Mother’s Day 2018

May 20, 2018 by

Let the Mother’s Day festivities begin!

In Samantha’s classroom for her Mother’s Day Breakfast. Thank you for the card and flower present, Samantha!

Popping by next door for Amelia’s Mother’s Day Breakfast and to receive her beautiful card and cute flower pot present that she had been so excited to give me all week that she had already told me what it was.

Mother’s Day Tea last year:

On Friday during Meredith’s nap time, the doorbell rang, and while I normally don’t answer the door at that hour, I luckily looked through my Ring app to see who it was and saw two guys who looked like movers with a truck. Thinking they had the wrong house, I opened the door and they handed me an invoice to sign for a piano. Before I could tell them they must have had the wrong address, they were sprinting to their truck to haul the piano out and I was scanning the invoice, which apparently did have my name on it!

Confused, I pointed out where to put the piano and apologized for not having a tip since I had no idea I was getting a piano! “Ummmmm…. did you buy a piano?” I texted Jake. Apparently, the movers weren’t supposed to deliver the piano until after he had gotten home from work, but they came early and even though they called him to give him a 20 minute warning and he left work immediately, there was an accident on the freeway and he was stuck in traffic, missing the movers by minutes. He was SO disappointed to have missed my reaction!

We had picked out and had been looking for a deal on a few different Yamahas we wanted in the fall, but had tabled it because we had so much other work on the house to pay for. Props to Jake because I am very hard to surprise and I was in total shock for a while! The twins had mentioned something that morning about my present being something musical, but I figured they were going to play me some kind of song on their harmonica or sing; amazing they didn’t completely spill the beans! So happy to have a piano again and thank you, Jake for a great Mother’s Day present!

All the girls were SO excited to have a piano and wanted to “practice” on it constantly. Capitalizing on the twins’ enthusiasm, we started piano lessons with Miss Jenny right away. They are so quiet and compliant during lessons that Miss Jenny always remarks on what good girls they are (little does she know how loud they can be!) Meredith is usually running around like crazy and it’s been a challenge keeping her quiet and occupied during lessons, but she loves to listen in.

The first few weeks went great with practicing, with the twins eager to be the first one to practice. After the initial excitement wore off, however, their enthusiasm for practicing has started to wane. Amelia almost always volunteers to go first and seems to be picking it up easier and with more excitement than Samantha. At first, I wondered if I should be paying for lessons given that at this stage, I could teach them myself, but after a few practice sessions and seeing the difference with how they are with Miss Jenny vs. Mommy, I am so glad we started them with a teacher! They are goofy and complain with me; even at this beginner level, I get so frustrated! I am grateful to have Miss Jenny be the reason I bribe them to practice since they want to do well for her (plus she brings them Goldfish crackers!)

 

Back to Mother’s Day… gluten-free crepes and a smoothie for breakfast. Samantha looks like she sampled a little bit on the way up to deliver!

They’ve been making crepes for years! Mother’s Day 2015– these were almond flour/coconut flour crepes:

Thank you for all the beautiful presents, girls!

Not sure what half of this means… Jake said everyone was super silly while he was doing this interview.

 

Meredith apparently didn’t see much point in the interview and just wanted to color.

  

The beach is my happy place… when I don’t have to get anyone ready or pack/unpack the car! I literally handed Jake my beach packing list, complete with food items, and practiced a new song on the piano while he and the girls cleaned the kitchen after breakfast and packed up our beach gear. It wasn’t until everyone was buckled and the car was idling in the driveway, that I got in the car. Relaxing! We walked around the Montage in Laguna Beach and it was a beautiful day.

Down on the sand, Jake set up my beach chair and I relaxed while he ran around with the kids, fetched snacks for them every two seconds, and attempted to keep Meredith from throwing food at seagulls. After the clouds burned off, it got HOT fast and while the girls played for a good few hours, they burned out fast. We trekked back up the hill with three screaming girls, and I’m sure people were feeling bad for pregnant mom/tired dad and wondering why we were having a 4th! Even with the sun-induced meltdown, I was so relaxed from not having to do anything that morning that I was still in a good mood. Amazing what a little extra energy will do for you.

