Mother's Day 2017

Today was Mother's Day, and we had grand plans.  We were going to spend the morning at home then head to my parents' house to celebrate around 2:00.  But that didn't happen.  One of the kiddos had some gastrointestinal distress, so we stayed home and had a low-key day.

Mollie wrote this on the door a day or two ago, and it was so beautiful I just couldn't erase it.  

Baylor's initial thought was to make a spa day for me, but since the first part of it was a bath and I had just gotten out of the shower, I had to pass on it.  Both kids actually agreed to play a game with us, though, so we enjoyed Forbidden Island a couple times.

Bryson ran to my parents' house to help move a couch and pick up a couple things, so the kids and I snuggled in for a movie.  I don't think I have the hang of selfies yet.

Finding Dory was awesome, but I got a little choked up at a couple spots and worried the kids silly.  Baylor coached me to "take a deeeep breath", and they both hugged me until I was smiling again.

Bryson made us dinner, then it was time to get the kids up to bed.  In keeping with the day, that took way longer than usual, but once the kids were snuggled up in their beds, the adults got to indulge in a sweet treat, courtesy of my dear sister.

The kids gave me some adorable gifts today, too.  Baylor made me a card at school.

It is tough to tell from this picture, but it is actually a pop-up card!

Mollie was rather prolific this year.  The first gift she gave me was a sheet about me.

It reads (with a few spelling corrections for clarity): "My name is Mollie.  I am 7 years old.  My mom's name is Nicole.  She is 35 years old.  For work, she helps me and my brother.  She loves to snuggle, but she hates to yelling!  She is always saying, "Set the table!"  My favorite meal my mom cooks is pizza.  She is best at consequences.  She is not very good at (she put some symbols here to show that I am apparently good at everything).  Her favorite color is green.  My mom and I like to snuggle.  She loves me because I behave, and I love her because she loves me!"  Adorable!

She also made me a cut-out of some sort.  It has fringe, which I know she just learned how to make at school, and when opened up it looks a little like a bird.  

She also made me a beautiful flower in art class.

And another one in her first grade classroom.

While I mowed the lawn yesterday, she apparently set up a couple folders around her so no one could see what she was doing and drew me a picture with Sharpies.  So sweet!

My sister spoiled me, too; she found a canvas zip-top bag with the Doose's Market logo on it!(Gilmore Girls fans will know what I'm talking about)

And my parents gave me a gift card all loaded up so I could enjoy some pretzels from my favorite pretzel shop!

But the best part of today was all the love I got from my kiddos.  Neither of them was feeling particularly stellar, but they both showered me with hugs and snuggles and a few kisses on my cheeks.  I am so grateful for those two; they made me a mom and are the best kiddos a mom could ask for.

To all you moms out there (including my own wonderful mom), I hope you had an awesome Mother's Day full of joy - and maybe a little relaxation.

And to all of you out there whose hearts are hurting today - be it from the loss of a mother, the loss of a child, childlessness in general, or any other reason - I hope you were able to find solace and a bit of hope for Mother's Days to come.

Happy Mother's Day to you and yours!

Mother's Day 2016 and a Scrumptious Sunday!

This year we celebrated Mother's Day for two days.  On Saturday, after Amalia's tee ball game ...

... we went to my parents' house to celebrate with my parents, sister, and grandparents.  The kids had fun reading.

Mollie, in particular, needed to rest a bit; she played first base during her game and chased after the ball A LOT.

It was such a beautiful day to be with family.

Baylor and Bryson played Code Master for a while ...

... then Baylor helped Oma make popsicles in her new popsicle molds.

Christine made an amazing cake for the occasion: four layers of vanilla cake with a layer of raspberry preserves, a layer of cream cheese buttercream frosting, and a layer of lemon curd, topped off with another layer of cream cheese buttercream frosting and raspberries.

Seriously, just look how beautiful this thing was!

And yes, it tasted as good as it sounds.

Sooooo many layers of goodness!

Then we played euchre.  I had a great hand, a GREAT hand, but my dad called diamonds and spoiled my loner.  That's the way the cards fall sometimes, though, right?

Before GG and GGpa left, Amalia showed off her new-found skip it skills!  Look at those moves!

Great food, great weather, and great company made for a really wonderful day.

Today - actual Mother's Day - I woke up early to have some alone time and get a few things started before everyone else woke up.  I did some laundry, sorted through the paper a bit, and worked on the dishes a bit, then Baylor woke up a little before 7:30.  He and I had snuggle time on the couch before he started work on his Snap Circuits.

