GDA

Today my sweet little Maddie went in for her Kindergarten screening!! She was SO confident and calm, I am constantly amazed that she is my daughter!! :) I am such a {blessed} mommy!! She went right in with the director and after about 30 minutes they came out!! Maddie was BEAMING and SO excited to tell us all about it!! The director gave us the "thumbs UP" so... our daughter is now officially enrolled for Kindergarten next year!! The director said that she totally rocked the evaluation!! She was quite impressed!! Now, every parent knows that their child is smart, but we are especially proud! :):) We will be sending her to Gloria Deo Academy!! It is a part time/homeschooling school!! (Confusing...right!?:)) She will go to school 2 days a week!! Then 2 days I will homeschool her with the lessons that her teacher sends home!! I taught at GDA about 5 years ago and I loved it, so I am really excited to send my kiddos there!! I am the MOST excited about getting to spend one-on-one time with her completing her homework together!! I pray a LOT about being mommy and teacher!! But I am confident that it will be a smooth transition!! I can hardly believe that my first born is ready for school, but I am REALLY excited for her to learn more and be challenged!! I am SO PROUD of my sweet, sweet girl!! :):)

Weekend

I LOVE Friday for SO many reasons!! WHOO-HOO!! :) I am especially excited about today because we have a rockin' weekend planned!! :) Our weekends usually get busy pretty quickly, so we have had to make some sacrifices in order to insure that our little family has some time together!! :) There is NOTHING better than family time!! :):) Here is our weekend of planned events!

**Tonight we are going out on a double date with our friends the Colvette's!! We LOVE this couple SO much!! They are so sweet, genuine and wonderfully Godly!! And... we have a lot of the same interests!! :) I also appreciate that John and Wyatt are good friends!! Many of you know how hard it is for guys to find good friends, but we are SO thankful to have found a good, balanced friendship with this couple! :) They have 3 kiddos, two of which are almost exactly our kiddos' ages! And their 2 oldest just happen to be some of my Maddie and Zack's best friends!! We are so excited to get to go out with them tonight, JUST as COUPLES!! :) WHOO-HOO!! I have a whole list of things I am excited to talk to Joy about! :) So, as you can see, I am QUITE excited!!

**Tomorrow we get to have a family day...just the 4 of us!! We need to run a few errands, but we get to run errands all TOGETHER!!!! I am looking forward to making pancakes in the morning (our Saturday morning tradition:)) and then just getting to be together!! I LOVE my precious little family, and time with them is so priceless!! :)

**Tomorrow evening we are headed over to our friends, the Grider's house for dinner and games!! They came over last week and we had a BLAST!! Our normal "end time" to our evenings together tends to be about 4 a.m.!! NO JOKE!! Last Friday they spent the whole day with us at our house, and they STILL stayed until 4 a.m.!! It! was! a! BLAST!! :):) I do think we have put a time limit on our evening together this time around, we told them we had to be home by 1:00 a.m.! We shall see!! :) We don't normally stay out SO late, but it is such fun once and a while and we are thankful for dear friendships!! (It also helps that our kiddos are AWESOME sleepers, so they go right to bed while we are there! :))

**Sunday is church!!** YAY!! We LOVE our church and look forward to hearing the message each week!! :)

**Sunday evening I get to hang out with my little guy Griffin!! I started as his nanny when he was just 2 weeks old! He is now 8 years old and an awesome little guy!! :) He is moving to Texas this summer, so I am trying to spend all the time I can with him!!! I am looking forward to time with him, and his time with my family! He is just part of our family and we all love him so much!!

Can you see why I LOVE Friday's!?! This Friday especially!?!?! Enjoy your weekends friends!!!!

Downstairs

My little Miss Maddie went downstairs today for church for the very first time!! Yes, she has been promoted to the BIG class, and her mommy can hardly believe it! :) I KNOW my baby girl is growing up and I am so thankful for her sweet little life and for exactly where she is...but I must admit it is a little hard for me!! :) In my eyes, she is still little, but I am so proud of her for how big, beautiful and smart she is!! :) She has such a sweet, calm little spirit, she gave me a BIG hug and kiss and said, "See you soon Mommy!!" She was SO excited!! :):) Thankfully there was a dear friend next to me that took my hand and led me out of her room, otherwise, I might have stayed and just watched her!! :) I am so proud of the little lady God is making her into!! She has Him in her heart, and it is evident in her attitude and in her sweetness!! I am SUCH a proud mommy!!