Past Mother’s Days:

2013;

2014:

2015:

2016:

2017:

2018:

 

While Jake and the kids were at the far end of the beach climbing rocks, I read a book and watched from afar, only mildly concerned when I heard Meredith screaming since Jake looked like he was handling it. She returned with bumps and scrapes everywhere!

Surfer girl Samantha.

After a nap and church, Jake and the girls made a delicious steak dinner with a strawberry icebox cake for dessert, as per the menu I had given him the week prior to figure out (things go a lot smoother when he and the kids have some direction!) I also played the piano and forced the girls to sing a Mother’s Day related primary song since for some unfathomable reason, the primary didn’t have the kids sing any of the six Mother’s Day related songs during their program…not that the lyrics to any of the Mother’s Day songs are the greatest, but it only happens once a year and it’s cute!  The weekend was not without its meltdowns, but I felt appreciated nonetheless– thank you for a fun, relaxing and lovely Mother’s Day!

Lots of love,

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Mother’s Day 2017

May 26, 2017 by

It was a special treat this Mother’s Day to join Samantha and Amelia for a “Mother’s Day Tea” at their preschool. They were very excited to show off the gifts they had been working on (and even more excited to eat donuts and lemonade)!

Amelia couldn’t wait to show me “Mommy’s new purse” complete with jewels.

One day a few months ago for her share item, Amelia brought in a solar lantern we had bought at a craft fair from our friend, Melissa, who makes these themed jars  for boutiques. Miss Becky loved it so much, she asked me if I could get the information on how to put these together, and Melissa generously donated all the mason jars and solar lids for the kids in Amelia’s class to decorate for Mother’s Day gifts. After placing them by a window during the day, they shine the prettiest glow at night. The kids did a cute job on their beach theme.

Samantha was excited to show off her bag and the surprise inside.

I love my new bouquet of hand flowers!

It’s taken me more than a few birthdays/Mother’s Days/holidays in general to realize that Jake can’t read my mind when it comes to my ideal day, so the past few years, I’ve taken to writing a list of activity and gift ideas on a shared Google Doc a few months in advance so that Jake can pick a few and have a base to work from. Just enough time to forget what I had put down so that’s it a semi-surprise, but enough structure that Jake isn’t left totally clueless and decides to make a 5-course meal with the girls at 5 p.m. with no prep done and everyone screaming and hangry (I took over and just ordered a pizza that year!)

Saturday, our favorite twin babysitters, Charlotte and Claire, watched the girls, while we had brunch at Las Brisas (although, we had just barely missed the Saturday brunch cut-off by ten minutes and sadly had to order from the lunch menu… seafood does not sound very appealing at 11:30 a.m.!) Still, we had relaxing time by the ocean and took a stroll afterwards. Jake took the girls for the rest of the afternoon and I worked on some photo projects at the library and read for hours! The library is a totally different experience without the girls in tow… divine!

Sunday, the girls and Jake made a very nice breakfast of apple pecan overnight french toast (gluten free, no less) with eggs and a homemade orange julius smoothie. I was impressed!

To Jake’s chagrin, the girls had already spilled the beans on the heart plates they painted a few weeks ago. They were very proud and still ask me to eat every meal off of them. Meredith was like a bull in a china shop during their painting outing, so well done, Jake, for the attempt!

We all spent the day as a family and after church and naps, headed to the beach. Normally, outings = just more work for me, but after handing off my packing list, Jake took over and I sat in the car with a book while he and the girls gathered and packed all our beach gear, prepared a picnic dinner, and got everyone in the car. The beach was actually a pleasant experience when I could forgo the packing, loading, unloading, taking everyone to the disgusting bathrooms and sanitizing everyone afterwards, brushing sand off everyone, unpacking the cars, throwing wet towels and suits into the laundry and hosing down everyone afterwards.

The only thing I ever really want for Mother’s Day is a good picture with the girls, and since  no one really cooperated for a sit-down picture (surprise of the century), our candid ones will have to do this year.

