Princess Tea

 Last weekend, the girls and I got fancy for the 5th Annual Princess Tea.

Sweet mother/daughter time with my big girls!

 Some of the royal cast from this year.

 Elizabeth played the newest princess, Moana and sang a fun solo in the performance.

 The girls enjoyed seeing their friends, Shane (Prince Eric) and his sister, Olivia.

Martin danced a beautiful waltz.

 We sat with Karen and Ellie.

 They're looking so lovely and grown!

 Cupcakes galore!

 Sister-sister time! My girls love these sisters, Ava and Olivia.

Melissa and I joked that we were on the verge of being fairy godmothers. 😄 

The Princess Tea is the annual fundraising event for the Refuge Pregnancy Center. The girls and I love supporting them each year. The tea is a fun time of entertainment, charity auction, brunch, and fellowship with other moms and daughters. This year, the girls didn't want to dress up in any "princess like" attire but more like a "tea." They also said "no thank you" to wearing the sparkly tiara that was given to them when we arrived. Nor did they want any autographs from the princesses. 

Umm, can you say... GROWING UP? I think that's exactly what you would call it.

Nevertheless, they had the best time and loved seeing all of their friends.

Plus, they got to spend some fun time with me that didn't involve ANY kind of school work! Ha!

So, what did they boys do while we were gone?

They went to the Patriot Ride in our community. The Patriot Ride For Our Heroes is a bike ride benefitting charities that support the military, police and fire departments. Zach got to see (and ride inside) all of his favorite vehicles. Even though he was too young to participate in the actual ride, he had a blast playing around on the obstacles...

A great day was had by all!

Birthday Blessings

Last Sunday, it was my birthday!

My girlfriends and I met at Shield's and Karen brought these fresh cut roses from her garden.

 Melissa & Jill.

Janette & Karen.

When you're at Shield's celebrating something, STUFFED DATES are mandatory!

I had the Curry Chicken Salad with papaya and rhubarb vinaigrette. Yum!

I was showered with the sweetest gifts.

Then we all had a bite of the dessert the restaurant brought out to share.

It was nice but it did NOT in any way compare to the special dessert Jill made for us!

OH MY STARS!!

I waited until I got home to share this with the family but look how beautiful and festive it is!

Love these sweet girlfriends of mine!

(Missed my Hailey, though)

I love anything pumpkin spice so this cake was definitely one of my all time favorites!

We split it 5 ways in our house.

 And wouldn't you know? My "take it or leave it" when it comes to sweets kid ate the majority of it! No joke! He had like 10 bites and he kept asking for more!

Apparently, he knows his cake. He's a huge fan of Ms. Jill's cakes and who could blame him?

They're the BEST!!

Two years ago, my girlfriends and I started celebrating our birthdays by getting together for Sunday lunch. It was a good time for all of us, being that it was after church and our husbands would be home with the kids. Needless to say, this tradition is something we all look forward to as our birthdays come along. We began at Shield's with my birthday two years ago and it just felt right to be back. The outdoor seating with music this time of year is such a special treat!

Having one dear friend in life is a blessing in itself but to have this precious group of ladies by my side is a gift from God that I do not take for granted. Godly friendship is a sweet and refreshing gift to the soul and these ladies are just a few of the many reasons why I'm an incredibly blessed woman.

My day was lovely. I truly appreciated all the cards, gifts, texts, and emails that I received. 

Year number 46 was a good one. I can't wait to see what 47 holds!

Sweet SIXTEEN

We celebrated our 16th anniversary at one of our favorite local resorts, Desert Springs JW Marriott.

Zach met Cowboy, the parrot.

 Of course, he wanted to grab him. 😆

 The girls were waiting in line for the boat ride.

Here we go!

 It was a beautiful warm afternoon in the 90's!

My boys. 💕

 Zach could hardly contain himself.

There were Black Swans around the property. Or as Zach calls them, "Turkeys." 😄

My BFF. #allthehearteyes 😍😍

 Another shot of the lobby.

 Dinner at Shogun.

 With live entertainment!

