Friday, February 28, 2014

Happy Weekend

No matter if you're a new reader or a veteran (wondering if I even have either??), you should know that I like to take pictures.  A lot of pictures!  And this is where I share them...lucky you.  So as we head into yet another cold, wintery weekend, the littles would like to send you warm wishes....








































I asked Everlee to model a headband for my business, and Cru asked if he could put on some "handsome" clothes and take pictures too.  This was all them, I just snapped...and possibly told them if they give me one more pose, I'll reward with candy :)

Happy weekend!

PS - the handsome not so little man is 5 now!  How in the world did that happen???

***Avoiding Christmas posts***

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Thanksgiving....Yes, I Said Thanksgiving

Since spring is {hopefully} right around the corner, it feels like the right time to finally share about Thanksgiving :)

Has it really been that long???  Dang!

Usually, we have Thanksgiving day lunch at Chet's parent's, but we delayed our celebration until the following day due to Cason, Chancey, and Cutler flying in from Florida.  So, instead we spent the day finishing up last minute cleaning before heading to Lindsborg that evening for our annual dinner with my mom's side of the family.



Feeling blessed....



And some were feeling tired...



As I said before, the three C's who live in Florida were set to arrive Thanksgiving night.  It was mine and the kids' first time meeting Cutler....anticipation was killing us!  It was the first time the entire family had been together in over two years!



We were overjoyed, to say the least!

And the kids could not get enough of Cutler!!!



































Cousin time is the best!



Most of the time :)



Cut really took a liking to Cru ♥ The first morning they were here, they were the only two awake, and she just giggled at him.  I have a super sweet video, but it won't upload :(


She still lights up when we skype and he pops up on the screen.

A baby back in the house gave Uncle Chet the fever....









































Can't say I blame him.....




































































































As you can see, we documented as many memories as possible!

Here are even more! 
























Grandma and Grandpa wanted a picture with all grand kids....never an easy task!






































































































































































































































Cutler's first time in leaves....this isn't sand!!!

We absolutely loved our time with Cutler and her mommy and daddy...just Chet's entire family in general.  Our house felt so full...so full of laughter and love and memories.  Thankful for every second of it!

And not to be left out.....



A Thanksgiving get together with my dad's side of the family...always a good time!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

♥ Valentine's ♥

I know a lot of people don't buy into Valentine's Day.  Maybe I was one of those people at one time; I can't remember.  I guess when you spend 13 years celebrating with the same person, the past doesn't really matter.  Then when you throw little loves into the mix, this holiday gets better and better.

Let me share about school festivities first.  About a month prior, Reese and Cru picked out these edible bracelets, kind of like a giant fruit snack.  I hadn't even thought about classmate treats yet, so I told them they could get those.  Fast forward a couple weeks, Pinterest searching was in full speed, but I knew I already had those bracelets, so we just went for it.



































Not my favorite, but it worked.

Cru could not wait to work on his...



School is clicking for him right now, and he is loving learning!  I am so thankful!

Little sis couldn't wait to get her hands on some scissors too!



Cru gave his teacher this...



































I have to tell this story about picking what kind of chips to give Ms. Becky.  When I picked Cru up from school one day last week, I asked him if Ms. Becky liked chips, and this is how the rest of our conversation went...
Cru:  Yeah!  She likes candy too!
Me:  Ok!  Well, do you know what kind of chips she likes?
Cru:  Like red or blue? (talking about colors of bags like we have at home)
Me:  Yeah....have you ever seen what color of bag she likes?
Cru:  No....she likes pop too!
Me:  Ok!  Do you know what kind?
Cru:  No...just the kind she drinks out of a beer can!
LOL!!!
Cru:  Actually, she just likes beer.
At this is where I finally realized this conversation was going nowhere!
 
Ms. Becky assured me we did good with our choice.  Most importantly, we really do think she is all that...so thankful for her patience and her energy and her compassion and the list could go on forever.



Reese gave her classmates the same bracelet treats.  Her teacher loves Dr. Pepper, so this was her treat!



































While the kids were sorting through their boxes of treats from their classmates, Reese turned about ten shades of red and showed me a special Valentine from a boy in her class...



A tiny metal flower that he had wrapped in paper.  He has sisters, so it kind of looked like it fell off something of theirs, which makes it even sweeter.  Or funnier :)

She felt so special  ♥

Then showed me not one, but two(!) love notes from another little boy!  He had written I love you about ten times on each page ending with I love you Reese.

#younglove

#notreadyforit

Their school parties were on Wednesday, and had been out of school since then for parent teacher conferences, so with Valentine's Day being on Friday (and not having school), I felt inclined to make the day special and all about them.

Well, almost all about them....we had to take care of Daddy first!

I had them each write him love notes, then we rolled them up and stuffed them in balloons, which we later snuck in his truck.



Notes from Cru.  I'd like to note that well into his list of things he loved doing with Daddy, he drew a blank, then proceeded to tell me that he loved cleaning the house with him.  Made me laugh, then made me a little angry....if he loved it so much, why didn't they do it more often???

Oh, and that bottom left picture...not what Daddy thought!  It's a chocolate donut!

We also made Daddy and new bracelet.



I think Chet was pretty surprised and hopefully felt special.  We love him so much!  Not sure how we'd survive without him.

Like I said before, the kids had been out of school, so I had planned to do some fun things with them.  One being a day in Wichita watching The Lego Movie followed by a possible visit to Build-A-Bear depending on how ambitious I was feeling.  When I was telling Chet about my plans, I started doubting my sanity for wanting to do all that all by myself, so I jokingly asked him if he wanted to take the afternoon off and join us.  Turns out, he had already planned to be gone Valentine's afternoon in case him and I made plans, so we switched our plans to that day, and then kept it all a secret from the kids.





So, so fun!   And the movie....great!  Chet and I are still laughing about it!

They requested Spangles for supper.....as lovely as a quiet, romantic meal alone with Chet would have been, I wouldn't have changed one single thing about our day ♥



Our little loves make our life so sweet!  My heart is full.  I hope they always know how much we love them.

As much as I would have loved ending my night with a warm bubble bath, the kids win again....



Evee still doesn't like the jets, so when the older two get this special privilege, they have to wait until she's out to turn them on.

Such an amazing day!



I just want to wrap my arms around these three and never, ever let them go ♥