spring decorating

A few days ago I was ready to make my house look spring-y.  But we got rid of most of our seasonal decorations, so it was time to get creative.  I made a few fun things to spruce up the house!

 

(I love ball jars!!  I'm SO happy that I brought a few with me!)

 

I made this fun little bunny runner and picked some blooming rosemary from our yard.

 

And I painted this little bunny painting and hung up a couple other fun things I already had.  the butterfly painting is by my AMAZINGLY talented friend, Mary Freeman.  She has a fantastic blog... http://splendidadventure.blogspot.com

 

Yay for spring and creative time and making our house feel more and more like home!

 

 

While John was in India

I thought John being gone for a week might just be more than I could handle.  But so many of y'all were praying for me, and we had a really wonderful week!  Praise the LORD!!! 

 It was a really fun week with the kids.

 

Zach built a fire and cooked us potatoes and onions (Arab style) in the coals one night.  It was a blast!

Zach is making this funny face because it was super hot where he was standing.

 

I got to meet some new neighbors that night, too..which I LOVED!  One of them has a 6-year-old son and has lived in America before which means she speaks great English!

 

Another day we clipped back some vines/branches on our front porch.

 

We got doughnuts one morning for breakfast and snuck some into a friend's kitchen.

 

We decorated leftover cupcakes from Catie's birthday.

 

We played beauty shop.  I loved my rainbow manicure.

 

I also got to hang out on the couch for a few days to make sure baby Hannah didn't come too early.  I'm SO thankful for some friends who brought meals and hung out and even slept at our house to help me those days while John was gone!

(This picture is me and my Hannah belly on bedrest!)

 

It was a really happy, fun week!

 

But we were all happy to have John back home!!

birthday time

February brought our first two family birthdays since we've been here.  We had a really fun time celebrating together.

 

For John's birthday, we went out to wings with all the friends who work for the same company in our city.  We had a little cake celebration as a family.  John and I got to go on a date night and watch Les Mis that night, too. It was a really great day. 

 

This is what you do when you can't find candles for the cake!  : )

 

Catie's birthday was at the end of the month.  She was SO excited to turn 6!  I can't believe our precious, beautiful girl is already 6.  We had a little family celebration at home.  But Catie's REAL birthday wish was to have a sleepover with Miss Jessica and 2 friends.  Jessica was a superhero and hosted a party for all 3 girls.  They decorated cupcakes, had a royal tea party, and had a blast together.

 

Here we are singing "Happy Birthday."  Cutie girl was a little embarrassed. 

 

Catie wanted angel food cake for her home celebration.  We couldn't find an angel food cake pan anywhere, and it didn't turn out so great in a 9x13 pan.  For a last minute save, I cut the cake into hearts, iced the, and put on cute sprinkles.  Whew!  It worked.

 

Here's the sleepover.  (Zach made cupcakes to send over for decorating!  What a great brother!)

 

Cute girls

 

Miss Jessica is only gonna be here for another 5 weeks or so.  We're going to miss her SOOOOO much!

 

Happy birthday, John and Catie.  I loved celebrating you guys!!!