Coupons!!

Do you guys sign up for coupons for your birthday!?! Well if you don't, you SHOULD!! :) Here are ALL Of the birthday coupons I got for the weeks before and after my birthday! We are enjoying using each of these!! :) (Because, if you are like me, you have a birthday MONTH, not just a day!!:))

**$5.00 off at McAllistar's!

**Buy one, get one FREE at Q'doba!

**Buy one, get one FREE at Cold Stone Creamery!

**One FREE meal at Zio's!

**One FREE meal at Famous Dave's!

**FREE appetizer at Colton's!

**FREE appetizer at Logan's Roadhouse!

**FREE dessert at Chili's!

**FREE dessert at Applebee's!

**FREE dessert at TGIFriday's!

**FREE dessert at Macaroni Grill!

**FREE cupcake at "The Cup!"

**10% off at Old Navy!

**$25 off any $75 purchase at Fashion Bug

Can you BELIEVE all of these great discounts!?! Of course, we cannot possibly use ALL of them, but we have been enjoying quite a few of them!! :):) I LOVE getting all of these "Happy Birthday" e-mails the week before my birthday and I LOVE getting to celebrate with a discount!! :) WHOO-HOO for a birthday MONTH!! :):)

February

I LOVE the month of February!! I LOVE that it usually snows in February, and that it really feels like winter in February!! I love that it is my BIRTHDAY MONTH and other dear friends of mine birthday month as well!! I LOVE to celebrate Valetntine's Day and all of the LOVE that comes with the month!! I just LOVE February!!

My birthday was this past weekend, and I must say...it was FABULOUS! :) My husband is absolutely amazing at planning and making special occasions, special!! He has really realized over the past several years that birthdays and other holidays are really important to me, so he has worked extra hard to make them memorable! :) This year was no different!! We celebrated as a family on Friday night!! The kiddos were SO excited to give me their cards and gifts! Then, Wyatt had stopped to get "The Cup" cupcakes, and we were ALL totally thrilled!! :):) We snuggled in as a family and enjoyed our evening together! :) Then, the next day we got up early and took our kiddos to my parents house and had the rest of the weekend, ALL to ourselves!! We shopped and talked, and ate and talked and laughed and dreamed!! It. was. AWESOME! :) I LOVE being with Wyatt, he is my best friend and my most trusted confidant! :) We just have the best time together!! We really enjoyed some special couple time!! :) On Sunday, I got to out with some of my favorite girlfriends!! We went to dinner and just enjoyed good conversation and then we enjoyed ice cream!!! :) YUM-O!! :):) We finally headed back to get our kiddos about 9:30p.m. on Sunday night! They were SO EXCITED to see us! When we dropped them off they were like "SEE YA!!!" But they were totally excited to see us a few days later! :):) It was the BEST weekend!!! :):) Thanks babe! :)

Zack Quotes

Oh my little man cracks me up!! I LOVE his little phrases!! He is hilarious!! Here are a few of my FAVORITE recent Zack quotes:

* "Mommy, you don't have your belt-seat on!" (instead of seat belt:))

* "Mommy, where are your birthday balloons?" (He thinks that everyone should get balloons on their birthday!!:))

* "Mommy, I want to tell you a secret!!" He scoots right up next to me, gently pulls back my hair and whispers something so quietly into my ear, I have to ask him to repeat it a million times! :)

* His prayers are precious! This is my favorite one! :) "Lord, "fank you" for my fam-i-ly, and for my Fweinds! "Fank you" for this food and our day at "sck-oooool!" Pwease hewp mommy to feewl better swoon!! AMEN!!!!" I LOVE this prayer for many reasons! Mostly because I think my son is the cutest guy EVER!!! :) Secondly I love it because he prayers for food and school at EVERY meal, whether we are eating or have been at school..or not! And thirdly because I have felt much better for weeks!! :) He just LOVES his mommy!! :)

* "Dad, I am going to call you "dad" but I call my mommy, "MOMMY!!"

