Blue Angels......

We are blessed each fall with the Blue Angels coming to our area. It is amazing to see and hear. They fly right over our home so we don't even have to leave our home to go see it! We have been grateful Sam has slept through it as the afternoons seem to be their busiest time. It is an incredible sight to see and when it shakes your home you know they are almost touching you! This is the weekend for Blue Angels this year and it has been fun to take it all in.

Did you hear the news.....

My big brother got in to his top pick of colleges! If he has his way he will be at OU next year and I will be cheering him on. It is a bit far but I am hoping he comes home to visit and play.

Sentimental Sunday.....

This pictures is one of my favorites. It was taken a few hours after Sam was born and had just had his first bath. He came out ready for a bath and haircut. Sam has to get his hair cut about every 3 weeks. His hair is precious and amazing! When I was pregnant I had fears what I would do with his hair??? My husband who happens to be black and knows more about black hair than I do did nothing to calm my fears. I looked at him with uncertainty and fear and asked him what would this white mama do with a little boys hair that was biracial. He had no response which didn't help my fears. What would it look like? Would I know how to fix it? Would my hairdresser who had cuts my boys hair since they were babies know what to do with it? It might sound crazy to you but to this mama it was a concern and something that was all new to me. When Sam was just 2 weeks old I was at a ladies conference and during the worship his sweet soft head was gently pressed under my chin and I thought to myself how soft and beautiful his hair was as it gently stroked my chin. The Lord said to me I did that just for you. I sat there filled with love, awe and gratefulness that my Lord cared about not just counting the numbers of my sons hair but also making sure his mama would know what to do with her sons hair and would love it. He is 21 months and has a beautiful head of hair that I adore. He has never fusses once during a haircut because he has gone all his life (9 weeks old!) and yes our sweet Martha cuts it too! She has cut my boys hair for 17 years!

Our busy boy.....

Sam loves his toys! He is a busy boy learning to play, put things together and grow in his attention span. We make a huge mess but if fun is accomplished it is all good!

Sentimental Sunday.....

10 light hearted things about me you might not know....

My last post was really at a heart level. If you know me well that doesn't surprise you! However, here is 10 things about me that are light hearted that you might not know about me.

1. I LOVE to bake and find it to be like therapy! Researching recipes is half the fun too.

2. Ice chewing seriously puts me over the edge. Really any kind of chewing does.

3. I would much rather buy something used than new. Of course there are things I like new but you know what I mean.

4. Chocolate is something I love and have a fondness for.

5. I only drink water and it has to be very, very cold!

6. Fall is my favorite time of year.

7. One of my dreams is to live in a home without a wood fence. I grew up in MI and we didn't have fences there. The brown fences that most Texas homes have are just down right ugly!

8. Friendship is huge to me but I don't do best friends. I have a very dear group of friends that are treasures to me but I could never narrow it down to just one. I believe in having a handful of dear friends because we are all unique and have something different to offer.

9. Reading is a passion of mine however outside of children fiction (that I read to my children) I don't read fiction.

10. Music is a passion of mine. I played piano for about 10 years and it is a regret I have that I stopped. I grew up, married and moved on and a piano on a 3rd floor apartment wasn't an option. It is something I would love to do again.

10 things about me......from the heart.

I happened to wake up in the middle of the night and was reading online and saw a blog post where she posted 10 things that people might not know about her. I thought it might be a fun change of pace......so here it goes!

1. One of the things in life that matters to me most is living without regret. That is huge for me.

2. Relationship means everything to me. First with my Savior and second with others. Quality time is my love language and taking the time, effort and care to connect at the heart level is what matters to me.....that is golden in my book.

3. I dream of being at the ocean. I always joke if you find me missing for a week it might be because my husband had a good month and we have escaped to the ocean! It is how I am wired and there isn't a place on earth that I feel the presence, greatness and goodness of the Lord like the ocean.

4. Words are great.....really they are but for me words only have meaning if actions back them up. I heard a man once say that his advice to his teenage daughter would be listen to nothing a young man says but believe everything he does. Good stuff!

5. The 7 years I spent single were the worst and best years of my life. No, you won't find me thanking my ex (forgiven....yep!) for the hell he put us through as I can never say that it was the will of God BUT God worked it for my good and what He did in my life and heart during that time is something I would trade for anything!

6. I have only been 40 for about 6 months but I have to say it has been one of the best times of my life and turning 40 gets a bad rap! Sweet times and this gal smiles at the future.

7. My husband is Gods gift of grace embodied to me on this earth. He is the best man that I know, He is mine and I am madly in love with him. I am forever grateful for the morning God grabbed his heart, showed him that I was his and he obeyed. Never underestimate the power of obedience.

8. Having the gift of another baby at 38 is such a sweet gift. I treasured my babies in my 20's, I was a great mom (I think), I embraced and enjoyed each and every season. However, the perspective I didn't have then was how quick it changes. The love grows and relationship deepens but those sweet cuddles are different and much less often. I used to say that if I had one wish it would be to back and have a few days with my Andrew and Jacob when they were about 18 months. To hold them, love on them again and squeeze them as tight as I could. I have deeply enjoyed having the gift of Sam and wouldn't trade this time for anything. I savor those kisses, cuddles and pure sweetness 110%. It gives life an interesting perspective to be having one almost on his own, one spreading his wings and one that still needs so much. I am enjoying it and embracing it!

