Teacher Appreciation Dinner

about two years ago, i felt God nudging me to host some of my fellow homeschool moms monthly in my home.

there is a group of about 15 women from our church who homeschool. we try to get together every month to do field trips.  the field trips are fun but as moms we never had time to connect during the field trips. there is the hi how are you? as someone chases after a toddler or answers a question from their school aged child.  there wasn't time for us to have time to really talk. time to vent if needed, ask questions, and get encouragement and support.

i knew when i felt that nudging that this was something we all needed.

i will admit that some months it's a bit crazy getting ready for our get togethers but it is always worth it. these ladies are all so dear to me.  i gain so much wisdom and encouragement from all of them.

this year for our last get together i wanted to do something a little more special, so i hosted a mini themed dinner.  it just so happened that our dinner fell during teacher appreciation week :o)

it was the end of the school year and kind of crazy so i really didn't do much for decorating but added a few touches to spruce up my kitchen.

 i had some extra green and navy fabric. i cut big sections of the fabric and sewed then together for a table runner. i didn't even hem the fabric.  i picked up a green table cloth at target and added some flowers from costco.

 with the same fabric, i made a quick bunting to hang over our patio doors.

 i used what fabric remnants i had to tie onto mason jars for their drinks. i went through our straw stash and found any green/navy looking straws.

for our main course food, i decided to go with a mexican theme since it was shortly after cinco day mayo.

 i made fruity white sangria to drink. 

it was so yummy!

 i made a fruit salsa

 with cinnamon and sugar chips

 taco bites

 {i normally top with cheese, sour cream, salsa but since we were having so many different mexican themed foods and i had toppings out for the other foods i let everyone top their own taco bites}

 southwest chicken bites

{i tweaked the recipe just a bit to fit our families tastes}

 pork chalupa's for mini chalupas

i had the usual array of toppings: lettuce, tomato, olives, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, refried beans

for our desserts i wanted to carry over our mini theme. 

so we had a variety of mini desserts:

top: mini cupcakes made by morgan

middle: mini chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches

bottom: sugar cookies as the base for mini fruit pizzas

the "frosting" and toppings for mini fruit pizzas

i am so thankful to have a group of women to gather with each month and travel on this journey of parenting and homeschooling with them.

it was so fun to treat them to this fun mini party.

Insta Joys: Photo Dump Edition

i can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post.

the last few weeks of school were crazy.

this was our first week of summer break 

it didn't feel like break

i am waiting for it to feel like a break

this weekend is supposed to be rainy and chilly

perfect for napping, reading, and movie watching

just be warned there are a TON of photos

  the circus came to town
my two littles have never been to a circus
we got some free kid tickets so we decided to go one night
the kids LOVED it
we got to the circus early so the two big kids went on an elephant ride
it's a racket but a month later they are still talking about it

 i've been waiting since i finished divergent at christmas time to read insurgent
i spent almost my entire day the day it came out reading
insurgent did not disappoint
it was as good as divergent
i finished and was ready to read it again
i was also dying to talk to someone about it
thankfully alissa finished shortly after i did so we could have a little text fest about the book

 the aftermath of spending a day reading
a mountain of laundry to fold
totally worth it!

 i walked into the garage the other day and found landon on top of our garage door
seriously? who does this stuff?
this boy makes me crazy
its a good thing he is so cute and has a tender heart

 i may have done a happy dance when i saw these walls going up
we've been hearing about and waiting for a new gym for morgan's gymnastics team for YEARS
it has been a long process
many ups and downs
a ton of extra driving, especially over the last two years
the light is at the end of the tunnel
the new gym is underway and should be open by the end of the summer

 a biscoff butter smoothie
it was yummy!
a little sweet for breakfast but a definite snack option
thanks amy for the heads up!

halfway through the baseball season, landon's league went from a pitching machine to coach pitch
landon's been pitching
he's doing great but i am a basket case
it stresses me out
thankfully he is as cool as a cucumber

awana's awards night....
little miss will be moving up to sparks next year

 and the little man will be in TNT

 stylin' in daddies glasses

we've been having some nice days this spring
our front yard is sunny and warm in the afternoon
perfect for a spring game night outside

landon loves to create all manner of super hero costumes
this was his version of captain america
it's also how he procrastinates doing school
i guess using your imagination counts as school... drama, right??