Oh, he sracks me up every day! I am so blessed to have my little Zack!! :) I LOVE MY SON!!! :):)

Blessings

God has showered so many blessings on us in the past few months, I wanted to share with you all some of my favorites!! The blessings I would like to share, mostly have to do with our little family and we just feel SO blessed!!!!

**We are SO THANKFUL for Wyatt's *new* job!! It isn't SO new anymore, but the freedom and flexibility that it provides our family is a continual blessing!!! I have had some health issues for the past few weeks and Wyatt has been able to be at home with us many, many days!! I am SO THANKFUL for his new job and the time off it offers!! We are SO happy!! BLESSED!!

**I am SO THANKFUL for Wyatt's promotion and raise!! God has been so faithful with our finances this past year! You never plan to take a pay cut, but God BLESSED us so much last year, we can't help but see His Hand in the entire year!! BLESSED!! :)

**We are SO THANKFUL for our beautiful warm home!! We have slowed down for this current season and have really enjoyed spending time at HOME together!!! :) We LOVE our house!! It is warm, and comfortable, our kiddos love their rooms and their playroom! Wyatt and I so enjoy spending time together in our cozy living room with the fire on just dreaming of all that is to come! :) BLESSED!!

**Wyatt and I have been married almost 8 years!! WOW!! :) I love my husband more today, that I could have ever possibly imagined!!! He is priceless to me and I am so in love with him!! Throughout this past year we have grown even closer, which has just been amazing!! :) We are closer as a married couple, we are closer spouses and we are closer best friends! I feel SO blessed that God chose me for Wyatt and Wyatt for me!! I am looking forward to improving our marriage even more this year!! BLESSED!!

**We feel so blessed that God provided Kids Korner for our kiddos this year! We L-O-V-E going to school together!! It has bonded Maddie, Zack and I SO much!! We LOVE the teachers and the program...it is just AWESOME!! We are also feeling blessed about school for next year!! Maddie is going to attend kindergarten at a private school called Gloria Deo Academy!! She will go to school 2 days a week and we will homeschool her two days a week!! For our family, it is PERFECT and I can't wait!! :) However, we are not willing to commit ourselves and our kiddos to GDA forever!! We are going to pray about it, and make the decision every year! If God decided to move us, we will totally be depending on Him!! We feel such PEACE about this decision!! It has been weighing on us so much, but we now feel total peace! BLESSED!! :)

**We are so blessed by the new and old friends that God has places in our hearts!! WOW!! Life is so sweet sharing it with good friends!! We are so thankful!! BLESSED! :)

**We feel unconditionally blessed by my mom and dad!! WOW! :) It brings me to tears! :) Their constant love and support is immeasurable!! :) We love spending time with them each week and LOVE the bond that they have with our Maddie and Zack!! We love that they are pouring themselves into our kiddos!! BLESSED!!

For all of these things are SO MANY MORE, we are BLESSED!! :):) Thank you Father for your amazing blessings! :)

Language

Do you know how much our language affects our kiddos?! It is CRAZY to me how much they pick up on, even at the young ages of 3 and 4!! Wyatt and I don't use bad words at all, they just aren't in our vocabulary, so we watch what we say, but mostly we are cautious about the tones in our voice and the sarcasm that we use!!!! Unfortunately that is NOT the case for many other people!! I often cringe when we walk past young teenagers, or a couple that is arguing...even commercials on tv! WOW!! Don't these people that my precious, innocent young kiddos are present, AND, listening, AND soaking in every words they are hearing to "try on" mommy and daddy later!?! ! Even when we are watching Dancing with the Stars... some of the language is absolutely unacceptable!!! Do we even realize that they words that come out of our mouths are a direct reflection of what our hearts looks like!? Now, I will be the first to say that sometimes my words aren't as gentle as they should be, BUT, I don't speak harshly or meanly or profanely!! We want our words to directly reflect Christ!! Lord, hear our prayers! Please help us to be so focused on you, that every thing that we do and say reflect YOU!! Please dwell in Maddie and Zack's hearts as well, so they may turn their eyes and minds on you!

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

Being Consistent!

