Invisible

My mom sent me this today. Amazing timing I tell ya!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0

I had one of those moments this weekend...I was tired of laundry, tired of cooking, tired of cleaning the house 3 times a day and tired of whining girls (who's attitudes just reflect that of their mom). Being a mom is the most challenging job I've ever had. It's challenging because it's not about me and I don't get the recognition that I so enjoy. The one thing I know, though, is that it is the greatest opportunity I've ever been given. So, for the rest of today :-), I will remind myself with every dirty sock I pick up and spill that I clean up that I am blessed to be able do it for the 3 most important people in my life.

School Days...

Carson Andrew

Keely Parker

Margaret "Maggie" Elaine

Fast forward 5 years and these 3 precious babies (my nieces and nephew) are all starting school this year. It's a little overwhelming when I stop and realize how grown up they really are. They are amazing kids now and I can't wait to see the impact they have on the world around them. My prayer for them is that God will bless them with an exciting and wonderful year and that His light will shine in their lives!

I'm a photo thief! If the following pictures were taken from your blog, please forgive me :-). The past few weeks I seem to have forgotten I own a camera. A few shots of what we've been up to since my last post...

Swimming and lunch at Terra's...it was the perfect day and we had great company. The only one missing from the picture is Amy and she is behind the camera. Thank you Terra for a fun day!!!

Bethany and I met Dad, Amy, Rachael and Emily up in the mountains for a surprise birthday celebration for my dad. We had a great time and as always, Rachael and Emily spoiled us helping with the babies.

Terra and I took Rylee and Julia to see the American Girl movie. What a cute movie! By the end of the movie the girls were both in the same seat and had gone through twizzlers and a box of crunch. I think they had a great time too!

Woohooo...I got an award!

Let's face it, I'm not the most creative cat but it's very exciting to know that there are a few people out there who check out my blog from time to time!!! Who knows, this may even inspire me to step it up a notch :-). I was nominated for this award by my friend Rachel. She is a stay-at-home mom, talented cook and a great blogger. What I like most about Rachel is that she has a big heart and a enjoys the little things in life. Beware...her little boy Noah will crack you up too!

There are specific instructions that must be followed now in order to maintain such status in blog world though, so here they are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

Here are my nominees...

http://www.bethanyandjeramy.blogspot.com/ - My sister, my friend and the mom of my sweet Ella Jean! If you know Bethy, you love her. Her blog is about family and her health and exercise journey. She is transparent and real...what more can you ask for!

http://www.livefromthequickhouse.blogspot.com/ - Terra is my "let's not take life too seriously" voice of reason (which is particularly helpful to me :-D). She is creative and sassy and the mom of 2 cute kiddos! You'll enjoy reading about their family fun and her newest projects.

http://www.tylerkateshawn.blogspot.com/ - This girl has is going on! Life with a 2 1/2 yr old and twins that will soon be 1 and she still has a clean house, mows the grass and blogs. Her blog is a small window into the the world of all those beautiful babies. It will inspire you to appreciate life day by day.

http://www.pamelaposch.blogspot.com/ - This is the one member of our family with oodles of talent. She can turn trash into treasure and makes it look easy. She is also the most creative scrapper I've ever seen. Most importantly, though, she is an amazing mom to my very energetic nieces and nephew.

http://www.thekempfamily.blogspot.com/ - The focus of Amy's blog and life is her precious daughter Scotlyn. Amy, however, is an incredible decorator and really needs to expand her blog to include all of her great decorating ideas for those of us who are a little decorating challenged...hint, hint!!!

http://www.annamarie08.blogspot.com/ - My friends Steve and Ruth Ann recently adopted a beautiful little girl and this is their story. Start at the beginning...they share wonderful details about the adoption process and you'll fall in love with the love of their life!

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/ - This is the one blog in which I do not personally know the author, but I love what she has to say. Becky's trade is scrap booking (which I don't do), but she also posts the most handy little tips and ideas and has wonderful recipes (and great pics of those recipes).

Blackberry Pickin'

According to my husband, I am a city girl. I like a nice, clean hotel when we go on vacation (rather than a camping trip), I don't make biscuits and gravy and I've never been blackberry picking before (or any berry for that matter). Over the years I've come to appreciate the wonderful experiences he has introduced me to and our girls are always thrilled when daddy has planned an adventure. This week it was blackberry picking. When he mention what we were going to do, I envisioned the manicured strawberry patches that you hear about...that was not the case. There were thorns, lots of brush to climb through and the insects of summer. We had a great time though!!! We will be doing it again...except next time with long sleeves.

