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!! :):)

SAHM!

Anyone who is a stay-at-home-mom knows what my title means! :) Some day's, it is a four letter word around here!! :) But most days, it is the absolute BEST job I could have ever hoped for!! It is my dream job really!! I could have never began to imagine the adventure God would bring Wyatt and I on, having two kiddos so close together! :) But God has used my children to refine me and refocus my eyes on Him! I am learning so much and enjoying my time SO much with my sweet kiddos! :) I thought it would be good to list some of the reasons that I love being a stay at home mom!! I feel so blessed!!!

Reasons I LOVE being a stay at home mom...

• I get to sing songs to Maddie and Zack each morning as I walk into their room's to start the day together!! :)
• Our prayer time together before I even get them out of bed! We pray for their hearts and minds to be open to what God wants to teach us that day! We also pray for JOY, contentment and love!!
• Being snuggle-buggle bear's early in the mornings when it is cold or rainy...or just when we want to snuggle!! We rarely rush out of the house in the mornings!
• Maddie and Zack get to play together and grow together all day, forming a special brother/sister friendship/bond.
• I get to reinforce and teach our faith continuously through the day with bible verses, stories, worship music, little discussions and LOTS of prayer.
• I get to discipline them each day. I try to discipline them fairly, and with LOTS of love and grace.
• ART and CRAFT PROJECTS!! :):)
• I can comfort them when their sick or having an "off" day!
• Their hugs and smiles...they are ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS.
• Living life daily with my favorite little people.
• Baking cookies for special people!!
• I really truly know them...inside and out. I know what makes them tick...I understand them like no one else does!! I love them SO much!!!
• They know ME! They know my expectations and my desires for them!! They know when they do something awesome, I will be RIGHT there cheering them on with a BIG hug and LOTS of LOVE! They also know that when they do something that is wrong they will be disciplined, but together we will pray for a better decision next time!!
• The time I get to spend investing in my relationship with God, Wyatt, Maddie and Zack and our family, and friends!!!
• Learning together about different topics...science, math, how-things-work...! It is AWESOME!!
• The peace that has come to our family by knowing we are doing exactly what God wants for our family!
• Getting housework done each day so I am not stressed when the weekend comes!
• Getting to cook dinner and watch M and Z learn to enjoy serving each other by making meals together!
• Finding pockets of time for exercise!
• The play dates we get to plan with dear friends!
• Tuesday lunches with Ga-Ga!
• Getting errands done throughout the day!!
• The days we ENJOY at HOME, just the 3 of us!!
• The frugal lifestyle...I love that God has placed a sense of urgency in my heart to be a good steward of the money we have!!
• The love that we share between the 4 of us is absolutely one of the GREATEST gifts I have ever been given!!

I feel SO BLESSED to be a stay at home momma!!! :)

The Week of Christmas!

It is so hard to believe that today is December 28th and that Christmas is over!! WOW!! Time really does fly by when you are having fun...well we are having a BLAST! We had an AMAZING week of Christmas!!! We decided at the beginning of December that we wanted to ENJOY this holiday season as a family!!! So many times we have gotten all wrapped up in everything and just "gotten through" the season, but not this year!! We totally LOVED everything about this Christmas season!!!

I had my 2 annual ornament parties and enjoyed each of them tremendously!! We attended a few Christmas parties with friends which is always fun! I LOVE to be the hostess, but it is also fun to see my friends get excited about having people over and being the hostesses themselves!! :) The second Saturday of December is always the annual BKD Christmas party and we had the best time!! We got all dressed up and enjoyed being out on a date together!! It was the best work party by far...EVER!! :) I went to our church's Christmas Tea and then Maddie and Zack and I attended a special ladies Christmas day party at a friends' house! We made and decorated cookies and ornaments and sang Christmas carols and danced around our house and just ENJOYED this season!!!! We had a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas day... our kiddos loved singing to Him!! We read them the story of baby Jesus and now they are in LOVE!! Such special moments!!

We got to enjoy a 24 hour mini vacation with some dear friends the Wednesday and Thursday before Christmas!! :) We left Nixa about 5:00 p.m. and drove to Branson where we ate at our favorite pizza place Mazio's, spent about 2 hours at SDC and then stayed up all night (well until about 4 a.m.) at their in-laws' cabin just talking and laughing together!! Our kiddos get along really well, and we truly enjoy the company of this couple, so it was the perfect vaca!! The next morning we got up, made chocolate chip pancakes and wathced Elf with our kiddos, and then went shopping!! Our vaca ended with a trip to Freddy's (a new hamburger joint in Branson! :)) It. was. PERFECT!!!!

