Mother's Day

It just doesn't get any sweeter than this Mother's Day song.  Tessa sang this during her school program but I wanted a version with just her precious little voice.  Daddy was off camera cueing her, but she wanted to do it all by herself.    

We took it easy that morning and slept in.  We never seem to do that anymore, so it was a special treat for me.  Ryan and Tessa even made me pancakes.   

Our Mother's Day tradition is to go to the Westin downtown for lunch.  

They do a beautiful buffet and make fabulous Bloody Marys.  The fact that none of us have to cook is a present all on it's own.

 

I love my daughter, my mother and my grandmother so very much.  As Nanny is rapidly approaching ninety we are seeing many changes in her.  My mom is amazing, sometimes taking care of both Tessa and Nanny at the same time.  We joke that the women in our family live forever, but it may not be as long as we think.  I'm grateful we were all together for this Mother's Day.  

 

My sweet baby tells me she's not a baby anymore, she's a kid.  She's right, but I tell her she will always be my baby and I will always love her.  This beautiful child made me a momma and that is what I always wanted to be.

  

Mother's Day Program

On Friday Tessa's class had a special Mother's Day program and it was precious.  Hanging on the wall outside her classroom was this portrait of me.  How fun to see yourself through your child's eyes, especially since she says I am happy and sweet!  The statement that I like to write letters surprised me.  But, as Ryan pointed out, if you count e-mail, blogging and Facebook in addition to the real cards I send, then I do "write" a lot of letters.       

Tessa made me a jeweled crown and cut out a paper corsage for me.  As a side note, she has wanted me to wear the crown all weekend.  When it kept falling off my big head, I told her I needed to pin it on.  She rummaged around in the drawer and found a chip clip, which I dutifully used.  It worked surprisingly well to hold on my crown, she's so smart.

The kids had been working on special songs for the moms.  I knew my child couldn't wait to perform because I had been getting previews all week.

Tessa, Gamma and I sing this song together a lot so it was extra special to see her sing it with her class.

After the singing, Mrs. Vaughan read a story and then we had cookies and lemonade.  Tessa made this hand print place mat and beaded picture as my gift.    

Mrs. Vaughan had interviewed each child and listed the things they said about their moms.  The list really made me laugh.  Tessa thinks I am 5 years old, that my favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse, and that my favorite restaurant is McDonald's.  She also says I cook the best steak.  One poor mom was listed as 80 years old, glad that wasn't me!  But the part that melted my heart is that she told her teacher that I always say "I love you!"  Sniff, sniff, I do love her so very much.

Berry Patch

Have I mentioned that Tessa loves strawberries?  And here in South Carolina, it's berry pickin' time again.

This farm is great, it's close to our house and cheap.  If you bring your own bucket it's even cheaper.  And since my child can eat her own weight in strawberries, this matters.  It's even ok to eat as you pick, which you can see we do.

This year Ryan went with us.  He is an awesome strawberry picker, he filled our buckets in no time.  I didn't have to do a thing except take pictures and watch my two loves enjoying themselves.      

Ryan would hunt and search to find the prettiest berries for Tessa.  She is convinced her daddy picks the best ones.  They would blow the dirt off and eat them right there.  These are the moments I don't want to forget.

Gamma's Birthday

Gamma's birthday week was full of fun.  First we had cake, and more importantly icing.  Tessa wanted to decorate the cake with the Chipettes, but we opted to have them on the side. 

On Gamma's real birthday, we headed to Dupont State Forest to see waterfalls.  I could say we hiked, but really it was more of a leisurely stroll over the river and through the woods.  The weather was gorgeous, cool and sunny just like my mom likes it. 

Posing by the first waterfall, Triple Falls. 

Thanks to a fellow hiker, we have a group shot.   

This trail is great because you can climb down to the riverbed for an up close view of the falls. 

Then we moseyed on down the trail to High Falls.  Seriously, we weren't going anywhere fast with Tessa stopping to look at something or dig in the dirt every five seconds.  But we were in no hurry and she was happy.  On the return trip, we had to laugh every time we spotted her "tracks" where those little fingers had scooped up sandy soil.

After admiring the falls from here, we took the trail down to the base of the falls.  Tessa entertained herself by throwing sticks in the water and watching the current carry them away.  Seeing her precariously balanced on rocks and then bending over the water's edge gave my heart a big jolt.  She was so intent on grabbing sticks that I was afraid she would topple right into the water and be swept away.  So, we moved to safer rocks where she took her shoes off and dangled her little painted toes in the freezing water.   

