Boonies in the Boonies

We survived January ... Here's the proof :

2012-02-01T09:22:00.001-08:00

As we're preparing for our big move North (gulp), we have been pretty darn busy. There are seriously NOT enough hours in the day. Most days I am up by 6 and finally climb into bed around 11, yet my plate just gets fuller and fuller.
HOWEVER, on the plus side of leaving we're being spoiled rotten with everyone thinking they need to so many fun things with us before we leave. :)

Blogging has gotten pretty difficult because there just isn't a lot of down time right now between packing, cleaning, and showing the house; keeping the wee ones happy and a few too many emotional breakdowns about leaving home. Sad face.
I'm tempted to post a picture of all the boxes in here, but I don't really want to remember it that way- its stressing me out enough as it is.

But, back the the happy days- because there have been lots of those the last few weeks!

Aaron's office was closed the first week in January so we LOVED having Daddy home all week for lots of fun outings and play time at home too. :)

We're totally smitten with the Wii ...but if Dalton beats me one more time in bowling I'm gonna lose it. He seriously will get at least 6 strikes every game. Ughhhh. :)

Snuggled with Noah ...

We've taken a couple trips to the library ...

We had a fun day date with Dede to Big Orange and The Wonder Place ... Big Orange is very high on my list of things I'll miss in LR. Obsessed.

We had Blakelee Hall from H and H Photography take some fantabulous family pics ...

This weekend we went to Paragould to see the cousins and give Maw her Bday gift for her 60th birthday!!! A trip to the beach with all the grand kids! Can't wait for May!

My iphone took its first swim in the potty when Sawyer threw it in ... Lovely. So it dried out in some rice for about a week. Now the camera flash is on all the time. On the plus side, Its a little easier to find it in my purse now. :)

Maybe February will be a better blogging month ...but if not I'll do another monthly recap! :)

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Our Big Move to Pennsylvania.

2012-01-07T04:11:00.001-08:00

Well, here we go. We are about to embark on a total step of faith ... A cross-country move. Aaron and I are die-hard Arkansans ... We love the south and our families and friends and even the scorching heat. So leaving is sad ... And scary ... And to be honest, really hard to put my mind around. I think that's keeping me from having a total breakdown. Aaron first got a call from a friend living in PA with his family back in October. Aaron had been scoping out other jobs for the past few months in the horrendous job market and hadn't seen ANYTHING else in medical sales. But then out of the blue his friend called telling him how God had put Aaron on his heart and wanted him to consider this opportunity to come to PA and be a Landman for an oil and gas company up there. I wish I could say when Aaron presented this I supported him whole-heartedly and said, "Where you go, I will follow," or something wonderful. But, I seriously all but cracked up laughing. PENNSYLVANIA?!?! Ummm... No. I didn't even apply to any college besides U of A, I'm not a big traveler, and I think Bryant is too far from my family in Little Rock.No. Way. Jose. And then I stayed like that for almost a month. Then something crazy happened. God changed my heart. He has totally enveloped me in a sense of peace and excitement and I'm totally pumped about the journey in store. We're moving to a tiny town called Sayre, PA. It's just two miles from the NY state line, so it's at the very, very top of the state. It's just minutes from snow skiing, three hours from NYC, and is actually full of beautiful countryside. It has perks. :)I think knowing that this is probably just for a year or two helps a lot. But if God has other plans, then who knows. I'm totally realizing how my plans are just plans ... God can always have something totally different in store. To say that I'm grieving the loss of my amazing family, and wonderful friends is such a ridiculous understatement. I am heart-sick over it. Maybe God has kept me in Bryant at an arms length so I would be a little prepared for distance... I mean 30 minutes down the interstate is a wee bit different from the 20 hour trek it would take to drive home from Sayre ... But still. There are a few Arkansas families up there, one which we already know and are so thrilled to know some familiar faces. I've loved talking to them and it definitely helped me in visualizing what this would actually be like. I'm thankful for cell phones, Skype, texting, blogs and Facebook that will help me stay connected with all my peeps. So don't be a stranger! Long live social networking!We leave soon ... Very soon. My guesstimate is we'll for sure be there by mid-march ... But maybe sooner. Please pray for this transition. We know God is all over this, but that doesn't mean we aren't hanging on to His ankles in prayer!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

In with the New ...

2012-01-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

This year for NYE we went out to the "Halowell Hideout," Aaron's main hunting grounds, for a fun night with friends. It was full of yummy food, funny conversation, and an all out good time. I'm so glad we went.

I snapped a few phone pics of our glamorous night ...

Aaron helped me with some of my ensemble ...

He's so stylish. :)
By 9:00 we were all ready to go to bed, but we held on until midnight. However by 12:04am we were all asleep. Oldies ...

On the way home Morgan and I were verrrry carsick. Aaron stopped to let Morgan drive my swagger-wagon and got us bottled cokes- our very fav! :)

He and Madeley had fun in the back reading books and watching Ice Age.

On New Years Day we had our annual NY Day Party, this year it was at Mom and Dad's. We made our big announcement about our move to Pennsylvania ... Which was hard ... And sad. But other than that it was a fun-filled day with some of my most favorite families!

Jack, Avery, and Dalton had a great time playing this year!

Besties ...

We've been spending New Years Day together for over 20 years- we are some of the second and third generation! Love these people!

Such a fun tradition!

Happy New Year to all!!

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Let Heaven and Nature Sing

2011-12-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

JOY to the WORLD!
The LORD is come:
Let Earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing!

This time of year we get to celebrate God's greatest gift, His Son. He sent Him down to live in a sin-trodden world, in the hands of sinners, to save the world. How did God love us SO much? It's an overwhelming thing ... Beyond my understanding for sure.

This Christmas we tried to tie in the reason for the season amidst all the chaos that ensues with three little bitties around. Some questions are definitely hard to answer in a way for children to wrap their minds around.

Our Christmas traditions are spending Christmas Eve with my parents for a yummy dinner and then a full day of celebrating with Aaron's family on Christmas day. His sweet parents come over early Christmas morning and we get to open presents, cook breakfast and enjoy the fun of kids at Christmas time.

Since a picture speaks a thousand words ... I'll let them do the talking ...

It was a Merry, Merry Christmas!!

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Dashing Through the Snow

2011-12-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

We've had a few more fun Holi-DAYS that I want to share. We had so much fun at our monthly playgroup Christmas party where the kiddos got to eat snacks, sing songs, hear stories, do crafts and play play play.
So much fun!

We also got to see Santa ... it did NOT go well!

Then we got to visit our precious cousins in Paragould. Avery and Dalton are OBSESSED with Aaron's sister, Ashley, kiddos: Olivia, Jayke, Ryley, and Katie Jo.
We took a spur-of-the-moment trip up there and had the best time. It was hands down our best time with them- everyone was playing so well and it was just FUN!!
Avery played with the big kids and Dalton and Sawyer played well with Katie. I don't think we got on to anyone or had to break up any fights, it was like they were all at the age where they just PLAYED! Ahhh ... So nice!!

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Preschool Festivities

2011-12-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

Preschool brought lots of Christmasy Fun this year. It all started with their Dessert Theater which is the annual fundraiser complete with silent auction, a dessert reception with some of the yummiest treats ever, and a darling Christmas musical, The Littlest Christmas Tree, performed by our little darlings.
For the grand production Avery was the mommy, and Dalton played a deer. No two characters have ever been more perfectly cast. :)
Avery was to dress in her most "mom-ish" attire and Dalton had a costume to wear at school. Before we left Avery was hamming it up and getting into character ...

Dalton was practicing too ...

Sawyer was thrilled with the smorgasbord set in front of him to keep him occupied ...

The kiddos performed just perfectly. I was grinning ear to ear throughout the whole thing!

Bravo! Bravo!

The next day at school was a Pajama Day and the kiddos wore their PJs to school ...

Look at these cuties!!

The next week was their class parties ... however because it was the only day that worked for my b-day lunch I totally missed them- bad mom.
I did make these little Pinterest-y treats though, they made me laugh.

I made them pose by the half-decorated tree too ... If these outfits look familiar it's because I weasled another year out of them from last year ... it sorta justified the price.;)

Christmas Time is too much fun! And there's more in store ... :)

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Birthday Fun

2011-12-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend I turned 26 ... I'm beginning to inch closer and closer to 30. Is it strange that I feel "old" for my age? With 3 kiddos I feel as I though I need the validation of a "3" at the beginning of my yearly descriptor.
This year we celebrated my birthday on a Thursday with my birthday lunch at Big Orange (my current fav), dining on the yummiest burgers and salads in town and shopping around the Promenade. Mom, Sarah Baker, and Lisa (Rachy had a meeting) made me feel oh-so-special and brought me fabulous happies. I love my people.
Noah came too and was just a perfect delight. I love him oodles.

My real birthday was on a Saturday this year which our little fam woke up to a fun breakfast and happies and lots of lounging.
Then Avery and I went with Aunt Mandy and Maci to see a play at the Art Center, "A Year with Frog and Toad."
It was definitely a feeling of nostalgia watching the play with my big-bow-wearing bestie. My great-grandmother always gave us season tickets when I was little and we went to see lots of plays there when I was little. It was a little more special than I anticipated. I think buying season tickets may be on my wishlist now. :)

Afterwards we went to All Aboard to eat dinner, which I had heard terrible reviews on- however we totally loved it! It was SO fun and Avery and Maci barely quit smiling the whole time!

The boys spent the afternoon in a deer blind ... In heaven I'm sure. Aaron sent these cute pics:

Much to be thankful for with all these loveys. They made my birthday very special- my love tank was full. :)

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Humpty Dumpty's Great Fall

2011-12-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

I have barely been able to speak of this, but since Sawyer's little smile will never be the same, I'll tell the tale.
A couple days before Thanksgiving it was a normal morning at the Boone house: children running around in all their nakedness, no-no's here and there, and me picking up one mess after another ... you know the drill. I was in my room when Sawyer let out a gut-wrenching scream. It was one of those where I immediately knew something was very, very wrong. I came in to find poor Sawyer covered in blood and Dalton and Avery both looking on with their mouths hanging open. I picked Sawyer up and called Aaron as quickly as my fingers could dial. I really don't remember what exactly I said, but I know I was screaming and was for all intents and purposes freaking out. I hung up with my mom telling her to come as quickly as possible, as well. I tried to figure out what happening, eventually gathering that after a squabble someone may have nudged him into the fireplace. Then I finally mustered up the nerve to look for the cut. I couldn't tell exactly, but I thought he had knocked out his front teeth. I couldn't put him down, we were all in PJs or worse, and I couldn't just throw us in the car and head to the ER, so I did what any mommy would do- I rocked and rocked that sweet baby boy 'til his Daddy got home.
Somehow, I remained pretty together, but when Aaron got there (in record time) I was more than happy to hand him over; Aaron thrives in emergency situations,where I just want to ball up in the fetal position. Aaron announces that he's broken his two front two teeth off and instructs me to call a pediatric dentist. I call several and we go to the first one that will see him immediately.
Aaron rode in the back seat and held the boo-bear. We walked in the dentist and took some x-rays, he was SO good and calm. Seriously the most pitiful thing I've ever seen.
The X-Rays reveal that the teeth were not broken off, but instead pushed up into his mouth. At the point I was hopeful- maybe they could just pull them back down, right? No. The dentist tells us they need to be extracted... yes, extracted. She said it had cut off all the little roots and if they didn't they would absess. We weren't allowed to stay back there but they swaddled him up really tight and gave him some numbing shots. After the longest 15 min ever, they brought him out and gave us our toothless boy. I had not cried all morning until they handed me a box with his little toofies in it.
By this time Lynda was here too and no child has ever been swooned over like Sawyer was. Aaron went to Target to clear out the yogurt and ice cream aisles. He actually found quite a bit of soft food!
The Tooth Fairy even talked to Santa and brought out a present early ... he needed it.

With his new tooth fairy happy ... ;)

That night we decided we needed a little holiday cheer so we put up the Christmas Tree ... even little man helped.

I can promise you that the tree now looks nothing like that. It's practically bare from about halfway down. But it's still standing, so that's something.

And our little toothless boy is still smiling ... We've laughed saying he'll be asking for his two front teeth for many Christmas' to come.

Kenlie Kathryn

2011-12-01T08:59:00.001-08:00

Yesterday one of my sweet best friend's, Haley, had her first baby girl. Haley has been one of my BFF's since 7th grade, when I started school at PA. Through Junior High, High School, and college we remained close and I just love her with my whole heart! Avery was actually born on Haley's 21st birthday and Haley spent the ENTIRE day at the hospital with me, even going to bring me dinner after I finally had A. She is selfless through and through and I'm so blessed to be her friend.
After Haley and Daniel got married a couple years ago she moved to Tichnor where Daniel's family farms. I miss her oodles and hate we aren't closer.
Yesterday Haley was induced to have her sweet baby girl, Kenlie Kathryn and she had a full day of labor, finally delivering at 8:54.
Kenlie weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces and 20 inches long! Perfectly, perfect in every way!

I couldn't help but fall in love with her sweet self as soon as I held her!! Love her so!!

Yay Smith Family!!!!!! Love you so!!!

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Saline County Lifestyles

2011-11-29T08:20:00.001-08:00

The last couple months I have gotten to do a little writing for a local publication, Saline County Lifestyles. I honestly originally inquired about it trying to build my resume for another writing job I was pursuing and later got (however a year later it's still in "the works" ... Whatevs.), but have ended up enjoying my small bi-monthly gig at SCL. Anyway, I've loved getting to write little light-hearted pieces for the magazine and make a little extra moolah too, wha-whoo! :)

Since I am extremely disorganized in this season of life and tend to lose a lot of things, I thought I'd tack them on the blog so that I'd have them if I ever want to look back.

In the October/ November issue I wrote about a subject near and "deer" to my heart ... My Deer-Widowhood.

Growing up in Arkansas, hunting is something we almost expect from our men, it’s part of our culture. Nearly all of the guys in my family have always been hunters, and most of our friends as well; I thought I knew what to expect. However, after marrying one of Saline County’s most prominent hunters, I entered a new world. My outdoor loving, monster-buck slaying, greenhead shooting hubby takes his hunting very seriously; it’s not just a hobby, it’s a way of life. If he’s not knee deep in flooded timber or hidden in a tree himself, he’s watching TV about someone who is. I, as his wife, have learned it’s better to embrace the sport rather that nag him to death about going. I’ve tried that way too many times, and it only results in him packing more quickly.
I was raised in a house full of girls who my dad thought were more like cats, he claims that all we did was sit around inside and groom ourselves. Thankfully, my husband has broadened my horizons and has made sure to help me experience new things. I still don’t sport camouflage, but I can cook a mean deer chili, watch The Duck Commander when I’m home alone and with my bow can shoot a quartering away 160 inch 10 point at 42.7 yards … Okay, Okay I made that last part up. I don’t actually hunt myself, but this time of year I’m tempted to in order to spend some quality time with the hubs. A girl’s gotta do, what a girl’s gotta do.
I started out our early married days almost having my feelings hurt when I was abandoned so he could go sit for hours in tree, covered in doe pee and face paint. How could I come in second place to that? What happened to date nights filled with long talks about our feelings, alone time, and wine-ing and dining? If you’re a hunting widow newbie and this is starting to sound vaguely familiar, let me give you a few pointers.
After a couple years of dreading the upcoming season, I now have started to enjoy it. I love being able to go and do without being asked how long I’m going to be gone or how much I spent when I finally return home. My mom and two sisters are all quite the hunting widows themselves, and we enjoy having the girl time together. We spend plenty of leisurely Saturdays perusing the aisles of Target, the dressing rooms at Express Your Self and indulging in the yummy hummus at Layla’s; none of which are on my husband’s favorite weekend hot spots. We watch lots of romantic comedies and cook up fabulous menus that our spouses tend to turn up their noses while watching the Saturday football game at home. I don’t think it’s a coincidence the annual Harvest Moon craft show is held this time of year either. The wonderful treats and craft booths bring women from all over, and their men are likely to be less than thrilled about attending.
Ironically, I’ve discovered my hunter is more than happy to spend time during the week doing fun outings in exchange for a weekend away. And Saline County has plenty of fall fun! We look forward to Fall Fest and even love visiting Mary’s pumpkin patch and seeing all the cute kiddie activities she has year after year. It’s always hard to make a decision with which mums and flowers to decorate my front porch. She never fails to have the tastiest fresh veggies that go wonderfully in whatever game stew he wants to cook when he brings home his kill. If you just marinate the meat over night and cook it down in a stew for several hours the next day, you can almost pretend it’s beef… almost. Plus, for some reason the hunter at my house is all about cooking when it’s something he’s killed himself, so having all the fixin’s on hand is crucial in order to get out of kitchen duty for the night, it’s totally worth it!
Between all the time and money these hunters spend on their weekend adventures, I’m usually due a little splurging here or there myself- being left home alone with three kids under four, I’ve earned it. I have definitely learned to play the system and right about the time he starts explaining to me how the water levels are ideal and temperatures are leading to prime hunting conditions for the upcoming weekend, also happens to be the perfect time to bring up the new pair of boots I just found at DSW. Marriage is about compromise after all, so maybe being a hunting widow isn’t so bad … as long as you know how to work it to your benefit.
I know lots of women love to hunt too, and maybe when I don’t have so many little ones at home I’ll join him in the deer stand. But for now I think I’ll sleep in and then head out to stimulate the economy, while he and the rest of the outdoorsmen work on bringing in dinner.

