It's all good . . .

A Fabulous Father's Day

I am so blessed to have amazing men in my life, my daddy, Roy Anderson, and my husband, Kevin, who is the father of my children.  I am also blessed to have a fabulous father-in-law, Dennis, and I am grateful for each one of them.

We tried to make the day very special for Kevin, and so we made him orange scones for breakfast, and had some homemade cards and special presents for him.

At church, Arthur and the rest of the primary sang to the dads, and when Arthur got up on the podium, he said, very loudly, "I am literally on stage."  Nice.  He did then sing really well for Kevin.  After church, I made Kevin a special dinner and then we had the amazing Lemon Bar Cake I made for him.  Wow, it was good, and totally worth all the work it was to make.

After dinner and cake, we decided to play a game as a family.  Derek picked out Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, in honor of his dad, and in true Kevin fashion, he totally won.  But hey, the kids and I did a pretty awesome job - Kevin was proud of us.

Later on, I called my daddy to wish him a Happy father's day.  My dad is now 82 years old, his health is failing and he has Alzheimer's, and so although I am blessed that he still remembers me, it always breaks my heart a bit when I talk to him.  It is a strange experience watching your parents get old and seem to fade away from what they always were.  I am so blessed to have him for my daddy, and he taught me more than I could ever say.

A New Driver

Last year, when Lily turned 15, I had a panic attack thinking that I needed to worry about her getting her driver's permit.  Then I did some research and discovered that in Pennsylvania, you can't get your permit until you are 16, and the earliest you can get your license is 16 1/2.  I gave a big sigh of relief, and then waited a year.  

Because of a mix-up not realizing that she needed a physical before getting her permit, we weren't able to go on her birthday, and so on the Thursday after school got out, I took Lily to the DMV bright and early for her to get her permit.  She aced the test, missing only one questions and it only took her two minutes to finish it. Oh, Lily.  She really is amazing.

After a week of being pretty busy and waiting for a perfect opportunity for her first drive, we finally did it.  I took her to the local intermediate school, which has a giant parking lot, and since it is summer, the lot is empty.  She had a great first drive, and we have about twenty minutes down of her required driving time, only about 75 more hours and she can get her license- ha ha!  It was a good experience, but wow, I am glad we have a while before she will actually have her license.  This growing up thing is crazy - good, but crazy.

June Adventures

The summer started off really well, with golf clinics, swimming lessons, gardening, hikes and other adventures.  Although the kids started their golf clinic in May, they will get to keep going every Saturday until the end of June.  They love it, and it is so fun to see how Lily and Derek have progressed, and how hard Arthur tries. 

Sometimes Arthur makes our adventures, like when he drew an elaborate game on the driveway that led to the front door, and then we had to play it.  Luckily, he told us how to avoid the "bombs" that would make us start over. Ha ha!

My garden has been flourishing again this year, but my strawberries are really doing well.  I have been getting about two pounds of berries every other day, and although it is starting to taper off, I have taken full advantage while it lasted.

One day, I was able to make the most delicious strawberry ice cream!  Arthur said it tasted like strawberry jam, and then managed to eat almost all of it.  I had so many strawberries that day, I was not only able to make the ice cream, but a bunch of homemade freezer jam as well.  Yum!!

For our Young Women's activities lately, we have really been having the girls be in charge.  Lily wanted to have a "dance party" the week she was in charge, and so she learned a line dance to a favorite Keith Urban song, and then taught it to the girls.  They had so much so fun, that some of the other girls started teaching dances as well, and before we knew it, they had diced for the whole hour and had a blast.

One day, the boys and I were on our own, because Lily was hanging out with her best friend, Geri, and so we went to lunch.  We went to Chick-fil-A and then Walmart to look at toys - it was the perfect date for both of them.

Another fun adventure was the neighborhood party for our neighbor's son's birthday.  They had a giant outdoor party with food, a bounce house, and other fun activities.  Arthur had a blast!  And I loved getting to talk to my neighbors - we really live in the best cul-de-sac.

