Little Bestie

The past month or so I've been so lucky to be able to spend some special time with my little bestie. Cadence and I have so much fun together. I'm so grateful I get to be her mom and friend.  If there is something Cadence loves it's an outing.  Any kind of outing.  She just loves to be busy doing something.

With the weather being so beautiful lately we decided to go for a little walk to the park. Since it was girls time we decided to take Daisy with us.

 

A favorite activity is going to restaurants.  One Saturday after grabbing groceries we decided to treat ourselves to lunch.

Then last week we headed to Cadence's last elementary school dance.  I can't believe she will be in middle school in September.  She is growing up so fast!

 

One of our favorite activities together is having tea parties.  As a surprise I invited my mom, sister and her two girls up to join us for a tea party.  It was so nice to be all together and I hope it will become a tradition.  We served herbal tea, pink lemonade; chicken salad mini tarts, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, tuna sandwiches and egg sandwiches; fruit; shrimp cocktail; veggies and dip; and mini lemon tarts, german chocolate mini cupcakes and chocolate fingers.

 Love that girl of mine!!

Mother's Day 2025

 

More Birthday Fun

Amongst the Atwood Birthday Season we also celebrated Ashton's girlfriend's birthday.  Ashton decorated the house to surprise her and even made her birthday cake.

 

He made her a vanilla cake with buttercream icing.  He had to improvise when he wasn't able to find matches to light the candles.

 Happy Birthday Cat!! We are so blessed to have you a part of our lives. Have a wonderful year!

Birthday Tea Party

Cadence didn't feel like a family birthday party was enough so she also invited a couple friends over for a birthday tea party.

The girls started by painting and decorating little cottages.  We had planned on a couple other activities as well but they were having so much fun crafting it took most of the time.  I even had to text both the girls moms to check that we could have them stay longer so we'd have time for the tea party.

 

Then it was time for the tea party, opening presents, a photo booth with lots of props and cake.  The girls had a great time.  One of the girls tried 5 different teas.

Happy 11th Birthday Cadence - We love you!!

 

Atwood Birthday Season 2025

January - May is Atwood Birthday Season.

The birthday sign goes up in January for Jason's birthday and then doesn't come down until May after Daisy's birthday and the anniversary of the still birth of our baby Kenneth (which coincidentally is the same day).

We had fun family celebrations for each one, with presents, food, and a great time was had by all.  Hope everyone has a great year.  Love you all!!

 

 

 

Graduation 2024!!

I'm a bit late in doing so, but I need to acknowledge our family's latest graduate!  In May of 2024 Bowen graduated from High School.  These years are just going by far to quickly.  It was a bit of a cloudy, cold day as we waited in line outside the Eagle Grey Casino for the ceremony to begin.

It was a very nice ceremony with great speeches, and music from the school band and choir.  It is surprising to me how quickly they can present over 500 students with their diplomas.  It is always a proud moment to see your child walk the stage and be presented with their certificate.  

After the ceremony we had lunch and then later that evening we took Bowen to Wellington's for a very nice dinner.  He is a bit of a foodie so he thoroughly enjoyed the tableside caesar salad and beef wellington.  It was great that Grandma was also able to join us.

 We are so proud of Bowen and all the work he put in to graduate from high school.  We look forward to seeing all the amazing things that are ahead for him.  I know he will be able to accomplish so much and am grateful to be the mom to such a thoughtful, kind and loyal person.

CONGRATULATIONS!!  I hope your future is everything you dream of!!

 

Father's Day 2024

We also celebrated Father's Day in June.  How blessed we are to have Jason as the father in our home.  After church it was time to open presents.  I hardly ever surprise Jason but he wasn't expecting his gift this year.

After a dinner of Jason's favorites (steak, roasted potatoes, green beans and deviled eggs), Cadence had prepared a little game for us to play.  I'm sure the order of winners was completely based on our answers.  Wink, wink!

The boys tied for 3rd place, I received 2nd place, and Jason received 1st place.  Cadence had made us all certificates and trophies.

Thanks for being the best dad Jason!!  We love you so much.

Celebrating Daisy

From January through May we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.  To finish up we celebrated Daisy's 4th birthday on May 2nd.

She was spoiled on her special day with cake and a new toy and some treats.  We love her so much.  She's a great little dog and we love having her be a part of our family.

 

What's extra special about Daisy's birthday is that it falls on the same day that our Kenneth David was born.  This year would have been Kenneth's 16th birthday.  Can't believe it has been that long.  We are sad he isn't with us in this life but there is much comfort in the fact that we know we will be together in the life to come.  We celebrated and remembered him with cake as well.

Charcoal portrait by Jason

And That's a Wrap!

This past Friday night was my year end music recital.  The week leading up to it was a busy one, with final lessons, preparing treat bags and summer practice charts, purchasing groceries and lots of baking and preparing.

24 of my 28 students were able to perform at the recital.  Everyone played really well.  Cadence did great playing 2 piano songs and then sang Crocodile Rock (I accompanied on the guitar), we invited everyone to sing the la la la's at the end with us.  It was fun!

I ended the recital with singing "Fear of Flying".  It was a song my dad loved by Pied Pumpkin.  Shari Ulrich sings it - I'm no match but I did my best and I think everyone enjoyed it.

After a photo with my students we had refreshments in the gym and visited.  It was a really great evening.  

By the end of June I'm always feeling a bit tired and sometimes frustrated with teaching but the recital always reminds me how much I love teaching my students and gets me excited about starting another year in September.

And that's a wrap!  Now to enjoy a couple months off.