Blueberries!

We went blueberry picking today and we had such a fun time. We picked 2 gallons of blueberries but I think we ate a couple gallon too while we were picking! They were so yummy, big, juicy and so sweet.
Whoops, I forgot to turn these, sorry. Here are the kids hard at work picking the blueberries.

Luke only had like 10 blueberries in his bucket the whole time because he ate them by the handful. It was so cute, every time we looked at him he was shoving more in his mouth. We got much better quality child labor out of Amelia, she ended up picking a lot.
Our bounty of berries! I'll be making blueberry cheesecake bars tonight and blueberry pancakes tomorrow, yummy!

Mom's Getaway!

Part of my mother's day present was an overnight at a beautiful resort in Fairhope, Alabama. Fairhope is an adorable little community in Alabama right on Mobile Bay, it has lots of cute shops and great restaurants. A group of girlfriends and I stayed at the Grand Marriot Resort and Spa. It is spectacular. This was our room and I don't know if it was the bed, the linens, the room or what but we stayed in bed until checkout! It was lovely.
This was the view from our balcony, it was very peaceful watching the boats sail in and out. We even ordered our breakfast room service so we could eat on our patio. We ate cinnabon french toast, it was as good as it sounds. Except the portions were insane. We each had three giant cinnabons on our plate and bacon and fruit.
We all enjoyed massages at the spa. This was in the changing area and lounge. We spent a lot of time here chatting and giggling because the quiet room was VERY quiet. Some people take those quiet rooms so seriously. We did enjoy the whirlpool and sauna in the quiet room though, oh and they had some great cookies too :)
Maribel, Cynthia, Marian, Sue and me at dinner at the Colony Grill in downtown Fairhope. We all had delicious meals and were thoroughly stuffed when we went back to the hotel. It was such a fun, relaxing time. It was great to have some mommy time without the kids before Steve leaves for deployment. The kids and dad had some great bonding time also while I was gone. They went swimming, out to eat and to see Kung Fu Panda. Luke called me that night and said, "Mommy, I want to take karate." Oh boy.

Happy Father's Day Stephen!

Happy Father's Day! We love you so much! Thank you for being the best daddy (and husband) anyone could wish for.
We went to brunch on Sunday after church to celebrate Father's Day. The kids showing off their paper airplanes.

Amelia's Birthday Party

Amelia had her fifth birthday party last week at Pump it Up, an inflatable party place. We had the party in June because she really wanted Daddy to be at the party. The picture above is Amelia jumping through the obstacle course. The kids got to jump for an hour and a half and then had pizza, cake and ice cream. It was the easiest birthday party I have ever thrown, I just showed up with the cake!
Amelia had 25 of her closest friends at her party. What five year old needs an A and B guest list?
In the party room the birthday girl gets to sit in the birthday throne for eating and opening presents. Amelia chose to sit with her friends instead.

Blowing out five candles! So hard to believe our little girl is going to be five years old.

We love our Grandmas!

Grandma Nancy made this adorable dress for Amelia. Grandma has a patriotic theme in mind lately with the deployment looming, the dress has little white stars on it. We love it mom, thank you!
Luke LOVES his red blanket Grandma Joan made. It is definitely his favorite possession. His favorite color is clearly red and he wants to wear red everyday. This is classic Luke position, snuggling his blankie and sucking that thumb. Thanks Grandma Joan! The pirate scarf is a new addition. We went to a pirate party on Saturday and he has only removed it to sleep and take a bath. The first thing he does when he gets out of bed is go find his "pirate hat" and ask me to tie it on. He wears it everywhere we go.

Melting Mommy

The kids both melted my heart in the last couple of days . . .

Last night Steve was working the night shift so he wasn't home at all. Luke ended up with a bad cold. He was up coughing and sick most of the night. Around 3am, he ended up in my bed. When he wasn't coughing and choking, he was snoring like a sailor because he was so stuffed up. Even though I have a king size bed, Luke was squashed up next to me, I would move him and he would squirm back over within minutes until his body was snug up to me. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep last night but it was worth it. When Luke woke up he leaned over and kissed my cheek and hugged me and said, "You are the best mommy."

A couple days ago Amelia and I had this conversation:

A: Mommy, Daddy's Grandma Kay is in heaven right?
Me: Yup, she is and she watches over us.
A: You have a Grandma K. in heaven too right mom?
Me: Yup, my Grandma K. is Grandma Nancy's mom and she is in heaven too.
Amelia paused for a little while and then
A:I bet they play together in heaven and have lots of fun together.

What a wonderful, sweet thought she has of her Great-Grandma's playing together. It sure made me smile, and tear up.

Shalom

Our church had Vacation Bible school this week and both the kids got to attend and I decided to teach this year! I guess, decided would be one word, coerced, begged would be two other words :) The theme was Marketplace 2008 and we were taken back to the time when Jesus lived and learned all about the Jewish traditions. The children started out with their tribe in the morning learning the lesson and doing morning rituals. I taught Mini Market which were the itty bitty kids, 2,3, and 4 year olds (37 of them) so the lesson was a little shaky sometimes. We joked we should have called our tribe, "Sit on your bottom, please."
After lesson, the kids went to Market and did lots of neat crafts (trades) that were done in Jesus time. Well, the little ones colored but both kids made bowls and necklaces with clay and everyday they made bread. They also hammered tin, made crosses and leather bracelets.
Amelia in her tribal costume. She was in the tribe of Benjamin. The kids had money pouches and got to spend their money in the marketplace. Before the kids went to chapel (synagogue), they all had to wear head coverings. This was the cutest thing ever.
Morgan and Luke all ready for synagogue! They look like they are betrothed. I loved Luke's yamaka, he must have too because he actually kept it on.

Slip Slidin' and Girls Night Out!

Woo hoo! New slip and slide at our house! We needed something to cool off with now that we have reached our "hot as you know what" season. So now all you northerners can get your revenge on me for our pleasant winter. I would give anything for a nice balmy 70 degrees right now.
On Sunday we had a girls night out and went to see SEX and THE CITY of course. Don't worry, I won't give any details away. Only that it was so good to see those New York gals again, oh how I miss my SEX and THE CITY, well I do have all six seasons on DVD but still it's not the same. We all loved it and had a fabulous dinner afterwards to discuss every detail of the movie.