City of Lilacs

Last weekend we were treated to front-row seats at the Lilac Parade down-town! The kids got their faces painted, drew on the side walk with chalk, made necklaces, headbands, and a plethora of other things out of glow sticks, and watched the parade a little bit too!

Laynie only made it until about 9:30pm before she fell asleep on Grannie, and Addison drifted off just after 10pm! The parade was still in full swing, but we decided to head-out a little early, Hailey however was still the life of the party!!

It is no wonder that Spokane is called the city of lilacs; they are every where! This picture is the bush right across the street from our house...I LOVE it! and these big, beautiful lilac bushes are every where I look!

Except for in my yard... Here is our 'lilac bush', if you can even call it that!! So, I need some help...what should I do to help it live a happier life? It is so sparse and dying...any botanical experts out there?

I did find one pretty blossom on our tree to take a picture of...all is not lost!

Totally unrelated to lilacs, is this not the cutest sleeping girl you've ever seen? Hailey's newest trick is to make a noise like a bark when she sees a dog. It comes out more like a little grunt, but it is adorable!

All Things Random...

This week I got really "ambitious" as Kelly would say, and sewed some new curtains for my kitchen. Actually, I'm embarrassed that it took me until now to get new curtains because the ones left behind by the seller of our house were NOT CUTE. I found myself staring at them this week thinking, why are those still on my windows?? So, a trip to JoAnn's and a whirl at my sewing machine fixed that problem!! I also put up this quote by Benjamin Franklin which I LOVE! "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life's made of!" Amen to that, and such a great reminder!

Oh Hailey, can you be any cuter? Hailey has a new trick...she shakes her little finger as if to say "no, no, no." She does it to Kelly when he's teasing her or trying to steal kisses. We all laugh when she does it, and then she smiles an "I'm so proud of myself" smile.

For those of you who have not been to our house yet, this is our back yard!! I couldn't love it more! It is a little boy's dream come true! WELL, about three weeks ago when there wasn't as much foliage (great word huh?) I saw a BOBCAT on the hill!! My own husband didn't really believe me, let alone the neighbor who has lived here for 6 years and never seen anything like that. So, this week there is a knock on my door from the woman who lives just above us on top of the hill. Her cat had gone missing, so she was exploring on the hill and guess what she saw...THE BOBCAT! I think she was basically asking my permission to call Animal Control and see if they would remove the bobcat to a better environment (so her OTHER cat won't go missing too!) Being the animal lover that I am (right!) I assured her that I thought her call would definitely be in the bobcat's best interest :)

In other randoms thoughts: I was missing Pennsylvania and the Amish Produce auctions today when I went to buy a few flowers...even on sale they broke my little bank! I used to LOAD my yard with all kids of good stuff for practically nothing!
I just cut out THIS vinyl project for a new friend, I was real excited about it until I started "weeding" it (pulling the extra vinyl away from the graphic) it was my toughest project yet, but it did look super cute on her little girl's wall!!
Over all it was a good week, Kelly and Addison are on the Father-Son camp out tonight and I have a little alone-time...which is WEIRD, but also kind of nice! So I'm off to read a book or fall asleep...which ever comes first!

Mother's Day!

We must have tried at least 20 different shots to get the kids to cooperate and look at the camera, and this is the best one?!? Hailey has pink little cheeks because she wasn't feeling good that day-- my mother's day present from her was a significant blow-out! Good thing we had a change of clothes with us-- and thank you Hailey for waiting until AFTER church!!

Here is my present from the kids- homemade flowers with Shockers candy for the stems! They worked on these on Thursday while I did my counseling!! (Way to plan ahead babe!) I also got breakfast in bed, AND an AMAZING dinner hosted by my mother-in-law! It was a beautiful and relaxing day.

I love being a mom. It is a challenge and a comedy show every day. I am thinkful for my mom and her great example and for Kelly's mom, I am definitely blessed in the "mom" category!

It's my Party!

Hailey was a little too eager for her cake and frosting, so she broke into the powdered sugar all by herself and had some handfuls...

And gave some to the floor, her clothes, everything in the pantry, etc.

But it did make for a cute picture!

So, I took the hint and made her a birthday cake...thanks for the idea Family Fun! This cake was great because it had one flower-cupcake for each of the kids at the party! and the 'flower' petals are marshmallows, so the kids were pretty much in heaven!

Wouldn't you call this heaven? Cake all over the face and not even the slightest embarrassed by it!

Hailey got a few presents for her birthday party, including an Elmo (among other things) from Grannie- loved it!

Surprisingly I got a picture of Laynie smiling, even though she was pretty obsessed with the fact that "it will ever be my birthday!" (translation: it will NEVER be my birthday!)

And here are all the kids with their sweet Grannie reading to them- what a great day!