Derek has been picking up some extra money the past while by mowing lawns on occasion for our neighbors.  He mowed a lawn last week, and halfway through, a giant bumble bee decided to camp out on the mower.  Maybe it liked the vibration of the mower?  At first that Derek was a bit nervous about it, but then he decided it was pretty cool.  It stayed there for about thirty minutes before it finally flew away.  Good times!

We started off our "Go York" hikes right away, and we went on one with some good friends.  Unfortunately, we forgot our rubbing sheets, and so hiked the whole two miles and didn't get credit for it.  We heard we could get to the rubbing station from the other direction, and so I sent Lily and Derek to quickly go that way and get the rubbings.  Well, because of how the trail curved, I had them go the wrong direction, and didn't notice until I realized they had been gone way too long.  Well, through answered prayers and help from strangers on bicycles, we found them.  That meant we still didn't have the rubbings, and so a few days later, we went on a family hike and finally got it done.  And we went the shorter way, and did NOT get lost ;).

My strawberries aren't the only thing thriving in my yard.  My hydrangeas are looking especially gorgeous, with big giant blooms.  They have gotten even prettier since I took this picture.

But one of my very favorite things so far, are family dinners on the deck, and sitting and watching the sunset out on the deck with Kevin.  It is shaping up to be a great summer so far, and I hope it continues that way.

Hiking and Donuts

School got out on Wednesday, and so we decided to have some fun on Friday to celebrate.  We picked up Sophia and Samson Stacey, and then we went on our very first "Go York" hike of the season.  We decided to do the one at Nixon Park, and we had such a great time - the weather was perfect and the hike was beautiful.

When we got started, we searched for animals along the way.  Our favorite animals were all the turtles - especially the giant snapping turtle.

After we found the rubbing and finished the hike, we decided to play in the nature center.  The kids loved it, especially all the animals and butterflies on display.

Friday also happened to be National Donut Day, and so after the fun at Nixon Park, I took the kids to get a donut.  After we picked out our donuts, we found out that because it was National Donut Day, all our donuts were free.  So fun!  And delicious ;).  It was the perfect way to finish up our celebrate the beginning of summer break.

School's Out for Summer!

What a crazy school year it has been for all of us, but we made it through and all came out stronger, especially these amazing kids of mine.  They left this morning as a Sophomore, 7th Grader, and Kindergartener, and then came back home as a Junior, 8th grader, and a First Grader.

As Arthur headed out on the van for the last time this school year, I said goodbye and then enjoyed my final morning alone before summer break.  I may have gotten really used to having time alone each day - ha ha!  

Besides working out and taking advantage of the quiet, I also spent time on making treats and things for the kids, although it took so long, that Lily and Derek got home before I was ready.  They went ahead and fixed things up for Arthur though, and wrote a "Happy Summer" message on the driveway, and Lily even made a poster.

They were all so very excited for summer vacation!

They all also really loved the S'mores cookies that I had made for their special start of summer treat.

And our very first activity of the summer was to go to the library, sign up for the summer reading program, and check out a ton of books.  They were in heaven.

We also went home and wrote up their summer goals, our summer fun list, and then a huge list of ideas for different activities if they are looking for something to do. Good times!  It will be a great summer.

Arthur's School Adventures

Arthur has finished up the school year with so many fun adventures.  All I have to say is, It is good to be in kindergarten:).  Many of the school days had special themes, scubas "super hero day," and his old teacher, Mrs. Wettig, had sent him a special mask and cape, and it was perfect for him to wear.  He was the cutest little superhero!

Another fun end of the year activity at his school, was the Art Show.  Unfortunately, the night of the show, both Arthur and I completely forgot about it - that is until he looked at his bedroom clock and saw that it was 8pm and started crying uncontrollably.  I ran into his room (he had already been tucked in) and he reminded me about the art show, and that it ended at 8pm.  Poor Arthur!  He was so sad.  I told him that to make up for it, when I volunteered in his class that week, he and I would take a private tour of the displays, and that is what we did.  He loved finding and showing me all his art.