One of our family traditions is to attend the Christmas Eve service at my home church...we look forward to it every year!! This year was no different!!! My Grandparents came this year which made it extra special!! Then, as tradition calls, we went out for chinese food afterwards! That night our kiddos got to open one present... their pajamas before bed! It was awesome!!

Christmas morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow!! I was tickled pink!! God truly does know the desires of our hearts, even when we are 30!! :):) Maddie and Zack were SO EXCITED!! We opened our presents and made special new memories with our 2 and 3 year old!! I can hardly believe they are 2 and 3!!!! Then... we started a NEW tradition in our family!! Our church takes food to people who need meals on Christmas day!! So we headed to Northside to pick up the meal for the family we were to take it to! What an incredible and humbling experience!! :) This story is for another post (coming soon:)) but it was absolutely LIFE CHANGING!!!!! Our kiddos got to SEE... not just HEAR, but SEE how blessed we are!!!!! They asked LOT's of questions, and we answered as honestly and age appropriately as we could! We don't want our kiddos thinking that Christmas is about them!!! We DO want them to know that they are incredibly special to us and that we want to buy them a few gifts and ENJOY the holiday season together, but it isn't about them!! It isn't about Wyatt or I, or our families, or the gifts that we give or receive...it is about JESUS!! And we are SO thankful!!

The Perfect Weekend!

We had the Perfect Christmas weekend!! Our fun-filled weekend actually lasted until yesterday! :) Wyatt and I felt so refreshed after our weekend...it just started our week off perfectly!! It was a wonderful mix of family time and friend time, and Wyatt and I time!! Here is what we did!!

Friday--Maddie, Zack and I hung out with our friends the Grider's all day!! We enjoyed pizza buffet (which is quickly becoming our tradition for Friday's!!:)) together and then headed back to their house to make homemade sugar cookies and decorate them with homemade butter cream icing!!!! YUM-O!!! It was a BLAST, we danced around the kitchen singing Christmas songs and enjoying each other company! M and Z and I didn't want to leave, so we didn't until about 4:00p.m. and it was well worth it!! It was the perfect day!! That night we took Embree family pictures and then had dinner with my parents! What a great night!!!!

Saturday--Sleep IN!! :) WHOO-HOO!! Our kiddos were pooped after our BIG day so they slept in until almost 9! :) Then we headed over to my mom's for her annual CCH Girls' Christmas Breakfast! It was delicious and it is always so good to catch up with some awesome ladies!! That afternoon I did some Christmas shopping by myself and it was wonderful!! Saturday evening Wyatt and I got all gussied up and headed out to Hiland Springs for the BKD Christmas party!! It was the BEST evening we have ever had with the BKD Christmas party! We got to sit with some of our dear friends and we had a BLAST signing with the dueling piano people!!!!

Sunday--CHURCH!! We LOVE our church and are SO blessed by the faces we see when we walk through the door!! The sermon was so good and it was just what I needed to hear! My heart and mind were refreshed and ready for the week!! We ate lunch with some sweet friends and enjoyed good conversations with them!! Then we went home and put the kiddos to bed! And then I once again ventured out to do some Christmas shopping with my momma! I got home in time for our kiddos to wake up and we enjoyed the rest of the evening at home together!!

Monday--Ornament party #2 with dear, sweet friends!!! There is something so special about having a room full of ladies that are so near and dear to you! Many of us have had a challenging year, and it was so good to see and hear how faithful God is and how He hears us even when we don't know that He does!! It was such special time and warmed my heart!!!

Tuesday--M, Z and I attended an all day Christmas party out at a family friends' house! They have a HUGE and beautiful home that is absolutely filled to the brim with LOVE!! There were about 35 ladies there and we just had a blast together laughing and talking!! We had a gift exchange that was crazy FUN!!! It was an AMAZING party and we stayed all day!!!

We are enjoying this time of year so much, especially with our kids getting bigger and understanding more!!! I love that my kiddos are asking questions about Jesus and His mommy and daddy!! Wyatt reads Maddie and Zack a story every night before bed, this week he has been reading them stories out of our Bible and they LOVE it!!! Last night Wyatt read the story of Jesus's birthday!!! My kids have such wonder in their eyes, it is simply amazing to think about the story through their little minds!!

