best $2.98 investment ever made

The investment was a cheap, green and plastic sprinkler from Lowe's!

The reward: a cool and fun summer guaranteed!

I can feel it already.

The long, sweaty days of playing.

The trips to Nana and Papaw's farm (and hopefully lots of homemade ice cream).

Eating fresh veggies, fruit and pasta everyday (it's our thing).

The deep afternoon naps of children's energy being restored.

Swimming, jumping and diving in Granny's pool.

Library trips and reading on blankets under the trees shade.

No school or daily required wake up calls.

Calling our two oldest our FOREVER children...God willing!

Road trips and long walks.

Sticky toddler fingers from too many Popsicles.

A possible beach trip ?!?!

Picnics, fireworks and soo many play dates.

Having DADDY home all the day long!

Drive in movies, grilling and lots of watermelon.

Warm nights sitting on the front porch with my love as children play around us.

I can feel summer.

I hate to wish away spring, but oh how I love summer.

The heat not so much, but we won't let it spoil our fun.

So we started celebrating early with our new sprinkler!

Are you ready for summer?

Trying to not forget...

Right now, life seems crazy.

It's all diapers, all day long discipline issues, endless laundry, lots of appointments and the least amount of sleep I've had since all nighters at college.

So it's easy to forget the years of dreaming, the prayers and the tears cried over wanting to be a mommy.

It chills me how the very thing I begged God for is now something I complain about.

Not neccisarily the children themselves, but the amount of work that goes into parenting.

It's important to keep our minds fixed on the BIG picture.

Don't hear me wrong...I know that it's tough and I'm not saying we shouldn't be real. Sharing how hard our days can be with our spouses, each other and God is not wrong.

But I also know how overwhelmed I can get with my feelings and anxiousness in the moment.

On days when I all I feel like I'm doing is changing poopy diapers, trying to stay awake during a twenty minute episode of Dora on netflix, trying to keep my house from looking like a tornado and teaching my 5 year old how to follow directions for the 847th time for the day.....my head can become clouded about who I am and what I'm doing.

I am a testimony of answered prayers, God's grace and the many undeserved gifts.

I am living my dreams.

I've been entrusted with 3 beautiful children.

I am in charge of molding and raising up three little lives.

I'm the one who is to kiss their skinned knees, cheer them on when they hit the ball, show them how to care for their own children one day, keep them safe from the dangers lurking in every corner of this world, wipe away their tears, love them greater than anyone else, and definitely I'm the one who is to teach them about God and all his glory!

This is a tough job with lots of discouraging and mundane days.

But it's the most important job I've ever been given and comes with the greatest blessings too.

Three of them to be exact!

The best part...

One of the best parts of being a parenting

is seeing your child accomplish something

that you've worked so hard on

that you worry they'll never catch onto

but one day they surprise you

and you realize that you've won one small victory as a parent

this is the same little boy that didn't know how to sing his ABC's and now he can write several of those letters

praising the Lord for small victories and the joys of watching our children grow

What I love most about Easter....

sSpring

pretty little dresses

family together

baskets full of treats

boys in dress shirts like the colors of easter eggs

ham, banana salad and homemade rolls

yellow dafodils

candy candy candy

full church pews

joy and love

but most of all,

a hope that goes beyond this holiday.

An eternal hope because of our Christ's work on the cross.

And not only that, but He didn't leave us disappointed and distraught by death.

He conquered not only sin, but death.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ I Corinthians 15: 56-57

Oh what a Great God! May you find such a glorious hope in our Lord today and always!

Happiest Easter, from our three little bunnies : )

I definitely love these beautiful treasures...

handsome boy

gorgeous little girl

precious baby - first easter

A little progress

I love getting inspiration from other bloggers, websites and pinterest.

But what I love best, is when that inspiration actually turns into progress!

I loved and was so inspired by Ashley Ann's bedroom that she posted on her blog, Under the Sycamore. It was such a great display of her and her husbands relationship. My master bedroom needed a little personal touch and some romance. So check out what I finally finished. I jokingly call it our love shrine to Scott! : )

I took one of our accent walls (the other is right behind this one ...see near the bathroom) that had nothing on it and turned it into a collage wall. It is all stuff about us. BTW, don't you love my beautiful white trim baseboard? Oh wait it's not there? That's right...the people we hired to renovate our upstairs never finished. BOO! Another story for another time. We really need to get this finished ourselves. The parts of the room that have it are so pretty!

Here is a closer up view of our wall. See our bed is in the corner of this picture (our dresser is at the end of our bed with our tv) so you can get an idea of how our furniture is arranged.

In the middle I cut out fabric letters and framed them saying You & Me. Also below that I put one of our favorite Christmas card pictures with Scruffles and us. Over to the side is just a plain ole frame with three pictures...one when we were dating, a picture on the day of our engagement of Scott washing my feet and then one from about 3 years ago while we were married. It's neat to see the progression of our relationship and God's hand over our marriage. In the right hand bottom corner is a picture Scott made me for my 30th birthday. I love his drawings and it's us in front of our house on his scooter (which I've only rode on 3 times with him) : ) I loved it soo much, It had to go on the wall because it is so US!