For those of you who have little kiddos, you KNOW that consistency is key!!!! Consistency in disciplining, consistency with teaching manners, consistency with staying in bed, consistency with you-name-it-you-must-be-consistent-with-it!!! I have never really thought about having consistency with anything other than my kiddos!! (Isn't that funny!?!:)) But as usual, God is teaching me that I need to be consistent in EVERYTHING that I am doing!! :) Here are a few lessons that I am learning!! :)

**God wants me to have consistency with Him! He wants my time every morning! He wants to hear my voice as I pray to Him each time!! He loves when I spend time with Him, just He and I! I DO spend time with Him each day, but it isn't consistently!!!! Now I don't think that God is taking score, but I KNOW in my heart that He wants more of my time, which I am happy to spend with Him!! Consistency!!

**I need to be consistent in my relationship with my amazing husband!! We have a pretty amazing relationship, and I am SO thankful for it!! He "gets" me in every way and I "get" him in every way!! We can pretty much tell exactly what the other is thinking...about 99% of the time!! What an incredible BLESSING our marriage is to me!! :) I guess what I mean is, that I need to be consistently thinking about ways to encourage and love on Wyatt!! I am so thankful that he is exactly who he is and knowing that his love languages are different than mine, I need to be consistent in making sure I am loving on him the way HE needs to be taken care of!! Consistency!

**I need to continually be consistent with my precious kiddos!! Never could I have imagined how MUCH I would love them!! :):) They truly are the JOY of my life!! And, they are really good kiddos, but with them being the ages that they are...consistency is KEY!! I want to be a mommy that they can count on and I want to have rules that they can count on!! :) Consistency!!

**I want to be consistent with my friends!! I am so thankful for the dear friends that God has placed in my life and I want to be consistent with the friendships that we share!! This means I need to get better about calling to check in...sending cards, and just getting good one-on-one time!! Friendships are so precious and I want to be a consistent...all-the-time friend!! Consistency!!

I am so thankful that God is consistent with me!! I am learning and growing and being challenged every day and I KNOW it is because of His love and grace!! Thank you Father for your consistency with me!!!!!

Pregnant...nope, not ME!!!! :):)

So... three of my dearest friends are pregnant right now, and I couldn't be ANY more excited for them!! :):) I cried when all three of these precious ladies told me with HUGE smiles on their faces that they were expecting!! What an incredible JOY to be able to share!!! These three couples have all been married for a long time (7 years, 8 1/2 years and 11 1/2 years:)) and now God's perfect timing has come for them each to welcome a baby into their little family!! :) WHOO-HOO!! :) It is SO special to watch dear friends experience pregnancy and the early moments of becoming parents!! It is such a JOY and God's timing is AMAZING!! Of course as I watch these new mommy's and daddy's get excited about expanding their families, I can't help but reflect on our precious little bundle's of joy! :) They were both totally in God's perfect timing and now we absolutely cannot imagine life ANY different!!!!!

Our daughter was born shortly after our 3rd anniversary and our sweet son came after our 4th anniversary!! Our kiddos are only 12 1/2 months a part which was VERY hard at the beginning but it is a HUGE blessing now!! They are the BEST of friends...they have never known life without the other!!! They have an amazing bond that I pray they keep for the rest of their lives!! We often get asked the BIG question, "Will you have any more babies!?!" We always smile and say "If God blesses us!!" :) We really don't know if we will have more, that is totally up to God, but we are SO Thankful for the perfect two that we have!! :)

I am SO looking forward to planning and throwing baby showers for these amazing ladies!! I can't WAIT to hear what sex their babies are and enjoy showering my dear friends with excitement and encouragement!! :):) WHOO-HOO!! :):)

Excited!

I am SO excited and JOY-filled for this NEW year!! There are so many things that I want to do with our kiddos this year! They are at such FUN ages and I LOVE to see their minds at work!! I am SO blessed to be able to stay at home with them, AND, be at school with them!! I get to see into their every day lives, and it is amazing!! Wyatt had gotten to have the past 14 days off with us and our family bonding time together was absolutely priceless!!! Our time off didn't exactly go as we had planned, but I think in the end, it was far better than we could have even hoped for!!! We got a LOT Of snuggle, reading, snuggling, laughing face time together with our kiddos!! Our fall was nothing short if INSANE, so we welcomed this break!!!! Now in all honesty, I do have to mention that I was very, very sick during this time...thus we weren't able to do as much as we wanted, BUT, our down time was so priceless!! Now that I am feeling MUCH better, we have so much to look forward to!!

