They know…

Since I’ve had Jack I’ve heard the same thing time and time again…

“Enjoy them, they grow up too fast!”

I can honestly say that I’ve done my very best to take this piece of advice seriously.  It doesn’t matter where we are…

walking down the street

      in the grocery store

              with family

             at church

                    at the bookstore

                                            at a restaurant…

its what every single older, been there, raised children, & missing them dearly now adult tells us. 

I don’t think we can afford to not listen to them. 

I’m thankful that I have.

Because one day, and this I know for sure…we’ll be passing the message along.

Camping Trip

We went camping again this weekend!  It was sooo much fun! 

Jack and Brad went fishing with the oh so amazing everyone’s gotta have one Spiderman fishing pole :)  They actually caught some cute little fish, and Jack was able to real them in himself.  We asked him how big they were this afternoon, and he said, “Four.” Close enough…

The park was BEAUTIFUL. 

It made me think of my Dad…he would have loved it here.  I kept seeing a huge hawk fly by.  My Dad loved hawks, and he’d always pointed them out to us when we were little. 

It reminded me that he’s still with me…

The boys had a ball playing in the dark with their glow sticks :)

 

Yes, I know I’m looking….

ROUGH

but I had to prove that I was there…and this was NO sissy camping trip.  There were no showers, cabins, air conditioners, electrical outlets, mirrors, etc.  This was hard core folks.

Miss Madeline was in heaven…sort of…sometimes.  Lets just put it this way.  Madeline loves dirt, water, etc. but she is an extremely light sleeper and needs prefers to be sleeping in her crib, at home, with all her blankets, with her fan on high so she doesn’t hear anything but the music in her dreams.

Kite Flying…

Jack and I bought a kite.  Before Jack’s nap he said, “Maybe when Daddy gets home we can fly our kite.”

So…

We waited for Daddy to come home!

It took a few tries, but Daddy got that kite to fly…

One of our sweet neighbors came to check out what we were doing…

Jack found a patch of bluebonnets, and I snapped a picture of him!

I couldn’t help myself.  I had to put this picture up…

I

Am

So

In

LOVE.

Small changes…

Ugly take up a lot of space plastic olive oil container

meet

Slender beautiful glass EVOO dasher!

I am sorry to replace you, but when I’m so tired at night and don’t feel like putting you back in the cabinet you expose my laziness….

Beautiful EVOO dasher, if I leave you out you look like you were meant to be there…how nice for 3 dollars at Marshall’s!

No chills or sweat…

I can not get enough of the outdoors lately! I love how comfortable the weather is…its not chilly or hot. 

As soon as Jack wakes up from nap…we hit the backyard…or front.  For some reason Jack really likes playing in the front yard.

Some of the neighbors were over playing with Jack…and Madeline was right there with them! Let me tell you friends…this little girl is TOUGH. 

And if you haven’t had any DONETTES in awhile…go buy some!  I let Jack pick something out at the grocery store the other day, and he wanted the little delicious bag full of white powdered Donettes that I think about all day long because I they are sooo good….

Little girls…

Madeline is getting so big! I’ll be honest…the thoughts of a third are starting to creep into my mind! I want to wait a little longer though : )

Madeline will be 1 yr. old April 12th!  She is cruising around the furniture, so she should be walking soon.  She is the best eater in the world, and she is sleeping like a charm.  We did confirm with allergy testing that she is allergic to cow’s milk.  Bummer! Madeline is a handful.  She has the funniest personality.  She is very high maintenance to say the least!  She LOVES her Daddy…she’s always flirting with him.  Her and Jack are starting to play better together, which is so helpful.  She loves getting dirty and playing right along side of him : )  I love to hear him say, “no no Mady don’t do that…or no no Mady be careful!” 

So here she is…at 11 1/2 months!

When I uploaded the picture below I immediately thought of the one of Jack that looks just like it!  He was the same age, and they are both making their “goober” face.

Here are a few more of Jack in the same spot at the same age!

Less is More: Part I

If you guys remember…my new year’s resolution was “less is more.”  I’ve begun my journey, and let me tell you…my life is becoming more and more wonderful as I have LESS in it :)

As I make changes (big and small) I’m gonna keep you updated.  Here’s one of my most delightful changes yet. 

Here is my pantry when BEFORE when I was losing my mind….

And here it is now….AFTER I found my mind.

Let me start by telling you that I breathe so much better now when I open my pantry…seriously.  My life is more peaceful.  I knew I wanted to make this change, but every time I went to Walmart to buy storage things I would stand in the aisle….panicking because I didn’t know how many plastic things I needed or how many glass jars or baskets….and I’d end up walking away defeated.  One day I just decided not to try and figure out exactly what I needed and just buy stuff.  I figured I could always go back and buy more or return what I didn’t use…and this would be a gradual improvement.  It didn’t have to be perfect in my first shot.

You should have seen my recycle bin….

I LOVE MY PANTRY.  Sometimes I just stand in it and smile. 

This is not a waste of money…it ends up paying for itself because all my cereal, crackers, etc. last so much longer!  NO MORE STALENESS. It’s awesome.  I still plan on making a few more improvements…like labeling and buying a few more baskets. 

Until then though…

I’m loving what I have

in all aspects of my life.