Mother's Day 2015

I know that I am really behind on my posts.  I am trying to live each day and soak in the moments.  So many things are happening at once in our house. There is little time to blog about it all.  But I do want to have this.  This summer I am printing my blog to memory books for our family.

Mother's Day was extra special this year because my mom was here with us.  She flew in from PA for Kate's first holy communion and we were so lucky that it was also Mother's Day weekend.  Since I don't really fly and my Mom doesn't enjoy it either, we do not get to see each other that often.  She usually visits each Spring.

It was a GREAT weekend.  She really enjoyed some good time with us all.  Friday night was Will's prom so she got to see that.  Saturday was Kate's communion and brunch and a friend's party.  On Mother's Day we went to Mass at Will ( and now Harry's) high school.  We really enjoyed Mass there.

We took this right outside of Mass with the phone....

After Mass, we went out to brunch.  

We have been going to this place for the past several years and we all really enjoy it.

While we have a few minutes to wait for our reservation, we always take a few photos outside at the hotel.  These are often my favorite photos of the year.








I love this one of three generations of us...






I asked someone who was sitting on the patio to take these.  He did a GREAT job.




Bruch was fabulous.  Teenage boys definitely eat their fill at a lovely buffet brunch.  Harry ate his weight in crab legs and desserts.  I guess that is how he is growing so much.

After brunch, we took Mimi (my Mom) fishing.  Dave, Will, Harry and Kate are really into kayaking and fishing these days.  So, Mimi wanted to go fishing. There wasn't time to go to Galveston so we took her to a little inner city pond the kids like to go for short bits of time.

Harry caught a nice bass.






I think everyone caught a fish.
 I looked back and apparently we went to a pond fishing last year on Mother's Day too.
BTW~ we release these fish back into the pond.


Dave gave me an external disk drive for my computer that I really wanted.  The boys tried to get my favorite bundt cake but they were out/closed so they gave me an amazon card (which I LOVE) and sweet Kate made me this exploding memory box.




 When you open the lid, pages open up.  Kate put some favorite photos in there and I can add more.

It was such a thoughtful gift made with love.






I will treasure it and the memories of this day for a very long time.  I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day.

We also had a lovely Memorial Day weekend.
We are very grateful to the men and women who serve our country and fight for our freedom.

This week is Harry's 8th grade graduation and the last week of school!

Mother's Day-just getting to it.

We had such a lovely Mother's Day this year.  It is our tradition to go out to a big brunch.  I will admit the tradition began in a very desperate/somewhat-selfish kind of way.  On my first Mothers Day, Will was in that very challenging one year old stage where he was not good in restaurants.  He was in that "let me throw everything on the floor and see how many times these crazy first time parents will pick it up" stage.  Most kids go through that phase. Luckily it did not last long.  But around Mother's Day that year, I was really missing eating out.  I missed long Sunday morning breakfasts.  So, when Dave asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day....I told him I wanted to get a baby sitter in the morning and have a long leisurely champagne brunch just the two of us. I needed a few hours "off" to just relax with my husband and not pick up food.  (Will was a VERY active little guy!) And then after brunch, we spent the afternoon with Will as a family.  So, that started our Mother's Day brunch tradition.  I think we only went that one time as a couple.  Because after that first rookie experience, we learned how to get our kids "restaurant ready" much quicker.

Anyway, my boys often say that they're favorite family tradition is Mother's Day brunch.  We all get dressed up (they even enjoy that!) and being teenage boys...they love the opportunity to eat as much really good food as they possibly can in a few hours. And boy do they eat!

I am 100% certain that they do NOT love the tradition of taking a million photos hoping to get one that I like where everyone is looking and smiling. But they oblige because well it is Mother's Day.

So, here are the one million photos we took:)

It's always nice to get a picture of just the two of us.. that doesn't happen often:)

(photo creds to Harry)

Then of course I need to get Dave with the kids...

How cute is Harry in that bow tie?!

Then I hopped in with the peanuts...

Then once we get to the brunch locale, I usually request a few more photos (just in case the ones on our porch did not come out good enough;)  I was secretly hoping that maybe we'd get one I could use for Christmas cards this year (I am not kidding!)

I know this is way too many photos.  But it is not often we are all dressed up and the family cooperates/indulges me so I take it when I can get it (Mother's Day and Christmas Card time!)

I took a few photos at brunch but not many.  They always have a craft spot where kids can make sand art or a candle.  Kate made a candle this year...




Then Harry and Kate got cotton candy.  They are such good buddies.  Seriously, I never would have guessed that they'd be the best of friends but they are.  Harry is going to be an awesome Dad.  He is awesome with young kids.







After brunch, we went home and got changed and the kids wanted to go fishing.  They are obsessed with fishing these days.  So, what's a Mom to do?  We went fishing in a little urban pond.

All Iphone Photos for fishing.

P.S.  The kids got me a great seersucker visor for our upcoming beach vacation too.  I was really wanting/needing a new one.  They also brought me coffee and lovely cards in bed.  It was a fabulous day spent with the people I love so much.

