Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was my first "official" Mother's Day. I have wonderful examples in my life of mother/womanhood. My own mother, mother-in-law, grandmas, aunts, sister-in-laws, church leaders, etc have all done an incredible job with setting an example for me to follow. I had no idea (and probably have only caught a glimpse) what being a mother would mean to me. I'm not sure what words to type to describe how hugely blessed I feel to have Luke in our family. Bryan and I love that "little stinker" so much. It has opened my eyes to the love that mothers feel for their children. Being a mother is, by far, the most challenging and rewarding work I have ever done. As the saying goes, "I thank Heaven for little boys"...

...especially, this one. 

Double Trouble!

Luke loves being around other kids, especially Charlie. Charlie lives just a few doors down from us and we love when he is able to come over and play! I have a feeling that in just a short matter of time, these two are going to be partners in crime...

I promise that we usually let Charlie inside of our house to play, but the boys seemed to like playing this way! :)

Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we enjoyed a festive, Mexican dinner. We tried a new recipe and loved it! I think the key with this fish taco recipe was the lime vinaigrette, yummy! We added guacamole, pico de gallo, queso fresco, and more of the lime vinaigrette to the tacos (I forgot about the coleslaw in the fridge-oops.) To make it more "authentic" I added rice and beans as a side. We also enjoyed our own version of a Pina Colada with my classy glasses from the dollar store. These glasses have a cactus for the stem, hilarious and perfect for Cinco de Mayo!

 

Pico de Gallo Recipe

Grilled Fish Tacos with Lime Vinaigrette Recipe

 

 

You can almost catch a glimpse of the cactus stem on the glass, but not quite. 

Luke joined in on the celebrations with his first Pina Colada...

Can you say "sugar rush"???

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Homemade Freezer Strawberry Jam

 

"Sprouts," one of the local grocery stores was having a good deal on their strawberries, so I loaded up in hopes of following through and making some strawberry jam. Today, I made it happen. The recipe I used is from my mom, and it is d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. Warning, if you are diabetic or not a fan of sugar, this is not the recipe for you. For the rest of us, enjoy! :)

Homemade Strawberry Jam

2 cups crushed strawberries

4 cups sugar (yes, 4 cups)

1 box "Surejel" --- I use the generic brand and it turns out fine

3/4 cup water

**Wash and de-stem your strawberries**

 

**Next, mash strawberries**

I like to put them in a 9x13 pan or cookie sheet to mash.  I also use a simple, ol' potato masher

 **Pour 2 cups mashed strawberries into separate bowl from sugar.

Add sugar to strawberries and mix well. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. **

**In saucepan, combine 3/4 cup water with 1 package "Surejel". Bring to boil on High heat. Stir constantly. Boil 1 minute, stir constantly. Remove from heat.

 

**Dump "Surejel" into fruit and sugar mixture. Stir for 3 minutes to completely dissolve sugar.**

 

 **Pour into freezer containers and chill.**

That's all folks!

Surprise!

Luke learned when he crawled that only his knees and hands were touching the ground. I think he thought to himself, "I wonder what it would be like to have only my feet touching the ground."




 







Well, he figured it out! I guess he just needed to sleep on it. (That's my solution for a lot of things, too.)








I brought him downstairs from his nap and his favorite show, SportsCenter, just happened to be on. He must have wanted a closer look at the stats.

Bryan's Take On Spring

Bryan does like Spring...mostly. You see, Bryan has these pesky things called allergies which tend to make Spring not that enjoyable at times. A few weeks ago, his allergies peaked. How could we tell that they peaked? It was quite easy to see... (at least for one of us)

Poor, poor Bryan. 

Ahhh...Spring

I LOVE Springtime. I love the blossoms on the trees, watching the daffodils and tulips reappear and holding my breath that our other perennials survived the winter! I usually walk around the yard once a day, just to see if anything else is greening up or showing off its first blossoms. This is what I found this morning.

 

First blossoms on our Lilac bushes. 

 

Our Radiant Crab Apple trees are in full bloom. I had no idea what bright, PINK blossoms these trees would produce!

Some day I hope to be an amazing gardener. As of right now, I pretty much manage to kill anything that tries to give me fresh herbs, fruit or veggies. We have this space in our backyard that I am trying to figure out what to plant in it. We have a retaining wall that I thought might be fun to try and plant something that would crawl up it...or have any of you heard that vines/crawling plants are a nightmare? I would also like to mix flowers with veggie plants (such as tomato). Any ideas of what I could put in this and when I should plant???





Another aspect of Spring that I love is the warmer mornings and evenings. We went on a family hike this morning. There was a gorgeous blue sky with plenty of sunshine that we enjoyed while hiking. I think Luke likes the warmth of Spring combined with his backpack.

I've had my eye on this wreath for a long time. I finally got around to making it. I don't think I'm in love with how it turned out, but it feels "Spring-y" to me, therefore, I like it. :)