Mother's Day Garden

Even though some claim it's too early, we have a tradition of putting in the garden on Mother's Day. Only rain will stop us!

This year, Jeff added a second raised bed, so we were able to plant zucchini, cucumbers, corn, beans, carrots, and radishes with our tomatoes and herbs. We have high hopes to try growing potatoes in these plastic potato bags!

Here's to a tasty summer!

Babies Who Brunch

Gracie's 3rd Birthday party was a big success! We managed to book the Tyson rec center, which meant we had a classroom and the indoor play area all to ourselves! The kids had such a good time, I'm hoping one of the baby girlfriends has a party there too.

We let the kids have free reign over the playroom, and enjoyed watching what they came up with. Bayley & Hayden both went to preschool there, so it was quite cute seeing them revisit old favorites. Bayley has always liked the giant building blocks, and promptly built Grace a house, then a cage...and finally...a coffin! Kids!



Grace in the house, Hayden in the cage





Steven in the coffin (with Ava, Brennan & Isabel)



Grace was more interested in the slide and rocking toys than anything else. She did take a moment to try her hand at basketball...before she dropped the ball and gave it a swift kick, soccer style!

Instead of having the other kids watch as Grace opened her deluge of gifts, we tried to do it one at a time with the gift giver. It worked for the most part. I think it was less overwhelming for Grace that way, and it gave her time to explore each new present instead of having it spirited away.



Mikaylin, Gracie Mae, Sarah Jane 



Since it was a morning party, we side-stepped the usual cake in favor of muffin mania. And I went crazy with the variety - carrot, pumpkin chocolate chip, chocolate, chocolate raspberry, blueberry, banana, corn, blackberry corn...and now our house is poised for muffin week! 

Uncle Gabe is in town!

Gabe, Joni, Daniel, Jenna, Matt

Uncle Gabe flew in from DC to spend Mother's Day with Gram-Mo. We all wanted to get together to sample some of the chicken he's been winning BBQ contests with, so planned on having the extended family over for dinner on Friday. It seemed like such a simple plan.

Until Uncle Gabe wound up spending the night in Chicago...and being rerouted through Phoenix. Still, he managed to show up just 12 hours behind schedule.

Hayden loved the stuffed cheeseburgers

I had a marathon day prepping for Grace's birthday party (9 kinds of mini muffins for babies who brunch!). After baking, I finally took a break for a shower, then came downstairs to start cleaning.

And found...a swamp under the sink! I salvaged what I could and tossed it in the utility sink for draining and mopped up the mess. Then...I tried to figure out why there was a leak...and since I don't know a thing about plumbing besides it makes one heck of a mess when it breaks...

Natalie was excited Bayley would read to her

I had to call off the family dinner. I mean, I hadn't made the mac & cheese or cake truffles...plus, you can't have people over when you don't have a sink! But then...who shoudl fly to my rescue? Jeff the plumber.



Hayden got to feed Natalie



I know, he looks like an accountant. But he managed to get the sink working in a half hour. And dinner was on! I hope everyone had a fun time visiting. And I really hope everything is much smoother for the birthday party tomorrow! 

Aw, how cute

Backyard Shenanigans

Few things are better than sunshine and a backyard playset :)

 

Pancakes

Grace woke up this morning and wanted pancakes. She would not be appeased with anything else - not cereal, waffles, toast, eggs....PANCAKES.

She didn't just want to eat them, she wanted to make them.

Grace takes her pancakes with butter and jam

God bless whomever invented Bisquik!

Camporee!

Bayley shooting a BB gun at water balloons

Bayley's Cub Scout group finds the funnest things to do. Last weekend was Camporee, an event hosted by the boy scout troops where the boys get to experience the best activities from the camps in the area. As soon as Bayley came home, I asked what his favorite part was. He said everything (I learned this was what ALL his Webelo friends said). But, when pressed, he said playing tug of war while standing on a tree stump.



Some of the activities require special equipment (rifles, tomahawks, harpooning whales) but most things celebrate imagination - like having the boys build boats out of natural materials (Bayley's was balsa wood, string, and tree sap) and use everyday things to play games.



The "boat" with its "cargo" (flour)



Tug of war on a tree stump







And the weather? Goregous. What a great day to be a little boy.



The harpooner

The whale

Zoo!

With Mom locked in the writers cave she calls and office, Dad & Bayley hanging out in the woods for Camporee, GramMo and Pop Pop decided the smallest Burke's needed some fun too.

Off they went to the zoo with their tour guide, Hayden. Grace was content to ride in the stroller until...the elephants. Apparently our dinosaur loving princess thinks elephants are "too big"!

Orange Juice Pop!

Thanks so much Blues Clues!! Grace was watching the show and they were showing how to make orange juice pops. So she had to have one NOW NOW NOW.

Not exactly the way it works sweet cheeks.

So, Pop Pop gave her some juice (mmm, delicious) and put a cup and plastic spoon in the freezer.

She got her juice pop today, and loved it...for a half hour! Which I guess makes the effort worth it.

Easter Dinner

When we arrived at Grandma's, the boys wanted to find their Easter buckets and get to egg hunting...Grace wanted to see her horses. Now. So, while Daddy ran her up to the barn for a quick visit, the boys scouted out where things were hidden.

As soon as Grace was in the door, they raced through the house collecting eggs. There was a moment of panic when no one knew where the tall one's bucket was, but Daddy saved the day as usual. 

Grace loved all the candy - especially Pez - while the boys counted up their egg loot. Hayden was thrilled to finally have enough to buy his Pokemon DS game...and Bayley? is saving up for a NEW Pokemon DS game. 

This Pokemon craze ends at some point, right? 

Easter Brunch

After our lazy morning, we all got dressed and headed to the McCauley Easter brunch. It's great to get to catch up on where everyone is - Jeff's cousins are globetrotters...one is in France, another is headed to Switzerland... This year marked the end of an era. Jeff's youngest cousin turned 13, and until now he's always been up for playing with the boys. It's sad  that he's moved so far beyond Legos, but it was bound to happen. 

Grace wasn't quite herself...which was probably due to the jellybeans and chocolate she kept eating...cute table decor, made for not so cute toddler behavior.

My laugh of the morning was when my boys plopped themselves at the grown-ups table. Anything to keep away from their sister. And when Kelsey's birthday cake came out? Hayden had to move closer to the cake!