Mother's Day weekend at the coast

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! The winner of the giveaway is... #12... Lauri! (Well, that's gonna save me some shipping!) Better luck next time, everyone! Erin, the name of the devotional is "Becoming a Woman Who Walks With God," by Cynthia Heald.

I was truly spoiled this weekend. My mom took the boys and me to the coast for a getaway. Her one spending spree of the year, and she wanted to share it with us! We stayed at her favorite inn overlooking the ocean, and took the boys to the beach on Saturday. Then my hubby and my dad drove over to bring us lunch and hang out on Sunday.

On Sunday, we headed to the beach again for breakfast at our favorite seaside cafe.

Back at the hotel, we set up camp between the pool and ocean for the perfect view and a game of Monopoly...

Even Daddy got to put his feet up for awhile...

Mom, you are the most thoughtful, generous, fun-loving person I know, and I am so blessed to have you for my mother!! Thank you for a fabulous weekend!

A Mother's Day Giveaway!

A devotional that helped pull me out of a major funk a while back. 

Funky music that gets me and the boys moving and makes me smile.

An inspirational book that encouraged me on this world-changing journey called motherhood.

A pretty little silver and turquoise bracelet I picked up on our trip to Tuscon.

These are my gifts to you, my dear readers -- one of you, that is, or the mother you choose to share them with if you are not one yourself.

(And, ahem, try to forget that I said I was going to do this a month ago, and just go along with the Mother's Day gift idea! You know it's just a ploy to get you to comment, anyway.)

Yes, you do have to comment to be entered! And, if you feel like mentioning this elsewhere, you can have an extra entry!  You have until noon on Monday to enter.

Happy Mother's Day, my friends!!

Down on the farm

A very full day -- at home

We've had a lot of exciting days out of the house lately, but today we had plenty of fun right here at home. I didn't think to get the camera out until after lunch, so you'll just have to trust me that the morning was productive -- the story of Ruth and Naomi, Vv is for Vikings... and violin practice, "Stink and the Incredible, Super-Galactic Jawbreaker"...

And a science experiment I'd procrastinated for weeks. (It took a whopping 2 1/2 hours, so that might explain why! More to come when the final results are in.)

After cleaning up, I retired to my bedroom, and let the boys run wild (of course)...

Even just 20 minutes of Monopoly counts as math, right?

I think the kids invented some game involving boogie boards, sprinklers, and jumping, 'cause there was sure a lot of noise coming through my bedroom window!

The daily pile of Legos...

And, Bionicle pirates?

Anyone up for waffles and 9 By Design at Nana and Papa's house?