At the top is one of my favorite quotes from Pride and Prejudice. The frame to the left is us on our honeymoon. Right below that is our monogram on some fabric. The yellow frame...if you can tell...is a tree made up of lyrics to our song (and first dance at our wedding reception). That was a pinterest idea. Thank you very much!

Here is that quote:

You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. - Mr. Darcy

Moving over more to the left... beside our honeymoon picture is a heart shaped map of Rivera Maya, Mexico where we actually honeymooned. Below that is a frame that I made a little bunting for and clipped a picture of us kissing...we are barely visible because we are soo small...i love that! A photo booth film strip of us while we dating. I made sure not to put any pictures of our kids on here so it would be just about us. I know that is a pregnancy picture there, but I loved it too much and it holds such an amazing part of our story. But I did not add any actual babies or cute little children to the wall.

This a free 8 X 10 canvas that I got forever ago and really couldn't find the perfect spot for. It's paired next to three small frames that hold our wedding date. on the bottom is another favorite quote of mine from Martin Luther King Jr....

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."

There you have it.

I actually finished a creative project that I started only three months ago : )

What are some creative ideas you've found online and are trying to finish?

Let's dream, together you and I

My favorite times are when my babies sleep. Usually it is because that means I get to sleep. But sometimes it is just my favorite because they look soo sweet when they sleep.

Look at this slumbering babe.

Fly like a raven, black honey into the night
Soft like the air beneath, a swan in a flight
Then return back home, to bed, bring the dancing stars
Sleep and dream of a white wolf howling and know that I am near
Shhh. Close your eyes, don't ask why
Let's dream, together you and I
Close your eyes, we will fly, dreaming together you and I
The moon has sailed in a sliver gown of stars,
It's long, but not forever
Soon her love will rise as mine and sing to the shadows

Tomorrow we will shall rise with the dawn
Kiss the flowers and bloom
But now lie still as the wind and listen
For I will come to you with the footsteps of morning
Shhh. Close your eyes, don't ask why
Let's dream, together you and I

Close your eyes, we can fly, dreaming together you and I
Dream, Dream, Dream, DreamRaven Lullaby- Jewel

A few tidbits...

Who wants a blog post that shares organized thoughts and extremely inspirational points...hopefully not you today! Here is my jumbled brain:

• I like to ride in my husbands car without the kids and turn the radio up really loud! I love my kids but it's fun to pretend I'm still carefree and not thinking about how I'm going to get my potty training 2 yr. old to a potty without her peeing all over my car.
• I'm still REALLY ANGRY with Netflix for taking off the Cosby show.
• I love this man and this lady bug butt : )
• I'm really needing a night out (movies, girl talk or some other type of relaxation away from home) but I'm so dog tired.
• Nursing is not for pansies....it's a lot of draining work! I'm feeling more like a pansy everyday : ) But don't worry I'm not giving up.
• I'm one of those mothers who doesn't take her own advice. I make my kids eat awesome while I finish off a box of oatmeal cream pies in a week (mostly by myself). Snacking is my favorite past time : )
• I'm loving American Idol and Dancing with the Stars this go around. That is as much Reality TV as I can do...sorry, Jersey Shore and Bachelor fans...JUST NOT INTO IT!
• I wore a tshirt and shorts out the other day and my son asked if I had on pajamas....Mama needs to spruce it up a little : )
• My children like to play this cruel joke on me where one takes and awesome nap while the other won't. Or better yet...One will sleep in while the other is up earlier than normal. WHAT? Can't we have that perfect trifecta of everyone sleeping for at least a couple of hours at the same time so I can work hard on chores. And by work hard on chores I mean take a nap myself after proudly throwing in one load of laundry in the washer.
• I'm super excited about a tax return buy for my photography...

hello pretty lady

I got the Canon T2i...there just wasn't enough difference for me to get the T3i while spending the extra money. So far I'm super happy with it. 18 mega pixels of magic fairy dust!

gives me goosebumps I'm so excited.

and most people who follow me on pinterest know I'm a little obsessed with yellow.

except I love how this is actually called marigold. sounds even prettier than yellow.

• I'm loving spending time outdoors with my littles these days, but it's just April. By July, I wanna hide indoors in my cool a/c. I've become such a weather snob and I'm not sure how it happened since I blissfully lived outdoors all day long growing up. I wish I liked to sweat more :)
• Has anyone seen October Baby? I'm wanting to see it badly. I've heard it has a great story line with positive ending. Not many movies about CHOOSING LIFE. Speaking of movies...my friends dragged me to Hunger Games. I wanted to read the books first, but I'm glad they did. I LOVED it! Go see it...warning it is really violent in parts.
• I made this for dinner last night and have decided it's what I make for dinner when I need some comfort. Slow cooker Italian Chicken paired with fettucine alfredo (homemade sauce). And throw in some breadsticks and Ale8 for good measure. I promised I don't always cook my family such unhealthy meals...but it sure is delicious!
  
• Lately I CANNOT remember anything. I asked Scott if he thought I could blame it on the lack of sleep or three children constantly making noise or if I should see a doctor. He said he wasn't worried. But I AM! I hope to gain a little of my brain and memory back real soon or things could get ugly around here. Like trying to wash my hair with lotion or loosing my keys in the freezer or maybe even loosing a child. hopefully, not.

alright, I think everyone is napping now. I'm pretty sure I have twenty minutes of uninterrupted time to myself. happy napping folks!