A Day of Firsts

This morning after preschool Danika had a new little friend over for a play date. Her name is Sydney and the two little princesses hit it right off. They were dressed in princess attire the entire time and had so much fun giggling and talking about their horses.
When Steve came home this evening, the sun finally showed it's beautiful face with no clouds in sight so we took the opportunity to run up to Crofton lake and get Meeko's energy out. When we got to the lake Meeko actually jumped in! He has always put in his front paws and head, but tonight he actually jumped in and used his webbed feet and otter tail! It was so neat to see. He was soooooo excited. He was literally prancing around us all with his butt wagging so hard is tail nearly hit him in the head! And then he would come right up to us and shake all the water off of himself, it was fun and the perfect way to end our evening.

2 lil princesses eating their cupcakes

Beautiful Girls

The girls received a surprise in the mail today from Auntie Linsey and Ella Bella! It was their Easter present and had all sorts of fun stuff! It was very exciting!

The best picture I got of him swimming before the camera died!

I really do love my puppy!!

This week has been a busy one. Sunday night after Easter dinner, Meeko escaped out of the backyard. Steve and our company of the evening went out and looked for a few hours and then another round of wonderful friends came over with a hunting dog. The dog sniffed Meeko's collar and went off up to the school and then stopped on one lawn and went crazy. It was too late at night, so the next morning Steve and Danika went knocking on doors. I hadn't been too anxious as I figured someone must have taken him in for the night because his collar was not on. We looked all day... after a quick lunch stop at our friends for turkey buns! And went home feeling defeated. We had the Burdges over for round 2 of turkey buns and they helped us make up Lost puppy posters. Steve went and printed a bunch and we started putting them up around town. He came home late Monday night looking and feeling totally defeated. We so thought he would have turned up that day! I barely slept Monday night. I had a sick feeling that Meeko was gone, that someone drove by, picked him up and that was it! Now I know many may say that maybe it was for the better (if you were reading my blog!) since I complained so much of him ripping up my backyard and shedding all over the house, and lets not even get into the first month with us!!! BUT it all changed that moment I thought he was gone for good! As much as he drives me crazy, he has totally become a member of our family and I really do have a soft spot for the lil guy. So I still may complain about him at times, but this has really made me realize how much this puppy means to our family!

Tuesday morning we woke up to a phone call from the SPCA saying there was a call that a lady had our dog. Apparently she was driving through Crofton on Sunday night around 6 pm (right around the time he escaped!) and she almost hit him, so she pulled over, opened the door and he went bounding into her van! Her and her 2 kids fell in love with Meeko and since he didn't have a collar on, named him 'Douglas.' I went and picked him up that morning, and it was so good to see my lil pup! And it sounds like Meeko made some new friends!

Easter Sunday

Today was busy. We woke up and headed to church early as I had to teach Sunday school and had the most kids we have ever had down there. After church there was a hot dog fundraiser and then a giant Easter egg hunt, in which the whole town was invited to. There was quite a big turn out and the girls had lots of fun. Adessa got a little baggie full and was quick to stuff a few into her mouth and Danika also got a nice amount. After church we came home to clean the house and get the last of the turkey dinner ready. Guests arrived at 4 pm, we sat down to a wonderful meal, minus the mashed potatoes... seriously how does anyone make a good turkey, gravy, yummy veggie dishes and then mess up the mashed potatoes??? Oh well... everything else turned out wonderfully! We had 4 for dinner. A single mom and her 2 children and another lady (who is actually our hairdresser!) After dinner as Steve went to let Meeko back in the house, he realized Meeko was gone. We have been searching ever since and truly hope Meeko is found soon! This surely wasn't the way we hoped to end our evening, however my daughters faith sure keeps me hopeful! She has been praying a lot this evening, and told me that God will keep Meeko safe and bring him home soon, because we asked Him too...

Chasing the Easter bunny

Danika searching for eggs

Adessa trying to open another one

Me and my girls

Shining Sun

Today was Glorious!

