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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Recent pictures...

water painting outside. cleanest fun ever! :)
the boys first Texas Rangers game!
with the Myers :)
we were all a hot, sweaty mess! but it was fun.
a date night that included ice skating. so fun!
playdough fun!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Why daddy normally does the bedtime routine.

Jeremy normally does most of the bedtime routine around here. I just act as his assistant. But tonight he had his guy's accountability group, so it fell on me. Since he typically does the Bible story and prayer time with Holden and Pax, I do enjoy it when it's a night where I get to step in and do those things. Tonight was no different. The Jesus Story Book Bible is still as amazing as it was the first time we read through it. I blogged a little bit about it here. If you have young children, I HIGHLY recommend it. But I will say, it may teach you as much or more than it teaches your children. Very probable. Lately, I've noticed that Jeremy has been asking the boys to take turns praying aloud by themselves and then he prays at the end. So I followed suit tonight.

Holden prayed for the orphan girl in Mexico that we hope will make it to church camp in 3 days.  A camp our church is helping to host near her home. We've been saying her name like "Annie Ellie" which I know has to be a complete misprounciation. But it's the best we could come up with from the spelling.  So Holden prayed for Annie Ellie to have a full belly tonight. He prayed for her to learn about Jesus. And he prayed no "opsicles" would get in her way to get to camp. He's been listening to the prayers of his daddy. It was sweet.

Next Pax prayed. Dear God, thank you for Annie Ellie.

And then I prayed. And like I often do, I prayed for K and M. We talk about these birthmoms a lot at our house. And I just want my boys to know how important they are to us and what a huge role they've played in our lives and our family.  And I ended my prayer with something like: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you God for Holden. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you God for Pax. I never want the mundane days and the discipline that comes with those days, to ever cloud for them how thankful I am to be their mommy. So as I finished praying, I was crying pretty good. (Yep, I can be a basket case.) They both looked concerned and kept asking if I was sad. I tried to explain to them both how happy I really was.  With a quiver in my voice starting again, I continued to try and explain the depth of K and M's decision and how that changed everything for so many people.  Tears start falling again. (I know what you're thinking! Get control of yourself, woman!) Pax was in my lap, facing towards me, right in my face when he said "Let's just not talk about it."  Which sounds horrible, in a way. He really is fine with me talking about their adoption/birth families.  We do it all the time.  But there are those moments that I get overwhelmed with it.  And tonight was one of those. And right in front of my little boys. So Pax's answer to my emotional instability ;) was to avoid the topic. It just made me laugh. What a guy, right!?  So as soon as those words left his mouth I burst out laughing with tears on my face. And then the boys laughed and laughed and laughed. All three of us couldn't stop laughing. Pax knew he had said something funny...he just wasn't quite sure what it was. A very funny, sweet and memorable moment. Thank you God!

Water park fun with daddy

On Tuesday Jeremy accompanied us to the water park!  Family time at the water park is a whole lot more fun.  We're able to do more stuff with the boys. Plus they love having their daddy around to ride the rides and do all the fun stuff. And I enjoy their daddy being around to help with the 1million bathroom breaks they seem to need...always at different times. :)  I love not dealing with swim diapers for my first year as a mommy...but man I should cut off their beverage intake on water park days. ;) Not really. Since we're in the blazing sun and all. Anyways, it was a nice family day. We picniced at the water park for dinner and then went back to playing. We ended the night with sundaes at McDonalds.  Quite a treat-ful Tuesday for my little guys.  We truly are trying to soak up this fun stage for our family this summer.  And because I typically don't even bother bringing my camera on most days to the water park, here are a few pictures from Tuesday.
 