I pray you are being blessed this holiday season also!!!

The Ornament Party!

Last night was my annual ornament party, and it was a BLAST!! I have had this ornament party, on the first Monday of December for the past 6 years, it is a party that I always look forward to!! I started having it in our tiny duplex and now I LOVE having it at our beautiful house!! I start decorating for Christmas with much anticipation, knowing that this party is coming! :):) I love it!

This years party, was probably the best ornament party I have ever had! I didn't do anything to make it specifically awesome though!!! What made it awesome, were all of the beautiful faces that were here! There is something SO incredibly special about being in a room surrounded by my favorite people!!! Really, if I think about it long enough it makes me cry!! I could have told you a special story about each girl in that room, it was amazing!! Lots of life changes have happened all though out that room, BUT, friendships that are grounded in Christ, for His glory... hold FIRM!!! Ahhh, what a blessing!! About 20 ladies attended and it was a mixture of dear "old" friends and precious new friends!!! We ate, laughed, talked and laughed (and ate) some more!! Several girls even stayed late into the night so we could chat more!! It was such a precious time, I am SO thankful for dear friends!!!

Hand-me-downs!

So... I used to be a total hand-me-down SNOT! :) Really, I was a total snot about it!! Why, I am not sure...maybe because my parents depended on hand-me-down for my sister and I! I thought I would never be a mom "like that!" Oooohhhhhh, how things have changed!!! :):):) We could buy all new clothes each season, and we do buy a lot, BUT we are SO BLESSED by CUTE clothes passed down from good friends!!! It is amazing how gently used a lot of the clothes we are given, are!! Maddie wore the most beautiful outfit to church this past Sunday and she got SO many compliments on how cute she looked in it!!! My dear friend Mandy even commented on it...and it was a "hmd" from her daughter! :):) He he!!

I especially dislike buying "play" clothes! You know clothes that your kiddos are just going to paint in and play in the dirt in...clothes that are probably going to get ruined not because my kids are clumsy, just because they are KIDS and I want them to enjoy playing!! I do not like paying for clothes that I know are going to get ruined!! Thankfully, we get a lot of play clothes which is wonderful!!!! I can hardly believe how BLESSED we are by our dear friends sharing their sweet kiddos' clothes with us!!! So THANK YOU to you all who bless us with your sweet kids' last season clothes!! We are SO THANKFUL!!!!

THanksgiving!

We had the BEST Thanksgiving! :) I LOVE hanging out with my family!! My Aunt and Uncle and two cousins were also able to join us for the holiday this year and we had a blast!! It was just a great day of being together with family, celebrating God's goodness and being thankful for the life that God has blessed us with!! Wyatt got to take the whole week off prior to Thanksgiving and we had an AMAZING week together, just our little family!! We enjoyed some time together with some dear friends, but other than that, we just spent some much needed time just the 4 of us!! It was awesome!! :):) On our way home on Thursday night, Wyatt and I had an JOY-filled conversation about all of things we are thankful for!! Really, we are SO blessed!!! It is pretty amazing to sit down and write out all of the blessings (both BIG and small) that God has bestowed on us over this year!!! Since there was quite a long list, I wanted to share just 10 of them!!

** I am SO THANKFUL for my relationship with Christ!!! Without Him, I would absolutely be lost!! Our sweet little family has been stretched and challenged SO much this year, but because of Him, we are stronger than ever!! He soars with me when I am excited and living life to the fullest, and leads me through the valley's of life when it is hard!! He is my beginning and end...and I am SO thankful!!

**I am SO THANKFUL for my husband!! He is simply my perfect match!! HE is amazing, so loving and patient with me!! This has been our BEST year of marriage! I feel like I say that every year, but this really has been an awesome year!! Wyatt knows me and loves me completely, and unconditionally!! He is absolutely my very best friend and knows me better than I know myself!!

** I am SO THANKFUL for my children!! I have a beautiful daughter and an incredibly handsome son!!! They REFINE me and encourage me and bring me SO much JOY!! I am so thankful that they are each a part of my life!! I am SO excited to live life with them every single day!!! I know God has BIG plans in store for each of them, and I am so thankful that I get to be a part of it!!

** I am SO THANKFUL that I get to stay at home with our kiddos! :) What an incredible blessing!! I love waking up with them each morning and facing the day together, just the 3 of us!! :) I love making them breakfast and snuggling in our jammies until noon!!! I love putting them down for naps and getting just a few minutes with them individually, sharing with them how much I love them ,but even more how much Jesus loves them!! Wyatt works SO hard, and I am SO thankful that he would do anything for me to be able to stay at home with our babies!