And for the December issue I wrote about Holiday Fashion "Do's and Don't" per the editors request. I am by all means a wannabe fashionista, and lately have caught myself interested more in the mom-ish Lands End catalogue versus In Style magazine ... so please, give me some grace- ha!

When holiday invites start filling up the mailbox, it means it’s that time of year again- time to party. Glancing through my wardrobe, I notice that most pieces of clothing are playdate-ready … meaning, ready to chase down a runaway toddler through a park or rescue one from the very top of tunnels at Chuck E. Cheese. But, a special, small portion of my closet is designated to sparkle. I love any excuse to get gussied up, and the holidays usually offer several opportunities. Whether a private cocktail soiree, or a corporate event, the chance to trade in my UGG boots for a pair of glittering pumps is always welcome.
This season it seems as if anything goes; the more eclectic the better from color block styles, to animal print, and as always, that classic little black dress. I tend to choose quantity over quality, shh … don’t tell. I’m pretty sure that’s against most fashionista’s advice. I always see articles telling you the ten things your closet needs for an upcoming season … but who wants to wear the same ten things all the time? Not me. I do try to invest in good shoes, purses and denim … that’s about it. I like to have lots of fun tops and little dresses that I can alternate without wearing that same black dress to every party I’m invited to. In my shopping budget that means lots of trips to Forever 21 and even Target. I don’t want to drop a lot of money on a memorable dress that as soon as I’ve posted a picture on Facebook, I’m not going to want to wear again. Can I get an Amen?

That being said, here are some “Do’s and Dont’s” for this Holiday season.
DO: Be prepared. Don’t let yourself get to the day of your event trying to run to the mall to find something to wear. Party planning isn’t just for the hostess; go ahead and be planning a few ensembles with items in your closet. You never know how a new belt or wrap will make to a dress you wore the year before, so be on the lookout for a fun clutch or scarf- accessories can make all the difference!
DON’T: Wear a sweatshirt with a holiday greeting on it (Unless you are under five, or over 65). That’s what Christmas cards are for.
DO: Make sure it’s a great fit. A little bit of money on alterations can make all the difference. Find a great seamstress who can make sure everything fits well and you’ll be more comfortable, plus look better. It’s a win-win.
DON’T: Give too much away. You know who I’m talking to, ladies. Don’t believe the lie that you need a deep neck line or a short hem to be sexy, especially if you’re at an office event. I love the line, ” Your dresses should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady.”
DO: Step out of your comfort zone a little, it’s the holidays! Be bold with a fun print of plaid or polka dots, or if you want to stay in the black and white family, maybe jazz it up a little with a fun neckline or one shoulder dress that are so on trend this season. I also love all the sparkle and bling on flats right now. It’s an easy way to put a pep in your step without being too exciting for the conservative fashionista out there. If you want to get a little more edgy, add a pair of dressy shorts and tights with your favorite heels for a little more out of the box look. I keep thinking I’m going to be bold enough to try this trend myself. We’ll see.
DON’T: Over accessorize. While statement necklaces and stacks of bangles are super hot right now, there can be too much of a good thing, don’t go crazy.
DO: Spice up your make up. Maybe it’s not in your budget for a whole new outfit, but perhaps just head over to the drug store and get a great new lipstick and some false eye lashes. Finding a perfect red lipstick can become an accessory in and of itself, when paired with a great black dress or ensemble it can be the perfect finishing touch. There are lots of fun tutorials on the internet on how to do a professional makeup style like the tricky smoky eye- don’t be intimidated, you just might like it!
DON’T forget about DIY. Even NBC’s The Today Show has started segments on how to put your own spin on accessories and clothing. Scour Pinterest and DIY blogs on how to put a personal and updated touch to pieces you already have for a low budget fix!
Most of all be comfortable. Even if it’s vogue, but you don’t feel like yourself in it, you won’t be confident, and that’s the most important thing. All in all, the Holidays are about being with your family and friends and celebrating the real reason for the season. But, there’s no reason you can’t look great while doing it. Happy Shopping!

So there you have it ... I'm big-time now, try to keep cool around me. ;)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T18:31:00.001-08:00

Even though I will tell you that summertime is my favorite season (and I long ago decided the 4th of July is my actual fav holiday) the winter holidays have something magical about them. Thanksgiving and Christmas are special in an exciting way that gives me wam, fuzzy feelings as I remember almost every detail and tradition since I was very young. I hope Avery, Dalton, and Sawyer will find this time of year as memorable as I do.

Having so much wonderful family in town is absolutely fantastic. I don't know what I would do without all the supportive and helpful, willing family we have at our beckon call. However, at the holidays it can be a little exhausting trying to make appearances everywhere with little ones who spend the afternoon hours sleeping. Due to some new logistics we made a decision to just go to my families house for Thanksgiving and spend Christmas Day with Aaron's fam. It was definitely sad not seeing them on Thanksgiving Day, but Lynda had us over with Ashley's family and kiddos Wednesday night for a pizza party. Somehow I neglected to take any pictures, but they were all getting so big and we're going to have to plan a trip to Paragould soon to play. Avery, Dalton and Sawyer could not be in love with the Bolen/McMains crew.

Thursday morning Aaron hunted at the house and then we left to make the trip to LR to spend the day with the Davis'. My mom, Aunt Tamra, and Rachel prepared quite a feast of delicacies that were oh-so-yummy. Somehow I lucked out of bringing any food and just lots of hungry mouths.
We stayed all day and into the evening and had the best time!
My mom was snapping pictures left and right so I uploaded them before leaving. Here are some pics of the day ...

**Avery and Dalton's table for two ... Dalton kept taking bites of the pumpkins.

** Mom gets us matching shirts for our Christmas picture every year ... she makes me laugh. :)

I'm so thankful for all the blessings we have this year. God has taught us so much over the last year and we have seen him working in all the intricate details of our life. I'm thankful for the friendships and teachings at our amazing church and even random ways that God has taught us about what it really means to lean on Him and see His faithfulness and His timing.
He is so good. All the time.

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving from the Boonies.

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Thanksgiving Play-Date-Skate

2011-11-18T11:12:00.001-08:00

Today we had our annual Thanksgiving Playdate and the Skatium. We brought yummy goodies and watched our kiddos roll all over the place. A few of the older kids even braved the roller skates. It took on average 10 minutes to get the skates on their feet and approximately 40 seconds to decide they really didn't like skating. Typical.

It was hard to capture a non-moving pic of most of the kids as they sped by on their toy of choice. But big fun was had by all.

We're off to a good start for a week full of Thanksgiving Festivities. :)

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A Homey Day

2011-11-10T10:57:00.001-08:00

I fried my computer power cord and it is one of those things I need to run to Radio Shack and get ... Yet somehow have not found time to do!
I so want to post pics of sweet Noah's birth and Halloween and some other fun days, but prefer to do it from the computer as opposed to my phone. Maybe I'll go crazy and grab one today. :)

In the mean time it's been a fun day at home with my favorite stinker, Sawyer.
The big kids left for school this morning in their gear for Crazy Hat Day!

Sawyer couldn't stand being left out so he even put this hat on all by himself ... Made me laugh.

He is getting so big! He'll come up to me and say "poo poo" and then get diapers and wipes. He is making all kinds of connections and is such a silly willy boy.

Today after I changed his diaper he laid up on the couch and fell right to sleep ... Naked. He was so cute I just couldn't move him.

He finally started moving around and I diapered him up and snuggled him up before bringing him to his bed. Wuv that baby.

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Smorgasbord of Sorts.

2011-10-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

Fall is just too fun around here ... And with all the Fall Happenings I have gotten overwhelmed with keeping up with the blog, causing me to fall further and further behind. Which is probably why I never even documented Dalton or Sawyer's births on the blog ... I'm determined to fix that eventually. HOWEVER, for now I'm just going to update the last month or so ... because there have been things worth mentioning amidst all the general randomness! :)
I have kept my real camera locked away in my hodge podge drawer and so all I can offer is phone pics ... don't get picky on me.

Here we go ...

This school year has been so fun and just all together fantastic. Whereas, last year it was kind of a battle twice a week to get Dalton in the door of Mother's Day Out, this year they both LOVE pre-school! They race in the door every day and on their "off" days are so confused as to why they can't go to school. We have had a new issue, though: Avery's wardrobe. It is a daily battle. If I make the mistake of not discussing her outfit for school the next day the night before, it can make us at least 15 minutes late. She has her own ideas of what she needs to wear and will flip on occasion at my selections. Last week she was wearing some funky patterned pants that I tried to pair with a plain white tee. She started flapping her hands and throwing an all-out fit saying, "I won't wear that white shirt, don't make me! I'll look like a sheep and all the kids will think I'm a sheep." I busted out laughing ... she has a flare for the dramatics. Here she is on a day where I gave her free rein to pick out her attire ... complete with a tye-dyed lizard snap bracelet and Princess earrings...

I put this picture on Facebook and the child received over 50 comments of approval for her wardrobe collaboration ... way to go Av, way to go.

This little pic of Sawyer makes me laugh. We had a TV in the suburban but the headphones were bigger and so my kiddos refused to wear them. However, in the van there are TVs and the headphones are more child-sized. There are only two pairs and so Sawyer usually loses the battle on that one. Every once in a while I'll turn on his Baby Einstein DVD and let him have a turn, he just kicks and squeals and gets super excited. All that aside, I just like this picture of him ...He's the cutest.

I have been Deer Widowed again ... meaning most mornings Aaron gets up early to head out into the woods behind our house and most afternoons he can be found there as well. My freezer is already stocked with a couple deer kills and I have been trying my darndest to find recipes where I can disguise the gamey-ish meat. It's really not so bad and the kids love to say they're eating deer meat; Avery always asks, "Was this a monster buck?"
I love that Aaron takes the kiddos on occasion outside too and they think it is super fun. Aaron even took Dalton on a Hog Hunt a couple weeks ago. Aaron loved putting pictures on Facebook pretending that Dalton killed a hog. I can assure you that was not the case, and if I discover that Dalton has had any gun experience in the next 10 years I may have a husband for sale. Just sayin'.

He's proved to be just as much of an outdoor enthusiast as his daddy..

Mr. Sawyer Boone received his first hair cut this month. I didn't expect to be upset or emotional but I was literally queasy when I saw his little curls dropping to the floor. Sawyer has had some hair craziness for his entire life and it was sad to see it go. I still left it a little longer because his little head is still covered in sweet curls that I couldn't bear to part with ... He's just edible.

I'm having a minor obsession with this picture ...

It's such a sweet reminder of how WELL Dalton and Sawyer are finally playing. Sawyer just idolizes Dalton and Dalton LOVES Sawyer. All day he's following Sawyer around, "Babe, Babe, what are you doing, babe?" Cutest. I love knowing they'll have a built in BFF for life ... I so want that for Avery too. She needs a sister. ;)

In other fabulous news, I was alloted a weekend away with some super fun girlfriends this month. Seriously we started planning this venture almost two years ago and it was just as fun, if not MORE fun than we'd hoped! One of my fun friends, Mandy, turned 30 this month and in celebration we took a long, leisurely weekend to Destin and it was so much fun. I feel like I need to say it again sooooo muchhh funnn!!!!!
We drove down on a Thursday morning and spent all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the beach. We stayed up late chatting and playing games, slept in, ate super yummy food, and of course hit the outlets. I think we all kept thinking we were forgetting something as we walked down to the beach with only a towel, magazine and sunscreen ... and a Margarita or two. ;) When some of the randy randoms would ask if we were in town for a bachelorette party we proudly told them that we had 12 kids between us ... And I represented 25% of those. Ha! Whoop Whoop! ;)
I think it was (one more time) the most fun trip I've ever been on! Loved it! So thankful for the getaway and sweet friends to enjoy it with! Here are some pics!

** A little different than the 800+ pics I took after going to the beach with the fam this summer ... I didn't even bring a camera on this trip! Thank goodness for iPhones!! :)

Okay, that's all for now! Hopefully tomorrow I will document our super spectacular event this week ... The Birth of Benjamin Noah Wellons!!! EEK!!! He's just the cutest thing and I'll get all the scoop on here tomorrow! :)

Unforgettables

2011-09-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

This weeks moments I don't want to forget ...

Avery has a strange desire to eat pancakes/waffles/toaster streudels while they are still in their frozen state. This is really hard for me. I hate it when she does this and always try to talk her out of it- I mean, why would you want to eat a frozen waffle?
This morning after she ate a cooked one she came up to me and said, "Mommy, I want to tell the truth." I looked around for what was out of place and prepared myself for the worst. "What do you need to tell the truth about?"
"Well, I ate a cold one [toaster streudel]."
We just really have to watch her. This is Avery's form of "acting out." Cracked me up.

Avery's teacher told me this week that she is definitely the "mommy" of the class. I'm pretty sure that means she bosses everyone.

Aaron was having Dalton and Avery pick up all the toys one night and said whoever did the best job got 2 gummy worms, and the other got 1 gummy worm. Avery immediately got to cleaning and Dalton dropped a few toys in the baskets before retiring to the couch. Aaron said, "C'mon Dalton don't you want to win the candy?" He mumbled something about loving candy and Aaron said "ok, well I guess you'll just get one piece."
They finished picking up and Aaron told Avery she was the winner and gave her two gummy worms. He gave Dalton his one worm and said, you only get one because you didn't really help. Dalton looked at him and pulled his gummy worm apart, holding one piece in each hand ... "Nope, I got two candies, too."
Too smart for his britches.

Sawyer has gotten so much personality over the last couple months ... he's the funniest little booger. He has also developed a HUGE appetite. The kid would eat all day. And when he REALLY like something (like corn on the cob) he starts bouncing and dancing in his high chair. The other night at dinner Dede gave him a bite of one of those Molten Chocolate Lava cakes ... He was SQUEALING, dancings, shaking his head back and forth, etc. We were all dying laughing! He is so funny!

And sweet ...

