Soren Jack

Man, oh man!

I am behind on my blogging!!!

There is more I want to share with you about our trip, but since we've been home my little Soren has had a birthday! And I can't miss out on blogging about that!!! Haha...

SO... I interrupt this Costa Rica series to bring you...

~ Soren Jack ~

He turned 5 the other day!!!

I almost can't believe it!

When older mamas tell us younger mamas that motherhood whizzes by too fast... I'm starting to realize they're right! (*Sniff...)

Because wasn't this just yesterday?...

Well, we began our day with our typical Downs' family tradition. On birthday mornings we bake cinnamon rolls for breakfast! 

You can see in the photos that I gave him a little medicine. It's cough syrup. Poor little guy was feeling a bit under the weather on his birthday. (*Sad face)

But! You only get one birthday a year ya know! So the show must go on!

We tried our best to still make the day fun!

Soren had asked to stop by the store to spend a birthday gift card, then go to a bouncy playground.

I can typically be a tad controlling (gulp...) about getting my children ready to go places (ahem...). So, as a treat for Soren's birthday, I told him he could fix his own hair and wear whatever he wanted! Just like a "big boy"!

This was the result -

Awww... Haha!

I over-looked it and said, "C'mon kiddos! Let's go!"

He seemed to perk up a little as the day went on...

Soren probably has the best sense of humor of all of our kids, and makes us laugh regularly! 

The other day Roman was flipping out because Soren was putting his shoes on to go outside, during a time of day when we were all supposed to be inside... (Roman can't handle it when one of his siblings isn't following the rules! Haha... ) So, he was bossing Soren to 'take his shoes off right now!' And Soren just calmly said, "Don't worry about me, just worry about yourself!" And he headed out the back door. 

This was right after Soren had matter-of-factly told me that he probably has 2 or 3 Jesus' in his heart because he just keeps praying and praying and praying.... Haha!

Oh boy!

What kind of teenager is he going to be?!

When we arrived home, I got to work on fixing his birthday supper. 

Soren had requested a menu of cheeseburgers and hamburgers, blue Kool-aid, and cheesecake with a shark coming out of the top of it!

Here we are ready to have a fun, family night!

Only problem was Soren's medicine had worn off by this point and he was back to feeling icky!

C'mon, buddy! Cheer up!

It sure looked grim for a while... 

But it was nothing a few presents,

and a festive cake couldn't fix!!!

That's the face of a boy who's realized his dream of having a cheesecake with a shark coming out of the top has come true!

Haha...

It was a low-key family day. The perfect way to spend a birthday!

And we sure enjoyed celebrating him!

I tell Soren often how much he is loved, and how our family just wouldn't be the same without him!

I tell him he is a gift from God.

I tell him he is a good boy with a good heart.

I tell him I think he's funny.

I tell him that I pray for him, and I'm proud of him.

I tell him I'm thankful he's in my life!

And I'm thankful that you are in my life, too! You, sweet readers, who take the time to stop by here and read what I write!

You all mean so much to me!

I really do plan to write more about our trip, like I said, and share some more pictures.

Things just got a little busy lately.

Next on the schedule is Easter! So, I've been a busy-bee getting everything we need ready for that!

But I promise to be back here blogging real soon!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter, friends!

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Costa Rica (Part One)

You guys!!!

We are back home after a week of bumming around Costa Rica for our tenth wedding anniversary!

We had a blast, and I want to share our pictures with you!

Would you like a tour of beautiful Costa Rica?....

You'll love it!

Jump on the plane with us...

Come on...

Let's go!

I hope you like HOT and STICKY!

And acting a little goofy...

And don't mind a lot of travel...

Because we were all over the place!

We rented a car...

Went on long hikes...

And caught the ferry...

It'll poop ya right out!

But don't worry!

I know where there's a pool where we can relax!

Did you bring your suit?

I brought two! Just in case! Haha...

Follow me!

It's right down this walkway...

We'll be cooled off in no time...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ahhh... See?... Much better!!!

And we have the pool all to ourselves!

Isn't this perfection?!

((Are you having fun?))

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We really tried to blend adventure and relaxation on this trip.

So... after a good, heavy dose of lazy pool time, we thought we'd dry our suits by taking a walk...

Our walk resulted in finding this really cool place...

Can you see me way up there? (And Micah's shadow taking my picture? Haha...)

There was this Rock of Engravings... And you know what they say, When in Rome....

So, I scratched a small "M+C" with a stick.

But Micah couldn't leave well enough alone...

My "M+C" wasn't good enough for him! (*eye roll....)

There!

We have left our mark in Costa Rica!

But, it was starting to get late... And we were hungry... So, we said good-bye to this awesome, isolated, little spot...

And went back to our room to change for dinner.

But even walking to dinner can be an adventure...

There were wild monkeys swinging around in the trees!!!

And of course we had to take a moment to stop by this look-out point, because it was a spot we stopped by ten-years ago when we were here!

Yes, we're still hungry, but this can't be missed!

Memories from when we honeymooned here just came rushing back!

And just at the height of enjoying this wonderful, sentimental moment... 

A bee came from out of no where and stung me!!!

How dare he!

I didn't do anything to him!

I was minding my own business!

Sheesh!!!

Well, that put an abrupt end to our time here, and we resumed our walk to dinner.

