May Celebrations

The past couple of weeks have been full of celebrating.    We have had a couple of birthday parties for friends, Mother's Day, and my birthday.   And Peter's birthday is right around the corner.  So much love and fun this month.   It is busy, but a blast.   Here are the pictures.......

My mother's day celebrating started on Friday with a little tea party at SA's school.   They sang a couple of songs to us and then we had juice and cookies.   SA was so excited to have me in her classroom.   

She showed me their classroom caterpillars, that have since become butterflies that they released.   This was so sweet and the perfect way to start off my weekend.  

Peter was out of town so we decided to have a play-date on Friday afternoon.   12 kids and 4 mamas and rainy weather meant that we broke out the Disney movie and the popcorn to keep the chaos at bay.   It totally worked!   

Susannah brought home a book she had written about me for Mother's Day.   She was so proud, but it was a little shot to my ego because it highlighted the fact that I let her have screen time on my phone, I sometimes deprive her of hot water in the bath, and I "act crazy" when she and SA are misbehaving.   Not exactly the glowing endorsement I would have hoped for, but it made me laugh and I will remember it forever.   ;)

That Saturday SA had her very first birthday party.   She was so excited. 

It was a total madhouse but she had a blast.   And really enjoyed the chocolate cake.   

Peter and I went out to dinner that night to celebrate my birthday.   We ate in the neighborhood where we lived in 2009 and after dinner walked by our old apartment.   It was a great date night.  

The next morning the girls were jazzed to celebrate Mother's Day.    SA wore her party favor paw patrol mask to celebrate.

These roses were the Mother's Day gift that kept on giving as they looked more beautiful every day for over a week.  

After church we went to Old Town for brunch.

Lobster cobb salad and sunshine were awesome Mother's Day gifts.  

My beauty and me. 

I'm teaching them impeccable table manners. 

After lunch we fed the ducks. 

And had some ice cream.  

SA and I have been spending sunny days at the tot lot.   We play on this see-saw and sing her favorite song from library story-time, "Zoom, Zoom to the Moon."

The day after Mother's Day was my birthday.   The girls were so pumped about the cake.  

So was I.  ;)

Susannah is so generous and loves to give gifts.   I offered cake before gifts, but she was so excited for me to open them.  

It was a wonderful birthday.   I told Peter that I love getting older because every year seems to be filled with more love and more fun.   

I can't believe this girl will be in 1st grade in the Fall.   She has changed and learned so much this year.   Makes me teary just thinking about it.  

Peter is so sweet about making it a priority to go eat lunch with Susannah once a month or so.   He strategically goes on Fridays so he can have the school cafeteria pizza.   His visits make her day.    

On Sunday the girls and I walked over to get some ice cream.   

We deserved it since we had grey skies while Daddy was enjoying this view.  

Meadow and SA and I sift through the ceramics that are in this rock garden in our neighborhood.   The lady who lives her is an art teacher and she is always adding new pieces.   SA loves this and I have to tear her away.   We always pick our favorites and line them up on the ledge. 

And there you have the highlights from our last couple of weeks.   Coming up we have a four day weekend and Peter's birthday.   We love and miss you all!   Happy Memorial Day.

Life Lately

Nothing too exciting has been happening here in Alexandria.   We have been enjoying the spring weather and trying to soak up as much fun as we can before the school year is officially over.   I try not to think about Susannah being a first grader too often because it makes me way too nostalgic and weepy.   Time, why are you so relentless in your constant marching???    

We've been enjoying family dinners out on Friday nights.   Eating with kids is so much more fun outside!

We have had a few rainy Saturdays, which means movies on the couch.   

The girls spent one afternoon making mud pies.  

And Daddy had the great idea to move the trampoline outside for the summer. 

We've been spending lots of afternoons after school playing with friends.  

And Sarah Avery's favorite game is still "babies".

Sarah Avery loves school lately and is really excited about the caterpillars they have in their classroom.  

We spent one Saturday morning at the zoo.    We saw the tigers. 

And the elephants.   They were having so much fun, they didn't want to humor mommy with a photo smile.   

Meadow is still super sweet, soft and old.   

She loves the girls.   

One weekend it was warm enough for sprinklers!!   The girls had a blast.  

And took a break to do some sidewalk chalk art.  

Peter and Susannah planted some flowers in the backyard.  

And last Saturday we donned our rain gear and headed out to Oxen Hill Farm, a little historic state park in Maryland.   It was an easy 15 minutes from our house and so fun.   

The girls loved exploring.  

Watching the chickens was their favorite activity by far.  

They liked the horses too.  

It started to drizzle so we headed inside their little visitor center to check things out.   The girls loved the books and games.   And Susannah even won a little prize for answering a quiz about sustainability correctly.  

We had some friends over one day to try out the new backyard swing.  

It is a hit.  

Susannah had a birthday party one afternoon so the rest of us headed out for some ice cream.  

SA and I baked some chocolate chip pumpkin bread for her teachers since this week is teacher appreciation week.    

SA loves to take Meadow for walks.  

And that is it for the Mallory's lately.    These two are growing so fast and Peter and I are trying to soak in every minute.    

We hope all of you are doing well.  Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing moms in our lives!   We love you all!!