My favorite part of the day was this morning when we sat down for breakfast and were asking Danika what Easter means. She relayed the whole story to us, with vivid details that she had learned at school. She brought me to tears with her insight. She told us all about Judas betraying Jesus, how they nailed him to a cross and put thorns on his head, which would have been really owie. Then they played games for his clothes, and when his friends went to the tomb, the rock was rolled away and "HE WAS RISEN!!!" And she told me the chocolate and easter bunny is just for fun. She is such a smart little girl, and blesses me daily with her sweet little words.

Unfortunately I was stuck inside for the majority of the day doing Easter dinner prep. We decided last minute to do an Easter dinner as we had no plans. So I bought a turkey and all the fixings and went a little crazy! I had some people on my heart all week, so we invited them over. It should be a good day... and I hope all the food turns out!

This morning while I was busy prepping, Lizzy took the girls for an hour and made cupcakes with them, they turned out beautifully!

I tried to get Adessa to smile... this is what I captured, what a monkey hey?!

Beautiful cupcakes and a beautiful girl!

After prepping everything we went for a LONG walk in the sunshine, it was amazing, the sun was warm and the air was so fresh smelling, God's creation is so beautiful! We walked to a new development where they have stairs down to the beach, and it was so fun!

Like father like daughter

Such a peaceful, beautiful night

Meeko playing fetch

My babies were cold, so they snuggled...

It was a precious moment!

The rest of our day...

Was fun! After Adessa woke up from her nap we met up with the Smith family and went geocaching again. We went for a nice long walk right by our old house and down to the beach, where we found the treasure hidden in a stump. Danika left a little doll and took a pink shiny ball. We then played on the beach for a while, Adessa squeezed crabs in her hands and Meeko went swimming. It was lovely! By the time we got home it was dinner time so we went up to our friends, the Francis family for a lovely wiener roast! We hula hooped and ate lots of food! We are so blessed with so many friends and are looking forwards to many more hot days!

Danika walked ahead of us the whole time with the GPS and kept turning and yelling for us to "hurry up!"

My beautiful friend Lizzy

Steve's fire shot

Showing the girlies just how it is done! I forgot how fun it is!

Danika working it... she tried for a good hour!

The 3 little girls playing

A Good Friday Indeed!

Today Steve had to work so Caroline and the gals came over for an Easter egg decorating party. We boiled up some eggs and the girls went to work dying there eggs (and there hands!) and putting beautiful sparkles and sequins on their eggs... it was lots of fun!
We then packed a fun lunch and walked to the park for a picnic. The sun was shining and it was such a beautiful day! Next on the agenda is geocaching with some friends!

Birthday!

Monday was a fun day with new friends. It was Kim's birthday and she hadn't had anything planned so Sharon decided to plan a day for her... she is so good to her friends! I was the mid-day/ birthday cupcake stop. Danika and I whipped up a batch of cupcakes and the girls came by to enjoy cupcakes and tea... it was a lovely afternoon with 3 lovely ladies!

Ashley and Kim (2 new friends!) and I

My beautiful tulips and the fun cupcakes!

Much Needed Kick in the Butt

Tonight I had a good, long talk with my mommy. My parents have been gone to Hawaii for a couple of weeks, and even though we normally live so far apart I missed our phone conversations. My mom always speaks her mind and tells things as she sees them, and tonight was no exception. I was complaining, as I have been doing a lot of lately and talking about how tired I am, and how frustrated I am with the kids and how sick I was of the daily grind of cooking and cleaning. She reminded me how totally blessed I am and how I truly have nothing to complain about! I just need to get my priorities back in line... which is soooo true! I have not read the bible in AGES, I am constantly keeping busy with cooking, cleaning and planning the next activity when in reality I need to take time to sit down and enjoy my children. I really need to refocus on what is important. I need to make time for the King and set apart a time each day to read the word so that my daily focus is on Him rather that on myself and what I need. I find that when I am in the word I am so much more willing to serve and wanting to serve and love on my family unconditionally without expecting anything in return, rather than looking at how much I have to do or how hard I have to work. I have also been so focused on keeping a clean, orderly home that I forget to sit down and play house, or have a tea party (with real water, not toilet water!) So the rest of the week, this is my goal.... spending more time playing with my kids and spending time in the word. I'll let you know how it goes!

