Gratitude

So It's that time of year...

And apparently my children are now old enough at ages 4 and 2 to enjoy looking at the Target toy catalog and dreaming... Seems kind of early to me.
So hubby and I have decided that in an effort to nurture a grateful heart in our little ones, as well as ourselves, we would start a Gratitude Jar.
I wanted to instill some biblical principle to go along with our jar so in my quiet time I fell upon this verse.

My bible is an NIV so it reads...
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

For good measure, I compared it to these versions...
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18. King James

and The Message
Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Wow! That's so hard... In everything, really?? Yep, that's what it says, everything.

I know it's a little above their heads to understand to give thanks in all things, even that's hard for me. But, it is something I am called to do so it's a verse we are sharing with our children. And while we are sharing it, we are also trying to live it.

I made this easy-peasey Gratitude jar to remind us daily all that we have to be grateful for and Puddin is helping us add to it daily.
It's been really good for us to look back on our day and see what we have to be grateful for and all the ways God has blessed us.I think we have a new tradition on our hands!

Maybe instead of this heralding the holiday season we will have this instead..., such a sweeter reminder of the greatest Gift of all.

A Busy Weekend

What a great weekend we had here! The weather was beautiful! Once you read this post it might not sound like we had a great time but, we really did!

On Saturday we decided to take the kids to the Greenway and park. I naively thought they might like to explore and we might be able to walk a mile or so...WRONG!


Their legs hurt and they wanted to ride, the sun was too bright or it was too hot, someone was thirsty or they were hungry... isn't that how it always goes?
Even Hubby and I were feeling the pain. Because we only have a triple stroller (how funny is that statement!?!), I usually carry Daisy in the sling, Puddin walks and the boys ride. (truly, it's a sight to be seen!)So, that's how hings started out. Except Puddin decided about 5 minutes in that she needed to ride. So we alternated which walking child would have to "hoof it" when we reached the bridges.

This worked out ok for a while until Bud decided he no longer wanted to ride but he needed a little TLC, which meant holding him, and carrying him. Now, ordinarily I would L-O-V-E to have a little one on one time with my little man, but this little man is HEAVY!! At his 7 month check up he was in the 90% weighing in at 22lbs and 10 oz. Can you say, "HOSS"? Thankfully Since I was already carrying Daisy, Hubby had the honor of carrying Bud. I'm so glad I married such a he-man!
After such success with walking the Greenway we just headed back to the park for a little relief and to let the kids have a little fun.

My boys are belly sliders. I know, it's bad. The teacher in me screams NO every time I see them do it! But, it does bring them lots of joy so I try and supervise them when they start this. And truthfully, belly sliding is the least of their dare devil adventures lately.

Silly Puddin

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Never did we expect it to be so crowded! I mean, who goes to the park on a Saturday in November with 70+ degree weather? Apparently, the whole town had our idea. This, combined with the fact that the slide was SUPER fun, made my little Monkeys, one in particular, a little territorial.

We have NEVER had playgroup problems before. Not ever. I guess there is a time for everything and one of my Monkey's decided to push a giant baby and sit on him so he couldn't slide. Yes, he did.

So, not only did I have to deal with the stares and questions about about my lovely brood, but there were also snide comments and remarks thrown in for good measure! I did handle the situation as best as I could. Thankfully, when I called him over to talk to him he came right away. I explained the problem... it's not polite to sit on GIANT babies (truly he was), we share the slide, etc. Then I made my poor little Monkey Man sit in time out. I know he misbehaved and deserved to be disciplined but after Giant Baby's mommy was so snotty I really didn't want to correct my child, even though I did. I can't believe I just wrote that... that's so, so wrong. Anyway, when it was all over I made my little monkey go say he was sorry and give him a hug.
Everyone moved on and we all had a good time.
As you can see, even Puddin got a little territorial about her bubble window. Must've been a full moon that night!

Daisy slept most of the time so she didn't make any of the pictures once we got started.
Anyway, lots of fun+ great sunshine+ a few minor mishaps= a pretty perfect Saturday.