** I am SO THANKFUL that I come from a legacy that Knows, Loves and Serves God!! WOW!! What an incredible blessing! My mom and dad and Grandparents love God fiercely and show it in ALL that they do! Anyone that comes into contact with each of them knows that there is something different about them...they can see the JOY and HOPE in their eyes and the LOVE that they have for others!!! That kind of love and compassion can only come from knowing God! :) I am SO THANKFUL!!!

**I am SO THANKFUL for our house and our cars that run!! We have a BEAUTIFUL house!! We bought it brand new and have worked really hard to make it our own!! I can tell you where every scrape, hole, dent, etc came from! We are a family that lives in our house!! We feel that God provided our house so we could be hospitable to others, and we hope we are honoring Him in that!! I hope we get to live here for a really long time, we bought our babies home here and we became a family here!! We love it!! We are also thankful for our car's! They aren't fancy to say the least, BUT we can afford them, and they start every morning! :):) They are safe for our kiddos to ride in, and they get us where we need to go!! We are SO THANKFUL for God's provision!!!

**We are VERY thankful for good friends!!! Over this past year, we have really gotten close to a few couples, and each time we hang with them, we are BLESSED by their company!!! They truly "get" us and have the same like-minded-ness which is awesome!!! It is hard to find good couple friends and we are so thankful for these couples and pray that God will continue to BLESS our friendship!!!

**We are SO THANKFUL for our church and they way that God is growing it! God is present there and the minister preaches God's Word each week!! We are SO THANKFUL and look forward to getting more and more involved!!!!

**I am SO THANKFUL for my ladies Bible Study!! It is AWESOME! I am learning SO much and being so challenged each week! I feel like I haven't been to a bible study like this in a loong time, and I LOVE it!!!

**We are SO THANKFUL for Wyatt's new job!! He gets to start on Wednesday and we are so looking forward to the JOY that his new job will bring to our family!! We prayed and prayed and God provided!! We are SO THANKFUL!!

For all of these things and so many more! We are SO very very thankful!!!!!!

Being Crafty!

I love being crafty...I love it SO much! There is just some about making something pretty that does my heart such GOOD!! :) So today is the DAY!!! My day started with a good friend and I making super cute pom pom's for my Maddie's room! They are SO cute and look GREAT above her bed!! Then, as I looked across her room, I decided that I needed something better to hang alllllllll of her bow's on, so I decorated a cute hanger with some ribbon and scrapbooking paper and BOOM, her bows look brand new and are very organized!! (It sounds weird decorating a small hanger with BOTH paper and ribbon, but it works and is totally cute!!:)) Then, after looking at some of her hair bow's I decided I needed to make a few more for her, so I got out the glue gun and started working on her some new holiday bow's! They are done, adorable and hanging on her new cute hair bow hanger! :) Now, I am working on my Christmas cards!! I LOVE to make cards and although it is a LOT of work, I enjoy thinking about all of our dear friends and family that we will send them to!! I LOVE Christmas SO much, and since my husband won't let me decorate for Christmas today (HA!:)), I will just have to make Christmas cards to be sure I get them all done!!!! :) Ahhh, the perfect crafty day!!!! :):)

Our week off

So Wyatt is VERY blessed to get 5 weeks off per year at his current job!! The first year, he didn't take much time at ALL off, so he has been able to roll over several weeks over the past few years! So this year we decided we were going to take it as much of his time off as we could, and we have been SO thankful!!! He took off about 12 days in June/July and we proved to ourselves that we don't have to do or go anywhere BIG to have a good time together!! We really like just being together...just the four of us!!! :) I LOVE this about my little family, we truly love being around each other, doing whatever!!

So imagine my surprise and excitement when Wyatt comes home early last Wednesday to tell me that he has taken off another whole week!!!!!! :):):):) I was SO EXCITED!!! We really didn't have any big plans (except for the weekend) so I knew we were going to have a great time!! So Thursday morning our vacation started and in ended just two days ago!!!! It was such a HUGE BLESSING and I am so thankful for Wyatt's job, and that although it can be absolutely INSANE sometimes, he gets to have lots of time off with us!!!

Here are some highlights of our week!!!!

