My Big Boy

So this morning I went into my son's room to get him up from bed (it was 9 a.m. by-the-way :)) and was totally surprised at how BIG my baby boy looks!! Seriously, did someone give him growing pills while he was sleeping?!!? He is so tall and SO sweet!! His legs have gotten so long and he is so strong!!! In my eyes, he is still a little guy, but I know he is growing up to be a strong and healthy man, just as I want him to be, it is amazing to watch!! He is just my sweet little guy, he has always been my baby, although we have never said much about him being the baby brother and Maddie being the BIG sister!! Honestly I don't think we made that big of deal about it, because there just isn't that much difference inbetween the two of them! AND, when Zack was born, Maddie was so little herself, we didn't want her to feel like she had to grow up right then! :) WOW, what a blessing it is to watch them grow up!! :):) I am so thankful that God has allowed me this time to stay at home with them!! :):) I LOVE MY JOB!! :):):) I often wonder where the time has gone with my kiddos!! I pray that our time together has been as big of a blessing to my M and Z as it has been to me!!! I love you little J's and I can't WAIT for more play days, just us!!!! :):)

Scripture

It is amazing to me how God can bring a scripture to my heart when I need it the most!! He is so good to me and He knows me SO well! :) Oh, I feel so loved by Him when He meets me right where I am at!! Here are a few scriptures He has brought to my heart in the past few days! :) (I LOVE that they all have to do with "JOY!":))

”The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." Psalm 28:7

”Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12

”Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, sister, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.” Philemon 1:7

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

”When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” Psalm 94:19

THANKS GOD for the JOY that only YOU can provide!! Please bless our week with unconditional JOY, peace and love! Thank you for being constant!! :)

2 Questions

So apparently the two biggest questions that are on people's mind about the Jenkins 4 are: When are you having another baby, AND, when you are moving into a bigger house!? :) Seriously, we get these two questions a LOT!! Hmmm, these questions often lead to quite interesting conversations! :):) First, let me point out that I am not mad at ALL about these questions, they have really allowed Wyatt and I to think about and pray through what we want for our lives and get on the same page about where we are headed!! Wyatt and I love a good conversation, we could sit and chat for hours and hours weighing the pro's and con's of a certain situation! We have undoubtedly had MANY conversations about these two topics! These questions have challenged our thinking and our prayer lives!! God is SO good and He hears us (and gives us peace) when we pray!! :)

We are really praying for God's perfect timing and for God's direction and guidance for another baby! I don't know if it is His will for us to have more babies, but we are open and praying! (if you ask my kiddos if they want more siblings, Maddie will SHOUT YES!! :):) And...Zack will say, "I'm the baby!!" Which translates to NO! :) Its pretty cute!! :):)) Honestly though, if God just chooses to bless us with two, we are SO THANKFUL for our little Maddie and Zack!! We love them SO MUCH and are so proud of the little individuals that they are and will grow to be!! We love living life with them and are enjoying them more and more every single day!! So, when we are asked when we are going to have more...that is what I tell people!! (Which they really don't like! But it is a great reminder when I think it is my business to ask others these questions!!! He he!! :))

Secondly, we LOVE our house!! It is the house that God choose specifically for us and we LOVE it!! Wyatt and I decided a long time ago that it is a choice to "grow" out of a house!! We have 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, a gorgeous kitchen, a great pantry, a BIG backyard and a house payment that we can afford and live comfortably with!! Now... I realize that some people only have 1 or 2 bedrooms, so I can see literally growing out of your home when you have several kiddos, but we haven't "grown" out of our house and we don't plan too!! If we do have more kiddos, we have a boy and a girl, so whoever joins us could share rooms! I had to share a room when I was a child and it didn't hurt me at all! :):) God has really laid His peace on our hearts that we are exactly where He wants us!! We love our house and will only move when HE moves us!! :)

As many of you know, I am a jewelry lady (and I LOVE IT!!!:)) Well, doing jewelry home shows has taken me to some pretty interesting houses!! God has really used these experiences to magnify how blessed we truly are!! If I didn't realize how blessed I was before, I absolutely know how blessed we are now, and I am SO thankful!! I don't want to live my life asking or begging God for bigger and better things! I want my family to be content with all that God has given us!! We want to live a simple and blessed life without all of the stress of having bigger and better!!

So... if you already have, or plan to ask either Wyatt or I these questions, here are your answers! :):)

Mommy Robin

We have a beautiful mommy Robin in our front "tree!" (I use "these marks" because, well...our tree might be a little stunted!:)) We are THRILLED that she has decided to make her little nest and love on her eggs in our front yard!! Wyatt and our kiddos found her nest over the weekend and every morning the first thing M and Z want to do is to go check on the mommy Robin and baby eggs! :) (It is SO cute!!:)) So this morning, bright and early Zack snuggled with me in my bed (at 6:45) and said, "Mommy' we need to go and check on mommy Robin!" So we got up, put our shoes on and headed out to check on her! :) SO precious!!!! :):)

I LOVE the way my kids love things...family, friends, animals, the park, the pool ...ANYTHING!! They just love to love!! And, they let you know what they love and why!! The three of us have had some of the most precious moments in the past two weeks!! Often one of my little J's will snuggle up to me for a few minutes and tell me that they love me!! It always brings tears to my eyes! I hope my kids ALWAYS know how much I love them!! I hope they always feel snuggled and loved with Wyatt and I! I also hope and pray that they feel the love that God has for them!! Maddie is REALLY interested in the Bible and wants to hear Bible stories all day!! I LOVE to see her learn and grow!! What an incredible blessing it is to teach our kids about God!!!

I hope that mommy Robin loves her babies as much as I love mine!! :):)

JUNE!!

I cannot BELIEVE that it is June!! :) WOW!! Where is this year going??! June is absolutely one of my favorite months!! There are two very special occasions that take place in June! My husband's birthday (this year is EXTRA special because he is going to be 30!!! :):)) and our wedding anniversary!!! Whoo-hoo!! I remember setting the date for our wedding, it was in December of 2002! We had just gotten engaged and we knew we were going to have to wait awhile to get married! (We wanted to honor my parents and their wish was that one of us would be graduated right around the time we got married!!) So... as we looked at the weekends in June of 2004, we decided on June 26th! As we we traveled for the holidays that Christmas, we talked and talked about whether we wanted our wedding date to be just 5 days later than Wyatt's birthday!? He kept saying he was totally ok with it, so we stuck to our special date (that, of course, I had fallen in love with!!:)) The week of our wedding, Wyatt birthday fell on a Monday so we gathered our dearest friends and celebrated with him, looking SO forward to what the end of the week held!! :):)

Oh, I LOVE remembering those wonderfully special minutes, hours and days!! We were SO EXCITED to get married, and we had been together for so long, it was a very easy transition for us!! Lots of people talk about how hard their first year of marriage was, and I am so thankful to say that we didn't experience that at all!! We just knew each other so well!! :):) I am still so wonderfully in love with Wyatt 7 years later! Actually, I am more in love with him now!! God has truly sharpened our love for each other, and our marriage gets better and better!!

Of course, I am planning a surprise party for Wyatt and I can hardly wait!! I LOVE my husband so much and I am so thankful for his life!!

Wedding Weekend

One of my favorite people is getting married on Saturday so tomorrow starts a whirlwind of activities! :) I am totally excited for her! She has waited a VERY long time for this day, and now God has provided for her, her hearts desire!! I have only been friends with Angela for about 2 years, but she has become very dear to my heart!! She has so much joy and zest for Christ, she is such an encouragement to me!!! I can't WAIT to share in her special day with her!! More to come later!! :):)

My Little Helper!

Yesterday my Maddie took a shorter nap, so she got up waaay before brother bear! After we snuggled for a little bit, she asked what I had been doing!? I happened to be cleaning the bathrooms at that time so I told her that and she looked up at me with her gorgeous blue-green eyes and asked if she could help! Of course I said, "YES!" I LOVE her willing and helpful heart, she ALWAYS wants to help and she isn't afraid to try anything!! And she just loves working next to me! PRICELESS!! :) She asked me what she could do and I gave her very simple instructions which she followed perfectly!!! She cleaned our bathroom SO PROUDLY and met daddy at the door when he got home so he could see her handy-work!! My Maddie is so much like me! She is a people pleaser and a lovey!! She just LOVES to love!! I pray that she will ALWAYS have a pure and innocent heart, and that she will continue to be a Light to those around her!! I love you Maddie Joy!! :)

Monday's at the Park

This summer we have decided that Monday will be our park day...no, we will not be going to just ant ANY park, I have a list of all the parks I want to take my kiddos to this summer!! I am SO EXCITED!! :):) All during the winter we "found" parks hidden here and there, but, since it was winter, we didn't get out to explore! So, NOW is our time to EXPLORE! We will be exploring a different park each Monday and we are SO EXCITED! We have had this list on our refrigerator for several months now and my Maddie and Zack know EXACTLY what the list is! :) Of course, we will also visit some of our FAVORITE parks, but I am excited to go to some new parks! We are going to take a picnic lunch and enjoy the morning there! So yesterday we started our park outings! We headed to Phelps Grove park around 9:30 a.m. and enjoyed the morning there!!! My kids just LOVED hanging out and exploring the new-to-them play equipment!! It was a BLAST and I can't WAIT until next week!! :) Next up on our list is "Griffin's Park!" We named it that because it is right next to our Griffin's house! It is a BEAUTIFUL, NEW park that has the "latest" swings and slides! :) Whoo-hoo for our summer Monday's!

