Fun With Our Cousins

 Summer is here!! Well practically :) So what better way to celebrate then spending time with our family outside! We have been blessed to have my sister in law and her little ones down this weekend. The girls LOVE their cousins to pieces (and so do I!) so it was so fun spending the morning with them today.  We went to this great place Angie found called Gilsland Farm Audubon Center.  What a neat place! We will be going back there for sure! The kiddo's had a blast searching for tadpoles and frogs! And they had a really awesome children's exhibit that they just loved! It had lots of taxidermy animals, two very neat turtles, and a live honey bee exhibit that was beyond cool! And after a picnic lunch we strolled around the peony flower garden which was so beautiful. Hopefully the next time we visit we can do a trail. A good day for sure!

Annie is 1!

We've been a tad bit...well actually very much under the weather. The stomach flu is no joke...especially when it hits everyone...one...at...a...time... But God's timing was so spot on perfect! For one, I didn't get it until last which meant I could take care of everyone else without being completely drained (and this illness was sooo draining!)....and today is Annie's first birthday which so happens to also be the first day that I feel almost normal! So happy about that! So we can cuddle and love and play with our little birthday girl and just enjoy her special day!

 We're not doing a family party until the 15th so today we're just having a little ice cream cake (with some coconut milk ice cream for her...dairy allergy boo!) and she got to open up fun baby toys this morning which she has been having a blast with!

I'm having mixed emotions about her being a year old.  I'm so excited for her! The world is really opening up to her now.  So much to learn, see, and do.  I on the other hand am a little bummed that my last baby is losing her "babyness" so fast! I'm sort of baby obsessed...not a shocker...I know! lol After we hit 2...it's really official and me being bummed is going to hit a new all time high. So here's a hoping Annie's next year is sloooooow. :)

Happy Birthday my sweet Annie Fannie!!! Mommy Loves You!!

Newborn Annie toes awww

Annie a week old! She was so tiny!!

Happy and chunky 6 month old.

The birthday girl playing with some birthday gifts

Can you believe it's almost summer?! We have about three weeks of school left and then we'll be finished with Kindergarten! I'm so proud of Brenna and Lacey for how well they've done! I'm thinking about maybe even doing school over the summer but just a few days a week.  It should give us some more wiggle room next year and Brenna won't "forget" things over the long summer break. Not to mention, they just LOVE school!

Also along with summer's arrival, my first garden I've ever done on my own (so excited about it!), T-Ball for Brenna AND Lacey and unbelievably my Annie will be 1 year old in less then a month!! :(  Man that happened fast! She's sporting 5 cute little teeth now and has finally decided that it might be worth her while to try to crawl.  For a while there, I didn't think she'd ever get interested in moving. haha! She's a very relaxed and happy baby and had no need to be mobile I guess.  She's only difficult when I get on the phone...typical  :) 

 

 We've spent the last two weeks outside as much as possible and loving every second of it! Every year the warm weather finally arrives and I marvel at how we made it through the long cold winter being stuck inside most of our days. Now a days it's hard to come in.  We spend many hours playing in the yard, playing at the park, taking walks, coloring with chalk on the drive way, picking flowers, kicking balls, riding scooters, and having picnics.  I absolutely adore fresh air, warm sun, and a nice breeze and so do my girls!

Yesterday Brenna made her own volcano! :)

I don't usually post things about food but this I couldn't resist sharing!  All you mommies will be thanking me...trust me! We have been starting a new chapter with our food here lately.  With all of the horrible things I've been learning about with over processed foods, genetically modified foods, pesticides, hormones, aspartame, and so on it just seemed like a no brainer to start trying to eat better foods as much as budget can allow. The thought of adding more healthy choices in the girls diets up until now seemed a bit intimidating I'll be honest.  My girls have never been big into vegetables and if something tastes healthy...yeah they usually pass.  I always have veggies on their plates but unless there is a desert incentive, they rarely eat more then a bite and even then it's sorta forced on them! So I came across a snack food online called Kale Chips.  I had NEVER heard of them but was intrigued.  My girls will try anything that is a "chip" at least once! While browsing our local food store, I came across Kale chips and they were almost 7 dollars a bag!! Yeah no way... definitely not budget friendly.   But I so happened to come across a recipe online on how to make your own Kale chips! So I gave it a try.  It was soooo easy and a big hit! Even my pickiest eater who literally swallows veggies whole so she doesn't have to chew them (no kidding crazy kiddo...) loved them! So if your looking for a snack food for yourself or your little sweeties I highly recommend trying this out.  You won't regret it trust me.  They were super yummy and super good for you too!

You will need 1 bunch of Kale.  You can buy any variety...just pick up whatever is available in your area.  You will also need some olive oil, salt, and any other spices you want to use to season your kale chips.  Preheat your oven at 300 degrees.

1. Wash your kale and make sure that you dry it very well.  This is very important because you want your kale to be crispy! If you leave lots of water on them they will be steamed instead of crispy!

2. Remove the leaves from the stalk.  Tear the leaves in approximately 3 inch pieces.

3. Put the kale leaves in a bowl and pour some olive oil over them.  How much oil you need depends on how much kale your baking so just make your best guess.  Use your hands to rub the oil all over each leaf.

4. Lay them out in a single layer.  Season them with a little salt and pepper or whatever you desire.  My first time making these I used Lowry's seasoning salt which was really good but be careful to not over salt them! A little goes a long way. 

5. Now you bake them! Bake them for 5 minutes and then if your using more then one tray rotate the trays so that they will all bake evenly.  If you touch the kale, you should start to notice them becoming more crisp.  Bake another 3 or 4 minutes until crispy but not brown. 

Cool and enjoy! It's that easy! We're going to have to plant some kale in our garden this year I think...

Holly approved! :)

Springtime at the beach

We were blessed with the opportunity to spend a week with my mother on the North Carolina coast before her surgery.  It's really amazing how God's timing is perfect since we had planned this trip before she was ever diagnosed with breast cancer.  We were able to spend some precious time together just enjoying one another before her surgery.  Here are some pictures of the sand,the sun, and some cute little girls just having a blast!