Mother's Day 2018

2018

Mothers Days past:

2017

2016

2015

2014

2012

2011

I love looking back through Mothers day in years past and seeing how we have all grown.

This year was somewhat low key and i was fine with that. My hubby asked me just a few days before Mother's day if there was something that i wanted. well what i really wanted it would be too late for him to order. I have always wanted a Lisa Leonard stacking ring with the kids name on it. i have one from another company but the names aren't really all that well stamped and the black that is inside the etching as rubbed off. i knew that he couldn't get me that in time so i really didn't have an idea. 

We did end up going strawberry picking on Friday night. We have been strawberry picking close to or on monther's day the past few years. usually we go with friends but it didn't work out so it was just the four of us this year which was fun too.

this is what i wore all day on Friday

when it was about time to leave to pick strawberries she went in her room and changed to match me

i love that she still wants to match

it is so sweet

2014

We have been trying to get the laundry room more functional and accessible so we finally came to come decisions about it this weekend. We found a hall tree that we both liked and i went to Hobby lobby and bought the pieces which were significantly less that buying the piping from Home Depot

The we put it together and got it hung on Mother's day.

I am so happy with it now i can't wait until the hall tree comes in and we get that set up.

we took my mother in law to dinner and then we all went back to her house and got our first picture for our upcoming Disney/Sea World trip.

Looking Back April Edition

so i have occasionally done "What we learned....." with emily p. freeman here on the blog

i thought i would do a looking back on each month.

i am sure it will be filled with things i have learned and things i have done but i wanted to keep it a looking back post to try and start being better a blogging and writing and keeping track of what is going on in our lives at this time.

April started with Easter Sunday. I can't think of  a better way to start a month. 

Easter is my Hubby's favorite holiday to celebrate. We went to church and then took the kids out for brunch.

Easter 2017

Easter 2016

Easter 2015

before Christmas i bought a letterboard for my coffee bar

my sister sent me a text because she saw it on ig and was mad that i bought one because she had bought me one for my birthday in December. She said that she would just keep it for herself and has posted come pretty funny letterboards on her ig account.

in April this is the only one i posted and put on ig.

sometime i have some other funny ones at the #andyletterboard

but this month we kept it coffee related.

I got to attend a field trip to Montgomery with my oldest. We took a charter bus to the state capital and toured The Civil Rights Museum, Old town, The Capital and A museum. For lunch we did a river boat cruise.

Posted this photo on ig with this caption....."It's not kids moving but ripples.

Beautiful fountain memorial from the field trip i went on with my son. '....until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.' -Martain Luther King Jr. May our lives make ripples that affect others for good."

I had a friend call for me to keep her kids for her to attend a meeting. Her boys watched a new movie but her girls had a great time playing with Little Girls toys. Her youngest was fascinated with doing the dolls hair and getting them dresses. I noticed after helping her get her baby dressed that she put a pretend lip stick in the dolls pocket. she isn't wearing pants but she's got her rain boots, jacket and lipstick.  all a girl needs right!?!?

The school had Muffins for moms this month as well. We ended up holding up the wall this year with some friends. It was the most moms we have ever seen at Muffins for moms. it was great but very crowded, which seems like a good problem.

 The kids had a half day in April so we headed for the Lakehouse to see Honey and Bear

It was a fun weekend. Golden Boy caught a few fish and Mom did an Easter egg hunt for the kids even though it was a few weeks past Easter. We don't turn down the fun of an egg hunt though.

  

I have been communicating with a lady on Etsy about a weighted blanket for Golden boy. here is what i wrote about it on instagram......."There were years where I wondered if he could benefit from a weighted blanket. I would think about it but never really act. He doesn't seem to have a problem sleeping but likes pressure on him and night time can be an exhausting time where a weighted blanket could be beneficial. I am so thankful to have found the sweetest lady who communicated with me back and forth and answered all my questions and made this beautiful blanket. He picked the fabric after visiting hobby lobby and the colors."