Our Weekend

We had an AWESOME weekend!! I can hardly believe that it is over, but it ROCKED!! Here is a run down of our weekend! :)

Friday:
* We met Amber, Maddox and baby Brody to garage sale at 8 a.m.! We found some good deals and then headed to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast! It was FREEZING and we needed a place to warm up! :) After some playing and a few hash rounds... we felt better so we headed off to the mall!! :) The Gymboree there was having a sale $12.99 or less for EVERYTHING in the store!! Oh yes, it was a gooooood shopping trip! However, our excitement over the sale, meant we were a bit late to meet our husbands at Q'doba for lunch!! :):) Thankfully they got there at the same time and were able to hang out for awhile!! :) So thankful for Travis, he is such a good friend to my husband! :) After a wonderful lunch Wyatt surprised us and came home with us!! It was SO good to have him home for the whole weekend!! While the kiddos napped we just hung out and talked!! I LOVE to talk to my sweet man, for sure!!! :):)

*That evening we met back up with the Griders and enjoyed dinner with them!! Our kiddos get along so well, it is an awesome blessing!! :) After dinner we headed back to the mall for a few more shopping minutes for mommy at Gymboree!! :)

Saturday:

* OUR GIRLS SHOPPING TRIP TO BRANSON!!! Whoo-hoo!! :):) Maddie and I have been looking forward to this day for a looong time!!! Wyatt and Zack loaded up and headed to MArshfields to spend the day with my Grandparents and my mom came to pikcus up!! She had already done some shopping so she brought with her 4 gorgeous Princess dresses from Dillards! She had found them on clearance for $15-$19!! Needless to say Maddie (and I:)) were beside ourselves!! :):) We loaded up and spent the whole day in Branson together!! It was just the BEST day!! My mom is such a cool lady!! She is so loving and giving, so thoughtful and compassionate, SO patient and kind... and she loves my children (and Wyatt and I) totally unconditionally!!!! Sometimes it is overwhelming!!! :):) I am just so grateful for the amazing woman in Christ she is!!! She is an amazing example for my children and I!! I LOVE you mom!! :)

Sunday:

We LOVE our church and were so excited to go and worship there on Sunday! Our minister talked about family and respect! It was SO what we needed to hear!! Wyatt and I had a GREAT conversation about it on the way to my parents house and that afternoon out by the pool! (YES!! Summer is here!!:)) We spend most Sunday's at my parents house and we LOVE it!! It is such good time for our kiddos to get to hang out with their Ga-Ga and Mze! I truly believe that the investment of time we have spent out at my parents has made ALL the difference in my relationship with them, with Wyatt's relationship with them, AND with my kiddos' relationships with them! What a BLESSING!!!! This Sunday was pretty special because it was my parents 35th wedding anniversary!! My dad is always out of the country on May 29th, so we usually try to make it special for my mom!! So on our way there, we stopped by Sam's and picked up a cake!! M and Z were SO excited to surprise her with it!! :):) That afternoon Wyatt and I mowed for my mom and then we spent the afternoon poolside!!! Ahhh, it was BLISS! :) Later, my sister and Brother-in-law, nephew and two cousins and Grandparents came over for dinner!! It was SUPER FUN family time!!! I LOVE my family!!!

Monday:

*M and Z were SO EXCITED to have daddy home when they woke up!! They both shouted "DADDY!!!" :) It was presh! :) Then daddy surprised them even further with our day of plans!! We got dressed and hopped into the car to go to Krispy Kreme for breakfast, a TRUE treat!! After enjoying a doughnut (SO NOT on my "diet" but delicious none-the-less!!!:) we headed to the park! Yesterday started our summer of "Monday's at the Park" (more to come on this topic later!:)) so we played there for a long time! Then we took a long walk around the Phelps Grove park neighborhoods!! This was especially fun for me since I grew up around these neighborhoods!! Wyatt and I looked at houses and dreamed about what our next house will be like!! I love dreaming with him!! For lunch we had pizza! YUM-O! :) When we got home it was nap time...for ALL involved so we all enjoyed a 3 hour nap!! After our nap we played outside and enjoyed the gorgeous day!!! We ate a quick dinner and then headed out for a drive and ended up at Braum's for ice cream!!!! It was a great weekend!!!

We are so looking forward to all that this week will hold! Play dates, lunch with my mom and extra time with Wyatt!! WE LOVE THE SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!! :):)

Zack's new favorite phrases!!

I LOVE my son! He is HILARIOUS and absolutely cracks me up!! His two new favorite phrases right now are: "LET'S SMASH IT!!!!" and "What sister says?!" or "What daddy says?" and on and on!! I LOVE that he is ALL boy and isn't afraid of ANYTHING!!! He will pretty much jump off of anything with complete and total joy! He loves to find critters and dig in the dirt and he LOVES TO RUN!!!! He is absolutely the most adorable thing EVER!! :):) What a blessed momma I AM!!!

The Best Day!

I had the BEST day with my kiddos today!! I LOVE hanging out with my M and Z! I never thought that being a momma could be so wonderful and fun (it is definitely hard at times, don't get me wrong! :) BUT, it is SO totally worth all of the tough days!! :)) We have been going less, and hanging out...just the 3 of us, more!! I can definitely see that it is making ALL the difference in the world!! We try to have 1 to 2 play dates a week and the rest of our time is spent together!! We are just having a BALL!! I know that with summer comes a certain fun busy-ness so we are just enjoying our time together!! Wyatt gets off from work really early now, so our evenings are spent together playing outside, reading, going for walks and playing hide- and- seek!! BLESSED!!

So today was a beautiful day, so we loaded up in "our car" (whenever our kids refer to our Highlander it is OUR car. When they talk about the Saturn it is daddy's car! It is very hard for them to understand that we share our cars! So cute! :)) and met my sister and nephew at the Nature Center!! The three cousins RAN the whole way!! It is so much fun to see their friendships starting!! My sweet Maddie has lots of little girl-y friends, but my precious Zack would always just rather be with Maddux!! They are BUD's and it is pretty sweet! We took the long trail around the nature center and enjoyed the beautiful morning, talking all about God's beautiful creation! After our morning at the center, we headed over to Chick-Fil-A for some delicious lunch and some more play time!! :) After we left lunch, we headed home!! I love our time in the car together! We have some really fun cd's that we like to sing together! But, when we aren't singing we are talking about letters and different words that start with different letters! I must say, my kiddos know their letters very well, and we have a LOT of fun coming up with words that start with each letter!! After 3 hour nap's they got up, so happy and full of joy!! We played outside for a long time and soaked up the sun!! Then my friend Angela came over and we talked through her wedding, while M and Z watched Milo and Otis! They love that movie so much, they start laughing before their favorite parts even start! It is hilarious!! :) After Angela left, we ate dinner together and then just played all together! What a blessed evening! My favorite part was during bath time, we were once again talking about letters and I asked Zack how you spell the word "Stop!" (He is in LOVE with stop signs right now!!:) And he looked at me and said, "S-T-O-P!" I thought Wyatt was going to fall over!! We are SO proud of our little man!!! :):)

While I type this, Wyatt is cleaning up the kitchen! He is such an amazing man, he often cleans the kitchen after I have made dinner!! SO blessed!!! Now... for some snuggle time with my man!!

Critter Keepers

My kiddos are so much fun!! They entertain me all day,every day!! I am so thankful for their sweet and fun personalities! :) Maddie is totally a girly girl! She loves to have her nails painted (fingernails AND toe nails:)) She loves to play dress up and have her hair fixed!! She is so much fun! :) Zack is certainly ALL boy!! He is so sweet and funny and he loves to get dirty and catch critters! He loves to go on adventures and jump off of anything tall! :):) For Easter my mom and dad gave Maddie, Zack and Maddux "Critter Keepers!" So last week, on a bright, sunny day we got out our Critter Keepers and crawled around our back yard looking for treasures!!! I was a little worried about what we would find, but they were both SO EXCITED, I couldn't say no!! We looked everywhere...by the fence, in our very wet sand box, but we weren't finding any "satisfying" critters!! THEN we hit the jackpot!! Maddie and Zack squealed with delight as we found rolly-polly's, slugs, worms and even a beetle!! We picked up each critter with our tweezers and blasted them into our keepers to keep them safe until daddy got home!!! When Wyatt rolled in, Maddie and Zack raced towards him SO excited to show him what they had found!!! I think he was almost as excited as they were! He quickly changed clothes and off the three of them went looking for more critters!! :) I love my little family!!!

My Ring

Wyatt and I took my wedding ring into Justice Jeweler's on Saturday to get it checked and cleaned! We LOVE Justice Jewelers for a variety of reasons, but we love that as long as we get my ring checked every six months, if any stone ever falls out, they will replace it for FREE!! As we were talking earlier that day we realized that it had already been since months since we got it checked (and CLEANED, my favorite part!:)) So we made a quick stop by there before we met one of our two favorite graduates for lunch that day!! Within a few minutes of checking out my ring, the jeweler called us back! She had noticed that several of the stones were loose, so she asked us to leave it with them for 24 hours so they could secure each stone! Of course we were so thankful that I hadn't lost a diamond and happily left it with them so they could carefully check each diamond!!

