Strawberry Picking!

Yesterday was the perfect day to do something I've been wanting to do for quite some time.  We went strawberry picking!  There was a whole day without rain, the first day of its kind in weeks!  Since strawberries have just reached their peak in Missouri, our crew headed out to the 'Land of the Jayhawks' (Lawrence, KS) to Wohletz Farm to have some good ol' fashioned fun! And boy was it fun!

My little Strawberry Blond with some of our strawberries!

The whole crew... even smiling at the same time!
That's my 25 week belly!

Silly kids!

It is back-breaking labor, for sure!

The Hurt Clan

Grammy hard at work!

She found a good one!

Two Weaver Girls!

Gracie ate her weight in strawberries, so don't mind the red stuff between her teeth!

After paying for our strawberries, we cranked the air conditioning and drove back to a park in Eudora, Kansas that we'd discovered on our way out there.  We played and ate our picnic lunch, and of course, washed a big handful of strawberries to enjoy!  On the way out of town, we stopped at a little bakery - Cami's Cakes - or something like that to use the restroom and buy a sweet treat... the softest scone I've ever eaten!  Delish!

This is definitely a tradition I'd like to continue next year!  We picked around 7 pounds and I need to remember that we want more next year!  After snacking on them yesterday, having Strawberry Shortcake (with homemade whipped cream) for dessert, I barely had enough left to freeze.  We've got some sliced up for the next few days, but not tons and tons like I thought I'd have.    

A Sunday of Fun!

Last weekend Ryan was on a four day fishing trip, so Gracie and I had lots of Momma and Gracie time. We had an especially great Sunday!  G got her first pedicure!  I've painted her toes multiple times, but it was her first pampering experience. She  was nervous at first, but warmed up pretty quickly. She didn't like the nail trim and giggled and wiggled during the exfoliation.  I asked the girl to leave her cuticles alone... no reason to mess with them at this age.  She chose dark purple glitter polish with yellow daisies and a silver jewel on each big toe. Very Gracie!  

For dinner that night I made fondue!  We had a Monterey Jack cheese sauce, loosely based on a Pinterest recipe. We dipped steak, bread, veggies, and apples into the cheese (I say 'we' but Gracie didn't eat much cheese). Then I made a simple chocolate dip using heavy cream and milk chocolate. We dipped assorted fruits, pound cake, and marshmallows into that yummy goodness!  It was a fun dinner date!

First Camping Trip of the Season!

Last weekend was our first camping trip of 2015!  We always miss the great family time and outdoor adventure during the cold winter months.  Much of our fun this weekend came from family walks/bike rides, playing at the park, and throwing rocks in the water.  It was way too cold to swim, obviously, but Gracie and Daddy put their feet in and splashed each other a bit!

We had another tornado experience in the middle of the night Saturday night.  The last time something like that happened was when Gracie was one.  It was 2:24 AM Saturday night/Sunday morning.  Ryan awoke to the siren sounding and the park attendant circling the campground honking his horn.  He took a quick look at his cell phone and discovered that we were under a tornado warning and quickly woke me up.   After dragging Gracie out of bed (she didn't even wake up until we were in the car) and getting Tysie leashed up, we drove up to the bathroom/shower house and took shelter inside the handicapped shower stall.  It was full of people sharing their tornado horror stories and fears about what might happen (lovely... especially when I'm trying to keep Gracie calm).  About 20 minutes later everything was over and we emerged from the bathroom to discover no tornado, no damage, just a little rain.  Luckily Gracie went right back to sleep, but Ryan and I struggled to settle back down.  We were both dragging most of Sunday, but at least we were all safe!

Painting with a view!

A sleepy girl...
And a Momma who enjoyed the snuggles!

S'mores!

Yum!

We released a lantern!
A favorite tradition!

Early morning snuggles with my girl!

Cutie Pies!

Hanging out with these girls was a lot of fun today!  Natalie let me do her hair while the big girls added their own hair accessories!  They also had a fun time cramming into the baby's crib!  Somehow Kia hoisted Natalie up there?!

A Lazy Mother's Day!

For Mother's Day this year, we had family over for dinner last night and made it to church and Sunday School this morning.  Afterward we had brunch with the family, followed by naps, a little TV, working on a project as a family, and dinner downstairs watching the Royals game. Gracie and I sorted through her old clothes for Little Sis to wear and I answered about 462 questions about newborns and labor & delivery.  It really was an awesome day!

As I get ready to turn out the lights and go to bed, I feel the kicks of our youngest sweetheart and can't help but feel immense gratitude that God has allowed me to be a Momma.  These girls have made my biggest dream come true!

