Mother's Day Weekend

3 Years, 4 Weeks.


It was another crazy week.  So here we go:

• Friday evening we hosted supper with some neighbors, namely, the Grodacks and the Ottatis.  I prepared 9 different appetizer style dishes, with Corey making her delicious [and deadly, because of the calories] blueberry bread pudding for dessert.  We dined outside in some great weather, and enjoyed the fellowship in between all the children's pleas, cries, and screams.  One day, one day.

Tangie plays server, bringing the dishes to the guests.

The little girls hanging out together.

Enjoying the food and company.

Indulge.

• Sabbath morning we headed out to Maitland to attend a baby owl shower, at the Audubon Society's Bird of Prey Center.  We had never been, and they just had some baby owls (as aforementioned) and they were giving free admission to those who brought some supplies/baby food, etc etc. as donations.  Usually tickets are $5 a person.  Anyway, we thought this would be a nice opportunity to help some owls in need, and to see some of the largest birds of prey up close and personal.  The center is a rehab facility to help injured predatory birds and they have several large aviaries and shelters to keep them in, and educate the public.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the bald eagle and the owls, but more importantly, the arts and crafts they had available just for them.  We had lunch at First Watch, to beat the Mother's Day rush the following day, and then headed over to Forest Lake Education Center to help pack up some supply kits for Africa's WorldVision project, helping those with HIV, but not before stopping by some lost Mayan ruins for a few photos with the kids, at the Maitland Art Center.  Anyway, back to packing the kits.  The event was set up by a former classmate and her husband and was attended by a large number of members from the church. The kids enjoyed helping pack up the kits, but mostly because they were putting something into a backpack!  The best part was writing personal notes for the workers and putting them inside the bags.  It touched me when Braelyn told me what to write for her; I couldn't believe she grasped the whole concept of what we were doing at such a young age!  We swung by the Grodacks for some backyard fun and ended up having supper with them there, retiring back home for the night, but not before making some frozen fruit pops with lots of sprinkles.  What a mess!

Dropping our donations at the front gate.

Seeing a falcon up close.

One of the baby owls they were celebrating.

Such a majestic bird.

Learning some facts about the bald eagle.

Doing some of the arts and crafts on the covered dock.

Can you tell who who?  Get it?  It's because they're owls.  Never-mind...

Some birds are bigger than the kids!

Helping feed a baby owl in the incubator.  Don't worry, it was a stuffed one.

Mommy and the girls sit together.

With the boys on the other side.

Currently my favorite picture of the three.

I loved how cooperative they were during the photoshoot.

Having prayer before packing up the kits.

All the supplies in 3 assembly lines.

Kohlden getting a box of rubber gloves to put in his bag.

Writing notes and putting stickers.

A lot of people showed up to help!

What a blessing!

Having some water fun at the Grodack's.

Wee chefs creating and making messes.

• Sunday was Mother's Day, and so we treated Mommy with a day on her own, to do whatever she wanted to do, all by herself.  The only stipulation was that she couldn't use that free time to do work.  So, we did the traditional breakfast in bed surprise (although she was already up and getting ready so it really wasn't a breakfast in bed), and then we were off to meet up and spend the entire day with Duncan and his crew, because Corey was doing the exact thing as Tangie for Mother's Day:  having an entire day of solitude to herself.  So I took the kids to the Science Center, along with a bunch of other dads there (no surprise), and the Grodacks met up with us soon afterwards. We had lunch there and about an hour or so for the kids to play and explore, and then we were off to Dr. Philips Community Park, so they could play in the playground and splash park.  When we got there they had just closed the splash area for an hour intermission before the second session, so we had to wait a while and just play in the playground, which was as hot as could be.  The splash park was welcomed when it finally opened, and we spent a good 30 minutes before packing up and heading back to Ocoee for some more blueberry picking at our local blueberry farm. There is only about 2 more weeks of blueberry season left, and they had a special for Mother's Day of $3 per lb so we went at it, my crew hauling in 3 lbs after eating about 5 whilst picking.  Then we all drove back to the neighborhood, stopping by our house to dig up some vegetable plants we were going to transplant to the Grodack's new garden beds he had built up last week, and then headed over to their place to plant them, along with new seeds and replacing some sprinkler heads while the kids played in the backyard.  Finally we took them all to the pool to swim their hearts out (but mainly to get tired for bed) before heading home for baths and supper.  Meanwhile, Tangie had come home with her shopping loot and had spent time organizing the home office, before jetting out again to meet up with Jennifer and Corey for ladies' night out to a movie.   The kids and I happily stayed home, exhausted.

Mother's Day morning breakfast and cards.

