Yard Work

 Leila helped me in the yard last weekend. She had a blast pretending to be Pete from Pete's Dragon while I did all the weeding! Every few minutes I had to pretend to be Nora and help Pete outsmart the Gogans. The time went quickly and soon enough our front yard was weed-free! Here are a few pictures of Leila's favorite hiding spot in our front yard.

Mother's Day

 

We spent Mother's Day at our favorite picnic spot near the water. We lounged on the blanket in the sun, ate our lunch barefoot, skipped rocks in the Sound, chased bubbles and just enjoyed the time together. There isn't a better way imaginable to spend my fourth Mother's Day!

 On our way home I made Chris pull over so I could take a picture of the majestic Mt. Rainier. Nothing beats sunny days in the wonderful Pacific Northwest when the mountain is out!!

New Additions

My Aunt Kathy won a small 1.5 fish tank at an auction and gave it to Leila. It has a purple frame and came with an Ariel, the Little Mermaid, statue. Of course Leila fell in love with it! We took a trip, as a family, to the pet store to pick out some fish. Leila chose a purplish glow fish, which she named Flower, and a neon tetra, who is known as Black Eye. We didn't even have the fish in the tank 5 min (no joke!) and Black Eye swam for the filter!! What?!?! Miraculously, he made a full recovery after I turned off the filter and shook him out of it. Leila watched the whole thing and I kept thinking, "How am I gonna explain this to her without her heart being broken?" He was stunned for 20 minutes or so and didn't move much around the tank. Luckily, Black Eye has rallied and has not tried that move again!! Here's hoping for a long, happy fish life in Leila's tank!

L and J

Leila loves her Uncle Jonny. When we visited my family in OR a few weeks ago, we just barely got to see Amanda and Uncle Jonny before he had to fly out for the day. We dropped him at the PDX airport after we enjoyed brunch in a NE Portland coffee shop. Jon and Amanda surprised us later that day when Jon got home, around 10:30 pm, and came out to Mom's house to spend the night. It was a nice surprise for Leila! When she woke up Sunday morning they were downstairs!!

Feed the Ducks, Part II

 We went to Mom's house a couple weeks ago while Chris was working on his one act play. We had a lovely time with my whole family. Saturday afternoon Grammy, Granddad, Leila and I took a walk through the park behind their library. First, we stopped in the library and got Grammy and Granddad LIBRARY CARDS! Yay! The library there is super! Leila picked out a bunch of books for the weekend.  Then we walked through the park in search of hungry ducks. We found some!

That night Leila, Mom and I cuddled up in bed to read all those library books. It was the perfect way to end a Saturday night.

Mother's Day Gift-Making

I helped Leila execute her plan for Mother's Day gifts a week ago. We started with black frames and covered them with brightly colored buttons that L picked out. She chose buttons that were rectangular, heart, arrow, square and triangular shaped. The frames turned out so cute! She then wrote "I love you!" on a small strip of black paper and we placed it on the bottom of the picture in the frame. Adorable!

Shortcake Surprise

One of the patients at my Mom's office made this hat for Leila. She has never met Leila, but knew that L loves Strawberry Shortcake! What a nice lady. It reminds me of the gifts my grand-aunt Doris used to make for me as a child. What a special gift!

MtFBWY!

Of course, my Star Wars Geeks didn't miss the chance to dress up for Star Wars Day. Happy May the Fourth! May the Force be with you!

May Day

I grew up loving May Day! Some of my favorite memories are of ringing my Grammy and Papa's doorbell and leaving flowers on the step for them to discover. My brother and I would run away giggling before they could answer the door. This year, I took a personal day on May 1st. I had a doctor appt and once that was finished, I picked L up from daycare before noon. We stopped by Safeway and picked out three bunches of tulips. We surprised Gramma and her coworker in their office. Then we headed to GG and GP's house to bring them some flowers. It made me smile and brought back a lot of memories.

Dancing Queen

Leila's first recital is quickly approaching! The girls got their costumes a week ago and go to dance with them on too. Leila's favorite part is the gloves. She couldn't have looked any cuter! I tell ya, this dance stuff is pretty crazy, but Leila is enjoying herself and that is truly what matters.

Spring Fair

What amazing weather we were blessed with for this year's Spring Fair! We met up with some friends on Sunday morning and spent some time enjoying the rides and fair food in the SUNSHINE! Leila and Sadie wanted to climb in these bubbles that allowed them to walk on the water. I thought for sure she would change her mind, but she loved it!

 Right after walking on water Leila wanted to try the Super Jump. Oh my! At the very last second she got a bit apprehensive, but once she was allowed to jump and got the feel of it, there was no stopping her.

Leila and Sadie

After the Waller Family left, we rode a few more rides and of course my elephant ear lovers shared a treat! 

Always a favorite...the Giant Slide.

 Leila chose to do the Super Jump one more time before we left for the day.

 Ready to jump!

 We came home with rosy cheeks from the glorious sunshine!