I was featured!!!!!

Well, not me personally, but Colin's Ocean "One"derland Birthday Party (see earlier post). I was so pleasantly surprised and honored that websites that I had spent hours browsing and gawking over for party ideas wanted to feature my little party!

His party first appeared on Michelle's wonderful site, Everyday Celebrating, a site dedicated to helping you "celebrate the fabulous every day happenings in life." I first discovered her web page when planning Gehrig's 4th birthday party. I fell in love with the air plane party that she threw her son, Keaton. She generously shared her template for the ticket invitations and even designed a logo for Gehrig Air! Anyway, she has since featured Colin's Ocean "One"derland party. Head over and check it out!

Then, I was informed that Colin's Party was featured on One Pretty Thing. It links back to Everyday Celebrating, but I still thought that it was cool to see my little whale pods there amongst some amazing party pictures.

And finally, just yesterday, Colin's Ocean "One"derland party was featured on Design Dazzle, a site that features designs and decorating ideas for babies, kids and teens. Right now it is Party week at Design Dazzle, so if you are planning a party and are in need of some inspiration, head on over and check it out.

The Countdown Calendar

Gehrig has been missing his daddy so much, so he asked me to help him make a calendar so that he can count down the days until his return. Each night before bed, we put a star sticker on the day that has just passed and count the remaining days. Every time Daddy calls, he asks Gehrig how many days he has until his return, and Gehrig always know the answer! As you can see, we have been trying to fill our days with lots of activities to help pass the time!

Room Inspiration and a Give Away!!!!

I stumbled across this picture and just fell in love with this room, for Gehrig, of course. I plan to use it for inspiration for his new room when we move!

To see more pictures of this baseball room, or if you need inspiration for a room, visit Design Dazzle, either the blog or the website. She has pictures of rooms from nurseries to kid rooms to teen rooms and playrooms! You will be amazed!

And, until May 19th, she has a giveaway for a free room wall decal. Hurry over and check it out!

Cooking with Friends!

Last week, our sweet friend, Ginger, hosted a cooking party for the kids. We had so much fun. She had everything so well organized. She printed up a kid-friendly recipe card for each child, had all the ingredients laid out and ready to go, and let the kids take turns adding the ingredients while she talked about how each item contributed to the coffee cake.

Wyatt adds the butter. The kids were fascinated with Ginger's mixer!

Gehrig adds some cinnamon!

He's never cracked an egg before. Let's see how he does.
Well, it ended up all over the table.

Let's see if mommy can do better.

Ooops! Just a little bit of shell!

The third time's the charm!

One of the high lights was filling the muffin stone holes with muffin cups!

They were so proud of their hard work. Now all that's left to do is bake it. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of them eating their delicious coffee cake, nor did I get a shot of Ginger, our behind-the-scene host. Next time. We will have to do this again soon!

Wyatt, Sydney, Aiden, Gehrig, Trenton, Tyler and Kadi

Summertime!!!!

It may be springtime everywhere else, but with multiple, consecutive days of temps in the 100's, it sure feels like summertime here in Arizona! We have been looking for ways to beat the heat, and what better ways can you think of than splashing at the pool with friends, eating watermelon, and savoring ice cream cones at the park??? And to think, we did all this in one day!

We met our friends at the pool and had an amazing time splashing and playing in the toddler pool. Gehrig and the older kids had so much fun swimming and playing in various floatie rings and boats, while Colin and baby Micah floated mellowly in their "float boats!" Afterward, we had the whole crew over for lunch!

Tyler, Kadi, Gehrig, Grace and Ava posing for a group shot!

The babies, Micah and Colin didn't make it into the group shot.

Goggles and sunglasses!

Mmmmm, watermelon. As soon as I sliced it open, my boys' eyes lit up. Colin had never tried it before, but he was hooked on this juicy fruit at first taste!

After dinner, we met up with our buddy, Wyatt, at the local ice cream parlor. We took our cones to the park and had a wonderful time swinging and climbing all over the new playground equipment.

Mmmmm! Strawberry Ice Cream!

Happiest Mother's Day to Grandma Carole and Grandma Joan

Or, as Gehrig would say, "Happy Mudder's Day!"

We just want you to know how special you are and how thankful we are to have you in our lives. The old quote may sounds cliche, but it rings true, "The only thing better than having you as a mother, is knowing my boys have you as their grandmother!"

Gehrig, Colin and I have been working on a little something for you. I wish you could have been here to see the process....it was quite comical, but we think that they turned out beautiful, just like the two of you. God has truly blessed our family with the two best Grandma's in the world! We love you.

Here are a couple of up close shots so that you can get a good picture of what it looks like, because when it comes in the mail, it will be unassembled for shipping purposes. There will also be another gift enclosed for each of you....but we need to keep something a surprise! However, in true Jennifer Gesch fashion, it will be late!

And while your roles as grandmothers have been so important, we don't want it to be overshadowed by your role as mother and mother-in-law. Your love and support over the years has meant so much to Chris and me. We cherish so many memories from childhood on up through adulthood and know that there is no way that we would be where we are with out your love and support. You have gone from being our Mommies to our Mothers to our Friends! We love you and hope you have the Happiest Mother's Day!!!

"My Cup Runneth Over!!!!!"

I have always loved this quote from Hope Floats. Birdie Priutt's mother often uses this expression to describe how she feels about her various blessings. I can not think of a better way to describe how I feel about my life and all the things that I have been tremendously blessed. On this Mother's Day, I am especially thank for my two blessings, Gehrig and Colin, who give meaning to this day!

Gehrig made me an extremely special gift in preschool and I got choked up, okay I cried, when he gave me this precious, hand-made present for Mother's Day. This glue and glitter covered treasure is my absolute favorite gift, and I don't think that it will ever be topped. I have read this poem so many times, and probably even given it to my mom years ago, but it had never tugged at my heart strings the way it did when he proudly presented this master piece to me. My Cup Runneth Over!!!!

Gehrig and Colin also got me a gorgeous bouquet of lilies, chocolates, a balloon all accompanied by a card that read:

We love you Mommy! You're the best in the world.

Love, Gehrig and Colin

When the flowers arrived, the buds were closed, but they are already starting to open up and the sweet fragrance is filling my house! All this was, of course, orchestrated by my amazing husband hundreds of miles away in Texas. I am the luckiest Mother in the whole wide world! My Cup Runneth Over!!!