Almost immediately after we left, my left hand felt totally naked! I am one of those ladies that wears her ring, ALL THE TIME!!! It never leaves my finger!! I LOVE my ring...Wyatt worked so hard to buy it for me when we were so young, and I take such pride in the beauty of it and of the marriage covenant that it holds!! Even more than its beauty, my heart swells with JOY at the fact that Wyatt loves me so much, he wanted to buy me something SO meaningful!! When he presented my ring to me as he was proposing, I will never forget the amazing words he said to me as he placed it on my finger...and then on our wedding day when he gave me my beautiful wedding band, he promised to love me and honor me and cherish me!! He has honored all of those words he spoke to me on those two special days!! What an amazing husband I have!

My ring is now back on my finger and it is more special to me than ever!! It is my dream ring and I LOVE it!!

Graduation!

We are SO excited for two graduations this weekend!! (WOW, I hope my family feels better QUICK!:)) Two of Wyatt's sisters are graduating, one from college and one from high school!! We are SO proud of these two girls!! They are number 4 and number 6 in line (Wyatt has 9 siblings, 7 biological and 2 adopted) and they have worked so hard to get where they are!! We are looking forward to taking Tiara out for lunch tomorrow...just her and us! We always have the best conversations! :) She is just so full of JOY and peace...she radiates God's love!! She is beautiful , and her life is a living reflection of God's grace!! She seeks Him in every situation in her life and her heart is so full because of it!! She is leaving for Sweden on Monday and we could be happier for her!! This fall she will head to Boston, MA to get her Masters degree!! We are SO PROUD of her!!!!

We are also very proud of Teal! She is graduating from high school!! We all know that high school isn't an easy time in life, but she has persevered!!! :) We can't WAIT to be a part of her graduation tomorrow night and celebrate with her!!

We LOVE our family, and although we don't always agree, we are thankful for their presence in our lives!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

The Hostess

I LOVE being the hostess, really I do!! I have almost forgotten how much I like to have people over and host parties!! On Monday night I had a 31 party and it was a BLAST!!! 14 of my "closest" friends came over for food, fun and really cute bags and purses!!! :) A couple of girls came over early to help and I enjoyed our time together SO much! There is nothing better than serving with good friends!! And they came over to bless me!! Their help just brought me such JOY! :) And then everyone else came and my heart was so full of JOY!! :):) I love being surrounded with friends... dear old friends and sweet new friends!! It was awesome!! :):)

When Wyatt and I got married, we knew that we loved to be hospitable!! We had an 1,100 foot townhouse and we had ALL kinds of parties there...wedding showers, baby showers, birthday parties, an ornament exchange...you name the occasion...we had the party and we LOVED IT!! Then we moved to our beautiful new house and had even more people over!! We have several groups of friends and we really enjoyed gathering everyone to do what each group likes to do! Some of our friends are game players, so we sat around and played games for hours! Others just liked to eat and talk...so we made a BIG meal, everyone brought something and we just sat and talked!! One of our groups of friends always splits off boys and girls!! It is kind of funny, but that is how we know they are, so we made sure to have plenty of chairs outside on our deck so the guys could hang out out there!! We just love to be hospitable, and what makes it even better is that we BOTH like to have people over!!

Once we had kiddos our days of BIG parties kind of died down, we still had a few people over, but not quite like we did before!! This has been hard for us, but I think it has been really good!! We have re-prioritized and we still really love having people over, we are just more strategic about it now!! (I think!:)) So Wyatt and I had a big discussion about this topic over the weekend and set some new goals for ourselves! :) This summer, one of our goals is to have at least two couples/families over a month!! :) We are REALLY excited about this and pray that God will bless the friendships we are about to make!! :):) Whoo-hoo!!

Mother's Day!

We had a jam packed weekend last weekend!! It was wonderful, but CRAZY!!! We enjoyed a day off with my mom on Friday, had a garage sale all day on Saturday, attended the CCH Branches Banquet on Saturday night (and brought all of the fresh center pieces) and Mother's day was Sunday! Whew we are worn out, but it was awesome!! :)

Zack and Wyatt woke me up with sweet kisses on Sunday morning! Zack whispered into my ear, "Happy Modder's Day Mommy! I yuv you!" Awwwww, SO PRESH!!! There is nothing better than your little son (who loves to jump off of everything, play in the mud and eat bugs:)) tell you how much he loves you!! I had several very sweet moments with my boys before they told me to get up and get ready! Wyatt told me not to come out of our room until I was ready for our day, he wanted breakfast to be a surprise!! So I took a shower and got all ready and walked out to my sweet little family with breakfast all ready just waiting for me!! We sat down to yogurt, bacon and special pastries that Wyatt and Zack had picked out the day before...AND, chilled glasses with freshly made orange juice!!! (All my favorites:)) My husband is AMAZING!!!!!!! And he loves me so much!!! I feel so humbled at his planning for a special mother's day! He is just wonderful!! :):) After breakfast, Maddie, Zack and Wyatt went and got their special gifts for mommy!! :) Oh, I felt so special, my family sure does know how to love on me!! :):) Maddie gave me a very sweet card, and a gorgeous purple Calla Lilly flower to plant in our front garden (We are working on our landscaping this summer!! When we bought our house new, there was a pretty start to our front beds, but this summer we hope to really make it look good! And, my Maddie LOVES to help her mommy, so this was the perfect gift from her!!!:)) Zack also gave me a sweet little boy card that melted my heart and a gift card to go shopping with, and then my awesome husband bought out his card and gift!! Then, they gave me a gift all together that was a painted picture of their hands!!! It is PRECIOUS!! :):) (Hmmm, my husband can be crafty!! :):)) He he!! :):) It was the perfect morning!!

For lunch our tradition is to go to my parents house for lunch! The men make lunch for the ladies and we get to talk and hang out, not touching the kitchen, for the most part!! It was SO MUCH FUN!!! My Grandma, mom, sister and "Aunt" Deb (Catrina's mother-in-law) sat around and chatted and hung out with the kiddos until lunch was ready!! Then we spent the afternoon talking and eating and enjoying each other's company!!! I know I say this a lot, but I mean it, I have the BEST family!! We just all get along so well and love to be together!!!!

We left there around 8 p.m. and came home to enjoy the rest of our evening together!! It was the BEST day!!! :):)

Remembering! :)

Wyatt and I went to London together almost 10 years ago!! :) It's CRAZY, I know!! :) Our trip actually started in Ancona, Italy with 10 of our closest friends! :) We went there on a mission trip with CCH and were BLESSED BEYOND our wildest expectations!!! Wyatt and I fell in love with Italy and hope to go back someday soon!! We got to live life as an Italian by living in an "Pensione" ( apartment), eating breakfast (of pastries and really strong coffee) in the morning on the "square" and hanging out with our missionary friends there!! We even got to celebrate Wyatt's birthday there that year! Our missionary friends had just started a church in Ancona, and we were there to help them get the word out about the new Christian church!! It was AWESOME!! Really, if you ever want to talk about it, we would both LOVE to tell you all kinds of crazy fun stories!! We really did go with several of our dear friends, and had a blast!! :) What precious memories!

After two weeks in Italy, our little group did some sight seeing in Rome, Pompeii, Pisa, Florence, Paris and London!! It was an absolutely amazing trip!! Of course with all of the Royal wedding coverage this past week, it has made me think about our time there!! We had just started dating the November before (this trip was June-July of 2002) and we already knew that we would spend forever together!!! Honestly, I even thought he would propose to me at the top of the Eiffel Tower (I mean REALLY, how many times do you get to go there!?!?!!?:):)) Alas it was not quite our time to be engaged, BUT we have SUCH amazing memories together of that trip!!! I am so thankful for all of the adventures that Wyatt and I had together before we got married!! We have been so blessed by those adventures, even today!! :) Sitting on our dresser in our room, we have 3 really special pictures of the two of us! One is one of our wedding pictures (of course, the BEST day of our lives!!:)) Then we have one of us on our honeymoon, and THEN there is the picture of the two of us that was taken to the right of Buckingham Palace in one of their beautiful garden's!! WOW!! What an INCREDIBLE place!!! It is absolutely gorgeous and RADIATES royalty!! The first monumental London icon we saw was Big Ben!! We walked up the stairs from the train station and THERE is was!! We were in awe!!

I think tonight we will have to get out our photo albums and remember that trip!! We both took a ton of pictures so it will be fun to go back to that time together! :) I love my husband and all of the sweet memories we have together!!!

Sweet Husband

On Sunday afternoon after we put our kiddos down for their naps, I took off and went shopping for Easter outfits!!! I am one of those crazy women that LOVES for her whole family to match!! :) I take great JOY in finding coordinating outfits for the 4 of us and of course this year is no different!!! :) Ha! :) We bought Maddie an Easter dress back in March, but as I was looking at it over the weekend, I realized that it was going to be too hard to match...so here we were back at square 1! :) So off I went to the mall...with about a million of my closest friends! :) He he!!

I looked high and low for the perfect outfits for over 3 hours! I found a cute dress here, and a handsome dress shirt there but nothing that I was totally excited about...and then I went into Old Navy!! :):) I found the cutest dress for Maddie, and a coordinating dress for me! :) YAY! :) Then I found a linen dress shirt for Wyatt and remember that I had seen a similar shirt for Zack at the Children's Place! I was totally stoked!!!! Everything was salmony/corally and I thought it was the PERFECT color for spring, not too girls but not too boring either! :):) Unfortunately then, my "Tina Tightwad" self checked in, and I decided I didn't want to pay full price for each item of clothing! So I left the store empty handed and broken hearted!! I continued to shop and eventually headed home!!

