Baptism Brunch.

This past weekend, KJ was baptized. After the baptism, we had friends and family gather at our home for brunch. It was such a special celebration. By tradition, kids are baptized at age eight in the LDS religion. Because KJ is almost 10, he took lessons from the missionaries and made the decision to be baptized on his own, by his request. I adore his desire to be good, and cherish his genuine, pure heart.

To celebrate, I used a white on white theme to go along with the purity of the ceremony.  For brunch we served all of KJ’s favorites – white powdered donuts, a crepe bar with all the yummy sides, and lots of bacon.

If you watch Downton Abbey, then maybe you have seen the white buntings at a special celebration {i’m editing this, because after a reader comment i realized i’d written a SPOILER ALERT!!!  SO SORRY to anyone who hadn’t gotten that far in D.A!} – this was the inspiration for using as many white garlands as i could! The buntings I used can be found here on etsy, the quality is superb. These white buntings are not your everyday buntings, i can’t say enough about the quality!  they will be cherished keepsakes forever in our family.

I made my first trip to the Boston flower market to choose and arrange the flowers myself. Using these white mason jar flower vases also from etsy. Each female guest took a vase of flowers home as a thank you for coming gift.

I need to tell you… The night before the baptism and brunch, I had an epic female meltdown around midnight. I’ve been fighting a weird virus for the second time, and all my exhaustion hit at once. After screaming at my husband and promptly going to bed, husband stayed up till 3am making seventy crepes for the brunch. best. husband. EVER.

So it was… a group of people who all know and love KJ, with spiritual hearts we came together last weekend. celebrating my little man. and that he was, a young man. it brought my heart so much joy to see him proud of his decision. It was good…very good.

Posted in family life, kiana, KJ, myla, parties, party plans, sela | 18 Comments »

christmas eve

sushi. holiday cards. good friends. good food. traditional christmas jammies. snuggles. cookies for santa. apples for the reindeer. movie: christmas vacation while playing crazy eights.

a new tradition: sitting around the tree sharing our favorite memories of 2012. my favorite memory: the moment we were all singing country songs driving around crescent lake in washington on this road trip. amazing: every one of my kids shared favorite memories that all had to do with spending time together as a family. no favorite toys. no favorite video games were mentioned. kj was almost in tears because he wanted to be back in cabo with his dear friends.

my heart was smiling.

{all photos by me. i was given a new-to-me camera for christmas!!!! and i’m still trying to figure out the white balance, so please be patient with my yellow pictures.}

Posted in chistmas eve, christmas, family life, husband, kiana, KJ, myla, sela, traditions | 4 Comments »

my little cheerleader

last weekend we received an email from our local high school cheerleaders that invited anyone in our community to join in cheering alongside them the next morning at the football game.

i instantly sent husband an email saying, sela would be all-over this!

as soon as i hit send, i received an email from husband saying, did you get this? i bet sela would want to go!

ha! our six year old bug is a big fan of cheerleaders.

out of three daughters, i might have one who follows in my footsteps…

that’s right. i was a cheerleader. all four years of high school i cheered. i was even captain one year, and i absolutely loved it. best memories ever.

this memory leads me into another thought. when my kids are disgruntled, moody, displeased with themselves, a sibling, or me — i love to remind them. dude. i am on your team. i am your cheerleader. your family is your fan club, in fact, i am the president of your fan club. remember this: we are all cheering for you. of course i like to add some jazz hands and spins, and before you know it they are all smiles and shaking their head in disbelief at how ridiculous their momma is… but isn’t it true? don’t we all need to be reminded, fairly often, that we have a fan club. that we have support. that those around us are literally cheering in our behalf.

do this today – to someone in your family, or a friend, tell someone that you are cheering for them and watch a smile cross their face. they will soften up in a heartbeat. maybe it’s just what they need to overcome something they are dealing with…

{i’m thinking: all cheerleaders need polka-dot scarves & converse, right?}

hand-in-back-pocket: adorable.

my little cheerleader: her personality and sweetness gushes in front of the camera.
and when i look at these images i can still hear her cheering, and the giggles in the air.

i caught her playing with her shadow over and over again…

love her.

so, tell me, who are the seejaneblog reader-cheerleaders out there?!?

