12 in 12: May

Look at me...all writing 3 new posts in one night!! Whoop whoop!! Moving on! Ha!

The month of May my goal is to be a better steward of our money. We are spending in areas that we don't need to....and it is frustrating to realize it after the fact.

Will we get rid of our extended cable? Probably not.
Will we get rid of internet? Never!!
Eat out less? Absolutely.
Extreme coupon? I wish!
Start tithing again? I pray the answer is yes.

Joey and I are a paycheck to paycheck family, and that is very discouraging.
But before we can ask the Lord to bless us with a better paying job, or just more money in general, we have to be willing to make the right choices with what He has already given us.

This will be difficult, but I think we are both ready. Lord help us make the right decisions and be better stewards of all that you've given us!! We are so blessed and give you great thanks!!

Encore

Sadness in a can:

This last can represents so much....
a fourth baby that is no longer acting like a baby..trying to walk and talk (how dare he!)
this season of life that is quickly ending
no.more.babies

This was the last can of formula for little Owen (back at the end of March) and I knew I needed to capture it on camera before it hit the recycling bin. I remember after Finley and Breslyn that I knew I didn't want to hear from ANYONE that said child was going to be my last. I just didn't feel like I could handle it emotionally. And luckily no one really pushed that topic...and I never really struggled with it...I am guessing that God spared me those emotions cause He knew I was going to be blessed with a 4th, Final Encore child.
But now...now that "it" is over, and I must move past this time of babydom, I am sad. I love babies, their sweet smell, soft skin, toothless smiles, the complete reliance on mommy.
I am so honored to have birthed 4 precious kids and I am so grateful for each phase that we go through...and soon I won't feel sad, and I will just look forward to the following stages of their lives!!

I love you sweet children, thank you for making me a mommy FOUR TIMES!!

Easter 2011

Here are our Easter pictures...yes, they are a week late, but better late than never! Ha!
We started off Sunday at church (which we have decided to join-BTW!!!)

After church they had an Easter egg hunt...and the kids were split into older and younger groups. B was all by herself and she was NOT diggin it! She got a whole 5 eggs and I was the one that "found" them!
The boys were way more productive!! Haha! They had a blast and couldn't wait to get to Grandma's house for more eggs...little piglets!!

What is up with that smile?!!

We made our way over to Grandma's house and had a DELISH lunch with my mom and dad. Ham, mashed taters, beans, salad...yummo!! After lunch we headed out to h.u.n.t!!

(apparently Joey thought Owen needed to be shirtless...which of course makes for great pictures!!)

Finn and his loot!!

What a bunch of HANDSOME men!!
Grandpa, Finn, Aidan, Owen and Joey

Grandma helped everyone pick out their own eggs. She is so wonderful and very patient. Owen didn't know what was going on, but he enjoyed every minute of it!

Us...boring! :)

I hope you had a wonderful Easter..
But most of all: thank you Christ for dying on the cross for our sins.

Planning B's Birthday!!

It will soon be this little girls 3rd birthday!!! Yay!! I already have the theme of zebra...originally it was zebra "print" not zebra the animal...but the longer I have thought about the party I think we might actually make it a zoo "ZEBRA" party.

Holy cow...just for funzies I looked up how much it would cost to have an official party at the Fort Worth Zoo and it is outrageous!! I mean we are talking $500 for up to 30 people!! What? Sorry that is just way too much for this frugal momma!! So....

I have not made up my mind what to do yet....small intimate party at the zoo or party at home...hmmm. I could do so much at home with zebra print...and go ALL OUT!! I could make it easier on myself and do it away from home. I must make up my mind S.O.O.N!! What do ya think?? :)

have a wonderful weekend friends!!

Wordless Wednesday ...Friends

Ashlee....Number 1 (guess I'll always be #2..Ha)!! :)

JuJu....Julie Cruz...Ha!! ;)

Melony....Baloney! Ha!! :}

Love you gals!!

Visit My Other Friend Ashley!!

I wanted to encourage you to go visit my sweet bloggy friend Ashley's blog...