After dinner on Sunday night, we all loaded up and went for a long walk...as we were walking Wyatt asked me what I had found!! I described my exciting findings finishing up with the fact that everything MATCHED!! Wyatt didn't say anything for a minute and then told me to go back and get everything! Well, of course at that point I was a bit emotional, so I told him we could just find something else!! :):) Sooooooo what did my husband come home with last night!?!?!?!??! My dress, Maddie's dress his shirt and one for Zack!! He had gone to Old Navy during lunch and searched the store, trying to find the pieces of clothing that I had my heart set on!! He even went back to Children's Place for Zack's shirt (he bought one from Old Navy AND one from Children's Place to be sure they all matched!!:)) WHOO-HOO!! :):):) What an incredibly thoughtful husband I have!! I was totally humbled by his thoughtfulness and love for me!! I know he thinks it is crazy that I like to match, but he loves me SO much!! I was blown away (and still am!:))!! I am so thankful for such a sweet man!!!!!!

A Blessed Weekend!! :)

We had the best weekend! :) We LOVE weekends like these, full of relaxing and time together as a family...and we always enjoy some friend time too!! Friday night we had the Scott's over for fajitas and we had a BLAST!! We talked and laughed and just encouraged one another all night! We were having such fun, they didn't leave until well after 2 a.m.! :):) Wyatt and I had had so much fun, we wound up talking until almost 3 a.m.! :) Ahhh, dear friends are a blessing!!!

On Saturday morning everyone slept in until almost 9!! Yes, I DID say 9!! It was glorious!! I made a BIG breakfast and then we headed out for a looong walk!! Since gas has gone up here, we have really committed to using less gas...sometimes we get caught up in running here or there, but what we really love to do as a family is just be together, so that is what we did! We took a long walk, and then played at the park! We saw some friends there and ended up chatting with them for a bit while our kiddos played together! :) It was so fun!! Then we came home and I made lunch and we sat out on our deck and ate!! Following lunch we ALL took naps!! Now, if you know me, you know I am not a napper!! Well yesterday...I was!! We were so sleepy!! After our 3 hour nap (my kiddos are amazing sleepers:)) we got up and ran to Wal-Mart to get some flowers to plant...Maddie and Zack had a blast getting to pick out their favorite colored flowers and Wyatt and I were quite pleased with their selections!! :):) When we got home, I started working on the dozens of cookies I had promised my dad I would make for the CCH Motocycle ride!! M and Z and Wyatt planted all of our flowers in our planters and set them out to surprise me!!!Oh I LOVE the JOY our kiddos have!! They love all things beautiful and they LOVE to surprise the people they love! It was awesome!! :) After the kiddos went to bed, Wyatt and I sat out on our deck and just talked! I LOVE time with my man, I love talking with him and dreaming with him! I love being with him on our porch surrounded by the people we love!

This morning we all got up ready and excited for church!! We LOVE our church, it is such a blessing to us!! After a quick lunch with some dear friends, we came home and snuggled our kiddos!! While they napped I ran to the mall to look for cute outfits for our family for Easter!! Don't judge...I like for us to match, so I was quite happy with my purchases today!! :):) When I got home, everyone was waiting for me, so we loaded our 2 J's up in the double stroller and went for a long walk!!

Now the house is quiet and I am looking forward to hanging out with my husband out on our deck!! We are SO thankful for a blessed weekend!!!

I LOVE this verse!! I "found" it when I was reading my Bible a few days ago, and it has resignated in my heart and filled me much JOY ever since!! It gives me GREAT encouragement to know that when we pray, GOD HEARS US!!! :):) Sometimes it feels like He doesn't hear us, or that He doesn't pay any attention! :) But this verse says that when we ask in His will, God hears us!! :):) I LOVE THIS!!

1 John 5:13-15 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

A rant...kind of!! :)

Have you ever been around a woman or a group of ladies that are always trying to one up each other!? You know, one of them is bragging about how brilliant her children are, so the next woman starts talking about how her kids are involved in this gifted program and her kiddos are even too smart for that group! Then another woman chimes in with how much money her husband makes, so then the other two have to talk about all of the expensive things they own or their hugey-big house or the extravagant vacations they have planed for this summer!?

WOW!! That's about all I can say!!! I have been around a few of these ladies over the past few days and weeks and months and it absolutely makes me SAD!! GOD has BLESSED us all in COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ways, so it is absolutely not fair to compare ourselves to others!! We are ALL different because GOD MADE US THAT WAY!!! God made us uniquely different because He has a specific purpose for each of us as women, as wives, as mommies... as daughters... as friends!!! ! Trust me ladies, this is something I have to pray against also! I am pretty proud of my family too, but I want to be JOY-filled for others!!! :) I want my husband to know that I am proud of him for how hard he works for our family! I want to be full of JOY for him when he gets home each day! I want my kiddos to know that I am always excited for them whenever they are excited about something!! I want to be the friend that people talk to about new stuff, because they KNOW I will be excited for them!!

This verse kept coming to my mind this afternoon as I was praying about this and asking God to rid my heart of selfish ambitions!!

Philippians 2:1-11

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the GLORY of God the Father!"

I feel like this is pretty cut and dry!!! I will be the first person to admit that I don't always think of others first, but I try! I want to live my life for Christ!! I want HIM to be glorified in all that we do as a family!! I want to glorify Him in all that I do as a woman, wife and mommy!! I want to set a Godly example for my children, especially my daughter! I want her to listen to others with a happy heart and be JOY-filled when something awesome happens for one of her friends, instead of being jealous and pouting!! I think it is RIDICULOUS that grown up women POUT!! COME ON LADIES, put on your big girl panties and GROW UP!!!! Life isn't always fair and sometimes hard things happen, but we have a God who LOVES us and takes care of us...He NEVER loses sight of us, and if we are praying His will for our lives we will see Him in everything that we do!

P.S. SO sorry for the rant...I am not usually so grumpy, but sometimes things just get to me!! :)

*Blessed!*

I love the relationship that my parents and my husband share! :) It is so special to me that they love each other so much and that they get along so well and always have!! I never have to worry about what they are going to say to him, or what he might say to them...we all just get along so well and enjoy each others company!! We spend each Sunday at my parents house (which some people think it crazy:)) but it fits really well with our family right now!! Our kiddos LOVE their Ga-Ga and Mze and they have such a special relationship with them, because, of the time we spend together! It is not a forced relationship at all, but one of love and uncondtional-ness on both sides!! :) Ah, I love Sunday afternoons!!

I love that my dad talks to Wyatt about things that are on his mind, and that Wyatt talks to my dad in a very similar way! They are bud's! :) I love knowing that my dad will A-L-W-A-Y-S give my husband sound Godly advice and always advises him to take the higher road, no matter what!!! My dad and Wyatt spend a lot of time talking about Wyatt's job change!! It was a hard decision for us! If Wyatt would have stayed at his then-current job, he would have made a ton of money and had a lot of prestige, but, he would have missed out on so much of our life together! Money is so not worth losing family time together! I praise God that Wyatt and my dad were able to have such deep conversations about what the Bible says about money and family!!! Of course Wyatt and I made the ultimate decision together, but guys also just need someone outside of their box to talk to about important things!!

My grandparents have started coming to our Sunday lunches which sweetens the day even more! :) My Grandparents are AWESOME, they love God and it is apparent in the way they have chosen to live out their lives!! They are so humble!! I could sit and chat with my Grandma for hours, she has such amazing stories to tell!! :) My Grandparents inspire Wyatt and I to live a simple life, full of the JOY and LOVE of our little family!! I am so thankful for their influences on our life!! As I was watching them all yesterday, I just felt so blessed...we have a pretty special family and I am so thankful for each of them!!

4

4 months from today my daughter will be 4!! That is CRAZY!!!!!! :):)

"I Will Follow!"

Today we were riding in the car when one of my favorite songs, "I Will Follow" By Chris Tomlin came on 88.3 The Wind! I LOVE THIS SONG! So, of course I turned it up and started singing quite loud!!! Well, behind me I heard a little Zack voice SINGING ALONG!!! :) It instantly brought tears to my eyes! He was singing with almost as much intensity as I was!! My precious little son is a son of God...how often do I forget that!?!? God has BIG things in store for him and I can't WAIT to see how My Zack will honor and serve God all throughout his life!! I LOVE my son, I didn't know that I needed a son, but I am SO THANKFUL that God knew better than I!! He is my precious little man, he loves his mommy and I love him!! We have an unbreakable bond!!! I love the way his face lights up when he see's his daddy and I! I love his snuggles for us and his passionate heart for his sister and his little friends!! I love my son!!!

Oh God, it is the desire of my heart that my children will come to Know You and LOVE YOU with their entire little beings!! Please help me to know how to teach You to them in a very real and understandable way!! God, you are so real to me, my heart is Yours and I live my life for you! Please help this song to be the cry of our hearts...we want to love like You, serve like You and follow You in every part of our lives!! Please give us wisdom and knowledge every single day!!! We LOVE YOU God!!