We played several rounds of ring around the rosie and duck duck goose.

On our last Mother’s Day at the beach a few years ago, the girls were so CUTE and cooperative! I guess the fact that two out of three are twice as stubborn as two years ago, plus adding one more into the mix do not make very good odds for getting nice pictures!

Sammy was smiley, Meredith was distracted and Amelia was decidedly NOT interested.

Cute big sister.

Meredith does not enjoy too much love and goes crazy when the girls make a hug sandwich out of her, especially first thing in the morning when I grab her out of her crib. GET OUT OF MY BUBBLE!

Maybe Meredith would cooperate? Nope.

Of course, the girls happily complied for photos with Jake.

  

Lots of silliness happening.

Sammy was singing at the top of her lungs and Amelia was trying to break free and boogie.

Amelia was ready for a hoe-down.

When you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

Rock climbing, shell hunting, seagull chasing and sand angel making.

Jake and the girls only forgot one thing… Jake’s dinner. They didn’t mind sharing.

Speaking of food, I don’t know if Jake has been secretly coaching them behind the scenes, but an unexpected Mother’s Day gift was that for the past few weeks, the girls have been randomly telling me “thank you for the delicious food!” at most dinners. This has never happened in the past without someone prodding them, so I’ve been very pleasantly surprised (and slightly suspicious).

All alone on her little island.

With our hair blowing all over the place for 90% of our pictures, the girls became my hair stylists.

More dancing on the sand!

Thank you for a lovely Mother’s Day!

Lots of love,

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The first responder and the last survivor

May 14, 2015 by
Even with all the time to myself/pampering over Mother’s Day, what I enjoyed the most was just hanging out with the loves of my life. I don’t know if it was the kids singing during the Mother’s Day program at church (serious problems controlling tear flow over on our pew) or simply having a minute more quiet reflection time than normal, but my heart felt like it was going to burst!
When I stop and think about it (and I don’t usually just STOP and think for a moment– something I need to work on), what my own mother did for me is nothing short of self-sacrificing. Sure, I was grateful for my mom and mother-in-law before I had kids, but it doesn’t compare to the jaw-dropping, oh-my-goodness-you-did-this-for-me?!?!?!?! feeling I sense to the depths of my bones every single day post-Samantha and Amelia. I didn’t truly understand until now.
I am so grateful for my own amazing mom and the love, the sweat, the tears, the wisdom and the joy she put into raising me. We are the luckiest girls in the world that she can be a grammy to Samantha and Amelia; hopefully it’s more of a reward than hard work being a grandma! I also feel a huge debt of gratitude to my mother-in-law who, even after her husband died and she was left to care for the six youngest kids still at home, still raised the selfless, smart, hard-working, and wonderful man I am blessed beyond measure to call my husband.
And to all the other women in my life who have helped mother my daughters– extended family, friends, and neighbors– it really does take a village and I am so grateful to have mine. 
Life feels renewed through Samantha and Amelia’s eyes. Being with them, watching them get down on their hands and knees to point out ants, cry when they want the blue plate instead of the purple, and gleefully show me a bus on the street as they burst out in song, has given me so much perspective on life, love and what really matters. I learn so much everyday from two little humans who have only been on the planet for two years, yet seem to know so much more than I do about what it means to love. 
I’m a big fan of the blog posts and books by Hands Free Mama, and one part of her Mother’s Day post really resonated with me. Just knowing that I am the “first responder” and the “last survivor” in someone’s life makes all those messy times in the middle– the times I’ve been frustrated, the times I’ve been tired, the times I’ve had no clue what I was doing– fade away. Being a mom is a beautiful mess and a true refiner’s fire if I’ve ever been through one. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

 I love you to the moon and back.

Whoa–I had planned on simply saying Happy Mother’s Day and posting a few pictures from our Mother’s Day picnic at Salt Creek Beach! On to the rest of Mother’s Day…

After the girls cooked a steak dinner at home, we enjoyed a picnic and berry crumble for dessert at the beach– perfection!

