'round here.....

...we've been excited for spring. Last week the kids were home for spring break and I don't think that I could have planned it to be any better than it was. The weather here was to say the least...perfect. I think that helped to put an ease in our step throughout the week. The days just seemed lighter and easier. I was mostly looking forward to lazy mornings, unscheduled days and a break from the norm. The week ended up being so much more than that. We bathed in the sun during our picnic with bare toes pointing skyward on Tuesday, got our fingers dirty and found worms and bugs while gardening on Thursday, laughed until we cried at the movies on Friday with sister and her boys, ate dinners and lunches at favorite restaurants and so much more in between. Just so that I don't paint the wrong picture of a week without any imperfections...we also had scraped knees, fights between brothers, fights between brothers and sister, complete meltdowns and a catastrophic disappearance of Landon's Game boy DS (it was finally recovered in the bottom of my very busy magazine basket of all places on Saturday). Nonetheless, it was a well balanced week in our home.


The above are the planters that the kids and I found on one of our 17 trips to Target last week. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. Target has become my second home...my safe place. We bought two of the pink planters so that they would flank the entry to our front door. I love the hot pink gardenia. They are the first thing you see when you look at our home. So spring!

While Morgan spent the afternoon with one of her friends swimming, the boys and I did some work in the planters in front of our home. We cleaned the areas and added some new plants...I can't think of any other way to feel so content and at peace then to work in the earth with my kids. Too heavy? Heavy, but true. Mikey will be 13 this summer and I keep hearing this little voice inside of my head telling me to take advantage of every opportunity I have to keep him close. To keep him engaged in conversation and to not let moments go to waste. I know he has a very short time left at home before high school and then college. I don't want to live with regrets when he is ready to be on his own.

We also stopped by Trader Joes to bring some spring into our home. The best way for me to do that would be with hydrangea. My absolute favorite. I text Mr C while standing in line ready to buy my 9 bunches of flowers and told him, " I needed flowers for my spirit." He text back..."I bet they're pretty, sweetie." I must love the man who does not make me feel bad for spending what I do on floral.

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This below might be my favorite part of spring break. Our new bikes. We had been shopping for a beach cruiser for Morgan's birthday for what seemed like forever. Her birthday was a little over a month ago. I am not kidding when I report that we walked into and out of about 12 bike shops across town and then poured over the bike sites online. Everything was coming up at $300 and over. For me, I love my daughter very much, but could not justify dropping that kind of coin on a bike for a 10 year old. I just know how rough my children are on things. After some hard work by Mr C...we finally came up with a good lead. After a phone call followed by a drive into Phoenix, we found the perfect bike with the matching perfect price tag, well within our budget.

So perfect in fact, that Mr C and I bought bikes for ourselves as well.

Let me tell you.....I had not been on a bike since I was about 10 or so. I tell you this because I had forgotten about the magic of bike riding. The wind in your hair and pedal under foot magic. The permanent smiles on the faces of the little beings that I made magic. It truly for me, was the best part of spring break.

The kids and I made a routine of running errands or having fun time early in the morning and the then would come home for lunch. After lunch, I would start a load of laundry and then meet the kids in the garage to load up for our afternoon ride. I let the kids take turns leading...I kept telling them over and over again to watch for cars...slow down...hurry up...where to next....it was awesome. Speaking of awesome...do you see how pretty my new cruiser is? She is white with pink flowers. The hand stitched grip covers might be my favorite part. I haven't named her. Yet.

I've been cruising in my blinged out Havaianas. Flip flop season is officially here for us.

After long bike rides in the 80+ degrees that we have had...you have to cool down with an ice cream cone. A chocolaty drippy cone to be exact. My children have gone through exactly 3 cartons of ice cream in the last 2 weeks. I take mine with sprinkles on top.

The kids were back to school today and the house was too quiet. Walking around, I found little reminders of the past week throughout the house. Like when our fluffly white cat, Milo, walked in from outside with a coat of hot pink sidewalk chalk covering his body. Apparently, he decided to roll in the exact spot that Landon colored and entire square in the pinkest chalk you have ever seen. I have no idea how to get it off of the cat! Any ideas?


So this spring break has really gotten me anxious for summer break. We have just 2 short months of school left and you better believe that we are making a paper chain this week to start counting down those days. Now mind you...I there is a good chance that the previous statement will be retracted more than once during the next two months when the kids start fighting and whining. Just keeping honest here.

H A P P Y S P R I N G!!