Surprise, surprise!

 Jody and I planned a big SURPRISE for my parents the beginning of this week!  Mom and Dad are in Florida.  They had planned to go for a winter vacation and then decided to met up with a knee doctor down there.  Mom's one knee is needing another knee replacement and she's not wanting the surgery route.  There's a doctor in Sarasota that has helped so many other knee patients and they decided to do a five week treatment plan with Dr. House.  Mom is very restricted with her leg and the days she gets a shot treatment done to her hurting knee, she needs to ice it a lot and not walk on it.  She's using a cane and a walker to help her move around when needed.

When we came back from our family vacation to Sarasota, we just missed Mom and Dad.  They arrived there the day after we left.  I called up my sister Jody and asked it there's any way that she would fly with me back down and spend a few days with them as they finish up their five week stay.  She was all into and so we made our arrangements and fly down early Monday morning.  Sunday night, I was sad to leave Mike so soon because he had just returned from his golf trip but it was his turn to care for the children solo and he did a great, wonderful job at it!!!!

We left early Monday morning and arrived in Sarasota by 10:00 AM!  We were ready to surprise our parents and that we did!!!!!  We went to the house they are staying at and dad was just coming outside with his bike.  He was going to bike to Mommy D's house where Mom was.  He was so surprised!  We then went to surprise Mom!  It was all such a fun moment!  Both of them just couldn't believe it!  We got to go with them to grab some groceries and then meet Mom's doctor.  She was going to get another shot treatment on her knee but because she was having pain in it, he waited till the next day and she was sent back to the house with orders to ice her knee a lot!  That helped with the pain she was dealing with and we sat on their back porch just having a good time together!  The weather was cloudy and chilly that entire day.  We went out for supper and spent the evening at the house.

Tuesday was a gorgeous day in the south!  We went for breakfast, biked all aorund town, visited with Mommy D and got smoothies from Postal Cafe!  As we were biking around, I told dad I'll show him my mother in laws back yard of pavers.  I had another surprise to show them!  We biked to Mom Lapps Florida house and out walks Hadassah!!!!  We surprised them again with Hadassah and some girlfriends spending the rest of the week together in Florida.  A girls outing!!!!  They were again so surprised!  Mom had to get her treatment shot and then we all sat on the back porch for the rest of the afternoon of fun sunshine!!!!  Mike and Scill came over to dads for supper.  Dad grilled burgers and corn on the cob.  I grabbed some pie slices from Yoders and then laughed as we spent the night playing games!  It was another fun day in the south!

Wednesday morning came before we knew what happened!  The kids were at home under Mike's care!  Hadassah was in Florida for a fun girl outing!  We had a few hours to enjoy the sunshine before it was time to head for the airport.  We all went biking again!  Mommy D showed us where the alligators were close to the park.  Amazing.  We had breakfast at Postal Cafe and after much biking, we stopped for some ice cream before heading to the airport.  Mom and Dad dropped us off there and we were on our flight back home to our families!

Getaways are always too short but crazy fun!!!!  It won't be long before Mom and Dad are back home.  Mommy D is home next week too!  I love the sunshine state and here's cheers till the next time!!!!

Spring is here!!!!!

We love Spring time!  We get to be outside more because the weather is slowly turning to warmer tempts! We have many projects around the house over spring time but I think we are ready for it!

Austin got invited with some school friends to Landon's birthday party!  What a great time he had!

 

The first day of warmer tempts and the kids think it's summer!  They grabbed some shorts and tank tops and ran outside to play!  I almost forget how fun it is to see them play outside and run off the energy outdoors!

Greenhouse visits are happening!  I found myself some green vegetables to plant in the garden and some pretty flowers to plant in the front porch pots!

We had some carrots in the garden from last year and we blessed the neighbors donkey, Walker, with them!

Like I said, they think it's summer as soon as we have a 70 degree day!  It was a gorgeous day, that's for sure and it was perfect to trim up the barn roses.  

I got my fingers dirty in the garden while planting those early spring plants!  Buttercrunch lettuce, kale, spinach, candy onions, cabbage and some radish seeds all are now in the garden!

I had a big rosemary herb that I cut down and I can't wait for it to grow again!

