Technical Difficulties...

I still can't get my video of Emily singing Lord's Army to post, so just so you understand my last post, I'll explain.. She sings the song like this...

"...I may never fly ore' the Enemy cause that is my name!"

Reminder... Lila had a hard time pronouncing her "l's" so she used to call Emily, "Enemy"... I guess it stuck?!?! It's so funny!

"I'm in the Lord's Army"

As long as I live I will not be able to hear this Sunday School classic without smiling head to toe thinking of my little Eme's artistic rendition. So cute!

Straight from the mouth of Lila...

When we arrived back from San Antonio today I mentioned to the girls that the car read the outside temperature as 101 degrees. Welcome Home.

When we got out of the car Lila walked to the mailbox with me. She said, "Yep, It's a hot and sunny day alright. I'm melting already!"

I couldn't have said it better myself. UGH!

A Good Egg

One evening almost ten years ago Wayne caught my eye at church. He knew one of my best friends and so I had her do a little behind the scenes magic in order to get us together. When she suggested to Wayne that he should ask me out, she told him I was "a good egg." I guess that stuck and it's been a little inside joke between us for our dating and married life... thanks Laura! : )

So, for our 8th Anniversary earlier this month Wayne got me this cute little stamped egg...

It's good to know that after all these years I'm still "a good egg" to him!

Wayne,
Thanks for a wonderful life. There is still no one else on this earth I would rather spend time with... you make me smile and laugh every single day. You gave me two beautiful girls that fill my life with chaotic joy. I absolutely LOVE being your WIFE and their MOTHER. I love you more than you will ever know. I pray that over the next eight years we will continue to find favor and kindness from our Savior. Thanks for being the man that you are and for leading our family through this journey of life. You are my most favorite person in the whole wide world and a great example to me. Thanks for helping me keep my eyes on Jesus and the rewards that await us in Heaven. I love you, love you, love you.... and I think "You're a Good Egg" as well! : )

Dear God, Please let me never forget....

Unfortunately I can go about the busy bustling of life without taking the time to stop and count my blessings… now, I KNOW I am blessed and I am incredibly thankful to my Lord for all the ways He has touched us with His merciful hand. I wake up in the morning and get busy making cancakes (pancakes) for the girls without realizing that just waking up to another beautiful day is a gift in itself. I’m sure we are all guilty of this to some level, but I tend to forget just how blessed I am until something in a conversation or something tangible catches my eye that makes it all come flooding back. It makes me emotional… I mean, how can it not?

So, yesterday at church I was talking to a friend who is thirty weeks pregnant… immediately I go there in my mind… sweet Emily. So many gracious gifts from my Heavenly Father where she is concerned. A happy ending that very easily could have been different. Then this morning Lila brought me a baby doll and one of Em’s sweet preemie outfits and asked me to help her get her baby dressed. As I held that precious outfit in my hands memories overwhelmed me… it is so tiny… she was so tiny… now she is big… THREE years old… healthy and happy… and that sweet tiny outfit fits a baby doll… a baby doll! We have come a long way only by the grace of God. So many blessings. When she was finally able to maintain her own body temperature and hit the magic weight that meant she could wear clothes, this precious outfit swallowed her… it was too big… too big! How does one receive such a tremendous gift and get to a place where pancakes, potty training, what time I can get to the gym, series finales like Lost and 24 distract me from spending every day thanking my God for His extraordinary provisions in my life? So, as with all my shortcomings, I apologize to Him and know that He knows my heart, He knows I will forever be thankful for my Emily Summer and Lila Seanne and for the ways He changed me by making me their mother… the good and the bad.. laughter and time outs… tiny preemie outfits and tutus in a size 3! I strive to do better… never forget the extraordinary gift that started it all as well as all the simple little gifts that arrive each and every day. I am so blessed and I want my life to reflect my tremendous thankfulness.

Our family verse…

“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

~Psalm 126:3

Sweet Boys

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with these sweet boys...

Lila loved playing with her bestest bud, Pierce, and I couldn't get enough of his 'baby' brother, Preston... love these sweet, sweet boys!!


Cutie Pie...

This picture is blurry, but Lila took it and I love Pierce's happy face in it so I had to include it anyway!

And look at this little man getting ready for a nap...(picture courtesy of either Lila or Pierce, not sure which)... he is the most laid back little one I have ever been around... seriously he didn't mind taking a nap in an unfamiliar pink bed... I just gave him his lovie, paci and he was out... seriously, it really was THAT easy!!

And here's one of my little goof ball..
..yes she is wearing a tutu in the backyard... that's just how we roll around here!! : )

I LOVE these CUTIES!!