Here is the link to the etsy page that i purchased the Weighted blanket from. Nancy was wonderful and very helpful.

We walked for my nephew and his daily fight with Type 1 diabeties.

Little Girl lost tooth #3

A field trip with Little Girl

And Camping with friends

Lastly the books that i read in April:

Miracle on the 17th Green by James Patterson and Peter deJonge

A Name Unknown by Roasnna M White

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Crossed by Ally Condie

If I Run by Terri Blackstock

The Christmas Wedding James Patterson

If I'm Found by Terri Blackstock

Wow 7 books. I had no idea. Yay. on my way to 52 in a year, i may even surpass it. I have a list of books that i have read every year since 2006 on the blog but i have been writing them down in a  notebook since 2004

If you want to see the list from last year it is here and at the bottom of that post there is a list from every year dating back to 2006.

April was a pretty eventful and GREAT month.

#3

They just keep growing and things keep happening that remind me daily they they are growing up. 

Little Girl has had a wiggly tooth for weeks now. Possible even over a month if I'm truly thinking about it. We have tried multiple times to pull it out but it just didn't seem ready. Maybe momma wasn't ready either. 

Sometimes another tooth is like another year of growing up. I'm just not ready for it. Sure I am trying to enjoy every stage but man the time sure seems to be flying. 

The tooth that came out the other night was #3. There is a really wiggly one on top. Oh boy. I wonder how long that one can hold on for this momma. 

She cracked me up though. I put the tooth in a Ziploc bag and put it under her pillow. When I went to check on her and of the bleeding had stopped after I tucked in big brother, She was gripping the bag. She looked up at me and said, "I'm holding on tight to the bag so that she doesn't take it. I want to keep my tooth to show my friends." 

She is full of so many surprises and delights.

Valentine's Week Post 3

Like marshmallows and campfires we're better together. 

Happy Valentine's day to my man. 

Excited to spend the rest of my valentines with you.

#andyletterboard

Valentine's Week Post 2

She is sparkle and sunshine.
Joy and delight.
Strong willed and determined.
She is half of me but more of him.
Passion all wrapped up in one small girl.
"Though she be but little, she is fierce." -Shakespeare
A little bit of Valentine for my BitBit, my #littlegirlandy #andyletterboard

Valentine's Week Post 1

It's Valentine's week and while my hubby and i have spent many valentine's day and sort of feel like it is just another day for people to go out and buy stuff and have huge expectations (wow doesn't that sound romantic, i sound cynical) and truthfully early on we have had some bad valentine's day experiences. but we want to celebrate in a fun way for and with the kids. 

since February i have been leaving them little hearts with things i love about them on their bedroom doors. with it being Valentine's week i thought i would leave them a quote on our Letter board.

Here is Golden Boys.....  

A letter board to the kid who made me a mom.
For the many many adventures you have taken us on
Sports, star wars, grooming, clothes and shoes scattered on the floor.......a little bit of childhood and growing up all tied together.
With three days till valentines I wanted to say i love you and i'm glad you are mine. (When "Winnie the Pooh" won't fit you improvise, "Pooh Bear") #andyletterboard

Snow-mageddon 2018

Our Snow day turned into two days and a two hour delayed start today.

Tuesday we woke up and had breakfast and then played a Monopoly game with the kids.

once that was over we had a little bit of snow that we could go out in.

after my little bit out in it, i went in the start lunch and Little girl called from the door that she needed my phone. she wanted to make a picture of something she made. she went out and took the pictures but i didn't look at it until the next day. 

i just love her cute snow angle. she is so creative. i loved that she used her hat on it and have the angle a face and lashes. 

she pays attention to detail and i just love it.