 Smoke from the "train."

 He kept saying, "More please!"

 Love this little family of mine.

 Such a fun night of celebrating!

Can't get enough of these three cuties!!

We thought about having a romantic date night but then again, having the kids join us sounded like fun, too! Over the years, Desert Springs has always been the place where we come to relax, celebrate, or just make fun and special memories. The boat ride doesn't get better for free entertainment and our restaurant choice afterwards just seemed like a festive and fun treat for our whole family.

It was the perfect way to celebrate our sweet SIXTEENTH!

Afterwards, we came home and watched our wedding video. Oh, my! How fast 16 years have flown by! When I think back to all that God has done and blessed us with, I am just overwhelmed with gratitude and praise.

Our marriage has definitely been the greatest turning point in both of our lives.

Only God can redeem a life and turn two selfish sinners (who were pretty much living for themselves) into pursuing a life long ministry together, living for Him.

I'm so thankful to be on this grace-filled journey with my best friend, partner, and MVP.

Happy 16th Anniversary, babe!!

I love you more than my heart could ever express.

Life Lately

Well, hello there!

Fall is officially here and that means life has been pretty busy lately.

Here's a peek into what we've been up to the last couple of weeks...

Last week, we saw the movie, Mully. Talk about INSPIRING!!

This is a story that will stay with me for a long, long time. Check out the official movie trailer.

We used the movie as an opportunity to have a date night with the girls.

Morgan took Grace out to sushi one night.

While Faith and I went to Panera and thoroughly enjoyed our Autumn Squash Soup before we hit the movie the next night.

I couldn't resist the colorful carrots at TJ's. It put me in the mind to make one of our favorite fall/winter meals.

And speaking of TJ's... Pumpkin Spice Scones with Maple Icing for the win! #hellosaturday

The girls and I had fun at a women's event at church where we planted organic herbs.

Zach's been enjoying all his preschool crafts. D is for dots!

Cute boy alert!

He also loves these alphabet puzzles that help him with fine motor skills and phonics, too! #targetdollarspot

Made a double batch of our favorite energy ball recipe. So much goodness right here!

In fact, I'm snacking on one right now. 😛  

The only thing I do differently from her recipe is add chopped pecans.

These are the days. 😍

He'll never be this little again and even though it's lots of work, I know I'll miss it one day!

Gettin' his glue stick on.

 D is for Dinosaur!

Look what I found on Instastories! So fun! Ha!

I sent these to Morgan throughout the day to give him a good laugh. 😂

The cutest puppy I ever did see!

💘💘💘

My kittens. 😻😻

5:30 am boot camp. Done! 👊

Did my first one last week and this week, I'm headed back for more pain. 😊

It's not as intense as it sounds. It's a group of moms who get together and go at their own pace.

I loved it!  

After taking a summer break (because of the heat), my girl, Melissa and I have resumed our monthly hikes.  

 A sunrise hike is ALWAYS a good way to start the weekend.

Speaking of weekends, pancakes are pretty much my kids' love language.

Monkeying around.

Just because it's fall, it's definitely cooler but not exactly cool, yet...

 He absolutely loves to swim!

 See what I mean? We had a warm weekend!

Yes, please! #givemeallthesquash

We're back at it again! Vacation, Family Science Camp, and just getting back into a new school schedule threw us off a bit so I put potty training on the back burner. Now that things have settled in a bit, we're trying again. #Lordhelpme 

Reading books about going potty, on the potty. 😄

Boy warrior.

 Protecting the women... in his underwear. 😂

 Moving on to Letter E!

E is for his favorite... Elephant!

 Morgan took his 88 year old aunt to the skate park to watch Zach one night and she said,
"I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!" 😄

 The girls have been busy enjoying their Junior Speech and Debate Club this year.

This week, we celebrated Jeffrey and Ava's birthdays.  

Counting my blessings, today and everyday. These three are my GREATEST joy and privilege!

And that's a little look at life around here lately.

It's definitely not summer anymore but I can't complain...

Life is FULL and so is my heart! 💕