Saying goodbye to Mommy as she heads out for her day!

Lunch with the Grodack crew at the Science Center.

Learning about density.  Volunteers to kids:  "Which item is more dense?"
Me to kids:  "They mean, which item is heavier."  

Digging up some fossils.

The three girls get dizzy.

He wanted to stay on that swing forever.

Maddy enjoyed just sitting in the water.

Brae and Calleigh clearly having fun.

They stayed together pretty much the whole time.

The Old Navy crew.
I put the rash guards on because it was easier to spot them all wearing the same thing.

Duncan joined in on the fun in the end.  They were all pretty bushed out.

Eating more than they are picking!

Showing our 2 boxes of blueberries for a grand total of 7 lbs all together!

Evening dip and swim.

• Tuesday was a sad day.  They say if you love something you have to let it go.  Something like that.  Anyway, I had called AAA to come and pick up the Pathfinder, sitting untouched for about a year in our other driveway because of a dead starter.  They dropped her off at Tires plus for a new starter and battery, and $450 later, we picked her up to take home and start the adoption process, i.e. selling her on Craigslist.  But not before I took her on an evening joyride, sun roof open, radio blasting, tears streaming down my face.  I was having flashbacks of days long gone, of the many road trips taken with her, of when I was not yet a parent, young and carefree, and without any carseats.  And then I sighed, turned around, and headed back home.

Flatbed comes to take her to the shop.

• Thursday evening we attended Braelyn's end of the year Kindergarten program, "A Barnyard Moosical" at OJA.  She, along with some of her closest friends, were the pigs, and had the line:  "They say that pigs are sloppy, yes that's a well known fact."  They had several musical acts and we enjoyed watching them put together a very fun show.  She has one more week until summer vacation officially begins.

Mural created by one of the mothers, an art teacher.

The Kindergarten class.

Braelyn on the far left.

Maddy wearing Brae's pig hat.

Giving flowers to her teacher Mrs. Hudak.

A close friend and fellow pig Alyssa M.

With another good friend Alyssa G.
Kohl wanted in on the picture with the older girls.
Just look at that smile on his face!

• Some other pictures from our week:

This is how she should wake up every morning!

Brae is a big helper on our grocery trips to Publix.

Evening stop at the neighborhood park.

Looking for alligators at the dock.

Enjoying his turkey melt for lunch.

Checking out the tires while I pay for the Pathfinder service.

Tag game during a midweek visit to the Grodacks.

Bedtime stories al fresco.

Signing and sending out some thank you cards.

Trying to get a good picture for some passport pictures.  This one was priceless!

Maddy did pretty good.

As did big sister!

Garden Update:

Getting all filled up and tall!

An abundance of squash blossoms!

Food this week:

Appetizer style menu.

Couscous in pasta with chive.

Ricotta stuffed squash blossoms.

Made some more midweek.  Seriously, can't get enough of this stuff!

Randoms:

The twins having a tea party, but don't know what Maddy was doing here.

You leave them alone for 5 minutes...

How many kids can fit into a large trash can?  Exactly 3.

Saw this beautiful mullet at the splash park and couldn't help myself.

Some pretty large blueberries!

This was how I found him one morning.  He had put on a pull up outside of his pajamas.

Can you spot 2 alligators?

Noticed some turkey buzzards on our neighbor's lawn.  Upon inspection, I found absolutely nothing.
So why were they hanging around there?  Very strange...

Caught these two lizards mating in public.  Busted!

Quotes:

• I had found a mess on the top of the changing dresser, so I rounded up the only two suspects in the house to figure out who had done it:

          Me:  "Okay guys, who made this mess?"

          Maddy:  [shaking her head]  "Not me."

          Kohlden:  "Not me."

          Me:  "Alright guys, c'mon.  Somebody had to have climbed up here and made

                   this mess."

          Kohlden:  [guiltily?]  "Maybe it was the turtle."

          Somehow I don't think the turtle did it.  Nice try buddy.

• We were listening to the radio and the song "Move Along" by All American Rejects was playing, and when they sang the chorus and said "move along" Kohlden said, "Daddy!  They said mow the lawn!"

• Tangie was driving the kids back home after Braelyn's play Thursday evening, and Taylor Swift's song 22 came on, where she mentions the word "stranger":

          Maddy:  [to Mommy]  "What is a stranger mean?"

          Braelyn:  [rolling her eyes]  "She says that EVERY TIME."

          Tangie:  [to Maddy] "Strangers are people we don't know."

          Maddy:  "We don't talk to strangers, we talk to humans."

          Kohl:  [agreeing]  "Yeah.  Who mans."

Have a great week!