9. Home is the best place on earth to me. As a homemaker that carries a heavy weight but what a gift it is to be able to have that role. Some days it excites me, other days it exhaust me but it is a gift and privilege that I know is Gods best for me. Providing love, nurture, good meals and tending to details that only women do is a gift (most days!) that I am have learned to value more and more the older I get.

10. Every day I become a little more comfortable with who God created me to be. I said once that it took me 28 years to learn to love me. I spent many years of my life not valuing me, not loving me, not embracing me and certainly not celebrating anything about me. I was insecure, listen to lies from the enemy and sometimes those that surrounded me and honestly didn't know any different. When I was 28 the Lord lavished me with His love, reminded me in a beautiful way of His truth and heart for me and for the first time in my life I experienced a love and freedom I never even knew existed. It can be yours too! It is a choice and you might spend a life time learning to walk in but I promise you won't regret it for a minute.

Our dancing boy......

Sam and one of our favorite friends....

This is Sam and his sweet Miss Natasha who helps care for him sometimes. He adores her and we are so grateful for her. She recently started college and took a PT job so our time with her is not as often. He went through a time a few months ago where when we left he would cry and now when she comes he runs off to play with her with little care of our presence. That is a beautiful thing as a parent. His heart for her is holding on tight and I can see why.

Sentimental Sunday.....

We love to take a fall trip! Maybe because our anniversary is in the fall or because we survived another Texas summer! We have been planning a getaway for our 5th anniversary next month and we are really looking forward to it. We are doing a road trip to the Hill Country and staying in Fredericksburg for the weekend. We love that area and we also love a road trip. We love the ease of going at our pace, finding unique treasures and stops and most of all enjoying one another.

Natives and immigrants.....

This summer while at Pine Cove family camp one of the speakers was talking about using technology for your families benefit. Sometimes it is a turn off to see how things are so electronically driven. She said that our kids are natives in this technology driven society and we are immigrants so they will always have an edge. They will never know a life without it. We all remember life before any of this was even a thought in our mind! When we went to pick out several infant products before Sam was born I was so turn out by how many things had gone electronic. The bouncy seats that used to have fun beads and spin toys now had on and off switches with songs that would play and lights to entertain the infants. I wanted my baby to do the work and learn through play not sit and stare. That began my hunt for used items that were older and a bit more manual. Having said all that there is a place for all this techie fun! Sam will grow up using Iphones, Ipads and all sorts of things! He already has the slide bar down on the Iphone. His favorite thing to do is sit and listen to music and dance to it. Grandma has put some fun apps on hers and he has greatly enjoyed those.

Project time......

Our home has been on the market for a little while and our market is a bit saturated on our side of town. Our realtor suggested painting our red back to a neutral tan so we hired a painter to do that. When we painted a couple of years ago we let the boys pick one color that they wanted to do a accent wall and we turned those back to tan too. For a while we wanted to do laminate flooring in our family room so Trae did that too. It was a tough project and had more difficult cuts than the LR/DR he did 2 years ago. He is very, very glad to be finished! It looks great BUT we are still hoping we only get to enjoy if for a short time more and that we have some movement soon. Sam really enjoyed being apart of it all and praise God all the pounding didn't wake him! Still blows my mind how during the day the phone or door bell will wake him from a nap but nothing wakes him at night.

Sam mini update.....

Sams newest, cutest fun toddler things to do are fake sneeze, raises his hands and says, "touchdown!" and dancing.....lots of dancing!!! His vocabulary has sky rocketed and he has a huge heart for people, love and being apart of what is going on. He is enjoying building, books, being outside, running at the park (not sitting in the swing) and still anything to do with water. I just made his 2 year well check up for January. It is hard to believe our sweet Sam will be turning 2. He is a gift, hugely loved, celebrated and savored. This time flies by.

Carefree Mondays.....

Mondays often get a bad rap! This fall it has become one of my favorite days of the week. Actually Friday comes in at #1 because that is the start of the weekend, time together and Trae being home. On Mondays I drive our carpool that morning and take the boys to school. After Sam and I get them dropped off we have an open day. We often run a few errands and than return home. It reminds me when I just had one child and the ease and quietness that comes with one. I love the one on one and we savor those mornings. Cooking and baking is a creative outlet for me so I often find myself spending part of my day in there and Sam finds creative ways to enjoy it too.

Sentimental Sunday.....

Visits.....

We love our visits with Andrew. I often think about how it won't be to long and he will likely be to far away to pop in for a visit. Sometimes his visit includes bringing Shelby too. They have been together about 6 months and she is precious and really good for him. Sam adores spending time with them too. When brother leaves he always peeks out the tiny window and it is so sweet to see that Andrew always take a minute or two to stand outside and touch the window and wave some more because Sam loves that long goodbye. Babies help us break out of our routine and get outside our self. It blesses this mama to see the love they share. Oh and Shelby loves to bake! She is delightful and a blessing in so many ways.

Weekend fun....

Jacob loves activity, friends, keeping busy and having fun! This picture was taken at his birthday party at Laser Quest this past July. He is going this weekend on a retreat with his youth group at Great Wolf Lodge. It is a very cool indoor water park about 30 minutes from our home. They will have lots of swim time, small groups, worship and teaching and hopefully some sleep! He is excited to get to room with one of his good friends and this mama is grateful for our church and all they provide for our youth.