 
 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Family Photos

Right before Jeremy and I left on our getaway, we had some family photos done. You may have already noticed the new changes to the blog and my header. I literally jumped on the computer the moment I pulled the CD with the images from my mailbox.  I came across a local Amazon deal with photographer Ashley Rutland. And it ended up being a complete steal. I was nervous because it only allowed for 1 hour...which sounds like a lot of time with 2 little boys.  But because our last photo session (when the boys were barely 2 and almost 1) was close to a bust...I just worried we might not get much in 1 short hour.  But she was amazing. We left that hour and I just knew she had caught some good ones.  Even though you never REALLY know until you actually see them.  So I've already shared some in the blog header but here a few more of my favorites.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
See? Lots of favorites. Ashley was incredible. Check her out if you're in our area.

Father's Day 2012

On Saturday he played his beloved golf. It's a Father's Day tradition. :)
On Sunday, my little early bird helped me make Jeremy's favorite muffins - Blueberry Struesel.
These 2 little boys adore their daddy. :)
And some older pictures, just because it's fun to reflect.
Holden - November 2009
Holden - July 2010
Holden - May 2010
Pax - September 2009
Pax - April 2010
Pax - January 2012

He's a good daddy. I'm glad he's ours. :)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Summer fun!

The summer has started with a bang. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the past 2 summers.  And this one might even top them.  You see, the water park is such a highlight.  We meet some other mommies and kiddos there 2 days a week. And this year, since the boys are older, we can make it about 4 hours before we load up and head home for naps.  I'm sure the boys could make it much longer than 4 hours. And there will be some days that we try that.  But I figure with season passes, it's easy to go for a few hours, head home and then turn around and do it a few days later. You see, I'm scared to throw away their nap, fearful that it will become a habit. The boys are amazing nappers right now, and I'm not quite willing to give that up yet. How else would I do things like post to our blog?! ;)  Anyways, a few pictures from our recent summer fun.
The water park ...
 
On Thursday, Pax rode this huge mat slide that I talked about last year. I was amazed last year when Holden wanted to do it.  And the past 2 times we have gone, Pax has asked to ride it but he doesn't meet the height requirements.  He doesn't meet those requirements by a long shot. But it didn't seem like the lifeguards were really checking the height requirements, so we gave it a try. Pax, Holden and I climbed the many, many steps to the top dragging our mats behind us.  Pax layed down on his mat on his tummy.  And in that moment he tried to back out on me. Oh no! Not after all those stairs. The only way down is to slide down, right? He's not a fighter, so I probably took advantage of that a little bit. I told him to hold on to his handles and I would see him at the bottom. After those words, I gave him a little push.  And he loved it!! He was ready to ride again. See, sometimes it's ok to push our kids, right? Make me feel better about this. ;) Anyways, I am so proud of him for being so brave to try new things like this huge slide.

Last Saturday we went to see our friends, Amanda, Camryn and Reid.  Jeremy had decided to work all day and Josh (Amanda's husband) was playing golf most of the day.  So Amanda and I decided to get together while our husbands were busy.  The boys and I loaded up and went to their house Saturday morning. They took us swimming in their community pool. And then once Josh had returned home, we hung out, had some Papa Murphy's pizza (that the kiddos got to help create!) and played with our sweet friends. We are so thankful to have this family in our lives.
The following day was a much needed family day with daddy! That evening, I packed a picnic dinner for us. Jeremy loaded Holden's bike and Pax's tricycle in the van and we headed to a nearby park area where they could ride their bikes with no cars around. It's a beautiful area where we need to plan more family dates together. The boys peddaled the 1 mile route, then we broke for dinner. By then we were a sweaty mess and headed home.
A neighboring town does Friday night fireworks each week through the summer. We never went last year. The boys were never very good at making it til dark. They like their sleep :)  But this year they are much more flexible and able to stay up longer occasionally. So last night we went to the fireworks show. We piled in the back of the mini and had a sweaty evening of watching the show. The boys were mesmerized!
 
This guy came for the snacks.
 
And this one was much more into the glow sticks.

Whoa. That post was a doozy!  I hope you and yours are enjoying these summer days!