Every January, Wyatt and I sit down and talk through goals that we would both like to achieve throughout the new year! Some of our goals are for our family, others are for us as a couple, and some of our goals are individual goals!! It is SO fun to think about ways we can better ourselves as a married couple, as parents and as individual people! :) I LOVE having these conversations with Wyatt!! There is NO ONE BETTER to hold me accountable than my amazing husband!! He is so good for me and I rarely feel like he is attacking me when he holds me accountable for something that I said I wanted to do!! We decided this year to only share our goals with each other, just to be sure we weren't trying to be showy or extreme!! (I love the way my husbands mind works!! He is so humble and Godly!! :) I am a proud woman!! :)) SO, all I will say is be watching for some good change in the Jenkins household this year!! I am SO EXCITED about what this year will bring!! :):)

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of JOY." Job 8:21

Conversations!

Life is in full swing here at the Jenkins household!! We are LIVING IT UP this Christmas season and enjoying every moment of it!! :) We have attended Christmas parties, had our Christmas program at school, baked cookies with sweet dear friends, crafted ALL kinds of things (which just makes me smile:)) and just ENJOYED this holiday season so much!! We look forward to what these next few weeks have in store!! :) My kiddos are at such FUN ages!! Here are a few of the conversations we have had over the past couple of weeks!

Me: "So where should we shop for daddy?"

Maddie: "THE MALL!!!!" (Like mommy, like daughter!:))

Zack: "No, not "de" mall, Daddy "yikes" Bass Pro!!!!" (Our little Z is in LOVE with Bass Pro this year!!:))

Me: "Maddie, mommy is so sorry I forgot to clean out your backpack today! I Know you have lots of special projects from school today!!"

Maddie: "GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrlllllllllll, it's ok!!!!"

**(Oh, yes, she sure did just whip out some attitude!! It was absolutely HILARIOUS!!:))**

Zack: "Mommy, is this you???" (Wide-eyed...pointing to one of the Rockette's on the cover of a brochure he took from Steak and Shake!! :))

Me: "Ok, kiddos let's go, we have a LOT of shopping to do today!!"

My kids together: "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to "Quismas" shop we go!!" :))

I LOVE MY PRECIOUS KID'S!!! :):)

Our Thanksgiving Week!

We have enjoyed the BEST week this week!! Wyatt has been off since noon on Monday and we have enjoyed every single moment with him home! Wyatt LOVES his job so much and we are even more thankful for the time they allow him to have off! He gets to choose 5 weeks off each year and we are so blessed by this time together!! God has blessed us SO much this year with Wyatt's new job and special time as a family! We are so thankful for His continual provision!!! Here is what we did this week!

Monday night we got some super exciting, and totally unexpected news!! Some of our dearest friends are moving back to Springfield and we ARE SO EXCITED!!! :):):):) So ,we spent Monday night dreaming about how life is going to change again...and for so many FUN ways!! :)

Tuesday was such a FUN day! We went to school on Tuesday morning and Wyatt came and read to the kiddos in their classes and attended our Pilgrim Pizza parties! Then, we enjoyed our weekly lunch out with my mom! Tuesday evening we got our Christmas pictures taken and went to kids night at McAllister's since we were in town!! I love the banter that Wyatt and our kiddos have...we all just laugh and laugh when we are together, it is such fun!!

Wednesday we woke up and headed out to have breakfast with my dad!! We had a BAST!! My kiddos LOVE their grandparents so much, it is such a JOY to be able to spend such special time with them!! :) We had gathered some toys and clothes to give away to the kiddos that don't have any, so as a family we drive over to the Victory Mission clothes store and handed over our bags of goodies! It was so special to have our kiddos who are SO BLESSED by so many things, have such compassionate hearts!! We prayed over the bags of clothes and toys right there in the store and then headed out! Our Maddie and Zack asked who was going to get their things...they were SO excited to be able to share!! We pray every day that our kids will have compassionate and loving hearts to everyone, we were SO proud of them!! Wednesday evening, we went and spent some time with Wyatt's family for Thanksgiving! We had a nice time and look forward to having them to our house for Christmas!!

