Happy Father's Day, Honey!

Jared, thanks for being such a great Dad to these 3. Your love for them is fun to watch. :) I love you and am so glad I am raising these crazy kids of ours with you.

Show Me the Mommy

Ever since I saw the post that Laura started called Show Me the Mommy I have thought it was a great idea. The thought behind it is that Moms are so rarely pictured. Think about it....how many pictures do you have of your Mom???? ...how much do you cherish the ones that you DO have? See! It is important to have some pictures of yourself. I have decided to start doing this more often. Probably not weekly but here and there. That is better than I have done in the past so you have to start somewhere.

This is a picture from the pumpkin patch that we snapped while the boys played in the giant bouncy pumpkin. Forgive the mushiness but I have been reading "The Love Dare". Highly recommend it but be prepared to be challenged.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Impossible to capture the beauty of this snowstorm on camera. If you look out our kitchen windows it looks like a snow globe. It really is pretty. I tend to romanticize snowstorms in January when we have had hardly any snow and what makes it even more beautiful is the fact that I am not out in it. I am warm and cozy in my house with Addie and the boys and we plan to make homemade mini pizzas and have a movie night. Jared is off to homecoming at the school and the boys are off to bed early tonight (they are completely unaware). I think I hear Netflix calling. Here are a few pics I snagged on the iphone before Jared left.

Isn't he handsome? :) He loves when I take pictures of him.

Snow Day

(Written Monday) Jared has a snow day today. We got a good amount of snow yesterday and the high today is 18. Jared actually has to go into work despite his "day off". Part of the reason is because he needs to take care of the snow at the school and then he plans to grade papers.

Below is the reason Jared rarely grades papers at home. This was his attempt last night. :)

My children do really wear pants sometimes. Eli hates too however and leaves them in the bathroom after almost every potty trip. Some days despite the cold I give up the fight. This was one of those days I guess. :)

We move this week. I cannot believe it. So much to be done.

So In Love

So many people are so thrilled for us that we "got our girl" and I am thrilled also but I have to tell you I am so in love with these boys. We had such a nice day at the apple orchard today. I took a million photos that I will post but here are a few.

Happy Autumn to all!

Jared's getting older!

Jared's Birthday was last week. He is 34. Don't worry I didn't forget his birthday or anything I just don't have a whole lot of time to be on the computer currently.

I had to laugh, as I baked a cookie cake with the boys and made Daddy a brithday crown, at how much our lives have changed. There was a time when I would plan his birthday so methodically; where we would go, what I would wear, taking such care over the entire day and now although we still try and make his day special things have DEFINITELY changed. This year I had to tell him to hurry up so that we would have time for him to open his gifts, sing and blow out the b-day cake before dinner because we had to get to church. :) What hasn't changed is the love and respect that I have for him and now the love his boys have for him. Jared is a wonderful father and husband. We love you! Happy Birthday!

Alex, Eli, Addison and Mommy

Making Daddy's b-day crown. When I asked the boys what we should get Daddy for his b-day they said that he should be the king and he needed a crown. SO lucky Daddy got a constructin paper crown. ;)

What they are capable of:

I thought I would take a moment and share what my two year olds are capapble of in the amount of time it takes to make mac & cheese. Yep, in the amount of time it took me to boil water, cook noodles, add butter and milk, this is what Eli did.

"I'm confused she seems annoyed and yet she is taking a picture of it?"

I am proud to say that when I asked him if he did it, he clearly said "yes". I guess I am glad that he didn't lie. Thankfully it is washable crayon.

Speaking of what people are capable of I have to take a minute and brag about my husband. I always ask him what he did at work and he continually amazes me with his answers. You see he not only teaches HS social studies, which, in itself is a very noble task but he does maintenance at the church which allows me to stay home with the bubbas, thank you LORD! Anyways, he fixes roofs, digs trenches (something to do with plumbing), fixes play grounds, builds entertainment centers, etc., etc., etc., like I said AMAZING. So what is my point? My point is this week Jared and I had a first together. We completed a curtain. My idea, his handiwork. TADA! We bought a drop cloth and used it to cover our 4 dining room chairs and make this curtain. The grand total for material being $13. We have lived here for 6 years this winter and have never covered the window on our side door until now. I like how it turned out. Thanks, honey!

I have a pic where he is looking at the camera but he was sort of shooting daggers at me with his eyes so I chose the nice one of him working. :)

Ooh and last but not least here is my latest thrift store find for $4.

and VOILA!

I think I will keep the pictures seasonal.

