Mother's Day

I love being a mom to these 2 adorable children :)

Mother's Day was a lot easier this year than last. I did tear up a little during the talks on Sunday because I was remembering my little Abigail. I miss her.  I am so grateful for the kiddos I do have. Connor and Amelia bring me so much happiness. I love being a MOM!

My mother's Day started last Friday at Connor's school. They had a cute Mother's Spa where the kids painted their moms' nails. Connor had a great time painting mine all different colors. My toes were purple and orange- some with polka dots and other stripes. My fingers were lavender with cool splotches of red. Very artistic. They also had strawberry shortcake that the kids served the moms. So very cute.

The lovely finished product

Artsy-fartsy

This was the card Connor made for me at the Mother's Day Spa. It is more deep than I think he even realizes.

Inside of the card. I love it.

 

This was a funny sign we saw on our Mother's Day Sunday drive: watch out for parachuting cows! We hadn't seen any cows to this point. Then, right past this sign we did see one stray bull along the side of the road- a little too close to our car for my taste- but we didn't see any others.

We drove just 15 minutes to the North of where we live and came across this lovely reminder that we live really close to the border. We stopped and talked to a Border Patrol officer who was parked right next to this sign to ask if it really is an active site. He said "yeah, it's active but very slow today".

Baby shower

My friend Joi, the Queen of Baby Showers herself, is having a baby. Yes, a little intimidating to throw a shower for the expert but I wasn't alone-- there were so many willing to be up for the challenge!

Joi is having her first baby boy so the theme "All Things Boy"  seemed to fit perfectly. 

 The party was at my house but thankfully, lots of other hands joined in making the food, decorations and managing other details so I didn't have to do much. All the work that went into that night really paid off-- it turned out to be such a fun evening!! 

  

 

 

Ammon's birthday

Connor was more excited about daddy's birthday than Ammon was himself. To illustrate, before I went garage sale-ing, I had left out everything to make the cake so I could make it when I returned. When I walked in, Connor said he had already made the cake. My heart stopped- I'm sad to say my first reaction was to wonder what mess awaited me and if the cake was salvageable. It flashed in my mind that I only had one cake mix of the kind Ammon likes (spice). Thankfully "making" the cake didn't mean he had attempted to bake it, just mix it. Phew! I reviewed with him all the ingredients he put in. Connor had baked with me several times before so he pretty much knew how to measure. He's also very good at cracking eggs and he did great then too (no shells). The only thing he did was to put just as much oil in as the water (1 1/4 cups rather than just 1/4 c). Yes, it was super oily but still yummy.

Then I made homemade caramel frosting (Ammon's favorite- he greatly prefers it to the store bought). Spice cake with caramel frosting is a Larsen family favorite that reminds Ammon of the cakes his grandmother made when he was a child. Connor insisted the cake be a 3-tiered cake. I priced buying a set of the pans when I bought the cake but it wasn't worth $20 just for the pans so I attempted to cut them myself. It definitely wasn't perfect but Connor and Ammon were pleased so I was satisfied.

Ammon and I had to laugh that he received yet another watch. His watches seem to break yearly now. Also clothes, socks (I know, I'm super sentimental), a mini-suction cup basketball hoop Connor wanted to give and an electric pencil sharpener- a gift for both he and Connor. They enjoyed shooting hoops and sharpening pencils later. And a card- there's the sentimental part- always Ammon's favorite part. Words are definitely his "Love Language".

Lighting the candles on the 3-layer cake.

Connor thought Ammon looked like Lady Liberty with this stance ;)    

"Hmmm, what shall I wish for, oh flaming torch?"

Cute smoochy

Blowing out the candles "together"

Happy birthday honey!

Mother Son Event

The PTA at Connor's school put on a great Mother-Son Event last week. It was Casino-themed. I was a little wary at first but it was innocent- fun games for the kids. They served dinner then on to the games and karaoke!

Connor with a classmate, Jacob, peeking through the gate waiting to get in for dinner.

Ammon volunteered to be one of the "dealers". He had a great time getting the boys and moms involved.

Connor paying attention to the High Roller game. Ammon was running a similar table.

The Roulette table was definitely a favorite. Someone put a lot of work into this making the boards by hand.

Connor leaning in with a classmate, Parker, trying to see who would win.

Posing by a fun "Las Vegas" style sign.

What Vegas night would be complete without a special visit from the king himself- Elvis?!!

Dr Abrams, the principal, did an amazing lip-synch performance. He had great stage presence and was so hilarious!

Look at him go! Connor didn't believe it was his principal. That's the best kind of costume when no one recognizes you.

There was a photographer there taking Vegas-esque pics.

It was a happy night!