The other night we were at my parents house and all the guys were out doing things. Avery was talking with me and mom and out of nowhere said, "let's go in the dining room and drink wine and talk about our husbands." We fell out. She is so funny! We poured her some orange juice in a wine glass and lit some candles in the dining room for dinner. She would randomly grab her glass and say stuff like, "My husband will just not pick up my house. I tell him it's all these kids making the mess, I'm not cleaning it. And I am just not picking it up. I won't do it."
Obviously I've never sat around drinking wine talking to girls with Avery around. And I've never had the convo about Aaron needing to pick up the house. She literally pulled that out of thin air. She is the funniest thing ever.

Today I took Avery to a Disney storytime at Verizon Arena. We met some of our playdate girlies and had a blast!

In other, "unforgettable" news ... we have a new addition to the Boone fam.

That's right people, I'm 25 and I'm rockin' out a mini-van. I kinda threw my head back and laughed just typing that out. I still can't believe it. What's more, I can't believe how much I like it! Over the last five years I've tried out most of the family vehicles ...and I've said there was no way I would get a mini-van. But after getting three kids in and out of that suburban every day I changed my tune. Plus, my particular suburban had been in the shop a TON for random things, so I was looking into getting a new car. As I was talking to the car salesman and I asked to look at a mini-van he realized I was pretty bummed about it. He said, "I don't know what you're acting so bent out of shape about it, you've been driving a school bus!" So true ... that thing was a tank. In the end the minivan was my fav and between the better gas mileage, and automatic doors all opening and closing and the press of a button, I'm in love.
My mom said as long as I dont't start wearing themed sweaters I'll be fine ... Never say never! ;)

Rough and Rowdy

2011-09-19T17:43:00.001-07:00

Well ... It's official.

Avery has her first black eye. After she and Dalton battled it out over a juice cup, D finally let go of it and it fell back and hit her in the face. This is the result.

I'm so thrilled about dropping her off for pre-school with a black eye. Lovely.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Weekend Away

2011-09-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to head out of town with my BFF Caroline to Dallas. I'm not sure which of the girls I've known longer, Caroline or Chevis, but they are two of my oldest friends. It was SO fun to road-trip with Cabs, have a fun night out and of course attend Chevis and John's fabulous Dallas wedding.
Another bonus was the fact that there was a great group of the PA Class of '04 that made the trek to the big D- it was a mini-high-school reuinion! We had the best time and Chevis could not have been a more beautiful bride!
Here are a few less than mediocre phone pics ...

Hotel Shot ...

Stole this from a Facebook friend.

SUCH a pretty bride ...

Flowers in honor of Chevis' dog she had foreverrr, Sophie. I'm pretty sure she looked JUST like this! Amazing.

Michelle and Kathleen after Michelle caught the Bouquet.

We heart self-portraits. ;)

SUCH a fun weekend! Had so much fun with my bestie, Cabs!!

But was sure glad to get home to all my hooligans!!!

Of course AB had cleaned the house, done all the laundry, dishes, AND stocked the fridge ... I should go out of town more often! :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Unforgettables

2011-09-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

I've kinda slacked on my Unforgettables for a while ... but we're back and here are some for the books ... or the blog. Whatev.

Aaron's friend Cody lives super close and comes over a lot, the kids LOVE Cody. Last night I think Aaron and Cody played football with A and D in the living room for about an hour ... so fun.
A couple weeks ago Cody was over and Dalton mentioned wanting to be a firefigher, which is what Cody is. Cody had his gear in his truck (that were seriously the heaviest things ever) and he let them try them on.

Avery has started trying to change Sawyer's diapers ... it's a beautiful thing. (Obviously, I just let her tackle the #1 diapers ... just felt the need to include that. :)

last week Avery came in wanting to get some lunch ... here was our convo:
Avery: Let's go play at Chick-fil-A Mommy, I need to get out of the house.
Me: We can't, it almost Sawyer's naptime.
Avery: sigh ... "Okay, then we'll just go through the Drive-thru at Chick-fil-a. I'll get chicken and dip, and Dalton will have chicken and dip. Sawyer already ate lunch." Then she stopped short, "Oh, and Rebekah, can I get you anything?"

Dalton is obsessed with "what time is it?" He asks me multiple times a day ... I keep meaning to get him a little watch. I have no idea why he asks either ... and whenever I tell him the time he just says, "Ok, shanks."

This week we went to a little ballet class for Avery.
One of the Mama's use to teach ballet so all our little playgroupies with girls got together to have a "ballet class." They were all TOO cute!

My kids have had the strangest phobia about going "poo poo" in the potty. It has taken them WAY longer than I was expecting. I think we have finally gotten it all worked out this summer, but randomly yesterday Avery went and wanted a surprise ... she tried to pull a fast one on me:

A:"Mommy, Mommy, I went poo poo in the potty! You know what that means, remember the song? "
Me: "What Song?"
A: "If you go poo poo in the potty, you get a new toy!"
Me: "I haven't heard that one, where did you hear that?"
A: "I just made it up."

This week Avery was the "Superstar" at school. She was the line leader, got to keep the Traveling Frog and chart his adventures over the weekend, and bring the class snacks for the week.
On Thursday she got to bring a show-and-tell. She picked her best cleaner trophy. A couple weeks ago when I was at my Bunco group Aaron made a trophy for whoever cleaned up their toys the best that night. It has lit a fire under them and now all I have to say is, "Who wants to win the trophy?" and they get to cleaning.
Avery brought it to show her class ...

Sawyer is always precious and unforgettable ...

And has wanted to prove that just because his siblings are out of the house, doesn't mean there can't be mischief in the house ... He's still keeping me busy! ;)

Happy Friday!!

Weekend Update: Fall is Here!!

2011-09-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

We had a fun and FULL weekend! It was wonderful!

Friday night we had friends over to hang out ... meaning all the men stayed outside shooting their bows and the girls stayed inside cooking up some yumminess.
It was fun and laid back ... my fav. :)

Saturday we woke up and took the kids to the Saline County Fair. We rode lots of rides, ate lots of "fair food," and and Dalton got to see lots of animals in the petting zoo. It was a fun day!

Inside the Fun House ... funny mirror pic.

**Action Shot: Avery was completely and utterly freaked out by this turkey and every time Dalton got close to it Avery would pull him over to get him away from it. Hilarious.

*As I'm blogging Avery just came over and saw this picture and all but teared up saying, I did NOT like that turkey.

There were little miniature horses you could walk around the arena on leashes ... Dalton was in heaven.

Sawyer couldn't decide what he thought.

But he was pretty darn excited about this sucker.

After getting home and all taking big naps Sarah Baker and Ben came over to eat pizza and watch the RAZORBACK game! Go Hogs! So glad Razorback football season has started again. I didn't take any pictures, but SB took this on her phone and it makes me laugh. Sawyer is just so big!

Sunday morning we woke up and went to church. Afterward, Avery and I left with Rachel and Ben to grab some lunch and then go to Sarah Baker's first baby shower for baby Noah! The shower was themed "Pickles and Ice Cream" which has been Sarah Baker's favorite treats throughout her pregnancy. She even snacked on some of the pickle decor. :)
We can't WAIT to meet baby Noah in a few weeks!!!

Cakeball Cones (oh-so-yummy!)

SB with her mother-in-law, Mrs. Carolyn.

Sisters! (Who failed to tell me the headband was a way-bad idea!) ;)

Sweet Aunt Tamra was so sweet to do the shower at her house!

One of SB's favorite gifts! So cute!

Mrs. Cinda and Whitney- we can't wait for baby Evie to get here!!

Hurry baby Noah!! We are dying to meet you!!

Homework

2011-09-10T08:45:00.001-07:00

Avery and Dalton had homework this week. :) One day Avery had to write her name several times and another night they both had to bring in "About Me" posters. I printed off lots of pictures, got lots of patterned cardstock and stickers and let them pick everything out. It was super cute.
Here are the final products:

Love my babies. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First Day.

2011-09-06T21:11:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of preschool. Cue the emotional rollercoaster ... ;)

It all started last week when we went to their little Open House to meet the teachers, see the classrooms etc.

My oh-so-thoughtful/ always-make-life-special in-laws sent the kiddos happies from the flower shop. My kids are thrilled when I hand them a magazine and tell them it came in the mail for them, so special deliveries?!?! Oh my! There were the sweetest little cards reading, "Happy Pre-School!" They felt so special!

That afternoon we took Dalton to get his back-to-school haircut so he wouldn't look like a total shagamuffin ...

Then we went to the church for the open house!

Dalton's class is the Jazzy Jungle ... right up his alley. :)

His little desk ... tear.

Dalton in the reading center. :)

Avery meeting her teacher, Mrs. Carla in the "Pond-Er-Osa" classroom.

Avery's desk ... more tears.

They couldn't stop talking about school! They were SO excited!
Today when it was FINALLY time to wake up for their first day they were beyond pumped.

Avery came running out of her room an hour earlier than usual saying, "Mommy, Mommy, is it today? Do I get to go today??" While she was eating breakfast she said, "I have to tell you something. I feel an itty bit sick. Not really sick, just my tummy feels silly." We talked for a minute and I realized she was nervous! She was over it soon enough, but it was so sweet to see my big girl having butterflies about her first day at school.

All ready for school! It was actually really cool outside this morning and Dalton was being pretty dramatic about it.

Avery and Mrs. Carla again.

Dalton was way too interested in his new classroom to stop for pictures. But, we are so happy Mrs. Sarah is his teacher!

Dalton, of course, found all the animals right away. When I picked him up today Mrs. Sarah told me how much he loved bears ... ohhh yes. :)
Notice all the BOYS, there are TEN in his class of twelve students. Holy moly.

Both kiddos had wonderful reports and I am friends with the assistant director who texted me pics of the kiddos throughout the day. Avery even won the "healthy lunch award" in her class. When I was given instruction the first day about how their lunch needed to be super healthy and all the no-no's I kinda freaked. I mean, we live on PBJ and cheetos. Apparently her turkey sandwich, strawberries, pretzel sticks and nutri-grain bar was suitable, so I guess we'll be ok after all. After Mrs. Carla let the class know they would be picking the healthiest lunch Avery kept saying, "Oh, I really hope I win, I really hope so." And she did- stinker. She also said that she gave the kiddos their little paper to practice writing their first names and Avery came and showed the teacher her whole name ... smarty pants! :) So proud of our little toots and so happy they'll be learning and playing at preschool this fall! They can't wait to go back tomorrow and Thursday!

Lazy Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was luxuriously long and full of family fun. Driving home from Hot Springs I couldn't help but smile at how much I love our little family.
Saturday morning we met Aaron's mom in Hot Springs so she could watch Sawyer, while we took the big kids for one more hoorah at the lake this summer. We played and played; we ate til our tummies were way too full and we said farewell to Lake Ouachita until next summer.
We came back to Aaron's parents late Sunday night and played with them today.It was a great weekend!
I have gotten lazy with my picture taking ... but here are a few I managed to snap.

We're officially ready for fall!! Tomorrow it will be our first days "Back to School," as Avery and Dalton head to pre-school. Sniff sniff!!!

Sawyer's Birthday Bonanza

2011-08-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we woke up and hurried to get the house ready for Sawyer's birthday bash. This task was amazingly easier without Avery and Dalton around, as they had spent the night with Maw. :)
As everyone started arriving I went and took my camera off the charger where it had been the entire night before. However, when I turned it on it said, "battery exhausted." I was SO disappointed! And NO one had their cameras with them! I was sad, but my handy dandy iPhone camera still documented what it could. I put SB in charge of the photography role and she did her best, but I am pretty limited in my photos today. Sniff, sniff.

To start it off I just wanted to show a collage of EACH baby on their birthdays ... They really look SO different.

I love that Avery is buckled in to the high chair ... first child. Now, with Sawyer, I'm pretty sure the straps aren't even attached to the chair any more.

It was really fun to have the whole fam come to our house for some food, fun, and birthday festivities. Sawyer was still feeling terribly, but he made the most of it. The poor boy slept until 10, and all but fell asleep in his cupcake.

Uncle Ben shared all his homeade ice cream ... Thanks Uncle Ben! ;)

(Apparently someone wiped his mouth with a dish towel that had cleaning solution on it so he had a little allergic reaction for about 10 minutes ... hence the red patches on his cheeks ... Happy Birthday Sawyer... )

Thank goodness Avery and Dalton were there to show him how to unwrap all his toys. ;)

Happy Birthday, dear one!! You are so loved!!

Sawyer Turns One!

2011-08-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Sawyer turned one on Friday ... it was such a bittersweet day. Although being induced into labor a year ago seems like forever ago, it just doesn't seem possible that our baby boy is heading toward toddler-dom. Seeing all the pictures of itty bitty newborns just doesn't seem right either, he's getting to be a big boy (I will not cry, I will not cry ...)! TOO big if you ask me! He has become quite inquisitive the last few weeks. He's very active and we have re-learned about all the no-no's in our house lately. He's always climbing, "organizing," and dumping out as much as he can. Little lovey.

Before I get ahead of myself, I want to remember all the fun things he's doing lately.

- I can't believe I'm saying this, but we haven't been at the doctor in over a month! So I'm actually not sure of his weight. I do know he's gained some because his little clothes are fitting more snug, but I need to check out his weight.

-He is wearing mainly size 12M clothes, some 18M, but those are mostly hand-me-downs from Dalton that have been laundered a bunch ... And I have a tendency to reduce the size of things in the dryer. :/

-He is still in size 4 diapers.

- Still has his same 8 toofies- four on top, four on bottom. However, he's had a major fussy bug the last few days, on top of some yucky tummy trouble leading me to think we may be getting some more shortly. Or just a bug ... yay.

- He goes to sleep between 8-8:30 every night and wakes up around 8:30 every morning. The last few days he has wayyyy slept in. Yesterday he didn't wake up until 9:30 and today 10! But, like I said, he's had some kind of bug.

-We left formula in the dust right before he hit the 11 month mark, the transition to whole milk was super easy. He drinks about 24oz a day in his sippy cups. We also are all done with baby food ... right now his favorite foods are bananas, blueberry pancakes, grapes, turkey, avocado, scrambled eggs, and mac 'n cheese. Also, after yesterdays trip to the Donut shop, I'm pretty sure we can add donut holes to the list. More on that to come ... :)

-After he took his first steps right before his 11 month birthday, the last week he has really started taking off. And now I would say he walks more than he crawls (when we're inside). But, if he is really eager to get somewhere he drops down to crawl as quickly as possible.

-He's still climbing ... everywhere. Lord. Have. Mercy.

- Really not saying much these days ... we have the "Dada" down and that's about it. He'll babble Momma, but I can't guarantee he's saying that on purpose. He'll mimic what we say ... but that's about it. It'll come. :)

-Loves his family, especially his brother and sister. And I can't even begin to tell how much he loves that daddy! I don't think any of my babies have been more head-over-heels like Sawyer is (at this age). He just is OBSESSED!! Sweetest thing!
Dropping him off in the church nursery has just been terrible! He acts like we are just the worst! And when we pick him up he loses it again remembering that we left him all over again!

-He is the silliest little thing! He laughs all day and lives to dance. I turn music on several times a day so he can just go to town. So stinkin' funny.

Here are some of my favorite pics of us this year.

Already in love.

Just a few weeks old ... no telling how much time we spent in this same spot. :)

Our first trip to NYC! You were a DREAM baby the whole time!

A trip to Hot Springs to look at all the lights in Garvan Gardens. You were definitely enamored with all the lights!

6 Months old! At one of Aunt Ray Ray's wedding showers.

Your first trip to the beach! You woke up every morning by 5 so we walked up and down the beach every morning. I actually ended up liking it by the end of the week!

Finding out you were FINALLY going to get tubes for your little ears this summer! No more ear infections!!