Thursday morning stated off with pancakes and my precious little family sitting around our table together, talking about what we are thankful for! This is a tradition on our family and Wyatt and I felt that it was something we wanted to continue!! It was hilarious...all of the things our kiddos said they were thankful for!! :) When we got to my parents house my Aunt and Uncle were there! Shortly thereafter another Aunt and Uncle showed up with my Grandparents and sister and brother-in-law! I LOVE my extended family and always have, but it is such a blessing to get to know them as adults!! They will always be my Aunt and Uncle, but they are also my friends, they have GREAT parenting advice and are just fun to be around!! :) I love my family! After an A-MAZING lunch (my mom is the best cook EVER:)) several of us went for a walk and then came home and started planning out our black Friday deals!! We also gathered around the table to share what we were thankful for! It was pretty awesome hear what God had done this year in each person's lived!! We serve a MIGHTY God, who LOVES us and HEAR's us each day!! WOW!!

Thursday evening my mom, sister Aunt, cousin and I headed to Wal-Mart about 9:30 to get our black Friday deals!! After making two trips in and out of Wal-Mart (we had to load our cars so we could go back in and find more!:)) we headed over to Target!! We had a GREAT time together and made some fun memories!! I got home about 4:30 a..m!! Friday we met our family at Hemingway's for breakfast and enjoyed some last minute time together!! Then we went over to the playland!! Our M and Z LOVED it!!! We spent the rest of the day shopping and napping and just being together!!

This morning we stayed at HOME and enjoyed the morning together!! We are looking forward to getting out this evening and meeting up with some sweet friends!! WHOO-HOO for an AWESOME week!! {And we STILL have TOMORROW!!!!!!!:)}

"Sorry"

I hate it when people use this word, to get out of things! You know...the heartless, mindless, non-commital, just-say-it-because-you-feel-like-you- have-to say-something-- "SORRY!" Grrrrr!! It is absolutely one of my pet peeves!! (DO you know the "sorry I am talking about!?!) You absolutely cannot mean that you are sorry for something if you say it 100 times within a 5 minute period!!! It is obvious that you don't mean it...you are just trying to show that you realize that you are doing something wrong and want to address it in the most non-commital way possible!! I see this in kiddos, I see it mostly in adults and it is a word we are teaching to our kids that really holds NO meaning and purpose!! DON'T say it if you don't meant it!! Our words must be spoken with intention and purpose, not just to get out of something!!

Since our kids are SO close together, they kind of figure things out at the same time!! :) Our kids are really good friends, they love to be together and appreciate that they always have each other around! Just recently have they figured out how to argue! Oh boy...take a deep breath and keep typing! :) In our household whenever someone gets into trouble they are required to say that they are sorry and ask for forgiveness!! Now, this is no easy task my friends, it is HARD to ask for forgiveness for doing something wrong to someone else!!! We also don't allow our kids to say grumpily or rudely, "SORRY!" and brush off whatever they have done! How will they EVER learn from that!?!? They won't friends, they won't lean, in fact they WILL learn that they can be rude and disrespectful and get away with it!! Like many adults have!! Our kids must say, "I am sorry for______, will you please forgive me for ______!?" They aren't allowed out of time out until they say these words!

These words aren't just for our kiddos! Wyatt and I also tell each other that we are sorry for whatever specific reason and ask for forgiveness!! Parents must always take the lead and set a good example because your kiddos are watching, every move you make!! Scary right?! Whether you realize it or not, they are!! There are many times that I have to ask for forgiveness from my kiddos for acting grumpy or for not taking special time for them!!

As I have been thinking about this, I have often thought about my relationship with God! How often do I say "SORRY" to God and not really mean it!? How often do I brush off a mistake I have made or a sin I have committed without really stopping to think about it and ask for forgiveness!! I am so thankful that our God is One of love and grace, otherwise I would be in BIG trouble!

So, as I step down from my soap box, I will wrap this post up with this!! If you really ARE sorry, don't just try to brush it off with a brash "SORRY!" Put on your big girl (or big boy) underwear and say you are sorry and ask for forgiveness because you really are sorry about something and you are seeking forgivenss!!

