Mother’s Day
When it was Mother’s Day, I had devised a little plan in my mind. I wanted to spend some time with my mom, and take the kiddos to one of my very favorite parks. It is a bit of a drive away, but well worth it. We visited a little town that my mom, my brother, and I used to call home.

Welcome to Big Spring Park in Neosho, MO.

The park is set up in two parts. On one side of the street there are trout and koi that you can feed, and a beautiful flower garden to stroll through.

There are also adorable ducks that will waddle right up to you, and get you to feed them instead of the fish.

Just across the street is a beautiful church, and a lovely park filled with lush greenery, and wildflowers. There are also caves, a wading pool, a small waterfall, and a fresh-water spring too, but I’ll get to those in a bit.

There is a large outdoor clock, that will soon be planted with beautiful Spring blooms.

The honeysuckle were in bloom, and the scent was heavenly.

The big kids were excited to play on the large playground. There were swings, and slides, and plenty of room to run around.

The little Miss was content to hang back with Mom and watch her brothers run around.

Here is a shot of one of the natural caves around the park. Big Spring Park is also home to many walking trails, and an outdoor theater too.

You can also visit the Big Spring located in the park. It is a fresh-water spring that runs through the park, and adds to the pretty waterfall at the entrance of the park.

In the summertime the wading pool will be open. I’ve always loved the tall columns that are the backdrop to the wading pool.

We spent a lovely afternoon in one of my old home-towns, and the kiddos had a wonderful time too. Dylan loved to feed the big fish and the ducks too. Thade really enjoyed playing at the park, and walking across the stone bridge over the waterfall. I was happy to make new memories with my kids too, it was a fantastic Mother’s Day.
Filed under Holiday Time, Nico, Vacation | Comments (4)
Happy Mother’s Day
Wishing all of the mommies a very Happy Mother’s Day.

An extra special Happy Mother’s Day wish to my Mom (a.k.a. Nana)!
Thank you for all that you do, all of your hard work, and patience too.
Thank you for always being there for us, even if it was 3:00 a.m.
Thank you for being a friend, and a listening ear.
Thank you for being supportive of me, when I became a mother too.
Happy Mother’s Day!
With love, Nicole

Filed under Holiday Time | Comments (4)
Happy Valentine’s Day

I wonder if the Little Miss knows what today is?

She will one day!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

My hubby spoiled me with not one, but two beautiful bouquets of flowers, and I’m making him a Chocolate Bundt cake, and a special dinner too.

I made a batch of Sweetheart Red Velvet cakes for the kiddos.

I’m going to try and not eat them all… Red Velvet cake is my weakness!
Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day filled with lots of hugs and lots of love!
Filed under Holiday Time | Comments (5)We Finally Had Christmas
If you’ve been following my no-heater-in-the-middle-of-Winter saga, then you know that Christmas was postponed this year. Friday we had a break from the snowy weather, and everyone had the day off from work, so we re-did Christmas.

This year Dylan was all about Christmas. He was stuck in the middle of the floor, surrounded by gifts. He was pretty happy about it.

Thade was beyond excited, and he was hilarious too. Anytime that he opened a gift from Uncle Rob, he ran through the house and gave Rob a big hug, it was super cute.

The little miss had on her pretty Christmas dress, from Stacey-cakes, and she smiled great big when she saw the Hello Kitty from Uncle Rob.

The house still pretty much looks like this, a big Christmas mess, but it was a lot of fun…
Filed under Holiday Time | Comments (2)


