Dad and son......

Mini updates on us.....

Hard to believe it is nearly March! Here are a few updates.

Us: We have our house off the market! After 7 months of trying we felt led to let it expire and not list it again. We felt as though if the Lord wanted us to move he would have sold it and at this time he didn't. We have a handful of house project to tend to and are grateful for all the reasons staying is good. No major projects planned as though have been done but a few that mean something to us and make our home more ours. We love our home so that makes it easy.

Trae: Enjoyed getting to see family recently when they came into town and invited us to join them. His Ipad is one of his dearest friends. ;) Loves all the aspects of having a toddler around. Working very hard as usual and has had a tougher start to the year than desired but as always doesn't give up and keeps trying. Still enjoying his mens group and prayer morning. His grandmother just went into a hospice a few days ago. She is 96 and ready to go home. We had a sweet visit with her just a few months ago so we are very grateful for that gift.

Julie: Grateful and blessed! I am enjoying my days and being home. Each week still like such a surprise to not be homeschooling. I am teaching because I am a mom and a mother is always the first teacher. I am grateful for our new season. I have been trying a bunch of new recipes lately and enjoying it. I am still doing my Titus 2 group and added Home Encounter (Devi Titus) for the spring too. We just book our girls cruise for later this year. Looking forward to a few days away with 9 dear friends.

Andrew: He is counting down! He told me how many days the other day until school is finished and it might have been 53 days until their Sr. trip and no actual school days left. He graduates on May 29 at 3pm! He has been spending some extra time with Jacob recently and they are enjoying that. He quit his job before the holidays and is making really great money selling things on Ebay. He is Mr. business savvy for sure. Makes this mama smile. He is dating a precious young lady from his school. We all love her and Sam thinks they are attached because if he arrives without her he ask where she is.

Jacob: Skateboards are his passion! He is loving everything concerning skateboards and it is such a great outlet for him. He is grateful the snow and ice are gone and we have had a mild last couple of weeks. He is settling into school more and more each week. He is going to Acquire the Fire this spring with friends. Tech Decks are his favorite thing to play with if he is indoors. He is 5'3 now and 120 lbs. He is growing like a weed and has an appetite to prove it.

Sam: He is our little Mr. talker for sure. Makes us all smile and fill our days with so much fun. He is a happy little guy that wants to be connected as much possible. His favorite things are laptops, balls, being outside, laughter, praise and worship, Chick Fil A (we got one 2 minutes from our home!) and church bulletins. Yes, you read that right. His favorite things is our church bulletin. When we arrive at church he walks in greeting the greeter by shaking his hand and than runs to the people passing out the bulletin. After that he runs to try and find a seat so he can start scouring the bulletin before announcements begin. That boy! Mama found a preschool for him for the fall too! I always have my boys in a 2 days a week (1/2 days) by the time they are 2-3. I looked at 3 and fell in love with the 3rd one. It is 3-4 minutes from our home so that will be a nice thing!

Valentines birthday!

Valentines Day is a family day in our home. We don't make it out to be a romantic, parents go off (we go off for date nights just not on that one crowded night a year!) and leave children behind. It is a day to remind everyone about love. To love and be loved. We enjoyed dinner in and had pasta, garlic bread, vegetables and chocolate dipped berries. I decorated the table up and when Sam got up from his name he saw it and yelled out, BIRTHDAY! Decoration reminds him of birthdays. He very much enjoyed the festivity of the evening and playing with the Valentines Day balloon Grandma brought him the week before.

Dancing boy....

When we went to lunch recently with family and they had a fun time where the wait staff did the hokey pokey and anyone else could join in (mostly kids) too! Our waitress must have picked up on the fact that Sam is a dancing boy because she picked him up and took him to the line of dancing. He loved every minute of it!

Love, laughter, dear friends=a great evening!

We went to a Valentine gathering this past week with some dear friends hosted by their church and it was a great evening. Great conversation, yummy food, laughter and next to my favorite man in the world. We played the newlywed game, they have away prizes (we walked away with 4 free dinners!) and he gave a short message on marriage. Life is so much sweeter celebrating along the way with dear friends. Blessed!!!

Just like his mama.....

Sam loves his new little laptop. My mom got it for him for his birthday last month and he loves it. We have to put it up and only bring it out a couple of times a day or he might be on it all day! He does really enjoy it and I loved capturing all his expressions recently when he was using it. His sweet pj's are one of our favorites too! I found them at a resale store and knew he would love them. I found 2 others just like it but a different print at a yard sale and they are just so fun!

Family times....

