Christmas with Tyler in February

Life has been pretty crazy for a couple of friends who use to have dinner together every Thursday night...how did that happen??? So after almost 3 months of trying to plan a play date, we finally got together yesterday. Caroline and I met Aunt Jill and Tyler at the park for some spring fun. The weather was gorgeous and the kids had a great time. We are already looking forward to our next day at the park!!

LOVE THIS ONE!!

I see the moon

Tonight we all went into Caroline's room for bedtime fun. We read a few books, said prayers and had lots of hugs and kisses. Reminds Andy and I why we should BOTH make this a priority every night. (sadly it's usually just one of us and even then it's often cut short...) Caroline turned out the lights and turned on her constellation ladybug. She immediately found the moon. When we find the moon we say the poem about seeing the moon. But tonight, it was different...she melted our hearts... "I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless Daddy and Mommy and Me!" Good memories...sweet moments!

Thursday Cleaning

Thursday's are cleaning days at our house. It's close enough to the weekend that we don't have to spend Friday night or Saturday cleaning up. Caroline has her "own" cleaning items and so far loves to help me. Let's hope it continues as she gets older!!!

enough of this, I'm ready to relax! :0)

Such a blessing!

Today was such a gift for our family. Andy had the day off and wanted to keep sweet pea at home. I headed in to work early to get a few things done. Talk about feeling lost...I have forgotten what it was like to go to work without my sidekick...it was a quiet ride to school, easy entrance, no drop off. I had a great day at school while Andy and Caroline had a great day at home. They went to the grocery store for me, picked up a few things at Target and visited the pet store. On a whelm, we decided to meet at the park for a picnic. It was beautiful outside and we had a ball! To add to the already wonderful day, I came home to a CLEAN house!! Now several months ago, I was happy to have a clean house. But now that I am in responsible for cleaning the house, it was such a TREAT!!! :0)

Thank You Delores!!!

A few weeks ago Delores called us and told us to check out a particular website. She found our names listed as individuals in the state who had some unclaimed money! WHAT??!!! The address was from our first house which we sold almost 7 years ago...So sure enough we went online and completed the process. It didn't tell us what it was for just who it was from. So we have been waiting patiently to see what it was. Today we are $267 richer thanks to Delores!! I love how the Lord gives us little surprises just when we need them! And I am thankful that He uses special people like our sweet aunt to help provide for us!! Thanks Doe, we love you!!

Being Flexible

Andy and I made BIG plans to head out of town this weekend, JUST THE TWO OF US!!! Well doodle bug had other plans for us. She woke up not feeling well Friday morning and by the time we got home from school she had a fever of 102. I made a few phone calls, got our reservations transferred to another weekend, unpacked our bags and settled in for a cozy weekend at home. Friday night was rough, very little sleep. But it was fun to snuggle with doodle bug on the couch watching movies at 1am and fall asleep beside her in bed talking about silly stuff. Her fever broke during the night and she felt much better yesterday. She was ill from lack of sleep but otherwise fine. We enjoyed some time outside in her wagon and on her scooter. She enjoyed dinner on the porch while daddy grilled our dinner.

This definitely wasn't the weekend we had planned but it was what the Lord had planned for us. We are excited to see what our actual weekend away looks like. The good news is that if this was our actual weekend away, it would be almost over. At least this way, we have something to look forward to!!

Saturday Fun

You would never know that this little girl was running 102 temperature a little less than 24 hours ago. We thought a little sunshine would do her her some good!

New scooter like her friend Mabry had. Thanks Pop and Peep!

helping Daddy wash the car

away she goes

Uncle Ed came to visit

Caroline was so excited to find out that Uncle Ed was here when she woke up Tuesday morning. She couldn't wait for him to get up. As soon as he turned the corner in the den, she got so excited. She really does think his only agenda when he is here is to play with HER! We enjoyed our fun morning together and she couldn't understand why Uncle Ed had to go to work. I told her he would be back...When he knocked on the door Tuesday evening, she ran to the door and said "Uncle Ed! Uncle Ed, dat you?" Lucky for her not only was Uncle Ed back BUT he also brought her cookies and ice cream at 7:30 at night!!! She loved it! And had cookies for breakfast yesterday morning. :0)

waiting patiently for Uncle Ed to come out of his bedroom!

