Mother's Day 2014

I do love Mother's Day!  Gifts, hugs, kisses, cheerful attitudes all day - all in honor of mom.  Yes, I do love Mother's Day.

My guys treated me like a princess, complete with gifts and handmade cards.  Jake loves to tell his daddy exactly what he wants to buy mommy.  Last Christmas it was a "purple purse."  This Mother's Day it was a "red dress."  Greg always obliges and gets the little man the gift of his choice to give me.  While, in all honestly, I have returned said gifts - it does warm my heart that little Jake thinks of me as HIS princess and wants to shower me with gifts he thinks I will love.  I pray that he will continue to be so thoughtful and one day treat his wife with such adoration.  (Much like his daddy).

We spent the weekend in Marion visiting my family.  My parents pulled out all the stops-- complete with movies, water slides, riding toys and cookouts! The boys go hard the entire time we are there and CRASH on the way home.  Speaking of the ride home- Greg let me stop at Bald Knob's famous Bulldog Cafe and have their famous strawberry shortcake.  GOOD STUFF!

To top off the "Weekend-o-Mom," I went to see a hilarious chick flick with some girlfriends from church. We laughed louder than I care to admit in the cinema and ate our fair share of butter-drenched popcorn. Not wanting to end my special weekend, I wrapped up the night at Kroger. By myself. No kids. No gigantic shopping cart with a car attached to the front requiring a CDL to drive it. It was
wonderful. And, I'll admit - I lingered in the aisles just enjoying the quiet buzz of the dairy section.  :)

While this entire post was about me and my undeserved pampering, I want to be sure to record my appreciation for the two moms in my life.  First, my momma. She's the kind of woman that when asked to get her boys "a ninja house," she builds an elaborate, wooden, hand-painted Ninja Castle for her grandsons. She has put others ahead of herself for 42 years serving the mentally disabled and yet never runs out of energy to give her family that same selfless love.  I hope someday my kids are half as proud of me as I am of her.

Secondly, my mother-in-law.  Nana loves her grand babies and kids fiercely. She is always her family's biggest cheerleader and even at the age of 4, Jake knows that she thinks he hung the moon.   I am sooooo grateful I have her as mother-in-law and have found myself more times than I can count leaning on her to help us out with our crazy schedules.   She is always eager to serve her family and never makes me feel guilty or inadequate for needing her help!

Mother's Day 2014 was the best yet!  Surrounded by an amazing family that loves God and each other. Counting my blessings….

Easter Weekend 2014

Its been a very busy, but oh so fun weekend.  We kicked it off on Friday with Jake's t-ball game.  Nan and Papaw made the drive down from Marion to see my little man play.  We had burgers and ice cream afterwards to celebrate our - uh, loss… ha!  Saturday morning, my parents hung out with the kids in the backyard.  We planted flowers, played bubbles, jumped on the trampoline, played hop scotch, opened Easter gifts…it goes on and on.  The boys adore all four of the grandparents and beg for them to come play!   Unfortunately - I have ZERO pictures of the trip.

Saturday afternoon, our good friends - The Hills - invited us over for an egg hunt.  The boys had a fantastic time!  This was Eli's first time to really "get" the egg hunt, so it was a lot of fun watching him!

But, the fun wasn't over yet - we then headed to our friend's - The Moore's!  They were hosting a huge crawfish boil.  Jake has been best friends with their daughter, Jolee, since they were Eli's age.  These two play so well together and always have a good time.  Eli tries his best to keep up!

Sunday morning, we went to church and enjoyed our family there. Greg and I, along with his preschool teachers, have worked really hard to keep the meaning of Easter pure for our boys.  Jake will readily tell you that Easter is about celebrating our Savior and the bunny is just the silly part.  In fact, this week, he asked me - "so, if Easter is about Jesus, what's the bunny about?"

After church, we went to The Veazey's to have lunch, hunt more eggs and just enjoy the sunshine.  The boys played outside for about 6 hours straight and loved every minute.  We even got to see Greg's cousins - Amanda and Kristy - and their families.  Seven cousins - nine years old and under - is always a good time!

Its been an action-packed, family fun weekend.  Greg and I are celebrating our nine year anniversary this week, so the blessings continue! :)

Things to remember...

If you are a young parent, you have been told COUNTLESS times by older parents that you really must write the funny things down your kids say.  So - this blog is where I try to do that.

Last night, Jake and were reading a book about Jesus - its supposed to be the Gospel written for children.  Jake is definitely on the younger end of its intended readers, but its a good book and allows him to ask questions. Well, last night, we were reading about Jesus dying on the cross and then raising on the third day.  We talked about why we have Easter every year and the significance of what Jesus did for us on the cross.  Obviously, he had lots of questions about Jesus' resurrection.  So, I did the best I could - which you realize how poorly you explain that when you are asked to explain it to a child.  Thankfully, Jake has the child-like faith the bible calls us to have - and that faith expands to what I tell him too.

So - here's the back story - while in Marion last weekend, Jake found a remote control helicopter.  Unfortunately, the battery was "dead."  So, after hearing the gospel and talking through his questions, Jake says - "OHHHHH!! I know!!!  That helicopter was just waiting for Easter to come back to life."  

I have some more work to do.

A little throw back picture of my first born!

:)  Love that sweet boy more than he'll ever really know.

The Party Must Go On…

Despite the three inches of snow, we still celebrated little man's birthday party in style…like, pizza, cake and bounce house style.   Nothing says "LOVE" like friends who will come out in the freezing cold and snow to make your baby's day!

 The handsome birthday boy!! 

 Eli and cousin Ben

 The grands….who drive near and far to see their sweet E celebrate!

 Jake and cousin Jack!

 Birthday Boy!! These two years have FLOWN by!

 Jake and Brayden - these two had a big day! Followed up by Brayden's mom treating 

these two to a movie! 

 My sweet E!

 Brandt REALLY enjoying the pizza!

 Big Jake and Jack

 This picture says it all… Eli ate non-stop at the party. And here he is enjoying his cookie on the way down the kiddie roller-coaster. This cutie had such a good time!

Ben asked for the cake the entire party -- and FINALLY this cutie got some cake!

This is my favorite picture. Its not posed, its not perfect and its even poor lighting. BUT, it shows how many people love this sweet boy.  I hope he feels, literally, surrounded by this much love his entire life. 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Eli!