Have you ever been kissed by a hummingbird?

What an amazing summer we have had thus far.  We have been busy living, and loving life.  I need to take a moment to catch up on all that has happened over the last few weeks, but am taking just taking some time to share a special moment from today.  Makayla, Liam, and I were spending some time by the pool with my dear friend Diane when a hummingbird came into view.  We were all so excited when..

...it landed on our fence.

....it perched itself on Makayla's finger.

....it climbed onto her hand.

....it kissed her on the cheek!

.....it frolicked in her hair.

We were saddened when it appeared to fly away...

BUT it returned for more attention...and some apple juice,

We were mesmerized by its beauty, and watched it for over an hour.  Makayla has such a sweet and gentle spirit, and a way with animals.  They are drawn to her, but this was certainly a first!  I know this is an experience that she won't soon forget, and I am thankful that I got to experience it with her!

Spring is here..and it "sprung" a while ago...I'm just behind!

Over a month ago I celebrated my spring break at home, and cherished sweet time with my precious family.  Mom and I spent time at the park and the lavender farm with the kids, while the week was filled with Easter activities.  We colored eggs, went on egg hunts, painted paper eggs, participated in egg cracking contests, ate chocolate eggs, and celebrated our Savior's resurrection.  What a special time.  I love watching the children grow and change right before my eyes...I just wish they'd slow down a bit

 

Frozen yogurt at Sweet Bee

Coloring eggs

Glow in the dark egg hunt

What a beautiful night for an egg hunt!  Look at that moon!

Watering the jellybeans they planted

Would ya look at that?!

 

Lovin' my sweet girl

The cousins

Egg hunt champ!

Relaxing after a fun filled day!

St. Patrick's Day

We typically don't do much to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but I wanted to do something to entertain the kids.  I convinced them that a leprechaun would try to visit our house.  I told them that leprechaun's love Lucky Charms cereal (okay, so do I, but that wasn't the reason I bought a HUGE box!), and we used it as bait.  We set a trap (a plastic storage container propped up), and awaited his arrival.  While the kids were upstairs, one came!  We didn't catch him, but he did leave some Skittles for them...along with a mess in the kitchen, the bathroom, and a note for them on the bathroom mirror.  Seth and I kept exchanging grins as we couldn't believe how caught up they got in it all.  Liam kept running around saying, "That stinky leprechaun..." He blamed that leprechaun for all sorts of things for the remainder of the day! :)  Simply TOO cute!

Makayla showing off her Skittles the leprechaun left her...notice what else he left behind?!

That "stinky leprechaun" even used my lipstick to leave a note on the mirror that said, "BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR!"

D is for DONUT!

Oh, my...do we have a new obsession at our house!  Recently we noticed a donut truck set up outside of our local produce stand (counter productive, right?!).  Well, we decided to check it out and pick some up for our family movie night several weeks ago.  The dorky teacher in me checked out the book If You Give a Dog a Donut to go with the theme.  We were so excited to sample.  Each week they have chocolate dipped glazed, glazed, and cinnamon and sugar.  They also have a feature flavor of the week.  This particular week it happened to be pina colada.  Delish!  We then found out that the following week would feature lemonade...couldn't miss that.  And the next week, banana caramel walnut...nope, couldn't miss that.  Or blueberry, or maple, or maple bacon...seeing a trend here?  Ugh...what a horrible hobby.  We just can't stop!  Hopefully next week they will feature something uber disgusting so I can break this weekly donut streak!  Until then, we'll enjoy them to the fullest...and exercise a little more!

Just for fun!

I'm always looking for something to do with the kids...just for fun.  I love to share moments with them.  I especially love those moments where they lose themselves and just giggle.  This was one of those moments.  I had read about making bathtub fingerpaint out of shaving cream and food coloring.  Seemed easy enough.  Makayla and I whipped up a batch in a muffin tin, and my little artists went to work.  They LOVED painting the entire shower wall, and were sad when their art session was cut short due to bedtime.  We have since painted again, and Makayla asks to make some nearly every night.  I thought clean-up was going to be a chore, but it was as easy to clean up as it was to whip up.  This is definitely a new simple pleasure in the Roderick house!

Just...what...I...needed!!!!!

Do you ever just crave something?  I mean crave it so badly you can just taste it...even get a little grouchy or slightly depressed when you can't have it?  I've had a slight touch of that lately.  I have really been itching for a snow day!  When we had snow in October, I was certain that this was going to be a very wet winter.  Maybe I jinxed it by buying new snow boots for the kids in October?!  :)  Who knows?!  All I know is I was one HAPPY girl when I woke up at 4:30 this morning to find a dusting of snow on the ground.  I was almost giddy waiting for a delay, but I was pleasantly surprised by a school CLOSING!  I could not wait for the kids to get up so we could start our day together.  What was even more fun, was that Aunt Julia had spent the night with us and we would get to send her on her way to a big interview this morning.
So, share in our day...

 Our snow day started with snowman pancakes...

 Followed by a morning in the *snow*  We tried to sleigh ride...not quite enough snow for that.  We tried to have a snowball fight...not quite enough for that.  We were able to play on the swing set and take wagon rides.  We also put food coloring in water bottles and painted the snow.  Once we had our fill of ALL that snow, we invited mom over for lunch and an outing. :)

Once home, we decorated our "melted" snowman cookies we had baked this morning.  Makayla had a blast...remember these from a couple of years ago?  We decided to make them out of snicker doodles this time, and they did not disappoint.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just playing.  I LOVE days like today, and my mind, body, and soul needed this day more than I even realized.  I love my children, and it makes my heart happy to get to spend such precious time with them.

I even tried a new recipe for dinner!  Whew...I have been rejuvenated!  I think I can now make it until April when I can spend an entire week with my kiddos...which will tide me over until sweet, sweet summertime! :)  Ahhh....thank goodness for the snow day! :)