We showered Ella Maxine

I got to attend both lovely showers to celebrate the impending arrival of Jake and Theresa's little girl, Ella Maxine. She is due to arrive April 22nd and we all are looking forward to meeting her. Here's some pics from both showers:

Shower hosted by Theresa's best friend, Jenny and her parents on March 7th

Yummy cake!

Theresa opening presents

Grandma Maxine reading to Darla

Shower hosted by Judi and Deb March 28th.

Beautiful Theresa

Jenny and Nikanne

Jake helping us with games

Grandma Max and Rachel

Theresa and Jake opening presents

Grandma holding Willow

Yummy ice cream cake!

Happy Birthday Becki, Lonnie, and Nikanne!

We celebrated some birthdays this weekend with the family. Happy Birthday everyone! Thanks for hosting, Rachel & Becki. We enjoyed some home made Enchiladas, rice, salad, jello and cake. YUM!! Here's some pics from the fun event:

Gamers!

Birthday people: Nikanne, Becki, & Lonnie

Beautiful Jordan

Darla and Jake

Weekend get away to Leavenworth

Jeremy and I just love the little town of Leavenworth, WA. It's Bavarian feel and beautiful mountain backdrop make it one of the prettiest places I've been. I have fond childhood memories of sledding down the little hill right in the middle of town. Jeremy and I have stayed overnight several times, with and without the kids. I have been missing the snow this year, especially after last year's record amount of it, so we planned a quick get away to our favorite winter escape.

So, wouldn't you know.....there was NO SNOW in town!! But, we made the best of it and stopped on our way at Snoqualmie Pass. We found a sno park that was free to use and we played in the snow together. There were a couple of other families that were doing what we were and we all made a little hill of our own. When I asked Derick what his favorite part of the trip was, he replied, "Sledding with all the kids!" He sure is my social boy.

A bit of a smile from Darla (whom was not feeling well and not really impressed with the snow.)

Derick had no fear on the toboggan, he was running and jumping on it just like the big kids!

Jeremy and the kids after a ride down the hill.

Snowball fight, complete with bases and blowing snow, courtesy of a stormy cloud blowing by.

After our snow play, we headed up Blewett Pass to Leavenworth. What a beautiful drive on such a sunny day. We stayed at one of our favorite hotels, The Enzian. We like their rooms and the breakfast that comes with them is very yummy. It's held in a big, open room on the 4th floor and you have a birds eye view of the beautiful mountains that surround the area.


After checking in, we had a swim in the pool and then headed out for dinner. Jeremy and I had delicious German meals; Schnitzel and Spaetzle are our favorites. The kids ate fries. Whatever, we were on vacation. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped for Gelatto. YUM!

Derick and I at dinner.

Jeremy with his German Beer; Dunkelwitzen.

Here's where the story takes a turn south. I became ill at about 1opm with a fever and chills. No fun when you are not at home. None of us slept well at all. The next day was a struggle. Attitudes and tempers were sour. Darla and I were not healthy. We did a little shopping and tried to play mini golf. We got half way through before we just called the game. Time to take the Peery family home. I was glad we went, and so glad to be home!

The simple things

Today was a day for the simple things. Good friends. Good bouncing. Eating dirt and blowing bubbles.

I am SO in love with my kids, today!

Mommy and Derick Date

It's been ages since Derick and I have had much time together without Darla or Daddy. Lucky for us, Ms Haleigh was having a birthday party this weekend and it was the perfect moment for a Derick and Mommy date. We said goodbye to Daddy and Darla in the morning and headed to Seattle to catch the ferry to Bremerton. We were walk-ons so we left the green goblin on Alaskan way for the day. I forgot that Derick's legs are not quite as long as mine; we had to run to make the ferry! Once aboard it was question time....and I loved it. What's this, Mommy? What's he doing, Mommy? Let's go here, Mommy. We had snacks and explored the boat. Once in Bremerton, we joined up with Haleigh and family for some bowling fun. It was Derick's first time playing.

I did my best to teach him how to play....let's just say it was a good thing they had bumpers!

Derick lasted about 4 frames before asking to go play video games. I guess it'll be a few years before he finds the game as fun as I do. We had a snack and waited for the adults and big kids to finish their games.

Happy Birthday, Haleigh!!

After cake and ice cream it was time for us to make our way back home.