But as the minutes ticked on, I could feel the sting getting more and more painful... and noticed the area around it becoming red and swollen.

By the time we reached the restaurant, I was in a lot of pain.

We asked our waiter if he had any cream or lotion that he could bring to us.

He said in broken English, "Lemon is better!" And returned to our table with a cold lemon wedge for me.

I was desperate for the stinging to stop, so I shamelessly sat at dinner with a lemon wedge held to my arm pit! Haha!!!

I didn't care,  It worked!

I couldn't believe it!

Micah and I joked about how the Costa Rican's sure know how to handle bug bites! The sting went away and never bothered me again!

Did you know to use lemon for a bee sting?!

I admittedly never knew that!

But, I'm thankful it happened because now I know this handy trick, (and I can pass it along to you!)

I plan to keep some fresh lemons in my fridge this summer, so if one of my children gets stung I will know what to do!

The combination of the wedge being cold and acidic gave me almost immediate relief!

~ ~ Whew!!!! ~ ~

Now I can go back to enjoying our vacation!

And that's exactly what I did!

Oh, friends! There's more I want to share with you about our trip, but this is all I have time for today!

Please meet me back here soon for Part Two!

(To be continued...)

.........

~ Courtney ~

A Coffee Bar And Other Stories

You know, I always tend to think that I have nothing to blog about since I'm so preoccupied living life... And the ideas I do have wouldn't be good enough since I'm never accomplishing Pinterest-worthy things... But then I remember that this is a blog about real home-living! And when I take the time to ponder that, then the blog ideas just start flowing.....

We're never doing fancy or impressive things... Just enjoying our home and family; Reading books, sipping coffee, watching birds, playing the piano, cooking meals, doing school lessons, admiring early morning sunlight...

And I realize... THIS is why I blog...

To help teach the younger mama's that they don't need to leave their homes for a career to achieve happiness.  (Titus 2:4-5)  There is much freedom and joy in home living! 

~ Just stay home and love your family! ~

*******

You'll see that we lost our beautiful snow. Old Man Winter is settling down. He is never in a hurry, though. It is still too early for blooms on our trees...

(Look at that bright sky...)

But I am loving the longer, sunnier days!

"A society grows great when men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." 

~ Greek Proverb ~

This is what our favorite tree looks like right now, but every summer she fills in and droops down, almost touching the ground... Giving us the most wonderful shady get-away!

*********

Did you know that it was my wedding anniversary the other day? 

Micah and I have been married for TEN years!

Aren't ya proud of us, friends?!

(*wink)

We leave next week for our Costa Rica trip, so I want you to know that I'll be taking a bit of a blogging break until we get back. If we're friends on Facebook you'll probably see a few photos come through your feed. I want to try to post a little on there, but other than that I plan to unplug and savor every moment!!!

Because of our upcoming trip, we decided that we wouldn't exchange gifts this year. 

I had a different idea, instead.

Hoping to avoid too much boring detail, I will just quickly give you the brief backstory...

We've had a Keurig coffee maker for years but it has lived in storage because I prefer a brewing pot. We sometimes pull it out at Christmas or other times when we're expecting a large amount of company, and a custom-made cup of coffee or hot chocolate is a nice treat for guests. But Micah has always said how he wished we kept it out all the time. 

I decided to surprise him for our anniversary, and set up his very own coffee bar!

Just a heads up, I do realize that there are photos of beautiful and stylish home coffee bars all over the internet. You've probably seen them. Mine is neither. (*eye roll...)

This is a real-life blog!!! 

I thought about what he uses when he fixes up a cup of coffee for himself, and assembled everything together in one spot.

I didn't buy anything new for this. I used items we already had. I pulled out his favorite mugs, his favorite sugar spoons, and put it all together...

If you're curious, this is what the buffet has always looked like before:

I think it looked much better this way, but the truth is it was useless. If there's a need in the family or a way I can make our home a more enjoyable place to be, than I'd rather give a pretty spot a more meaningful purpose!

My thinking was, We live here! Might as well make it comfortable!

Roman always likes to get involved in whatever projects I'm working on. He asked if he could make a sign for the coffee bar.

I thought it was a good idea, so I let him create it.

I think he did a great job!

Micah was very excited about his coffee bar and I've noticed he's used it everyday since I put it together!

And even though we said, "No gifts," he did come home the night of our anniversary with this beautiful bouquet for me!

Yes, I am lucky! Lucky! We all are, aren't we, girlfriends? 

Husbands, children, homes... 

There's nothing better in this world!

~ "Count your blessings name them one by one..." ~

I decided the dining room table would be a good home for my new bouquet...

I've been enjoying them over the last few days, as well as enjoying candles, coffee, books, music, and all the other wonderful things we get to do in our homes when the weather's still chilly.

But one of my most favorite home activities I enjoy is creating posts for this blog! Because it makes me feel like I'm visiting with sweet friends! You all ARE my friends, you know that, right?! Even if we've never met!

A funny side note, I received a Private message from a gal who's been following my blog. She asked if I'd be willing to meet her for coffee and a chat. She said, "I know we've never met, but I feel like you're my friend!"

Oh, what that meant to me!!! That did my heart a lot of good!

I loved meeting her and visiting with her! And now we are real life friends!

So! Friends... It is late...

And we need our beauty sleep!

I'll be back in a couple of weeks with traveling tales to share...

Until then,

xo,

~ Courtney ~