Author: mrsbarnes
Mother’s Day 2011
Saturday night Adrian and I celebrated a good friend’s birthday. We stayed the night in LA to avoid the long drive home. We had a fantastic time! It was also a great Mother’s Day gift being able to sleep through the night without babies waking me or Adrian up. It was also great being able to sleep in without the little ones running in and out of the room. Adrian and I stopped for a quiet breakfast before heading home. It’s amazing how a little bit of quit time away from the girls can be so rejuvenating. Haha two children under the age of three can be a bit exhausting at times. We arrived home to everyone out back gardening. My brother Jason’s gift to our mom was working on her garden. I think this was a great gift idea since he is so good with the garden! After lunch Jillian and I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Red Velvet has never been a favorite of mine but I knew Jillian would get a kick out of the batter/cupcakes being red. Once those were cooked, cooled and frosted we went to visit Adrian’s mom. We then headed over to the mall to get my mother’s day gift!! I’m getting a Mac Book Air, I know crossing over to the other side, haha. I plan on being a firm PC believer with knowledge of how to operate a Mac haha. I don’t think I’ll be a true convert because I’ve been a PC user for so long, and I’ve had some horrible school Mac experiences! Anyways, haha, we came to found that the Mac Book Air that we wanted to buy is not carried in the store. So my excitement balloon was deflated, but we did order it as soon as we got home from dinner, which was at our favorite sushi restaurant. OH! My other mother’s day gift was a handpicked by Jillian, bouquet of flowers! It was very sweet. Adrian said that she was the cutest thing to watch while she was picking out the flowers. (Yes, most of them were pink. haha she’s such a girl).
My Beautiful Handpicked Flowers:
Making Cupcakes (eating the batter)
Washing the Dishes
Decorated Cupcakes
Garden Girls
In full spirit of spring, my mom took the girls out in the back for a bit of gardening. They both loved digging in the dirt. Olivia loves picking flowers, we may not have many flowers left if she keeps at it.
Here are some pictures of the girls gardening.
Easter 2011
Happy Easter to all of our friends and family! We hope you all had a wonderful day!
The girls woke up nice and early and found that the Easter Bunny had left them some baskets! They were very excited about the stickers and bubbles. During breakfast a bunny made it’s way into our backyards and Jillian was super excited. For breakfast this year I made buttermilk pancakes from scratch. They were surprisingly easy to make and super delicious! I’ve been thinking that I need to create a recipe book that includes all of my favorites, that way I only have to look in one place. haha but that is way down on the To Do List.
Anyways, after breakfast I got the girls dressed in their pretty Easter dresses. After some mandatory photos the girls were set free in the backyard to hunt for eggs. Olivia enjoyed her first egg hunt. I was worried that their would be some fighting over eggs but Jillian had on her good sister hat.
After the egg hunt we packed up the girls for a day at the park with Adrian’s extended family. When we arrived at the park it was pouring rain! It was a good thing I packed extra clothes because the girls were still in their dresses. Unfortunately I forgot extra shoes, nothing was too ruined thankfully. After about 30 minutes or so of not stop rain the sun decided to come out. The ground was wet but it wasn’t raining anymore!! The girls had so much fun running around in the grass.
Once the girls started to get antsy we left the park for Easter Dinner at my Aunt Angie’s house. The girls both fell asleep on the drive home, so Adrian and I got to eat dinner in peace. Overall it was a very fun yet exhausting holiday. Next year will be more fun when Olivia is old enough to be excited about the Easter Bunny too!
Decorating Eggs:
Easter Morning:
Mandatory Photo Shoot:
Easter Egg Hunt:
Easter at the Park:
After uploading all of these pictures I have realized that Adrian and I forgot to take a family photo again.
Anniversary Trip to Santa Barbara
Adrian and I will be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary this Sunday. It worked out perfectly this year since it’s also Easter and spring break is nicely attached! Adrian took the week off as well. We took a four day trip up to Santa Barbara for some time away from the girls. My absolutely wonderful mother watched the girls while we were away. It was so nice being able to get 3 nights of uninterrupted sleep. While we were up there we were able to check off something from my 30 before thirty list! I’d never been wine tasting so what better place than Santa Barbara? Since we are noobs when it comes to wine, I booked a tour. It was nice because they took us to 4 different vineyards and supplied us with lunch. At one of the vineyards, a couple, also on the tour, knew the assistant wine maker so we got a backstage pass. We even got to try wine straight from the barrels. It was fun but it didn’t make a wine lover out of me. haha I’m not a big drinker to begin with, to be honest wine just makes me sleepy.
Here are some pictures from our wine tasting adventure.
Jillian the Flower Girl!
Jillian had the honor of being one of five flower girls in my friend Natalie’s wedding this past Saturday. She was so cute in her little dress! She had a difficult time following directions however. I kept telling her that the princess wants her to do her best. It kept her going until Natalie came out in all of her glory. haha Jillian became instantly shy and refused to line up with the girls. It wasn’t until we got outside that she cooperated. Then she had a grand old time running down the path. I packed a backpack full of goodies for each of my girls since I knew it would be a long night for them. Jillian was an angel during the ceremony! (I can’t say the same for the other flower girls next to us). Jillian sat so nicely playing with her magnetic doll set and her coloring book.
It was great to spend the night with good friends celebrating Natalie’s wedding!