These are the days...

The past few weeks have been filled with summer fun. I love watching the girls run and play and pass out from pure exhaustion. It's amazing...as soon as we finish breakfast they are ready to go outside and I think they would stay out there all day if I'd let them.

This is a picture of the Zinnia's that Rylee planted around our garden. They are beautiful and attract tons on butterflies.

Reagan playing in the pool on the 4th of July. She also watched her 1st fireworks show that night and loved it! At the last minute, we decided to wake her up and let her watch the fireworks and we are so glad we did.


Girls waiting patiently to go play at the Splash Pad.

It was a bit chilly one morning last week, so Rylee decided she needed all of her winter accessories. She played like that for about 20 minutes and then decided it wasn't that cold any more :-).

We had a great visit with nana and pap pap last weekend. They brought Rylee the picnic set for her birthday and the girls love it!

Happy Birthday Rylee!

My precious girl is 4 years old today. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about the day she was born...it feels like it was yesterday. If I heard it once I heard it 1000 times, "it will pass so quickly." It has passed so quickly!

Over the past year she left the baby stage and became a little girl. I have also seen many wonderful qualities develop, such as compassion (not leaving my side when I had the stomach bug), precision (typical 1st child characteristic but she knows what she wants to do and how she wants it done) and I've also learned how tough she really is (the broken arm). Rylee brings such joy to our lives and we are blessed by every moment we get to share with her!

Here are some pictures from her party:

Rylee enjoying cake and ice cream!

Gramma, Rylee and Reagan decorating their crowns.

Cole, Carson and Katelyn

Bethany and Ella Jean

Rylee and Anna

Tyler enjoying cake and ice cream!

Ruth Ann and Anna Marie

Took this little ditty this past week. Sorry, it's a little fuzzy because I standing in the kitchen. Rylee had a grove going on, but as soon as she sees me with the camera she gets all shy. I thought it was cute!

I'm back...at least for now :-)

My friend Terra called me last night to inform me that the tulips were pretty but it was time for some new posts. Thanks for keeping me in line! I still check my favoite blogs, but for some reason I get lazy with mine.

Here are a few pictures I've taken lately...

Check out Rylee's pink cast. As of last Tuesday, the cast was off and her arm is perfect once again! She is a testament to how resilient God made children. It is so hard watching your children struggle, so if this had been hard on Rylee it would have been equally hard for Matt & I. Let me tell you...she's whined more over a scratched knee than she did the entire 6 1/2 weeks of dealing with a broken arm and cast. Thank you Lord!

Reagan is getting so big (she will be 21 months on May 29th)! She is talking and singing and pretty comical most of the time. As you can see below, she is a character!

Um Um Mommy!

Do you remember the orange push up pops??? I have very fond memories of those from my childhood and I think my girls enjoy them as much as I did. According to Reagan, "um, um mommy" (which means yummy, yummy)!

They sure did they make a mess!!!

Spring Fever

Our tulips have bloomed and the red is a wonderful first sign of spring. We have spent the past week pulling weeds, tilling beds and buying flowers and plants. There is still lots to do, but I really enjoy getting outside and the girls have loved it too.

This is a planter that I have had empty on my shelf for over a year. I took the idea from my friend Amy (who can make a shoe box look beautiful). I was at her house last 4th of July and she had the same planter on her front door with actual plants in it. She lined it with moss, filled it with dirt and put the plants in. How easy is that and it cost about $8.00!

One more project done...the "B" for my dining room wall. Have you ever heard of Uppercase Living??? It's one of those in home party products that I had ordered months ago and just couldn't decide where to hang it. With Matt's help it is up and looks great. It looks so good that now I want to order more!!!

No More Paci for Reagan

We are now one week paci free! Kind of sad for mommy, but Reagan has done great. The first night she cried for about a minute and then fell asleep. There have been a few days I've seen her looking for it, but she never cried or fussed about it again.

How we did it...cold turkey! I know, that is so mean but Reagan is a kid who handled it very well. She had developed some eczema around her mouth that was only irritated by her paci and she had also developed some funky moodiness that seemed to be related to paci. So last Friday afternoon I just decided to put her down for her nap with out paci and BAM she went to sleep fine. With Rylee, I cut the tip off her paci so she couldn't suck on it and it took her a few more days but she too adjusted relatively easy.


You may also ask, "is she potty training?" No, she is not potty training but is showing interest in the potty. Rylee started to show interest in the potty at about 18 months too and by 2 years she was out of diapers. They are very different kids, but I can only pray that Reagan will be as easy to potty train as Rylee was.