Coffee Station

I have always wanted a coffee bar area in the kitchen.

when we thought we would do a china cabinet build along this wall i factored one into there

this dresser was my grandmothers and she promised it to me one day

it has been living in my parents house for the past few years

my mom ended up moving it into her kitchen and used it as a coffee bar

she promised me that it was still mine she was just using it for now

once the kitchen was pretty much done i asked her if i could get it and set it up

this is how it all looked once i got it moved it and the coffee pot and items on it

i added a mug rack to the wall

and then i started looked at marble cutting boards to sit the coffee pot on.

at thanksgiving my dad he a huge piece of marble that he was saving for an outside countertop

Golden boy was trying to get in the shed one morning and knocked the piece down.....it cracked

my mom said it had been at the lake house forever so not to worry about it. that dad could get another piece. i asked him if he could break a chunk of it smaller so that i could put my coffee pot on it 

he took a hammer to it around the edges to get to my guesstimated size and the ran a sander along the edges to make them somewhat smoother

i just love the way that it came out

the second picture shows it a little better

now i just have to decide what else to put on the wall above my new coffee bar

i really want a shelf and these are the ones that i am leaning towards

Choice #1 (in the wood color)

Option #2

Option #3

Option #4

Option #5

Option #6

Or just buying an unfinished raw wood edge shelf and metal brackets

What I plan to read in 2018......

my cousin reads an amazing amount of books in a year. you can follow her on Good Reads here and sees a few of her favorite books here.

she wrote this post about what she plans on reading in 2018 and it encouraged me to write one of my own. so here goes......

  currently i am reading Before we Were yours by Lisa Wingate it has been very interesting so far and i am waiting to see where it goes and how this all plays out.


i read a lot of books by Lynn Austin last year so i am sure that i will read a few by her this year.


 i read Finding Father Christmas and Engaging Father Christmas years ago. I remember when the first movie came out and being bummed that i wasn't able to see it. we went to visit my parents for Christmas this year and my mom taped Finding Father Christmas and Engaging Father Christmas (which just came out this year) and i was able to watch them. I really liked them both. It wasn't till i got home that i realized that there was another one in the series. the movie made it look like there would be a third movie but i didn't know about the third book. i placed the order for it on Amazon and i get it in the mail on Tuesday.

Keeping with the same author, Robin Jones Gunn, who has been a favorite author of mine since i was a 10 year old girl.......

I plan on reading Christy and Todd the Baby Years series of three.


 i don't know who recommended this series to me but i have had it on my Good Reads to read list.

 The Boys in the Boa is another one that was recommended to me and it has been on my to read list. so i hope to get to it this year too.

 Savor is another book that i would like to read this year. I have read a few other books by Shauna Niequist and enjoy them. Bread and Wine was the first book that i read by her and loved it.

 Ann Voskamp has a different writing style but i love it. I read One Thousand Gifts and i have her Christmas book Unwrapping the Greatest Gift but i would like to read The Broken Way sometime this year.

these next few have been floating around the social media world and i added to by to read list on Good Reads list......

 Chasing Slow by Erin Loechner


 At home in the World

 Unseen by Sara Hagerty

 I read Katie Davis first book Kisses From Katie and just love it. I can't wait to read her next book Daring to Hope (what a beautiful Soul)

13 years of December.....minus 1

I was encouraged when reading one of my favorite bloggers post, 9 years of Decembers.....

she is intentional about looking back through her blog posts and remembering 

so i decided to do that same.

i have been blogging for 13 years with one of those years only having 8 blog posts the whole year and that last one that year was in May so there was no December that was blogged then.......

My Decembers have been full of some of the same things like posts about the books that i have read every year.......chances to see best friends......

thoughts on life.........52 adventures that we experianced.......myself expressed in words when i can think about the answers later and not spur of the moment answers............celebration of new life..............funny kid experiances............



the gift of hearing................vacations................





Christmas pictures...................mom advice..........first home purchase..................before kids.................



sentiments on friends....................Three Things Thursday

It has been so fun to go back through the Decembers of blogging past.