Thoughts

Today I am feeling so thankful and so sad all at the same time!! Our dear friends, the Owens family lost their dad in a horrible car accident almost 4 years ago, and today is his birthday!! There are six kiddos and they are truly 6 of the coolest people I know!! They are all SO much alike and also totally different!! Its actually hilarious to watch them all "in action!" :) I have been so blessed to be a part of their lives for a long time, it is a true blessing to have lifelong friends and to be friends with the whole family!! As I talked with Amber this morning (she is second in command:)) we just talked about some of her favorite memories of her dad!! He was a Godly man, very strong and passionate about God and His Word! He raised his family to know, follow and love God!! He has left quite a legacy behind and he is SO missed!! Not a day goes by that at least one of the Owens clan talks about him, or references something he said!! They are an AWESOME family and I am SO thankful for their presence in my life!! I REJOICE with them that he is now in heaven and I too look forward to seeing him someday! But I am SO saddened by the loss of his life!! I guess it is a good reminder that life is so short, you never know when God will call us home!! I struggle with this...there is so much I want to do and see! Mostly I long to watch my children grow up and become amazing adults!! I long to live life with Wyatt forever...to celebrate birthday after birthday and anniversary after anniversary together!! I want to enjoy family vacations and watch my kiddos excel in all of the areas that God has blessed them!! I want to stand for God, loving and serving and honoring Him in every aspect of my life!!

Today also reminds me how thankful I am for my family!! They are so loving and kind, and they have shown me Jesus my whole life! On days like today, it seems ridiculous that I get so annoyed with them at times!! What is my problem?!?! My family is a tight knit group...we love each other a whole lot and we know one another pretty well! :) We are a family that loves to hang out together, we have family night every single Thursday night! Thursdays are our nights to just be together!! It doesn't really matter what we are doing or where we are at... we just want to be together!! My kiddos and I eat lunch with my mom every Tuesday!! She calls me each Tuesday morning and we decide where we are going to go...M and Z and I LOVE Tuesdays!!! We are so blessed by our family, who lives life for God! My mom and dad are awesome examples of His love and grace, and I will forever cherish the time they have invested in my little family and I!! I am SO thankful!!!!

Quick story

Tonight Maddie and I went to a baby shower for a friend from church and it was a BLAST!!! I LOVE having my little girl to go do fun, girly things with! AND, I love that she wants to come with me! :) She is my sweet little best friend, my little mini me! At the shower they had treats that, of course she was excited about! :) I told her she could choose one, and she did happily and never asked for another treat! :) At the end of the evening we were getting ready to head home so we started saying out good byes, and our sweet hostess Sarah offered her another little treat! She asked me if it was ok and I told her it was...so then she asked if she could have anther one to take to her "brodder!" What a sweetheart!! :) She is SUCH an AWESOME BIG sister!! She always takes good care of her brother...whether it is check in on him after he has fallen or, helping me get him up in the morning! She takes her role as the big sister very seriously and it just melts my heart!! On the way home, she asked if we could give "brodder" his treat tonight! I told her he would probably be in bed by the time we got home, so she said "Ok, I will give it to him in the morning right when we wake up! I just know he is going to be as excited as I was!!!" Ahhh, SO PRECIOUS!! Thank you God for the blessing of my daughter!!

Words!

First I have to say thank you SO much for all of your words of encouragement and love and e-mails over the last few days!!! I was SO blessed by each of your words of wisdom and love, thank you for being such dear friends!! Mostly thank you for praying for me! I have felt your prayers deep into my soul and I am SO very thankful for how God is moving!!

Last Sunday morning our minister preached a sermon that totally changed my heart!! He preached about words and your tongue and how they can affect EVERY single aspect in your life!! I have heard about the "Taming of the tongue" my whole life, but something that Wayne said on Sunday truly touched me!! I love my little family and I praise God for them everyday, but also each day, I find myself losing patience and say something to one of them (usually my precious husband:)) that I immediately wish I hadn't said!! Please don't get me wrong, I am not a yeller! :) I don't scream at them or say mean things to them, or demean them in any way...but at times I do take a harsh or impatient tone with them, that they absolutely don't deserve!!

In the sermon on Sunday, Wayne shared with us Matthew 12:36-37 "³⁶ But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

This verse states that on the day of judgement, I will be held accountable for every single careless word I say!!! HOLY COW!!!! I say a LOT of careless words...probably totally unintentionally, but if I don't take my thoughts captive and make each word truly COUNT, someday I will stand before the Throne and He will ask me about each of these accounts!!! WOW!! That is certainly something that I need to think about every minute of the day...and every time I open my mouth!!! Eeek!! :):)

I have thought about this verse over and over again this past week! It has held me accountable for many conversations that I have held with several friends! I only want Truth and love to pour out of my heart and my mouth, but that is going to take me being intentional about what I think about and what I say!!! I pray that God will continue to use His Words to resignate in my heart and change me!!

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalms 19:14

A Heartache

Have you ever just had a heartache? Yep, I did say "heartache" and not "headache"?! :):) My heart just hurts and I am not exactly sure why! I know God has been working in my heart A LOT and really dealing with me on some things! I know it is all good, and I am so thankful that He is so patient with me and lets me catch on to His plan before He whacks me over the head with it! :) But... it is also kinda hard!! God is really stretching me and growing in areas that I didn't know I needed to be stretched in!! :) Funny how He does that sometimes, right! :) I'm not mad or even frustrated by my heartache, I more long to know what God is about to do next, I feel that something is about to change...but I am not sure what!! So, if you are reading this, please pray that God will relieve my heartache and that He will reveal to me what is next! And that whatever it is, He will just give me peace and wisdom!! Thanks!

"Look at HIS tu-tu!"

YES! Those are the words that rang out of my 3 1/2 year old's mouth yesterday as we were leaving Arris' Pizza with some friends!! :) I had seen him coming, he and his wife! She was dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt and HE was wearing kahaki kilt!! :) Well, my sweet little daughter, that didn't know any better, had caught a glimpse of him from far away, then came to stand beside me to get a better look!! She couldn't believe her eyes, and she was so pleased to be able to share!! :) ""Look at HIS tu-tu!" she shouted...she was SO EXCITED!!! "DADDY!!! LOOK AT HIS TU-TU!!!! I have one too!!!!" They passed us looking mildly annoyed, but all we could do was laugh!! It was so innocent and so sweet and she was so proud of him!!!! She is my precious little girl...she is ALL GIRL and I LOVE IT!! Ah, such special moments to remember!!!

Picture Perfect

As I was downloading new pictures today I realized that we have a LOT of pictures of our two cuties in front of our beautiful fireplace! I LOVE our fireplace, it is one of my favorite features of our house!! But... little did I know how much fun it would be to pose my two kiddos in front of it on the days that they look SUPER cute, or on the days that they are being so sweet and even on the days they are just being THEM!! It is also awesome to watch them grow in front of our fireplace!! Their heads are getting closer and closer to the TOP of it! :) We of course have pictures of our M and Z as tiny babies in front of the fireplace...we also have pictures of them on their first birthdays, at Halloween, Thanksgiving and in front of our stockings at Christmas!! What FUN pictures to have!! :):) I think it might have become our tradition without even knowing it! :) So stay tuned for more pictures of the Jenkins' 2 posed cutely in front of our fireplace! :):) Whoo-hoo!! :)

"Love Notes"

This morning at our ladies Bible study at church, our little group of ladies exchanged love notes! :) I had been looking forward to this meeting for quite a while! I LOVE the ladies in my group, there are several "older" women and lots of younger women, and we all have such a special bond!! I have been working hard on my "love notes" to pass out to my friends, and this morning I woke up with JOY, knowing that I was going to get to see each of them today!! :) I hope my notes were a blessing to them, as theirs were a blessing to me!! I will treasure their words forever!! It is amazing to know that these sweet precious ladies are praying for me all week!! :) I feel so blessed!

Writing these notes reminded me of the books that I have for both of my children!! I try to write in them almost everyday, but I have been slacking for the past month!! I want them to know how much I love them and how joyful their little lives make me each day!! :) I also want them to know how I felt on the hard days...discipline is NOT fun, but it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL!! I hope they know when they get older that we disciplined them because we love them and want them to be obedient children who love and respect us and the other adults around them!! Mostly, we want them to know that we loved them unconditioanlly, because that is what God calls us to do as parents!!

These love notes also got me thinking about all of the notes I should be writing to Wyatt!! He is such an amazing man and I am SO THANKFUL that he is in my life!! Today he met us for lunch, and it just brightened my WHOLE day!! :) I LOVE my man!!!

I hope to send out some "love notes" to some other dear friends this week! I am so thankful to have some sweet, precious friends close to me and far away, I just want to share my joy with you all! I am so thankful for unconditional friends!!!

Connections!

This past weekend we were blessed to be able to hang out with some of our "old" friends...Todd and Paige Ferguson!! :):) WE LOVE Todd and Paige, and were so sad when they loved away about 3 years ago!! However God has blessed us with some pretty special time with them here and there in the past few year! This time, our time together was no different...it was short, but wonderful! :) The Ferguson's have been present for some of the most precious moments of our lives! They were one of the first couples we told when we found out we were pregnant with Maddie!! (It is a HILARIOUS story, if you want to know how they re-acted, I would love to share!!:)) We got to be a part of weddings on both sides of their families, we spent some good time with "Dad" (Ben) Ferguson during the ice storm of 2007 and were blessed to see a chapter of the Wall's family end at their auction and a new one begin two years later at Crystals wedding! We are so thankful for these two people and for their family!!

We are also SO blessed because we feel like we have a special connection to their whole family!! Have you ever felt that way with your friends' families...that you just fit right in?!? It is one of my favorite feelings! :) So this past Saturday, we went to a get together at Paige's sister's house! Pretty much everyone met us at the front door and welcomed us in! :):) It was WONDERFUL to see everyone and love on them, and be loved on in return!! It is so awesome to feel that connection to people...you love each other because you share a bond with each other!! I love to have conversations with Paige about her family, because I KNOW them...I've hung out with them and I know where they have been and where they are headed! Priceless!!