War Eagle

I was so blessed to be able to take a quick girls weekend away this past weekend with some of my favorite ladies! :) On Thursday we all loaded up together about 6:00p.m. to drive to AR for the HUGE craft shows, going on all weekend long!! We ate a nice leisurely dinner in Joplin at Cheddar s (my FAV:)) and enjoyed some wonderfully girly chatter all the way to our beautiful hotel! One of the girls that I went with is a MAJORLY awesome coupon-er and was able to get our room for $29 for the first night and $39 for the second night for the four of us!! Whoo-hoo!! We woke up on Friday morning and had a leisurely breakfast, and had Starbubks before we took off for the day!!! For all of you who know me well, KNOW that I L-O-V-E being crafty!! :) Well this weekend friends, was THE weekend of crafts!!

On Friday, we went to 3 HUGE, craft fairs! Tent after tent after tent of handmade... ANYTHING, you could ever possibly want! :):) We bought bows and cute dresses for our girls and clothes for us and Christmas ornaments and decor for our homes...the possibilities were endless!! (Ok, so not ALL of the tents had handmade items in them...but at War Eagle that is a requirement!:)) The girls that I went with have been going to these craft shows for years and had our days all planned out!! It was SO much fun to know the in's and out's of each craft fair!!! We topped Friday night off with dinner at "On the Border" and a shopping trip to Target (where I got an adorable new outfit for $20!!:):) After some chatting and a LOT of laughing...by 1:00 a.m. we were ready for bed!!

On Saturday morning we got up EARLY, had a quick breakfast, got our Starbucks and headed out for War Eagle!! I had NEVER seen ANYTHING like it before!! :) All of the white tents took my breath away!! We had to drive for a while to get there but it was SO worth it!!! There is an awesome running Mill there that I could have stared out for hours! It was beautiful!!(Wyatt and I plan to take our kiddos back there this spring!! It was SO cool!!:)) Then... we shopped!! They had everything, I was in heaven!! It is SO cool to see what everyone's passions were!! Everyone was interested in something different, and it was exciting to see the excitement in their eyes!! We had a BALL and I came home with so many treasures!! :) We have already put the dates on our calendar for next year!! This will definitely be one of my favorite new fall traditions!!

Life these days!!

WHEW!! Life in our household these days is so totally busy!! We are for sure staying on our toes!! But, I am so thankful for the quiet days that the kiddos and I have here and there!! I used to plan up almost every single day, but now we try not to plan up our Monday's and Friday's, although those are our only two days to have play dates! Today has been wonderful!! No BIG planned out plans, just fun, relaxing spontaneous plans!! It has been wonderful!!

Today, we enjoyed a much needed morning at home! Maddie helped me make muffins and we enjoyed talking over preparing for breakfast!! She is my sweet little helper!! She wants to be right where I am, whenever I am doing something that she thinks she can help with!! I LOVE her compassionate, loving heart!!! After breakfast we snuggled on the couch for a while! Then we were off to meet Tre-Tre and Maddux for an early playdate!!! We enjoyed our time with them so much!! The kiddos played and I got to chat with my sweet sister for awhile!! It was so nice and relaxing!! This afternoon I was so productive, it was wonderful!!! I made dinner and cleaned our house! I made phone calls and responded to e-mails!! Ah, it was BLISS!!!

I get so caught up in being busy sometimes, that I just forget to ENJOY life!!! Isn't that sad!?! I have the two most beautiful children and an AMAZING husband, yet I forget to live life with them!!! I am SO THANKFUL for all that God has blessed us with...a job for Wyatt, Premier for me, school for all of us, precious family, the dearest friends...I just need to slow down sometimes and remember!!!

"The Lord has done GREAT things for us, and we are FILLED with JOY!!!!" Psalm 126:3

Ahhhhh!! :)

I have my ring back!! It has never been so beautiful!! It just sparkles and it is gorgeous!! :):) I am so thankful for my husband and for his unconditional love for me!! :) My Maddie has now confiscated the ring "she" gave me!! Into her jewelry box it went, in my beautiful leather Justice Jewelers ring box!! I an't hardly wait to see when she will bring it back out!! I love my girly girl!! :):)

My new ring! :)

Wyatt had to take my diamond engagement ring and wedding band to the "doctor" today at Justice Jewelers!! Yesterday I noticed that one of my diamond baguette's was missing!! I was totally bummed!! I LOVE my wedding set!!! It isn't big or fancy, but it was what my amazing husband chose, just for me!!! Every time I look at it, I think of the sacrifices he had to make in order to buy the best he could afford for his bride!!! {LOVE!!} So, today Maddie and I were talking about my ring and how beautiful she thinks it is (I absolutely LOVE this stage with my daughter!! She thinks that everything that I do, and say and have are absolutely the COOLEST things ever!!!! I am so thankful for the relationship we have and I hope it never changes! Oh, I know it will take on different faces at times, but one of my biggest prayers is that we will always be close!!:))