Below is a shot of my firstborn-love on her last day of spring soccer. We will be signing up again for sure!  

New Siding

After a few months of waiting and a few weeks of work, our siding is complete!  We've got some painting to do to finish the look, including the front door, foundation, and maybe the garage doors. But we are so happy with the new look and we're even happier that it's maintenance free!  We opted for fiber cement siding (James Hardie brand) in khaki brown with arctic white trim!  Here's the finished product, along with some before and after shots.  The before shots are when the house is gray and the after shots are brown. Notice the new garage doors, which were replaced just after Easter. Refer back to this year's Easter poster to find out why. 

Royals Game!

Last Friday night, my whole family went to a Royals game to celebrate my birthday... just a little bit early!  It was Buck Night and Friday Night Fireworks!  Even though our seats were way up there, we had a blast!  The Royals won and the kids had more sugar than any person should consume in a week's time. I'd say it was a great night!

April Fun!

Throughout the month of April, I was super busy finishing up another round of 12 hours toward my Educational Specialist Degree.  It's definitely fair to say that I enjoy my time on the teacher side of the desk more than I enjoy my time on the student side.  I mean, the learning is good and fun, but that constant feeling of homework hanging over my head drives me nuts!  Luckily, I've completed 24 out of the required 30 hours oft his degree.  I'll take one more course in July for 5 weeks and then finish with an internship in the late fall... hopefully, unless my maternity leave prevents that from happening.  I'll be glad to be done with another degree, even though I highly doubt I'll ever use it to become a building principal.

Even though I was swamped with school work, we found plenty of time to play and have fun!  Here are few pictures from last month!

Daddy, Gracie, and I went to The Coterie at Crown Center to see The Cat in the Hat.  We stopped at Fritz' for lunch beforehand.  It's always so fun when the train delivers our burgers!

Gracie and Kianna cooked up a plan to spend the night with each other, declaring it to be the "BEST NIGHT EVER!" before I had even agreed to it.  As it turns out, they were right.  They had the "BEST NIGHT EVER" blowing bubbles and drawing with sidewalk chalk past dark, eating popcorn, taking showers, and giggling in their sleeping bags till I made them finally go to sleep at 10:30.  

Kiki looks like KISS!
I can imagine what her college years will be like!
Good luck, Steph & John!

Because I love to be creative in kitchen, I've been kind of tired of the same old lunch ideas.  I decided on this particular day to make homemade lunchables in ice cube trays.  They were a hit, even though my daughter will only eat ham if I call it "pink turkey".  So pink turkey was on the menu!

Scrum-diddly-umptious!

"The pink turkey is yummy, Momma!"

"What?!  This is HAM!"

A friend of mine, who also happens to be due with baby #2 in September, had a doctor's appointment to check up on her baby boy.  So big sister came to hang out with my crazy crew for lunch and an afternoon movie.  Natalie only got to watch for 10 minutes before I swept her off to nap, but the other girls snuggled like this for most of Aladdin.  Sweet friends!

While Daddy took his first fishing trip of the season, Gracie and I had a Momma & Gracie weekend.  We always cram tons of fun into these weekends... late nights and no naps (for Gracie... Momma always tries to squeeze one in!)  But Sunday mornings are Gracie's time to build her positive self-image with the help of her Daddy.  Without fail, every Sunday morning, Gracie gets all dolled up for church and runs to show her beautiful-self to her Dada.  He always tells her how amazing she looks and points out something extra special he notices about her.  But on our girl's weekend, Gracie got all dolled up for Natalie's 2nd birthday party.  She must've felt extra pretty with her curls because she asked if we could text Dada some pictures to show him how great she looked.  We started with silly faces and then I forced her to be sweet for just one shot!  

Happy birthday, sweet Natalie!
She looks so big in this picture, although she's still awful snuggly! 

Three pretty girls on party day!

The highlight of Natalie's party (for Gracie) was holding Miss Rachel's daughter Rylee.  Gracie is quite simply in love with Baby Rylee.  She held her for almost an hour, and still when I took her back, Gracie was complaining she didn't get to hold her long enough.  I have a feeling that I'll get that a lot once her little sister arrives.

These two could pass for sisters!

When we took the girls to see Home on our Momma & Gracie weekend, we saw some of their favorite characters.

Captain America!
And apparently that's Black Widow that Gracie's standing in front of?!
Who knew?!  Clearly, I only had a sister!

Gracie had a great time at Fun Run for a preschool friend's birthday party.  The pink icing was the only part of the cupcake she ate (of course!).  When she had finished all the icing, she came up to me saying, "I didn't like the icing."  I told her I didn't believe her, and snapped this picture to prove it!  Silly Monkey!