No School!

We have taken the past few weeks off from school.  While I miss the structure and the time we spend gathered at our table, I thought it would be rough to try to learn academics with all that the boys have been doing.  We've done some fun things, though!  Like....


Busch Gardens!

 

Then, we stayed at a hotel and went to a place filled with trampolines and apple picking.

 

Obviously, a good time was had by all.  We can't wait to go again.  I love spending time with my little family.

 

After our family getaway, the boys tried their own little trip without mommy and daddy.  My parents took them to visit my sister in North Carolina.  T had a great time, L was ready to come home.   In fact, he threw such tantrums that they came home two days early.  J and I planned to go through our entire house, top to bottom, and clean, purge, and organize.  We got through a lot of stuff, but we have a lot left.  Sigh.  Oh well.  Someday, we will have a nice, clean, organized home.  When that day comes, I think I'll miss the excitement and joy young kids bring.  It would be nice if I could have both, though.  A clean house and young, joy-filled kids ;-)

 

Now that we've had a couple weeks off, I'm debating whether to hit the books again, or to work more on chores.  A certain child has a really hard time cleaning up after himself and doing things on his own.  Even things like getting dressed.  Part of me is thinking that I need to take this time to teach them more how to take care of their things (this goes back to my frustration over my house). 

 

Visiting B!

I went to visit one of my best friends this past weekend.  There are two girls who will be my BFF no matter what.  They have been there with me through the thick and thin, years and years, which is rare for a military brat.  One is D, she lives on the other side of the country and is the complete opposite of me.  I love her to DEATH though.  We've been best friends since we were 4.  Yep, this military brat has had a friend for all her life.  I only see her once every couple of years and we only talk a couple times a year.  It's sad, but I know that she is there for me in a heart beat.  The other friend is so much like me.  We met in high school when our dads were stationed here around the same time.  She came from the far FL and I came from CA, both warm climates.  We experienced our first winter together (I've lived in CO too, but I was little...cold weather was still "new" to me).  We were both extremely shy, silly, boy crazy, have ADD, the same goals in life, and we were a little ditzy.  We were instantly best friends.  Her dad stayed in the military and moved again while my dad retired here.  She married military, I married civi.  While we are still so, so similar, our lives have taken different paths.  Her parents are currently stationed about 2-3 hours from here and plan to retire there.  Her husband... IS STATIONED THERE TOO!!!!  YAY!!!!!  I get to visit B now :)  She's been there for about a year, and has about a year left, but I am still so excited to have this time with her.  She was pregnant with me.  She was due more than a month before me, but her little guy was born late while mine came a month early, so L is actually a week older than G.  My sweet friend is pregnant again.  With another boy!!!  We will both have two boys close in age :)  I love it!  I love that we can have such different lives, but still be so similar.  This past weekend, I took my boys down there (my momma came too, she visited B's momma) and it was just so wonderful to talk and spend time together.  I feel so blessed to have wonderful, life-long friends like her and D.  I think a friend like that is rare.  I guess there really isn't a point to this post other than to brag about my friends :)

Apple Picking

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the Apple Orchard!  We all had a blast and can't wait to go again :)  I LOVE FAMILY TIME!!!

Busch Garden Pictures

These are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip to Busch Gardens last week.  I have a ton more that I thought about uploading, but I figured this is more than enough :)   Needless to say, we had a blast!  I wish every weekend could be like that! 

August 13

Romans 8:38-39And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is a picture of Sweet T on  his first day of swim lessons.  He's such a cutie!

Things I love: baby clothing and such

I know it's been a while since I posted.  Swimming lessons really messed up our whole schedule, but they were a blast!  T loved them!  To get back into the swing of things, I thought I'd do another one of these posts :)  Things I love!

First and Foremost, cloth diapers!  Yup!  I LOVE them!  I have two favorite brands of cloth, Happy Heiny and Tiny Tush.  The reason I love these brands is because they are made for bigger babies.  Have you seen L's chunky thighs?  They're nice and big.  These diapers fit him well.  If you have skinny little ones, you would probably prefer a different brand, but for us, these are wonderful :)  (The picture above is L in his Happy Heiny cow print, it's my current favorite!  Love the cow print)

Because cloth diapers make bottoms so big, I love these one piece outfits.  It's really hard to find shorts that fit my sweet guy, but these are perfect!  Another reason why I love these types of outfits is because they are SO EASY to get on and off.  Both my kids hate (hated) diaper changes and (would) fight them like crazy.  It's nearly impossible to get shorts or pants pulled up!  But in these babies, I can snap the snaps between his legs while he's on the move.  It's so easy and SO cute!  T wore a lot of shorts and pants when he was L's age, but L almost never wears them. 

Now that I wrote about my favorite type of outfit, I'll tell you that my favorite brand is Carters.  Just like with the diapers, I like Carters because they fit my chunky boys better than most brands.  They are excellent quality too.  They often have sales and they are not too terrible expensive.  The things we bought for T still look great on L. 

My newest favorite place to buy baby/toddler clothes is actually thrift stores!  I used to shop at consignment sales all the time, but even those places seemed overpriced.  Babies especially don't wear things very long so I find things that look brand new...sometimes I even get things with tags still on them :)  It's a little harder to find nice things for T, because toddler boys are hard on their clothes, but every once in a while I find something amazing.

I think this is all I'm going to write for now.  I'm hoping to blog every day this week!  I really want to get back to my weekly schedule, but we'll see :)  I'm excited for Thursday so I can share all of the progress we've made in cleaning/organizing/decorating!  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Motherhood is Calling

We are having a few minor disasters at our house today, so the boys and I are at my parents' house.  I don't have any cute pictures to post, so instead, I'd like to share a link with you.  This link will take you to an article written about motherhood.  I found it very inspiring so I thought I'd share it on my blog.  I hope you mommies out there enjoy it as much as I did.  Happy Weekend, to all :)

Happy Weekend, July 9th edition

Here's a pic of my sweet Little L wearing one of my favorite outfits ever.  Isn't he adorable?  Make sure to notice how amazing his eyes look too :)

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28)

Happy Weekend April 10th

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

Weekend post April 2 & 3

Here is the ottoman I wrote about earlier in the week:





Proverbs 31:27
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Lord, let this be me next week! Amen :)

Weekend, woo hoo!

This is a picture of Sweet T learning the family business (my mom and I bake and decorate cakes) He helped me with Daddy's birthday cake back in January.


"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."
Proverbs 18:10

Weekend 1/29-1/30

In honor of my man's birthday!


But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:15

Psalm 127:3

Behold,children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.


Love my two little gifts :)

"a sssnowsss Ball!"

Weekend post.

I just love the way my kids are looking at each other in this picture. Can you tell they love each other???

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10