Samantha always ends up with 85% more food on her face than Amelia. 

I love my hat!
These guys are my life. 
I love you! Scrunch faces and all. 

All this eating has me tired. 

So serious. 

That time when Samantha spilled all the walnuts and we were immediately attacked by seagulls. 
Classic Sammy fork in mouth pose. 
Amelia and Jake relax. 

Amelia loves to SIIIIING!

And YELLLLLLL!

Please don’t put sand in my eyes. Please don’t put sand in my eyes. 

Ok then. I’ll throw it in your hair instead. 

Making sand cupcakes. 

My ideal view. 

Sammy– please don’t grow up and get rid of your pigtails. 

 I love pretending to eat their sand creations. 

Samantha doesn’t always pretend to eat sand. 

Burying Samantha. 

Monkey see monkey do. 

Those little faces. I don’t want to ever stop pinching those cheeks. Ever. Ever. Ever. 

Do you think that seagull is going to poop on our faces? 

Here sis– a little sand for you. 

No, really– try some.

Let the sister torture begin!

Framing this one. 

I might just frame the whole series and call it: Sister Sillies: A Photo Essay.

The only downside of Salt Creek is the hill. I don’t tend to pack light. 

As their extra special Mother’s Day gift to me, Samantha and Amelia fell asleep peacefully once we got home. As much as I loved savoring the day with them when they were awake (read: crazy), watching their little faces as they slept calmly was the icing on the cake!

Lots of love, 
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Mother’s Day Part 1

May 13, 2015 by
My third Mother’s Day weekend was everything I could ask for– a few days “off,” yummy food that I didn’t make (although I did clean some of it up as Jake was getting a tad overwhelmed), a little pampering and best of all– a relaxing time with my three loves. 
Making eggs, smoothies, almond flour cinnamon bread and coconut flour crepes– I was impressed. 
Saturday I basically had the entire day to myself, which was both amazing and terrifying– what to do with THAT much time and not squander it? I managed to fill up my day and then some!
Meanwhile, Jake took the girls to a rocket-building/launching event hosted by Boeing in Huntington Beach. It was definitely more fun for him than for them, judging by the photos, but he said the girls were awesome rocket scientists/engineers nonetheless. 
The girls brought their own bottles, were given rocket building supplies and that was it– everything else was up to them to figure out. I get so frustrated with anything related to engineering/building/physics/science/math, so this was definitely NOT up my alley. 

Amelia hard at engineering work. 

Time for blast off! Samantha won a little prize for having the longest hang-time in her group and because her parachute deployed correctly and in a creative fashion. 

 Amelia’s rocket didn’t have the longest hang time, but her rocket launch went smoothly and her parachute deployed. She was clearly proud of her work.  Jake is already talking about the changes he’ll make for next year– hopefully our little rocket scientists will be ready.
The girls were totally exhausted from all that rocket launching and fell asleep on the car ride home. Great Auntie Lynn stopped by later to deliver some yummy herbs and a new carton of floss (obviously read the post about the girls’ late-night floss party!) and then Jake took the girls to a birthday party while I got my nails and toes done. You know it’s been a while when the nail people look at your fingers in horror.

 One of my Mother’s Day gifts from Jake and the girls was a spa day at Pelican Hill Resort in Newport (cue rapid hand clapping/leaping in the air for joy). I actually decided to go Monday because I figured Saturday would have been really crowded, which somehow made it feel more indulgent being there on a weekday. Let’s just say I am permanently ruined from ever getting a massage or facial (or even just sitting by a pool) anywhere else. Give me a robe and some peace and quiet and I am good to go– but everything here just put it way over the top.

Everything was so gorgeous, quiet, and peaceful–basically the opposite of whatever was going on at home while I was there (the girls had a fun day with our babysitter, but boy did she look exhausted when I got back!) While I normally have an impossible time “letting go” and just sitting somewhere relaxing without thinking about the ten million things I have to do, I truly felt rejuvenated and ready/excited to return to mom duty. A much needed breather indeed. Thank you, thank you, Jake and girls for a wonderful present!

Lots of love,

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