working on her tricycle

showing Uncle Ed the problem

helping Uncle Ed fix the problem

We are thankful for Uncle Ed and so glad he wanted to spend the night with his sweet niece...sweet great niece that is!! :0)

Caroline's Valentine's Day Party at School

Caroline enjoyed her party at school and was super excited about her bag of "balintimes." She loved that daddy got to come and play with her as well.

building towers with daddy

Caroline and her sweet friend Iso
enjoying a yummy cupcake from mommy's class party

Our Small Group Valentines

We love our small group and have the absolute best leaders EVER!!!! Last night our leaders Jack and Beth and John and Susan hosted the most amazing Valentine's social!! Jack and Beth live in a beautiful old plantation home with many rooms. They set up beautiful tables in different rooms throughout the house. Each couple had their own private room to enjoy a yummy meal and some great quiet time together. Each table had a note card with specific conversation starters.

1. What were you thinking the first time you met your spouse?
2. List 3 attributes that initially drew you to each other.
3. List 4 more traits that you have come to admire within the bonds of marriage.
4. Think about one way that you would like to honor your spouse with a change in your own life and discuss it together.

We had cheese and crackers waiting for us when we got there. We were quickly offered a glass of wine and a salad. Next came lasagna and bread. Finally we were given a beautiful plate of yummy treats-gooey brownies, fresh strawberries, chocolate candy and cheesecake squares. After dinner, Andy and I took a nice walk outside. It was a beautiful evening! The stars were out and the moon was bright. I felt like a teenager again...

We ended the evening inside with our friends. What a blessing these couples are in our life!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Treats

We made some sweet treats for our friends at Calvary. (Actually Andy made the cookies and I decorated them! He was such a trooper!!!) The pictures aren't great, but you get the idea.

Mrs. King's bouquet...unfortunately 2 of our flowers broke while being arranged...oh well, it's the thought that counts right???

Mrs. Brown's flower pot
Very easy and very cost efficient

Saturdays are for birthday parties!!!

Today we left the house around 9:45 am, came home for a quick nap, left around 4pm and returned home finally around 10:15 tonight!!! We had 3 birthday parties today and had a blast! The first two parties were for Caroline's friends, Isa and Mabry. These were the first parties that were not for mommy's friends children. These were Caroline's best friends from school. Two little girls that Caroline talks about non stop! It was so much fun watching her interact with them!

Caroline and Isa

Isa, the birthday girl (1st party)

painting her fairy

one brave momma!!!

happy birthday Isa

Mabry, the birthday girl (party 2)

Caroline loved this thing and did really well on it!

Happy Birthday Mabry

gathering candy from the pinata

Caroline and Mabry

throwing the football with Emma

party number 3-with all the cousins

happy birthday Alston (in the back)

What a great day! I must admit, I am pooped! Off to bed I go!

Making Valentine's

Caroline and I spent our day today making Valentine's for our friends. We had a great time. I was actually amazed at how well she did! The very best part of our "craft" is that it was completely free!!! (works really well for the budget!)

step 1-find some old crayons

step 2-peel the paper off

(I used a knife to cut a slit down the middle which made it a lot easier)

step 3-break the crayons and fill about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way full depending on the depth of the pan

step 4-preheat over to 200 degrees and bake until crayons melt (about 10-15 minutes)

step 5-remove from the oven and place the entire pan in the freezer

step 6-turn pan over and beautiful new crayons fall out easily
yeah!

Step 6-make a valentine and attach the crayon

Happy Valentine's Day!

They call me a fireman...

Caroline found her fireman hat and felt the need to wear it this morning as we got ready for school!! Such a cutie!

Super Bowl

We decided very last minute to invite a few friends over to watch the super bowl. We had a great time. The guys watched the game and the girls chatted in the kitchen. Catherine and Caroline had a ball together while Gracyn was happy just to chill out!

Caroline, Mr. Chris and Gracyn

the girls playing dress up...next year Gracyn will be right there with them!

loved this one

Caroline decided to add some decorations to her rainboots. Luckily the stickers came off very easily after she went to bed!