Happy Mother's Day: Try, try again

Mother's Day this year was not a shining moment for our family. There were a lot of things going on, the most glaring of which was the fact that we didn't have our referral yet for our adoption. I thought that by Mother's Day I would know the face of my other child, but that was not the case. All of this emotional drama coupled with the tale end of our 12 day long trip were not ideal circumstances in which to celebrate the special day. We had a nice day, but it passed rather unceremoniously for the most part. So Cale decided that we needed a re-do. Today was Mother's Day at our house!

I got to sleep in and was then served breakfast in bed (and there was an Iced Capp of course!). I was given some cash for a shopping spree today to go buy some things for our little guy. We took a nice long bike ride and then got ready to shop. Not only did Cale give me the cash to spend, but he escorted me to the outlets and was a good shopping friend (and Haven entertainer) the entire time. We got some good deals and had a great afternoon planning and preparing for our son. A nice leisurely evening rounded out with a walk and an at-home pedicure made for a lovely day. I have the best husband husband in the world!

And the best part of the day was smiling every time I saw my son's picture. At this point they are all over the house so I don't have to go too far without seeing his sweet face. A Happy Mother's Day indeed.

The best Friday...

I can't quite believe that it happened still, but it did....we got our referral! We have been celebrating with friends all evening! We are proud to announce that we have an adorable one year old son! We can't share much more information at this point, but know that he is handsome, well named and absolutely loved by this family!

A long weekend

Do you ever feel like you need a weekend to recover from your weekend? That's how I'm feeling today. I'm very thrown off that it's already Tuesday, too. Hopefully by the weekend I'll be all caught up with myself!

We had a very full weekend that left us all wiped out. Some of it fun, some of it not. Friday night found us realizing that we are indeed a boring old married couple (not that there was much doubt!). We washed our windows and were actually kind of excited to do it because it meant we could cross it off our massive to-do list. (Side note: Remember that great idea I had to do my spring cleaning bit-by-bit? That got thrown out the window when we were gone for two weeks and then it took me a week to recover from being gone. I went into panic mode last week because I'd like to finish my spring cleaning while it is still, in fact, spring.) That's why we found ourselves washing windows on a Friday night. Party animals we are not.

Saturday was full of much of the same: yard work, house projects, purging, cleaning and organizing. We are whipping this house into shape and ridding it of all the excess stuff that overtakes us once in a while. It's a good feeling. We stopped long enough to grill ourselves some dinner and enjoy it out on the deck. It was a very productive day- the kind that fills you with a deep satisfaction as you lay down to sleep.

Sunday we went to church and then got ready for a picnic with our neighbors and some other friends. The kids splashed around in the pool and ran through the sprinkler and shot each other with water guns. We ate too much good food and drank too many ginger lime spritzers (or maybe just I did), but it was a great evening.

We spent Monday hanging out with friends and finished off our long weekend with a trip to Young's Dairy for ice cream and some animals. It was a nice way to finish a busy weekend- just the three of us hanging out and having fun.

Getting ready for a ride on their little tractor pull at the farm-Haven was SO excited about this!

This picture makes me laugh! Cale took it mid-ride and I love it!

And now we are already headlong into a new week. I need to quit dragging my feet and get with the program!

Sandbox on the cheap

Cheap fun is the best fun in my opinion. This idea, of which I take no original credit for, is the epitome of cheap fun and making the most of what you've got. During our recent trip to the beach I realized how much Haven loves playing in the sand. We don't have the space or inclination to do a full fledged sandbox so this table top version fits the bill.

One under the bed storage box (that I already had) filled with a bag of $3 sand and a few pails and shovels placed on top of her kid sized picnic table.

Today we took turns hiding and searching for plastic farm animals in the sand. I foresee many hours spent digging and playing in our table top sand box; three bucks well spent!

Happiness...

...on a Monday afternoon is found in:

-baskets of fresh, clean laundry ready to be put away.
-sitting on the back porch to work on my Bible study.
-trying something new for dinner.
-crossing things off my spring to-do list.
-our garden freshly planted.
-reading books to Haven that I loved as a child.

