Dinner out back

We had a very full weekend of soccer games, a parade, coop building, and other stuff. Good stuff and exhausting stuff. Yesterday the weather was gorgeous! My dad and I worked on the coop…that is getting closer and closer to being finished. Yay. We also had our families over for a Mother’s Day dinner. Our picnic tables are hands down the most used furniture we own.

FireCracker and her cousin had their own special table. The boys hid out and ate in the teepee (c/o Playhaven). Little One wandered around the table and pretended like she was going to eat. She likes the idea of eating…not so much the actual food in the mouth part of it!

My mom has been asking for a photo of all her grandkids. Seven kids: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9….a bit impossible to get an “all smiling sweetly” shot. This was the one we settled on for Nana’s canvas. The lighting is splotchy, which was driving me crazy, but the kids weren’t about to make it if I tried relocating them.

Here’s some of the others we had to choose from…

I might need a canvas of this one. Oh my girl…she is a mess and a half.

The contrast between the excitement of my oldest son and my oldest daughter cracks me up.

My sister, Lesley and her family *** and Chris took this one of me and the kids.

the little girls * me & my sister * my mom * my grandma – 4 generations

I am so thankful for my mom, my grandmas and my mother-in-law. I have some truly wonderful women in my life. It is always wonderful to have them all together at my home, in the midst of the craziness of the kids, chickens and fiesty cat.

Little One and I ended the day together, keeping with a tradition I started last year when we were still waiting for her to come home. A letter. A balloon. A prayer.  A heart full of gratitude for her first mom.