Thank you to my mom for teaching me the values and morals that I pass along to my children and for always being there for us.  And even though she is in heaven, I am so grateful to Dave's Mom as she raised an incredible man.

Kate's Recital and the rest of Mother's Day

I hope I did not sound ungrateful in my last post.  I am thrilled that Kate dances and I love her recitals.  Mother's Day happened to be at the very end of about the most jam-packed 8 days in a row I've ever had!  I needed a Lord's day of rest.  And eventually I will get one;)

The kids gave me some sweet cards and homemade gifts on Mother's Day morning. Kate made me some cards and pictures and mother's day coupons.  Harry and Kate made me this for my desk....

Well, Harry made it but it was Kate's idea!  They are a good team.  It is a small twig and they burned Mom  and the ❤ into it with the sun and a magnifying glass!

And Will bought me the most thoughtful card.  He usually gets me a funny card but this year he told me that when he read this one, it said everything he felt about me.  I will always cherish it as it was a very adult sentiment about realizing how much a Mom does for their son to help them find their way in life.  This has been a challenging year and Will and I have become very close.


Some of these photos and video are from the dress rehearsal and some are from the actual performance. It is much easier to capture the dress rehearsal but I love to have some images of the performance too.

Kate was a little bit nervous for the dress rehearsal. The ballet teacher asked Kate to lead her class onto stage with a front walkover.  Their act was the acrobats (circus theme) and she was going to do a front walkover and cartwheel by herself on stage to open the dance.  They then changed it to a back walkover and cartwheel. Kate was a little afraid to be on stage alone for that part and a little afraid she would slip in her ballet slippers as she usually does gymnastics in bare feet.  BUT, it went so well in dress rehearsal that she was not nervous at all yesterday.

I just love to watch her dance because she glows up there on stage.  She might forget a step here or there but she looks SO happy and so graceful to me:)

Here she is doing her walkover.

Here are videos of the dress rehearsal and recital.  Even though they are not the best quality, I am so glad I have these. I was too "busy" in 2011 to upload the video right away of Kate's recital and now I think I lost them on my computer:(



720p from Kim S on Vimeo.





1080p from Kim S on Vimeo.




Kate starts out in the second row on the very end.



I know it is only my Mom and a couple close friends who want to see them but really I put them here so I can find them;)



After the show, we gave her some roses...

I love my tiny dancer.  This was Kate's 5th ballet recital!  Below is a picture of her first day of ballet.



January 2009
2.5 years old

On another note, I am going to be much more consistent in my blogging.  Three Peanuts is really important to me.  It is my life journal.  It is important to me because this is a record of the most important thing I do in life (after loving God)....love my family.  I love looking back and remembering all these special moments and I know one day this will be priceless to my children.

Mother's Day 2013

Oh my...it has been such a week/month!  This has been the busiest week of the year for me.  We had so many big things going on that I cannot even begin to list them all.

I know I have been neglecting the blog when Dave AND Will tell me that I need to update it.   They were never big fans of me blogging in the first place and now they tease me that I don't update enough!
Dave even said that he is sick of checking in to see what our family is up to and seeing that "Stretched" post.  He thinks that no one even checks in anymore! So, I felt a little pressure from my boys to get a new post up;)

I have posts on Kate's early birthday party, dance recital and the Father-Daughter Dance that I am working on but I wanted to post about Mother's Day first (I can do it the quickest!)

Mother's Day was very nice but a little stressful too.  We had to rush out to our annual family brunch early because Kate's ballet recital was early this afternoon.  We did our usual family pictures....

We were even lucky enough to fnd someone to take one of all of us together!

 My children LOVE the huge brunch that we go to each year for Mother's Day.  We are all foodies and they love to eat.  Kate enjoyed crepes.  And Will and Harry tried KANGAROO!  I enjoyed a mimosa!!

I love this shot of Dave reviewing with Kate which utensils are used at which time in the meal.

Harry made my day with a compliment. At brunch, they gave ALL the Moms a beautiful rose as they seated the table.  However, they did not give one to me.  I mentioned it to the hostess (it might have been the mimosa talking!) and she said, "Well, sometimes it's hard to tell."  I was not sure what she meant by that but my sweet Harry said, "Mom, she thought you looked too young to be the Mom!" I don't think that is the case but I will take the compliment from my sweet boy anyway!


After brunch, we rushed home to get Kate's hair in a bun, put on her make-up and costume and run out to her recital.

She did a GREAT job.  I love watching Kate dance so much but I am not a fan of having the recital on Mother's Day.  Dave does not understand why I feel that way.  But I like to just relax with my family on Mother's Day.  I want one day off and this felt stressful and rushed.  I explained to him that I take Kate to dance class all year but this is the only "game of the season." I was nervous for her.

Anyway, I hope future recitals are not on Mother's Day.

After the recital, we did relax for a few hours and then we went to my favorite "hole in the wall" Italian restaurant for a quick dinner.  I had not eaten gluten in over a month until this weekend.  I did have some tonight in my favorite manicotti in the whole world and it was heavenly.