Dear Sawyer,
I am so in love with your sweet self I can't stand it! You are just delightfully darling and perfectly precious. I love your giggles and high pitched squeals and amazing dance moves. You are so loved by our family and we have had a blast this past year! It was definitely overwhelming at first, but I think we've got it figured out now. Since the big kids are going to school this week we're going to have a lot more time to play! Can't wait little boo!!!
I love you to the top of your blonde curls, to the bottom of your tippy toes!
XOXO
Mommy

Sawyer slept in on his birthday and then we packed up to head to the donut shop. He scarfed down a whole dozen donut holes and CHOCOLATE milk. I told my mother-in-law that he acted like it was the best thing he'd ever had, and she said, "it probably was!" She's probably right! Nevertheless, he LOVED his birthday breakfast.
He kicked and squealed with every bite. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Then we left for the park ...

He had a great birthday with our fam and geared up for his par-tay the next day!

Weekend Update... This and That.

2011-08-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the perfect blend of relaxing and fun! Friday my mom came and picked up Dalton so he could spend the night with my sister Rachel. Avery had gone to spend the night with she and Ben on Wednesday night and by Friday Dalton needed a turn, too. I was so proud of both of them that neither tried to come home! They had only spent the night away with Dede or with Maw, so this was new territory. However, with as much fun as Ben and Rach pack into a short overnight visit, there is no time to miss Mommy and Daddy! Thankfully they send pictures around the clock. Since my mom took D first, and then they met up with Ben and Rach, plus they ran into Sarah Baker and Ben (for non-familial readers, I know it's so weird that both of my sisters are married to Ben's!) when they went to Orange Leaf ... it was pic overload ... I'll share of course!

Afternoon milkshake at Dede's ...

About to go meet the fam for U.S. Pizza ... I love that you can tell Dede just brushed his hair to a little side part. Love her.

Shopping for a new book at Barnes and Noble ..

More ice cream at Orange Leaf. (Spoiled beyond belief)

Look at those eyelashes.

He started off wanting to sleep on this cot ...

But ended up in the bed (Uncle Emerson spent the night with Ben and Rach, too!)

Waking up with all his new BFF! Thanks Ben Haynes and RayRay! He loved every minute!

Also Friday night Ashley brought her crew in for a short visit. We all went to Bobo's for pizza and cousin time galore ... I totally forgot to take any pics! There was just too much going on! But, while we were waiting on Aaron to come home I snapped these...

(Cutest girl I know!!)

Funniest picture of Sawyer ever!! Oh, he makes me laugh!!

Saturday while Avery was playing with the cousins, Sawyer and I went to Conway with Ben and Sarah Baker. Aaron is on the pro-staff for a new duck call line, Black Ops Duck Calls. They had a booth at the Arkansas Outdoors Expo in Conway this weekend so we went to check it out.

BFF.

We took this for Dalton ... loves him a bear.

Already callin'.

Look hard to see Dash, Ben and SB's dog, jumping for a field trial! She's hard to spot!

Barely let me buckle him in before falling asleep!

Sunday everyone in the house slept till 9:30 ... ummmm ... unbelievable! Aaron had to go back up to the Expo center, and so the kids and I laid around the house all day. It was a super easy day. We missed church, so thankful for the on-line campus when we miss!! It's almost makes it too easy to stay home! ;/

Hope everyone had a good weekend!!

Yum to the O.

2011-08-16T15:33:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have gotten WAY into Pinterest lately. Like, Loveeee it. I seriously make a Pinterest recipe every day and have even gasp, started working on some DIY projects. Let's just say I used sandpaper and spray paint today and I didn't hate it! :)
I think I'll devote a whole post to Pinterest creations soon, it's pretty monumental. Ha!

Anyway, another reason I love it is for easy peasy recipes like this that you may even have all the ingredients on hand! Avery and I just made them and they were sinfully rich and pretty darn good! I gave Sawyer a bite and he all but said "Thank you. "

You can thank me later. :)

Especially you Cabs. These are right up your alley!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ordinary.

2011-08-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Today we had a bit of a cold front in Central Arkansas, meaning the temperatures dropped to under 80 degrees. I woke up and was sitting out on my favorite spot, my porch swing, waiting on my coffee to brew and I was actually cold. Ah-mazing.
I have NEVER been so ready for fall!!

The kiddos finally woke up and after Avery changed outfits at least six times and Dalton spilled at least three drinks, I threw them in the car to go enjoy the nice weather. We went to the park and they played and played. Even Sawyer went down a few slides. :)

After an hour or so the temperatures went up, and the humidity followed. We went home for an early lunch and afternoon naps. When the kids woke up I gave them this fun little survey I found on Pinterest. They thought it was fun and I loved hearing their answers!

It was a pretty ordinary day here, which are sometimes the best ones!

Unforgettables

2011-08-12T16:32:00.001-07:00

Just realized it's Friday. Some weeks the days just run together over here! But yay for Friday!
And Friday means Unforgettables!

Dalton has been laying on Sawyer's high chair tray lately. This worries me to death that he's going to break the tray and go crashing to the tile floor and then Sawyer will come barreling out after him. I'm always asking "Dalton, What do you you think you are doing?!" in a not so calm voice. And he almost always answers, "he wants to eat me!"
And starts dying laughing. Mess.

Sour face!!

Throughout the day in Avery and Dalton's disagreements
I'll hear one spout off, "My mom said you couldn't!" As if I'm just one of their mom. It makes me laugh.

They are constantly tattling on each other. On one hand this is
good because I am always in the know. On the other hand, I'm constantly saying, "no." When I would like to pretend not to see for a minute. :)

This week little man got tubes in his ears. He did wonderfully and was outside playing in the water hose by the afternoon with the big kids.

They were even kind enough to wash my car!

All cleaned up!!

Dalton has been stealing my coffeemate this week! He gets it out of the fridge and hides with it! Arg!

Besties!

I got home from Target a couple days ago and Avery sheepishlessly came scooting up to me ... "Mommy,I'm really sorry, but I've made a huge mess in your closet. But, I had a great time."
And isn't that all that matters? :)

Sawyer saying peekaboo!!

I recorded Ramona and Beezus for Avery last week and we've watched it every day. That and A Cinderella
Story, the Hillary Duff real people one. It's crazy she's big enough to watch movies that aren't animated! Big girl!

Speaking of BIG I signed Avery and Dalton up for preschool in the fall. They start in just a couple weeks. They'll go Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30-2:30. I can't believe it! I know it's time, but I can't believe they are so old!

Lastly, Dalton came in the living room last night after looking for Aaron and finding him in the shower. He came running out and screamed, "MOM, I saw Daddy's butt." Bahaha! I'll spare you a picture! ;)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Puff

2011-08-10T12:26:00.001-07:00

I was cleaning up lunch in the kitchen when I got my first whiff.
Of baby powder. The "clean scent."

I walked into the living room and found this. It covered the whole room and Dalton even was kind enough to freshen up my room as well. Bless.

I'm sitting outside because I have a terrible headache from ingesting too much after vacuuming and swiffer wet jetting it up (the latter did hardly anything besides spread it around, meaning I'm about to break out the trusty mop and bucket).

A and D are starting preschool three days a week in 26 days. But, who's counting ...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sawyer's Mini Surgery

2011-08-09T16:59:00.001-07:00

Today Sawyer got tubes.

I think this is probably one of the most normal procedures for little kids, but it was still our first time
to go through it and we were a little scared!
After allllll the sickness our baby boy has had over the last year we thought we'd treat him to an early birthday present. Tubes.

We got there bright and early this morning and were a little nervous to see how it would all go down. The waiting room was full of kids that were going through the same ordeal ... And nervous parents just like us.
They called us back to pre-op where we signed papers and were briefed on the procedure.

Finally, they came and got him. He had a mini breakdown when we handed him over. Miraculously I didn't cry. We waited in the waiting room for all of 10 minutes and then called us to post-op.
Sweet Sawyer did not do well coming out of anesthesia at all. He finally started feeling better after his nap and has been doing well ever since!
Hopefully he'll have a much better winter than last!

We did a lot of outside playing this afternoon. He loveddd it! :)

Begging to go back out!

Happy Tuesday!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Unforgettables

2011-08-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hello, blog. This summer heat has me l-a-z-y ... and I've been neglecting the ole' blog. Thankfully Cabs is keeping me in check and forcing me to record some unforgettables right now. Thanks Cabs.
I can't promise they're funny because I haven't been recording them like I normally try to do. Again ... lazy.

Me: Dalton, why are you naked again? Go put your undies back on!"
Dalton: "No, mama I just want to be naked!"
Avery: "please Mama, please let him be naked."

Yesterday we were in USA Drug... as in me and three children by myself. I try to avoid this at all cost because I'm scared things will play out just like they did. There I was carrying Sawyer on my hip, Avery following me around inside a Hula Hoop while she continued to run into things. Dalton was running through every aisle AWAY from me at rapid speed... barefoot of course, while yelling, "Mama, I need this candy for when I go poo poo!" Because we are still having issues with him not wanting to go #2 in the potty (He wants to put a pull-up on). I finally started yelling MYSELF, "Dalton, I'm going to spank you if you don't come here. NOW."
I am so that Mom. Whoops.

Sawyer gets to try new foods all the time right now and his facial expressions are ha-larious. We gave him something sour about a week ago and he did NOT like it and was making the funniest face. So now we say, "do your sour face" and he starts scrunching his face up. But, since we've made him do it so much he gets excited to do it and starts snorting too, which is even funnier. I just love him more every day!

The last couple days Dalton has come up to me, put his hands on my face, in his best baby voice says, "Mama, you are too cute!"

This week we were at the athletic club heading out to the pool, but after dropping Sawyer in the nursery had to walk up the stairs by all the worker-outers. There were lots of people on bikes and ellipticals and Avery looked at me and said, "Momma, is that what you're gonna do?" I told her no, I was just going to take them to the pool. Then she said, "Well, I really wish you would."
Lovely, thanks A.

Avery has turned into THE best helper. She is constantly carrying Sawyer around or I find them laying in her bed where she's reading him books. She helps him with his bottles and she IMMEDIATELY alerts me if he's into a no-no. It's wonderful.
I knew I had all these kids so close together for a reason!

Ok, that's all for today. Here are some pictures from last weekend that I never posted! :) Enjoy!

He's fearless on that diving board! He even jumped off the top of the party barge a couple weeks ago. SUCH a mess. In a good way of course. :)

Happy Friday!!

RIP Wednesday Loves

2011-07-27T20:38:00.001-07:00

I have a confession.
I've been cheating on my Wednesday Loves. There's a new love in my life...

www.pinterest.com

It's a way to keep track of all my loves every day! Are you on there?! You should be! Morgan you definitely should be! You would love it!

It's a super simple concept, but overwhelming me to try to explain ... It's kind of the same idea as putting everything in your favorites tab. But, organized on boards with pictures. Again, it's super simple, but amazingly awesome and addicting. :)

Because I have a phone addiction and usage problem I even deleted the Facebook and Twitter apps off my phone. I'm pretty sure Twitter and I are over for good. But, I'm keeping my options open with Facebook, however I'll admit I'm enjoying the separation. ;)

And the Pinterest app is totally filling the void!

If you're late to join the party, check it out! I think you'll like it!

Happy Pinning!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

One Away From One

2011-07-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

11 Months Old!

Today our sweet lamby boy is 11 months old ... just one more month and it will be his first birthday. I can't believe it! He is still SUCH a baby! But, he is changing every day, getting bigger and bigger and even though this next month I'll have to face reality, right now ignorance is bliss and I'm holding on to denial with a death grip. So there.

Here is what life with Sawyer has been like this month:

- They weighed him at the doctor yesterday when we went for his tube consult with the ENT and he's 23.4 pounds. Speaking of which, Sawyer will be getting a set of tubes 2 weeks from today, August 9. Poor baby!

- He's in 12 month clothes and wears size 4 diapers.

-He has 8 darling teeth; 4 on top, 4 on bottom.

- He goes to sleep between 7:30 and 8 every night. His naps are off right now as he is trying to go to one nap ... but it's just not working! Sometimes he takes a big 2 and a half hour nap in the morning and then a shorter afternoon nap, and then sometimes vice versa. Just depends.

- He drinks three 6oz bottles of formula a day ... but he really is over it. Sometimes he won't even finish them ... oh well. He prefers table food and still some baby food. He has become a huge eater! He would eat all day if I'd let him! Last night I looked over and Dalton had handed him a rib and he was just gnawing away- I should have snapped a pic. Such a mess!

- Just in time to start WALKING this month he has perfected his crawl and is super fast. No more army crawl for Sawyer ... I was starting to get concerned. ;)
But he has been taking lots of steps lately. We laugh and laugh every time. No matter how many kids you have, it's still fun, special and exciting to see them hit all their little milestones. Avery and Dalton both started walking just days before their first birthdays, so Sawyer I wasn't prepared for him to start walking!! With this has come something very new to me ... climbing. I am seriously scared to death of all the climbing Sawyer has been doing. He climbs up my kitchen chairs onto our table, on to the couch to the large side table, attempts to climb up shelves ... you name it, he's scaled it. When Sawyer is awake he is NOT allowed out of my sight. He is just too adventurous!

-He still loves music and dancing. I am constantly taking videos of him bouncing all around as soon as a tune starts up. He just bounces and bounces and bounces. It's the funniest thing!

- Still squealing with delight constantly ... I'm pretty sure he's damaged hearing in at least one of my ears.

- Will imitate lots of sounds we make and says dada and mama ...but if we say thankyou or uh-oh, he will make the sounds too ... definitely not audible words, but sweet little sounds.

- LOVES his big brother and sister and is constantly following them around, wrestling with Dalton (under intense supervision), and watches every move they make.

- Sawyer is still such a happy baby! Life is so much better with Sawyer here!

Here are some of my very favorite pics of you this month!

From 11 Months

Dear Sawyer,
I fall more in love with you and find something else that makes you even more special all the time. You brighten every day and are constantly a source of JOY for our family!! I'm praying Psalm 84:5 over your sweet life, that you would love Jesus so much and be powerful for His kingdom! "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee ..." May you be BLESSED by HIM, baby boy!!

You are darling and precious and delightful today, and everyday! Love you with my whole heart!!

XOXO,
Mommy

Weekend Update: Lake Lovin'

2011-07-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

We heart the lake ... a LOT!
For years and years we have gone to Shangri La on Lake Ouachita and in the summers it was our home away from home. We say it's one step up from camping, I'd give it "half a star" and thats for the pies. It's clean as a whistle, and right on the lake. But there hasn't been an updated in many, many moons. We don't even care. We love it!
However, the last few summers Mom and Dad have leased a condo at Mountain Harbor, right down from Shangri La for the summers. Being able to come and go without worrying about checking in or out, not to mention free lodging and meals for the all of us kids :) has been FABULOUSO!! We love it!! It has made our summers even more fun and our weekends always full of lake time!

We had another fun-filled weekend! Aaron couldn't come this time and I was so thankful that Asa and Emerson were there to help. They're the best built in babysitters ever! Sweet Sawyer went to Maw and Da's for some one-on-one time!

Wednesday Loves

2011-07-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hooray! One of my favorite blog days!

Here's what I'm loving this week ...

This is my new Otterbox cell phone cover ...
I went back and forth on the pink/purple because it's pretty teeny-bopperish. My natural instinct was to get the white ... but that's what every other girl in my fam has and it's confusing. I'm pretty sure mine will stand out now and I'm loving that! :)

When my great-grandmother, Gammy, died several years ago she left me these dishes. Really it's just these mugs and some little matching bowls. On the bottom of the cup in precious scripted writing says "Coalport Bone China; countryware." Love it.
I love that they were Gammy's. I love that they look vintage. And I love that they're smaller and more dainty than my big everyday PB mugs. Don't you love little dainty things? Flower vases, silverware, or just anything miniature: I am immediately smitten. (Not to be confused with nick-nacks ... which I don't tend to care for.) Maybe my love for little things has contributed to all these small children I have running around my house. :)

This is my new nail polish I'm rocking out this week. It's called "Chinchilly." I feel like "rocking out" is a good way to describe it since I usually go for either no nail polish or my OPI summery fav: Cajun Shrimp. This one feels kinda urban and chic ... Words that def don't describe my country-mommy-self. :) Stepping out this week.

