tales from a far-land

An amazing Mother's Day full of everything I could imagine. The day started off with homemade challah French toast, bacon, eggs, fruit and mimosas made by Josh and the kids. Continued with swimming/pool time and tons of relaxing. No day would be complete without some tears and Mommy teaching moments. And it concluded with dinner, conversation and some good laughs with my Mom and Oma. A very good day all around! Mother's Day Card from Madi Mother's Day Card from Aiden Another card from Aiden (Madi *may* have written it) Mother's Day Cards from Josh and my Mom Aiden and I  Madi and I  My kiddos  The kids and Oma  The kids and Grandma  The kiddos  Me and the kids  My mom and I  Oma and I  Mom, Oma and me

April was a fancy month for Josh and I.  We attended two different galas.  The first was a gala for Temple Kol Ami.  Our friend, Jen, was one of the co-chairs of the event.  So, we decided to attend and support her efforts.  It as a beautiful event, and we enjoyed spending a fancy night out with our Goldstar gang. Jamie and I The girls -- Jamie, Jen and I Josh and I Jamie, Nate, Jen, Chris, Josh and I The next event we attended was the For Those Without a Voice Gala.  We have attended this gala for three years now.  One of Josh's clients runs the event and we love supporting his organization.  It is, by far, one of the best formal events I have ever attended.  It is always at the Montelucia Resort & Spa.  And a room at the hotel  for the evening  is included in the price of the ticket.  This year, Josh and I decided to take advantage of the whole package and relax a little.  We spent the day ...

At the end of each grading period, BASIS Phoenix Central celebrates and unwinds with a fun spirit week. The last spirit week of the year occurred at the beginning of May.  My kids love spirit week. They love dressing up and participating in the various themed days.  We participated in four out of the five days this time.  Sadly, "Element Day" stumped the Farrell-Landers household.  Madilyn's element this year is Helium and she didn't want to dress up like a balloon.  Aiden's element this year is Nitrogen and I couldn't come up with anything except a gas mask for him to wear, which is not allowed.  Oh well!  So, we participated in the other days and the kids still had a blast. Out of This World Day       Decades Day ~ 50's Era             Disney/Pixar Day     Spirit Day/Orange Day

We celebrated Easter this year at home with family and friends.  In the morning, we watched the kids hunt for their eggs in the backyard.  They are getting much better at finding the hidden eggs.  Maybe next year, the Easter Bunny will hide eggs for the adults and kids to find.  After the egg hunt, we brunched on the patio while enjoying the beautiful morning weather.  It was a wonderful time to catch up with everyone and to unwind from a long, busy week. In the afternoon, we walked down to our neighbors (Ben and Maria Henderson) home for another egg hunt and holiday party.  The kids loved the egg hunt.  However, I think Aiden enjoyed learning and practicing jiu jitsu with all of the other kids.  Ben and Maria own a jiu jitsu training center in Glendale and Aiden had so much fun being a "boy" -- kicking, punching, and pouncing.  Madi, on the other hand, loved being one of the older girls so she could teach the younger kids to color, read an...