Thursday, July 30, 2015

PART ONE: Surprise Visit at School from the Lemonade Truck and other exciting birthday treats!



Hire an adorable food truck to visit school for a birthday surprise!
Why not?




 We like doing birthdays around here.  If you're a long-time reader, you already know this.  Titus turned 11 in March.


Yep.    March.


It's official.  I am consistently behind on blogging.  I'm not quite sure where my game went, but I still want to rewind a few months to share his birthday surprises!  





We have a handful of traditions.  One of them is decorating the stairs.  The boys wake up to happy celebration first thing in the morning on their day.  You can see my favorite year of decorated stairs HERE.  That balloon maze was pretty cool!   


This year I made a balloon garland. 




These are made from those flexible animal-making balloons and tied off with bright twine. 




He also found eleven orange balloons on his floor.  
Orange is his favorite color. 



Another tradition I've done for a few years is writing a birthday message 
on their bathroom sink with dry erase markers.  



The rest of his day was filled with little surprises... 

treats in his backpack...


Cameron made a lil note from Basil to Titus.  
It was super sweet.



We have "mailboxes" on our family planner wall.  
I always save the boys' special mail and put it in their boxes on their birthday.







Titus' birthday was on a school day.  It's fun to plan unexpected surprises at school to keep the day exciting!  One year I hi-jacked Cameron's math class and another year a clown showed up to class.  They never know what to expect!  


This year, instead of bringing in a birthday dessert for the class, I hired this adorable lemonade truck to park in the school parking lot. 





This truck (Sweet Concessions) and all the helpers were just the cutest!




 The entire class ran out to the playground and spied a giant lemon at school!
They bounded over with big, happy smiles and lined up for fresh lemonade.




I usually get carried away with themes, 
so I made (and bought!) extra LEMON treats to serve.



Lemon drop crinkle cookies, lemon Oreos, and classic lemon drop candies.



This was a simple recipe for chewy and fresh cookies.








Line up!





Titus with his birthday lemon treats











Lil lemonade truck was a hit!







Cheers to special classmates
 and special surprises!




We've used a cutie food truck before for a birthday surprise! 

Check out Dakotah's 


on one of his summer birthdays past...


And see this past blog post for Moore birthday tradition ideas!






Happiest Birthday Dear Titus!  
To the Moon and back!
Love,
Mama










Friday, July 17, 2015

Catching Up Part 3: spring moments and fresh food


This is PART 3 of a three part blog series.  See here for PART 1 and here for PART 2.

Wholesome meals, fresh flowers, and new sunshine 
for these springtime days...


Dutch puffed pancake is just as delicious as it is beautiful!
I served it with fresh homemade lemon curd.


Spring veggie stir fry
Just take all your veggies in your produce drawer and mix them up.


Leek butternut squash hash with feta and farro.
This was Ahhhmazing


God's bounty is so beautiful!


Skillet Lasagna from Keepers Cookbook
Keepers is one of my top favorite cookbooks!


Another Keeper's recipe: 
Chicken Milano with citrus fennel salad.



Whole Wheat Pita pizzas with garlic, spinach, and mushrooms


These are the moments I want to hold for always.  
Homework, projects, housework, and dinner prep.  
Calm and buzz all at once.  


Pretties


The boys planted these lil grass guys from kits they received in their Easter baskets.


Spring blossoms lit up


Dakotah's creative way 
to keep bugs away while doing yard work.


Early morning tea


Minutes to freeze


Purple blooms in our backyard
 that shout to the world that the new spring sun has arrived!






And action moments!



We have gym moments in the spring, summer, winter, and fall.   Our second home is our gym.  Our entire family spends time there.  It refreshes our minds and builds our bodies and we like it that way.

weekend group workout


Gym happy




Chris in his usual post workout position
And one of our very best friends, Derek, doing his usual thing.


I win! #onetrickpony


My two


Chris at our spring powerlifting meet.



Cameron


Stairs, stairs



Sometimes we workout at home...


Titus and I after an Insanity workout
-Hit the floor- 



Spring SOCCER!






Watching soccer under the new spring sunshine is a favorite.


He's my cutie


Springtime hikes in the beautiful outdoors...it's like opening a big present when the weather shines new and the earth wakes up enough for us to get outside and hike. 


Our family 5 and Kristen (one of my best friends) on a springtime hike


I help out at our boys' school with PE class.  

After a school PE run we all did together...
Sub 30 minute 5k...woohoo!


Titus and his classmate ran over 6 miles without stopping at the annual school walk-a-thon.


Cameron making sushi after the walk-a-thon!


Sweetest sushi chef


Our spring school play... 
Watching all of these little people perform on stage 
is one of my very favorite parts of parenting.  
Steals my heart every time.


Titus as CAPTAIN.






Spring Track Meet









Skating with the school kids to celebrate school being OVER.



The best man in our wedding and
  one of our childhood friends came to visit us!  
It was such a special reunion.  Tim has a forever spot in our hearts and lives.

THEN and NOW


As spring was closing and shortly before summer peeked around the corner, 
we grabbed a Saturday and headed down to Snook's Bottom, a local lake in our town 
for a picnic.  
It was even warm enough to swim!






And just like that, another spring is over and life quickly breezes on.  
We take a minute to snap our lives 
so these speedy moments in time will last forever.  
These everydays are the best days.  
We take a breath and leap for more.



This is PART 3 of a three part blog series.  See here for PART 1 and here for PART 2.


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