Moments 05.2022

Posted May 31, 2022

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This month was really, really great. I was spoiled on Mother’s day and then we went on vacation to the beach for 8 glorious days. We came back in time to celebrate Naomi’s birthday and enjoy the start of summer!

“I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of our family’s favorite moments! Here’s a snapshot of our life from May 2022!

Life lately

Baby Z

Zach is 16 months and is just as sweet as ever. He started pointing to my nose saying, “OOO.” Then he progressed to pointing to his own nose and then everyone else’s nose in the family. He also points to my ears, eyes and mouth.

He also started pointing at things saying “Ooowwwwwww” that resembles the word “Wow.” So whenever something impresses him he points to it and says “wow.” This developed when we were at the beach, and he’d just point ot the ocean and say, “oooowwwww” – it was so sweet.

Z loves being outside. If the door opens at all he basically demands to be taken outside. That’s why our time at the beach was his absolute favorite. Fun sunup to sundown we were enjoying the sun, sand and water.

Mother’s Day

I had a great day with my family! Ritch drove to church with us (which, as a pastor’s wife, is a luxury).

Then they all made dinner and dessert – and by “all” I mean mostly Bethany! She loves cooking and baking, especially when I am not “allowed” in the kitchen to help her! She made burrata salad and Ritch smoked salmon!

She also wrote me the sweetest poem – and I have to say my favorite lines are:

“She’s always working in the kitchen,
Dancing to her 90’s rhythm.
She sings so loud with no shame,
With music playing she is NOT tame.”

I had her laminate this one so I can hold on to it forever!

FLORIDA!

The absolute highlight of our month (and probably year) was our trip to 30A. We rented a house directly on the beach with a pool and were blessed with the best weather.

We visited this area in October and loved it so much we had to come back ASAP.

We did the same thing every day; ate a slow breakfast, went to the beach, came up and swam in the pool, ate lunch on our back porch with an ocean view, then went back to the beach, then back to the pool, then dinner!

Some of our favorite things were:

Finding sand crabs. The kids collected sand crabs every day and counted how many they caught. Z even loved holding them!

Riding on an inner-tube in the ocean. We bought some sand toys and pool floats when we arrived in FL – and by far one of the kids’ favorite things (and mine) was taking turns floating in the ocean with Ritch and I. It was so peaceful on the calm days, and so much fun kicking out to the swells and riding them on the other days!

Hilarious story. The second day of our trip the kids cried when they got in the ocean and said it “stung.” I figured it was the saltwater reacting with their sunburn so I told them to just stay in the ocean and they would get used to it after a few minutes.

Well, they kept crying and then Ritch went in and told me he was getting stung by jellyfish. It turned out there were thousands of jellyfish in the water that day – and while they were small and their stings were mild, they still hurt! Needless to say, I felt horrible for telling them to brush it off haha, so we spent most of the day playing in the sand and swimming in the pool instead!

Swimming in the pool. the kids loved going from playing on the beach to swimming at the pool. I loved that it was an oceanfront pool so I could still enjoy the sound of the waves while we were at the house swimming. I taught the girls how to do front flips and how to jump like a whale.

Ritch played a game with them called “blind driver” where one kid would hold onto his back while he closed his eyes. Then the child would be the “Driver” and tell Ritch where to go to tag the other kids. They had so much fun.

Beach time. We spent the mornings at the beach. Some kids built sand castles, some looked for crabs, sometimes we swam in the waves and I taught the kids how to swim in with the waves and how to boogie board.

Zach absolutely LOVED the beach. He wanted to be carried into the ocean, played with seaweed, and even let Ritch bury him in the sand.

We just had the absolute best time, and part of what made it so great for me was that it was the first vacation I have taken in 12 years that I wasn’t pregnant or nursing!

We had a blast in October, but I was still nursing Z every 2.5 to 3 hours and so it was tricky for me to get wet, change into dry clothes to feed him, get back into a wet suit, etc. So this time I just felt like I had so much more freedom to enjoy ALL the kids in their own ways instead of being mostly focused on feeding Z and putting him down for naps. I still got lots of beachy snuggles though.

Sunsets. The sunsets were our favorite part of every day. After dinner, whether we went out or ordered take in and ate on the back patio with an ocean view, we always walked out onto the beach with our sand toys and chairs and watched the sunset.

Many days low tide was during the sunset, so we’d find the best seashells then. Z loved running around throwing seaweed and digging in the sand.

This was Keilah’s favorite time of day because she could enjoy the ocean so much more when the waves were farther out.

Gabe always brought a book with him and read.

I loved that the house we stayed at was directly on the beach. There was even a costal lake right in front of the house that the kids could play in if the water was too rough in the ocean.

Our flight didn’t leave until 1PM on the last day, so we let the kids get up extra early (6:30 AM) and swim in the pool and play in the ocean one last time.

We got donuts and ate them outside and it was just the absolute best way to end our trip. We had to check out by 10 AM and did so not a SECOND earlier. We truly soaked in every single moment of this vacation from the beginning to the very, very end.

So many moments on this trip that I hope I remember the rest of my life.

Naomi’s Birthday!

All of my kids were born between January and May – so this month we celebrated our last kid birthday of the year – my sweet Naomi!

Her birthday fell on Memorial Day this year, so we took her on her birthday date to an arcade (her request) the Thursday prior.

She was adorable running all over the arcade trying to decide what games to play. She camped out at a spinning wheel where she could (and did) win a lot of tickets.

She spent a lot of time carefully choosing how she wanted to spend her tickets too. It was so fun to be able to enjoy the afternoon (two hours of games and fun) with just the three of us!

She requested a rainbow cake this year (chocolate cake, vanilla frosting as always) so I took some creative liberties and made a cake that was 100% her and she loved it.

She also requested crepes for breakfast and taco salad for dinner (recipe coming soon but it features this ground beef tacos recipe).

It was very cold and rainy on her birthday, so we were unable to make good on our initial plan to go to the pool. We went bowling instead, which was really fun.

It took 7 of us an hour and a half to bowl ONE game. Haha! But we really had a great time.

Naomi spread out her present opening throughout the day, and after dinner and cake chose to watch a movie with the family (again, bad weather change of plans)!

In true Naomi fashion, she received a gift from her Mema and used it to make gifts for her two little sisters. She truly is the sweetest, kindest little ray of sunshine.

Things I’m Loving

I am in love with this dress from Madewell. It’s light and fits well and has pockets! Button-Front Tank Dress. I wore it every time we went out in FL!
In the same category, I really love these Madewell Jean Shorts! So comfy and cute!
Yeti Cup: I know everyone is hyped up about the Stanley Cups – and sure I have one and it’s great for drinking water at home, but I love this Yeti so much more. It’s smaller (so it’s more manageable) and the top actually closes so it doesn’t leak. And it still has a handle!
Essential oils. I diffuse oils all of our home every day. I also made this room spray to freshen up spaces that need extra TLC. I brought it on vacation with me to spray on the sheets to help me sleep!

Recipes

My obsession with burrata came back in full force this month – something about the summer makes me crave it! So I made this burrata salad, and I also made this lemon orzo salad and put burrata on top – YUM!

I also have been eating this peanut butter banana baked oatmeal every morning – a switch from my usual breakfast bars (gasp) but I’ve been craving a warm breakfast lately and it’s my go-to for that.