Spring BreaK!

 

 

 

I wrote this a week ago and totally spaced posting it... 

Spring break is sadly over. The week was a great balance of rest, activity and family time. I think that the kids had a fantastic break. Meli really enjoys having Colin home with her. Now she has to adjust to him being back at school. We tried to keep with our daily routine, but threw in some little extras to make it an exciting week. The vacation did have a not so thrilling start: Colin was sick the Thursday before the break. So he got an early start. Poor guy. He was sick first, then Meli and then Will. I was the only who seemed to escape it. Thankfully, it was not as bad as it could have been. Thank God for strong immune systems. It was kind of weird, each of them chose one symptom to have and they were all different.

After everyone was better we were able to enjoy a few days of nice, sunny weather.  The rest was rain, but that can be fun too. Colin is learning to ride without his training wheels. It is kind of a hard lesson for him. He is so logical that his mind is the only thing keeping him from doing it. He will get it soon!  Meli is doing very well on her bike.

 

My mom and I took the kids to see Paddington Bear. It was Meli's first time (not counting as an infant) to a theatre. She did such a good job! It was cute seeing her in her booster seat being a big kid. They had a blast playing in the arcade area. Meli got first place in the car race three times! I am not sure how she did it, because she drives like Grammie and mama! It was all over the place, but somehow controlled. Her abilities with videogames is very impressive for her age. Colin was the same way. Just crazy.

My sweet guy

Future racecar driver

Meli was freaking out about seeing the Cinderella poster. My little girlie-girl. I think I know what movie we will be seeing next. She was concerned that she did not have her crown on.

Cinderella

During the week, we also went on a picnic. The kids loved packing a lunch to take. Meli mostly played with the flowers. She is obsessed with them. I am constantly preventing her from picking flowers (that should not be picked).

 

 

Daisy

Princess Mae

Picking daisies

My little babies

~ Love, Hugs &; Kisses ~ The B Family

Happy (Official) First Day of Spring!

We celebrated the first day of spring with rain yesterday. Thankfully, today was beautiful, so we took the kids on a hike. Meli was not in the hiking mood, so I carried her on my shoulders for most of the time.

Colin was our little leader on the trail. 

The sun was not out yet, but it was still very pretty. The moss was such a beautiful green!

My hiking buddy! Such a beautiful time with my little family. 

            ~ Love, Hugs &; Kisses ~ 

                       The B Family

Working Out with Elsa

I have come up with a new workout regime that has me using the weights and treadmill in our garage...so Meli has been joining me out there. She keeps it interesting and entertaining! This is my first week and I am sore all over!!

I let Meli choose the music. She was tired of my stations. I was not thrilled with her choice of Disney Princesses. Frozen and Rapunzel specifically. Surprisingly, it was fairly motivating! Probably helped that I know the words to most of the songs, so I can distract myself by singing.

This was my view during my treadmill run. I was so jealous!

Velorossa Design

When we first moved back to Oregon and were living in Cottage Grove, we met some amazing people who make beautiful lights and furniture. The company is called Velorossa Design. We just adore their family. The pieces of art they create is just amazing. Check them out at http://www.velorossa.com/.

 

 

 

 

Below is a picture of our grandfather clock they made. I just love this piece. It is so neat to have an original piece of work.

 

This is the top half of our standing light. The centerpiece is an antique French thermometer. I love old lanterns, so this is perfect for me. We also have a little desk lamp.

An Irish Feast for St. Patrick's Day

"May the blessings of each day be the blessings you need most." - An Irish Blessing

 

 

I hope everyone (Irish or not) had a wonderful day celebrating everything Irish! This is one of our families' favorite holidays, so we tend to go all out for the celebration. This year was no exception. In the picture above you can see that we did not go all crazy with green, but I did have a green sweatshirt on earlier. Plus, I am wearing green earrings, green bracelets, and my awesome green gnome socks. Yes, I wore those with my high heels so that everyone could see my cool socks. The kids in Colin's class thought they were amazing! I am still cool! Haha...

 

Colin and Meli put together a trap for the leprechaun on Monday night. Sadly, once again - it failed. The sweet leprechaun, Aengus, left the kids a note. He also turned things in our fridge green and left a trail of candy around the house to see what else was turned green. The kids thought it was hilarious that he changed our toilet water green! He also left a little surprise for them at the end of the candy trail.

Colin thought he would enjoy pennies for his pot of gold

I volunteered in Colin's classroom to help out with an art project. (He had stayed home to recover from an upset stomach the day before.) They have been learning about 6 different penguins this term. Colin has become obsessed with penguin facts. He wants to go to where they live and clean their water. He is very sad that humans are on their list of predators. In class, they made life size penguins out of paper. Colin wanted to do the Emperor penguin, but I took home supplies for Little Blue (it is a lot smaller and will last longer at the house). I will post pictures after Colin and Meli finish it today after school.

 

 

I was very excited to cook dinner for the holiday. On the menu was Guinness Stew, Champ, and Traditional Irish Soda bread. Plus, Guinness or whiskey to drink!

 

Here is the recipe for Champ. It is a traditional potato dish in Ireland. The idea is it looks like a pot (or bowl) of gold (the gold is the butter). This was definitely our cheat meal. So worth it though. Traditionally, you leave the champ under a bush for the fairies.

http://homeiswheretheboatis.net/2013/03/11/if-you-see-a-fairy-ring-and-a-winner/ 

 

I also made soda bread, which ended up being super easy and delicious!

http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/2013/03/traditional-irish-soda-bread.html#sthash.GEO28DbX.qjtu 

 

 

My fave!

We were able to share the holiday with friends. I love having friends that we match up with so nicely. Colin is best friends with Jack (same age) and Meli is best friends with Annie (a year older). It makes it that much more enjoyable!

I hope everyone had a fantastic and safe holiday!

"May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go." - An Irish Blessing

 

                                                           ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

                                                                    The B Family

This & that

The last few weeks have been super busy, but a lot of fun. We had an old friend and his partner (from our Barnes & Noble days) come stay with us for a weekend. It was such a blast! I loved catching up on the last 8+ years and just drinking and celebrating lifelong friendships. It was nice talking with someone who knew us before we were a couple. I love hearing other people's perspective on different parts of our journey. So many people saw the potential of us being a couple before it even crossed our minds. We probably owe our relationship to our friends that have a knack for matchmaking. LOL!

We were introduced to a new card game from another set of friends, Cards Against Humanity...I seriously love it!!! Probably because it fits my somewhat disturbing sense of humor, but it is fantastic! Very similar to Apples to Apples, which we play quite a bit. Just more of an "adult" version.

With the beautiful weather (not today), we have been spending so much time outside. I apparently have allergies now. I lived in the Pacific Northwest without having them...I am back for 2 years and here they are. Thankfully, it only seems to be a certain tree that bothers me and only during the flower blooming stage. About 2 weeks. Unfortunately, the trees are all over our neighborhood. Yucky. It is horrible, but I am thankful for it not being a whole summer thing.