I'm loving my baby Grinch this week. Just look at the resemblance! :) I love that throughout the day he'll be playing and then crawl over to lay his head in my lap for a minute and then cruise back off. Such a sweetie. **Loving my other two yayhoots, too!

MMMmmm!!! New fav! There are few recipes that I don't think would be better with heavy whipping cream. Tonight I'll grill some chicken, boil some bowtie pasta, toss in some diced tomatoes, artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese and this creamy goodness. Yummo! Love!

Ok, I have a few more but my kiddos are up and around and need me ... I'll leave you with ...

AH! I know ... it's total trash TV. But, Aaron and I love it. The showmances, bromances, unexpected twists and crazy casts of characters totally suck us in.

Hope you have a loverly Wednesday!

Ears

2011-07-12T16:23:00.001-07:00

This morning I took Sawyer to the doctor after he had quite a screaming fit last night. He wouldn't nap at all yesterday before finally drinking a bottle and crashing at 7 last night and not waking until 7:30 am. I brought him to the doctor and she confirmed he had two bad ear infections. Again. She said he probably hasn't ever gotten over his ear infection. That it's just been treating them for months. Lovely. Needless to say our sweet boy will be getting tubes in a few weeks.

I fought it with Avery and Dalton, but I would rather have a little surgery than A LOT of anti-biotics ... Yuck!

He was just as happy as could be in the doctors office ... Go figure!!

He's feeling better tonight! Bless him!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Weekend with the Cousins

2011-07-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend the kiddos had a blast playing with their cousins Ryley and Katie. Friday morning we met at Chuck E. Cheese and played and played! It's pretty much my kids favorite place. Dalton BEGS to go to "mac 'n cheese" all the time.

Sawyer SERIOUSLY ate 3 pieces of pizza ... no lie!

This little machine took your picture and then printed out different ID cards: stuntman, cheerleader, fire fighter, diva etc ... Ryley and Avery left with no less than 20 cards each.

Chucky came out holding a sign that read: "Follow Me for Free Tickets." The kids formed a little train and ended up in the middle of the play area where they turned on music to dance for tickets. Dalton IMMEDIATELY started boogeying his heart out- Avery was a little more reserved. :)

Saturday we woke up and started out for the in-laws who live about 45 minutes away. We went the their pool and swam ALL day!

Framer. :)

Not a framer ... but makes me laugh.

This was the closest I came to getting a pic of Ryley's flips off the diving board ... I couldn't believe how good they were!

"Momma, that was SO fun, I wanna do it again!" He said this EVERY time he jumped off the diving board!

So big!!!

When we got home we played outside and inside. Upstairs and downstairs. And everything in between! And then, something crazy happened. Something unbelievable.
Sawyer took his first couple steps. Ahhhh!!!! Lynda and I COULDN'T believe it! My sweet baby is so big!! Too big!! :(

Saturday morning I reached out to my Facebook friends for a strawberry pie recipe. I got several and plan on trying another out before making some for the lake next weekend. However, when I got to my mother-in-laws she gave me this one and I scurried to the store after we went swimming. It was WAY good!

I think what got me was the easy-peasiness of it. Baking is not my fav. I'll cook pretty much anything- but baking doesn't always work out for me. I'm always forgetting things like ... flour. With cooking you just keep working on it 'til it's perfect- baking you do your best and hope it turns out. Cooking is much more forgiving! All this to say, I want to be a better baker. Add that to my list. Oh, and this was a no-bake pie! Ha!
Should you care to make this summer treat here's how: Bake your pie crust and let cool. Cream one 8oz block of cream cheese with 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add in one container of cool whip and sliced Strawberries. Pour the mixture to the pie crust and refridgerate until it "sets." I drizzled some almond bark over the top and topped with a strawberry. I can't wait to try the other recipes!

We love going to Maw and Da's!!

Sunday morning we went to church and that afternoon Rachel and Ben came over for dinner. The boys shot bows and Rach and I watched the Jaycee Duggard story ... I still have goosebumps.

All poopied out ...

Sink baths! Sawyer's favorite!

It was a fun-filled weekend!

Unforgettables

2011-07-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Love my wee babes and the funny things they say ... :)

Last weekend we were at a festival and we walked by where all the police cars were parked. Avery was walking past with her mouth hanging open. Once we were gone she said, (hands on hips of course) "Um, mom. Like, did you see that police car? I mean, like I almost died."
When we got to the lake the next day my mom asked Dalton what we had been doing and he said, "We went to a wonderful festival."

Another funny happened when we were swimming one night at the pool at the lake and my mom was telling the kids it was time to go in.
Dede: "Okay, Avery it's time to get dried off so we can go inside and lie down."
Avery: "Oh but Dede, what will I wear tonight?"
(In case you haven't caught on, we have a full-fledged drama queen on our hands.)

Avery: "Ray Ray, let's play Jasmine."
Rachel: "Okay, how do you play?"
Avery: "Step 1: prepare to sing ... {breaks into song} ..."I can show you the world..." Step 2: well, you know step 2."

Avery was sharing some of her corn pops with Sawyer this week and they got stuck ALL in his hair! Made me laugh. :)

A lot of times at night I'll wrap up the kiddos in a towel after bathtime and say, "Oh, I'm gonna hold you like a baby!" But, Dalton has started beating me to it and saying, "Momma, Hold me like a Dalton."

"Like, Like, like, like, like, like." Every other word out of Avery's mouth is "Like" these days. LHM

Dalton has started saying "No Way!" all.the.time. Lovely.

Here he is with the itty, bitty froggy he caught.

That's all folks!!

Hope you have an Unforgettable Friday! :)

Wednesday Loves

2011-07-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

Lovin' that it's already Wednesday- that's for sure!!

First and Foremost ... air conditioning. Not kidding. Whether in the house or in the car, it just takes one walk to the mailbox to come in and be thankful. Thankyou, LORD for air conditioning!!!

This week at the grocery store I found this jewel:
Cinnamon Rolls in this resealable freezer bag! Ah! I love stuff like this! That means if just one person wants 1 cinnamon roll they can have it ... instead of throwing out 7. Or putting them in a Ziploc for 4 days and then tossing them. I'm easily excited ...
My mom had the mini-version which I think I'll get next time, I got the full size. But, don't you just love options? :)

I'm also loving the Kelly's Kids Fall Preview ... don't judge. I realize it's July ... but I still heart it. I was texting my sister pics from the catalogue last week almost giddy that she will have a baby boy we can add to the matching madness this holiday season. When I first saw the preview on-line I wasn't crazy about it. BUT, when I got the catalogue I started making a little wish list. But, seeing all the little coordinating outfits and picturing my three yayhoots in them I changed my tune. I added it up and the amount rivaled my mortgage. I practically threw the catalogue across the room! Whoops! Maybe this one is more of a love/hate relationship!
This one is my fav ... My mother-in-law has me convinced we can make this. And in July, I believe it. However, as the Holidays creep closer I'm sure there will be some KK packages arriving on my doorstep...

I'm also loving my Coppertone babies tanlines! They are always running around here half naked- or this morning while they were "rabbit spotting" fully naked.

I'm just loving (as always) The Pioneer Woman. I rarely cook the same thing twice (except like spaghetti, tacos, burgers etc) ... like recipes I have to look up directions on. I love finding recipes in Southern Living, Bon Appetit, or some of my favorite blogs butI just feel like PW never disappoints! Tonight I'm making her lasagna ...
When I went on her site to get the link I just found this pasta recipe and it looks pretty yummy, too. Definitely bookmarking that! Some of our other favorites are her Sherried Tomato Soup, Pot Roast, Meatloaf (to which I even devoted a whole blog post to here)and her Creamy Herbed Potatoes. And many, many more!! If you don't have her cookbook, you should get it!

**Sidenote: Maybe I should add Hyperlinks to my loves this week ... I'm getting a little crazy with those! Sorry!

Lastly, I'm loving the song Glorious Day by Casting Crowns ... the lyrics are awesome and I can't get the chorus out of my head.

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a Virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He

Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He

Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

'Cause living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/casting-crowns-lyrics/glorious-day-(living-he-loved-me)-lyrics.html]

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore

Death could not hold Him
The grave could not keep Him from rising again

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day
Glorious day

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my beloved one bringing
My Savior Jesus is mine

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day
Glorious day, oh, glorious day

Hope you have a loverly Wednesday!

4th of July Fun!!

2011-07-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

I think the 4th of July has always secretly been my favorite holiday. It's filled with my favorite people, super carefree and low stress, at my favorite place: Lake Ouachita!! Of course, with all these babies we limited our lake time to two days. We still did some fun things to lead up to it!
Friday night I drove to HSV to pick-up Avery and Dalton from their last night at Vacation Bible School. When I saw them singing their little song and jumping all around I almost lost it. Okay, okay ... totally lost it!! I can't believe my babies are so big!! After showing me their classrooms and saying bye to their friends and teachers, they begged to play outside ... I complied!

Love this picture of him. :)

Saturday morning we went down the street to our town's family festival. It. Was. So. Hot. But, we tried to make the best of it!

From 4th

Saturday night, we went over to Aaron's aunt and uncle's house to play. Avery and Dalton LOVE to go over and play with their cousin Maci. Between a farm full of animals, a closet full of dress up clothes and mimicking Maci's every move- it's paradise!

Then finally Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Mountain Harbor.

There we met my parents, Emerson, Rachel and Ben, and Ben and Sarah Baker. They had all been there since Thursday. My mom and SB stayed inside Sunday to keep Sawyer- it was just too hot for him! When we were leaving, I accidentally grabbed my phone instead of my camera so I didn't take as many pictures. :( I hardly took any pictures this weekend, really! We were barely out of the water and when I was there were usually two babies in my lap! But, it was a super fun day with all our favorite lake friends!

Mom took this with her phone so it's not great quality- but it still makes me laugh. Loved being with all my favorite peeps!

Monday morning Aaron, Ben W, Emerson, Avery and Dalton went on their annual trail ride. And they always send cute pics and videos!

From 4th

On Monday my mom insisted again to stay in with Sawyer! We only stayed out a few hours, because a huge storm blew in. I've never seen lightening so close!

They fell asleep as soon as we buckeled them in. After we FINALLY got home Aaron wanted to take them to watch the fireworks at the park by our house. Sawyer was DONE so we stayed home and they went. But, we still did some celebrating. ;)

Aaron met up with the Fleeman's there and I stole this pic off Christy's page! Thanks girl!

From 4th

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th! So thankful for all those who have sacrificed for our country in so many ways!

"If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." John 8:36

Unforgettables

2011-07-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

I feel like with this VBS schedule I've barely seen my big yayhoots this week! However, they have still said a few fun things in passing... :)

Monday, Aaron was still in the hospital and SB came to take Avery and Dalton to lunch. She wanted to take them to see Cars 2, but I couldn't take Sawyer and I just thought that would be alot for her. Especially since she is 6 months pregnant!
They ended up going to A's favorite,Purple Cow and then to read books at Barnes and Noble. Dalton was being crazy and Avery was really upset about it. At one point Dalton kept asking to go play on the playground and Sarah Baker was trying to explain there wasn't one (poor Dalton doesn't go to many non-fast-food restaurants! Ha!) Anyway, Avery finally snapped: "Dalton, this is Purple Cow and there is not a playground here. You just sit at this table and color and be quiet. If you're really good you get a milkshake. So be quiet." I think that was how the afternoon was generally going- Dalton not being on his best behavior. Mom ended up coming to get D and she took just Avery to see Cars 2. When Dalton woke up from his nap he power- walked up to Avery and said, "where did you go? Where did you GO?" He just knew he had missed something!
Avery felt terrible ... can't you tell?

The other day Sawyer fussed out in the middle of the night. He does this sometimes but he never actually wakes up or cries or needs up to get him. Anyway, Avery came running out to tell Aaron.
Avery: Daddy, Daddy! The baby is crying! He wants out!
Aaron: No, he just fussed for a second. He's back asleep now.
Avery: Aaron, are you NOT going to go in there? I can;t do it, it's not my responsibility!

Before VBS yesterday I was painting Avery's nails. We have a silly rule that I only paint hers pink- red just looks so grown up. But, I was going to do red with white polka dots for 4th of July. I didn't think about it breaking our rule until Avery said, "Mommy, I wasn't ready to grow up. I just wanted to stay this size." I asked her what she meant and she reminded me. She doesn't miss a thing.

Lastly, Lynda said during bible time every night Mrs. Peggy says, "Who's the King of this kitchen?" and the first couple nights Dalton would scream out "Lion!" (He watches The Lion King alot) Bahaha! I think he's got it figured out now!

Hope everyone has a Happy 4th!!!

Wednesday Loves

2011-06-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

Ahhh ... breaking back into our normal routine again and it feels good! Aaron went back to work today and I'm doing some house work and jammin' out to the Kari Jobe station on Pandora. Love ;)

So, what am I loving this Wednesday? I'm so glad you asked, let me tell you ...

This is my crock-pot. I love it. No, really. Last night I made this yumminess off Tasty Kitchen's website (another love).
There were several of Aaron's friends at our house last night watching a baseball game and all the MEN were asking for this recipe- it was super yummy! And ALL I did was cook chicken tenderloins in a bottle of Italian dressing on low for 4 hours. Then I stirred in a packet of McCormick's chicken taco seasoning in and let it cook for 20 more minutes. Then I just shredded up the chicken to load on to tostadas with all our fav taco fixin's. Super yummy and the crock-pot did all the work. PLUS, huge bonus is how yummy your kitchen smells all afternoon! Mmmmm!!

Earbuds: This isn't my iphone, I can't take a pic of mine bc I would need to use it to take the pic and I'm too lazy to go get out my camera and take a real picture of my phone ... so thanks Google. Anyway, my BFF, Caroline, reminded me that the earbuds that came with my iPhone (not the ones in the pic) double as a handsfree device ... Ummmm. My life is FOREVER changed. LOVE isn't a strong enough word. Thanks Cabs!

This week my kiddos are going to VBS at my in-laws church. It's at night and they live about 45 minutes away. So every night they spend the night with my in-laws and then my mother-in-law brings them home mid-morning while she goes into work for a few hours and then picks them BACK up in the afternoon after naps for the night. Are you following me here?!?! This is fantastic!!! And the kiddos love it!

Dalton is saying "Shake it Up!" the theme to their VBS this year.

Last but not least is this watch ...

SB left it over here the other night and I put it on yesterday and I've decided I really like it. I think I like this Michael Kors one better, though. Betsey Johnson is a little weird for me, ha! I don't think I'm cool enough for Betsey!
Hint Hint, Aaron! ;)

Ok, I think some laundry is calling! Hope everyone has a loverly Wednesday!!

Always Something ...

2011-06-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Aaron had planned to be out of town this weekend. Lynda offered to keep Sawyer and I took the opportunity to take Avery and Dalton to the lake with my family. Between weddings, our trip the beach and just general busyness, it was our first trip this year and we were all three so excited!
Mom picked us up and we left Friday afternoon for Lake Ouachita. We went to Shangri La to eat catfish per my request, swam and then went to bed early. I woke up early after a whole night of uninterrupted, glorious sleep and sat out on the deck looking at the lake.

It's just my favorite place to be- How beautiful is Arkansas?!?!? We spent the day swimming in the pool and playing in the lake and then swimming in the pool again after dinner. A and D are such water babies!
(P.S. There are a couple naked swimming pics of Dalton here, I feel the need to say they were all taken in about a 3 minute span before we made him put his swimsuit on there ... Just so ya know! Ha!)

