Happy Anniversary & a few reasons why he's the best :)

Today is our Anniversary.

3 years ago I married to this awesome guy.  I always hear people say they love their spouse even more now than on their wedding day...I do too.  We've both grown so much in these short years.  God sure knew what he was doing...we were quite an unlikely pair, but oh so perfect for each other.  Even though we initially had A LOT of differences our core beliefs about life have always been right on point with each other.  

For our Anniversary, I wanted to let him know how awesome he is...

Jerry:  10 reasons you rock:

1-  You never argue.  While I initially thought this was annoying I realize now how blessed I am!  If it would have been my way of "solving conflicts" we would have had some knock down, drag out fights, but you are much more kind & I love that about you.  Thank God he brought you into my life so I could learn to keep my mouth shut & act like a normal adult!

2-  You are an awesome Daddy & you are always trying to be better at it.

3-  You're an awesome cook & I like to eat.  Perfect combination.  Or is that bad?  Oh well.

4-  You are becoming such an awesome Leader for our family.

5-  You never complain (except when you are sunburned or sick & then its like I'm taking care of three kids, but from what I hear that's the entire male species?  But, I love you so much I will take care of you anyway.)

6-  You make popcorn & sweet tea exactly the way I like it.

7-  You never act like I'm crazy when I tell you an {awesome} idea I have.  Whether it be putting new floors in the house {again} or saying we are never allowed to watch a show on TV {that we both really liked} again because of a comment they made publicly about my favorite lady Michelle Duggar. 

8-  I love that you are so on board with Homeschooling & totally believe I can do it.

9-  You are a Jesus follower & that's the most important thing to me. 

10-  I love that you are mine & I get to share my life with you.

Husband, YOU ARE THE BEST AND I LOVE WHO YOU ARE AND WHO YOU ARE BECOMING.  THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME FOREVER.

  



The {almost} wordless Wednesday

Sand is yummy.



At the end of the day...

The other day as I was getting sucked into Pinterest (like usual) I came across a little poster..the moment I saw it, I repinned it.  It was perfect and I love it.

As soon as I read it, I was captivated. 

This little booger is three.

He is loud.  He is obnoxious.

He doesn't listen.  He can't sit still.

He screams, cries, & yells when he doesn't get his way.

But, he is THREE.

Somewhere along the way, we've forgotten what childhood is supposed to be like.

To the average passerby, he is all those things, but to us he is MORE.

He is beautiful.  He is brilliant.

He is special.  He is kind.

He is spunky.  He is cheerful.

He is playful.  He is funny.

But most importantly he is OURS....for just a little while.  God has let us borrow him for just this little time and I'm not taking that for granted. 

Do I wish he would just calm the heck down & listen to me sometimes? 
YES, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

But, I constantly need to remind myself that he IS learning.  Everything we are trying to instill in him is not in vain.  We get little glimmers of the person he will someday be...and those give me hope, that I'm doing ok at this. 

I want him to remember his childhood as an amazing time in his life.  I want him to grow into the person God intended him to be, NOT THE PERSON SOCIETY TELLS ME HE SHOULD BE. 

At the end of the day, I don't care that he didn't eat all of his food...I don't care that he doesn't always share....I don't care that he's just down right mean sometimes...I don't care that he literally bounces off the walls....I don't care that he made a huge mess....

At the end of the day, all I care about is the person that he is becoming...because he's three...and all of that other stuff will come in time...right now I want him to be THREE.  I want him to be free.  I don't want him to have a care in the world.  I want him to learn & be free to learn however he chooses.  Because I love him.  God knew that even though I sometimes feel like I can't handle another moment of his craziness....He knew I could & that no matter how he "acts"....I will still love him.  Heck, he even gave me another little boy who I'm sure will be joining in on all the rowdiness soon enough. 

So, mamas...EMBRACE your little ones for who they are...don't try to change them...you may just break their little, fragile spirits.  They will soon be grown & gone & you won't remember if they shared their toys or behaved in public.  I'm not saying not to discipline because that would be unwise (we spend lots of time in time out around here), but discipline with LOVE.  Remember who they are as a person is more important.

