Falls Lake

On Memorial Day, our family enjoyed swimming and relaxing at Falls Lake!  

Say Cheese

Hadley: "I smile, Mommy. I say cheese."

(As a side note, Hadley likes playing with my hair clip and pretending a spider is on her arm. Haha.)

 

Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from the last couple weeks.

Last week I attended Savannah's student-led conference in her classroom:

Savannah and I worked together to practice some skills, including nonfiction text features and adding 3-digit numbers, that she has been mastering during 4th quarter: 

While our family was in Myrtle Beach last weekend, Savannah and Harper got mermaid dolls as souvenirs from the Pirates Voyage show. I made the mistake of not getting a mermaid for Hadley, so Savannah and Hadley have been fighting over Savannah's mermaid doll:

I solved the problem by ordering this mermaid doll for Hadley from Amazon:

Hadley is happy to have her own mermaid doll...

and keeps saying "mine, mine, mine:"

I know it's hard to see in the photo below...but Hadley got her first two freckles on her nose while we were in the sun in Myrtle Beach last weekend:

Hadley's Finger Painting

Art by Hadley

On May 6, Savannah and Hadley made these flower pots at Home Depot and planted some flowers. Check out how much the girls' flowers have grown over the last 3 weeks. Savannah and Hadley are so excited!

This is our family's first damaged library book. This is what happened when Savannah left her school library book outside in our backyard for a couple days. It got wet and dirty. Savannah had to pay her school librarian (me) $4 from her piggy bank. 

Over the last couple weeks, we've gotten a lot of rain, and weeds took over our flower beds.Yesterday Tal and I spent four hours working in our flower beds in our front yard. I trimmed the bushes, while Tal scraped the weeds with a shovel. 

Before 

Then,Tal cut the grass, while Hadley and I went to the landscape landfill and got a truckload of mulch for $27:

Tal shoveled the mulch out of the truck... 

...while I spread it around the flower beds:


Now our yard looks neat and well-maintained!
After

While Tal and I were working outside, Hadley enjoyed playing with the hose and filling her pink pool and buckets with water:

Myrtle Beach Weekend: Part 5 (Putt-Putt)

On Saturday, May 20, after swimming in the hotel pool, we took showers and then headed to Broadway at the Beach. The 8 of us ate lunch outside at Margaritaville, where we had a beautiful view of the water, shops, and rides:

A balloon artist at the restaurant made sharks and hats out of balloons for us:

Mermaid at Margaritaville

After lunch, we play a round of putt-putt. We didn't keep score, but our family declared Grandma Barbara the winner because she got two holes in one. Tal and Benny each got a hole in one and tied for second place.

Our family enjoyed getting away from the busyness of life and spending time together and making memories in Myrtle Beach!

My 41st Birthday!

Last Thursday, May 18 was my 41st birthday!  

I've been blessed with a small group of loyal friends, including Emily, Amanda, Sarah, and Peggie, who have been important parts of my life for the last 10-25 years. All of them, as well as my mom and Tal's mom, sent me birthday cards that made my day extra special:

Unfortunately, my birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse didn't happen last Thursday. On our way to dinner, Tal and I discovered that our Expedition had a flat tire:

Instead of eating steak and birthday cake, I watched Tal change my flat tire (Thanks, Tal!) and then waited at the car dealership while the hole in my tire got patched. We didn't get home until 8:30 PM.

While Tal changed my tire, Savannah and Hadley did cartwheels and played with water in our front yard:

This evening (one week after my birthday) our family finally celebrated my birthday at Texas Roadhouse. The food was delicious, and I enjoyed not having to cook or clean-up dinner tonight.  My birthday dinner was worth the wait!

Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from the last couple weeks.

Last Christmas, Uncle Benny and Aunt EJ gave Hadley a box filled with Disney princess costumes. Hadley loved dressing up as Cinderella and wearing a necklace, bracelet, and clip-on earrings:

One night last week, Hadley wasn't in her bed when I checked on her before I went to bed. Thankfully, Tal and I found Hadley in Savannah's bed. In fact, Hadley crawled into Savannah's bed three nights last week:

On my birthday, my school teammates surprised me with some yummy chocolate and vanilla cupcakes:

Savannah and I shared the cupcakes while I ate lunch with her in the cafeteria on my birthday:

Eight months ago, we discovered that Hadley is allergic is shrimp. Last week Tal and Savannah ate honey garlic shrimp for dinner. Hadley didn't eat any of the shrimp, but she had an allergic reaction and threw up repeatedly after she put Savannah's fork in her mouth.

While we were in Myrtle Beach last weekend, Tal and Benny went to the Blackberry Smoke concert at the House of Blues on Saturday, May 20. Grandma Barbara, EJ, and I made it a girls night and took Savannah, Harper, and Hadley to the mall. We had the best time riding battery-operated stuffed animals around the mall for 15 minutes.

Savannah on the panda

EJ and Harper on the rabbit

Grandma Barbara and Hadley on the cow

Savannah and I are enjoying the Netflix series Anne with an E. I grew up reading the Anne of Green Gables series and watching the movie starring Megan Follows as Anne. I think Savannah resembles Anne with her reddish hair, freckles, and fair skin: