The climb...

Saturday we headed to a state park close to our house to enjoy a little sunshine. Being the mother of two preschool children has really taught me so much about life in general. For instance, just about any task can have joy in it when you see it through your children's eyes. And playing in cool weather never seems cold when you are with a friend. And no matter how high or steap the climb, when you get to the top...the view was worth it. I feel so blessed to have these two "teachers". They make the classroom of life so much more fun!

Robin

Tonight I celebrated a dear friend's birthday with some women that are really special in my life. Robin is my work buddy, fellow LC, and dear friend. She is closer to my mother's age than mine, but I feel like she is my age most of the time. I love spending time with her and I am thankful for her presence in my life!

I don't know if you are like me but I know how to answer the pediatrician's questions. Maybe because I am a nurse...maybe because I am a momma...maybe because I know the answer he is looking for...


On the other hand, my wonderful husband has yet to understand this concept.


When Will was three months old, our doctor asked if we put Will on his back to sleep...This was my husband's answer..."Sometimes we put him on his stomach to sleep"...while this was true (ONLY FOR NAPS WHEN I COULD SEE HIM THE WHOLE TIME), this made us sound like we were incompetent and disobeying the Peds request and I spent an hour after we left his office, obsessing that I had endangered my baby's life! So, I instructed Jesse to let me do the talking next time.
This was short lived because when the Dr asked if our children ever drank anything besides Milk or water...Jesse piped up and said, "Yeah, sometimes we give them Gatorade" (ONLY IF THEY ARE REALLY SICK, TO AVOID HOSPITALIZATION)...Thanks honey! Ten minutes later I was well aware that Gatorade isn't really so great for little people.


Jesse went alone to Will's four year old check up because I had to work that day. Thankfully, I didn't have to witness this "slip up". The Dr asked if Will wore a helmet when he rode his bike...You don't even have to guess what my sweet Mr. Mouth said...

So $40.00 later, we are now complient!

Yeah, I know...Will is not in a car seat. The car is not moving. He wanted to see what it was like to ride like big people:) Or, maybe I am just telling you what I think you wanna hear...

Wordless Wednesday...Best Friends Style

Sweet Best Friends....

Happy Hearts

These are my loves...the three pieces that make up the "earthly" portion of my heart. I sit here and try to put pen to the amount of love I feel for the three of them. I can't. All I can say is that my heart is so overwhelmingly happy with love for these three today...and everyday. They are such gifts and I am so thankful.

Jesse and the kids gave me these beauties this morning. My favorite color!!!

After daddy left this morning, we decided it was perfect weather for a picnic in our backyard. We had so much fun and we are so thankful for the sweet sunshine that God gave us today.

The perfect ending to the a great day was Valentine's Dinner and fun treats at Nonni and Poppy's house! What a "LOVEly" Day!

My little Sweethearts

We celebrated Valentine's Day on Sunday instead of Monday because Jesse was scheduled to leave that morning. The kids opened their presents after church and BeBe brought donuts...YUM! Jesse and I were supposed to finally have a date night and use the gift card that his grandmother gave us for Christmas but I got sick and we ended up making a pizza and celebrating at home with the two little people we love most in this world. It was a sweet day...a sweet reminder that things don't always go as planned and that it isokay...just so that you end the day with the one or ones that you love. Hope your day was great!

Friday after the Valentine's Party, Mom, Caroline, and I headed to NaCoMe for a relaxing girl's weekend (that is what we told Will because he would have cried!) where I was serving as the camp nurse for a retreat. We had so much fun and it was great to see all of my friends and connect with the Lord. I also feel so close to Him in that place and it holds many fond memories from my childhood. Can't wait until this summer when we head on back to see all of those familiar faces again.

Valentine's Party

As always one of my very sweet friends hosts a most fabulous Valentine's Day party. It was really great. She always out does herself and we reap the benefits. She decorated her house so cute and the kids loved just playing and hanging out! As you can see from the pics...along with being amazingly talented and kind...she is BRAVE!!! Thanks K.H.!

Friday's Favorites...

1. Judy's Iced Brownies
I am not one to post recipes on my blog. Not because I am not a fan of food...I love me some food, but I just hate typing:) but this my friends, is worth typing. This is yumm-o. Make a batch of these for your Valentine...I promise he will have trouble resisting these...and probably you for making them!



Photo credit


Judy's Iced Brownies
1 1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup cocoa
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used real vanilla, so I only used 1 tsp.)
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
optional- 1 1/2 cup chopped nuts

To make brownies, place butter in a small mixing bowl and microwave until melted. Then stir in cocoa with a whisk. Blend until smooth and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with a whisk. Beat in sugar and continue to beat until mixture is smooth and thick. Blend in chocolate mixture, vanilla extract, flour, and salt. Beat with a whisk until smooth. Stir in nuts and spread into a greased 10x13x2 or greased cookie sheet for flater brownies (this is what I did) and bake for 30 minutes on 350 degrees.

Icing
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
2 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in microwave bowl. Stir in cocoa with a whisk. Add sugar and milk alternately. Add vanilla. Pour immediately over hot brownies. Let cool and serve!!!

2.This book.If you have fear in your life, and if you are breathing, chances are you probably do. This is a must read. It is upbeat...but it really shoots it to you straight. Love it!

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3. Placker for Kids...I am sort of a toothbrushing freak. I chase my children around at least twice a day to brush their teeth. I just took Will to the dentist and they said I should be flossing his teeth...WHAT? He is four and can run faster than me... But these my friends are wonderful!!! They make your life so easy and they taste like berries!
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What are your favorites? I am always looking for fun new stuff!

Another Snow Day

Wow, if you run out of things to write about on your blog, the snow days will sustain it. We awoke to yet another snow day!!! Since we were missing our Valentine's Party at school, we just had to take full advantage of it. So we made yummy pancakes for breakfast and loaded up our sleds for a little snow fun! We headed up to my grandparent's house. They happen to have a super fun hill for sledding. Will and Jesse hit the slopes, while Caroline and I ate lunch in the warm inside. She is my kind of girl!

These are times I love being a Momma

When I was smaller, one distinct memory I have of my mother is that she always let us help her fill the treat bags for our class parties. This brings back fond memories and it makes me think of being a child, so I wanted to start letting my kiddos make this memory too. As moms, I feel like sometimes it is hard to relinquish control, or at least at my house. I mean, the treat bag packing was messy and time consuming and the kids ate as much chocolate as they packed in the Valentine bags, but it was a memory. Our life has been so busy lately that it was nice to just slow down and let my children be children. It is supposed to snow tomorrow in good ole' "day before Mother's Day Out" and Valentine's Party Fashion...so who knows if we will even have school!
My cup runneth over...or my treat bag is full:)

Happy Birthday MOM!

Last night we went to Cracker Barrell with Mom and Dad for Mom's Birthday! My dad treated Jesse, the kids, and me on my Mom's birthday (something seems wrong about that, we should have taken her out!). The kids love Cracker Barrell...I love the food, but personally, taking the kids to CB is a lot of work on a parent. There are about 17 million things that are breakable, 2,500 different types of toys, and 1 billion pieces of candy. So, I was definitely sweating by the time we left! We had fun though and we celebrated a super special lady!

Happy Birthday Mom. You are my best friend and I love you so much. A simple "thank you for being a great Mom" doesn't seem like enough, but what can I say...you are the absolute best. I love you and I hope that today is wonderful.