Family Pictures March 2011

Prepare yourself for WONDROUSNESS!!!

I wish we would have had ONE great family picture...but it was a no go. :( Either Finn couldn't stand the bright light or Owen wouldn't look at the camera!! Boo.

Enjoy....

love this in b&w...

poor finn, he tried so hard to look without squinting and Obug was just not interested...

this is JUST.SO.FINN....

get him in the shade and he is happy....

look at this gorgeous young man...ah, heaven!!

and my sweet daughter.....

beautiful...simply beautiful....

and my sweet little buggy....loving this face...that is so an Owen face....

again, just gorgeous....

and now to probably my MOST FAVORITE picture....love.LOVE.LOVE

and a very close second fav...

pure sweetness.....

isn't she BEAUTIFUL?!!

love...

and for the next set of absolute favorites....

I am so grateful for all the beautiful pictures we were able to get!!!

{Special thanks to LoveleiGh Photography...such wonderful talent!}

".....You Are Going to Hell!"

So I just got off the phone with the director at Finley's school...

I first missed her call, then as I listened to her voice mail my heart began to speed up significantly.

"....just give me a call back...it's about Finn..."

OMGosh, what has he done? Hit someone, bitten someone, said "no" to his teacher, yelled, cussed? With my mind racing I dialed the school.

Thankfully I love the director and I know that she loves Finn....so felt somewhat at ease calling her. She began telling me that he and another student began having a conversation that quickly became "heated". Again my mind went crazy....I was pleading {in my mind} that he hadn't hit or cursed this other young child. She continued that although he wasn't in trouble, he probably shouldn't talk about
this
at school!

What was this?

The other little boy doesn't believe in God, and Finley was adamant that there is a God and he told the little boy that he should believe. And if he doesn't he will go.to.hell. OM{freakin}Gosh!!!

So here I am wondering how I am supposed to feel....
to be honest I was embarrassed that he said it, but also excited that he knows the truth
bad that his teachers had to deal with it and proud that he stood up for his belief.

After I got off the phone...promising I will talk with Finley about his outburst, I called Joey.
Come to find out he is the one that had this discussion with him last weekend.
So HE is to blame....or thank??

What do I do? What do I say?

Only Finley.....

New Random Pics {original title, eh?}

bath time

love how my new camera catches the water perfectly

playing dress-up with 5 boys and 1 girl...sweet Kennedy!!

finn at Aidan's open house

B in the rocker in Aidan's classroom

Daddy getting Fred and Bob out {they are the vicious boogers that invade her nose constantly...don't judge}

Downtown Granbury...the courthouse is currently under construction

my beautiful baby girl

my crazy blue eyed boy

my loving hazel-eyed boy

my little bug-a-boo!!

I just love my new camera!! It is simple to use, but has so many different features!! And I have approx 6 months to learn how to use it before my first big shoot...going to do the photography for my BIL and future SIL's wedding in September!! Yay!!

Have a great Wednesday!!!

New Pics Coming...

....as soon as I figure out how to upload pics off my new camera I will bombard you with some colorful wondrousness!! Ha!

....AND we had our family pictures taken yesterday and I cannot wait to share those as well. I will put those up next week when I get them...YAY!!

Not Ready

That's right...sadly, I am not ready.

I have heard from more people than I care to admit, that with everything happening in Japan, we should be excited because it is a sign of Christ's returning. I.am.not.ready.

How awful is that?

I feel sad....I want to live more of my life, accomplish more, see more, be more.
I want my kids to grow up, graduate college, get married and have babies.

I remember on 9/11 when I was pregnant thinking, what am I doing bringing a helpless baby into this terrible world. I ached with sadness over our choice to have a child. Of course I was being irrational...um, well let's just blame it on the hormones! Ha!

But here I am again wondering is this the end? Will there be more signs? Will I ever have and see my grandchildren.

I know our days are not guaranteed....

Job 8:9 NIV ⁹ for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.

And although I know this I am still greedily wanting more....more days to do the monotonous mundane things I do every day as well as many new and wonderful adventures!!

I wonder how people can be so excited for His coming. I mean I get it, but really are they ready to give up everything they have on Earth, for the unknown? I guess that is where we are different. My faith is obviously not as strong as other people. And although I know that my faith is definitely not as strong as it was 10 years ago, I remember having this fear of going "home" too soon since I was very little. I wanted to experience all that was offered on Earth.

