What A Crazy Week!

Last weekend we went to Atlanta for Mark's conference. Sounds fun and we made the most of it, but I had a kidney stone start moving. I thought I was getting off easy because by Saturday afternoon I was better. Sunday was a whole new story...I ended up at the ER there to get some relief so that we could make it back that night. Again, I was reminded that God has our days planned out for us and I'm thankful the boys were able to stay with their Aunt and Uncle and play with cousins they never see. Initially, I wanted to stress and feel as though i imposed on them, but it all worked out. I haven't had a stone in several years, but this one lasted a little too long! Thursday was my first day back to normal. And today I was able to get back to the gym to work off my 2 bags of fluids!! ;)

Thursday night, Anderson started throwing up when we were headed in Walmart. I stopped in my tracks because I have never dealt with this with the boys. I turned around, stripped him down (& me as much as I could) and we came right back home. Thankfully it only lasted that night because we had one last resident dinner party last night. Unfortunately, Mark was at the store at midnight Thursday getting all we needed to host last night. CRAZY, but today is Saturday so that means we survived. We also had 2 prayers answered that we had been praying for, so that was the best part of the week. I say it often, but God is so Good!

Today has just been a fun, lazy day. The boys are great and growing! We are happy and blessed!

Love to all ~

Made it to the Coke Museum!

Tasting room fun!

All he wanted to taste was Coke - the real thing!

This post is dedicated to my husband! I feel as though I go on and on about how the boys are, what they do, how cute they are, and so on! But today I get to brag on Mark. 1) He is a great Dad (when home) and almost the best husband (if I can teach him how to wrap my Christmas presents instead of the plastic bag or better yet, just let the store do it! ;)) 2) He loves his job and that makes me so happy! 3) He has been getting wonderful reviews on how he is a hard worker, dependable, easy to get along with, knowledgable, and will one day make a great attending. 4) He is currently working on several research projects that will benefit him as he searches for a fellowship. To have anything published should make him proud. 5) This week, he's been getting up before work and going to the gym. The boys love to work-out with us upstairs. This makes ME proud because I feel that habits start young and if they see it's important to Mom & Dad, then hopefully they will continue. He's a great guy and if I had to choose all over again, I'd choose him!!

One little thing about Bently though! He is signed up for Prek 3 and will be playing soccer this Spring, Yay!!!!

Love to all

Attitudes?

So I just need somewhere to vent and this is where I chose to do it, so lucky you. If you read and have suggestions then please share. If not, then please pray for me!

I'm not sure if it's the age or what? But this week has brought all new attitudes to both boys. My days have been filled with talking back, fit throwing, and lots of tears. I feel like I am constantly counting to three, sending to time-out chair, or spanking. Don't get me wrong, there have been some sweet moments, but come night....I am TIRED! Mark has been late resident this week which means 11am to 11pm. In my words, it's a week of call because we are gone to school when he leaves and he comes home after the boys are asleep = no help. I have to wonder if God was really SURE that I was supposed to be a mom to boys?! I am no disciplinarian, but I am quickly learning. ;) I feel that if I invest this much time trying to correct the wrong behavior and model the correct then it will make the next years easier. Am I right???

I love my boys (and I hope all reading know the real me) and wouldn't change a thing about them because that is what makes them who they are, but I am just having one of those weeks when I am not sure I am being the mom I should. Kudos to my mother-in-law that raised 3 great boys!

It's the New Year!

It feels so good to be back home! Boys are out playing and finally getting to play on their swing set for the first time (thanks to all of the rain we have had!) Christmas is down and things are semi-organized. Dinner is in the crock-pot, so I am taking a few minutes to catch up on things. Good day? I'd say so! We all had a wonderful time in Louisiana last week. I can't say we did too much besides celebrate Christmas a few times, but it was great. The boys got to spend quality time with all of the grandparents and a few aunts. They played hard and I worked hard keeping the mess cleaned up after them! :) Guess that's the way it goes when you have lots of new toys to play with. I, personally, had a great Christmas. I didn't really ask for anything this year because I seem to have all I need right now, but got everything I would have asked for!! Worked out just perfectly. So with that, I say "thank-you!" Thank you to all that love us for who we are and give unconditionally. We love you and thank you so very much.

Now that it's all over, I can't help but think how fast March will be here. It seems that January and February is filled already with a conference in Atlanta, interview dinner, Success School, registering for Pre-K3 ;(, and so the list goes on. But March brings a vacation for Mark and a new nephew, so we are all pretty excited about that!

While our life seems to be going great except for the normal life that gets in the way, there are several others that could really use some extra prayer right now. I guess I would call them my friends even though we really aren't, but Rebekah and Garrett Thompson had to say good-bye to a sweet little 22 week old girl last week. All were praying for a miracle that she'd be born healthy, but God had other plans for her and them. This hit me so hard last week when I saw the news on facebook. I had no words and don't even know what I would do if I were in those shoes. So praying is what I am doing and I ask that you will too as they grief during this time. There are several other couples that have mis-carried recently (I'm choosing not to share their names) so remember these unspoken as well. I love the song that God will let us bend, but not break! Sometimes it's hard to see that, but oh so true.

Love to all and I hope that this new year brings you joy, peace, health, and so much more than you ever dreamed!
 

Merry Christmas!