Anyhoo, we were talking about my ring and how much I love it and she asked me if I was sad to not have it!! I explained to her that I was sad, but that I knew it would be back on my finger in 10-12 business days!! :):) SOOOO, tonight after I got home from my jewelry show, she and Wyatt gave me a *new* "diamond" ring to wear until my special ring gets fixed!! It is HUGER and totally gaudy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!! AND, I plan to totally wear it until I get mine back! Wyatt later told me, that Maddie knew I was sad without my diamonds so she wanted to help me feel better!! So... off to the Jewelry and Galore store they went to pick out the perfect ring for mommy!!! I LOVE her beautiful, compassionate heart!! She is so special to me!!

{BLESSED!!!!!}

HIGHLIGHT of my DAY!!! :)

Today we had school and it was a BLAST!! We had a really busy weekend filled with family, friends and FUN so I was a little worried about how school would go today!! Thankfully God heard my prayers and my sweet M and Z had an awesome day!! :):) Whoo-hoo!! :):) I wanted to share with you the highlight of my day! At our pre-school we have a drop off line, so we get each kiddo out of their car before school and then they come and sit in their class line on the floor until everyone in the class arrives!! The same is true after school!! Each class lines up in a specific place on the floor while they wait for their parents to come through the line!! Well today, my little class came first, then Zack's calss and then the other classes!! When Maddie's class came through, she dropped down right beside her brother to give him a BIG kiss, and then went on her way!! No words were exchanged just sweet smiles and a brother-sister kiss!!!!!!! :):) The smile on my Zack's face was PRICELESS!!! It just made me tear up!! I am so thankful for the relationships my kiddos have!!! I pray that they will always look out for one another!! SO BLESSED!!! :):)

My Mom and Dad

I love my parents!!! They were awesome parents to my sister and I! Not perfect parents, but, they raised us to know, love and follow hard after God! ! I am so thankful for their profound impact on my life!! I have always enjoyed hanging out with my parents, but I never knew how much more I would enjoy watching them with my kiddos!! WOW!! It is such an incredible blessing!! My mom and dad are SO good about making time for our M and Z! Actually, I think they would rather hang out with them, than Wyatt and I, but since we are transportation for their Grandkids, they put up with us! :) Ha! :) Lately I have been totally blessed by some unexpected time with our Ga-Ga and Mze! Like on Thursday, we had just pulled into Sam's to grab some lunch (Ok, people, DON'T judge, it is quick and cheap and it is right by our pre-school!!:)) and here comes my dad on his motorcycle!! Zack and I got out quickly and yelled out his name... he stopped, turned around and gave us all big hugs! I think he was just as excited to see us, as we were to see him!! Now, I know he was there to get a few things and get out, but he was so excited to see us, he joined us for lunch!! It was an incredible blessing and I am SO thankful for that time with him!!

My mom is always excited to hang out with our kiddos so we can run errands or go out on dates! She isn't willing, she WANT'S to be with our kiddos!! And in turn, they have an awesome relationship with her!! They love their Ga-Ga more than life itself! :):) We are looking forward to going out on a date tomorrow afternoon and evening!! I think she is just as excited as we are!! :):) I am SO unbelievably thankful for her!!

Another example! I had a jewelry show this morning, so my dad and Wyatt planned a "guys day" (with Maddie!!:)) and off they went to McDonalds for breakfast and then to Bass Pro for some bonding time! (I guess that is what people do at Bass Pro...Bond"! I personally can't stand the place, but my kiddos LOVE it!! Oh, the sacrifices of being a mommy!! :)) Then they grabbed some lunch together!! Well my mom was none-to-pleased about NOT being invited to Bas Pro, so she showed up for lunch!! I just LOVE that my parents want to spend time with us!!! They are such a blessing to Wyatt and I and also to our little J'S!! :):) I hope we encourage and love them as much as they encourage and love on us!! We feel SO blessed!! :):)