The return trip was nice, more exploring for both of us. We had some really beautiful views from the deck of the ferry. The walk back to the car felt long...by this time both of us were getting tired. We made it back home in time for dinner with J2D2. It was a fun day for both of us, and I can't wait for my next Derick date!

Painting Adventure

After working on Darla's bedroom and making it look so nice, Jeremy and I decided that Derick's room needed a little love, too. (Gotta be fair, ya know.) So, we spent the long President's weekend painting! We are re-doing the closet and hanging trim, just as we have planned for Darla's room. Here's some pics of how far we got. There's lots more to do.....but, it's looking great so far.

Thanks to Diede, Haleigh, and my parents, we were able to get all the painting done. We started with the blue and then finished up with the green. While we were painting, Derick got to camp out in our living room. He enjoyed sleeping in his play tent with Daddy's flashlight and baby bear to keep him company.

Jeremy and I haven't hung very much trim, so that was a bit of a learning curve. We borrowed a friend's nail gun (Thanks Julia!). Jeremy had a couple of wrong cuts at first, but quickly figured out how it all went together. I spent a big chunk of Monday replacing the electrical outlets from the almond color to white. That was a lot of fun for me, I love to learn something new. I have to say, I love being married to a handy man!!! It was alot of fun to do a house project together. It's been a while. We have lots more trim to finish, but here's an idea of how it will look.

It was a busy weekend, but we still managed to enjoy each other. Here's some cute brother and sister loves, while they were playing in Derick's empty room.

Valentine's Day Fun

We got to celebrate Valentine's Day, all weekend this year. It started out with the surprise flowers from Jeremy on Wednesday. I love getting flowers. Derick was too sick to attend his preschool party, so our friends delivered his valentine's on Thursday. Friday we got valentines in the mail from Nonna and Pappa. And then had yummy pink heart pancakes on Sunday. It was a fun weekend full of loves from my little family.

A little note to myself

I posted this on my facebook page, but liked it so much (and kept adding stuff to it) that I thought I would post it here too.

Sometimes I can be pretty hard on myself. As most people tend to be. So this valentines day, I wanted to write down as many things as I could think of about myself, that I like. Just to remind myself of who I really am. Take it or leave it, this is me.

Jill Peery:

is a devoted mother

is a loving wife

is a loyal friend

is a little goofy

is sometimes too loud

can be wishy washy

wears her heart on her sleeve

loves the smell of the forest in the rain

can be scatter brained

is usually smiling

eats a little too much

needs to exercise a little more

is addicted to chocolate

loves the smell and sound of the ocean

has very little fashion sense

can barely keep up with pop culture

believes in astrology

lives for big bear hugs

loves photos; looking at them, taking them, sharing them

can't spell

feels the heart of spirit beating in time with her own

loves to laugh

looks for the good in everyone

loves long, hot showers

wears very little make-up

believes in magic

loves to dig in the garden

loves to swim

thinks humming birds are amazing

would love to be able to fly like the birds

Other random pics

I had a fantastic day today...and so unplanned. I spent the day at home with the kids, cleaning. Both of them have colds, so I thought an at home day would be good for us all. I know, not exciting, but it went great! There's something so wonderful about cleaning out the clutter. And the kids handled it fairly well. I felt productive. And in the middle of the day, the door bell rang. It was the Fed Ex man with a box of flowers for me!! Surprise! Happy Valentine's Day, early. Jeremy, you touched my heart and it meant even more because it was so unexpected.

Here's some other random pictures of us over the last few weeks.

My super hero!

Darla with her lovey, Blankey. It's so cute to hear her say 'blinky' while she uses her version of the sign for blanket. (Patting her tummy with both hands, over and over) She has to have it with her almost all the time. Even when nursing!

Daddy play time! No one plays with the kids like a dad.

Darla on our slide. She LOVES to slide.

Derick and Darla

Over the weekend, I took a picture of Darla that reminded me SO much of one I have of Derick. So, I went back through the photos and sure enough, I found it. Here are the two pictures of our beautiful children.

Derick at 13 months (June 2007)

Darla at 14 months (February 2010)

First Signs of Spring

The weather has been so pretty and so mild this winter! It's so nice to be able to play outside with the kids in January and February. This week, I spent a lovely afternoon weeding while Derick dug for worms right beside me. I am looking forward to more afternoons spent this way this spring. With all this nice weather, mother earth has begun to waken. Here's a few pics of my plants pushing up through the darkness to meet the light.

Tulips coming!

Darla and Derick playing outside.