**Maddie and I got to attend a birthday party...just the two of us!!!

**Wyatt shampooed our carpets and they look SO much better!!!!

**Incredible talk time each afternoon (during nap time) with my amazing husband!!

**Daddy/daughter date night, mommy/son date night!! It was PERFECT!!

**Adventures to a new park...we went driving with Wyatt's GPS and found a fun new park to play at!! The kiddos loved it, and so did we!!

**Orange Leaf!! :)

**Wyatt organized my beautiful pantry...awesome!! :)

**Re-organizing my kiddos' closet's for fall and winter! :)

**Hoping and dreaming with Wyatt!!

**3 meals made by my husband!! He is quite the chef!!!

**A day filled with some of our dearest friends-Greg and Heather Harris and Joseph and Megan Herren...and the 5 kiddos between us!!

**Our first fall party!!

**Looking at open houses with my mom, just for fun!!!

**Lot's of fun filled family time with my 4 J's!!!!!

Really my list could go on and on, we truly had the best time!! :) We love time off together and are looking forward to another week of vacation at Thanksgiving and then 2 weeks at Christmas!! WHOO-HOO!!!!

A Scolding!

So one of my friends turned 35 today, and to celebrate her husband treated several of us to lunch at Lola's here in Nixa last Saturday!! We were so excited to start celebrating early, and it is always fun to have lunch with a group of girls on a Saturday afternoon! :):) There were 5 of us girls and we had a BLAST!!! I was the youngest of the group and the oldest "girl" was 76! :) She was a dear friend of the birthday girl and we loved having her with us!! I hope that when I am 76 I am as joy-filled and happy as she is! :) Anyway, we were all so excited to have some girl time, we were chatting and laughing and really having a great time!! We didn't think we were being too loud or overly annoying, the restaurant was full of families and groups of friends!! It was a beautiful day and everyone was out enjoying it!! Well, I suppose we were enjoying ourselves too much!!! :) About halfway into our lunch, an older lady walked over to our table (several of us thought she was coming to talk with our 76 year old friend) and said in a very stern voice "Girls, you need to keep it down, you are all being too rowdy and loud!" WHAT?!?! We all just looked at each other in astonishment as she returned to her seat!! Did she really just scold a group of 30 year old women (plus one 76 year old???) We were in shock! My dear friend Amy (the birthday girl) was totally un-nerved! She called our waitress over to our table and asked her to add that lady's tab to our bill!! She said she wanted to spread some JOY to her life! :) I was so impressed with how my friend handled the situation, I was totally still shocked, and a little ticked off, BUT, Amy was calm, cool and collected! She wanted to shower her with JOY!! Needless to say, after she found out we had paid her bill, the lady came back over to our table and apologized for being too stern and thanked the table for paying for her meal!! That led us into an awesome conversation about how people really do need to SEE and FEEL people's JOY! Joy is indeed contagious and when you have true JOY, it shows!! It was an awesome lesson, totally unexpected, but great!! :) THANKS Amy, for a spunky fun lunch!! :)

12 1/2 Months

If you would have told me when I first got married I would have had 2 kids by the time Wyatt and I had been married for just 5 years, I might have laughed at you!! Not because I didn't want kiddos or because I was trying to be mean, Wyatt and I just had a "plan" for our life together!! He was getting ready to start at one of the top 10 accounting firms in the world and I was happy being a nanny full time!! We lived in a small (but lovely) duplex and were anxiously awaiting buying our first house! Kiddos were on the radar for year 5... or after!! :) Ha ha! God's certainly had other things in mind for the Jenkins family!! Of course many of you know our kiddos are only 12 1/2 months a part! When our precious little Maddie was just 3 months old, I found out I was pregnant again!! "Holy Moly" was all I could say for days, and I only told my closest friends that I was pregnant for about a month!!!

Today, I absolutely cannot imagine life being ANY different!! The first year was very difficult, but it wasn't just hard having two kiddos close in age, it was God working on my heart!! I had become SO complacent with my relationship with Him, He was using everything He could to draw my eyes back to Him! He taught me so much about my heart and how it was covered in yuck! He knocked me to my knee's and gently lifted my eyes to Him! There were some pretty intense days of me sobbing at His feet, wondering how I was going to get through another day as my husband worked 12-14 hours and I had two babies to care for!!! Oh, how I remember those days, and I am so thankful for how God pulled me through them kicking and screaming! :) Of course I still have days where I feel overwhelmed, but not nearly like those early days!! I praise God for His faithfulness and steadfastness!! :) THANK YOU Father for taking care of us and for never giving up on my heart!!!