One of the other special days, was "camping day," where they had camping themed activities and atet s'mores.  There was also kindergarten field day, which Arthur also loved.

There was also the special "ice cream sundae day," a movie afternoon, and so many other fun things. 

 I think Arthur's favorite of the special days, was kindergarten rotations.  They even got to play in the "secret" playground in a courtyard in the middle of the school, where they got a picture of all the kids in kindergarten.

And today, on the last full day of school, it was a Fun Day for the whole school.  I volunteered to help all afternoon, first at the craft/bingo rotation, and later at the field day activities.  Arthur was super excited to have me there.

I was in charge of the beanbag toss station, and Arthur's class got to start off with me.  It was a blast!

Although I was at my station the whole time, I still managed to get some pictures of him at my favorite station, the "fencing" station, where they gave all the kids pool noodles cut in half, and then let them go at it.  They had so much fun, especially when Mrs. Krebs, their teacher, got into the fray.  They may have completely surrounded her, and it was hilarious.
Arthur being at York Township for second half of the school year may not have been what we had originally planned, but it turned out to be a fantastic thing for him, and he really grew to love it there.  He also really loved Mrs. Krebs, his classroom teacher, and Miss Alexis, his autism support teacher.  Kindergarten has been a crazy and adventurous year for Arthur, but because of all the wonderful teachers and help he has had along the way, it has been wonderful.
PS. I just had to share the funny signs Arthur put on his bedroom door: "Don't go in bad guys."  So awesome!

A Wonderful Mother's Day

I am so grateful for my role as a mother, and for my three amazing kids.  Yes, motherhood is often difficult and unheralded work, but it comes with some of the sweetest blessings in the world.  This Mother's Day was a great one, and mostly because of my little Arthur.  He was so excited to do special things for me, and wanted to make me breakfast and have special surprises.  (His older siblings, on the other hand, had to be dragged out of bed to help him - ha ha!)  Arthur came to me with a fill in the blank menu, two homemade cards, and some special Lego creations - a big heart, a little heart, and a "half robot, half person in quicksand."  Awesome!

I don't usually eat a lot for breakfast, and pretty much have a protein shake, and so I kept the breakfast order simple - a hard boiled egg, banana muffin, milk and orange juice.  It was perfect.

We had a lovely time at church, and they even handed out really good chocolates bars to all the women.  When we came home, Kevin helped me finish up dinner, and then the kids brought out my special surprise- new golf clubs!  (They didn't know that I had actually gotten to try them out a few days before when I went golfing with Kevin and his dad, but it's all good.)  They are so pretty and nice, and I love them.  And now I can give my old set to Lily, which is perfect.

After celebrating with the kids, Kevin and I took a walk to visit our friends, Ryan and Ashley, so that we could see their new baby girl, Holland Grace.  She is so crazy tiny and sweet!  

Funnily enough, holding that sweet little baby made me really happy for them, and really grateful that I am in the stage of motherhood that I am in right now - with my kids a little older, a little more independent and things, and although the stage I am in comes with its own type of problems, I am very content with it.  It is not easy being a mom, but it is definitely worth it.

I sure do love these amazing kids of mine, and I am truly lucky to be their mom.

A First Recital & a Final Recital

Yesterday was the spring piano recital for my kids, and it was a special one for two reasons.  First of all, it was Arthur's very first recital, and he was so excited for it.  The other reason was because it was Lily's final piano recital.  Lily is a gifted pianist who has been taking lessons for eleven years - ever since she was five.  Lately though, instead of progressing, she seems to have lost a bitt of her passion for piano, and so we decided too allow Arthur to take her slot with our piano teacher, and let Lily have a break.  She will still practice and play the piano, but it will be self directed.  Because of this, it was her last recital, which was very bittersweet.

Like I mentioned before, it was Arthur's very first recital.  He was so excited, and he has really been having a great time playing the piano like his brother and sister.

Not only that, but Arthur even got to play a duet with his dad - and they dressed as twins for their performance, which was the sweetest thing ever.

Here is a video of Arthur's three songs.

