3 Ugly Eggs

Our ugly egg contestants

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend. Saturday was a very busy day for us with Will’s band recording all day and then Colin having a soccer game and birthday party. We also threw in a trip to the library and Easter egg decorating.  Even with such a filled day, we enjoyed ourselves.

Meli thought ugly eggs meant they were zombies!

The kids were bummed that Will could not join us for coloring the eggs, but it was still a fun time. At one point, Meli dropped an egg she just finished into another color, which she then thought was ruined. Great Mommy Save: I suggested we have an ugly egg contest between the three of us. Dad would be the judge.

The Eggs

The kids were thrilled to try and make the ugliest egg. Colin’s is on top, then mine, and Meli’s. Will voted mine the ugliest (maybe not to choose between the two, because I am pretty sure Meli’s was). Will said that Colin’s was too cool to be ugly, which made the little guy proud.

Colin's, Mine, and Meli's

We had a lot of fun with this and am sure we will be doing it next year. For some reason, I decided to have the kids dye more than 30 eggs. So, we will be eating hard-boiled eggs at pretty much every meal for a while!

                                                     ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                             The B Family

Charlie's First Outdoor Excursion

Finally! Charlie can go outside! Our vet had suggested to wait since the previous owners had a dog and we did not want to risk exposure to parvo. So, he is fully vaccinated and now able to go on walks, to the park, and free to run in our backyard.

It was very interesting watch him be attentive to all of the different noises and objects. I have never had a dog wait so long to go outside before. He gets a little braver each day. It is neat seeing all of the wonder from a little puppy's perspective.

The cone pictures are from his actual "first walk" and the cone free is once he was done with his healing period.

He loves walking the kids to the bus stop and we were even able to pick them up today when they were dropped off. Such a beautiful sunny day - yay for spring!

                                                     ~ Love, Hugs &  Kisses ~
                                                              The B Family

An Draíocht na Óige (The Magic of Childhood)

“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” - Elizabeth Lawrence

The title is hopefully a correct translation for "The magic of childhood". I have been thinking about this a lot lately. One of the things I love most about honoring St. Patrick's Day at our house is planning a trap for the leprechaun. Colin really gets in to the planning of it and the possibility of catching one. He is in 3rd grade now, and I know that we may lose this glorious wonder that he carries as a child. The way children look at the world is amazing. What a gift to have for however many years you can stay beneath that veil. Or even luckier if you can carry some of that wonder into adulthood. 

I know some will be astonished that my son still believes in Santa and things like fairies and leprechauns. Although, I do think that he is avoiding really asking himself. I am honest when he ask me questions. I have been fortunate that he has not really asked the "right" ones. Like for Santa, he ask me if I believe. I honestly said that I would love to believe that someone cares enough to try and brighten the day of every child that celebrates Christmas and hopefully the others in different ways. I hope that he carries this as long as possible. Especially in the direction that our country is going. A little hope and cheer is a good thing.

I am truly going to miss this time. Colin's belief in all possibilities is so inspiring to me.  A reminder to be positive, hopeful, and open-minded.  I am not one to get super emotional, but the thought of this chapter ending makes me tear up. What a wonderful period to be a witness too. 

This year we did a simple approach, Parchment paper, maple syrup, and chocolate kisses for bait. Yet again, it did not work. However, the next morning there were little green (we think) footprints on the paper, our toilet water was green again, and some green candy was left.

I hope everyone had a fun St. Patrick's Day!

A Month into it

Charlie has been with us for a little over a month now. I was a little hesitant at first that this was the right decision for our family, especially since Will has never been a “dog person”. I was totally surprised when Will said that maybe a dog would be a good idea. We had been talking about a kitty before Christmas, but I was not super motivated to go for it. I like cats OK, but knowing my kids I want something that would be cuddly and with cats (in my experience) it is hard to tell if they will be as a kitten.

I am glad we waited, because Charlie is a good fit for us. We are still having some growing pains with the potty training and biting/chewing. Potty training will be easier once he can go outside. The end of this month cannot come soon enough. He will be able to use up more of his abundance of energy when he can run his little heart out in our backyard.

It is so cute seeing Will and Charlie together. I think Will is very surprised by how much he loves and enjoys the little guy. Charlie absolutely adores Will. They are buddies who hang out with each other most of the day. So, that is good that the whole love thing worked out. 

                                             ~ Love, Hugs &  Kisses ~
                                                      The B Family

Welcome, Charlie!

Charlie

It only took me 10 years of trying...but we got a puppy!! Anyone who knows my husband, knows that he is not really a dog person. Mostly, because he has never had one and a few bad experiences. He was chased by a big dog as a kid and he had a cousin who had a horrible experience with another big dog. I get where he is coming from, but I LOVE dogs!! To be honest though, I have not really pushed the topic because I needed a break from animals (as much as I love them). I had to say goodbye to my puppy Baxter and cat Citrine after a break-up. Plus, before that I had lost my bunny Foley and had a few other cats that I had to leave with my mom. Growing up I was very fortunate to get my first dog, Sandy, when I was 9 and she passed 21 years later. That is truly unheard of. She had such a long life. By this time, I was needing a break from the sadness. 

But recently...I have been wanting a little pet again. I was so surprised when Will was like, "whatever you think". OMG!! I had to jump on it before he changed his mind. 

We did not tell the kids. When we went to go pick out the puppy, I told them I met some people who said I could bring the kids over for a playdate with their new puppies. They were so surprised!!