I hot capped my lettuce plants because even though we had some warmer days, the cold is not gone for forever just this fast.  That's what I don't enjoy about spring.  One day it's super warm and the next it feels like winter again.  But it's going the right direction if you like warmer degrees!

I took the new tiller through the gardens first before planting and worked the mushroom mulch that we applied last fall into the dirt really well!  It looks so nice!

Lunch on the front porch looks like this!!!!

Mike left for his golf trip that he does every spring.  This time Mike and the other three golfing men went to California.  Things are still a bit COVID minded out there and it's not like their usual Arizona golf trips.  But, we left for a week of golf and relaxation and I'm back home with the children.  I don't look forward to solo parenting EVER but it went well.  

Saturday I drove these two love birds around looking for furniture for their apartment when they get married.   We went from one store to the next and only found a few items.  Furnishing a very small apartment can't hold much and especially not bulky, big couches, etc!!!!  We got a few items checked off the list and the rest will be a search and seek findings!

I'm not sure if I like this better or the kids but we do it often and we just love ArtHubforkids on YouTube!  It's easy step by step art that is easy to do with the children!  

I woke up to this sight the first morning Mike was away.  Boy, do I ever miss him already!  I sure hope the week goes fast!  But look at this sky God blessed me with!!!!!  Love it Lord!

Ashlyn and Zayla .... these two little girls are cousins.  They are sweet and nine years apart.  They act like sisters.  Ashlyn begs to go to Zayla's house to see her.  She can feed her, put her to sleep and just adores her!!!!  Lena asked if we can babysit Zayla for the evening and how sweet is this!!!  When it was bed time, both of them laid in Ashlyn's bed and Zayla fell asleep.  Just darling!

Here's another piece of art!  St. Patricks Day - I read the history of how this day became a national holiday and was blessed!  Patrick was kidnapped and taken to Ireland.  He was sold into slavery and worked as a shepherd for six years.  It's there that he found God!  He escaped back to his home country Britain, went to France to become a priest and returned back to Ireland to preach the gospel!  He taught them the trinity through using the shamrock as demonstrations of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!  Many came to the Lord!  St. Patrick died on March 17 at 76 years old.  How cool it is to have this a national holiday!  I wonder how many people know the real reason of this celebration?

Things are starting to show up at the door!  Wedding plates, napkins, cups, plastic ware and Hadassah's dining room chairs that we ended up ordering from Wayfair.

Matthew's basketball banquet was on Thursday night.  Mike hated to miss this special event but he is still in CA.  These guys played basketball well and worked hard to get to districts!!!!  What great memories!

FIRST DAY OF SPRING ~ March 20!  It's a date I always remember!!!!!  I look forwards to it so much!  We had a parenting seminar at church that I really wanted to attend but hated to do it alone.  Mike was still in CA but I went without him.  Friday night and Saturday was full to the very top on much great information about rearing children for the Lord!  Great tips and advice!  Many good examples and stories were shared and it was so good to attend!  I just had to make a stop at a greenhouse on the first day of spring and so I did!  Look at these beautiful plants!

Mike got home late Saturday night and we all missed him terribly and could not wait till he gets back home!!!!!!  We went to church together as a family once again and it's just complete when Mike's home with us!!!!  It was a gorgeous day and we decided to bike to the park.  Ashlyn made a pit stop at the motel to grab a vitamin water!

The kids and I are so happy to have Mike back home!  And here are my pages of notes for Mike and I go look over from the parenting seminar!  :)))

When Mike came home, he had this card for me.  He set it in the closet by my clothes and when I opened I thought, "Wow, this is an early birthday card."  I read it and went to the living room to say thank you.  He asked me what I thought about it?  I said it was nice and then he said to read it again.  I reread the card and turned another page.  He planned out a trip for me to take for my 40th upcoming birthday!!!  Me and some of my dearest friends are going to Magnolia!!!!!  In Texas!  I cannot wait and totally excited!!!!  He wanted to tell me now because the trip will be here before I know it!!!!  Wow!

Spring is such a good time to clean out closets and houseclean!  I did a few closets but really can't wait to work outside and get the mower running!  Maybe next week!?!

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy the sunshine!