I feel so blessed everyday to be a Mom to Will, Harry and Kate.  They are amazing kids. I am honored to be their Mom. They tell me often how much they appreciate me.  Will has even told Dave and I on many occasions that he plans to parent like us and he thanks us for not spoiling him.  How blessed are we?!  Thank you God for blessing me with this beautiful family.  I do not take one second for granted. (hope that isn't too mushy...but I do feel so blessed)

I also want to thank my Mom for always being there for me, for teaching me strong values and for all the sacrifices you made for us.   You gave me a foundation of faith. You are a great Mom and I love you. Dave's Mom is in heaven but I want to thank her for raising such an amazing, loving and generous man. I loved Dave's Mom very much too.

Hope you all had a beautiful Mother's Day!

I will be back with birthday party pics next.

A "Perfect" Mother's Day

It is so funny how motherhood has softened my edges over the years.  When Will was a baby I was so ...shall we say uptight  Type A.  I had him on such a schedule.  My house was immaculate.  I truly was a suffering perfectionist.   I could not bear it if we lost a puzzle piece!! Well, as Harry and especially Kate came along, I have had to let things go.  I slowly realized that the most perfect moments of life are in the imperfect.  Most of the time, the out of focus photos are my favorite (Murphy's Law).  Life might not be as scheduled nor as neat and pretty but it sure is good!  And my Mother's Day was perfect!  My little family made me feel very appreciated and that is the very best gift of all.

Harry was at a sleep over and Will is a teenager so he slept in (see... years ago it might have bothered that the boys weren't around in the morning but not now ).  So, Kate was so cute.  She came in our room and woke up Dave whispering (loudly), "Daddy, get up.  It's Mother's Day!"  They went downstairs to make the coffee while I slept a bit more.  When they heard me wake up, they brought me coffee and fruit in bed.  Katie Ru climbed in bed with me and we had such a special time.  Last week she had brought home some things from school and she very stealthily got them past me and into a hiding place in her room.

I was overwhelmed with Kate's card. She wrote it completely by herself.

It says:

Der mom (Dear Mom)

I love you

You are my sunchin (sunshine)

I love you veumch (very much)

frm  (from) Kate

I LOVE that she wrote "you are my sunshine!"  I sung that song to her every single day when she was a baby when I would give her her morning bottle.  She has never said that to me before but it melted my heart.

She also made me this beautiful picture.  I love it!

{those butterflies, ladybugs ant, caterpillar and worm are her fingerprints.  It reminds me of the flower pot Harry made me in kindergarten out of his fingerprints (cannot believe that was 5 years ago!)}

We all got cleaned up and headed out to a nice hotel for a big brunch.  Our children LOVE these huge buffet brunches.  They love trying some new foods.  They ate sushi, crab legs, caviar, crepes, veal and other things they don't usually eat.  One of my favorite parts of the brunch was our server.  He made such a point to tell Dave and I how impressed he was with our kids.  He actually sat down and asked me for parenting tips because he could not believe how delightful the peanuts were.  As a Mom, that was pretty nice to hear on Mother's Day!


Brunch was really great.  They had everything you could imagine to eat.  Harry and Kate made sand art and enjoyed some freshly spun cotton candy:)

The boys gave me a card at brunch.  They picked it out together and it was so perfectly them....

Will WOULD totally get me the funny card and Harry would get the serious one.  I LOVED their card. What I love best was Dave sent them on their bikes to the store and they picked out such a great one!

They also orderd me something for the house that I wanted from Jayson Home and Gardens.

After brunch....we were all so tired and so full!  We all ate a TON!  We sat outside for a few photos but we did not even really have the energy to walk around this year.

After brunch, Dave and I went to the Southern Living Showcase Home in our town.  It was really beautiful and we enjoyed getting out on such a gorgeous day.  Then we lazed around the house until Dave made some delicious shrimp for dinner.  After dinner, we took a little bike ride.  It really was a perfect day.

I feel so incredibly blessed!

I hope all of you had your "perfect" Mother's Day too.  I want to thank my Mom for teaching me many of the things I pass onto my children.  One thing my Mom worked hard to instill in us was a sense of honesty and I see myself emphasizing that with our children.  So many other Moms have inspired me over the years.  I have learned so much from my "Mommy friends" about faith and patience and health and letting go.  I thank all of you who have been a good example for me.

You might all think I am a HUGE dork (and I kinda am) for taking photos of the little homemade things and cards but I love looking back year to year and seeing what the kids did from year to year. I do save these treasures too but the blog posts put it all in context for me:)

On another note, someone asked about the spots on Kate's face.... Kate gets eczema and it gets so bad that she loses some pigment in her face. We see a dermatologist and the eczema is gone but the lack of pigment remains and you can see it when she gets tan sometimes.  It will eventually go away.  I could probably fix it in photoshop but it is Kate and I think she beautiful just the way she is:)