Contain Yourself

Although I am sure my mother can tell some good stories that might paint a completely different picture, I consider myself an organized person and can't stand clutter or things being out of place for extended periods of time. My two very sweet, yet rowdy and rambunctious girls have taught me long ago that it is pointless to constantly follow them around and pick up every toy they toss aside when they move on to the next thing that catches their eye... but once they are in their beds and sound asleep the house gets put back together. Wayne would tell you that I can't sit down to watch TV or read a book if there is "stuff" still scattered about. I also make the beds in our house every morning and can't go to sleep with dishes in the sink. Now, before you start thinking I am a bit OC, I must admit that I am notorious for throwing my dirty clothes on the floor by the hamper/laundry basket or on the hamper, yet rarely ever actually in the hamper... something that baffles me and probably really annoys my sweet husband, although he never complains about it... the important thing is that I have a really cute hamper/basket for dirty clothes.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to organize and label and keep things tidy... well everything but the dirty clothes....

Anyway, I was beyond excited when Rebecca called me Thursday night to tell me she was at The Container Store (one of my all time FAVORITE stores... can't you just hear the angel chorus?) and that they were having a HUGE moving sale. I wrestled with the decision as to whether or not I should join her since I had just taken a shower and retired to my jammies for the night, but in the end I couldn't pass this up so I jumped in the car and met her there.

We spent the next three hours fighting the crowds, perusing the aisles and filling up our shopping carts. We got a BUNCH of fun organizational items, gift wrap items, and things that promise to just make life easier. It was so fun and we were absolutely giddy over the good deals we were getting... like $20 items for 40 cents, $40 items for $4... we couldn't stop ourselves from filling up our carts to the point of overflowing!

Wayne totally made fun of us for taking these pictures, but you've got to see our loot!

Ah, the joy of organizing!

"Contain Yourself" is The Container Store's slogan, but there was no containing ourselves at this great sale!

Super Cute Kids!

We went to lunch today to celebrate Rebecca's birthday and had to snap this picture of these Super Cute Kids... I mean, seriously, their mommas' must be so proud of these sweet little faces! : )

Saturday

We got out today and enjoyed some of this beautiful weather. We went to a favorite spot, Watters Crossing, where we walked around, did a little shopping, ate lunch and enjoyed our Saturday afternoon!
The girls loved climbing the rocks and watching the baby ducks.


We ate lunch at Grimaldi's.

They bring the kids pizza dough to play with while you wait for your food.

I think we have a few future pizza makers on our hands...


Silly dough glasses...

And of course no visit is complete unless we make a stop at the horse statues for our little horse lover...



And a quick photo by the waterfall..

Fun in the Sun

So, I've just recently had another one of those mommy moments when you look at your kids and wonder when they got so big. Emily turning THREE was tough... although I tell her and Lila all the time that they will ALWAYS be my babies, our baby days are long gone and our house and hearts are now full of little girls! In a measure to preserve this moment in our lives I decided to snap some pictures of them while they played outside today.

The girls LOVE to play outside.. they would be out there all day if I let them... I'm always tickled at the silly games and creative things they come up with while playing in the backyard...
They love to swing... secretly I can't wait until they are old enough to swing themselves.. today I pushed them for over an hour!!





I'm not sure how this got started, but they like to have the swing twisted and then spin, spin, spin until they are good and "bizzy, bizzy" as Em calls it!






Lila called me out a few days ago to show me this snake in the tree... She told me this was "the snake that made Eve want to wear clothes"... ummm, okay... although I guess it is technically true it's interesting that she picked that out as the important thing to remember from the story...

LOVE the dollar spot at Target... We got these little ant farms the other day and the girls have been on a serious ant hunt ever since.. too bad Daddy is on top of the ant piles with the ant killer! We settled for earthworms instead... digging for earthworms is one of Lila's favorite things to do lately... ewww!!




And this morning we just HAD to come home with these tacky flamingos, also from the dollar spot. It was love at first sight for Lila... before we even left the store she had them named.. Sally, Suzy, and Sophie. Their new home is in the BACKYARD just outside Rooney's window!

Goofy Girl!

Easter

The girls woke up bright and early Easter morning to find some fun treats in their Easter baskets... Thanks Easter Bunny!

Then, after church, the girls hunted eggs! **Note... Lila rid herself of the hairbow (surprise, surprise) and started hunting barefoot before she ran in to put on her tennis shoes... She did not look that scraggly for Easter Sunday!**






Look at all those eggs!

Lila had two baskets full!

Checkin' the loot..