We're trying to explain to Dalton he can't strip down all the time ... we're working on it.

Beiber

Waking up with Bubby.

Hanging out with some of my Wednesday Loves from this week! :)

Avery loves her Pop Pop!

After a full day on the lake, cooking up a yummy dinner, and almost having a heart attack watching the movie Taken I saw my phone ringing and it was Aaron. He could barely form a sentence, finally getting out, "I'm in the ER... I'm fine... Here's Lauren." Aaron had been umpiring all afternoon and helping with a baseball tournament that morning. He ended up calling behind the plate the last two games (meaning he had to wear a bunch of additional gear), and knew he was getting overheated, but thought he could tough it out. As soon as he got off the field he started getting sick. He went home, took a cold shower and laid on the couch- still didn't feel wellcontinuing to throw up. He called his friend Cody, an EMT and firefighter who lives across the street to come over and see if he should go see someone. Cody was gone, but sent his girlfriend, Lauren over who is an RN. By this time Aaron's hands and feet were cramped up and contorted, he couldn't stop sweating and his face was super pale. Lauren walked in and said the first thing she said was, "Can you get to my car? If not, we need to call 911." She said she knew he needed to go to the ER immediately. Cody met them there, they immediately hooked Aaron up to fluids and started running tests.

I left the lake around 11pm, got to the ER after midnight, and found them still in a trauma room in the ER. Expecting to get a couple bags of fluid and leave, we were surprised that they kept him until Monday afternoon. I think the final diagnosis was acute renal insufficiency, extreme heat exhaustion and severe dehydration. The doctors were really concerned and said it was right on the verge of a heat stroke as his kidneys were shutting down as well as his muscles. He was just saying the nurse told him they had given him over 1000 mL of fluid in 48 hours. The Doctors made sure we knew how serious it was and how important it was to take precautions from now on.
Dr.B said just to function on a normal day every person should be drinking half their body weight in ounces- so if you weigh 100lbs, you should drink 50oz of water a day. Limit yourself to one caffinated beverage a day. If you know you'll be in the heat the next day, double up on your water intake the day before. DURING your game, time outside or whatever you need to drink Gatorade/Powerade/Propel. Water is just flushing everything out and depleting your fluids- you need the electroltyes. He said if you're drinking during the day it's probably too late! Good reminders!!

He's finally home, resting up and drinking LOTS of fluids! SO thankful he's ok!!

Perfect 10

2011-06-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Sawyer turned 10 months old this week! We are so blessed each and every day by his precious self and the Boone house wouldn't be complete without him! Something about 10 months is hitting me hard (do I say that every month? Don't answer that.) It's getting wayyyy too close to a year old! And he is still SUCH a baby- he cannot be 10 months old!! I will not cry, I will NOT cry ...

Here's what life has been like with Sawyer this month:

-We went to the doctor yesterday because he had cried all night, but he was fine and dandy. He weighed 22.5 pounds. Still right in the middle for weight!

- He DID however have two new teeth coming in on the bottom! Goodness gracious! That will make 4 on the bottom to go with 4 on the top. And Sawyer is not scared to use them! We're all bruised up from his biting- stinker! Dalton just doesn't understand why Sawyer doesn't get in trouble for biting! ;)

- He is in 12 month clothes and size 3/4 diapers.

- He still goes to sleep between 8-8:30 every night. He wakes up around 7-7:30 most mornings. Sometimes he sleeps until 8!

- He takes a morning 2 hour nap, and an afternoon nap for about 2 hours.

- He drinks three 7oz bottles a day and is eating a mix of baby food and table food.

- He still is rockin' out his army crawl- and we die laughing about how fast he is! When we are outside or on carpet he will crawl up on all fours- but at our house on the hardwoods he just won't do it! I selfishly am dying for him to walk because he is always filthy from dragging his body all on the ground- not to mention all the damage he's doing to his cute monograms and appliques! ;)

- He cruises all around the couch, tables and anything else he can hold on to.

- LOVES music and loves to dance! As soon as a song comes on he starts squealing and dancing- it's way cute! I spend way too much time dancing around the house with him!

- He has the highest pitched scream/squeal I've ever heard. He just squeals all. the. time. He also says "dada!" I work day and night to get a "mama." No luck yet!

- Shakes his little head for "no!" And imitates other things. We're working on some baby sign language- maybe he'll know some by next month!

- Really loves patty-cake and peek-a-boo. Whenever he sees Aaron he can't quit clapping because of all the "patty-caking" they do!

- He is so content! Just the happiest thing!

Sawyer with his very favorite toy. :)

Dear Sawyer,
EVERY day you make me smile and remind me of God's grace and love for us, too. You are one of my MOST precious treasures and I'll love you with my whole heart forever and always!
XOXO,
Mommy

3 years. (+ one week)

2011-06-23T20:11:00.001-07:00

Bubba's Belated Birthday!

Dalton's birthday was a week ago ... June 16. But, he's still 3, so we can talk about it now! ;)

Dalton is my crazy child. I have said on several occasions that I totally don't deserve Avery, she's just way too sweet, thoughtful, always delightful, always polite etc ... But, that Dalton, well I totally deserve him. ;) He is still as much of a mess as ever. Yesterday I found him on the top shelf of my closet (which is taller than I am) ... Just sitting up there with his hands on his hips. Naked. He is fearless. LHM.

However, there has never been a bigger Momma's boy! He still melts my heart every day. He can be the sweetest boy that has ever lived! His blonde hair and long eyelashes don't hurt either. Here he is swinging with his daddy waking up to be a big 3 year old.

Couldn't you just eat him?

Since Dalton and Avery had already had their party we just planned to let D pick some of his fav things to do. After waking up on his birthday, he announced he was "tree yeers ode" and wanted to get donuts. So, we did. He also requested "Mac 'N Cheese" which after a while I finally figured out meant Chuck E. Cheese. We played and played. He rode the horsey game at least 5 times, ate lots of pizza and birthday cake and even danced with Chuck E. However, with all the "fun" I didn't snap one picture! But, Dalton loved it! Afterward, we went to Dede's house for naps and to Target to pick out some happies for Easton's bday party. I did take a picture with my phone of that ...

I think I was still on overload from all the pics I took at the beach!

I have to put what Aaron put on Facebook on D's birthday, I just thought it was the sweetest thing and I don't want to forget!
Aaron posted the picture below with the caption beneath.

"Happy 3rd Birthday to Dalton "Bubba" Boone ... Such a blessing! All the reasons that men want at least one son! Love ya bud!"

Love that Aaron Boone. :) And he loves you, D.

Dalton weighs 36 pounds, wears 3T clothes, size 10 shoes, and is all boy. He is by far the biggest boy in his class at MDO, but one of the youngest!
His favorite foods are chicken tenders with honey mustard, Mac 'n cheese, and ribs- ha! ;) But, he will eat just about anything! (And then say "mmm-mmm, my Fay-Wit!!")
He is a great sleeper, most nights he's asking to go to bed! He usually sleeps around 8:30-8:30. And he still takes great naps in the afternoon for several hours.
He loves going to school and very friendly and playful. His teachers love him!
He still just loves animals! Any and ALL animals ... He is rarely without one. But, here is his new favorite ...

Meet Goose! This is D's b-day present! Goose is a 4 year old black lab; he's very much an outside/hunting dog but if Aaron is gone and I get skeered, he's allowed to come in. I finally agreed to a dog as long as it lives outside and was far from the puppy stage. ;). So ... Here is Goose. To say D has a new BFF
is an understatement. He tells EVERYONE about Goose! Lovesss him!!
Dalton is also VERY protective! He is quick to stand up for his mommy, sissy, or Baby Sawyer.

Dalton Davis Boone,
You are SUCH a light to our family! You make every day more fun and I am just head over heels in love with you. You are the best helper, sweetest snuggler, sneakiest hide-and-seeker and your love of life is precious. I'm SO blessed to be your mommy!
XOXO

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday Loves

2011-06-22T09:17:00.001-07:00

It's that time again ... What I'm Loving Wednesday! Get pumped!

These are two of my favorite treats ... have you tried them? They are both deee-licious. I could eat pounds of the peanut butter pretzels- they are the perfect combination of salty, sweet, and crunchy! I also love Lipton's Green Tea in the Citrus flavor ... My favorite summer beverage. At the lake and pool I am rarely without one! I've been trying to stick with bottled water at home ... Hmph.

These are my fav jams right now ;) The Band Perry and Eric Church. Love, love, love them. ESPECIALLY The Band Perry's single, "You Lie" Love me some bluegrass. And Eric Church is great, too!

Chances are, if you're reading my blog, You're a woman. And chances are if you're a woman, you have some anxiety or something you worry about. I read this book about once a year- it's fabulous. I re-read it at the beach and boo-hooed in the sand ... It's really of my favorite books ever. You should read it!

Last, but not least, I'm really loving the hubs this week. Obviously, I love him all the time- just some weeks more than others! ;) I think he's even cuter and funnier than he usually is this week ... I'll take it!

Hope you have a loverly Wednesday!!

Beach Vacay ... Part V

2011-06-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well, this was our last day on the beach. I remember feeling ready to go home and now I'm dying to go back! I'm telling myself all of our upcoming lake weekends will have to suffice, I do heart the lake!

FRIDAY

Friday Sawyer woke up way early ... We laid around the condo,I ate WAY too much cheese danish and coffee and Sawyer had his daily Oatmeal. We finally ventured down to the beach around 5 and after a long walk he fell asleep and I took him back to his bed. It was still early so I took all my bible study stuff back to the beach. I think I had had unrealistic expectations that I would get to sit on the beach with my coffee and studies every morning alone ... but spending mornings on the patio or on the beach with Sawyer were great alternatives. :) I stayed out there for a long time and even though I wouldn't trade living in Arkansas for anything in the whole world, having a quiet time in front of the Ocean is crazy amazing. I was so in awe of how BIG God is while looking at one of his most magnificent creations. I'm sure that sounds like a big "DUH" but I don't think I'll ever forget that morning. It was undoubtedly a highlight of the trip.

We stayed out all day ... playing, wading and taking in the last day at the beach. At one point Avery said, "Are we really going home tomorrow? That's the saddest thing I ever heard."
When we first got out there we saw a 2.5 ft shark that had washed up on the shore. YUCK and SCARY. Throw in the fact that there were people fishing everywhere and pretty much throwing chum in the water catching baby sharks left and right, we stayed on the sand. I really don't like the ocean, anyway. I've seen Jaws too many times. I love looking at it and listening to it ... thats about it.
The kids preferred the pool anyway, so they swam in the pool a lot, too.

From BEACH 2011

I did make him put pants on after this ... but had to take a picture first. :)

Digging for crabs while I packed up the condo.

Saturday we woke up and headed home ... It was a great Vacation and we loved it all!

Well, except for the drive ... :)

THE END

Beach Vacay ... Part IV

2011-06-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still blogging about our Vacay. Tomorrow we'll wrap up the whole trip- but today we'll talk about our Thursday on the Beach! :)

THURSDAY

Thursday may have been the MOST fun day! Possibly because I THRIVE with activity, and this day was fun-filled!

Sawyer was up at 4:30 and was laughing so hard in his crib I had to get him out of there before he woke everyone up. We walked along the beach, watched the dolphins jump high, and steered clear of all the freaky cranes on the beach ...

These things are scary enough 30 yards away when Aaron was sitting right next to me. Much less when I'm carrying a tasty morsel like Sawyer around and they want to get 10 ft from me! We ventured back to the condo around 5:30. Up until this trip Sawyer had had a pretty limited diet of Organic and somewhat riduclously priced baby food. It was THE ONLY baby food he would eat so I decided it was worth it. HOWEVER, throughout the week Sawyer decided he was ready for other foods as all his siblings and cousins kept sneaking him treats. This week he had powdered donuts, glazed donuts, fried pickled, cheetos, halibut, ice cream, pizza, mac 'n cheese, grilled chicken, turkey ... pretty much whatever we ate, he ate! HILARIOUS! He squealed with delight over each new thing! Needless to say, he is now on a less fancy diet at home!

This is after he grabbed a bowl of powdered donuts of the couch one morning ... he was in love at first bite! :)

Later that morning we said bye-bye to Aaron's dad, who had to drive on back to Arkansas. We were sad to see him go!

After Da' left we hurried down to the beach to watch Ryley and Ashley PARASAIL! It was super fun and the kids got a big kick out of seeing them go right by us on the beach!

Avery had been completely scared of the ocean all week, but Thursday she would at least put her feet in. We had a fun day in the sand!

From BEACH 2011

KJ was anxiously waiting on her Mommy to return!

Around noon Aaron and Lynda took the big babes back to the pool and condo while Ash, Sawyer, KJ, and I stayed on the beach a little longer. KJ and Sawyer took their naps out there again- sweet babies!
That night we did the unthinkable! We took the whole crew to dinner! They actually were pretty good!

After dinner I realized we were going to have to do family pictures that night if they were going to happen ... so off we went to the beach for ... you heard me- MORE pictures! :)

We ended the day with a dip in the pool! We love Vacation!

Beach Vacay ... Part III

2011-06-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

The Beach continued to get better and better ... I really can't say enough good things about the trip! It was amazing to have SO much help for a week - PLUS being on the beach for a week. We just LOVED it!

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday morning Sawyer slept in until 6:30, which meant I did, too!! Compared to 4:30, 6:30 is like noon! :) Avery woke up around 7:30 and we went to run to the grocery store and Walgreens for some more beach toys, magazines, and nail polish before the rest of the hoodlums woke up. We hurried back to get ready for another day in the sand that Dalton decided he was OBSESSED with being buried in! Other highlights included KJ falling in love with jumping in the waves, playing catch on the beach and eating lunch under the tent. Also, we taught Avery to say "OMG," but she kept getting confused and saying, "JFK." So stinkin' funny.

He's asleep here!!

Love, Love.

Stinker

That afternoon a dark storm moved in that threatened to rain, but never did. We went in early and Rick and Lynda escaped to get a bite to eat before it got too busy. After they got home Aaron, Avery, and I joined Ashley and Ryley to go grab a yummy dinner out. Once we got home from dinner we went down the beach to hunt for crabs and shells ... and take pictures. :) We ended the night with baths ... AKA a dip in the pool. Ha!

He's always cute, but he's REALLY cute in the summer! :)

I'm having withdrawals!!

Beach Vacay ... Part II

2011-06-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Beach Week Continues! Hooray!

TUESDAY

Another morning on the beach by 9am ... Score! It was another great day at the beach (and as I'm typing this and Dalton has climbed out of bed to "tell me something" for the 19th time, somewhere I'm longing to be back at!!) Day 3 we loved hunting for shells, walks by the beach, trips to the pool and just BEING together!

Ash and KJ

Lovey

Then that afternoon we headed out for a little shopping and then brought back pizza and birthday cake for the kiddos. Ryley, Avery, and Dalton all have birthdays just a few weeks apart so we had a little birthday party at the beach!

They were WAY excited to take this picture!

I'm pretty sure this has inspired their Halloween costumes for this year ... too early?

I love these people!

Another fun day ... Stay tuned for more!

Beach Vacay ... Part I

2011-06-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend we returned home from a super fun family vacay. We went with Aaron's parents, his sister Ashley and her two kiddos Ryley (7) and Katie Jo (18 months) to Orange Beach, Alabama. Ashley's hubby Clay was super missed as he stayed home working! We had a blast relaxing, playing and enjoying the luxury of having no where to be for a week. Ahhhhh .... I came home with over 800 pictures of the trip. Yes, you read that correctly ... 800. I fear that somewhere in time my 30 year old children are rolling their eyes and saying, "geez Mom ... really?!?!" On one of the last days I asked Avery to smile and she huffed, threw her hands on her hips dramatically and said "Mom, why do you take pictures of everything I do here, everyday? It's ridiculous!" Bahaha I laughed and laughed. And laughed some more. Because of my picture taking disorder I will be dividing the trip into a few posts. I have spent the last couple days making the CUTEST little book on Shutterfly ... and posted pics on Facebook. So hopefully I can contain myself from picture overload on the blog. But, no promises!! ;)

All the deets:
We had originally planned to leave at midnight Friday night so we could get there around 11 on Saturday morning. However, I came down with a terrible 24 hour stomach bug around 4 o'clock Friday afternoon. I tried to look on the bright side thinking of it as a pre-bikini wearing diet-detox ... yeah. We FINALLY got on the road around noon Saturday rolling in around 10pm. The drive wasn't terrible ... but I really don't wanna do it again anytime soon either!

SUNDAY
Sunday was our first day on the beach. It was kind of a "transition" day ... I had to let go of routine, expectations and schedules and adjust to beach time! It didn't take too long. :) I think the kids changed swimsuits at least twelve times, we played outside, and cooked a big dinner. It was a great first day! I didn't take many pictures the first day- I was still figuring everything out ...but don't worry, I made up for it later!

Sawyer was my only kiddo that didn't sleep well there. He arose bring and early at 4:30am almost every day ... ummm. Not what time I pictured my vacation mornings starting. I could usually hold him off until 5-5:30 but after that we were up. We spent a LOT of time on the beach early in the morning. But, on the plus-side that meant seeing sunrises and LOTS of dolphin sightings. Plus, something about babies is even more precious in the morning ... see!!!

Avery burying Ryley in the sand

Sawyer took countless naps on the beach! He was SO good the whole trip!

MONDAY
I can't say enough wonderful things about Monday ... it was perfect. I was literally giddy walking off the beach that day. :) Of course, it started VERY early again but then the other kiddies started rousing and by 9:00 we were in the sand. We played and swam and by 11, Aaron took the big kiddos to the pool and the fed them lunch and put them down for naps. This means I was on the beach solo (Ash was there a bunch too!)for almost 4 hours. Glory Hallelujah. After naps the kids swam in the pool a little more and Rick and Lynda brought home a Seafood Feast! It was delicious! After dinner the kiddos played baseball in the yard and then swam some more while Ash and I watched some of The Bachelorette. We ended the night going out for ice cream and one last dip in the pool! It was a fantabulous day!

To be continued ...

Unforgettables

2011-06-04T10:46:00.001-07:00

These are a day late because I spent most of the day throwing up after a terrible virus that has gone through the fam ... The things I'll do for a bikini bod. I kid, I kid ...

But HERE are some things that made us laugh this week:

Aaron took Avery and Dalton to see a movie this weekend and during the show a Moose came on the screen. Aaron said Dalton all but stood up in his seat SCREAMING, "Daddy! Daddy! Do you see that moose?" Aaron tried to hush him down, but before he could Dalton shouted out, "I want to shoot that moose!" Aaron said everyone around them busted out laughing. That boy is such a mess! Then when there were about 30 minutes left of the movie, Avery stood up and said, "I'm over this. Let's go out to the lobby and play games." LHM.

During my bible study time I kinda browse through past studies if I'm not doing a group study during that time. Lately I kinda continually look through Jennie Allen's study, STUCK. There is usually at least one of the places in there I can relate to and it gives me comfort to read directly on that subject. Anyway, this is the cover:

However, Dalton carries it around the house like this:

Can you guess why? He thinks the upside down pic looks like his Manny toy- his favorite Wooly Mammoth from Ice Age! :) He's always asking me where Sid and Diego are? He's the funniest thing.

We have been watching Toy Story 3 every day lately. They go in phases of favorite movies and right now "ToyToryTree" as Dalton would say is at the top of the list. Anyway, a couple days ago Avery saw this Strawberry Bear character and said, "Did you know he smells like strawberries! I wish I smelled like strawberries? Do I, Mama?" I laughed so hard.

"Mommy, let's take a picture. " So we did. ;)

Lately if I've gotten all ready to go somewhere Dalton will say (In THE sweetest voice) "Mommy, you're beautiful!" And if I've just gotten him all ready he asks, "Am I handsome?"

Avery came running in my room yesterday saying, "Mama, look right now! Just look at my belly! Can't you see I'm starving?"

Last weekend Avery kept asking if she could go spend the night with Maw. She was wanting to go RIGHT then, too. I told her Maw was at church, but we'd call her later. A couple hours later we saw a church service on TV and Avery kept saying, "I don't see Maw! Maw's not there! Were you just kidding? She is not with those people."

Found this is the fridge ... Apparently he just bit right through the wrapper.

A few nights ago I was running some errands with the kids and Aaron was inside. I was putting Sawyer in the car and then yelled inside for the kiddos to come on. Aaron said he said, " Avery,Tell your mommy I love her." and Avery said, "Ok daddy. Thank you for marrying her."

This morning Dalton put his arm around Avery and said, "That's my sister." Avery threw her arm around him too and said, "yeah and you're my brother. Do you know what that means? It means we'll be together forever." Tear.

How different does Sawyer look with wet hair!?!?

We've been playing a LOT with my friend Brooke's kids ... She snapped this picture this week and it just cracks me up!

Yay for the weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

All Growed Up.

2011-06-02T18:40:00.001-07:00

Mothers Day Out has been one of the best things to happen to me since having kids. Seriously. It gives me a chance to rest, clean (since I had to trade in the housekeeper for MDO-Ha) and just do what needs doing. Avery and Dalton totally love it, too. They love their teachers, their friends, and just all that comes with "school." Yesterday was the last day of the Spring session and I've seen several people post their kiddos first and last days ... So here are the Boone kids.

Hard to believe their first day was on a Monday, and a few days later on Thursday Baby Sawyer was born! :) oh, how much has changed! They are just the sweetest babies! Even if they did almost make me throw a hissy fit tonight in Target, right there in front of God and everyone ... but we won't dwell on the bad.
But that reminds me that Glory, Hallelujah their "summer break" is only one week long. They have a summer program too which we will be taking full advantage of! :)

Yay for Mothers Day Out!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday Loves

2011-05-31T18:13:00.000-07:00

Happy June!! My favorite time of the year is here, and this June we have so many fun things coming up I can just barely stand it!
I'm doing some more Wednesday Loves again this week ... I think it's good for my soul to concentrate on silly happies every once in a while ...

MAGAZINES!!! I totally love finding magazines in the mailbox ... these are my four faves. Of course, I rarely find time to read them- but I actually have gotten through all these and they were lovely.

The Swap Shoppe OK, so as much as I act like The Swap Shoppe wears me out, I actually totally love it. I realized that this time I totally procrastinated and didn't do ANYTHING until like 3 days before my sale (which was responsible for most of my stress, duh.) and then threw it together. So really if I had just done a little here and there it would have been done. Lesson learned. Thankful for a way to make some extra moolah to support my silly love of cute kiddo clothes and eBay splurging that I doubt the hubs will ever understand. :)

Pool Dayysss!!! Have I already done this one? I don't even care. It just doesn't get old. I totally heart the pool and so do the kids. Did I mention I lovveee summer?!?!

Zzzzzz... Sawyer has been sleeping 12 hours a night over the last week ... and it's glorious. GLORIOUS!!! That means Avery, Dalton AND Sawyer all sleep until around 8' oclock every day giving me plenty of time to wake up, have some quiet time, a cup of coffee with a ridiculous amount of coffeemate and even pick up a little or do a load of never-ending laundry before they're up. Eek! Pinch me!

Streams in the Desert: by L.B. Cowman I forgot about this daily living book that I used to love and surpirse, surprise- I love it still. I've been reading through it most mornings and it brings in SO much perspective. I am so grateful for all of God's blessings and sad that I can let little things rock my world sometimes. I typically do pretty well with not letting things ruffle my feathers. But then, every once in a while a little thing can irk me for days: a comment from a friend, a huffy cashier, or a mean e-mail when I totally forgot to ship a Swap Shoppe purchase. Anyway, I love this book and the quotes in it totally quench my Spirit ... I can't quit thinking about this one from May 29th ...

"Speak thou to Him for He heareth,
And spirit with spirit will meet!
Nearer is He than breathing.
Nearer than hands and feet."

-Maltbie D. Babcock

Hope you have a loverly Wednesday!!

Boone Birthday!

2011-05-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

In lieu of Unforgettables this week I bring you an Unforgettable Event ... the Boone Birthday Bash!

Today we celebrated Avery and Dalton's birthdays!! Summertime is always so busy and I feel like we already have plans for every weekend until the middle of August, so doing a double party for Avery and Dalton (with birthdays just a few weeks apart) is almost a must! It was very low key and with several of the kiddos from our playgroup. But, the kids felt like they had a great party and I think Avery and Dalton had a blast! We had it at my parent's house and it was perfect weather. We couldn't have asked for a better day!!

Avery ran in and went RIGHT to her presents!

Mom got A and D these cute Plasmacars ... super fun!

They were a big hit!

My grandparents were in town for my cousins graduation and got to come!

Thanks Mom for making everything perfect!

Lots of friends came to play! Here is cutie patootie Lylah.

Sarah Baker and Emily with Sawyer and Lucy.

Emily and baby Lucy.

From A and D b-day party!

Love this picture of my sweet baby boy.

Sawyer sure LOVES to snuggle on his Maw.

Pretty baby Hadley.

Hudson is such a stud! He was shooting baskets left and right.

One of my favorite pictures of the whole day! Love this!

Lylah meeting the horsey.

Asa and S.

Pony rides!!

My precious babies!!

Gracie!

Max is now destined to be a Cowboy. He LOVED the pony rides!!

Oh! This makes me smile!

Dalton's fav toy ... his wolf walking stick ...

He has napped with this thing, wouldn't ride home without it by his side. Loovveess it! He saw it in Wal-Mart last week and fell in LOVE! He is the funniest kid I know.

Obviously this is a ridiculously horrible picture of me, BUT just wanted proof that I was there, too! Ha!

LOOVVEEE, love you little Boonie Babies!!! Happy Birthday to y'all!!!

Love Potion #9

2011-05-26T07:51:00.001-07:00

9 Months.

This little booger here is 9 months old. What. The. Heck.
I feel like I JUST posted the 8 month post!! This month has flownnnn by and I feel like I have hit a height of all time busyness! I am about to really cut out some stuff so we can spend as many lazy days as possible this summer at the lake and pool.
I don't think much has changed around here in the last few weeks ... But here's what's going on with our favorite NINE month old!

-Sawyer falls asleep whereever he is by 8:30 if you haven't put him in his crib. But he prefers to go night-night at 8. He greets the day at around 6:30, sometimes earlier. I try to get him a bottle quickly so he'll go back to sleep and I can get some quiet time ... Sometimes that works out, sometimes not.

-He still takes a big morning nap for a couple hours and then his afternoon nap is hit or miss. The days that the kids don't have MDO I can usually get them all down at the same time and it's fabulous.

-To add to his bottom toofies, I mean teeth, he is in the process of getting FOUR top teeth. That has been the cause of many sleepless nights and two lovely ear infections we found out yesterday. My babes always get ear infections when they're teething. But he's had a couple doses of his anti-biotic now and is already crawling around happily.

-On that note I should mention he is still rocking out a crazy army crawl. It is just the funniest little thing!

-He is also pulling up on everything! Scaring me to death, Sawyer! I have found him in the silliest places. Including, but not limited to bookshelves, laundry baskets, up on the couch (thanks Dalton), hiding in the back of my closet ... The list goes on. He also DIVES out of his exersaucer. He's over it.

-This month he is weighing in at 21 pounds, wearing 9-12 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

-Still loving all his baby food and even snacks on some soft table food. He's still losing interest in bottles (who could blame him) he drinks three 6oz a day. He is also very content to sit in high chair and eat puffs, goldfish, or crackers. He also majorly hearts his juice cup. Lovesss it.

-We moved him into a big boy seat this month. He's so happy in his new big chair. He giggles and squeals looking out the window. Look at this big boy!

-He is QUITE the jibber-jabberer.
Always babbling about something- just like his mommy.

Sawyer,
You melt my heart more and more every day! You are perfectly precious and delightfully darling! Love you with my WHOLE heart!!
XOXO

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Avery's 4th Birthday

2011-05-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Avery,

Four years ago today I woke up at 5:30am after a night of tossing and turning in anticipation to meeting my first baby the next day. I got up, took a shower and fixed my hair. I even put on make-up because I knew I'd be taking a lot of pictures. I was just as nauseated that day as I had been the rest of the pregnancy ... but, I didn't care. Because THIS was the day I got to meet you. I had been planning and waiting and DREAMING of meeting you for months. I rearranged all your little shoes in your drawers everyday (even though I don't think you wore a single pair of those infant shoes). I washed and rewashed and ironed and reironed all your little dresses. Even onesies. I had had your hospital bag packed for months. I had sat in your room, rocking in your chair planning out every detail of your childhood. Exactly what you would look like, what sweet things you would say and do, even little outfits you would probably wear. But, NOTHING could have prepared me for how special you are today.

Avery, you are delightful from head to toe. You are darling and personable to everyone you meet. You love girly things as much as I do (I love that God answers selfish, silly prayer requests sometimes). You make my life better every day. I always thought I would have all girls, and we got a couple smelly boys. It's a good thing they're cute, because they are already so different from us!

I know we'll be best friends one day. I can sit and listen to your silliness for hours. You're already trying to be such a lady, and doing such a good job!!

I love you little princess, forever and ever.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of you this year. It's been a GREAT year!! You've gotten a new baby brother, you've learned a gazillion new words, you've started going to "school" twice a week, you have grown up SO much, and you have become such a leader!

Right now you weigh 37 pounds, you wear size 4-5 clothes, and you love the color pink. You like Max and Ruby, ALL Disney Princess movies, and all things "big girly." You are already so sassy and make me laugh SO hard. You say the funniest things. You are just the happiest kid ever. EVERYTHING is exciting to you. Almost daily you wake up and say things like, "Oh! Good Morning Mommy! Isn't today going to be the most dazzling day?!?!" Daddy even hands you pieces of mail and says, "Look what came for you, Avery!" It could be a Cable bill and you would say, "For me?!?! Oh THANKYOU?!?! Not kidding.

When we asked you what you wanted for birthday you said you wanted to pick it out. So this morning you woke up, running into the living room announcing it was your birthday and started off a great day! You had a pancake breakfast with Maw, a shopping trip with your Daddy to pick out a new outfit and some toys. Then you went to see a new movie and then to eat lunch. Afterward you got to go pick out a cake to eat after dinner. It had pink sprinkles of course. Pop Pop, Dede, and Aunt Tamra came over to bring you happies and sing Happy Birthday. After dinner you watched about 3 seconds of a movie before crashing on the couch at 7pm ... you were exhausted ... it was a good birthday.
Here's the day in pictures ...

You are SO loved, baby girl!! Especially by me!!
XOXOXOXO!!!!!
Mommy

Unforgettables

2011-05-20T10:11:00.001-07:00

This is going to have to be short and sweet. I think I always say that and then end up rambling on. Anywho, I have like a gazillion things to be doing right now; but ... ya know how that goes over here. If you came in my house right now you might turn me into that hoarding show. There are children's clothes everyyywhere for the upcoming Swap Shoppe sale ... whoops.
Plus, the rain is encouraging to just camp out right here on my couch, under a quilt watching Caillou with Avery while the boys nap. It's the rain's fault I tell ya.

This has been a fun week in the Boonies! We've played hard, swam a lot and just had a loverly time. And of course there were some funnies to remember along the way! :)

Dalton will pretty much eat anything. He'll try anything and isn't very picky once it's on his plate. However, if you ask him what he wants to eat he will either say, "Chicken and dip" (chicken nuggets and honey mustard) or "Mac 'n cheese." (Even for breakfast)

Whenever D does something "big-boyish" he says, "Momma,Will you clap?? Now laugh!" And if I don't laugh correctly, he laughs to show me how. He's such a mess!

