Mother's Day 2011

This year, Mother's Day was very bitter sweet, as I enjoyed such a lovely day with CK and Sofia, yet thought of my Mom and how much I miss having her to talk to and spend time with. I really missed her a lot on Mother's Day and thought of all my happy memories of her. My day started out with the best thing I could have ever gotten - a handmade card from CK and Sofia with a picture of Sofia and I and a picture of my Mom and Sofia. The card was titled "Thank Goodness for Mommies" and thanked me for all that I do to be a Mommy. It was so touching! Being a Mom was the most important thing in my Mom's life and I know it's the most important in mine as well.

That morning, during Meeting, Sofia was playing with a little hand-held magnetic doodle pad and wrote "Mom" over and over! I was so shocked and CK said he didn't teach her. She also wrote "Papa" a few times, which we weren't aware she could do either. It was a great surprise, especially on Mother's Day! After Meeting, CK took Sofia and I to "surprise" reservations for brunch at a downtown restaurant called Screen Door. It was fabulous! The food was outstanding and the restaurant was very comfortable, not overcrowded at all, and we enjoyed a very relaxed brunch. Sofia had the waffle and I think CK and I were both a little envious - it was great.

After brunch, Sofia played in the fountain (along with a group of other kids), while we waited for our car. Sofia loved it and I think we could have probably left her there and she wouldn't have noticed. Of course, what started out as dipping her feet in the water and touching the fountain soon turned into a very wet, but happy, girl.

That afternoon, after everyone enjoyed a nap, CK and Sofia gave me presents and completely spoiled me, as usual. CK got me a beautiful pregnancy outfit that I can't wait to wear (and plan to wear for vacation). It's so cute and I look forward to getting a lot of wear out of it these next few months! Sofia, after wanting to get me a stuffed Mallard duck that quacks, was somehow convinced that a insulated picnic tote was far more useful. The picnic tote is perfect and includes everything - glasses, plates, silverware, napkins and even a little cutting board and knife. It's great and since we've been meeting at the park for picnics with my Mommy friends, I can't wait to put it to use!

That evening CK's cousin Scott, who newly relocated to Texas from Florida came over and we hung out and had pizza. It was great to catch up with him and we are excited to have he and his family living about 30 or so minutes from us.

By the end of Mother's Day I'd thought a lot about how I could honor my Mom by doing something that she would have loved. She and Sofia used to have a "tea party" every time they were together and she hosted tea parties for a lot of the grandkids and even my Aunt's grandkids. So, I decided that I would like to host a Mother-Daughter tea from now on to celebrate Mom's life and remember the things she loved to do: entertain, cook great good, and be with those she loved. I know Mom would love it.

MOM!!


Sofia and I at Screen Door...I tease CK that my Mother's Day picture with Sofia is the one and only photo that he takes of us for the year....mostly we just take pictures of Sofia!


Look at that waffle - yum!


Post brunch happiness


Sofia just sticking her feet into the fountain pool


A happy girl


Touching the fountain...


and jumping into the water.


With a soggy girl - Happy Mother's Day!

Flying with Papa

The past few Saturdays CK and Sofia have been hanging out, which usually means flying somewhere and having lunch with flying friends. While they are off, I go to a prenatal yoga class with a couple of pregnant friends and then we have lunch together. It ends up being a great deal for everyone and I'm really enjoying my free time since I know that once the baby arrives it will be awhile before I'll have free time in large quantities again. So, this past Saturday I asked Sofia to take pictures of their adventure that day since I only ever hear about it later (with limited or no photos usually). So, off they went with camera in hand to the hanger...and here is what they did:

Sofia the co-pilot is all set for take off.


Sofia took several photos of the Baron's panel (I decided one is enough for the blog)


A photo of Chester, CK's flying buddy, in his Bonanza. They met for lunch up in Decatur with a former co-worker of CK's who lives there.


Sofia captured a close-up


Heading to lunch in the crew car....


At lunch with her friends, Hannah and Alia.


Dancing in front of the jukebox - apparently all three girls were very busy dancing after lunch.


Heading home and the co-pilot is asleep. Apparently she has the same problem I do with staying awake in the Baron. CK said he landed and moved the Baron back into the hanger before she woke up and said "Where are we?" That's our girl!

Biking around town..

It was such a nice day that I decided to ride my bike with Sofia in the bike trailer rather than drive the short distance to the library. Sofia and I gave CK the bike trailer for Father's Day last year and he's used it a handful of times. I've never hitched it to my bike (or ridden my bike in a long time, for that matter). It was easy enough to get situated and Sofia loved the idea of going for a "bike ride" since it meant she could sit in luxury and read books while "we" biked to the library for more books... The trailer is great in that it has room for everything, which meant my water, wallet, camera, phone, 10 library books, Sofia's water and our bike lock.

Off we went! I soon discovered that despite riding on the gym's stationary bike regularly, it doesn't really compare to the real thing - especially when pulling probably 50 or so pounds of girl, books, and goodies. That said, the trailer rides so smoothly that I found it easy to forget that I was pulling it along. While I pedaled, Sofia read to me from one of her favorite series "Ella the Elegant Elephant" which we've checked out before from the library. Once at the library we returned all of her books and checked out ten new ones and then decided we needed a snack break. We headed to Starbucks and enjoyed a smoothie and their cheese and cracker tray, before heading home. It was a much needed break for me!

It was a fun way to spend an hour and I would love to ride to the gym or library a few more times before it gets too hot (and my belly gets too big).

The set-up


Sofia (and her thumb) cozy in the trailer.


Our snack break.


