-the-week spontaneous family outing to the great outdoors. Jackson Bottom Wetlands is only a few minutes from our house, so we loaded up the kids & rainboots and headed for the hills. Even little Max was able to walk majority of the time, until he got his britches in a bunch about something... So I did carry the little muddy creature for about 5 minutes, then he decided to be brave again. Little boys, I tell you... they are so tough, but still need their mommas. Kyle tells me this is basically the description of all men. Ha ha!

As Marin would say, "Look Mom, it's a sign of spring!"

St Patty's with the O'Corrigans

We enjoyed celebrating our Irish heritage with the Corrigans again this year, and my lovely parents were able to be a part of it too (however they forgot to wear green, what can I say? They're um... NOT Irish). Gotta love the country pride!

 

From Saint Patrick's Breastplate:

Christ be with me

Christ before me

Christ behind me

Christ in me

...Christ beneath me

Christ above me

Christ on my right

Christ on my left

Christ where I lie

Christ where I sit

Christ where I arise

Christ in the heart of every man

who thinks of me

Christ in the mouth of every man

who speaks of me

Christ in every eye

that sees me

Christ in every ear that hears me

Salvation is of the Lord.

The Three Amigos

Lately I've been finding my three little chickens all squished together on the couch. They do this umprompted and they insist on all touching & sitting as close as possible without actually sitting on TOP of each other. So cute. They are crazy in love!

And because I seem to only have pictures of Brother on my camera, here's some more cuteness. I need to work on equal opportunity picture taking.