{photos by me, Jane Beckner Rhodes}

Posted in family life, sela | 7 Comments »

family time…

i can’t say this enough – one of the best parts of our washington trip was how much time we spent together as a family + how much time we spent with extended family. from here on out, we are going to try and plan 10-day road trips as a part of every summer. it was priceless.

my kiddos thought aunt sue’s house was an amusement park between the wildlife, cool greenhouse, and the dog that would play with them for hours — they were in heaven!

did you “drive” on your parent’s laps when you were little???

while driving —
big papi: stay in the lines.
sela: oh! i get it! this is just like coloring!

Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.
-Michael J. Fox

***

my sisters greenhouse really got me thinking about gardening, and greenhouses in general. I would be the happiest woman to get my fingers back in some dirt this next spring. i’m pinning inspiring images here.

{photos by me.}

Posted in extended family, family adventures, family life, KJ, sela, travels, washington | No Comments »

Hobbies with kids.

Do you have hobbies or activities you enjoy doing with your kids? Share the same interests? or, do you struggle to find a common interest with your kiddos? Yesterday at Boston Mama’s, I talked about this topic – visit me there – and tell me what you think! xo.

{photo by me. this is sela, our little yogi doing what she calls her “starfish” pose, ::smiles::}

Posted in boston mamas, family life, sela, yoga | 3 Comments »

spring.

I have a whole lotta catching up to do with this blog + our new home. spring is so busy as a family. At least, that is my opinion – you have more sports being played + end-of-year-everything-recitals-programs + it’s the kids’ last chance to finish school work and/or improve grades + spring fever…

so, here it goes, a little review of what the kiddos did this spring:

sell-bells finished her first year on a dance company, she had three competitions and has decided to take a year off from the scene. she loved performing and getting trophies but also thinks it’s a little too much work. so, we’ll take a year off and go back another year. | myla has her first soccer season in new england – i just love a sporty girl with braids + ribbons.

myla’s traveling soccer team gave us a tour of some beautiful soccer fields around boston – some turf, some grass. always fun watching my girl do her thing.

sela had her first piano lesson & myla returned to lessons. i own my grandma’s piano, and it’s now over 60 years old. husband dislikes the fact that we have to move it every time we move, and the kids rarely practice – but it’s a part of our legacy and i’m not getting rid of it. ::smiles::

myla decided two spring sports were not enough {tennis + soccer} so she joined her middle school track team. the girls got wheels!

KJ played spring baseball on the Mariners. Big Papi was an assistant coach and this gave us a great opportunity to get to know more families in town. I love watching my little guy play – he likes playing 2nd base, catcher, and pitcher.

at the end of spring ball buddy had his first tryouts for summer travel league – i love how he gets into this sport. he always has full gear – the uniform, hat, sunglasses, a huge baseball bag – so profesh!

so proud of our oldest baby girl, kiana graduated from 8th grade in June, and had an 8th grade dance as part of the celebration. She has adjusted so well with our move this year + has met the cutest girls to be friends with + continues to be a good student.

we finished our spring events with a casual piano recital at our piano teacher’s home. sela and myla were so nervous – performing in front of strangers is not their favorite activity, but they both were so cute & did great!

I believe spring and summer brings out the very best times and possible memories for families – i hope yours are filled to the brim! xo.

{all photos by me.}

Posted in baseball, boston, dance, family life, kiana, KJ, myla, school activities, sela, track | 2 Comments »

father’s day 2012.

Father’s day was full of sunshine, good food, good friends, and lots of love for our big papi. Like last year, we gave him a blurb-blog book. This was 2008, so we’re only 4 years behind. It’s magical looking through those pages, and seeing all the memories. Makes every minute I spend taking photos, editing, writing – so incredibly worth it.

We cherish our papi. He has always been a hands-on dad, involved in everything that goes on in our home. He works so hard and takes such good care of us. I love all the little things he does – last month he took sela to our neighborhood diner for breakfast, then let her walk next door to the toy store and pick out a puzzle. Then they walked to the park, sat at a picnic table and put together the puzzle under the trees and sunshine. When they came home and sela told me about their morning -it melted my heart. Sweetest daddy ever. we are so lucky. I hope you all have special men in your lives, and you were able to celebrate their goodness this past weekend. xo.

photos via my instagram feed, you are welcome to follow me @see_jane.

Posted in family life, father's day, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, sela | 1 Comment »