 we arrived at dance one night to find mauryn's costume had arrived
she was so excited
especially about the maracas

 my friend tania introduced me to these mio drops for my water
i love water
i drink almost a gallon every day but sometimes i need a little flavor
these drops are perfect
zero calories
and yummy!

this is my favorite

i just add some sonic ice {love}, water, and a few mio drops for an afternoon treat.

 my mother's day indulgence: chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream
my absolute favorite dessert hands down
yummy!

 i have been trying to get back on the running wagon... again.
i have been consistently running 2-3 days a week for about 6 weeks
it's still not easy
i am still not loving it
but every few runs i can usually say i've had a good run
that's progress

 on my last longer run i picked up some goat heads
i clicked my way home on the sidewalk
these little things are nasty
they are the cause of many flat tires in our household

 twice a year scholastic holds a warehouse sale in our area
it makes me giddy
i love books and this is a book lovers dream

 a few weeks ago i heard on the radio that our outlet mall got a gymboree outlet
i couldn't believe it
our outlets leave a lot to be desired in terms of shopping
i came home and used my friend google to find out if it was true
it was true
i couldn't wait to go and check it out

 after a full afternoon at the book fair, gymboree outlet, getting landon to baseball, and dance pictures
someone needed a little snack
even though it was windy and cold mauryn sat out on her blanket eating her ice cream while we waited for morgan to get done with gymnastics
this girl loves her ice cream!

 mauryn had a little field trip on saturday for her wednesday night class at church
we took a half mile hike at the wild life refuge by our house
as we started off we spotted an osprey nesting
good morning osprey!

 it was a beautiful day for our hike...
it was sunny and warm
my little hiker was all decked out in her accessories
every hiker needs a matching necklace and bracelet :o)

 i had a little date night with landon last weekend
we went to see the avengers
he loved it!

 we took our first trip of the season to the water park
it was sunny and warm but not too hot
the water park was not crowded
it was perfect!
i rarely ever wear sunglasses
they bother me more than help me
sitting by the wave pool or watching mauryn in the kiddie area i have learned i need to wear some sun glasses or have lots of little wrinkles on the corner of my eyes from squinting

 i have been wanting a little clutch purse
when i saw alissa's new clutches i knew i needed one
it is so cute!
i can't wait to use it!

 when i went to check on the kids the other night after they went to bed this is how i found landon
it cracked me up
asleep in his under*wear but with his baseball socks on

lunch seems to be my nemesis
it might be that there are few things all my kids like for lunch
it might be that i feel like a short order cook at lunch time
lunch time makes me a little crazy
in the summer we tend to do more "snacky" lunches
their favorite way to have lunch is in a muffin tin
we kicked off summer break with muffin tin lunches
it's amazing to me how much more they seem to eat out of a muffin tin than if it was on a plate
i have a feeling we will be doing many muffin tin lunches over the summer

yesterday felt like a LONG day
after taking morgan to gym and running some errands, a stop at sonic happy hour was needed
it seems like everyone else had the same idea
sonic was one busy place yesterday

how was your week?
are you ready for summer??

linking up with jeannett over at life rearranged for insta friday

Insta Joys

happy monday!

we had a full weekend and we are in the home stretch to the end of the school year.

only 3 week of school left until summer break!

i put together the last lesson plans for the year 

it feels great to see the light at the end of the tunnel

just a little warning... this is a big photo dump from my phone over the last few months

just a little glimpse of our life this spring

landon and our neighbor amiah celebrated their birthdays with dinner at texas roadhouse

they were excited to for the waiters and waitresses to sing to them

while i get my gray covered, my kiddos chill in the kiddie area, eat snacks, and watch a movie

they pretty much take over the area

stretch out and get comfy

they love it!