I love my little M and Z! They are SO much fun! I absolutely LOVE the ages that they are at right now! We have so much fun together every single day...we can be hanging out at home having fun, playing at the park together having fun, eating out together having fun, enjoying a play date together having fun...you name it, we do it with joy-filled and happy hearts!! We are so bonded together, it is a wonderful blessing!! Wyatt took Friday off from work this past weekend so we had a 4 day weekend together and it was amazing!! We had the perfect mix of family time and friend time...AWESOME!! One evening Wyatt and I were sitting out on our deck and he asked me why I thought our little family was so close! I told him I think it is because he allows me to stay at home with our two kids!! Our life (finances) would look MUCH different if I worked, but we are willing to sacrifice for me to stay at home with them! I think that it is the key to the closeness of our family!! Maddie and Zack are truly the best of friends, they keep a close watch on each other and they love to laugh together!! They play together at home and when we are out a other peoples' homes! I think that is so special!! I wondered how they would feel about each other, being opposite sexes, but they couldn't be any closer!! It is Wyatt and my hope and prayer that they always stay close and involved in each others' lives!! This past weekend we were at the park with some friends and one of the husbands came over to me and said, "Do your kids always play this well together?" I said, "Yep, they really enjoy each others' company!" He said, "They are two of the most obedient and happy 2 and 3 year old I have ever seen!" My heart swelled with JOY (ok, ok and pride:):)) I am SO proud of them!! :):) God has a hold of their hearts and it is evident in the way they treat each other and their friends!!

*****Now, please do NOT get me wrong, they aren't perfect, we certainly have our days of dis-obedience and grumpi-ness, but they, like me are a work in progress! But I am thankful that God is continually working in their hearts and minds!!!******

I am so thankful for God's perfect timing in all areas of our lives!! He is SO good to us and we are continually humbled by the way He lavishes His love on us!!

5 Pictures

Today is our first day back to "reality!" :) Wyatt went back to work today after 11 days off of work!! We had an AMAZING vacation together, just the 4 of us!! We spent some REALLY fun time together, ate at some yummy places that we don't normally dine at, and we got a lot of stuff done around our house!! I plan to post about our vacation here in the next few days, but today's post is about 5 very special pictures!!

We re-painted our room last fall, and I must tell you that I LOVE it!! We found a gorgeous bedding set on clearance at Sam's and BAM we have a new bedroom! Over the past few months I have found decor for the walls, and as we hang each of them up, I love our bedroom more and more!! Our bedroom is a NO KID zone! Of course that doesn't mean our kiddos aren't allowed in our room, it just means there are no toys, kids clothes, baby books etc allowed in our room!! (of course if something is brought in, we enjoy it for the moment and then it goes right back out!! :)) We really just want our room to be a haven for the two of us! Our house is very kid friendly, but our room isn't! :) Anyway, we had one small wall that didn't have anything on it and I was ready to fill it up! :) I have been thinking about what I wanted on this wall for quite some time, but nothing I found for it looked quite right! So, I found 5 different sizes, different shaped frames and spray painted them all the same color (kind of a bronzed goldish brown) and put 5 of my most favorite pictures of my husband and I in them!! :) Every time I look at them, I smile!!! :):) The pictures are hung over my jewelry armoire, so I get to look at them several times a day and I just LOVE the way they make me feel! :) Picture #1 is the very first picture Wyatt and I ever took together!! We weren't dating, but we both have a gleam in our eyes, knowing, HOPING, that there was something special to come for us! :) Picture #2 is of us one winter in Colorado! We went with my parents and a few of our friends! We are standing on this beautiful bridge with snow all around us! I remember the feelings I had as we took this picture! We had only been dating for a few months, yet I knew my life would never be the same! :) Picture #3 is one of our engagement pictures!!! We look SO young, but so excited about becoming husband and wife! :) Picture #4 was on Christmas day last year! We were goofing around, just in love with life and my sister snapped this awesome picture of the two of us! :) Finally picture #5 is of us this February around Valentine's day! Wyatt always plans the best Valentine's day surprises and this one was just as special! We are beaming, knowing that we are about to spend a really fun evening out together!!

I LOVE my husband so much! I love living life with him! I LOVE having vacation with him, watching him be the daddy to our children and snuggling with him in our room each night! I LOVE these 5 pictures of us (and so many more, but my wall might be a little too small for all of them! :))