May flowers

This year for my Mother's Day gift, Robby took the girls out for the afternoon on Saturday. They headed to Lowes to purchase some flowers and plants to fill our pots that have been begging for something beautiful to grow inside them.  Jenny was out of town over the weekend for a wedding in Texas so Steve joined the fun and helped Karis plant something for her mommy too. While they were gone, I got to spend some much needed quality time with my sewing machine to finish some pillows for the back porch and a birthday banner for Eloise. I LOVE sewing in a quiet house : ) That was a present in and of itself!

We potted flowers as a family last year (See the post: Planting Flowers) and we had such a wonderful time. It was the weekend before Eloise was born so I had quite the big belly! It was fun this year to watch her crawling around in the grass & think about how this time last year, we hadn't even met her yet. Oh my, this month is proving to be an emotional one. There have already been more than a few tears shed on my part as I think about fast approaching birthdays of two little ones, the incredible joy of motherhood & am overcome with thankfulness. There have also been tears shed because I have not had much sleep in a week & have a house full of sickness. Motherhood is incredibly joy-filled and exhausting at the same time quite regularly actually now that I think about it : ) 

So as our little Charlotte & Eloise blossom into beautiful little girls right before our eyes, we look forward to watching our new flowers do the same.  

Onto the great planting adventure with 3 two & under helpers....

Karis had no reservations when it came to scooping up dirt in her hands.  She actually got to come spend some time next too me because she couldn't stay out of the potting soil bag ; ) Steve said it wasn't his brightest idea to dress her in white capri pants but kudos to him for being an AWESOME stay at home Dad for 5 days while Jenny was gone! 

The more the merrier when it comes to hands in a pot!

Eloise crawling over to check out the new flowers. She thought they looked pretty tasty. 

We bought a bird feeder a couple weeks ago and have SO enjoyed watching the cardinals that come to eat frequently throughout the day.  The night that Robby & Charlotte were filling it with seed & hanging the feeder, I was in tears on the back porch as I held Eloise. Charlotte was so excited to be participating & was trying to carry the big bag of birdseed herself. She kept dropping it so Rob scooped her and the bag up and carried them over to where they would hang it. Char was giggly & Rob was grinning ear to ear. As I snuggled Eloise close, I was thinking about how quickly the time has gone & how deep my love has grown for these precious girls.  The thought crossed my mind that I wanted to have at least 10 more kids so I can keep experiencing sweet moments like these for a long time ; ) Haha, I don't think I would survive bearing & raising that many! Although, whatever the amount we end up with, I pray the Lord gives me countless moments of seeing God's goodness to me through tear filled eyes.  So, back to the new bird feeder...every morning the feeder is missing at least half the seed that was there when we went to bed.  We keep joking that we are going to stay up all night and watch to see what is SO hungry.  If I didn't know these two were inside all night, confined by locked doors & alarm systems, I'd say they were the culprits!

Robby decided to pick up a couple jalapeno plants and we decided that no place other than the Texas pot should be their new home. Hot salsa here we come!

Charlotte liked the potting part but LOVED the watering part even more.  There is a picture on the post from last year where she was trying to carry a little blue watering can. She was spilling water all over and was as uncoordinated as could be compared to the coordinated & confident almost three year old she is this year. She was swinging that thing all over the place : ) 

Elo's hair is long enough to blow in the breeze?!

Big hands. little hands

I love seeing this Daddy with his girls.....he is one happy man!

Dirty feet kept this girl from smiling for a picture with her sister.  Who would have thought?

The best we got for a picture of me, my little ladies and my mother's day gift : ) 

I think another part of my gift was that Rob let me take pictures without uttering one complaint when I asked him to smile ; ) Thanks honey, Mother's Day was kicked off with a bang due to your thoughtfulness!