i've been eyeing these chairs from pier 1 ever since i saw one in my friends house

i totally fell in love with them

when i saw them on clearance i snagged them for our front room which has been an empty space for far too long

i know this will be a new favorite spot for me to read and enjoy the afternoon sunshine

morgan and i put together these goodie bags for her team at their state meet

i had marta make the little buckets

we threw in some candy, a headband, and a magnet that we made from these cut outs

i love how the goodie bags turned out!

we took a field trip to one of lance's clients dairy

as we were touring the nursery we found a calf that had just been born

welcome to the world baby calf!

this little girl LOVES ice cream

i think she would eat it every single day

this is how she likes to roll with her ice cream

straight from the container

i was watching the video for the esther bible study i am working through

mauryn wanted to watch it with me

she got out her bible, pencil, and made herself a booklet to take notes

so cute!

draw something... new game addiction in this house

i can NOT draw

i feel for my friends i am playing against

but

its so much fun!

to help my draw something game playing, i used my blow money to buy a stylus

i am pretty convinced it helps... or at least i tell myself it helps :o)

mauryn always wants to help in the kitchen

she knows there will be spoons, spatulas, beaters, and bowls to lick

this is serious business

she is not going to miss anything left in the bowl

somewhere in this mess of kids in mauryn

for weeks she had talking about the bucket of eggs hanging over the pool at our rec center

she wanted to go do the egg hunt at the pool

we got there early and it was crowded

as the time for the egg hunt approached it got even more crowded

it was total chaos

when they dumped the eggs i could feel a little panic rise as kids were scrambling everywhere to get eggs as they feel into the pool

mauryn popped out with her bag full of eggs

she loved every minute of the chaos

me, not so much

on easter eve we finally sat down to decorate eggs

this year i tried kool aid colored eggs i saw on pinterest

the colors were bright and it smelled great!

there were some colors that worked better than others but it was fun to try something new

baseball season is in full swing

after a long, very trying day with my 5 year old drama queen

i treated myself to a hot fudge sundae

i did make it with frozen yogurt so it was semi healthy, right?

the spy party activities continue

landon was working on creating messages in secret code for morgan

we went to breakfast on our last morning of spring break

we headed to our local airport so we could watch the airplanes and have plane cakes

thank you sonic!

the only reason to smile after tax day.

landon has been rollerblading every day

he loves cruising around on our path

mauryn inherited a pair of skates from some friends

she loves them and tries very hard to keep up with her brother

my morning drink line up:

hot tea to warm up {mint medley most often... yum!}

smoothie for breakfast

water to rehydrate after a workout

the kids wanted to make a fort the other day

i was in project mode and it was raining outside so i let my OCD slide and let them build

they ended up moving and turning the couches upside down

they loved it!

they got really creative and used the hole in the couch as a bunk bed for the babies

we have had a friend of ours staying with us while she does an internship with lance's practice

we decided to drive up into the mountains a bit to show her other parts of idaho

we went to a little town we have never been to before but is only about 1 1/2 hours from here

as we were walking through town we came upon two horses tied up, with riffles on them, in the designated horse parking area

not something you see everyday

the day we were in the mountains it was warm

we got the kids ice cream before we headed for home

mauryn finished her ice cream and then helped landon finish his off too

i told you this girl LOVES ice cream

amy had posted about cookie butter from trader joe's

it looked so yummy!

we don't have a trader joe's

amy mentioned i might be able to find it at world market

our world market did not have cookie butter but we had biscoff spread which is cookie butters twin sister

the first jar didn't even last a week

my kids would eat it out of the jar with a spoon

its so yummy!

last week, i found it in my grocery store. i was so excited!

my plan this week is to try it in a smoothie.

can't wait!

the sunshine was calling my boys name last week

he still wasn't finished with his school work so he convinced me that he could focus outside in the empty pool sitting on a lawn chair

he did pretty well!

 mauryn's bear came along with us while we ran errands

the center console became its car seat

it was perfect!

 over spring break i took my littles to see mirror mirror {it was pretty cute}

on our way out of the theater mauryn wanted to sit in the red queen chair in the lobby

it was a perfect fit for my drama queen

we had two thunderstorms last week

that is unheard of in april

we get rain but rarely ever thunder and lightning

it was a rare treat

how was your week?

linking up with jeannett for insta friday