Happy Valentine's Day 2011

This year has been,by far, the best Valentine's Day I have ever had. Look at all of these handsome guys I get to have for my valentines...

First, and most importantly, Caleb...

- the coolest thing about him is that he doesn't need this silly holiday to show me he loves me. he makes Friday night date night a priority every single week.

- he is all i could have ever wanted or asked for in a husband and dad for the boys. thank you caleb! you really are the best!

and then there's Luke...

Here's what he told me today...

"mommy, I love you- but I know you love me more"

to me, that's the best thing he could have said to me today. it is so important to me that the boys know how much I love them.

B-Ball!

My sweet sweet B-ball! He is definately a Mommy's boy, but today he made me smile by doing two things and they didn't involve me.

1. This morning, while riding in the car, he saw Owen smile at him and said "mommy, it makes me happy when Owen smiles at me"

2. After dinner he ran and hugged Caleb's leg and with his deep little raspy voice he said "I lub you daddy!"

Owen Daniel

My sweet sweet little baby boy. He is at the best stage right now and I love it so much because he smiles at just about everything.

Luke made me two things today...

He made this out in the backyard. It is a flower and a flower holder. Lovely... if I must say so myself.

He also made me this beautiful stained class valentines heart.

If you haven't been able to tell by now, I feel like one really special wife and mommy on this Valentine's Day!

Living Well- Women's Retreat 2011

This weekend the Women's Ministry at my church put on a retreat in Huntsville, TX. Me and about 55 other women enjoyed a night away to relax, fellowship, and learn about what it means to truly live well. It was a wonderful time and I am so glad I was able to go.

Me & Amanda who I have been friends with since elementary school.

Christy, Me, & Steph

Our whole group in front of our cabin.

The main thing I took away from this retreat is that God wants to fill in the blanks and shortcomings in our lives. I am devoted to try to rely on Him more when it comes to the things I struggle with and/or can't control. I missed Caleb & the boys while I was gone, but it was nice to have a night away with the girls.

All by himself...

Look everyone... I can sit all by myself!

Countdown to the BIG V-Day!

Luke & Brady have their Valentine Parties at school tomorrow, so we have spent the past couple of days getting ready. We started our week with our annual Valentine card to send to our family and some of our friends. Here's how it turned out...

The picture was a little dark, but at least I got all eyes on the camera...A+ for this mommy!

Next we got busy making the boys favors for their classmates. LOVE JUICE on the menu for their sweethearts ;)

Just a bottled water with a packet of punch mix they can mix themselves and watch the water change colors. Stick in a heart shaped silly straw & we're in business!

Luke's teacher assigned the class to make their Valentine Mailboxes for homework, so here's what he came up with. Nice work Bubba!

As you can see, he is still perfecting his name... Always a work in progress!

Brady didn't have to create a mailbox for his class, but we wanted to make him feel like he was a part of the fun, so he made his own "balentimes" cards.

Luke & Brady are both super excited for their party tomorrow, especially Luke. Tonight when Caleb got home from work he ran over and said "Daddy, my Valentine Party is TOMORROW"!!!

I will be able to attend Luke's party, but Brady's is closed to parents this year.

Owen's Photo Shoot

Today while the big boys were at school Aunt Kay Kay came over to watch Owen for me. I purposely leave Owen in his pj's when she watches him because I know she enjoys dressing him in whatever she wants. She likes to deck him out from head to toe. So cute! When I got home, he looked so precious that I had to grab my camera.

Thank you Aunt Kay Kay for playing dress up with Owen today ;)

P.S. she had a jacket laying out for him too, but I didnt see that until I had already taken all of the pictures.

Luke's Progress...

Last week, Luke's teacher sent home a report on how Luke is doing in school and the things he still needs to work on before kindergarten next year.

The next day, he brought home a coloring sheet that had the letter "F" on it so I asked him to tell me what letter that was. He said "I don't know mom, but I drew a field goal on the side of that- did you see it? The Bears got the field goal and won the game"
Gosh I really hope his football career pans out or else we are in TROUBLE!

I still have the craft bug...

Yep, I am still crafting up a storm. This week I have gotten a lot more done and still have some things I am still working on. I just finished up this little silhouette frame of the boys. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The cool thing is it looks just like their little profiles and it is something I will keep forever. Not to mention- super easy and cheap to make.


Then, this tray. I got the tray at my favorite junk store for $6 it had some "beautiful" ducks painted on it... All I did was cut pieces of this script scrapbook paper and modge podge it on there.


The above picture has THREE of my crafts in it. Can you guess what they are???
The curtains- I spray painted the stripes on just a plain white panel
The lamp shade- just recovered it with fabric and added the trim at the bottom. so easy. all i used was a glue gun. (dont look to close though :)
The "We can do hard things" sign- This is probably one of my favorite things I have made so far. Not because it is super cool or hard to do, but it really encourages me and I hope someday it will encourage the boys too.

It reminds me not to avoid doing things just because they are hard. Lots of times, being a mom is really hard! (rewarding, but still hard) BUT the cool thing is... I am doing it! And when I turn around and look back after getting through something hard, I feel so much more confident.
Even now, the boys face things that seem really hard to them. As their mom, it is my first instinct to "rescue" them and do it for them, but I can NOT do that for them. They have to learn that "We can do hard things".

Anyway- enough about that! I will post more pics later of the other stuff I am working on too.