pouter

Most of the time, he's pretty laid back.

But someone is realizing he has an opinon...

 ...and he'll let you know when he's not liking something.

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ocean love

Mason's first ocean experience was a little more than a year ago...

He looked like this...

This time around was alot different :)

The kid was all over it.

He was running around, hollering and flipping out in general...

The fact that the water was ice-cold was no problem...

He was T.I.C.K.E.D. when I had to drag him away to go get cleaned up to head home.

I wish I had gotten a picture of it.

He was head to toe soaking wet....sand EVERYWHERE....and screaming furiously at me and yelling "no no!".....in his little 17 month old voice.

hehe...

I'm so glad my kids love the ocean. On the other hand...they have NO FEAR and it was a little stressful because had I not yelled "STOP!" a gazillion times and ran to grab little hands/arms...they would have kept running until their little heads were under the water. Not cool.

The coast rocks. The kids had a ball. We are definitely going back soon. :)

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Papa and Gran visit

My dad and stepmom were here this past weekend. It was such a blast to see them!

We ate alot of good food (tons of fresh fruits) and crammed alot into a few days (so much fun!).

Friday we went to the Sequoias.

 Saturday we stayed around the house, decided we wanted to go to the coast, and then we took them out to dinner that night for their birthdays.

Sunday we took said impromptu overnight trip to the coast.

Nick did some work on Monday while the rest of us walked around Pismo and played on the beach and in the ocean before heading back home.

Tuesday morning, their flight left early.

We had so much fun and the kids LOVED having Papa and Gran here.

Next up....LOTS of pictures.

I have to do a separate post on Mason's ocean experience. The kid was a hoot ;)

Thank you, Dad and Pam, for coming out and seeing us! We had so much fun and miss you already!

xoxo

 Dad and Addy at the Sequoia trail...right before my camera died.

 date night

 Dad and Pam on the board walk

 Dad and I

 Addy and Gran checking things out

 all star Papa

 I. love. her.

 is there anything sexier than a man wearing a toddler? ;)

clam chowder from Splash....the best.

 total Papa's boy

roughing around

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stuffed french bread

This is my husband's new comfort food favorite. We got the recipe from my sis-in-law, Sara.

 It is really good, super quick and makes good left overs :)

Stuffed French Bread

 

1 loaf French Bread

1 onion chopped

1 pkg Lipton onion soup mix

2 c shredded cheddar cheese

1 lb ground beef or turkey (I used turkey)

1 can mushrooms with juice  (used 1pkg fresh baby bella mushrooms...added 1/4 c. water)

2 c cole slaw mix or shredded cabbage

Hollow bread- cut loaf in 1/2 and hollow out. Brown meat and onion. Drain grease. 

Add soup mix and mushrooms- cook for 5 mins.

Add cole slaw and simmer until tender.

Put 1/2 of cheese in the bottom of the loaf. Add beef mix to fill the bread. Add remaining cheese on top. Put on bread top and wrap with foil.

Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for 25 mins. Let cool 10-15 mins before slicing.

 

enjoyed by men of all ages ;)

 

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random catch up

This weekend was a hot one! High 90's...full sunshine...

so we spent most of the weekend doing this:

We got the water table at Costco. I had been eyeing it for a few weeks and we pulled the trigger last week :) I decided to forgo the stress of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum playing in the pool everyday....they rough-house alot and one of them is bound to drown.  Seriously.

So for everyday use, we have the water table and the sprinkler. Pool will be occasionally when I can sit in there with them. :)

The kids love it and Adelyn is always asking to "play with the cool water table".

After being outside in the heat most of the day yesterday....we had frozen yogurt for dinner. It was delicious. I don't feel bad about it at all :)

Adelyn has learned how to call people from my phone. She always calls Grandma Diane and will not give me the phone. I have to wrestle it from her and then she flips out and gets so mad.  I can't help but laugh because she takes these phone conversations SUPER seriously. (she is actually talking to my mom in this picture....I had to get a photo of it)

When we are inside, Addy and Mason LOVE to play in her room. They jump on the bed. They take out the books....they LOVE it.

Mason is a total daddy's boy. He woke up from his nap while Nick was mowing and immediately booked it to the door begging to go outside....being the awesome dad he is...Nick finished up like this :)

I got 2 rose bushes for Mother's Day last year. They are starting to bloom....Adelyn is obsessed with the current (and first) rose...it's so pretty. She is itching to pick it. :)

My sweet girl. She does the weird "cheese" grin alot, so it's fun when I can get a "natural" smirk ;)

Life is never dull.

Today Adelyn and I visited preschools and I think we have our winner! CVC Preschool was amazing and Adelyn jumped right in playing with the kids. The teachers were great and so nice. I had to drag her out of there!