I hope to be this kind of family for my kiddos and for their friends...starting now!! My parents were awesome about letting us invite our friends over so we could hang together!! Of course I know now that they wanted to keep tabs on us... Ha!:) But it is so cool that I can talk about pretty much anyone that I grew up with at my school, and my parents know exactly who I am talking about!! They got to know some of our friends' parents also which made life more fun! So today I am thankful for all of the sweet family connections we have!!!

Traditions

I LOVE traditions!! I don't think I really realized that until I got married and had my little J's! :) I love knowing that with each holiday, comes a special tradition...some of our traditions are new and some of them are old!! Wyatt and I wanted to create our own traditions for our little family, but we also LOVED many of the traditions my family had created!! I was reminded of one of my favorite traditions just yesterday! :)

My dad is a wonderful man!! He has worked SO hard his entire life doing what God has called him to do! He doesn't have a fancy job or a million dollars... but he sure does love his family! When my sister and I were in high school, he started the tradition of bringing all of his girls flowers! He would take flowers (sometimes he brought roses, sometime it was a mixed selection, but it was always some type of beautiful flower!! :)) to my mom wherever she was, and he would bring roses to my sister and I at our high school!! Sometimes he would bring them in, and the extremely-sought-after-note would be sent to our classes stating that we had something in the office! (WHOO-HOO!! It was always SO exciting to anticipate what was there, waiting for us!!:)) Other times, he would leave a rose with a note on our car (we shared a car throughout high school!) It is just his sweet, loving was of showing us that he loves us!! I LOVE this tradition, it just makes me feel so loved and thought of! Even though I have my own family, I LOVE my mom and dad and sister!! I feel so blessed that they live here and can be a part of our every day lives!! SO blessed!!! (By-the-way, yesterday was no different! A half a dozen roses are now sitting in the center of my table...not from my husband, but from my dad!!:))

I think the relationship between a daddy and his daughter is SO special!! The relationship part is SO necessary!! Daddy's and daughters must spend quality time together, doing special things! They must have good conversations and be able to talk about the FUN stuff AND the hard stuff!! I pray that Wyatt and Maddie will have as special of a relationship as my dad and I have!! I can already see it happening!! She loves him and wants to show off for him! She loves having his special attention!! She loves to sit and snuggle with Wyatt and she likes to play and tease her daddy!! I am SO thankful for a man that can step in a BE a daddy!!!!! I am so thankful!!

Valentine's Day!

I LOVE Valentine's Day!! I LOVE...well love!! :):) I love loving on my husband and showering him with sweet notes and doing special things for him all day long!! I try to love on him all year around, but Valentine's Day is just special, there is something so sweet in the air! :) Last year I filled the mirror in our bathroom with big red construction paper hearts telling him everything that I loved about him!! I dropped another note into his briefcase for later and I made him a quick breakfast on the go!! That morning, I called him a left him a message, I e-mailed him an e-card and I texted him proclaiming my love! It might have been a little over the top, but I LOVE him SO much, I want him to know that Valentine's day for me...is show him how much I love HIM!!! I don't expect it to be all about me!!! I am excited about the day we have planned for this year!! :):)

I also love to love on my Maddie and Zack!! They are so precious to me and I don't think you can ever tell or show your children that you love them too much!!!! This year we are going to make pink and red pancakes with sprinkles and have pink milk for breakfast!! I made them each a Valentine's Day card and I can't WAIT to see their faces when they open their special gifts!! :):) Wyatt and I decided the year that Maddie was born that we wanted to spend Valentine's Day together as a family!! We get to go out for special dates a LOT throughout the year, so we wanted to make sure our kiddos know that we LOVE them and enjoy spending time with them also!! So now Valentine's day is about our family!!! I LOVE this family tradition!! :):) This Valentine's Day will be extra special because we get to spend it with our extended family!!!! On Monday evening we are having a family Valentine's Day party with my mom and sister and sweet little Maddux! We have been hard at work making Valentine's decoration's for our party and we are SO excited!! I am stoked about making dinner for everyone, having a special dessert and enjoying our Valentine's Day GAMES!! :):) We are going to have a BLAST!!!!! Make sure you show your beloved how much you love them TODAY!! :):)

Projects!

I can't WAIT to get started on some home projects this week!! With all of the craziness that was Thanksgiving and Christmas, our projects kind of got pushed off!! But NOW, I am ready!! Here we go!! :):)

First, we are going to paint our master bathroom!! It is a beautiful purple color now, but now that our bedroom is brown and turquoise, it doesn't really match!! So, I think we are going to paint it a taupe color and accent with turquoise and brown!!!

Next we are going to paint our hallway and change all of the decor on each wall!! I am excited about our "Family" wall!! This will have all of our family pictures framed in the same frames (style, shape and color) and will just show off our family and how it is growing and changing!! :) On the wall across and down, we will make our wedding picture wall! We have SO MANY beautiful wedding pictures I want to show them off!! After all, our family started with us...right?!? Then on the other two walls and I want to hang fun pictures of our kiddos and our family and friends!! I hope to keep all of the frames black, but these frames won't match (like the ones on our "Family" wall)!! I just have found cute black frames here and there ,some are round a few are rectangle and then of course I have a few square frames! I have been "collecting" them all fall so I am excited to see them all up together!!

Lastly, (at least for now:)) we are going to change up our entry way by painting our little table and mirror there! Across from it, I was to hang a big family picture that is framed (that is too big for our hallway wall:)) so we are going to put it there along with a really cool "Family" stencil from Uppercase Living! I have had this "stencil" FORever, but not I know exactly where we want it!!! Ooohhh, I am SO EXCITED!! I LOVE our house SO much, and we will only move if God calls us to!! I love changing the look of it by adding decor and painting!!! We both love the colors of our house, so I think they will stay the same, but it is amazing how different rooms can look with different decor!! I can't WAIT!! I hope to post before and after pictures soon!!!:):) Wish us luck!!

Our weekend!

We had the best weekend!!!! On Friday night I got to go the CCH's girls retreat to chat with them about being Intentional!! It was AWESOME, and I had a GREAT time, in fact I didn't get home until 2 a.m.!! There is nothing better than hanging out with college aged girls!!! I totally understand why my dad likes to hang out with them! Perhaps someday God will use me to love on them and hang out more, but for now, I enjoy discipling two CCH girls and hanging out with the group whenever I can!! :)

Saturday was my birthday and I must say it was PERFECT!! Wyatt let me sleep in, and about 9:30, Maddie, Zack and him come into my room singing!! Then Zack said, "MOMMY, we got DOUGHNUTS and mine has sprinkles!!" :)) It was adorable!!! So we headed into the dining room where they had all of our doughnuts set out for us!! This was such a special treat because we don't normally eat doughnuts..really well...EVER!! But we sure enjoyed them on Saturday! Then we got ready and headed into town to run some errands, all my favorites!! Target, Hobby Lobby and Jellybeans!! :) We had lunch at Old Chicago and then headed home! About 3:00 p.m., Wyatt started mentioning that I probably would want to start getting ready for our evening out! He was so funny, I think he was as excited as I was!! About 4:30 my parents showed up to watch our kiddos and we left for our surprise date!!!! :) How FUN!!!! Eventually, we met our friends Travis and Amber at Jimm's for dinner and spent almost two and a half hours, eating, talking and laughing together there!! It was a BLAST!!! After dinner, we headed to Hebrews for more talking and laughing! Later that evening we realized that Orange Leaf was right down the way, sooooooooo we decided to end our evening (well the eating part of it) there!! Travis had never been there, so it was a treat for us all to introduce him to the BEST ever! :):) About 11:30 p.m. Wyatt and I decided we needed to head home to relieve my parents, so we started saying our good-byes, BUT the Griders decided to come home with us to continue our evening!! Whoo-hoo!! :):) They didn't leave until 3:30 a.m.!! Oh it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

I loved all of the special thought Wyatt put into making the evening wonderful!! I am so thankful that my parents both came over to hang out with our kiddos! It sounds like they had quite a part of their own!! I am also thankful to have special friends to share a fun evening out with!!! It was awesome and I feel so blessed!!!

Snow and our Weekend!

We LOVE the snow!! We are total snow bunnies! We probably should be living in Colorado, because we LOVE the cold, we LOVE snuggling, we LOVE having our fireplace turned on, and we LOVE being in the snow!!! So imagine our surprise and excitement as we woke up on Tuesday morning and had a wonder land of snow!! We were SO EXCITED!!! Wyatt had decided to stay at home with us (well..because he can now...that is the reason he stayed home!! :) I LOVE it!! This kind of freedom has never, ever been an option before, not even a little, so we are REALLY enjoying his new found freedom at work!!:):)) Wyatt and I are not at all afraid of the snow, we actually think it is a HUGE adventure to be out in it...so about 11:30 a.m. we headed into town to meet my mom and dad for lunch!! Maddie and Zack were quiet all the way into town, I think they were more worried than we were!! When we got there, they waited anxiously at the door for their Ga-Ga and Mze!! When they got there, Zack said, "MZE!! IT'S SNOWIN!!!!!" It was absolutely adorable!! When we got home everyone took naps, and Wyatt and I just snuggled by our fireplace and talked about some of our favorite time we have spent together in the snow!! We have been to Colorado several times together, but we are really looking forward to going there as a family!! I can't WAIT to show M and Z the mountains and take them skiing!! I am beyond excited!! :) After the kiddos woke up from their naps we went out and played in the snow!! The snow in our backyard had drifted quite a bit so we jumped in the snow and made snow angels!! Oh, it was the best time!!

