make and bake memories: {Our Week} - 5/6/13

First off - Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! What a wonderful day where the important people in our life show us just how important we are to them as well! :)

Madden's vocabulary is growing so fast I can hardly keep up! Some words this week include: "mine", "Lori" and "money". I love when he say's Lori - sounds like "Larry" hehe. My sweet little boy is getting so big. Just looking at him he seems taller every day. He's definitely in that "thinning out" phase - I even had to pull out all of the 12 month shorts he wore at the end of summer last year because his 18 month shorts won't stay up!

In other news we think Madden MIGHT be left handed! He seems to favor his left hand, but we will see! Mike and I always joked that we'd "encourage" our children to be left handed - but day-to-day parental responsibilities kind of made us forget about that. So it would be funny if it actually happened on its own.

Mariah was a big helper this week. She loves to be involved in everything we do - whether it's making dinner, cleaning or helping Madden. She's willing to do it all! I love the moments I catch her talking to Madden and saying stuff like "It's OK buddy! Do you want me to get you some more cereal?" I think the kids do have a secret language and they understand each other, but sometimes Mariah will sit there and say "YES OR NO Madden? YES OR NO?!" He usually just looks at her like she's a crazy person. Hehe :)

Mike, as some of you may know, does not like to dabble in hobbies and activities. He likes to be an expert at everything he does. For example - our developing garden (we finally got to plant today!). He has done weeks of research and I think knows just about everything to keep this garden thriving. I am thankful for that because I have a black thumb. I can't keep any plant alive, let alone grow food! I can't wait to see how this turns out! :)

I am still loving to bake whenever I get the chance. This week I even COOKED! Homemade brown butter tomato sauce with basil was the dish of choice. It was SO good and SO simple. I just might have to share it on here sometime! It will be the perfect dish to make with the 100 pounds of tomatoes we are going to get from this garden of ours ;)

"Mom, if I put money under my pillow the tooth fairy will bring me a nice, clean tooth!"
Backwards day? :)

Mariah: "I'm a crown lady!"
Me: "Oh... you mean a princess?"

The Niabi Zoo!

This weekend we met up with a friend, Rachel, her husband and their sweet little girl Elliot! We had such a good time at the zoo. Even though it was a little windy, the kids loved seeing the animals; especially feeding the goats in the petting zoo! The train was a hit, too! We're lucky to have a nice little zoo so close by.