I'm so excited for her to start in the fall!

It's 3 days a week for 7 (!!) hours.

Wowsers....WHAT will Mason and I do with ourselves?? :)

Thinking about it gives me a pit in my stomach...I'm excited, but sad because she's my baby girl!

I can't believe she'll be in school....

oh my...

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solo trip to iowa

a million years ago
  in a dream I had
what feels like forever ago
The last weekend-ish of March, Nick sent me home to Iowa for a few {child free!} days. :) I LOVE my kids, but sometimes you need a break. If you're a mama, you know. :)
I spent 3 full blissful days with dear dear friends and family :)
Friday, I got to see Bekah and the girls, Amber and Miles, and Ashley, Katie and their kiddos. It was wonderful (forgot my camera, so no pictures...boo)!!
Saturday, Mom and I spent the entire day at the East Village downtown and then over to Valley Junction. Then I saw my dad for a bit before heading for margaritas at On the Border with Mom :)

Top left to right: cool spice shop in the village. My favorite sculpure, Nomade, at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. One of the old chandeliers from the old Younkers Tea Room (such a cool place!)

Left to right: mom and I in the Nomade :) and at On the Border {margaritas!}

Sunday I slept in :), went for a {child free} run, then over to see my dad, stepmom, and 2 younger brothers (Josh is still in Hawaii). We ate yummy food and just hung out. It was wonderful :)

Russell Brand Caleb teaching Jake to make guac. Dad, Pam, and me.

That evening, my sister-in-love ;) Yvonne and her hubs, D'Angelo, came over with the boys (Ahman and my nephew, Noah) for some Casey's taco pizza. If you've had it...you will understand how amazing it was :) My stepdad was back from the cabin and my stepbrother, Jesup, is in DSM, so I got to see him too. I cannot tell you how refreshing and great it was to see everyone!

Mom, Rob, and Noah.  Yvonne, Noah and me.

Ahman and Noah :)

Yvonne and D'Angelo (2 of my favorite persons ever)

Jake, Russell Brand Caleb, Mom and me

The long weekend FLEW by...and honestly feels like a dream!
I miss you all so much!! :)
xoxo

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easter festivites

In a time where Easter has become all about bunnies, baskets, eggs...and yes, candy....Nick and I want to make sure we are teaching our children what it's really all about. Jesus Christ. His sacrifice--dying on the cross. The awesome miracle of his resurrection. The fact he did it willingly...for you and for me....so that we can have the opportunity--in our sinfulness--to live forever with him.
How cool.
We didn't do easter baskets growing up. We did the occasional easter egg hunt...but we never felt deprived :) Nick had them and said it was fun waking up to a fun-filled basket :) I totally get that!
Friday before easter, I was reading one of the too many blogs I follow, and she was talking about a tradition they started last year where they tie in Jesus' story with the easter baskets. SO COOL.
I decided it was perfect...so that's what we did. Saturday night, we went through the Resurrection Eggs with Adelyn {hopefully next year, she'll pay more attention to the story...this year she just wanted to open all the eggs!}

Then we wrote down sins on rocks and put them in her and Mason's easter baskets. We covered them with a red towel to represent Jesus' blood, his dying on the cross for our sins and explained we had to wait until morning to see what would happen.

The next morning, she took off the towel, and we had put  "Jesus" basket between theirs and it had all of their "sins" in it and we talked {briefly} about the last Resurrection Egg.

They had a few toys in their baskets (no candy....she got PLENTY at the church candy grab easter egg hunt on Saturday morning!
Anyway...it was fun and I think it's a tradition we will keep up. Thank you for the idea, Christy! :)
We went for lunch on Sunday to Steve and Cindy's. It was a blast. My kids ADORE them. I forgot my camera. Boo.
Thank you, for having us over! We love you guys! :)
Okay, so the church egg hunt was Saturday morning.
It's huge.

her face says it all :)

Hundreds of people...but the kids had so much fun! Our neighbor brought her younger 3...so we had fun with them.

Top: Zander, Trinity, Adelyn and Uriah

 We sang songs and did door prizes first in the auditorium, then they split up the age groups.

singing "Father Abraham"

 Nick took Mason, Alex took her youngest and her 5 year old.  I took Trinity and Adelyn with me. They were hilarious. Lazer focus. They subconsciously were working together. They would block off a section and just clear it. I was cracking up!

Waiting for the "GO!"

LAZER FOCUS. Seriously.

Adelyn with Trinity and her friend, Haley....

displaying their spoils ;)

We had a fun Easter and are so thankful for the friendships we have been blessed with!

Happy Easter!

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