Derek has really been progressing in his playing, and I loved his pieces.  He did a fabulous job, and I especially loved the duet he played with his teacher.

Here is a video of his performance.  He was fantastic!

And last, but not least, Lily finished out the show - in fact, she was the final performer of the recital.  She did a fantastic job, playing two very difficult and intricate pieces.  I may have teared up a bit at the thought that it was her last recital.

Here is a video of her performance.  She was amazing!

I love seeing how much my kids grow and develop their talents, and seeing them all perform made me so happy.  It was a fantastic performance.

Misc May

May was busy, but its was good.  There were so many great moments mixed in with all the crazy that is the end of the school year.  Arthur's school had a fundraising night at Handel's Ice Cream, and so we met up there (Derek and I came from guitar, and Kevin brought Lily and Arthur).  It was so fun to spend time together, eat delicious ice cream and enjoy the gorgeous weather.

Another fun moment was when Kevin's new putter finally arrived.  He had it custom made, but since it was shipping from China right when the tariffs got putt into place, it sat in Alaska in import jail for a few days.  It was such a happy day when it finally arrived.

Another moment was when our ward had a service activity to help a family remove some overgrown areas in their yard.  I helped take out old rose bushes, weeds, and other bushes with a big group of our ward members, and we had a great time.  (Once again, it was a super busy morning, and so Kevin took the kids to guitar while I was there.)  My favorite part was working along side one of my young women, Nikki, as we took out giant bushes.

Like I mentioned before, while I was at the service project, Kevin was at the golf course with the kids for their golf clinic.  He took some pictures for me, and wow, Arthur is adorable.  And both Lily and Derek are really coming along.

One day, because we had piano lessons and Derek's choir concert in the same night, Kevin came with us to lessons so that he could take Derek to his concert.  While we waited, Kevin and I took Arthur on a walk around the neighborhood to search for different plants, especially for a Lily of the Valley.  Not only did we find some Lillies of the Valley, we also saw some friend who let Arthur see a bird's nest they found in their yard.  If you look closely in the next, you will see a stow away egg along with the blue Robin's eggs.  So crazy!

Another fun thing is out new hammock stand.  Seventeen years ago, my brother, Matthew, brought me home this super awesome hammock from Brazil, butt until now, we didn't have anything to hang it on.  And now it is the perfect place to take it easy, or just play with Arthur.

It is also the perfect place to watch the sunset on our deck.  So gorgeous!!

One day, I babysat my friend, Amber's boys, so that she could watch her daughter's school program.  While I was watching them, her youngest, Parley, decided to try on his sister's dress up shoes, and it was hilarious as he tried to walk around in them.  Good times!

 

On Memorial Day, we decided to have a BBQ with some friends.  I had been wanting to have a "welcome home" party for Kevin, butt we got so busy that it didn't happen, and I really wanted to have a party on our deck, and so its was the perfect chance to try and do both at once.  We had so much fun, that I only got one picture - of Arthur at a table with all the cute girls his age.  He he!  And after everyone left, Kevin and Derek gave Arthur some baseball lessons.

Another really fun experience came about because I was having my van detailed in Lancaster.  When I dropped the van off, my friend, Becky, gave me a ride back, but on the way, we stopped for brunch at the most delicious Creperie.  Wow!  We had a breakfast crepe and a dessert crepe, and they were both amazing.  Then, later that night, Kevin took me to pick up my van, and we found the yummiest burger place in Lancaster.  They even brought us deep fried Oreos on the house.  It was a very good food day.

Speaking of great food, I also found the perfect biscuit recipe in my Magnolia Table cookbook.  So delicious!!  That was a good day.

It is nice to have these great moments in the middle of our busy, and sometimes crazy, life.  It helps make up for the times when things are extra crazy, like the other night, when a huge storm blew through, knocked down some tortes, and took out our power for 18 hours.  Thank goodness the weather cooled off, so we could open our windows tto cool off our house.  And I had more than one friend that were willing to let me come over and take a shower at their house, since we had no hot water and our bathrooms were pitch black.  Good times.  It was a really great thing when the power came back on at 10:30am, and not at 8pm, like they were predicting.  Good times.

