Mother's Day Weekend 2015

Well, this Mother's Day weekend was a special one.  

On Friday, I had the treat of enjoying brunch out with a friend (Genna) and of course Jansen came along.  I was so excited that we got to eat outside in the sunshine!  I'm so thrilled it's finally Spring (well, feels more like the middle of Summer, but I'll take it).  Genna had the shadier seat, so she enjoyed some sweet snuggles with Jansen when he wasn't hanging out in the stroller.

After our brunch, I enjoyed a stroll, just me and Jansen in the fresh air, for about 45 minutes.  It was glorious.  The rest of the day was family time and it was very nice.  Poor Tavin wasn't feeling good from a combination of a cold and major seasonal allergies, but he's such a trooper.  We had a nice day as a family finishing it up with a party on a neighbor's front porch (a summer tradition...yay!).

On Saturday, we technically celebrated Mother's Day.  My big request was to get some time outdoors gardening and weeding.  It was supposed to be 90, so I got outside early and got my side garden planted with my helper, Koen.  Tav and Penn went on errands with Doug (and Jansen slept).  When it was time for Jansen to eat, Doug whisked Koen away with the other boys to finally vacuum out our van (which could've won the award for most disgusting family vehicle ever).  Check out the crew...

There was a festival in our neighborhood that day, so it was our midday plan to walk down there and hang out with neighbors and mingle a bit over lunch, but poor Tav...as we headed out on the walk, he had another severe allergic reaction and had intense pain in his eye which led to his eye puffing up horribly (this has happened before).  Doug stayed home with him and I took the rest of the boys on the walk, but it was hot and so we kept it brief.  Tavin ended up sleeping the entire afternoon (poor thing!).  Our original plans were to go out to dinner with Dr. Megan and Marshall, but we cancelled that since Tavin really wasn't comfortable, especially with the heat.  So, Dr. Megan and Marshall came over for some hangout time in the backyard.  I actually loved the change in plans (except I would've rather that Tav felt good of course).  It was laid back, enjoyable and sweet.  I desired nothing more.  And, turns out we need a pediatrician around.  Megan came in handy! =)  She gave us some helpful calming about Tav's situation and some advice to take him to an allergist.  And here's Koen getting some work done on his finger that was injured a month ago at school, battled an infection and has a 50/50 chance of being nail-less for life.

It was a blast to watch all our boys play.  Marshall was VERY interested in Jansen, but more as a toy thing than a human.  He came up with the idea of pulling up grass and throwing it on Janse!

My sweet Tavin.  Poor bug.  This is actually a lot better than it was earlier in the day.

The boys had all prepared homemade gifts and cards for me.  It was so precious!  Here's Koe passing out copies of the poem he wrote for me (they are working on alliteration, so it sported a ton of it!).

Reading said poem.  It was adorable.

Koen also made me a card, with an addressed envelope (he was proud he knew our address!).

Penn made a card with Miss Christal at speech therapy on Friday.  He was proud to present it to me.  Excuse my weird face, I'm directing my smile at Penn.

Tavin made several projects at preschool.  Gotta love preschool.

Tav looks sad here, but he was really just being bashful as I praised him for his effort on these projects.

Megan held Jansen for me while I opened all my presents and cards from the boys.  She's a big fan of the little guy!

Marshall is so much fun to have around.  He just jumps in with the Melder boys.  Here's Marshall and Penn enjoying truck sliding. =)

And later, Marshall got bold enough to attempt a horsey-ride on Penn!  Hilarious!

Here's my display of my gifts later that evening after Megan and Marshall left, the boys were in bed and Doug and I were about to enjoy our favorite, homemade pizza date night.  

On Sunday, actual Mother's Day, Doug was preaching, so he left early and I had my 4 boys all day.  It was a nice morning.  We went to the 11am service and then Koen went home with a friend for a few hours for a play date, so the afternoon was a little quieter back at home (and I was so happy he got some peer play time!).  Then in the evening, while Doug was still out at church, Megan and Marshall came back over for some more backyard playtime.  Koen enjoyed playing with my camera during that time, but he did get a few pics of this momma and her littlest.  

And here's Penn and Marshall "digging" each other (again, photo credit to Koen).

Well, that was pretty much it for Mother's Day weekend.  That was also it for my brief time with Megan and Marshall.  It was such a tease to have them here for a few days and get some sweet time hanging out with them, but I'll take it.  I'm hoping they don't wait too much more than 4 months for their next visit back to the States, but we'll see.  Megan will always be a close friend, no matter the miles.  I just pray for another reunion in the near future!