Last weekend I headed by train to Germany for what will likely be my last trip to see Leigh and her family. Seth and the boys came the next day to meet me in Germany.   It was a bittersweet weekend. I helped her pack boxes and helped her throw Katy Jo’s 1st Birthday party. It was so much fun to get to be with them and it was good to feel like I could attempt to help when they are going through a rough time with Bo in the hospital and their upcoming move approaching. But since I am still in denial about their moving I will focus on the party.

A few months ago Leigh mentioned wanting to do a French cafe theme party. She sent me this link….

French Cafe Birthday

Here is the invitation, if I had had more time I would have redone it but it was a quick job and it was probably better because the perfectionist in me would have likely given up and told Leigh I couldn’t help with it. Better I just sent it as is.

And here is how the cafe turned out…

Leigh’s parents made an amazing awning and she borrowed her neighbors patio. It looked like a real cafe.

Leigh’s friend, Heidi, made the window boxes with paper flowers…she also made homemade chocolate eclairs! So yummy!

what’s a French cafe without sweet macaroons?!

Leigh’s friend, Stefanie, made delicious chocolate cupcakes!

,

we used french yogurt containers on the cafe tables with a few daisies in them…when we go to France next week I have decided I will eat a daily yogurt so I can collect 10 more of these. Nope, not going for 10 days but maybe I can force feed some to my kid and Seth too!

Sweet birthday girl

KJ’s GiGi was in town helping out and made the yummy strawberry cake…and KJ’s daddy, Bo, got to leave the hospital for 2 hours to join in the fun!!

Jackson was reunited with his buddy Grayson. They were sitting on the step comparing bruises!

So cute together. I really wish they lived closer so the boys could play more!

Owen loved running in the grass and sneaking behind the bushes.

We all had a great time!  Happy Birthday, Katy Jo!  I hope I can help with your Sweet 16 one day…and your wedding! But that is way down the road. We want to keep enjoying you while you’re little! Thanks for sharing the past year with us! (ps-I’m sure glad I got to have pink heart-shaped waffles with you for breakfast and champagne mimosas with your mommy and GiGi to celebrate your mom successfully being a momma for a whole yr!!! )

We had a very low key Memorial Day this year. Jackson and I went to pick strawberries in the morning with a friend while Owen and Seth hung out at home. The field is about 10 minutes from our home. We all took naps in the afternoon and then had a relaxing evening together. Jackson and I made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie in the afternoon and we grilled and ate outside for dinner. It was nice to be together on a Monday after a busy weekend. Here are some pictures from our day…

we picked 4 kgs..over 8 lbs of strawberries!

a bit runny because we couldn’t wait for it to cool! So yummy!

a la mode

It was nice this year to be able to explain more to Jackson about what Memorial Day means. He sees the Marine’s working at the Embassy so he now has some visuals of men and women serving to protect us. During dinner we talked about being proud to be Americans. Jackson announced that he was a Swiss American. We clarified that he was an American living in Switzerland. He looked over at Owen, who was chomping corn on the cobb, and said, “now that is an American eating corn”.

We did things a little differently for mother’s day this year. We celebrated on Sat because Seth was worried that so many things would be closed on Sunday. The boys took me downtown to the market that I LOVE! I could spend hours roaming the market, taking in the sights and smells! Now I knew going into it that Jackson didn’t have the same feelings because 10 minutes before leaving the house Seth told him about the plans. He screamed “I don’t like mothers day and I DON’T LIKE THE MARKET”. So, we browsed quickly to keep the troops happy. Jackson actually had a great time and lasted longer than expected. After taking it all in we hopped over to the homemade taco stand and bought tacos and quesadillas to take to the park nearby. We also bought some cherries and blueberries at the market to add to the picnic. We had a fun lunch and the boys got to run around.

Yesterday on Mother’s Day Jackson and Seth made Pioneer Woman’s Lemon Blueberry Pancakes which were amazing!! Jackson gave me the cards he had made at school last week and the boys tried so hard to behave! (It’s Mother’s Day stressful when kids know all you want is for them to be easy-going and on their best behavior) We had a pretty chill day of bike riding and church!

Deeper thoughts on motherhood later…for now, some pictures from our day

I love how they put the bouquets into old cans

Super curious how much the farmer would sell this painting of a tomato for! I *may* have asked Seth to sneak back during a weekday market to ask. I love it!

a proud bride and groom parading through the market.

These days Owen feels so big to me, this picture reminds me in the big picture that he is still my little guy!

these were my favorite flowers of the day. Jackson picked them out with Seth…saying he knew I would love pink!  Truly blessed to have 2 beautiful, healthy boys and a husband that helps me raise them!!  Thanks boys for a special Mother’s Day!

to our moms! And to our friends that are moms! And to all of my dear friends that long to be moms!

Here are some Spring pretties to brighten your Mother’s Day! It is good our moms aren’t in town because I would not have been able to choose flowers for them. I loved everything I saw at the market! Pictures will have to do this year! Wish we were closer!