We love celebrating our Irish heritage when St.Patty's day come around! We like to make leprechaun traps and eat green foods and wear green and talk about St. Patty and the good he did in the world!
Nope, didn't catch him! But almost - he left green footprints!
My Irish Cuties!
Shayla read an Irish themed book for her book club this month, and they discussed it and did some St Pattys day themes activities like pin the hat on the Leprechaun.
Ack five years ago on February 26 at 1:08 PM I gave birth to my baby boy! I guess I can no longer call him my baby anymore, oh never mind I always will! He is my precious boy!
We were so blessed to have such a sweet, kind, playful, loving, cuddling and happy boy come into our lives! At 5 years old it is so neat to see Mitchell's personality continue to bloom and his sweet nature continue to grow!
5 THINGS ABOUT MITCHELL FOR HIS 5th BIRTHDAY
1. He is all BOY - loves cars, trains, dirt, POKEMON, NINJA TURTLES and just recently started and loves KARATE!
2. He is a friend to everyone - in fact, he has several BEST friends who often fight over him! It is so sweet to know he is loved by many and a good pal to all!
3. He is a great brother and Shayla and Mitchell play so well together and he (usually) loves to share his toys and play games. He loves playing board games with Shayla and all of us!
4. He is my little baker and loves to help me bake! I love having alone time with him while Shay is at school, but this will be my last year with him at home as he starts kinder next fall!
5. He is full of LOVE! He hugs and kisses me several times a day. If I am ever standing near him he starts kissing me on my leg, my hair, wherever. He is my little cuddle love bug!
We cannot get enough of Mitchell and so glad that Heavenly Father sent him to our family! We were able to celebrate him on his special day!
Streamer on the door tradition!Shay loved to help me put these up!
Mitchell is 5!
Free Birthday meal at IHOP! If I let him, Mitchell would just live off breakfast foods!
Birthday boy in preschool!
His preschool class celebrating him!
The Ninja kids getting ready to party at Pump it Up!
Mommy and the birthday boy!
The whole gang!
Mitchell favorite preschool buddies (minus Todd who was sick)
Yay January in Santa Barbara/Goleta is one of our favorite times to enjoy the Nature trifecta that is a close drive away from our house and such an amazing nature experience!
The Trifecta is the Goleta Butterfly Grove/Ellwood Butterfly Preserve (www.goletabutterflygrove.com). Monarch butterflies migrate to Goleta each November through February and the butterflies combined with the amazing views of the ocean and walking/hiking paths in this grove make it one of the most beautiful places ever! And the Carpinteria Tide Pools!! This time of year there is super low tide and the Carpenteria Tide Pools are amazing to see as you can see so much with the low tide! The third part of the trifecta is the Carpinteria Seal Rookery off of Bailard adn CArpinteria Avenue. Jan-Feb is height of birthing season for the seals and you can stand on the bluff and watch them for hours! WE had too much fund at the other places this time we didn't make it to the Seals but had a stop at Tomol Interactive Play Area - a fun park at 390 Linden Avenue, Carpinteria instead! Tide pool time!
We met up with Amy's family and my parents and Doug and Sheelah for our adventure!
The cousins at the Buttterfly Grove.
My nature lovers!
Amy with her babes!
What a view!
The gang!
Me and Shayla
Lots of tree climbing at the Grove too!
Butterflies!
Exploring!
Coco loves her sea slug!
My other favorite people! What a fun, beautiful day!
A little late posting, but here goes - We spent New Years Eve this year in Pine Mountain, California. A beautiful little gem of a city less than an hour's drive from us that I didn't even know existed! It is the town on the way to Mt.Pinos where we have been before to go sledding! We stayed in a cute little cabin with the kids and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, outdoor views, hikes and snow in Pine Mountain!
Sled time!
'
Yay! Mitchell had a blast this year!
Snow babies!
Snowball time!
Parents had fun too!
We built a snow monster
We celebrated New Years eve in the cabin by the fire making dinner, playing games and writing our goals for the coming year! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Mitchell's goals
Shayla's goals
After a breakfast of eggs and hot chocolate at the only open cafe in town, we celebrated new Years day by hiking the Enchanted Forest trail! So pretty!
The kids had fun and enjoyed writing their initials in the snow every 5 steps or so!
We will definitely come back and stay again next year! A fun adventure and a beautiful little escape!
Woo hoo! A challenge that will be fun and I am sure many of you can join me on!
I am joining my sister Amy on this reading challenge this year! Who else is in?
I always love book recommendations from friends and family and I love The Modern Mrs. Darcys 2015 Reading Challenge as it is a way to explore some new (or classic) authors!
Here’s the deal: read 12 books in 12 different categories in 12 months. It’s simple and doable. But it provides the structure you need to approach your reading list with intention in 2015. I have never picked a book based on the cover, but I guess I will this year! I think I am more looking forward to a book from my childhood or one I should have read in high school!
You can even print the list out here to check them off as you go!
I would love any suggestion you have.. Next month our book club picks the books we will read for the year with everyone's input, so I am sure some will fit these categories! But in the meantime, I have a few I am going to go for (or to recommend to you), such as:
A Book you have been meaning to read: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
A Book Published this year: At the Waters Edge Sara Gruen
A Book in a genre you don't typically read: (hhmm horror or biographies?, will have to go with biography!): My Life in France by Julia Child
A book from my
Childhood: The Borrowers by Mary Norton
A Book your mom loves: WALDEN!
A book originally written in another language
– Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A
book everyone's reading All the Light we cannot see by Doer
A book you chose because of its cover: The Sweet Life in Paris By David
Lebovitz (I must have been hungry when I wrote this post and chose this one!)
A Book by A favorite author: Lisa See - China Dolls OR Rainbow Rowell - Fangirl OR The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant (The Red Tent was one of my fav books of all time!)
A book recommended by someone with great taste : The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Thanks Chris!)
A book you should have read in High school: For Whom the Bells Toll by Ernest Hemingway
A book that's currently on the best seller list: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Anyway that's a start! I love seeing the book covers and I posted them all on here so that when I am ready to go on to my next read I can come here and remember which ones I am shooting for this year! I always turn to Hoopla and Overdrive first to try to get the books - they are my library's free service for audiobooks and eBooks and more! I download the audio or ebook directly to my phone or kindle! Great for kids books too! Most libraries have access to these free services and all you need is library card to sign in and have access to thousands of free books! Keeps your book budget down too! Let me know of anything great you read this year so I can add it to my list for next year!
