The end of spring was lovely here in Washington. The weather starts getting nicer and we spend more time outdoors. Brent took the remaining few weeks of family leave before our baby girl turned one. So we got in lots of family time, some projects around the house, and wrapping up the end of the school year. Here are some of the highlights.
Bunk beds are hard to keep tidy. I am always so nervous I am going to break a bed when I climb up to make the bed or change the sheets. So let's just say it doesn't happen very often! Anyways, I went a little extra one day and tucked in everybody's blankets. It looked so nice and so photos were necessary.
Our oldest was asking for a basketball hoop so Brent made one with an old bike tire we had. He is so resourceful! Our son spent many days after counting how many shots he could make!
We spent a lot of time this spring and summer working on the yard. We had to pull out a few dead trees. And I worked on getting the yard clear of stuff so that we could create cozy areas around the garden.
Brent spray painted our bench that we have had forever. And I collected all our large pots and picked new places for them around the yard.
I got in a fancy dessert night out with two friends who were pregnant and were days away from welcoming their babies. I am so grateful for these friends who have been so supportive to me during my pregnancy and newborn seasons. It is a joy to now give them the same grace and support. It can often feel isolating when you have a baby and aren't able to get out as much. It means a lot to find friends who I can walk along with in these seasons.
A sweet Mother's Day with my four babies. I was just weeks away from going into labor last year.
I finally realized I could stack my steamer pots on top of each other. Before I was using two separate pots of water to steam! How silly of me. This is my go to for pot stickers and dumplings.
Our rhododendrons were reaching for the sky!
Loved all these everyday moments with Brent home.
And one of Brent's family leave tasks was to teach our daughter to ride her bike! Success! She took to it quickly and we are so proud!
She has also become the little flower designer just like her grandma. I love that she is learning and watching how I arrange flowers.
A random Sunday we went to run an errand and found a place to eat lunch by the water. What a fun find! Even running errands can lead to happy memories. I am still in awe and amazement with how beautiful Washington is.
Flags came out for memorial day through the 4th of July. I minimize everything else to make room for sunshine and the start of summer.
My Mother's Day plants out on display in the yard.
A collection of shells from our trip to the beach.
I love these jelly bracelets that I got that are a dupe of the pricey high end ones. They are plastic so you can wear them in the water, they don't make noise, and the babies love to play with them! They have been my go to summer accessory.
More yard progress...new plants in front of the green house. I have been taking pictures of the tags that come on the plants and uploading them to Pinterest so I can refer to them later.
I continue to try to make time to work on my powersheets, journal, and enjoy my favorite Trader Joe's mousse cakes during nap time! Journaling these days consists of writing down memories with my kids and cute things they say, jotting down moments of gratefulness, or an encouraging quote. It isn't anything fancy but it helps me refocus when my days seem to just run into each other.
Our new porch swing has been a fun place to sit while the kids play.
We are hoping to build a big outdoor dining table for this back patio so I have been working on clearing out the storage we had here. Brent power washed all the moss in between the bricks and it looks so much better!
Another task was to also move the storage we had on this back porch elsewhere. We got this fire rack (48 inch size) that I have been dreaming about for years. Back when we lived in California there was a home in our neighborhood that had one of these that I loved. All these years later, I still think about that house. It brought me a lot of joy to be able to find the space for it and now we have some practical and beautiful firewood storage come winter.
We had a handful of large cement planters the previous owners left around the yard. We moved most of them down to our patio areas and I filled them with transplanted ferns. It feels a little southern or french coutryside to me and I really love how they turned out.
Another silly dream of mine was to receive an Edible Arrangement. I remember when I worked in an office, someone would occasionally get one and share it with the office staff. It felt like such a luxury! Brent was out of town for work and he sent me one while he was gone. It was the best gift! The kids loved it and I had a yummy treat to enjoy after all the littles were in bed. A dream come true! haha
Added our baby girl to my little collection of photos. I love my little gang!
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