This is such a sweet picture with Gampa.

Tessa is saying "Hooray for Birthday!"

She sure does love her Gamma.

Yep, we live in a beautiful area. 

After our trip it was home for chocolate pie and champagne.  The next day, for the birthday finale, we all went out to eat.  Happy Birthday!

Easter

Easter is such a glorious holiday.  We marvel at the magnitude of God's gift of grace, his Son sent to die on the cross so that we may be forgiven of our sins and redeemed.  Amazing Grace!  While riding in the car the other day, Tessa randomly announced "I have Jesus in my heart, I love Him."  The faith of a child is a beautiful thing to behold.  

We snapped a few pictures before heading to church bright and early Easter morning. 

After church we snapped a few more pictures with our friends.  

The three amigos made a break for the playground but I did manage to get a few good pictures.

 

And, for once, we mommas got to be in the picture instead of behind the camera.  We didn't plan to color coordinate, it just happened.

After church we went to my parent's house for lunch, egg hunting and presents.  In her Easter basket, Tessa got a variety of Ariel swim stuff.  And, to be cute, the Easter eggs were filled with goldfish.

We all watched Tessa hunt eggs around G&G's yard.  These eggs were much more exciting because they were filled with chocolate, lollipops, toys and Squinkies. 

Yes, we now have a million Squinkies plus the carriage/gumball machine.  And you can see from the huge smile that Tessa thinks this is the best gift ever.  Happy Easter!

 

Easter Pictures

 

 

Egg Hunts

The week before Easter was full of fun parties and egg hunts.  Our SS teachers hosted a cook-out at their house after church.  They have a big backyard and a swing set, the perfect place for all of our munchkins to run around and collect eggs.  I am amused at the different way kids pick up eggs.  Some race for as many as they can find, some wander aimlessly, and some sweetly share their eggs with the babies.  Tessa likes to examine and open each egg she finds, she's very patient and methodical.  I think the kids had the most fun playing by the side of the pool.  The weather was warm and beautiful and several of them wanted to swim.  It's not that warm yet!  So they settled for sticking their feet in the water and floating their empty eggs.  We were so sure someone would accidentally fall in the pool, but amazingly that didn't happen.

After I spent hours on these cookies, I just had to take a picture.  This was supposed to be a fun project for me and Tessa to do together the day before the party because she loves to cook.  Note to self, do not try to learn something new while also cooking with your four year old.  Making and rolling the cookies went great, Tessa is just precious with a rolling pin in her hand.  Making the Royal Icing also went well because she is fascinated with my stand mixer.  Then came the food dye and my stress level went up a few notches.  Icing went into pastry bags and squirt bottles and by now my kitchen is a disaster.  We iced one blue cookie together.  Before it had a chance to dry, said blue cookie was fumbled, smeared on Tessa's shirt and then landed icing side down on the floor.  At this point I realized that perhaps I should finish these myself after she goes to bed.  Tessa loved the finished product and the cookies were a hit at the party, so I will consider this a successful first attempt at "Flood Icing."

We also had an egg hunt at my friend's house while the kids were on spring break.  The kids dyed Easter eggs, we ate super cute snacks, and played outside.  Everyone was having such a good time that we ordered pizza and stayed for lunch.  

 

 

The day of Tessa's school party I had to work.  But, G&G were able to go to her party which Tessa just loved.  The kids made bunny ears and bunny bags and then hunted eggs in the classroom.  She is so cute in her ears!  One night over spring break Tessa asked what we were doing the next day.  I told her there was no school so we could sleep late (wishful thinking on my part) and snuggle.  She started to cry and said "but I LIKE school!"  I love that she is that excited about school, it means she is happy there and that makes me happy.    

Springtime

To my absolute pleasure, spring came early this year.  Our cherry tree was covered in gorgeous blooms so I decided to do a photo shoot.  Tessa wasn't sure she liked being hoisted up into the tree, but she was a good sport anyways.    

We have been making the most of the beautiful weather with lots of outside playtime.  Tessa loves to play at "her park," as in the swing set in the backyard.  

And wow does she like to swing high.  I told her that when I was a little girl we had a big tree next to our swing set and I would always try to touch the leaves with my toes.  She now does the same thing.  We must have taken twenty pictures of this pose, she thought it was extra funny to say cheese while upside down.   

And then, just for fun we took pictures in front of the azaleas.  Such a pretty girl.