Her 30th Birthday is this week and she is celebrating ALL WEEK LONG...
with lots of GIVEAWAYS!!! Yay for her and yay for us!!

Go see her Eisy Morgan!!

Happy Birthday Ashley!! Hope you have a great birthday week!!

Homeschool??

Ok...really...I am not cut out to homeschool my kiddos. But after what I heard on the playground yesterday I am considering it!! I have been sick all weekend, and the kids were cooped up all day yesterday. We decided they needed to get out and run off some energy, so we headed to a new park. We went to a playground at a local elementary school, where a family was getting ready to leave and 4 middle school kids were swinging.

It was a great playground and we were having a good time....until.... a few more "big" kids showed up to play basketball. The ages of the big kids were approximately 14-16, but they had a little one with them...possibly around the age of 10-12. To make a long story a little shorter that younger boy headed over to where we were playing, but on his way one of the middle school boys who was swinging yelled out "hairy little faggot"!!!! My mouth dropped open and I whipped my head over to look at Joey...he just stared at me in disbelief.

What kind of child says that? What kind of parent allows their kid to say that? What message are we sending our children? I was so upset that I started rationalizing keeping my kids home and NEVER leaving the house again!! Okay, that is a little extreme, but can you blame me?

I know that I am responsible for raising my kids "in the way they should go", but what about all of the outside influences? I want to keep my babies safe and the world is just not safe anymore. They can't ride their bike down the street because they might get kidnapped....they can't go to a public restroom by themselves because they might get assaulted....and they can't even be around their peers for fear of being called nasty names.

I am so thankful for the influence of Christ, church and christian friends. I can only do my best, pray for my kids, raise them in the church and read the Bible to them. And through that I know I must put my faith. Horrible things can and will happen, my kids will be picked on and called names, but I must believe that we can handle whatever comes our way.

Psalm 32:8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

Owen's Dr. Seuss Birthday Party!!

Last Saturday April 9th was Owen's first birthday party {and my 33rd Birthday...oh, I am so old!!} and we celebrated at home with a Dr. Seuss themed party!!

Oh me oh my
time has flown by....

I cannot believe this sweet boy is 1!!!

I put a lot of work into this party...probably more than any other party I have ever given my kiddos...but I promised myself last month to make a better effort at taking care of my family...that includes making birthdays even more special!!

Decorations galore
look, ceiling to floor...

I just threw these frames together at the last minute...
4 Dollar Tree frames
4 chipboard letters from Hob Lob
yellow cardstock
and some spray paint...total for the project...$6!!

Of course we had to have Green Eggs...and ham (sandwiches..no pics of...oops!!)

Party favors: buckets from Target's $1 section...I took out the original ribbon and replaced it with more of a Dr. Seuss themed ribbon!! Filled them with cotton candy and dum dum suckers!!

Dr. Seuss's Birthday book...everyone wrote a special note in it for Owen...so sweet!! The poem about his birth at the top of this post is on the inside cover of the book. Totally stole that idea from THIS wonderful blog.

My wonderful friend Julie made the cupcakes and smash cake...

His little cake with cotton candy on it...made to look like Thing 1's hair!! Too cute!!

Aunt Melony...

with Memaw...LOVE their faces in this picture!!

Grandma....

Aunt Juju....

Uncle Zach....

Sweet Faith (isn't she gorgeous??!!)...

Let's eat cake!
Not a bite I will take...

This little man is not eating table foods, and his smash cake was no exception...he cried through the singing and while I tried to get him to partake of the yummmmmy icing! It made me sad.

B eating a cupcake!

Presents please..
Oh, dad you are such a tease!!

Uncle Jason...

Pawpaw....

Ashlee...special bond here!!

Mommy, Owen and Daddy....
{his shirt says Thing 4...since you never get a very good look at it!!}

Gaga {she came straight from the theatre...performing in The Phantom)...

It was worth all the effort and time to make this sweet boys first birthday very special!!

We love you Owen Brady Tremaine...you are our special little man and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!!

One Little Candle, One Little Cake
One Little Birthday to Celebrate!!