January and February 2014

I have been experiencing some technically difficulties with my blog. I can't seem to upload pictures as easy as I once could. I have had several unsuccessful attempts here lately, AND little boy is deciding to revolt nap time so my 'free time' has been limited. 

 *sigh* 

Have I mentioned that he is 3?!

 Wow, is really all I can say about this age and stage right now. 

SO...

We work hard to wear him out whenever we can. 

Or else, 

WE get worn out by him!

Daddy's Birthday & Monster Trucks

The beginning of January, brought us daddy's birthday. One of his birthday wishes was to take Cael to the Monster Jam Tour.  Our son is mildly obsessed with Monster Trucks. I have no idea what sparked this fascination, but he just loves anything Monster Truck! 

We decided to make a family day out of it. Daddy, grandpa Craig, Uncle Chris and Cael went to the event and the ladies went SHOPPING! We ended the night at Fudruckers for supper, which was Pete's request.

It was a GREAT day for everyone!

Grandpa Craig and Cael enjoying the view.

"Dad this is the BEST TRIP EVER".

Of course all we heard about were the wrecks!

Celebrating daddy's birthday Hickory Park style!

Arctic Weather

These past two months have been down right ARCTIC. 

We have had several late starts to school and even a few cancellations because of the dangerous wind chills. One of Pete's favorite things to do on these frigid days is a science experiment. 

Boiling water turns to instant vapor.

Best action picture I could get! He didn't mind the many attempts though.

Indoor Play place

We took off one day to spend with the cousins at an Indoor Playground. This spuratic trip happened because I had promised our little boy that we would be going to the local indoor play place the next day because the Jumper was going to be there.  We woke up that next day, bundled up and got to town only to realize that they were closed due to dangerous wind chills. Needless to say, I had one sad little boy on my hands.  With tears streaming down his face, he said "But mom, you promised". *crush* The sound my heart made as I heard his disappointment. 

I made a phone call to my sister and met up with her for the day!

SUCCESS!  

*whew*

cousins!

 Swimming

One Saturday, a few weeks ago, we woke up and wanted to get out of the house! We knew that our little boy was showing signs of having CABIN FEVER, badly! So we needed to do something that would wear him out and get him out of the house! 

We decided to call around to some hotels to see if we could pay to swim in their pool.  I called around to about 7 different hotels and none of them allowed outside visitors to pay to use their pool. Until I called the AmericInn Hotels and Suites and they said SURE! So we packed up our swim gear and drove there not telling our son what we were doing. We arrived and swam for about three straight hours. He had a blast!!

 He asked for several day after that to go back to the pool! This summer is going to be so much fun! Bring on the SUN!

After those beautiful swimming pictures, I end with reality...SNOW! 

I truly don't mind winter.  I love the snow. I think it looks beautiful. 

AND, when the temperature is right, it provides great entertainment for this little boy! 

Sunshine...

Green grass...

Flowers...

Warmer weather...

Outside play...

Longer days...

Are you all COMING! 

Praise the Lord that even in trying times like this winter season that he is already working out the next beautiful season we call 

SPRING! 

December 2013

It is hard to believe that December has COME and GONE! 

Here is a little bit of a recap of the month.  It was a whirlwind, it seemed! 

It is a tradition in our church to have a Youth Nativity play. 

Cael had a little bit of a speaking part in it and it was so cute! We practiced and he was ready for the night of the performance. Here is a picture of him and a few kids in his Sunday School class. 

We went caroling with our church and youth group kids.  I thought this was such a great evening. The weather wasn't too cold and it was such a heart warming experience to walk around our church's town and sing to people.  Oh and there also was a gorgeous FULL moon this night!

Christmas Eve

My family has a long standing tradition of being together on Christmas Eve. I have very vivid memories of my family being together and the kids running wild while the adults sat around and chit chatted. That is exactly what it was like for us this year as well.

 At one moment, this Christmas Eve, I remember standing back and just observing our son enjoying time with his cousins and his family. My heart was filled with so much joy knowing he will have these memories for the rest of his life!

Here is a picture of the Cousins and their jammies on Christmas Eve right before we shipped them off to bed. 

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was pretty low key for us. We loved every minute of that though. It was so fun to have Cael wake up and notice that his cookies, veggies and milk were gone. Then to watch his face light up when he put two and two together that Santa had come. He was super excited to see what was left for him under the tree. 

Year of: TOY STORY! 

Books!

and Monster Trucks! 

 All crazy gift giving, food eating, story telling, busy-ness aside...

We made sure that this was the 

REASON FOR THE SEASON! 

Family

We loved having playmates around for a few days while the cousins were here visiting.  We spent a lot of time together and I don't think Cael minded one bit! 

Grave Digger is his favorite Monster Truck!

A HUGE Crane!

 One day while daddy was home on break, they bundled up and went for a "hike".  They walked to the pond and built a snowman. This adventure was a HIT!  He couldn't stop talking about his snowman and how much fun he had with his daddy.  

Over Christmas Break we also celebrated a very special daddy's birthday! 

Have I mentioned just how much I love this guy and seeing him be the best daddy in the world makes that love grow even deeper. 

Christmas sometimes overshadows this guy's special day. Each year, I try to make it as special as I can. We got daddy a few small gifts and we visited our favorite family restaurant! According to him his birthday was "perfect".  

Happy New Year! 

We also ushered in a brand NEW YEAR! 

A year that is full of all sorts of happenings. 

There are some days I get quite overwhelmed with what is ahead in this new year. 

I also have moments of grief over the year behind us. 

God knows what is ahead. He has provided for our every need in more ways than we can count already, we know that the days ahead will be no different. 

Our prayer for  

2014

is for 

Clarity

Direction

Prosperity 

God is holding every moment in his hands to be given to us at a very specific day and time. He knows how the puzzle fits together. He is working out a greater plan that we can't even comprehend right now. 

We will choose Joy. 

We will choose to TRUST Him no matter what. 

We will choose to accept his perfect, pleasing will for our lives. 

In the mean time, we cherish every single minute with the miracle we have been given. 

Here's to making more wonderful memories in 2014!

CHEERS!