They are listening, they are watching...be the example of who you want them to be. 

Love them for who they are.



Crafty Tuesday (on a Wednesday): SLIME!

This little project was so fun...Jackson LOVES it!

I love that I can just put it in a ziploc bag & he can use it over and over!

What you need:

1 tsp Borax

1 & 1/2 c water; divided

1/2 c Elmer's glue

food coloring

Directions:

1-  Add Borax to 1 c water - stir to dissolve; set aside.

2-  Pour glue into mixing bowl, add 1/2 c water.



3- Add a few drops of food coloring until desired color is reached and stir to mix glue solution until smooth.

4- Add Borax mixture to glue mixture.  Stir for a few moments and use hands to gather mass.  Keep kneading until it firms up and feels somewhat dry.  Discard excess liquid.

5-  Store in ziploc bag to enjoy again later!!

Final result: It was so easy & the little guy had so much fun playing with it.  He rarely sits for long, but this kept him occupied for a good while!  Go make some!!

Series starter...Crafty Tuesday.

Since Jackson was born & we started to learn more about his personality we've talked about homeschooling.  Gasp...you read that right...HOMESCHOOLING. 

I've always had the "home schooled kids are weird" opinion then after talking to my Husband about it one day I realized I didn't even know any kids who were homeschooled growing up.  ZERO.  I've totally been going on what everyone has always told me.  BAD IDEA.  So my Husband & I have slowly been researching it & toying around with the idea.  We've come to the conclusion we want to do some type of homeschooling...just not sure what yet.  We're torn between full on homeschooling or a University Model School...which basically is a mix of both "regular school" & homeschool.  Either way we're interested.  I'll talk about it in depth in another post. 

Right now Jackson goes to preschool 3 days a week for 3 hours each day.  We've decided on his off days to start doing little crafts or projects with him to see how this homeschooling might work with us.  So far, so good...he's loving it!!  I'm going to start a Crafty Tuesday series with all our little lessons, crafts, & projects.  Be warned...it won't be up every Tuesday...I just can't seem to get on here as often as I would like, but I will do what I can.  :)

Our first project: Homemade Playdoh

He LOVED it & since you can save it & reuse he gets to play with it as often as he likes  I will let him :)

This face cracks me up.

***And, just in case any of you were wondering...I will eventually tell you about that cliffhanger...we found some information out that changed some things up a bit  :)  It's all good...and all HIS plan.  :)

Simplify..

My Husband & I are on a huge quest to SIMPLIFY. 

 We have so much stuff.  The boys have so much stuff.  I feel overwhelmed by stuff & that's just plain crazy.

I'm trying to simplify our lives in other ways as well.  I LOVE this blog.  She is a seasoned Mother of a large family & has some amazing knowledge about simplicity parenting. I read this quote on her blog a few weeks ago & it definitely spoke to me.

"Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all."

Julie Beck

 

Our society tells us we need to be doing so much & we need to have so much.  Well I'm here to tell you....WE DON'T.  I feel much more at peace without a busy, crammed schedule and so do my kids.  I can even tell a difference in our 12 week old when we've had a rushed kind of day. 

Since we've started cleaning out the house & decluttering I just feel better!!

I was really bad when we first had Jackson & bought WAY too much stuff for him.  You know the whole..."I want my kid to have the best" thing....well, I do still want the best for my boys...I've just realized the best isn't what we first thought it was.  I've learned that he does better with less.  When he has too many options he just acts like a wild child & has a hard time focusing on one thing.  We completely cleaned out the playroom yesterday.  Its so much more manageable now.  We even took the big tv out & you know what??  He hasn't cared one bit.  He played so much better in there yesterday than I think he ever has. 

 

Less IS more. 

