Make Over Mom

The week leading to Mother's Day I was given an official invitation from Grafton inviting me to his school for a little makeover.

It started it out with him making me a necklace and putting a crown on my head.

Next, he painted my nails.

Then it was time for makeup.

I was so thankful he took extra care in making sure my lipstick, blush and eyeshadow looked nice.... Some of the mom's ended up looking pretty funny!

During the makeover Grafton also put lotion on my feet & legs and tied my hair back (but the hair ties fell out pretty quickly). After the makeover portion of the morning we sat down at a pretty table and had Sprite, grapes, strawberries and sugar cookies.

We ended the morning with the kids singing some special songs to us. Whenever the song said "you", Grafton would turn to me and point.

As we left we were given a bookmark with our child's picture and a poem as well as a sheet where our child answered questions about us.

Here's what Grafton's sheet about me said...

My Mom's name is: Kareena

I like it when my Mom gets me dressed

My Mom can do many things! I think she's best at... doing laundry

My Mom is as pretty as a... flower

My Mom is smart! She even knows... everything

I'd like to tell my Mom... I want Legos for my birthday

Even though the school day was over we didn't want our Grafton-Mommy time to end, so we stopped by my Mom's work for a few minutes, went to lunch, and ran into a store looking for some Mother's Day gifts.

I love the wonderful memories we made!

Spring Things

In mid-April our church held its annual Women's Conference. This kept me VERY busy for a few months (which is a big cause for my lack of blogging) as I helped to coordinate it. This year I also had the special privilege to speak during our opening service. I spoke on 2nd Kings 4:1-7 about the widow with the jars of oil.

I didn't take any pictures all weekend, but you can view a video of the event by clicking here.

The following weekend was Easter. We attended 1st service and then participated in our church's egg hunt. Afterwards we went to my mom's house for a delicious lunch and we even "attempted" to swim. However, the water was way too cold for this desert girl.

A few days later Grafton's school had its last-field trip of the school year. We went to the park to play, sing songs, make castles out of sand play-dough and get wet at the splash pad.

Somehow Grafton got a hold of my camera on the way and took this adorable picture of Deklan...

The boys loved making their sand castles!

They, however, were not a fan of the water and did not participate in the splash pad. As a result, we spent more time on the playground and then went to Costco to have lunch and do some shopping.

On the last day of April we went to a friend's house for a Spring Lunch in which 7 families attended. We ate BBQ food at a beautifully decorated table and then headed outside so the kids could play with the chicken and goats.

It was a great way to end the month!

Annual Girl's Trip

This year for the annual girl's trip that I take each spring with with Vince's mom and sisters we went somewhere I had never been before.... Naples, Florida! That may have been my first trip there, but I certainly hope it won't be my last. I loved, loved, loved Naples and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a getaway.

We stayed at the gorgeous Ritz Carlton and received first-class treatment. It was such a nice break from reality. This is so not my regular day-to-day life!

After spending the morning on the beach we would spend the remainder of day/evening shopping, shopping, shopping and then some more shopping!

One of my favorite parts of our trip was the food. We stayed on the club-level at our hotel so there was a room where we could get food at any time during the day.

On our last day we grabbed lunch at the airport and then headed home.

I couldn't be too sad our little vacation had ended when this was what greeted me when we arrived back home...

March Highlights

March was a busy and exciting month in our family. Here's a few of the things that we did...

I had a few errands to run around the mall, so my grandparents met the boys and I there for lunch. After we ate we took the kids to Barnes & Noble where my Nanny bought Grafton a children's book on the human body. My Pappa also spent some time with Grafton looking through some other scientific books.... I just treasure the picture below!

We went on a class field trip with Grafton's school. The highlight of our day was when we ran into a peacock proudly displaying his feathers.

At the komodo dragon exhibit we stopped for a class picture. Grafton would not pose, so Deklan took his place. He's in the middle with the dark blue shirt.

Grafton prefers to pose for the camera in smaller settings.

On a beautiful Spring day we loaded up the kids' bikes and headed to my sister's house for a picnic at a park in her neighborhood. We had so much fun we ended up staying at my sister's house for dinner too and didn't leave until bedtime!