Click on over and get more ideas at Works for Me Wednesday!

Does life get more precious than these moments?

Abba, Daddy

Last night as Jared was reading to Eli (and Alex who couldn't stop bouncing around the bed) my picture taking radar went off and I new I had to get some shots of these precious moments.

I love his hand resting on his Daddy's arm

I love Eli leaning in, intent on not missing a moment...

Then it got interesting. Apparently the story of Noah and the Ark didn't completely capture this two year olds attention. Hmmm....Daddy's ear is FUN!

His hair feels different than mine

Jared is such a good Daddy. I feel so proud of who he is.

I read this following excerpt this weekend and thought I would use it in a post on Father's Day but then I captured these pictures and thought it fit nicely.

God, Our Father by Max Lucado

"Recently, my daughter Jenna and I spent several days in the old city of Jerusalem.....One afternoon, as we were exiting the Jaffa gate, we found ourselves behind an orthodox Jewish family-a father and this 3 small girls. One of the daughters, perhaps 4 or 5 yrs. of age, fell a few steps behind and couldn't see her father. "Abba!" she called to him. He spotted her and immediately extended his hand....

When the signal changed he led her and her sisters trhough the intersection. In the middle of the street, he reached down and swung her up into his arms and continued their journey.

Isn't that what we all need? An abba who will hear when we call? Who will take our hand ewhen we are weak? Who will guide us through the hectic intersections of life? Don't we all need an abba who will swing us up into his arms and carry us home? We all need a father. "

I am so thankful that my boys have such an amazing earthly Father. I am even more thankful for our heavenly Father who gives hope to those who don't have protection in an earthly father and even to those who do.

The Big 3-3!!

Yes, it is official, Jared, tomorrow you can no longer talk about how you are the younger man. We are the same age! :) Welcome to our 33rd year. It's looking good so far!

Alex and Eli, Your Daddy is the baby of his family. He was born 8 years after Uncle Steven and 14 after Aunt Kimmy (I think). He was no "accident" though. He was planned and longed for just like each of you were. On a side note: when Nani told Aunt Kim that she was going to have a baby her 14 year old self replied "I'm happy the way things are!" Apparently when Jared was told that Aunt Kim was moving back home when he was a pre-teen he responded the same way! :) Anyways, he was a wild man and I'd like to share a few of his childhood stories with you.

Here are a few of my personal favorites and let me assure you there are many more.

The first one your Aunt Linda tells beautifully but I will attempt to re-create it here for you. She was babysitting your Daddy like she often did. I should preface this story with the fact that Nani and Papa came home to crying babysitters on more than one occasion. Aunt Linda was one of his victims. He came in the house in the middle of summer and asked if Aunt Linda knew where his snow boots were. She asked why he would be needing them to which Daddy told her he was shooting flaming tennis ball out of a soup can. I am SERIOUS! He was a quick one. At least he was taking safety into account. :)

Another favorite of mine involves your Daddy getting a brand new expensive pair of shoes that were corrective when he was a toddler. He came into the house and Nani noticed that he was leaving white footprints everywhere. She followed his tracks to find that he had stepped into a 5 gallon bucket of paint that Papa had in the shed. He tracked through the lawn onto the porch and into the house. Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa were there and they scrubbed those shoes until they were like new. It took hours I am told.

Why do parents torture their children like this? Poor Jared looks scared to death. :)

Another time Nani looked out her kitchen window and kept seeing Daddy's head bob up and then disappear. She went outside to find him and the neighbor girl using a 10 foot ladder over the fence as a see saw.

I had to add this serious faced 6 year old Jared. In my opinion he is the perfect cross between both Alex and Eli. So cute.

I am pretty sure I shouldn't be telling you these stories because I can already hear you using them against us but it is part of life I am sure and some day I will tell my grand kids about the crazy stuff you have done so revenge will be had :)

Most importantly your Dad is an amazing husband and father. You are SO blessed and I hope that he never loses that sense of adventure that he has had since a child. I hope that it passes on to each of you although I may regret that sooner rather than later! :)

So thanks to Nani and Papa for deciding to have "just one more" even though at times it felt like a dozen! :) Alex, Eli and I are forever grateful!

I love you Jared, Happy, Happy Birthday!

Uncle Steven sent this and I had to add it:

At times Jared would not revel in forced baths by his older brother, Steven. One day before the rinse cycle Bear (Jared) hops outta the tub bright pink and lathered in soap, down the stairs, out the front door and down the street in all his glory. At least this is how I remember it! Favorite memory was when he'd spend his school vacations with me at UofM around age ten. It all makes me smile. Happy Birthday, Bear! Steven

10 Reasons......

10 reasons that I feel refreshed on this Monday morning

by: former psycho stressed-out Mom.