Once everyone was up, I opened my Mother's Day gifts.  Amalia gave me a marigold and some treats she made at school, as well as a card she made the day before at my parents' house.  That's me in the picture holding my marigold and treats.

Baylor gave me a card as well, along with a magnet he made at school; the heart is made with his finger prints, and it's beyond adorable.

Bryson got me an electric pencil sharpener ... just what I wanted!  (Seriously, I really wanted an electric pencil sharpener; we use pencils a lot at our house, and my manual sharpener just isn't cutting it anymore.)

For dinner, I asked Bryson to make a replica of a salad I had while we were on spring break.  (The Honey Sesame Chicken Salad from Mangos Dockside Bistro in Marco Island, Florida, in case anyone is interested.)  I had already made it once, and since everyone seemed to like it well enough I thought it'd be okay to ask for it again.  I even helped make it a little easier to make by suggesting we get some frozen pre-breaded chicken strips to use instead of trying to do that ourselves; it really didn't come out as well last time when I tried.

So he chopped and peeled and tossed.

And weren't the results beautiful?!

Seriously, it was delicious, too!  Even the kids ate it without much hesitation.

So here's the Scrumptious Sunday part of the post ...

The Florida Salad  (based on the Honey Sesame Chicken Salad at Mangos Dockside Bistro)

~ serves two adults and two children ~

1 ripe mango, cut julienne-style
1 lb. of strawberries, sliced
1 24.5 oz. container of mandarin oranges
about 2.5 oz. of spring mix salad
about 15 Tyson Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Strips, cooked
1/3 cup honey
sesame seeds
tortilla strips
cashews

Directions:
1. Lay down a bed of the spring mix salad in each salad bowl.  Add mango, strawberries, and mandarin oranges.  Set aside.

2.  Coat the chicken breast strips with honey, then sprinkle with sesame seeds to taste.  Slice into bite-sized pieces.

3. Sprinkle tortilla strips and cashews over salad, then top with sliced chicken.  Enjoy!

Also:  You can also add some sweet onion salad dressing (like this one) or drizzle a little honey over the top.  (I highly recommend the Michigan Bee Co. honey, found at Meijer and D&W in Grand Rapids.)

After picking up the living room, getting ready for bed, and reading a little bit, the kids took a picture with me!  I am so proud to be their mom!

All in all, it was a great couple days, full of love and warmth and laughter.  Motherhood isn't always the easiest job, but I wouldn't trade it for anything on this earth.  A and b, I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Halloween (and Hair Cut!) 2015

This year's Halloween festivities had a rather interesting start; my mom got her very first "hair cut" from Amalia!  The hairspray my mom used earlier in the day gave Mollie a bit of a run for her money, but she worked her way through it in no time.

After giving Mom a trim, Amalia blew her hair dry because Mom asked her to "dye" her hair as well.

I know it's blurry and the color is off, but I couldn't help but post this one of Mollie "applying the hair dye".  Let's just say it was a bit of a wild ride for my mom.

I'm sorry, but this is just not a face you want your hairdresser making while she's cutting your hair.

In the end, the "cut" came out okay, and now Mom is considering hiring Mollie for all her hair needs.

After a bit of pizza, we got the kids into their costumes for a photo op.  GO GREEN!

Then we went and covered up all that beautiful green with their winter coats and some bright yellow ponchos.  It was a shame, but it was also totally necessary because of all the rain outside.  Once we got out there, it was quite apparent that there were way fewer trick-or-treaters out than usual and fewer houses giving out candy as well.  But we made the best of it, trying to make sure the kids kept their bags under their ponchos or under the umbrella.  A special shout-out to my dad for coming with us, holding the umbrella, and keeping things moving!

After walking our usual route, we came home to check out their haul and take inventory of their sweets and treats.  Both kids did very well for themselves.

The adults enjoyed a shredded apple tart, courtesy of my dear sister, and then we chatted ... and some of us snuggled by the fire.

For the fourth year in a row, Mother Nature has tried to keep us down on Halloween.  But with good company and sweet treats, it's tough not to have a good time.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Halloween 2014

This year our Halloween was quite eventful.  With two children in school at least part time now, there was a lot to balance and coordinate.  Luckily, this year the kids ended up having a half day on Halloween, and, as a result, Mollie's teacher moved their party back to Wednesday.  This change meant that I would be able to help out at both kids' parties, and we were all really happy about the coincidence.

