Wordless Thursday

Well...almost wordless! :) The kids and I had an impromptu (is there any other kind these days) photo shoot yesterday and I thought I'd share some of my favorites! Have I said before how much I LOVE my kids????!!!!

Ellie has the CUTEST little expression lately....this one of surprise! I was THRILLED to have captured it, but there's nothing like seeing it in person!

These are for you Aunt Jenn! Thanks for handing down the jeep! The kids LOVE it!

"Wait, Bubba! You forgot the keys!!!"

And here's a self-timer portrait, since I never get pics of ME with the kids! (What do ya think of my new glasses???)

Luke was the photographer on this one! Not too bad, eh?

So that's it! Our little afternoon in a nutshell! I hear the kidlets up from naps, so gotta run! Bye!

Bringing you up to speed....

Simplicity....

That's been the goal of life these days. And that will be the goal of this post as well. :)

Since it has been more than a week since my last post, its hard to recall the details of past 7 days. Our trip to the snow on Valentine's Day was AWESOME...I DO remember that! Ellie LOVED it, though it was a bit tough for her to walk in it! She had no qualms about plopping herself down in the snow and exploring. She even tried a bite or two! :) I have a TON of video of the day, but little time now to sort through it. So here are just a few, VERY simple pictures taken from the video camera, since I (unfortunately!) left the real deal at home! :)

Luke had a blast in the snow too! The FIRST thing he did was plop himself down in it to make a snow angel! :) The video of that is cute, I'm sure! After playing for an hour or so, we were a bit chilled and headed in for some hot cocoa and treats! :) Mmmmm! A fun day for sure!

I have to blaze past the week, 'cause I can't remember what we did aside from the normal routine! Oops!

Saturday morning brought a newborn photo shoot for me, but before Ty whisked the kids out of the house, I was able to do a few test shots for lighting on my sweet two...

I was surprised that Luke gave me a smile!

A bit blurry, but oh well!

I love them. So much. They just make my heart happy!

That one of Ellie reminded me that she had her 18 month birthday and check up this week! EIGHTEEN MONTHS. A year and a half. ((sniff, sniff)). I can hardly believe that it has already been that long! I hate it, actually. She is growing and changing SO fast! And while I LOVE her new stages, I loathe the thought that I will never again get to experience these precious baby months. It makes me incredibly sad thinking of that! I don't remember Luke's babyhood passing by at this unbearable speed! In fact, at times, it dragged on. Not the second time around though! You really do blink and then it's gone! BUT....the good side of those sad feelings I have is that they make me appreciate and cling to all the sweet, silly and irresistible moments I have with her! And boy are there so many!!!! She lights up my world! Oh how I love her!!!!

At her checkup, she weighed in at 22 lbs 15 oz (28th percentile) and was 32.25 inches (63rd percentile) so she's a lean bean. Tall-er and and on the thinner side. But she tends still to out eat her big brother, so I know its not for a lack of eating! She's just an active tike, that's for sure! Our doctor was pleased with her progress and with no real concerns, we were sent on our way after two, VERY unpleasant pokes for my sweet girl. She did NOT like that part one bit! But she was a trooper nonetheless!

That was our week in a nutshell. I am sure there will more to share in the week ahead...a little idea I'm kicking around, but am just not ready to share quite yet. Have a great start to the week!

A Family Affair

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day this year will be a family affair! We have a whole special day planned to celebrate just how much we love one another! This morning, we are lounging around in our jammies, sipping coffee (well, just us grown-up's!) and watching cartoons! Soon though, I will start on a special "I love you" breakfast, complete with monkey bread for my two little monkeys and our most favorite goat cheese and herb omelets that Ty and I shared every single morning of our honeymoon in Jamaica! Mmmm! I can't wait!

The day has proven to be sunny and clear instead of the rain I had anticipated (the weatherman has changed his forecast twelve times I think!) so after breakfast we are going to bundle up the kiddos and head for the snow! It will be Ellie's first experience with it and Luke can hardly sit still anticipating all the fun we will have! I foresee many ball fights, a snowman, and even a snow angle or two in our near future! :) We might even be brave and take along both dogs (my parent's pooch TJ is staying with us this weekend while my parents are away on a much needed break!)

And instead of stealing away for some time alone this evening, we thought it would be so wonderful to share a special 'grown-up' evening with our firstborn. We will feed Ellie early and get her to bed (she is a bear to try to eat a quiet dinner with these days!) and then us 'big kids' will enjoy a delicious, special candlelight dinner together as a (partial) family. :) Luke will help me set the table in theme for Valentine's Day with some special (albeit inexpensive) decorations we bought at Michael's the other day (red candles, white linens, doilies and more!) and Ty and I plan to spend some time with one another as we share cooking in the kitchen. Our menu? It sounds fancy, but it really is pretty simple. Decadent though too! (When I told Ty what I had planned, I made sure to say it as if I was one of those cooking show hosts....in a sultry, enticing voice! LOL!!!!) Pecan crusted chicken breasts with herbed cheese filling on a bed of mixed baby greens with a side of twice baked potatoes. Wine (of-course!) and a special dessert of homemade chocolate covered strawberries! This year, the way to my man's heart is definitely through the stomach! :) And why not?! Ty, of anyone, deserves to be treated with all his favorite foods and special things just for him today! He is a man who works so hard for us and loves us so deeply! He is a father who is present and engaged and a husband whom I respect and love with the deepest parts of my being! My best friend! I love you, sweetheart!