1) Jared did not have to work (outside the home) all weekend! Praise God.
2) We didn't run around like crazy because he was off.
3) We did run errands that needed to be done and now I don't have to worry about trying to do them by myself with my insanely rambunctious active boys.
4) We ate out 3 times which = next to no cooking.
5) Jared accomplished a bunch of small but nagging household tasks.
6) We cleaned out the basement and he still loves me. (I tend to use our storage in the basement as my messy, cluttered, hold all. I compare it to Monica's "secret closet" on "Friends" ** cue "Sanford and Son" music.) Anyways, this was a HUGE accomplishment.
7) I slept for 8 hours each night of the weekend. I am realizing that I cope with life and the trantrums much better when I am well rested.
8) I read this line in the book "Your Two Year Old: Terrible or Tender" "Do not be surprised if you are unduly fatigued at the end of the day". I was so excited I ran to tell Jared and his response was "I could have told you that it's normal". It was still just nice to know that a) my husband thinks I am somewhat normal and b) so does the author of the book. I am also happy to not be the only one who puts my twins two year olds to bed and feels like doing absolutely nothing "unduly fatigued".
9) I had time to work on some of the projects that I want to do with the boys.

10) I had time to bake muffins on Sunday morning. Alex and Eli's favorite breakfast.

Below are the pictures of the activity that I worked on for the boys this wknd. I got the idea from "The Activity Mom". I love her site and found a lot of great projects and activities that I plan to do soon. She links you to another site that gives other ideas for what to do with these race car letters. I printed them out on printer paper, matted them on construction paper and laminated them with the upper-case letter on one side and the lower case on the other. I chose to do each of their names.

By the way thanks for all the kind words regarding this fun age of two that we are dealing with :)

6 things that make me happy :)

I was tagged by Emily to post about 6 things that make me happy. It is my first tag, believe it or not so I thought I'd give it a go.

1. My boys: Jared, Alex and Eli

2. Fall! I cannot wait. I posted all that I love about fall HERE last year.

3. Coffee! French roast, strong, FF 1/2 & 1/2 and sugar. Not that I am picky about it or anything. ;)

4. Peanut butter and chocolate. What a combo!

5. Editing my pics at flickr and then blogging them. It is a great tool although it makes the pics much larger. Thanks for that tip Laura!

6. Napping children. Ahhhh, the silence, the sweet, sweet, silence!

I am supposed to tag 6 people to play along but I REALLY need to go do a workout of some sort so if anyone wants to play along please feel free and don't forget to let me know in the comments so that I can come and see what makes you happy. :)

Happy Friday

Random thoughts:

• Eli and Alex are watching Word World. I attempted to shut off the TV and Eli cried so I caved. I am pretty sure that makes me a pushover but he woke up sick again this morning and I am not up for the fight. I am hoping he feels better soon b/c I can only handle SO much Barney in a 24 hour time span hence the Word World video from the library.


• I joined Facebook last night and I think I am the only person in the world who doesn't like it. I woke up to a bazillion e-mails and I feel bad if I don't want to be "friends" with people. Am I the only one who feels this way???


• I hate to admit it but I am bummed that I may miss church and a BBQ with friends due to Eli being sick. Poor boy!


• Seriously, what do I do about Facebook?


• I like my safe little blog world, what can I say?


• I did get in touch with some old friends which is cool.


• My 8 year old niece "texted" my sister this week. Poor Chad and Missy their heads are spinning. Is it bad that I find it kind of funny?? (Don't kill me Miss)


• I picked up "Twilight" at the library to see what all the fuss is about. Jared's student's LOVE the books so I though we would check out the movie.


• I also picked up 5 other books. Yeah, I put a bunch on hold thinking they would come sporadically throughout the summer which was a good plan BUT they all came in this week. I cannot possibly read this many plus the ones I had before I hit the library in time to check them back in in 3 weeks.


• I'm thinking about doing a MckLinky on my Simply Saturday post. Would anyone want to join in tomorrow?

Well that's about it for my randomness today. Here is and old pic in honor of Flashback Friday.

Eli (10 months old)

Alex (same) :)

Added this afternoon: Jared got to come home early today and he played on Facebook with me for a while helping me decide Facebooks role in my life ;) and his response to the whole thing was "I'd rather take a nap!" See, this is why my husband makes me laugh. What can I say we just "get" each other. Love him!