May has definitely been a month full of the good, the best, and the crazy, but all in all, its was good.

Family Day in NYC

Kevin is a huge New York Mets fan, but somehow along the way, Derek became a huge Detroit Tigers fan.  Well, a few months ago, Kevin saw that the Tigers were playing New York at Citi Field, and so we got tickets for the whole family to go to the game.  And since we were already going to be going to NYC, we decided to make a day of it, and what a fun day it was.

Arthur desperately wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but since we didn't quite have the time to visit it, we decided that the next best thing was to take the Staton Island Ferry.  (FYI: Parking at the ferry in Staten Island is only $12 for the whole day!!  What?!  And the ferry is free.)  It as really fun to ride the ferry, and I loved the view of New York.

And Arthur got his wish - to see the Statue of Liberty.  He loved it!!  Next time he want to go "inside" her, instead of just seeing her from a boat.

After we got off the ferry, we went straight to the subway to head uptown.  They had ridden on the subway in DC before, but they were so excited to get to ride the subway in New York.  (And we even had a few crazy guys on our trains throughout the day - good times.)

Our first stop was in Greenwich Village for food.  We went to Joe's Pizza for a slice, and the pizza was so yummy.  Kevin and I also had a good time looking at the pictures of all the famous people up on the wall.

After our pizza, we walked a few blocks over to the Doughnut Project for a treat, and wow - those were some amazing donuts!!  I got the strawberry shortcake donut, and its was delicious!

After our donuts, we caught the subway again and headed over to Central Park, and the kids, Arthur especially, got to take a break and play at the playground.  We only stayed for about 30 minutes, but it was just enough time for him to have some fun and "see" the park.

We decided to catch the train to Citi Field at Grand Central Station, which meant we got to walk a bit, and we walked the kids through Time Square.  We also walked past the New York Public Library, and we all wished that we had the time to go in and explore.  It is seriously the most beautiful building.  And then we got to Grand Central Station, which is also a spectacular building.  We were too busy trying to find the right train, and so I didn't get pictures of the inside, but its is also amazing.

From Grand Central, we hopped on a train too Citi Field, and soon we were there!  

We had great seats, and the boys loved cheering on their teams.  The funniest was the looks that Derek would get as he cheered for the Tigers.  Arthur, who adores his older brother, decided to cheer for the Tigers too, and even made a little sign to bring with him, but once we were there, he decided to support his dad as well, and so he added "Go Mets" to the other side of his sign.  What a funny guy!  Arthur also really loved it when someone hit a home run and the big apple would pop out.

And as much fun as it was to watch the game, I was maybe more excited for the food - ha ha!  This time I tried the fried cookie dough, fried cheese and pizza pockets.  So yummy, even if they weren't pretty.  We also got Shake Shack for everyone as well - so good!

Another fun thing about this particular game was that it was Star Wars day, with visits from storm troopers and Darth Vader.  Kevin even had the perfect Mets shirt for the day.

The only downside to the whole game, was that there was a cold wind blowing on us the whole time, and since we were also in the shade, we were freezing!  And then I went and drank a milkshake, which totally made me even colder - pretty funny!  We would take breaks and go up two the deck where its was sunny and warm, and then we would come back and watch the game some more.

The game was great, and Lily especially loved getting to dance, clap and chant along through it all.  Unfortunately, the game went to extra innings, and since we still had a subway ride to get us back to the ferry, and then had to take a ferry back too our car before we could drive home, we decided to leave after the tenth inning.  That meant we watched the end of the game on Kevin's phone on the subway.  Happily for Kevin, the Mets won, which was a bummer for Derek.  We all still had a fantastic time though.

And one bonus of it being later in the evening when we were heading back across the river, was that we got to pass the Statue of Liberty in the dark.  It was so beautiful and I wished I had had my real camera to take pictures of it, instead of just my phone.

It was such a family adventure, and it makes me so grateful that we live where we live, so we can do things with our family, like go to New York City for the day.