We are certainly looking forward to sharing a special day together! I hope that each of you wrap yourselves in the love of your family today! Happy Valentine's Day!

Cute video...

I'm working on a bunch of things here at the computer this afternoon, but I wanted to take a quick minute to share this cute little video we took the other night of Ellie feeding Tess! She has taken quickly to this nightly chore and it always makes me giggle when we watch her do it! It's just so cute! Thought we should share it with all of you! My baby is growing up so fast!

Oh! And don't forget to pause the sidebar music first! :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Journey

Blog updates have been few and far between in recent weeks. And the predominant reason? Life. I have been trying to bask in it. Live it. Learn from it. Enjoy it. I have found that lately, a break from the routine has been necessary, which also unfortunately means a break from the blog as well. Sometimes, as I have noticed, I get 'stuck' along this journey that is my life. I find, at times, that I have stagnated...the routine becomes...well....routine, and quite honestly, my life feels more like the movie "Groundhogs Day" than the adventure I had hoped for. And it is in these seasons that I find that my patience, energy and gratitude for all that I have somehow running dangerously low. I loose sight what is truly important, and it is a slippery slope for me to be on! I have also notice, ironically, that it is in the times that I tend to do one of two things to remedy the melancholy boredom that looms on the horizon. I either turn to mindless fillers (in my case, the computer, Facebook, the television) to distract me from the rut I am in (which typically only drives me farther into that rut!) or I turn to the very things that seem mundane and ask God for a renewed spirit and fresh eyes.

In all honesty, it took me a chunk of time recently to get to the asking God part of this story. LOL! It is so like me, in my independent, 'i'll figure it out on my own' heart to take matters into my own hands and try to make things more interesting in my own power. Foolishness, I know, but I'm being honest here! Facebook and surfing the internet became crazily addictive (!!!), and keeping up with emails and phone conversations seemed to take precedence over the things I really should have been doing. And it wasn't until I saw my precious family affected by my lack of enthusiasm and decreased interaction with them, that I realized my way of breaking the boredom was not very good. In essence, the road I was on was full of potholes and ruts and before I knew it, I found myself with flat tires!

Interestingly enough, as He always is, God was standing patiently on the side of the road, just waiting for me to pull over, take my hands off the steering wheel and ask for help. He had placed several signs along the way telling me He was there to help, but I had my head so buried in other things, I had missed them. But those potholes and ruts and worn out tires eventually got my attention enough to "Let go and let God." And you know what? His way is SO much better!

It has been a few weeks on this journey...probably longer if I really thought hard about it, but I am grateful to sit here this afternoon and type to you with a renewed spirit and fresh eyes! What used to feel like the same, tired, replayed day to day routine has once again recaptured its life and vibrance! Our days are less about going through the motions (even though little has changed in our daily routine) and more about living, sharing and enjoying the ride! And with a new women's bible study, a road trip and a visit wonderful visit from my sister in the past week, the ride was even MORE adventurous!

I will need to shift gears here a little bit and share a little bit about how great our last week or so has been! I was incredibly busy all last week with my sister here and all, so I haven't even had the chance to tell you all that our trip to northern California was AWESOME! I really think that I had expected the worst and hoped for the best when it came to how the kids would do. But much, MUCH to my surprise and relief, they were angels the entire weekend! The drive up was a snap...despite the short hour nap that each of them took! Luke engrossed himself in a video (or two!) along the way and Ellie entertained herself with books and toys most of the trip! Our hotel was great too, with plenty of space for all of us and the sleeping part of it was a breeze! Oh how shocked I was that first night when both kids fell right to sleep and stayed that way ALL night! Amazing! And our visit with Fred and Suzanne was a sweet time of relaxed hanging out. Luke fell in LOVE with Suzanne and bonded with her so well! He also fell in love with their back yard, with its quaint,little playhouse and secret door in the back fence that led directly to the playground of the elementary school that neighbors their house! It was all so magical to him! Such fun!

We made it home around 2 am last Monday morning and spent the rest of the week hanging out with my sister Kim as much as possible. She hadn't been able to come out our way for a visit since Ellie was an itty-bitty, so this visit was long awaited and wonderful! The best we've ever had with her, I'd say! Luke ADORES Aunt Kim and she captured his heart from the very first moments of being here! He was so excited to show her around his little world...from the toys in his playroom to his classroom at school, he was eager to share his life with her! Ellie enjoyed Kim a lot too, but not quite as much I don't think, as Luke did! He was so sad to see her leave....he even cried as she said goodbye to him. :( It was so sad! BUT...we are so, so grateful to have had such a great time with her here! We loved every minute of it!

Because I had so many pictures of the week, I just went ahead and put together a little montage for you guys. Nothing fancy by any means, but at-least you can see our week! But don't forget to pause the sidebar music first! :)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And finally...to wrap up the week and this post...this is a little picture of Ellie the day after Kim left with her big-girl pig tails! She was just so cute that day that I HAD to share it with you!



So off I go now...having taken nearly all of naptime to blog today, but so glad to have been able to do so! And the best part of this moment....as I look outside, it is pouring down SNOW! Who said life was boring?! :)

Love to each of you!