spring break!

i got the urge to go on vacation for spring break…but i didn’t want to spend any money=dilemma: the answer=vacation from home. and that is what we did. we had a super busy schedule and two super tired kids by the end of the week (plus one tired momma too). .. all for free (thanks to my family for all the memberships). love you guys!

monday: zoo

tuesday: aquarium

wednesday: suppose to be a blimp tour but it got rained out…plan B= movies

thursday: mother’s beach

friday: the huntington.

all in all a fun week. i’ll be sad to see them back in school…sort of.

happy birthday my precious one!

i found a photo when I was cleaning out the computer…it was a picture of me smiling and holding my baby maelee rose. where has the time gone? i feel that photo was taken yesterday, but at the same time it feels miles away. time goes by soooo fast. here we are three years older., three years wiser and three years closer. happy birthday to my sweet, precious, wonderful, beautiful, cherished ( i could go on all day) maelee rose. i love you!

pure delight

ok… so i know that i am liking the middle square of my pages right now…just be patient and i will branch out soon. this is the page of the week at hearts-n-crafts starting tomorrow. all the pieces will be cut and packaged just for you. all you need is your pictures. so stop in and pick it up before they are all gone.
(p.s. don't worry i'll save two for you denise)

puddle jumping

The journaling reads:
you never cease to amaze me.

the way you leap into life head first makes me excited to wake up every morning

and see what that day with you holds.

may you always find the puddles in life…and enjoy them as much as you do now.

another one of the fab new lines we have in is by sassafras lass. i think it was the parachuting monkeys that sold me on this line. the line is called bungle jungle and we have some of the embellishments too!

brotherly love

the photo is older, but the paper is brand new. i couldn’t resist the little boy and girl on the dream street papers. they are from the heartsong line. it is one of the many new lines we got in at the store.

the journaling reads:
a hug that’s a little too big…
a kiss that’s a smidge too smooched…
a hand that’s squeezed a little too hard,,,
are all signs of…
brotherly love.

roughing it?

have you ever had one of those outings where your heart is so happy and you keep telling yourself…i want to remember this forever? well i just had a whole weekend full of that. this is probably why there are so many pictures in this post. the kids were so happy! (exept for when amory scraped his knee, burned his hand and exhaustion set in, but you get the picture). when it was time for us to come home amory asked if we could stay another 20, 58 hours…which makes loads of sense to him. the other side of his argument for staying was, “i can’t go home…i’m allergic to the house.”
it’s amazing how there can be nothing but nature around and kids find a million things to do. they never run out of ideas. they are constant inventors of adventure. when i sit and watch it is even better than “desperate housewives.” and if you know how much i like that show it would give you an indication of how much i enjoy watching my children.
who would have thought that 5 of us cramming into a tent smaller than our bathroom (and made for 2 people) on a cold night could be so delightful?

top ten of the Acosta campout
top fifteen of the Acosta campout (ten just wasn’t enough)

1. seeing amory and maelee truly glow just at the thought of camping.
2. amory saying to one of his friends…”i wasn’t supposing to see you here.”
3. feeling the warmth of the campfire inside and out.

4. finding out that they had veggie burgers as well as the beef variety.
5. feeling the wind rustle the tent on the outside when we were all snuggled up on the inside.
6. being woken up by kels, thinking that there was a cat outside, only to inform her that it was just the cell phone dying.
7. unzipping the tent in the morning and seeing what the campsite looked like, having arrived in the dark.

8. cooking pancakes for everyone.
9. watching kels and maelee walk off together to play.

10. seeing amory make new friends.
11. amory’s amazement when we got to the creek.
12. watching my husband start a fire.

13. maelee driving around in the little ice cream truck selling ice-cream to everyone.
14. the boys sculpture….made out of huge branches they found… and toys.

15. not having a tv.

ok...just 1 more...us.

all in all we had unforgettable weekend. jon came back wanting to sell all of our belongings and buy nice tents for the family, sleeping bags and all the other camping stuff you need. he was ready to abandon the life we have for a life in the wilderness. although this is tempting…we came to the conclusion that it would probably not be the best idea.

can i have my ice cream now?

our day started off so well. we were on our way to the zoo. we just had to make one quick stop on the way. who knew that would be a bad idea? as maelee was climbing into her stroller she caught her fingers…somehow… in the metal bars, just as the stroller was being opened. her pain was immediate and so was the blood. we race to get her back in the car and to the ER. she screams the whole way. our hazards are on and I’m driving as fast as I can, while jon is in the back, holding the tip of the finger on. this is going to be one of those memories that is so strong and vivid forever. when you have a situation like this you can’t help but play it in your mind over and over again. i think that’s how the memory stays so clear. you are constantly trying to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense.
we arrive at the hospital with her hand still bleeding and they package it up nicely in triage for the er doctor to open it and find a shocking surprise. all i heard was “ahhhh...ohhh. i can’t fix this one….i’ll have to call a plastic surgeon”. not the thing that you really want to hear. you want to hear, “oh this is nothing i’ll have it fixed up in no time”. he also said “i can’t believe she’s not crying more”. thus indicating that it is really not good. poor little maelee rose. my little baby girl is a huge trooper. as we sit and wait jon promises the kids ice cream when we get home. little did he know we would not be going right home. they now have to schedule surgery for my little 2 ½ year old baby girl. she had already picked out the flavor of ice cream she had wanted…a pink one…like the pink ice cream on her shirt. but she would have to wait until the next day for that particular treat.
they schedule the surgery right away and before we know it, it is time to say goodnight to maelee rose. they are making her very sleepy and it’s almost as though she is not really there. her eyes are open, but she is in her own little world. the last two things she asked for, before they had us leave, were her brother roo…and she wanted to know if she could have her ice cream now.

the doctors take her off into the operating room and i am lost without her. we go and sit and wait for what feels like an eternity, playing the scenario over in our heads a few hundred times, before the doctor lets us know that he is done. he has reconstructed the bone and put her tiny little finger back together. she is still sleeping and completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary has happened. (thank goodness).

when she wakes up they come and get us and walk us to recovery. the room is dark and classical music is playing. she is the only patient in a huge room of 10 or more beds. it was so dark and the hallway seemed so long. there was just one little light above her giant bed. and there she was. my precious, delicate, strong princess. we make it to her bed and all that she wants to know is…”can I have my ice cream now?” today, she did get her pink ice cream.