Kids Do The Cutest Things!

So I woke up and as normal Aria is always the first one in Kaden's room, if he is awake. But this time she was in his crib reading books with him. Kaden loves books, and that is why his bookshelf has as many books as the library. Which is cool, I mean Aria was never in to books as much as Kaden is. But the cutest thing about these pictures is brother and sister having fun together. They do great most of the time but it's times like these I wish I could record and play over...I love these two little people Brian and I created; with God's help of course. It's these kinds of moments that make parenting so rewarding.

Poor Kaden kept closing his eyes...the flash was so bright. But cute anyway:-)

Think...this time next year there will be three of these little people hanging out in the baby's crib!

Cookies and a Porch

Aria was not feeling too good today so I decided to make some cookies. Cookies for the neighbors and for us of course! I made these on my own so if you want the recipe just ask. I love these cookies because they use very little sugar and although the Nutella taste is not as promenent as I would like it's still a great chewy cookie! Keep mind, Nutella already has a lot of sugar in it which is why I don't add a lot of white sugar.

Then the porch, well that has been in the works for the last few weeks. We keep getting rain every week so that has slowed it down but at least when the summer weather is here, we will be ready to grill and sit on our nice porch!

Ta Da...Nutella Oatmeal cookies:-)

I put them in an Easter bag and tied them off with the recipe just in case they wanted it.

Here is the porch! We were so blessed to be able to do this. We got several estimates and everyone was WAY out of our budget till we gave Blue Ribbon a call. They were great and gave us such a great deal. It helps to do those things late in the winter when those kind of companies are usually hurting. Either way, we are so grateful we could do this and now we can enjoy the outdoors a little more.

It wraps around to the garage with steps from the driveway...that will be nice!

AHHHHHH Sunny Day With Family!

Oh today was perfect San Diego weather in Virginia! And what better way than to spend it in nature with the family. We headed out in the morning for a little hike at Sky Meadows State Park which is only about 20 minutes from us. We were going to go to Shenandoah but decided not to tire ourselves out too much. After all I am getting pretty big with only 2 more months to go till the little guy joins us. It was 76 degrees and took us about 45 minutes to go 1.5 miles with Kaden on Daddy's back and Aria trekking along with Mommy. It was great, and we all felt good being outside doing what we love; hiking!

After returning to the historical house we put a blanket on the grass and rested while admiring the beautiful rolling hills of the country.

Aria and Kaden sitting on a bench together.

Ooops I thought I had Daddy in the picture, sorry!

Kaden trying to put his pack together...

"Hachi"

It was a rainy weekend and Brian and I got a couple of movies; one of them was called Hachiko. And I give the movie two thumbs up, especially if you have little one's this is something they can watch too. It was a beautiful story and made me cry. All I can say without ruining the story is that if you have ever lost a loved one unexpectedly then you will surely relate to this movie. When I lost my Dad I too remember waiting for a day when he would call me or walk through a door, I guess it was my way of holding on to some hope that my heartache was all a nightmare. And although he never did call or come through a door again, I too hold on tight to the memories that made him the best Dad in the whole world!

I hope I didn't make you too sad, but really, for a heartfelt family movie this was really good and it's based on a true story. It has some good actors in it too like Richard Gere, Joan Allen, and Jason Alexander from Jerry Seinfeld.

Sunny Days Are Coming

Finally, my prayers are answered and warmer days are now here! Seriously, Praise God because any of you that know me and my family know that we are sun bunnies and don't care for the winter weather for too long. Yesterday was low 60s...so I took the kids to Bull Run Park for some fun in the sand box. It was great. And while sitting on the side drinking some water I was reminded why I love being at home with my kids....I get to witness all their cuteness, trials and triumphs every day and for that I am thankful. After almost 3 hours we headed home in time for dinner. But the fun didn't end there! After dinner I made some REALLY GOOD cookies and healthy too! Hope you are having warm weather too!

When we first got to the park Kaden kept dumping sand out of the box...mmm maybe he thought all the sand needed to be moved to the other side? Either way it was adorable to watch. Don't worry I didn't let him dump all of it out:-)

Aria and Kaden playing together...they are doing quite well these days as brother and sister. I hope it stays that way when baby boy 2 comes!

Playing hide and seek in the tunnels.

Here is the cookie recipe I got from Cheerios. I love the whole grain cheerios and we happened to have raisins, and oats so we made these suprisingly delicious cookies!

I could have eaten an entire dozen they were so good....we were watching the Time Travelers Wife while munching on these treats. Which by the way was a good movie!