Wednesday brought v-e-r-y cold temperatures, so Wyatt decided to have another snow day!! :):) (Pretty much everyone in his office took these two days as snow days also, so he really didn't miss anything!! What a FAR CRY from his old job!! :)) So, we got back out in the snow playing the our front yard and the back yard! We also scooped up snow to make snow ice cream, which was a blast!! Maddie kept saying, "So this is snow...right??" :) Then, before nap, they took a snow bath!! We ended our day at my sister's house for some fun play time and pizza!! What a FUN day!! What a fun WEEK!! We love having out-of-the-ordinary weeks, it just makes life a little more fun! :)

I am very excited for our weekend!! It is my birthday weekend so I am excited to see what tomorrow will bring!! Wyatt and I like to surprise each other with special dates so I am looking forward to our day!!! Today, my mom and sister and our kiddos ate lunch together at Maria's and then enjoyed cupcakes from "The Cup!" AWESOME!!! I have the most thoughtful mom and sister! They are both so good at making people feel special and today was no exception!! I am so blessed to live so close to them!! We share such a special connection! :) Tonight I am speaking at the CCH's Girls Retreat!! I am speaking about "being intentional," so please pray that the night will be blessed and that I won't be nervous!! :) :) I am looking forward to hanging out with these girls and loving on them, like I was when I was in college!! :) It will be a blessed weekend for sure!!

ENJOY your weekend!!!

"Those who love their children care enough to discipline them!"

Proverbs 13:24

Apparently this is my new favorite verse for today! :) My M and Z are just having a rough day! We had a busy fun-filled weekend, and I know they are so tired, but WOW!! :)

You would have been super impressed with my son's fit throwing skills today as I had to pry him off of the play area at Chick-Fil-A!! Our friends were headed out the door and I thought we would stop by the store in preparation of the BIG store that is supposedly headed our way! So, as always I gave the 2 minute warning! After 2 minutes-ish, my kiddos are usually ready to head out and they run over, putt heir shoes on and are ready and excited for our next adventure!! Today...NOT SO MUCH!! After much "discussing" and 2 spanks later we were in the car going HOME! They went down for naps and I fell on my knee's and prayed for them to have good restful naps!! I guess sleep is what they needed, they have been fast asleep for 2 hours and counting!!! Thanks God for great naps today! Please help them to wake up with happy hearts and listening ears!!

I hope I never forget...

This week has been a CRAZY (yet wonderful) week! We have enjoyed play dates, time with my family and friends...pair that with my little girl getting sick, Wyatt being out of town for several days, a jewelry party, Bible study and so much more!! That all makes for a pretty busy week!! But in all of our craziness, I want to remember ALL of the fun, special moments I got to have with my M and Z this week! :) They are SO much fun and I am enjoying them both SO much!! So, since this is kind of my "diary" if you will...I thought I would list some of my favorite things that happened with my two precious kiddos this week...so I don't ever forget!! :):):)

*Zack's little hand wrapped around the window today as I rolled it down! It is GORGEOUS here today, and we all were excited to drive with the windows down! As I looked back to check on them...Zack was reading his favorite "Thomas" book with his little hand wrapped around the window enjoying the breeze! PRESH!! :)

* Maddie telling me at 3 .m. that her nose won't stop sneezing! :)

* The way Maddie and Zack hold hands whenever they are nervous or unsure about something!! :) (This made my WHOLE week!! :) They were walking into church for Bible study on Wednesday, and they were feeling unsure about their new teacher, so BIG sister Maddie grabbed Zack's hand and he held on for dear life! Off they walked into their class together!! They are the BEST OF FRIENDS!! And I am SO thankful!! :)) This is one proud momma!!

*Getting to spend time with each of my kiddos, one-on-one!!

Maddie-- she has been up a lot the last few nights and she has wanted me to snuggle her, so I climbed into her bed and snuggled with her until she fell fast asleep!! I am in awe of the beautiful girl God has made her to be!! I prayed over her each night as she struggled to breathe due to her clogged nose and sore throat! But I know in just a few days she will be back to her normal, precious self!! I have such a hard time having her sick with a cold, I CANNOT IMAGINE what it would be like for her to be sick with something serious!! I am SO Thankful!!

Zack--My little Z and I got to spend some good time together a few days this week as Maddie was sleeping late!! He always wakes up with a smile and calls out to me by saying, "Mommy, I am awake..where are you!?!?" :):) He LOVES trains and I LOVE that he loves them!!! We read his train books, played with his train set and just had us time! I loved it!!

* The way Maddie and Zack's laughter rings around in our house as they play together, grow together and share in our precious family together! No one can get then laughing like the other!! It is positively precious!! :)

* Maddie telling me she has a baby in her belly! Oh I cannot even imagine what that will be like in 40 YEARS (ok, so maybe I am kidding...a little bit!!:):)) We went to a play date today and she asked which one of our friends had a baby in her belly! I told her that no one at our play date today was pregnant, so she told me that she was!! I love how her mind works!!

* Zack telling me he loved me...for no specific reason!! He just looked at me and said, "I yuv you mommy!":) My heart melted right away!

*The questions that M and Z ask about stuff...just for clarification! Like "Now when do I have to sit time out...when I hit or when I push!?!" HILARIOUS!! Of course I have to be strict and tell them that both of those are offensivable acts and will both be punished with time out...but the way they say it is SO funny!! They also are starting to ask a lot more questions about God and who He is!! I PRAY that I have the answers they need to fulfill their questions! I also pray that I have the wisdom I need to explain SO much to them in the next weeks, months and years to come!! Father, hear my prayer!!

* The way the scream "DADDY!!!!!" with such JOY after not seeing him for a week!! They were SO excited to see him! A huge grin spread across his face as he was reminded of one of the reasons that God blesses us with children!! Their JOY is contagious!!

* The way my kiddos drag our big kitchen table chairs over to our island so they can "help" me with whatever meal I am making! They just want to be beside me... helping! I LOVE that!!

* Maddie asking when she was going to see her daddy again! She said, "Mommy, I love you and I love my daddy SO MUCH!! I miss him, but where has he been??" :)

* Zack holding my hand as we watched "Dispicable Me" last night! We just sat together and held hands so sweetly!!

*The way the stick up for each other!! No one is going to mess with my J's...they will be SURE of that!!!

* Zack and Maddie both saying their meal time prayers and their bed time prayers! I pray so hard for my children to come to know and love Christ! It is such a JOY to see those seeds planted and growing in Maddie and Zack's hearts! AMAZING!!

Oh there were SO many precious moments this week, among the craziness! I always want to remember the sweet, cute, funny and CRAZY things they do!! I am so thankful that I get to stay at home with my kiddos and love on them every single day!! Being a mommy is the hardest job I have ever taken on, but I am so thankful that my heavenly Father knows what He is doing, and that He found it fit to bless us with our two kiddos!!

Time

Do you think very much about how you spend your time?? I really never thought that much about the time I have daily, or in the evenings or even early in the mornings!Of course when my babies were tiny, I thought ALL the time about time...and how I didn't have any! :):) He he!! But these days, our days are so calm and fun, I really don't watch the clock any more!!

Since Wyatt has started his new job "time" seems to be one of our main topics of conversation!! We LOVE how much time we have together these days!! Really, we can't get enough!! :) The time we have together is so precious! I see such a difference in our family!! I don't think that we even knew what we were missing, we just went along with life not realizing that we could have something different!! I am SO in love with my husband and I PRAISE God for the wisdom and knowledge that He blesses Wyatt with each day!! I am also so thankful for Wyatt's prays of intention...for praying for God's will for our family purposefully, and then following His leading!! Making the change in jobs was not easy for Wyatt, he worked really hard to get to be where he was, but I am SO proud of him for trusting God with our family!! Every time I hear this song on the radio, I cry!! Wyatt could have kept working loooong hard hours to get to the top, and he could have made it in 10 years! He "earned" his way by getting his MBA and CPA, but he knows there is something much greater! Time is MORE PRECIOUS than money!! I am SO VERY THANKFUL for a Godly husband!!!!

Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/sanctus-real-lyrics/lead-me-lyrics.html ]
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

1/2 birthday!

So today as we were driving into church I realized that today is January 23rd! Not only is it two of my favorite people's birthday's :) BUT it is my BEAUTIFUL daughter's HALF BIRTHDAY!!! (Ok, so I am not really into the 1/2 birthday things for Wyatt or I...but when it comes to my kiddos, everything is special!! :):)) She is 3 1/2 years old today!! MEANING that in just 6 short months my baby girl will be 4!!!! WHAT!?!? Time is flying, it truly is, AND we are having a great time, so I guess that is good...right?!?! :) Since time is flying I think I will go give her another hug and kiss...and maybe even snuggle her in her BIG girl bed for a minute! Oh, how I LOVE my little mini-me!!!

We are excited for our weekend!!! We have a busy one planned, but we hope it will be a blessing to all of us!!! Tonight we are headed to our friends, the Scott's house for dinner! We are very excited to get to hang out with them and enjoy an evening together! Friends are so precious!

Tomorrow we are attending a birthday party at the Fire Station!! My little Z is especially excited about this party!! He keeps asking when we are going to go see the Firetrucks for their birthday! :) He is SO CUTE!! :)

Tomorrow night is Wyatt and my FIRST date of the year!! :):) I am TOTALLY stoked!! The funnest part though, is that I haven't even told him yet!! I want to SURPRISE him!! (So if you see him between now and then, DON'T tell him!!:)) He he!! I love surprising my husband, he is such an incredible man!