Yesterday A and D were playing outside and they had water they were spraying on each other which made their barefoot feet muddy. They kept trying to come in and out, in and out. During one attempt I said, "Y'all need to stay out there until you're all done playing- you're filthy!" And Avery gasped and said, "Oh! We are SO sorry Momma. We didn't know we were filthy." Then she poked her head back in and said, "Hey Momma, what's filthy?"

When ever I tell Dalton to do something he isn't thrilled about he shrugs his shoulders and lets out a super deep sigh ... It always makes me laugh. How does he know to do that?!?!

Aren't they sweet!

Today I took Dalton to the doctor because he had run some fever and his throat was hurting him. Afterward we went to get an Icee to make him feel better ... A lady there saw him and said, "Aww! Aren't you pretty?!" He didn't miss a beat and said, "I not pretty, I Dalton."

I was just about to post this and I turned around to see A had fallen asleep on the top of the couch cushions ... Wuv her. It's her last day to be 3. How did that happen?!?!

Oh yeah, and Sawyer was there too. ;)

Hope your Friday is Unforgettable! XO

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Wednesday Loves

2011-05-17T17:54:00.001-07:00

I kinda love that once a week I am sitting down to say exactly what I l-o-v-e right now. No matter how frivolous it sounds, I just enjoy thinking of silly little things that make me happy. That is all.

Without further ado, Let me start with ...

Sonic's Vanilla Fanta. I really love everything at Sonic ... even the Hot Dogs ... Shhh, add that to my list of what to NOT tell my sister!!
It's probably 99% about the large styrofoam cups that are terribly bad for the environment, but absolutely one of my fav 100 things on earth. Is that contradictory? Don't answer that.
Anyway, the Vanilla Fanta is JUST like the old-school orange dreamsicle push-pops I used to love when I was little. I kept seeing it on the menu, but I was so scared to not get my normal Vanilla Coke! Finally, I did it. I'm trying to get off Cokes completely, so this is helping. It's amazing what the absolution of being in a bathing suit in public, in the very near future will do to a girl. Especially since my preggo sister raided my tankini stash only leaving two pieces ... NOT bikinis. There is a difference. I'm not sure what it is, but it's there. Thank goodness for my sunless tanner, if you can't tone it-tan it. Duh.

SPEAKING of which, I'll bring you to my next love: Arbonne Fizzy Tabs!

During my closet clean-up I found these and I totally heart them. These aren't necessarily a new love, but I couldn't have them when I was preggo or nursing so they're new to me! They are little tabs that dissolve in your water bottle that boost your metabolism, suppress your appetite, and increase your energy. And they help me drink more water because they're super tasty. My fav flavor is Pomegranate Splash. Love.

Also, I have a confession. I've been working out. You heard me ... Working out. Which is NOT my thing. I used to LOVE to work out, I did kickboxing several times a week and even lifted a weight or two and everything. But, then I was in a super traumatic car wreck and my knees are pretty much permanently messed up. Dr. H told me I would probably need double knee replacements eventually. And that just sounds AWESOME. Anyway, long story short, any kind of impact exercise is not an option. My knees hurt when it's cold outside, much less pounding pavement. However, I have a new obsession ...
It's Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy DVD. I've done it every day for the last week! Can you believe it?!?! I can't! I've heard that if you do something every day for two weeks it will stick ... we'll see! I'm sore all over every day. I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. She's super cute and fun and I just really love the workout! I've been following her on Twitter, and she even tweeted back to me the other day when I posted a picture of my kiddies doing Yoga with me! So, I doubly love her.

Next on my list are these Fabric Floaties.

First of all they're way cute. Second of all, they're way more comfy on their little arms and third of all they're WAY easy to get on and off. Brooke brought some for Avery the other day because she got Rayney the wrong size and we're hooked! I had to get D some ASAP. We love the fabric floaties.

Lastly, is my new bedtime. This is not a joke. I have been in bed by 9pm for like two weeks now. I remember my mom going to bed at 8:30 for years and always wondering what in the WORLD she was doing. I know now. Totally get it. Considering I have to wake up BY 5:30-6 if I want any time by myself in the morning, I just have to get to bed early. Thank goodness for this ...

It makes it more bearable.

Well, I think that's all for this week! I hope you have a Loverly Wednesday! :)

Special News

2011-05-17T05:07:00.001-07:00

Today we found out THE most special news! Sarah Baker and Ben are expecting a B-O-Y!!!
We are all SO thrilled and beyond excited to meet little Benjamin "Noah" Wellons in mid-October. I am already counting down the days to snuggle that sweet little thing!

This morning I told Avery, "Tonight we are going to Dede's and we will find out whether Rah-Rah has a boy baby or a girl baby in her belly." Avery got excited and said, "If it is a girl baby I will shout, and if it is a boy baby then Ben will shout."
Oh she is so funny! We got to Dede's and SB had requested Chicken Spaghetti, Salad, Bread, and Watermelon. ;)

I took a bunch of pictures on my real camera, but that would involve pulling out the laptop, sitting at the table, downloading and uploading ... So I'll just use my phone pics for now and try to update later ... Which I always say and never do. Soooo typical of me.

I mean, how sweet is my mom?!?! We literally planned this THIS morning and we come over to this lovely arrangement ... I realize she doesn't have little ones at home, but still. She just makes everything wonderful. I love her with my whole heart.
Notice the colors are all cream because we didn't know what it was yet.

SB wanted us to wear either pink or blue to say what we thought it was and then after dinner (yes, she made us wait THROUGH dinner, I was SO mad!!) we picked out a white w/blue sprinkle cupcake or pink ... So here I am in blue with my boy cupcake!

Then we all went out back to see which cupcake they would pick to tell us whether it was a boy or girl!

Everyone has their cupcake predicting their choice ...
I have a video of this that is just REFUSING to load. But, it was BLUE!
We all cheered and cried ... Because that's what we do.
It was a great night!!

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Crock-Pot Tastiness

2011-05-15T15:57:00.001-07:00

Today, I did something crazy. I cooked dinner at 9am. That's right people, 9am. I saw this recipe the other day through a tweet by The Pioneer Woman. I always have way more energy in the morning, so cooking this early makes it even simpler.

The recipe is for Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches ... Umm... Yummo! And they are hands down the easiest things I've ever made. No really ... THE easiest!!
All you do is place chicken thighs in the bottom of your slow-cooker; cover it with a diced onion; throw in a can of pineapple chunks (drained); and dump in a bottle of your fav BBQ sauce. Then simply turn the slow cooker to low and let it cook for 7 long hours. Holy Moly. It just doesn't get any easier. At the end of the day pull the chicken off the bone and shred before mixing it back in with all the tastiness that has been simmering away all day! There was an option to pour the drained pineapple juice in at the end too, but I prefer mine a little more savory. I love that all day my house is filled with the delicious aroma that reminds me dinner is already finished! Whew! So great! It even inspired me to clean the whole house from top to bottom. Now I'm working up the courage to clean out my closet which I totally ransacked during all the tornadoes throwing out anything that could fall on top of us. I'm still sitting here debating on that ... Maybe I'll do it while watching Sister Wives later ... I do love some Sister Wives. ;)

Anyway, I served up the yummy-goodness on big whole wheat buns with corn on the cob and baked beans. It was a big hit in the Boonies! Try it at your house!

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Those Days

2011-05-14T17:36:00.001-07:00

There are all types of days at the Boone house as I'm sure any other ... We have busy days, whiney days, slow days, rainy days, crazy days, inside days, happy days, at home days, and days that I just refer to as "those days." Those days usually occur when things just don't fall the way I'd like, where I probably didn't get much quiet time, or even a shower. Days like today as I run in USA drug for pull ups and the cashier asks me if I'm ok
due to my ensemble and "hair-don't."
;)
Sometimes just a normal day of diaper changes, juice cup refills, fight club referee-ing, and really just watching out for youngin's while cooking up dinners all while bouncin' a 19 pound baby on my hip is kinda exhausting. I'm itching for 8:30 so I can lie all these yayhoots in their beds and talk to their daddy. I'm telling myself that this day will make tomorrow even better. All the while I'm folding laundry and I turned on the 20/20 I recorded last night about the cute blogger momma of 4 who was in a plane crash and her 65-80% of her body was badly burned. Her face being the worst. After being in a drug induced coma for 3 months and multiple surgeries she came home after 5 months and her kiddos could barely speak to her because she looked so different. When I say I have this nightmare all the time, I'm not kidding. Like, several times a year. I dream I'm in some kind of terrible accident, I'm severely burned and then my babies won't let me hug, kiss, and hold them because they're scared of me. So seeing someone go through this kinda rocked me world! I've been crying since the opening credits. And it just made me realize for the 837,192,632nd time that we are only here for a moment. Nothing is forever, nothing is guaranteed or promised except that God will love us through it. I spend so much time dwelling on such fleeting things. I so easily overcommit myself and then get frustrated by my busyness that I don't put my time in to the areas that count. I'm in a process of Spring Cleaning ... Out with the things that aren't of the utmost important. To declutter our lives. My mom always says , "if not you, then who. If not now, then when." in reference to life, marriage, and child raising. Meaning if I'm not doing it, then who is. Or if I'm not investing in my marriage then who will (Besides that tall, dark, and handsome hubby of mine)

Am I making any sense? Probably not. And I'll probably end up deleting this post ... Ha!

Hope everyone has a Happy Saturday that is less polarizing than mine!! ;)

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Unforgettables

2011-05-13T19:15:00.001-07:00

It's hard to post funnies right now, because so many of the funny things they say are due to their sweet voice inflections or just how profound it is for a 2 or 3 year old to be saying the things they are! So bear with me ...

Hopefully I'll remember all the unbelievable cuteness that they live out daily, years and years down the road. I can just have complete breakdowns thinking about how in a few years the little precious, darling 8 months, 2 years and 3 years old versions of these babies will be gone- replaced with older different versions. Ok Ok, I'm tearing up. This is too deep for Friday Funnies. But really, in case you didn't know I just totally love love these little ones. And especially if you're that momma who heard me yell out a bad word really loud the other day in the parking lot of the athletic club when Dalton jumped on top of me crushing all the slushies in my lap ... I really do love them. Bc I'm sure in that moment it was doubtable.

Okay ... To the Unforgettables:

One day this week I was getting everyone dressed but I was still in my PJ's. Avery walked up to me and said, "Momma, you really need to get dressed. Noone wants to see you like that."

Dalton is obsessed with "surprises" lately. Good and bad ... I won't go in to details on the bad, they aren't worth remembering. But every. single. time. He says: "Close your eyes ... No peeking! Open ... Surprise!!" I love him.

Sawyer has become obsessed with the bathtub now that he can sit up! I love it! He splashes and plays and plays for as long as
I let him. I'm just hoping and praying this carries over to the beach, lake, and pool.

Whenever Dalton does something he thinks is really big boyish he puts his hands on his hips and goes into "Deep Voice Dalton" saying, "That's how you do it!" It is so stinkin' funny.

Yesterday I was on the phone and someone told me something or other and I said, "well, that's just stupid." Avery came up and covered my hand in hers and said, "Oh Momma. We don't say stupid, we had a deal remember? That's just not a nice word."

Sawyer has been in to all kinds of things this week ...
Here he is sitting up in the cart ...

Here he is escaping out the back door ...

"What?!?!"

Sarah Baker and I got so tickled when I ran by her house one morning this week and we were sitting in her living room talking and watching The Today Show. Sawyer was rolling around the floor until he pulled up on the couch and grabbed the remote. Somehow he hit the button and it changed the channel to Sesame Street. We laughed and laughed that he was just trying to watch his own show. :)

Earlier this week we were at my moms and Avery was playing with Emerson. She came outside with a big wad of money she had "found" in Emerson's wallet. I told her she had to take it back to E and how he earned that money by doing chores. Then that night in her prayers she prayed, " Dear God, I really pray I'll do my chores tomorrow so I can get some money, so I can be prepared for anything."

I'll end with this little pic I snapped of Avery reading Dalton and Sawyer her princess book in the car. She was showing the pictures and reading just like she was a teacher. Love that lamby.

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Wednesday Loves

2011-05-11T09:13:00.001-07:00

I'm Thisclose to calling it quits on my "What I'm Loving Wednesday." My computer is having a complete hissy fit and attempting to ruin my day. But, I'm refusing to let that happen... So, in honor of my optimism I'll tell you the things I'm loving this week. (Do not expect to find my computer on this list ... )

First up: my new favorite drug store finds!

The first is the Jergens "Express Glow" sunless tanner. I heart sunless tanners and I've probably tried them all. Obviously there are two types of cosmetic products: drug store and department store and this sunless tanner encompasses almost all the things I love about my pricier fav. It dries quickly so you don't have that yucky sticky feeling, it doesn't smell terrible and you can tell a difference quickly. Sometimes if I'm in a hurry, I use that and then use their foam product right after and it gives color FAST!!
Next is the Maybelline Mousse make up. I must tell you I can get a little excited with bronzers. Like, I have to hide them from myself in the winter bc I'm totally OK being orange over pastiness. Aaron hates it! But this bronzer and blush are awesome! They go on super easy, they're light and wear well all day. I've heard the concealer/foundation is great too and I am gonna pick some up soon!
Last, but not least, is the Loreal Voluminous mascara. I'm pretty sure this has been around for ages. I remember in Junior High Whitney Wingo had it and had beautimous lashes. I always opted for Maybelline Full and Soft. But THIS mascara is fabulous! Even more than some of my dept store faves! For real!! I just don't think I'll ever try anything else!

My next new love is ...

Organic baby food in these delightful little on-the-go pouches. Sawyer is obsessed! So, that means I am too. They come in tons of yummy flavors and he scarfs them down! His all-time fav is the "Ella's Kitchen" purple one ...

You buy these handy dandy spoons that attach to the top so that the yummy goodness just comes right out. So it's a spoon, bowl combo all in one!! I wish I had the time/desire to make my own. But, it has left me. And this is a great alternative. Love!!

This week I'm also loving the show ... Sister Wives.

It's on TLC on Sunday nights and I'm completely engrossed in the lifestyle and the story line of this show. I cannot believe they do this. Like, shoot me dead. How are they ok with that?? I would pretty much share anything with anyone ... But your hubby?!?! Ummm ... No ma'am. I will cut you. Just sayin'.

I have to end with saying I am just so exited about my new "j.o.b." I won't totally say what it is until next week when I can give more deets, but ... I'm pumped. And I hope you will be too! Stay tuned ...

Hope you have a loverly Wednesday!!

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FINALLY!!!

2011-05-10T17:10:00.001-07:00

It's here! It's here!! Sunny days, 90 degree temps, bug bites, dinners outside, weekends at the lake and dun dun ta dunnnn .... POOL DAYS!!!!

I'm declaring it officially summer and don't try to tell me otherwise. I Loathe Spring and all it brings with it ... Allergies, rainy days, tornadoes, and just way too much time inside... Hate. It. At least winter brings holidays and lots of fun things to do and yummy foods to make.... Spring is just a teaser for summer.
But ... Once the temps are over 85 and I've hit the pool- I'm ready to call it summer. No matter what the calendar says.
Today Brooke and I took our kiddos to the pool and we were the ONLY people there!! It was so nice and since I've been counting down to getting back to the pool since October of last year I'm just so excited it's here!! Ahhhh ... can't wait to go back tomorrow!

From pool days

I'm totally loving the little sizzle that has been left on my shoulders ... fav. Just a couple more weeks and we'll be off to the lake, then the beach, and pool days galore!!!
I just heart summer with my whole heart and am SO glad it's finally here! Eeeek!!

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