The biggest event in March was that I turned 30! A few close friends celebrated my birthday by throwing me an intimate birthday party that was an English Tea theme and decorated with purple tulips (boy do they know me well!). They gave me the best gift ever... A scrapbook where each one of them wrote me a letter and included a picture of me with them. This was truly priceless! They also gave me a Visa Gift card to use for food when Vince & I went on the little getaway we won at a marriage conference we attended.

My real birthday was spent going on a date with my hubby! We ate dinner at Carrabas and then had dessert at Krispy Kreme. It wasn't until later that night I found out you get free donuts from Krispy Kreme on your birthday.

A few days after my birthday my mother-in-law and sister-in-law threw me a family birthday party. It was done up so cute with a yellow and pink Hawaiian theme. We grilled hamburgers and hot-dogs and ate all kinds of yummy fruit, chips, pasta salad and cupcakes.

The day after all my birthday celebrating Vince's sister and her family from MN came to visit for a week. On one of the mornings we went and had breakfast overlooking a lake and then spent some time walking around.

During their visit a few of us went to the mall and Deklan was able to ride the train with two of his cousins. It was a lot of fun until the ride was over and then I literally carried him out of the mall kicking and screaming.

We also celebrated my father-in-law's birthday which is exactly a week after mine. Here's 5 of the 6 cousins together after our dinner.

March of 2011 was definitely a great month around here!

Lizard Friend

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a playdate with a few friends and while walking them out the door I noticed a very large lizard at the top of our outside entry way (he was about 12 feet above the ground). Being the animal/bug/reptile enthusiast that Grafton is, I had to try and catch it for him.

I stood on a ladder and gently ushered him down with the end of a broom. Then, we used a butterfly net to capture him once he was on the ground.

I knew I had to try to get him, but never expected this would actually work!

So, we had a pet lizard for about two days.

He was six inches from head to tail and was actually very calm and sweet (if you can consider a lizard sweet). Grafton held him constantly and even took him to my mom's house with him when my step-dad watched the boys for a few hours.

We found him on a Friday afternoon and released him on Sunday morning before church.

Grafton was a really good sport about letting him go and I was impressed with myself that I handled all of this so well!

Christmas in Hawaii

This past Christmas we went on the ultimate vacation by taking a family trip to Hawaii!

We left early in the morning on December 23rd and had a direct flight. The kids were very well behaved and time went by pretty quickly.

We had so much luggage between the 11 of us, that we all rode in one vehicle while a separate one carried our bags.

Some of the evenings when we'd return to our room after dinner, a treat would be left for us. My favorite one was all of the fruit and cookies that were left they first evening we were there.

On Christmas Eve we spent a wonderful day at the beach. Grafton liked it (although he wasn't a big fan of the sand) but Deklan loved it! He's like me and could stay all day.

During a few of the afternoons we'd stop and get a drink poolside.... This ended up being one of my favorite pictures from our trip!

On the evening of Christmas Eve we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant and then came back to our room so the kids could have a little gift exchange.

Christmas Day we went to breakfast and then took a bus into the city where we went shopping. That evening we ordered room service and relaxed in our room.

On the 26th we woke up to pouring rain! We went to breakfast and then headed to the mall. Once we got back the sun was shining and so I headed to the pool where I ordered a Chicken Cesar salad, read my book, and spent a couple of glorious hours by myself!

One of the most "touristy" things we did was visit the Pineapple Plantation. It was another wet day, but thankfully the train was still running..... We were able to see how pineapple grow as well as many other beautiful plants and flowers that are native to Hawaii.

On December 28th Vince and Grafton (along with some more of the family) went to Pearl Harbor. I stayed behind with Deklan, my in-laws, sister-in-law and niece. We went to breakfast and then I took Deklan and my niece to the beach for a few hours.

That evening we attended a Luau. Because of the wet weather the two days before, it ended up being inside of a ballroom and was not quite the experience we wanted.

The next day was our last full day in Hawaii. We spent our time swimming that morning and having lunch poolside, and then we grabbed Starbucks, walked around, and finished our shopping that afternoon.

December 30th was the day we left for home. Our flight wasn't until later in the afternoon, so we were able to still enjoy a little bit of that day... One thing we had to do is say goodbye to the penguins, flamingos, birds and fish that were on the property.

Grafton grabbed one last souvenir as we were waiting for our ride to the airport...... A Hawaiian Roach!!!!! We put it in an empty pill bottle and it lived until the next day.

Goodbye Hawaii!