Geocaching

The Burdges came over after church, we had a light lunch, then packed up the kids and went Geocaching. It was our first experience Geocaching, which as I learned is "a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment." (www.geocaching.com)
There was one pretty close to our house, so we packed up the kids and went for a hike. When we got close to the coordinates Danika went searching and dug under some leaves and found the geocache, she was pretty excited to have found the treasure! She picked out a whistle from amongst the treasures and left a bracelet that she made.
It is such a great idea once you have children as it gives the family a goal for the hike, we had so much fun today and hope to do this more often! Thanks Burdges for the fun day!

My beautiful girl asleep on my back... isn't she precious?

Our wonderful friends, Chris and Sharon

Checking out the GPS

Laughing... we do lots of that!

Snack time at the top... each kid had there own little goodie bag

A Fallen Cloud

A few days ago I took the girls for a 2 hour walk. I had Adessa on my back, Danika in the stroller and Meeko on the leash, it felt like a good idea at the time...! About half way through the walk Adessa moved to the stroller and Danika walked. While walking through the forest we came upon a cotton ball that was strewn across the path, Danika ran up to it and excitedly exclaimed, "Look mom it's a fallen cloud!!!! How cool is that?!" In which I replied, "Sooooo cool!"

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take Danika into town by myself while Steve watched Adessa. We ran in and got groceries and then I took Danika for an ice cream date at the cold stone creamery... mmmm!!! It was nice to have some quality alone time with my big girl. She had her mind made up that she wanted chocolate ice cream with caramel, then we sat down and visited. She shared some bites of her ice cream with me, because apparently I didn't make a good choice and next time she will order for me... what a girl, hey? We talked about school and how she is going to invite her teacher Mrs. B to her birthday party because she is so nice. And how Ethan, told her he loves her because she got him a remote control car for his birthday... she thought that was really nice of him. She pretty much talked the whole time, we giggled lots and talked about how we wanted to eat everything in the cold stone creamery freezer and how we would both probably be sick, but that would be okay! (She is sooo my kind of girl!) It was a wonderful afternoon with one very special, sweet little girl!!!

REALLY!?!?!

This evening as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I hear Steve yelling "Adessa NOOOO!!!" Guess what she was into this time?? She had a tea cup and was sweetly scooping toilet water into it and drinking it!

A Sunday Stroll

Today was kind of dreary and after church everyone just felt like napping. So we put Adessa down and since I just can't nap I organized my pantry. Once Adessa woke up we decided we had to get out and go for a walk. so we packed the kids and dog up and headed out. It was lightly raining, but perfect for a hike! We picked up our old friend Toby (a dog) from camp and went for 2 hours. I tried out my new ergo carrier I bought, and LOVED it. It made such a difference from my huge hiking backpack, and my back didn't hurt at all. I am very happy with it! Danika did great once again... she is such a great little hiker and Adessa was super content just hanging out (literally!) It was fun to get out and enjoy God's beautiful creation and the area we live in!!!

A seal checking us out

And we saw a sea otter, this little guy followed us along the shore for awhile

And the dogs were trying to catch him

My goofy girl...loves having fun with daddy, they were pretending they were pirates

Steve... the dog whisperer!

My girls

Showing off my new ergo!

I will never get tired of stopping and checking out all the beautiful little waterfalls.. it is sooo beautiful here!

Weiner Roast with the Dilalla's

Yesterday we went over to Steve's business partner's house for the afternoon. The day was quite chilly, but it was fun setting up a big fire and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows with the kids. Adessa was uncontrollable with the food though as it was all at ground level and every time I looked at her she was stuffing something in her mouth! Meeko had a blast with their boys as they chased him around the yard for a long time. And Danika and their little girl Becky were inseparable. Becky is a little princess just like Danika and they were giggling the whole time, sharing secrets. And when they went into the house they were both in princess dresses playing Polly pockets. It was a fun time for all!

All the boys... including Meeko!

Sharing secrets and giggling

Adessa stuffing her face with marshmallows...

She was one happy girl!