We were able to spend some time with Trae's family yesterday and we were so grateful for the opportunity. It was a beautiful, mild, sunny Sunday too. We were able to see Trae's cousin stephanie too. Sam had giggles, hugs and kisses for everyone too.

Happy Birthday to my sweet and priceless Mom!!!

This week we got to celebrate my Mom! She is one of my most favorite people on this planet and I am so blessed God gave her to me as my Mom. She is a woman to be admired for so many reasons. We celebrated her birthday at home with family. We had baked potato soup (her request), rosemary bread and she enjoyed some red velvet cheesecake too!

Lots to say.....

Sam is a talker! I think by the time you get to your 3rd it is easier to not get puffed up and think that we have a genius but what fun it has been! It used to be where we could keep track of what he says but several months back he had a word explosion and his vocabulary went through the roof and there is no keeping up. Below are a few of the thing he said lately that always make us smile.

I sorry.

Snow

Cake

Cupcake

There it is!

There she is!

I love you.

Laugh and play

Thank you, mama....your welcome mama.

Pillow

Care.....he says it while waving and is trying to communicate to take care.

Body

Spoon

Fork

Cut

Skateboard

Bike

Game

You got it!

There ya go!

Girl

Boy

Shel (Andrew sweet girlfriend Shelby)

Chick Fil A (his very favorite place to eat!)

cookie....yes....OK! Thank you, mama!

2 years in a row.....

Last year we had about a dozen inches of snow. I can't remember the numbers but I think it hadn't happened in like.....forever! Well, this year we didn't get a dozen but it was pretty close at about 6-8 inches and ice underneath it all. Schools were closed for 4 days, many businesses shut down and Trae worked from home (as much as he could get done) for 4 days too. We only had power outages one day and they were rolling ones so it wasn't to bad. Jacob played outside the first day and got his fill. We took Sam out yesterday for a bit of sledding (I picked up this sled for a buck at a yard sale last summer and thought for a buck I would take my chances we could use it and sure enough we didn't have to wait long!) and he loved it! His new word is snow and he likes it as long as he is on a sled. This year I will watch for some winter gear for him because he has on his coat but brothers hat and socks on his hands! :) Fun times but honestly we are ready to get back to life as normal.

Happy Birthday Trae!

Today is Traes 41st birthday! It was a unique day to the snow and ice storms this week so he was able to spend the day at home actually most of the week! We celebrated just the 5 of us one night this week with a dinner and spending time together at home. He loved the meal which blesses me. We had barbecue chicken wings (however I experimented with some spicy wings just for him because those are one of his favorites and he said they were amazing. I made a blue cheese dressing from scratch to go with it too!), steamed red potatoes with rosemary, asparagus Pioneer Woman style, rolls and red velvet cheesecake. He wants he and I to have a date night out to celebrate his birthday so we have that planned too. Happy Birthday to my darling!

Precious gift.....

With 3 boys in 3 different seasons of life I have had a desire for a very long time to go back and have a few days with each of them as toddlers. I know, I know that sounds silly but it was such a precious stage that I wish that could happen. I was a young mom with my first 2 (21 and 26) and I treasured and savored it all. I can't relate to people that say they are a better mom now that they are older. I loved mothering and all my boys, I have been a homemaker for 19 years and the only thing different with having one at 38 is that I know how fast the time goes.

When I hug, hold and cuddle Sam during this stage I hold on, pause, breath, soak it in and don't let go. I know what is coming.....and I won't ever be able to cuddle a toddler because he won't be a toddler. He will be 4 and off to preschool, 7 and starting summer camp, 13 and asking mom to please not hug him in front of his friends, 18 and preparing to leave the nest.

A few days ago Sam wasn't happy. We were all here but the only thing that he wanted was to be in my arms. He wanted to be held, rocked and talked to by me. It was such a precious gift. It last about 20 minutes. Sam is a people person to the core. We have seen that in him since he was a newborn. It was almost as if during this sweet time together he knew.....he knew, that big boys don't rest in their mama's arms. Trae just sat and watched and soaked it in too. I will always treasure that memory....the gift. It may be the last time my baby lets me cuddle him for that period of time. I asked Trae to please get the camera because if I can't cuddle my toddler forever than what a treasure it would be to have a picture of such a sweet memory.

My heart overflows with gratitude to the Lord for blessing me in specific ways He knows have immense value to me.

PS. Do you notice his hand....when he was very, very young he would hold onto my shirt when I cuddled him. It gave me a firm grasp on mom and he always made sure he could touch my skin too. Even though he is 2 years old now he still reached up and held on in a similar way.