 

 

We've been saving everything we've been getting rid of & putting it in the garage for a big yard sale we are planning in the Spring....I'll tell you more about that later....it's part of our cliff hanger from my last post.  :)

 

This quest for a simpler life is ongoing.  We're constantly bombarded with this society of too much and I refuse to let it take over my life (as I have been doing).  I'm raising these children with the end result in mind & enjoying them as they are.  I can't do that if I'm too busy taking care of a bunch of stuff we don't need.

 

 

Beware the barrenness of a busy life. ~Socrates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

back at it...

That's right boys & girls. Err...probably mostly girls, I'm fairly certain no one of the male species reads this except for my Husband & Dad...Hi guys :)

I took a brief  long hiatus to bring another sweet boy into this world. 

Carson Elijah

Born: 11/23/11

9 lbs 10 oz

21.5 inches

SWEET AS CAN BE!!

photo credit: Four Sides Photography

photo credit: Four Sides Photography

Big Brother has adjusted well.  We've had a few moments of jealousy & he gets a little emotional at times, but overall he's a ROCKSTAR big brother!

We are so blessed & thankful for those boys & I'm really grateful for my awesome Husband who has been stepping up and helping out a lot!  Having a toddler & a baby is HARD.  Kudos to all the mamas out there!

Now that we are getting into the swing of our new normal, I really wanted to start blogging again.  From my very first post I said God was asking some big things from us.  We still aren't quite ready to share it with the world yet, but I wanted to start journaling our journey here.  Hopefully it will encourage others to follow Gods will (& encourage us through the tough moments).  I HATE think its kind of fun leaving you with a cliffhanger....makes my simple life a little more exciting :)

Anyways, we hope you will follow along with us.

xoxo

Scroll to Top

Thankful Thursday....

I am thankful that we finally have some grass growing...our entire front yard was basically just weeds so we (meaning my Husband) killed it all & planted more....we have some spots to fill in, but its looking good & NO MORE MUD!  :)

I'm thankful for this boy....and for all his cuteness & his spunk.

and for this little boy too....34 weeks.

Thankful for my Husband...I like 'em.

He had his wisdom teeth pulled last Friday & is healing like a champ!

Thankful for a fabulous Fall weekend coming up with lots of fun for our family!!



Apple Picking

Y'all.....it feels like FALL!!  It's been around 60 degrees here the past couple days!  We'll be back to the 70's & 80's next week, but its nice to have a little break from the heat.  I'm happy to keep the warm weather :)

Last weekend Jerry & I took Jackson apple picking at a local farm. 

He had a lot of fun.  It was the first time I had even been apple picking.

We have some more fun Fall things coming up.  Fall is by far my favorite season. 

I'll probably start pulling out all the Fall decorations next week.  The first official day of Fall is Friday so I need to get a head start!  :)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!



Lately....

We've been busy...

Doing this...



We had so much fun at Disney World! 

We've also been busy doing this....

Jackson started Preschool last week & is LOVING it.  He goes 3 days a week for 3 hours at our church.  He's having so much fun!

We also had our first MOPS meeting of the year last week.  We had such a great turn out & I'm so excited for this year.  The other leaders & I worked really hard this summer planning!!  I got an email from a MOPS employee who was sending us a little encouragement & it was so sweet....here's a little portion of it. 

"The muffin you bake is not just a muffin but sustenance for a mom's weary soul. All the planning you do lays the foundation for a mom to hear of God's love for her for the first time. All the details from the coffee, the speaker, the MOPPETS caregivers, and even the glitter for a craft are all tools that God uses to speak to the heart of the moms in your group. He speaks through you; through the way you serve & love." 

Reading that is so encouraging.  It's easy to forget why you're doing what you're doing & get caught up in the busyness of life....which is why I also just started attending a new bible study at church called "The Frazzled Female".

Baby Carson is doing great!  I passed my 2nd 3 hour glucose test so I'm hopefully done with them for this pregnancy!  Whooohhoooo!!!  Thank ya Jesus!

We've been happily moving through our days trying to serve Him the best we can!!!  Hope you're having a great week!!