birthdays!

One month ago was Seth's 3rd birthday and Olivia's 1st birthday.  Since their birthdays are only 11 days apart, we decided to do do a combo party ... well, make that two combo parties:  A playdate party in the morning for their friends and my mommy friends, and a family party in the afternoon for our families.  Seth is at an age now where he has real friends, and I've drawn very closely to a group of ladies that have babies all around Olivia's age.  Our house just isn't big enough for both friends and family, so ... two identical parties with two groups of people we love!  

I decided on a "Bugs & Butterflies" theme party.  Boys love bugs and girls love butterflies.  So I kinda went with an picnic take on the decor: plaid tablecloths, sandwiches and fruit for lunch, sticks as table centerpieces with little plastic bugs crawling everywhere and butterfly nets with butterflies all around.  It was really fun.  We also borrowed a bounce house from Jack's brother and the kids were all over it!  As an activity, I found these cute little bug boxes that I had the kids decorate with stickers to spell their names out and they went to go find bugs (the plastic bugs I had all over the tables).  We had a great time!  And the kids were blessed with so many fantastic gifts.  Olivia downed her cake like nobody's business.  She loves her sweets!  (Well, she loves everything.  She's my great eater!)  

I'm so amazed still at how fast their first year of life goes.  And honestly it goes faster as they get older.  The fact that I can sit down and have a full conversation with Seth blows my mind.  He's in school for goodness sake!  Where did the time go??  So blessed by two healthy, happy, and sweet children. 

The Party

The Playdate Party

The Family Party

New party, new outfit :)

Joel just told Seth that his gift to him was a trip to the SF Zoo.  Seth just walked away.

On Seth's actual birthday ... sprinkle french toast and party hats at breakfast!

our own haven

Quite a few months ago now, we had our backyard re-landscaped.  Well, I should say it was just landscaped ... it was just a plot of weeds before.  We wanted a space for the kids to run around in and a space that we'd actually want to be in.  Our dining room is rather small inside, so we also wanted an area for a dining table and chairs to use during the summer months.  We are so very happy with the results!

Before:

After:

It was a really great process too.  Our landscapers were so kind and hardworking.  It took them 5 days to build everything.  We added a  deck, irrigation and drip system, sod and lots of beautiful plantings.  I found a great flower garden diagram of "Tough as Nails" plants from the Better Homes and Gardens website.  Since I have such a black thumb when it comes to keeping plants alive, I thought this would be a great way to still have flowers, but knowing I couldn't kill them as easily.  The whole family went to the nursery one Saturday and picked out the plants from that plan, as well as a few more that we just really liked.  We are so happy with the outcome!  It's gorgeous.  I would do everything the same all over again.  Now we just want to spruce up the front yard a bit more.  :)