On Sunday we get to go to church and delve more into our B90 challenge! We are SUPER excited about this challenge!! As a church we are reading the Bible in 90 days and it is AMAZING!! I have honestly never read the Bible all the way through! Isn't that terrible?? I have read all of it...just not all at the same time!! :) However, I am well on my way and enjoying it SO much!! Then we will enjoy the day with my family! :) I can't WAIT!!!!

Happy weekend to you!!!

SNOW DAY!!!!!

Wyatt took a snow day today!!! :):) Whoo-hoo!! I was TOTALLY stoked and completely surprised!! He has never been able to do anything like this before...especially at this time of the year!! It has been the BEST day!! :):) We bundled up the kiddos and went out on a BIG adventure early this afternoon! We drove around to some of our favorite places in Nixa and Springfield just admiring God's handy work!! The snow just glittered all around us and we were amazed!! :) After a yummy lunch at Q'Doba (buy one get one free...YES PLEASE!!:)) we headed home and played outside in the snow for a long time!! (VERY cute pictures to come!!:)) Our little family is definitely a snow-bunny family!! We love playing in the snow...having snow ball fights...building snowmen (although the snow man today, was v-e-r-y tiny:)) ...making snow angels and just playing around being goofy!! Of course, after being in the snow, you have to come inside and warm up with hot cocoa with LOT'S of marshmallows! Wyatt gave each of our kiddos their own little mug with a million marshmallows in it as I quickly baked some fresh cookies!! Now the kiddos are snuggled in bed taking their nap and Wyatt and I are enjoying the beautiful snow, sitting in our living room chatting it up!! Tonight I am planning to give them snow baths, I think they will love it!! :) I am SO joy-filled and thankful for days like today!!

Last night I went out with some girlfriends for a girls night out! I always love to be with my friends, but I do have a hard time leaving my kiddos sometimes!! I love them so much and I know they love me and are used to being with me!! So last night as my friend and I pulled out of the driveway, both Maddie and Zack were crying, so I silently prayed for Wyatt and for M and Z and for their evening together! (Wyatt is such an AMAZING daddy, I never worry about them! BUT, I love their sweet and tender hearts and I love to LOVE on them!!:):) Anyway...:)) I was out pretty late, and when I got home Wyatt gave me the rundown on their night! He had taken them to Kids Night at McDonalds for their chicken nuggets, (which they L-O-V-E!!) they had gotten to rent their free redbox movie and eaten popcorn and snuggled on the couch together! Of course they got to go to bed a little later so Wyatt said they had just passed out! :) I think their evening together was pretty much perfect!!

So, when I went in to get Maddie this morning, she squealed with delight to see me (which of course melted my heart:)) and asked how my "giwls" night was?! She went on to ask if she could come next time, since obviously she was a "giwl!!" :) Then, she started in with her sweet little conversation asking about what we did on our girls night...did we paint our nails and do our hair? Did we put on make-up? Had we gone shopping and out to eat?? I love the way her little mind works!! She is such a SWEET little girl, she loves ALL things girl-y and pretty and princess-y! And she loves her mommy...that is my favorite of all!!! :):)

A Hair Cut

We took Zack to get his hair cut on Saturday morning! Usually Wyatt likes to take him and they have a little one-on-one time together, but Maddie and I were quite excited to go with them on this time!! Maddie and I always go together to get our hair cut, so we chatted on the way there about our special "Becca" (She is our hairdresser!:))! We enjoy spending one on one time with our kiddos so much!! We want them to know that although they have siblings, they are individually important also!! :) We are so blessed!!

So we went downtown to their special barber shop and it was very fun!! There were SO many guys there waiting...I asked Wyatt if it was always so busy and he said they usually had to wait between 15 and 20 minutes and that Zack was always terrific!! Well Saturday was NO different! He just sat and watched in awe...it was SO CUTE!! Then, when it was his turn, he hopped up in the chair (that they had to make taller of course, with a wooden board) and let the barber chop away at his hair!! A few minutes later a chair opened up for Wyatt, so he sat right next to Zack and they got their hair cut at the same time! Zack kept looking over to make sure Wyatt was still there, IT WAS SO CUTE!!! SUCH a special memory for our fam!! :) :)

Sizes

Today my little family of 4 headed to the mall for the additional 50% off of Old Navy and The Children's Place's clearance sales!! I am a bargain hunter...I LOVE sales and I LOVE coupons, so I love to find items really marked down, and then have a coupon for it!! Call me crazy, but I LOVE it!! It is kind of addicting and it's exciting to think about what I might find!! :)

Today I was on the hunt for some new clothes for my kiddos!! They growing SO fast and I can't keep up with them!! We have been so blessed by some great hand-me-downs, but even some of them are getting too short!! So into the Children's Place I went! I quickly found Zack some cute new shirts and 2 sweaters for pretty inexpensive!! He looks so handsome in blue, so I picked him out a blue and gray sweater and a blue and green button down shirt! Feeling totally great about my findings for my son...I headed over the girls' side and quickly realized that--- MADDIE HAS GROWN OUT OF THE LITTLE GIRL section!!! WHAT!?!?!?!?!? My little Maddie now wears a 5T (because she is so stinkin' tall! 5T's are too big for her around the waist, but a great length for her loooong legs!!! :)) I almost started crying right there!!! I had to move to the BIG girls; section!!! AUGH!!!! :):) I cannot BELIEVE how BIG she is getting!!! She is so beautiful and SO precious, I just want to keep her little forever!!! Time really does fly when you are having fun, and we are having A BLAST!!!!!!

P.S. My SCORE of the day...little girls' red "quilted" boots from Old Navy for $5.00!! They are ADORABLE and Maddie LOVES them!!! :):)

Friendship

I am SO thankful for the friendship my daughter and son share!! They truly are the BEST of friends!!! I am pretty sure it is because they have never known any different!! They are so good at playing together, it brings tears to my eyes! They are such a special pair! This morning as I was getting ready for our play date, I heard them laughing hysterically at each other in the other room...I peeked into see what they were doing! Maddie was tickling Zack...like really just getting him and he thought it was HILARIOUS!! Well Maddie was getting so much JOY from his laugh that it made her laugh too!! They were both just belly laughing and it was the perfect moment!! I never want to forget moments like these!! I hope M and Z are always close friends, I pray that they always have a sweet and happy heart towards each other! I pray that Wyatt and I will never make them feel that they are in competition with each other, but that we will affirm them in everything that they are each good at!!! I pray we can teach them to be proud of each other and really encourage one another in the activities that they each like!! I pray that they will hold each other accountable as they get older and that they will share in many wonderful conversations together!! I am so thankful and JOY-filled for my kiddos!!

Manners

Manners were VERY important in my house as I was growing up! We were always instructed to use our "pleases" and "thank you's!!" We were instructed to ask, "May I be excused," before we left the dinner table and our napkin was always to remain in our lap as we enjoyed our dinner as a family!! My mom and dad made having manners fun, I have to admit!! If someone was caught without a napkin on their lap, they had to leave the room and count to 10! It was ALWAYS fun to catch my dad without HIS napkin!! My parents really were quite thoughtful, they wanted my sister and I to be respectful and kind to others!! Of course as a child, I thought manners we absolutely ridiculous!! :) But now, I am SO thankful for the manners (I HOPE) I have!! :) I am trying very hard to pass them down to my children so that Maddie and Zack will be respectful to others and to each other!!

I am just so proud of my Maddie and Zack as they learn and grow!!! They are certainly learning by example and Wyatt and I pray that we will continually be good examples to our children in SO many areas!! We are so proud of them for SO many reasons!!!

Our new "manner" for the week is teaching each kiddo that they need to take their plates to the sink after each meal!! They already know to ask to be excused (which is ADORABLE!! My little 2 and 3 year olds voices saying, "May I be exxxcccusssed?!!?!?" :)) before they leave the table! Wyatt and I believe that it is very important to have family time at the dinner table each night, so we all eat together at every meal we can!! We just enjoy the time together laughing and sharing about our days! M and Z love to be asked about their day (especially by their daddy!!:))! When Wyatt asks them, they both launch into the funnest story of their day! It is precious!! :) They both have such kind and gentle spirits, I LOVE them SO much!! It is an honor to watch them learn and grow every single day!! :):)

12 Dates

For Christmas this year, I gave Wyatt 12 envelopes that have 12 different dates in them! It was SO MUCH fun thinking about different ways I could surprise my husband!! Every month is different, but they are all representative of activities we like to do together!! I also added in some of the activities that I KNOW he likes...like hiking around Springfield Lake or reading books at the cafe at Barnes and Noble! I really want this time that we have together to be relaxing and fun!! :) Some of our dates will include a little more than others, but I am looking forward to these dates SO much!! I LOVE being with my husband, I love dressing up for him and remembering what our dating and early married years were like!! We LOVE our children SO much and easily lose sight of "us!!" (Although we really try not to forget how much we need us time and often enjoy "date night" at home!! :):)) He he!! :) Before I could offer this gift to my amazing husband, I asked my mom to get on board with us...and she very willingly offered to watch our kiddos these 12 times!! We feel SO blessed to have such an amazing woman to love on our children!! She loves them, and they LOVE her!!!!!! Our first date is coming up in the next 2 weeks and I am SO excited to pull out our envelopes and let Wyatt take a peek at our first "planned" winter date night out together!! :):)