Strawberry Fields Forever

We were so happy to have Jonathan's parents come for a visit last week! One day while they were here we went to a nearby strawberry patch. We had such a fun time picking strawberries, so fun that we ended up picking 26.2 pounds of strawberries. The crazy thing was that almost every strawberry we picked looked perfect. Jackie and I spent a whole day making strawberry jam and getting strawberries ready to freeze. You can bet that over the next few months we are going to be having strawberry jam, strawberry shortcake, strawberry cake, strawberry bread, strawberry smoothies, strawberry muffins, strawberry ice cream, strawberry trifle, strawberry pie, strawberry tarts, strawberry milkshakes, etc. If you have any other ideas of things to make with strawberries please let me know! I took a couple of pictures with my phone, but I didn't get a picture of the boxes after they were full. We had two boxes like Mason is holding completely full.
Max definitely ate more than he picked. He kept trying to put them back after we picked them.


Side note: Mason has on a cross necklace that he made in Children's Church. He used all black beads because he said he wanted it to look like a rock star. I'm not sure that is exactly what they had in mind:)

End Result

Easter 2011

This was our first Easter in Florida and our first Easter that we weren't able to be with our families. I hadn't even really thought about what we were going to do until my sweet friend Sarah, whose husband is deployed, called and asked us if we wanted to have lunch together. She said she already had a menu planned and all I needed to do was make a dessert. She even brought everything over to our house so that Max could take a nap! The food was amazing, and we had a really great time celebrating this special holiday together. The kids dyed eggs, had an egg hunt, and decorated cupcakes. I'm so thankful that God has already blessed us with such wonderful friends in Florida!

Max with his guitar and Mason with his Lite Brite from the Easter Bunny

Max liked to put the eggs back where he found them instead of putting them in his basket.

Sunny Days

Max is a pretty big fan of Sesame Street these days, and he isn't above throwing a fit if he wants to watch it. The other day I turned the television off and he kept pointing the remote at it trying to turn it back on. He proceeded to wail for 20 minutes until he wore himself out and I put him down for a nap. Max has also started "singing" Elmo's song, although Big Bird is his favorite character and one of his favorite words.

He also loves to cuddle with his pillow pets.

Star Soccer

Who needs a medal....
when you could have a juice box instead.

Mason played in a Star Soccer league this year and he seemed to have really enjoyed it. He was excited to go every week, but as indicated above, I think he got more excited about the post game refreshments than the actual soccer.

Jonathan and I spent our time trying to entertain Max and keep him off of the field, not an easy task.

A couple of pictures I took before Mason went to practice one day...

Celebrate!

Last Friday was Jonathan's 31st birthday. We celebrated at home (the best place to eat with Max these days) and had some fun family time. The highlight of the night was having water gun fights. Happy Birthday, Jonathan! Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and fun daddy. I love you so much. Peanut Butter Pie (one of Jonathan's favorites)

I had Jonathan's Board Certification for Pathology framed for him. Exciting gift, huh?

Mason's gift of water guns was slightly more fun than mine. I think there might have been a little ulterior motive behind his gift.

Just In Case

I'm terrible about keeping up with pacifiers, therefore they are constantly showing up all over the house. Max found a couple of extras the other day, and he was feeling pretty good. Enjoy it while it lasts, Bud, because it will be coming to an end soon!

To Any Future Daughters-in-law

This is proof that my two boys can do housework.