My mom made Mollie a beautiful Cinderella costume, and Mom and Christine found the gloves when they were out shopping one day.

I know I am totally biased, but I think she made a perfectly lovely little princess.

I helped make the bustle in the back, and then did some troubleshooting when the bustle wouldn't stay fastened.

After we dropped Baylor off at school, Mollie and I hurried over to her school and we started celebrating.  She has thirteen kids in her class, seven girls and six boys.  Before we arrived, I guessed that five of the seven girls would be princesses, and I was right!  There was Mollie as Cinderella, a Sleeping Beauty, an Elsa, an Anna, and a Sophia the First.  The Anna costume was actually pretty impressive.  It had a button you could press that would play "For the First Time in Forever" and light up the skirt.  Their teacher even turned out the lights to demonstrate!

There were four stations for Mollie's party: snacks, decorating cupcakes, a witch's hat ring toss, and an arts and crafts table where they made some ghosts out of paper plates and streamers.  I was in charge of helping the kids with the arts and crafts, but Mollie still was able to check in with me every now and then.  Her cupcake was epic, but it sadly got smushed in the baggie they gave them for leftovers and she cried a bit when it didn't look nearly as awesome as it did before.

In between events, their teacher, dressed as Olaf from Frozen, would read them a story, which I think helped them calm down just a bit even with the copious amounts of sugar coursing through their little veins.

Mollie had a great time at her party, and even stayed after the party was done so she could hang out with the kids whose parents hadn't come to the party.  It was a fantastic first school party experience!

Baylor, on the other hand, was a bit upset that his sister had gotten to have her party and he still hadn't had his yet.  So he came up with a grand plan to have a Halloween party on Thursday the 30th at my parents' house and asked/informed my mom of his ideas.  Usually he gets shot down or the moment passes and he moves onto something else, but this time, THIS time, my mom said, "Sure!"

So we had an impromptu Halloween party the day before Halloween!  My mom went all out with the food, too.  There were mummy hot dogs, gnarly chicken fingers, ghostly mashed potatoes, and fish eyes (which were really peas).

The kids LOVED it!  (The adults did, too.)

She even made dirt dessert!  It was beyond delicious and very apropos!

The next day Baylor got to have his class party and on a half day, no less!  There was a parade all around the school, lots of treats, a beanbag toss game, and an alien creation arts and crafts table.  He had a lot of fun and made a bunch of adorable little aliens.  It did start to rain/snow during the party, but even that didn't really dampen the kids' spirits.  It was a great time!

The principal, dressed as Gru from Despicable Me, stopped by to join in the fun as well, leaving his minions (the office ladies) behind to "get their evil work done".  But before long it was time to go home and rest up for a chilly night of trick-or-treating ahead.

After dinner we piled on the layers under the kids' costumes and headed out into a very, very chilly evening.  Though it was quite windy, at least the slushy precipitation had long stopped and our time outside was dry.  Baylor requested that my dad come with us, so Bryson stayed behind to help hand out candy and enjoy the warmth inside.

We had a bit of a rocky start when a full-size collie charged at Mollie, and the owner did barely anything, insisting that the dog was just fine and that the kids basically get over it.  After that ordeal, Mollie wanted to know whenever there would be a dog.

We were out for an hour and came back as popsicles, but we had a lot of fun.  Baylor actually said, "Trick or Treat!" at nearly every house, and Mollie did a great job saying, "Thank you!" and holding up her dress like a little lady when going up and down the stairs.

Of course, once you collect your major haul, you have to assess and count your candy.

Mollie was disappointed with the massive amount of Twizzlers she got, but Oma and Aunt Christine helped her out and switched out the offending sweets with candy from our bin.

While the kids ate their three pieces of candy (our limit for the night) we all enjoyed a little Jeopardy. 

Try getting kids to go to sleep after they've had candy and loads of fun.  It's nearly impossible.  But that's what we did.

And then the next night, our PTC held a "boogie night" dance in the gym at Baylor's school.  I, being a part of the PTC, was going to chaperon, and since they asked for the chaperons to dress up, I had to find a costume that would be easy to throw together and also not upset Baylor, who typically doesn't like people to wear costumes.  Then I asked him if he would be okay with me being an historical figure that we could research and learn about, and he was totally on-board with the idea!  So, Rosie the Riveter I was!

You can do it, you know?!

The dance was a success, and I think a good majority of the kids had a great time.

Hope you had a happy, safe Halloween!