A pink car!! Sofia has been asking why there aren't any cars painted pink - a good question really. While we were enjoying our snack, she suddenly burst out "Look Mommy! A pink car!!!" So, I had to take a picture of it!


Two rocks that Sofia found at the library and played with for the rest of the day


Later that afternoon we enjoyed a red velvet cupcake at our favorite cupcake place in Grapevine. She likes to eat all the icing and I like the cake, so we're a good pair.

Sofia's Bike Parade

On Wednesday April 27th, Sofia's school held their annual Bike Parade. Each bike, or scooter, could be decorated along with each rider's helmet. I must confess I didn't go crazy decorating her scooter since it was really windy that day and figured most of the decorations would blow off while Sofia rode around. The school has six classes total and it was amazing to watch the teachers work! The rotated each age group class (there are two 3-year old classes) so that they all had time to play with chalk, then have lemonade and snacks, and finally ride their bikes/scooters around the track. It was very managed chaos - in Spanish, no less!

Sofia was so excited to get started and each of the kids were really great at staying in order and following the kid in front of them. The teachers set up a course that included a gas station and a car wash that each kid took turns stopping and driving through the car wash. Sofia loved it! Toward the end, she wanted to stop each time she passed me to give me a hug and kiss and tell me she loved me. It was very sweet. Soon, it was time for the 4-year old class to ride their bikes, so I said goodbye to Sofia and watched them get sorted and back to class.

Sofia all set to go!


On her decorated scooter


Sofia's class all ready to go (she's on the far left)


Ms. Naire gets the class ready to start...


WEEEEEEEE....


Going through the car wash


At the end of the day


Sofia's "driver's license"

Easter Basket from Grandma and Grandpa and the Easter Bunny

On Easter morning Sofia awoke to a great surprise! The Easter Bunny had visited our house and left her a giant egg filled with goodies. Also, she was finally able to open the large box from Grandma and Grandpa! Their box arrived a few days before Easter and Sofia was beside herself to open it, but we decided to wait until Easter until she could. I finally had to hide it in the closet so she would stop asking about it!

The large Easter egg had some of Sofia's favorites: bubbles, a little bunny, stickers, Peeps, little toys and her two favorite - lip balm in a ladybug container and Easter socks! She loved it!

Finally she could open her box from Grandma and Grandpa! Inside was a huge basket filled with all sorts of goodies including a beautiful hair bow, a book, a Thomas Train coloring book (her favorite), little goodies and some candy. She was in Heaven! She played with all of her new toys (and wanted to eat the candy) before we got ready for Meeting.


The Easter Bunny was here!


Opening her egg


Showing off one of her new goodies.


Finally! Opening the box from Grandpa and Grandma!


Checking out her new goodies - with her hair bow in place!


Papa reads her new book to her....


and her Thomas Train coloring book!

Easter Day

After Sofia sifted through her Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa and the Easter bunny egg, we got ready for Meeting. We had invited two other couples with kids to come over after Meeting for lunch, mini Easter cake decorating, and an Easter egg hunt. We kept lunch relatively simple with a Honey Baked ham, homemade biscuits, glazed baby carrots, mashed potatoes, a spinach salad and a fruit salad. It was all delicious and a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends. Between us, there were five kids under 12 and a 5-month old. After our meal, the kids decorated mini Easter cakes with icing, sprinkles, and all sorts of candy. They had just as much fun decorating as they did eating them!

After their bellies were full of lunch and too many mini Easter cakes, the kids were directed to our backyard for a massive Easter egg hunt (I think there were 150 eggs total and the dads did a great job of hiding them). Every kid had an overflowing basket of plastic eggs by the time they were done searching and it was fun to watch them look around and miss obvious ones. Sofia had a blast! Last year, she needed a lot of cajoling to keep searching for additional eggs after she found her first, but this year she was in full speed as she raced from one egg to the next. It was funny to see the difference in her attitude and she had so much fun looking for eggs in every possible location. She ran all over the yard in search of her next egg!

After all the eggs (hopefully) were collected, we said goodbye to our guests after a very fun afternoon together.

Mommy, Sofia and Papa


Decorating the mini Easter cakes


Tasting the frosting....


Sofia in Easter egg hunt mode!


Look at all those eggs!!


Looking everywhere for plastic eggs


Searching low for eggs


All finished!!

Dying Easter Eggs

After our guests went home, Sofia begged to dye the 18 Easter eggs we boiled the day before. We'd suggested it while our guests were visiting, but since all the kids were wearing their nice clothes, the other Moms opted out of dying eggs. So, as soon as everyone headed home, we put an old t-shirt over Sofia's clothes and got the colors ready. We decided to move the event outside since we figured it would be a fairly messy time. Last year, she was sure to submerge each egg into every color (along with her hands) so that each looked sort of brown and took forever to finish. This year, Sofia was decidedly quick about the process and just quickly dipped each egg in one, or maybe two, colors before moving onto her next egg. She was done in no time, which was surprising....until she made it clear what she really wanted to do - Hide them! So, we pretended to hide them and I pretended to find them. I guess she enjoyed the hiding/finding much more than the actual dying in the long run. Luckily, she loves eating hard boiled eggs as a snack as we were able to go through most of what she dyed.

Getting started. I'm not sure why she wanted to wear her swim goggles, but she's been wearing them around the house like glasses lately.


A blue egg in one hand and another egg ready to dye in the other.....


Trying to use that metal egg dipper..that quickly fell by the way side and she went back to using her hands.


Pink....


Green.....


Drawing on the egg with the wax crayon


Her hands - MUCH cleaner than last year!!