"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!! :):)