Strawberry picking

Today was busy. Today was exhausting. Today was perfect. 

I had no intention of going anywhere but grocery shopping today, so when my cousin's wife texted me saying that there are U pick strawberries not far from my house, I had to go.  I always end up missing strawberry season, most farms say that they are available to pick in June, well by the time June comes around, all the berries are gone. So I told myself we would just see, maybe buy a box or two. I grabbed the kids buckets "just in case" and piled everyone into the car. 

The kids were more then happy about going to a farm, especially to pick some berries. 

Well, when I got the the field, turns out that they only opened yesterday, score! They had freshly picked strawberries at the stand,  Sure, I could have just bought a box at the stand, but did I? (well I bought a box to give to my neighbor) but no, I had to drag everyone one across the field on a hot, sunny day to get our own strawberries. 

Em and Nico had a contest going, which one would fill up their bucket faster. What is it about that age? Everything has to be a contest? Then someone always gets upset because they don't want to be the looser, and then fights start..... sigh..... yeah......this can go on all day long, but they can't stay mad at each other for more then a few minutes, they absolutely adore each other. Nico misses Em while she is at school, and asks me a few times during the day, when is Em going to be home. He adores her, and she loves that. 

My two year old was a sweetheart, he is a total mommy's boy, always by my side. Today was no exception. He had to be in the same row as I was at all times, if I hopped over a row, he would follow me. He would point at ripe berries and tell me where to pick. Once he picked one, he would carefully inspect it and if it suited his standards, it went into his bucket. If not, he flung it with all his might across the fields saying "ay yai yai" It his new thing. He got it from me, when I change his diaper I would say "ay yai yai" which basically means oh boy.  So if something is dirty, broken, or if he has a dirty diaper, he comes up to me and says "ay yai yai". I think it is the cutest thing ever. 

Well, we went, we saw, we picked, we ate.  The kids were so excited to surprise daddy with their strawberries, and take a box to our neighbor. We will most likely go again soon, I want to get more berries for freezing and for making freezer jam. I love this season. I love spring. I love summer. I love warm and sunny days. Today was perfect. 

How beautiful are those berries? 

Thanks for visiting, 

Half Bath - updated

So I recently painted the bathroom. With stripes. Again. 

It was already striped, I just repainted them to get a fresh look. I alternated the stripes. It used to start and end with white, so the trims did not pop, now they pop against the gray. 

This half bath is so small, it doesn't even have room for a regular door. No kidding, there is a pocket door, which I do not love, but oh well. 

I know that striped walls are not as popular as they were once. I originally painted the half bath in 2012! (what?! its been 4 years?!) But I still love them in this bathroom. If the whole bathroom was gray, it would feel like a cave. Trust me, I tried that. Didn't like it one bit. When it was all white, It was boring. So stripes it is. 

I also had hubby put up these ikea shelves for me. Perfect place to store extra toilet paper and clean towels. I love them! 

This bathroom came a long way from where it was before - Can you believe that is the same bathroom?!

Thanks for visiting, 

Gardening with the kids...

Emily goes back to school tomorrow after a wonderful spring break. Her backpack is hanging downstairs, her pencil box is filled with new sharpened pencils and a fresh new eraser. Lunch is packed, and the dress she chose to wear tomorrow is folded on her dresser. As think about our spring break, I can't help but smile. Although, we didn't get to go on a family vacation, as I hoped we would, we still managed to have a nice spring break, filled with memories. We went to the zoo, the tulip farm, family bike rides, parks, multiple frozen yogurt runs and so on.  We spent the rest of the time we had in our back yard, the kids came up with new games daily, they were pirates one day and pioneers the next. As I watch them play, I can't help but think back to my childhood. I was blessed to grow up in a large family, we didn't have a TV, so most of our time was spent in pretend play. I remember hauling tons of toys outside and setting out our "houses" or "stores".  

Since we have been spending so much time outside, it was time to spruce up the yard. I loaded the kids into the SUV this morning and headed not to one, but two home and garden stores in order to get everything on my list. While the kids and I planted our garden, hubby built shelves in the shed and organized it. We brought out all our patio things and set everything up. The yard looks so great now, and we are looking forward to spending a lot of time out here. 

 Thanks for visiting, 

Visit to the tulip farm...

We went to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival today. The last time we went, I was pregnant with Nicholas, which was over 5 years ago. Every year we have wanted to go, or should I say "I" have wanted to go, but something always came up, anything from no free Sundays, or non stop rain. Plus, this is not something my husband likes to do. He considers it "boring",  but I told him that we haven't been in years, we can take some pretty pictures and well your wife wants to go. LOL, I don't know which did it, but he finally agreed. We beat the crowd by leaving right after breakfast, and after about an hour, we were there. It was such a beautiful day, sunny and 75 degrees. There were 40 acres of tulips, absolutely stunning.

-We met a couple at the farm with 2 young kids, they offered to take our family picture and we returned the favor. We joked  about how we have to 100 pictures in order to get 10 good ones. Very true. Most of our pictures turn out something like these two pictures-

-But, I always keep a few "out takes", because life isn't "perfect" and I want to remember everything. Even the struggle of having a two year to stand still for 5 seconds. -

-Our family- love this picture because everyone is looking in the "direction" of the camera :) -

-My darling girl-

-Can you believe this pose?? I can't stop smiling. This is my boy who hates taking pictures, I can't believe I got a smile and a head tilt :) -

-Nico worked really hard on getting this rusty tractor started, however he had no luck-

-Always running away and looking back to me to make sure I chase him, If I am not, he comes back and tries again :) -

-These tulips are huge! Almost as tall as William-

-Pink John Deere!!! I want one on my "imaginary farm"-

-Tractor ride-

-Cute dutch kids :) -

Thanks for visiting,