week/end, in the rearview ...

Look what was on clearance at Target!! 

The girls and I have been eying this kitchen for such a long time. I think ever since Kara was born, 

Rachel's been checking it out, waiting for the price to drop. 

It was reduced around Christmas time, but we had already bought her a Christmas gift, so I told 

her to wait and it would go on sale again. This time it was even cheaper! 

It pays to wait - no pun intended ;-) 

The girls have already spent many hours playing with this kitchen. 

Jason and I get a kick out of hearing them talk about what they're making. 

The other day Kara said "Rache, we need more coconut flowers." 

and Rachel laughed and said "Kara, Mommy doesn't use coconut flowers, its just called flour. 

Its what you use to make cake. Coconut flowers grow in the jungle I think." :) 

They've been hosting many pretend birthday parties and catering for 

some pretty fancy imaginary weddings. 

Rachel has been helping me with laundry! 

This day came much sooner than I thought it would, but you won't hear any complaining from me! 

She asked me one day if she could put the wet load in the dryer. 

I told her she could give it a try and to my surprise, she knew exactly what to do! 

She tossed the wet clothes in, cleaned out the lint catcher, added a dryer sheet and pushed 'start'. 

I guess I'm being watched much closer than I thought :) 

*****************************************************
while I was on bedrest... 

These beauties were a gift from my parents. I can't tell you how hard its been, being so far 

from our families during such a difficult time. 

The day these came in the mail was a rough day. It was the day my midwife had to remove the baby 

from me {not a D&C though, thank God!} and I was just a complete emotional mess. 

Jason brought the box up from the porch and I fell apart again, but in a good way :) 

The girls were really excited for me - jumping around the room clapping and saying 

"Now Mommy can't get married!!" 

I think we need to explain a few things to them. 

We had friends bringing dinners to us for 9 days. We're blessed, I know. 

Feeling and seeing the generous love from our friends was completely overwhelming for 

Jason and me. We are so thankful to God for displaying His love for us through others. 

Kara enjoyed the Klondike bars :) 

Ethan and I did school on my bed, many days in a row. 

He said he enjoyed it, because it was new and different... but he said he's glad we 

normally use the kitchen table. He told me it was hard to concentrate on such a comfortable bed :) 

Right now his favorite subject is Chemistry. I think I'm enjoying it as much as he is too! 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

our weekend in pictures.... 

On Saturday we finally got to go out together and celebrate our 7th Anniversary! 

Jason's parents sent us some money for our time away and we enjoyed an amazing day, just

the two of us. We're headed into our movie in this picture. 

I thought it was ironic that we had the picture taken in front of the Apollo 13 sign. 

Its one of my all time favorite films :) 

Also, for any Top Gun fans, AMC is showing it for its 25th Anniversary on

April 30th and again May 2nd!

After the movie Jason took me to this delicious hibachi grill! Its set in the same style as
Benihana's and tasted {almost} as good. We enjoyed the quiet atmosphere with some light piano 

music in the background. I'm not sure about you, but I'm completely over the loud, crazy 

music they play in restaurants. I end up eating too fast and feeling dizzy and uptight by the time we leave. This place actually had a grand piano playing a CD of beautiful music. 

Our date was so fun, our time reflecting on the past 7 years {and the past 2 weeks} was sweet, and 

we were thankful to come home to 3 kids hugging us and telling us how much they missed us :) 

We are quite blessed and thankful to God for His tender mercies and lovingkindness. 

Sunday: 

we packed a lunch and ate at the park, across from church! 

when the sun hid behind the clouds, it got a bit cooler than we expected. 

Jason took advantage of the fact that we only had Ethan's coats

in the car and used this as a lesson for gentlemanly behavior. 

Gentlemen give over their coats happily, to make sure a lady is warm. 

Its polite, loving and manly :) 

don't tell him I said this, but I can still see 'baby' in him... 

if you're at home right now, snuggling your firstborn child, wondering when the day 

will come when they'll do more than just eat, sleep and poo {and smile adorable smiles} 

tell yourself to enjoy these days, even on the days you're too tired to care. 

They go by so fast. 

I look at these pictures of Ethan, my firstborn, and wonder when

 I blinked long enough for 6 years to go by. 

Daddy took a phone call and his shadow needed to follow :) 

they said they're the new King and Queen. 

I'm so glad some parks still have teeter-totters!

I remember these from when I was younger. Most parks had them. 

Remember the mean boys would ride on the other end and just as they got your end higher, 

they'd jump off, abruptly? I hated that.  

My fond memories of these are when my sister and I would ride them at 

one of our favorite places, Casa de Fruta 

came home, gave Kara a nap, played some ball in the street, rode bikes, 

met some new neighbors and ate some yummy dinner.  

After we BBQ'd dinner we all roasted marshmallows 

and made s'mores on the back deck. I think its the best way to end the weekend. 

I love after all the excitement calms down, the logs are almost burnt out and everyone 

is starting to wind down for bedtime... we sit by the fire and just talk. 

Listen to the cute things our kids say, the funny questions they ask -

{sometimes surprising us with those random, deep questions that lead into great conversation}. 

We decided we definitely need to go camping this summer. Even if its a one night getaway, 

we have plenty of places around here we can try out - there's no excuses. 

We're gonna do it. And now we have 3 kids to hold us to it :) 

Last night we brought my cell phone out, turned on some Pandora, let the music fill the air, 

and enjoyed each other's company, after our company left. 

It was so nice and like I said, a great way to end the weekend and start a new week. 

We hope you all have a great week!