A Sweeeet Mama's day!!!

This year I celebrated my 9th mother's day...coincidentally, it fell the day after Austin celebrated his 9th birthday =0) We went to church, came home and relaxed a little, and then headed out to have dinner with Mark's dad, Tom and soon-to-be-stepmom, Wendy, Mark's sister, Sluz, Wendy's son, Sion,  Sion's girlfriend, Melisa, and Melisa's son, Jaden. We ate at my most favorite restaurant, Chuy's!!! I over-ate as usual...I can't help it, that jalapeno ranch dip is so GOOOOODD!!! Austin also got a few presents. Around here, birthdays sometimes last for a week before the gift period ends!!

Love them so much!

Austin, Me, Mark, and Abi 

The little guy that made me a Mommy first

Austin and Me 

The princess that made me a Mommy for a 2nd time!

Abi and Me 

Me and My Love...isn't he a cutie!?! 

Austin opening his gifts, what a blessed kid-o to have so many people that love him! 

Tom and Wendy

We are still going strong on the organic diet. I have been soda-free (Diet Dr Pepper free!!!) for 2 weeks now. It hasn't been nearly as tough as I thought it would be. Anyone that knows me knows how I like my soda. Not anymore. I am making a change for the better. Before when I have given up soda, I would make an exception to drink it only when we are out to eat. Not this time. I have only ordered water with lime in the few times out. On that note, the kids have also given up some of their favorite foods. Organic bread that is smooth like regular bread is hard to find. So, the kids have been eating less bread. They do not like seeds in their bread! Also, they have given up the super sugary cereals, not willingly mind you! Since they are struggling to make the change, I've been trying to think of foods I know they love that they can have that are organic as well. Once of their favorite foods to eat is whipped cream! They will eat it frozen like it's ice cream and on top of pretty much anything. So, here is our homemade organic version:

Ingredients needed: 2 tsp organic vanilla extract, 16oz heavy whipping cream, and 2 tbsp organic sugar

Pour all items into a bowl big enough for the cream to double in volume 

Using a whisk attachment, mix starting on low and increase speed as the mixture thickens. You can do this with a hand whisk, but it will take forever! You should mix for about 5-10 minutes, until there are soft peaks. Be sure not to over do it, or you will have some vanilla flavored butter on your hands!! 

Slice some organic strawberries, and drizzle with chocolate syrup (this was not organic because we are still phasing out some items, but it was sugar free) This whipped cream is better than ANY I've EVER had!!!

Mommy's day, a done deal!

Abi wrote me a song for mother's day this year. Here's the translation: You're the pumpkin pie to my heart. You have the prettiest smell in the world. You can dance lovely. Nothing can stop you from dying. [another word/sentence I can't read] You are like a queen to me. She also gave me a little porcelain snowman that  she painted. Austin gave me the new Fireflight CD, which I love!!! Mark gave me the Francesca Battistelli CD, which hasn't made it into my CD player quite yet!

Austin and Abi both made me a multitude of cards. Another mother's day in the books. Another day I was and am so blessed to be a mommy. I often try to remember things from when they were smaller. They both always ask Mark and I to tell them stories from when they were little. One of Austin's favorite stories is from when he was about 9 months or so. We came home from work, Austin was hungry so I put him in his high chair. I warmed up a gerber graduate container of spaghetti and meatballs. I went to change out of my BDU's. When I came back, there was no spaghetti on his tray. The dog was licking the container clean. I threw my hands up in disbelief. As I looked up, I noticed that there was spaghetti strung across the ceiling even to include around a corner into the front hallway!!!

This past weekend, Abi and I went to have our hair done while the boys went to a shooting range. Abi wanted desperately to color her hair pink. As a compromise, we let her cut about 4-5 inches off. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about the end result. But wouldn't ya know it...she looks so darn cute with it short too!

In exactly 20 days, Mark and I will celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary. The kids are going to Grammy's house for a few days, then Mark and I will celebrate. I am REALLY excited about the big 10 because we are planning on going on a cruise. Our original plan was to go alone, but the more we thought about it, the more we have thought about how much fun we would have with some of our friends! So far, we have at least three other couples that want to come with us. I can't wait, it is going to be so AWESOME!