Happy Birthday Anna!

In honor of Anna's birthday and because she is so far away, here is a little movie that the girls made for her this week and we sent to her.

And for the record....

It's a boy!

 And we couldn't be more thrilled. God gave me the two girls he promised me so I was happy with whatever was sent to us this time. A boy will be a fun adventure. We are all very excited. 

June 23rd is still the due date. We've got to get James graduated and done with school about the same time, so it will be a wild and crazy summer but we are so looking forward to all of it. 

A Perfect Saturday (Today!)

It's one of those Saturday's you dream of having every week. The girls woke up late. James let me sleep in an extra hour. We spent the morning cleaning the house then making blueberry buttermilk pancakes with fresh fruit and homemade whip cream (had all the ingredients in my fridge.... weird). Then the girls played while we finished up our cleaning and we packed a picnic and headed to the park. The sun was out and the weather was beautiful. We played around on the lawn, fed the angry and hungry ducks (that was too scary to pull out the camera) and finished off playing in the sand. 

 James was playing bullfighter with the girls. They were the bulls and he was the matador. 

Now we are home, the girls are taking naps and I am blogging all about this perfect day. What even makes it better is dinner is in the crockpot and my kitchen is clean because we ate outside. Don't know how it could be more perfect. I LOVE LOVE LOVE SATURDAYS!

Springs Preserve

We love Spring's Preserve. When the weather is so beautiful here most of the year, it is so nice to have somewhere beautiful and fun to visit and be outside. Pictured below is two different trips that I have yet to record. The first was sometime when James had a random Jewish holiday in the middle of the week. We pretty much had the entire place to ourselves. It was a gorgeous day and so fun to wander parts of the park we have yet to see. 

 How many James' tall is this cactus? That was the purpose of this picture. James' first estimate was two. Mine was 3. Although I think it is more like three and a half. 

 This is the second trip. We always complain about New Year's Day. We think it is the lamest holiday ever, because I guess we don't drink the night before and need a day to recover. Mostly it's just a day when your stuck at home bored because nothing is open. We found out Spring's Preserve was open and it was a done deal. Something fun to do on the lamest holiday ever, makes for a much better day. And it was another BEAUTIFUL day. 

 Molly wouldn't stay away from this little stream. If you pulled her away and set her down, she was right back to it in seconds. 

I think we've actually visited every part of the park now. It's pretty big and took us several visits and almost a year to check it all out. We have and will continue to enjoy our pass for the next couple of months while we are here. 

Gingerbread Houses 2013

 

These posts are all out of order but at least they are all documented. I had to pull these collages off my mom's blog because I didn't have these pictures. Every year JoEllen generously builds us all gingerbread houses so we just have to decorate them. The kids love it and Lucy got to participate this year as well. I was busy cooking, James was judging and taking care of Molly so Uncle Kyle came to her aid and helped her with the frosting. She loved loved loved it and kept at it for longer than I've ever seen her keep at something before. She didn't even eat a lot of candy. It was crazy. But she had fun. 

James is the judge every year and gives special attention to each house. This year the overall winner deservedly went to George. Good job George. 

The kids had fun with the frosting after all was done. And see that church one on the top right? That was JoEllen's. She won most religious for her gingerbread sized cathedral. I almost teared up. 

Lauri's Mexican Feast 2013

 It seems to happen at least once a year, I get talked into putting on a Mexican Feast for my family. I make a few authentic dishes that I learned when I was in Mexico and the rest of the food I collect from the Mexican Market. Only one stipulation: It has to be authentic. I refuse to serve up none authentic food at this feast. Contrary to what popular mexican restuarants serve, Cheese is rarely on the menu in Mexico. And if it is, it is very different than cheese as we know it. Cheese is not invited to my party although it always seems to sneak in, to make sure the kids eat something. 

 This year's menu included: Soya, Tamales (I did not make, but they were delicious), Mexican Rice, and delicious Salsa and Chips. Oh and we usually pick up a Tres Leches as well. SO YUMMY!

 It's always fun to get the family together. It's so easy to do. All I sent was one text:" Mexican Feast tonight at 6" and everyone was present and accounted for. Mason's family even skipped "Cafe Rio Friday" which he assured me was a big deal and exceptions are rarely made to skip it. 

 Let me add that I put this on with out the help of James. He had to head back to Henderson for a couple of days to work. But I did have lots of help from Traci, Russ, and my mom watching the kids. I was proud of myself. James is my rock, and I don't dare do a lot without him by my side, and I don't like to. But it was nice to know that I could manage when I needed to. Still missed him though.