Charlie just fits in with us! I can tell that Will has totally fallen for him! He is a "surrendered" dog that was with a foster family. I loved working with Wiggly Tails. They were so helpful with helping us find our perfect fit. Charlie (originally Cupid) has such an adorable personality. 

He loves to cuddle and has a great amount of energy for the kids. I am so glad that we chose to go on this adventure.

Precious

Add caption

A Scone Treat

Over the holidays, I found a cute bag of scone mix at World Market (one of my fave stores). There were several flavors but I went with the white chocolate and raspberry. We tried it this morning and it was so easy to make and delicious! It made about 12 scones and my kids ate most of them! Meli is picky and hard to find things she likes.

If you see this brand, I highly recommend!

Our heater is not working, so we opted for breakfast by the fire!

                                                  ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                             The B Family

Sometimes, I have 3 Kids

The kids had a snow day yesterday. I am fairly sure their school year just got a little longer with all of the closed days.

Of course they wanted to go out and play in the snow. So did Will! He actually beat them to it and did this...

I do love his nerdy side.

I have to admit, that I thought I would leave all of the snow days behind in VA. I do not remember having too many snow days during my childhood. I am fairly certain the kids have already had more than I did my whole school career. Or I just blocked them from my memory. I do remember specific ones, and I feel that is partly because they were rare. I like snow, but prefer to go visit and leave. I hate driving to work in it. At least in DC they were experts at plowing and clearing the roads. Oregon...not so much. Actually not at all.

                                                       ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                 The B Family

An Appliance Christmas

This year we was a Christmas for appliances. We have enjoyed trying all of them out so far.


We got the kids a popcorn maker, since the kids are such a big fan and this will help make it an healthier option. It was funny watching the kids' reaction to the popper.

Aunt Teddy sent us an ice cream maker. Our first attempt was simply chocolate. It was easy to use and tasted great. I have started looking up different recipes on pinterest. The kids want to try candy cane ice cream next, which is fitting for Christmas. Plus, we have several candy canes left over.

My mom got me a pressure cooker. Oh my, this may be the working mom's best friend! The first recipe I tried was an Asian Chicken Rice dish. It turned out perfect and I only had to saute for a few minutes then turn the cooker on and it was done and perfect in 6 minutes! I may get part of my evenings back now!

Will's other sister, Aunt W and Uncle E sent us a karaoke machine! We have not been able to try it yet, but the kids are very excited.  I am sure this will provide some very enjoyable family night fun! Such perfect ideas that will help making our goal of no processed foods easier.



                                                           ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                     The B Family

Snow Road Trip: Diamond Lake

Road Trip

For the second year in a row, I took the kids to the snow at Diamond Lake with my younger brother. This year, we added my dad and Greggie's girlfriend and her kids. Will was going to go but he was still dealing with bronchitis.

Messy hair

We tried out inner tube hill! They added a conveyor belt, which is so much nicer than the pull they had before. I am so glad that we did this. The last time I did was when I was 15. Oh so many funny stories from that adventure...but another time.

Inner Tube

She got the easy job

We paid for two hours, which was more than enough for me. I am sure the kids could have done it all day. At first Meli shared an inner tube with one of the adults. Later she was able to sit in her own and I held onto her rope. The three of us were able to go down all together a few times. We went super fast!

Memory making

This new year we are trying to make sure we are better at making our family adventures like this happen. I am so excited to start making our list of ideas happen. We had talked about Disneyland but I am thinking it would be better to give the kids one more year. I want them to be able to go on all of the rides with us.


Let the adventures begin!!!



                                                           ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                  The B Family

This Holiday Season

My joy

I have truly been horrible at writing blogs the past few months. It is so easy to let life just get too busy. We are trying to work on that this new year.

We have enjoyed a wonderful holiday season! This year we had two Thanksgivings. I am glad that we were able to celebrate with family. Dinner was delicious and the kids had other kids around to have fun with.

Night time fire

Christmas was simply lovely. I really had a good month. The kids are at such wonderful ages for the holidays and Meli was into anything Christmas. I read the children's classic version of A Christmas Carol and some other short stories from a book I received as a Christmas gift when I was 9. I love that Meli is doing better following chapter books! I have so many books I want to read to them.

First gingerbread house

Playing with new camera

I love it!

The kids made their first gingerbread house. I am fairly certain I have not done this before. I made the mistake of letting it sit too long and it was super hard when the kids tried it. Lesson learned! We did our traditional drive with hot cocoa to go see all of the Christmas lights. It was nice seeing what our new home had to offer for Christmas. There is a perfect corner for the tree. When you come down the stairs it has a perfect view. I think I am going to love this house.

The Santa bags I ordered off of Etsy were perfect!

The kids loved seeing Santa's wrapped gifts inside the bags

The kids went to see Santa at the mall. One of the best Santa's I have seen. He was so nice. It was perfect timing, because there was no line. One started by the time we were done, but Santa took the time to walk over to me and put his hand on my shoulder saying that my kids were so well-behaved and they said "thank you" even though I was not around them at the time. He told me we must being doing something right. It really made me feel great that he was impressed enough to come and seek me out to tell me this. It also made me wonder, what kind of kids he sees most of the time.


This year we wanted a very small, quiet Christmas. Our plans changed a little but it ended up very nice. I love seeing family.

Christmas day was perfect. We had our morning to do gifts, Santa came and surprised everyone with the perfect gifts. We relaxed while dinner was cooking. I even got to read some! Then family came for dinner.

I ventured away from sewing this year for gifts and did some woodwork. I will post later about items I made. I loved working with wood and imagine that this will be something I continue.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday! Merry Christmas!



                                                          ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                  The B Family