Extreme Puppy Makeover

This is Zoe.

(pronounced zoe-eee... Like Joey)
She is our sweeet, adorable, 11 year old Yorkie Poo.

Puddin says she doesn't like her. Usually it's when Zoe looks like this.
Although, she does have a slight aversion to dogs, with good reason.

When the Monkeys were only a few weeks old and Puddin was 21 months old, our 40 lb. Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier (who we adored) attacked her, unprovoked, with no reason at all. It seems she had a reaction to meds for a skin condition. Anyway,that's a whole other post in itself so I'll just say that by the Grace of God Puddin was ok. Except now she's not too fond of dogs.

Especially when they look like dust mops.
Oh- there was a time when Zoe was my baby. She got lots of TLC and baths and haircuts too. Now, she's sort of the low man on the totem pole. But, she eats better than ever. With so many little people it's regular all you can eat buffet around here for a dog!
So you've seen the before pics from this weekend.
Check out the after...

Same dog?? Really???

Even Puddin likes her now!

For Nana

We love you Nana and we hope you are feeling better soon!
The kiddos have made some special things for you and we will get them in the mail this week.

You might be far away right now but we think about you every day and you are always in our prayers.

Hugs and Kisses to you!!!

Big Boys

Yesterday we met up with Kate to shoot the babies 6 month session...

I know, they were 6 months old 2 months ago.
We've been busy.
Anyway, we met at The Oaklands Mansion, a beautiful place I've blogged about before.
Also the place I had my bridal portrait made waaaay back before babies.
It's just such a beautiful place and I love going there every chance I get.
Especially in the fall.
Have I mentioned it's beautiful yet?
The leaves were gorgeous!!! And they were everywhere!
The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect and I kept thinking, "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"
And I was.

Surprisingly, I was also early today so I had a little time to shoot some pics of my big boys playing before Kate arrived.

The boys were precious. Absolutely precious.

It's so hard to believe they are 2 years old! But watching them play football and run in the leaves I had visions of them in just a few short years, as teenagers, doing the same thing! Oh my, how I hope time slows down a bit. Doubtful, I know, so I have to just savor every moment with these sweet, precious boys and let them know each day what a gift they both are.

After we got home I looked at the pictures of them as they chased each other and played football, it hit me.

They are big boys.
They are big boys that put on their own shoes now.
They are big boys that run into counter tops they used to walk under.
They are big boys that throw and catch a ball, accurately!
They are big boys that love to help their momma every chance they get.
They are also big boys learning new boundaries.
They are big boys learning to play and explore on their own, without guidance from their sister.
It hit me hard.

Just another reminder of what the sweet stranger said the other day... the days are long but the years are short. So, so true.

Monkey See and Monkey Do November 2007

Monkey See and Monkey Do November 2009

Monkey Do

Monkey See and Monkey Do

Monkey See



Monkey See's got the ball!!


Monkey See in the distance and Monkey Do in the foreground.

BTW- the babies pics are going to be beautiful! They both did a great job and I'll share those as soon as I can!

Dreamy!

Sisterly Love

These were taken after dinner the other night.

Such sweet girls!

Somebody's had enough now!

Let me tell you a little something about payback, Sister!

biding her time...

...attack mode as Daddy tries to reign her in!

I love these girls!(and Hubby too!)

I love that they love each other! Each of them lights up when the other is around!! I want it to stay that way forever!

Crayon Eating Monster

Recently, we have gone through a lot of crayons. A lot.

I kept replacing the empty tins with new crayons vowing to find out what happened.

Sometimes when I am doing laundry or cooking dinner the kiddos have some time to draw without my help and after that is when I usually notice the crayons are running low again.

So I fill them back up.

Until I realized I had almost depleted my back up crayon stash... which had been huge! ( a by product of teaching for so long).



I finally figured out the problem.

We have a crayon eating monster! He's brown with lots of teeth and stays really, really hungry!!



You'd think after all of the crayons he's ingested recently he would be filling up! But Nope, not him! And something tells me we still have a long way to go!!