What a sweet weekend we have had! Pops came to visit and the boys couldn't get enough of him. Thankfully he was here to help Mark put together Santa Sunday. It has rained ever since. The boys were excited for Santa, but like I've said before they don't fully understand. Bently said this morning, "Santa should have woken me up!" and then when he saw Anderson, he asked, "Did the reindeer wake you up?" He then said that Santa said, "Reindeer you need to be quiet so you don't wake the boys!" Hmmm imagination juices were flowing this morning! These are a few pictures that I had on my phone from the past few days.

Merry Christmas to you all and I pray that you have a blessed day with family today. Our family consists of the four of us, but we are happy, healthy, and thankful! Happy Birthday to Jesus!!

Handsome little reindeer!

Sweet dreams next to Pops!

Riding Pops' horse!

My heart and soul x's 2!

Sharing one of Santa's cookies before heading to bed.

Stocking fun! 

Santa Came...

My funny little reindeer!

Wherever You Are, No Matter How Far...Come Back to the Heart of Christmas!

I'm not sure if it's just me or if all of you feel there is more sadness happening around Christmas time this year. All of which have been accidents and tragic for all involved. This breaks my heart for the families involved. I can't help but think of presents that may be under the tree that won't get opened by that person, traditions that won't be the same with out that certain someone, and just not being able to hug and love daily. It's just sad. I love this song and I hope you will hear something that makes you enjoy your Christmas a little bit more this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASJktrBObrI

We had yet another cookie swap and pajama party last Saturday night. The boys had a blast and we had great food! When I think of cookie swap, I think of several different cookies that can be frozen and taken out when you need them. Needless to say, I was wrong. You come home with a few dozen cookies that have to be eaten THEN or they go bad. Not good for a waistline on top of all of the other holiday food!! ;) Thankfully, but not really, I got sick Sunday and haven't been able to taste a thing, so I wasn't even tempted this go around! Then I shared with the boys' teachers Tuesday to get out of the
house!

Anderson & Lacy

Bently & Liam

Lacy, Anderson, Bently, Liam, and Ezra watching the Elf movie!

Not much has happened this week with me sick. The boys have gotten away with everything because I have not felt like arguing or disciplining and Mark has come home late and that's the last thing he wants to do. So yes, my house looks like a zoo, a whole container of cookies were eaten in one setting (Anderson) and baths were skipped 2 nights, BUT they/we survived. Now I'm praying they don't get anything right before Christmas.

We are excited that Pops and MaC are coming for a visit this weekend. The boys have been waiting on them to come and have several things they want to do and show them. One of which is eating fish! Bently thinks you can only get fish at the beach! ;) Mark and I are hoping they watch the boys for a few hours while we take care of a project and hope they the two of us can tackle it! Pictures to come Christmas of just what this is. Merry Christmas and have a wonderful weekend. For those of you traveling, be careful...we will be all day next Thursday!

Just a snapshot of two cute boys!

All of our practice and talking is finally clicking. Bently made several "B's" on his color sheet Monday and I was SO proud of him!

Love to all

Kids say the ...

Our days are filled with lots of conversations even more now that Anderson is really talking. His sentences really amaze me at this age. I guess because he has an older brother and I took his paci earlier, he is talking so much. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the phrases that have been said recently that make me laugh!

Bently:
"I am all cowboyed up." Hmmm, not real sure where this came from!
"Come here little red head boy."
"Raise your hand if you are a homeboy." Straight from the mouth of his Daddy!
"I need to go call the neighbor. Be quiet while I call the neighbor!"

Anderson:
"Bubba need a pank." Bubba needs a spanking!
"Mom, come." Just the words I HATE hearing in the middle of the night!

I'm sure there are more, but I haven't taken the time to write them down as they say them.

It's only Wednesday of this week and I seriously think I am losing my mind! Monday I washed and dried a load of clothes before I remember that I didn't add detergent to the washer! Today I texted Mark asking about some of our plates. All of the dishes were clean and the plates were no where to be found. I just knew someone had "taken" our plates. As crazy as that sounds! :) He quickly reminded me that they are on the buffet right in front of my eyes!!!

Just a little Christmas cheer!

While Mark was on call this weekend, we made these cute and yummy cookies.  Anderson was eating the chocolate chips faster than I could get him to put on his cookie! :) Bently really took his time and designed his just as he wanted. Fun Sunday afternoon..

One morning I came down the stairs to find this...the boys had their bears and animals at the movies. To my surprise, they were more still at the pretend movies than the real one! This made me happy because I can remember playing on stairs like this with my best friend when I was younger. We played school though and had all of our students lined up!

A few scarves that I have made for birthday and Christmas gifts. I've really tried to enjoy this season more this year and make more gifts rather than buying. I have been praying for this season that more people would take the time to see the real Christmas and make the most of it rather than wish it was over. In the past,  I've always been sad when the last present was opened because I knew everything was over. So I am looking forward to this year. We will celebrate just the 4 of us Christmas morning. We are hosting a Christmas Eve dinner for friends here that will be alone as well. I look forward to the laughs and stories that will come of that night. Then the boys and I will go back to Louisiana to extend the holiday cheer! We've really been working on the reason for Christmas with Bently and he can tell bits and pieces of the story. It makes my heart happy! They know of Santa (how can you not) but don't understand the concept that he brings gifts and I like it that way!!

Playing with snow at school Tuesday! This boy LOVES going to school.

Have a fun rest of the week. I am headed to a scarf and cookie swap tonight, so I get to get out of the house, YAY!!!