I guess all I am saying is it doesn't matter what I want because He will return....today, tomorrow, 200 years from now...SO I must enjoy what I am given every single day. Simple conclusion to such a difficult eternal dilemma.

Balancing Act Overload

I feel like I haven't had the time or taken the time to put effort into my sweet little blog...{very sad face}. That is one reason for writing this particular post! I have dedicated March to taking better care of my family, and putting all this focus on "being a perfect wife and mother" has me realizing that that is an impossibility. Ha!

I get a task accomplished and feel so proud and then I realize how much MORE I have to do and I get so downtrodden. I know...poor poor pitiful me!

I want to:
wake up early each day and workout
never scream at my kids
have clean doors...OMGosh my kids leave the dirtiest little hand prints all over my doors!!
read my Bible more
stop screaming at my kids
make each birthday memorable
read hundreds of books each day with my littles
be Aidan's room mom
scream less at my kids
have patience to sit with finn and do our sight word flashcards
take time to play outside
scream as little as possible at my kids
not let the afternoons be so stressful that I take it out on my kiddos
prepare finley more for Kinder
just enjoy my life so.much.MORE.

I am very aware how AWESOME my life is {so I don't need any comments about being grateful..wink, wink}....and I know that NO MOMMY IS PERFECT...but I must admit that all the frilly, sweet, flowery blogs I read with smiling mommies and their gorgeous locks and hot bods and very trendy clothes WITH their beautiful children...hair always fixed, bows just right, wearing super expensive outfits makes me feel...let's say....inadequate. Ha! I know that I have to ask forgiveness from God for all my jealousy!!!

I have a wonderful life, with happiness and joy, kids that are crazy and cute, a husband that supports me in all my endeavors....yep, my life pretty much ROCKS!! I feel pretty lucky! I just have to get over the fact that I am not and never will be perfect!!

On to other news....I got a new camera with our tax return money...and I think, yes I know, that I L.O.V.E. it!! Can't wait to upload some pics from it!

We are getting family pictures done next Friday...I am super excited. Currently I am stressing over what we are gonna wear. Ha! Blue jeans, green or blue, pink or black, polka dot and tutus {for B of course!!}??

We are now officially on Spring Break and Joey has the WHOLE week off! We are gonna do some things around the house...dad is gonna come over and help us fix our dining room table...we are gonna fix caulking in some places, maybe paint the LR and Kitchen and Foyer...hmm! Big plans!! We shall see if anything really gets done!! Teehee!

Well, I guess that is all for now!! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

12 in 12: March

So my goal for February was to not drink any "real" drinks...for me that meant Coke and sweet tea. Well I am proud to announce that I did pretty good!! Unlike January....this month was not a big fat fail! Yay me!! Now I did give in every once in a while...Joey would get me a Route 44 Coke sometimes and other times I was craving one!! But in the approx 56 times I could have failed, I only gave in around 5 times!! Okay, enough pats on the back!!

So now onto March!! I have been pondering what I wanted to choose to focus on for the month...and it's been kinda hard. I have so many things I need to work on in life. What to choose, what to choose???!

Well after reviewing my day I have decided that I MUST choose to focus on my family this month. In other words, I will put them first. If that means I will miss favorite TV shows, or I won't have time to make flowers for my biz, or I won't be able to browse my fav blogs, or go shopping in Hobby Lobby, well then I just won't get to do those things. I have unfortunately been neglecting them. I feel it in my heart that I haven't given them enough attention over the last few months, so now I must shift my focus towards them.

Why do I feel like I am slacking....well today it took me approx 90 min to clean our 2 bathrooms!! I mean that is freaking ridiculous! My bathrooms shouldn't be that dirty.

A list of other things:
I didn't make enough of a big deal for Aidan's birthday
I have stopped steaming Joey's clothes
My big boys have slept without sheets for over a week

Whew....keepin it real, huh? Ha!!

Anywho...I am gonna do my best this month to focus on my husband, my home and my children. And like each month, I hope to carry this on past March!!!

Are you putting your family first?
J
O
Y
{Jesus first, yourself last and others (husband, kids, family) in between}