Simple things often bring me the most happiness.

Cheap and cheerful

Drug up from the basement for the Summer '09 debut; these dishes make me happy! The retro fruits are perfect in my kitchen and have brightened up a rather gloomy day. At $12 for 8-4 piece place settings I said they were a steal! Cheap and cheerful for a Saturday afternoon.

A short jaunt to the beach

Cale had to travel to Virginia for business and we all tagged along with the promise of a weekend at the beach in between him working. We headed out early two Saturdays ago to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Our first family vacation at the beach was a rousing success! Warning: lots of pictures to come!

This is where we stayed: First Colony Inn. We have nothing but good things to say about this place! We loved the relaxed, retro atmosphere and all the special touches they had to make you feel welcome. It's a historic inn and had so much character! Nothing fancy, but very relaxing and laid back.

It is hard to see in this picture, but Haven was thrilled that we found a tiny purple starfish on the beach. One of our many treasures we found.

This picture is one of my favorites. It totally captures my girl! I couldn't see the screen of the camera for many of these pictures and this is one that turned out despite me! I'm so glad it did.

Hanging out on the porch of the Inn after eating some delicious seafood right on the beach.

This is our poor attempt at a family photo. We were all swinging on a swing on the porch. Sadly, this was the best one, but I wanted proof that I was there, too!

My two favorite people, goofing around on the beach. Cale really wanted to take this little trip because he knew Haven would love the beach. He couldn't have been more right. These two had so much fun together! I had fun, too, but I mostly sat in a beach chair and read!

Haven tried her hand at flying a kite and did pretty well til the 20 mph winds proved too strong for our $2.99 Sesame Street kite. It was fun while it lasted though!

On Sunday, we went to the Roanoke Island Festival Park. It was a great place to spend a few hours when we needed a break from the beach. They had a full size replica of a ship the English came to the area on, a settlement camp we could visit, a hands on museum of the island's history and an art gallery. Haven thought these people were funny!

We got to tour the entire ship and see what life would have been like for the 40 men aboard. Haven was impressed that they had checkers to play below deck.

We made one more stop at the beach before we headed back to Virginia. I LOVE this picture. And I LOVE the people in it! I promise it's not staged, either! Cale was just sitting like this and Haven went up and put her arms around him (and I was so glad I had my camera near by to capture it.)

Cale bought a boogie board to use, but it turned out to be the perfect size surf board for Haven. Right after I took this picture I got to see dolphins jumping in the water right behind them. Of course I tried to signal to Cale to turn around and look but he didn't understand what I was saying. At the same moment pelicans were fishing for some lunch and I felt like I was watching my very own nature show!

And this was the face of the girl when we left the beach. This was actually the third time she broke down, but the first time we were able to capture it on film. So sad! I would say that this picture is all the proof we need that we had a great time!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Hello? Anyone out there? Are you still with me?! I sure hope so! We made it home last night...12 days, 2200 miles, 4 different beds and way too many restaurant meals. I've got a lot I want to share but today is all about getting us organized at home. I have a mountain of mail to sort, food to buy, a girl to play with and unpacking to do. (Although not a ton of unpacking because my wonderful husband did much of it last night while I sat on the couch catching up on my blogs!) What I'm most looking forward to today- a walk on the bike trail with Haven, cooking dinner, and meeting up with my Bible study girls.



Here's a favorite picture from the beach. More to come this week!

Unplugged

I'm sitting on a big white rocker on the porch of our inn looking out to the ocean. Rough life, huh? We have been travelling for the last several days and our hotel room has not had internet access. Can I tell you how nice, although unexpected, the lack of internet has been? It has been a welcome change to be mostly unplugged for the last few days.

We are currently in North Carolina and our little inn has wifi so I'm taking a break from my internet break to check in here. I'm still alive. Today I'm sandy, a tiny bit sun burnt on my shoulders and enjoying the slow pace of beach life. It all ends tomorrow, so I'm going to soak it up while I can.