Thankful Thursday

A year or so ago, Josh got me the Women of Faith daily devotional.  I was reading today's and thought I would share because it made me feel really good today.  Made me think about how special God really thinks I am even though I might not feel worthy of his love somedays.  This particular entry for today was written by Sheila Walsh.  She begins with this verse...

The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. -Psalm 147:11

She then goes on to tell about her little boy doing things in his everyday life and playtime and how her father-in-law was always commenting on how brilliant he was doing those little things and saying, "Man, look at that boy!".  She didn't think anything about it because to her they were just things he did all the time.  The last paragraph, she goes on to talk about God and how he must feel that way about us.  It made me feel really good and really want to be more pleasing in the eyes of God so he can say this about me.  Here's what she says....

Do you know that's how God feels about you?  Sometimes as we grow older we lose that sense of being special---or perhaps you never had it to begin with.  To God, you are a delight and a joy.  He watches over you, marveling at you---his beloved child.  When you go to sleep he is with you, and when you wake up to begin a new day he is right beside you.  When you speak a kind word, reach out and help without being asked, refuse to take offense, cover a sister with love and grace, listen carefully.  You might just hear him say, "Just look at that girl!"

God is our biggest fan, so let's give him something to cheer about!

So thankful for the joy in knowing that he delights in me and that his love never fails!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

We had a great time tonight at our monthly Bunco party!  Kristin hosted an 80's themed bunco party this month.  This is the first time we have had a theme/dress up party, but it was a lot of fun.  I had SO much hairspray in my hair that I had to wash it twice when I got home.  I can't believe I used to use that much hairspray in Junior High....my how times have changed! (thank goodness!).  I have to tell ya...I was scared to death that I was going to get pulled over or heaven forbid have an accident while dressed like this.  Thank goodness the Lord kept me safe!  I don't know what I would have done if someone else had seen me like this!  I did get barked at by a dog in the car next to me at a stoplight though.  That was pretty funny.  Really put it into perspective how bad I looked. ha!

Funny Friday!

Collin has become our little prayer sayer at the dinner table.  He loves to say it, which makes my heart so happy!  The other day at lunch, after his quite lengthy prayer, he stops and says, "Wow mom, now that was a beautiful prayer!".  It absolutely was! :-)

***

I just had to post this picture today.  Our little dog Lexi is such a good sport.  She loves the boys so much, even when they aren't quite as nice to her sometimes.  The other day the boys were playing Star Wars and yelled to me, "Mom!  Come Look!  Lexi is playing Star Wars with us!"  I was a little confused, but walked in to find this.....love you Lexi!

Round, Round Get Around, I Get Around.....

My little Carter man learned how to use the pedals on his trike last week (june 15th)!!  I was cooking dinner in the kitchen and walked in the dining room to find him just pedaling in circles around the dining room table!  I was shocked!  I finally got a picture of him pedaling down the sidewalk last night.  He still prefers to go "flintstone style" and just scoot around with his feet (see the last picture) because he's still faster that way, but at least now I know he can do it!  I told him that if he kept using the pedals he might get a big boy bike this Christmas! :-)  Way to go Carter!!

Father's Day Weekend

 So thankful for all the fathers in my life.  My dad has always exemplified hard work and love for his family.  I love you dad.  So thankful and blessed to have you in our lives!

So blessed that my boys have such a wonderful father as well.  I love to watch Josh with the boys and the bond I see with the 3 of them makes me love him even more!  They love him so much and it just melts my heart to watch them together. 

We had a very busy, but fun-filled weekend.  We went over Saturday and spent the day with Josh's parents and had a cookout that night.  My mom and dad came over for that and we also got to see Aunt Mary who spoiled the boys with water guns and bubble swords.  We had quite the time! (warning...lots of pictures to follow)

Mimi has a wheelbarrow she fills with sand, so that always keeps the boys occupied for hours on end.

Then, Collin found a worm, so they were fascinated with that....

Carter spent a lot of time chillin' in the hammock and eating fruit snacks.

And of course, we had to play some golf.  Love these 3 guys!

Papa helping Carter golf.

We then walked over to the neighbor's house because they had some new puppies.  They were so cute!

Papa, Collin, Carter and Daddy

Father's Day 2011

Sunday, we headed over to my parents' house for a little fun on the farm.

Pa-Pa and his two boys.

The boys did a little swimming.

Then we headed to the creek for some fishing!

Daddy caught the first two fish with Collin's Star Wars fishing pole.

Carter always wanted to hold the fish and throw them back...poor fish....Carter wasn't very gentle.  They did hit a few rocks before they finally made it back into the water.

And THEN the highlight of our Father's Day weekend!!  Collin caught his very 1st fish (a bass) all on his very own!!  He cast the line in the water, reeled it in and everything!  Here is his big moment!  He was so proud.  I think he has told everyone about his fish.  He even told the pest guy today that came to spray the house! He said, "Mom, can I tell him about my fish?". So cute.

At that point, Carter wanted to try too....

Then they had fun playing in the sand and looking for "treasure".

We ended the night with Me-Ma and Pa-Pa joining us down at the creek and bringing a little pizza party.  Here's Collin showing Pa-Pa how it's done.



Funny Friday!

Several funnies for this week.  Enjoy!

Collin talks a lot in his sleep.  The other night I was laying with him and he says, "Carter, I thought I was getting cookies, not eels!"

***

We have a pesky snake that keeps sneaking into our backyard, so we haven't been going out there much lately.  Collin was talking to Carter about the snake one day and about how God will protect us from it.  I overhear him telling Carter, "Carter, God will send the bears to eat the snakes.  That's just how it is.  Its called the 'circle of life'. "  So funny!

***

Collin was "arranging" some chairs in the dining room the other day and said, "Come on Carter, its time for bible study.  These are the bible study chairs."

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One day I just could not get the boys to nap.  I could hear them in there laughing and giggling about pee and poop for an hour!  I then heard them making up and singing a pee and poop song to the tune of Justin Bieber's "Baby" song.  Boys, and there obsession with bodily functions.....

***

During a thunderstorm the other night, Collin says, "Hey mom, you know what I think about thunder?  I think God is up there hunting and shooting deer!"

***

A new addition.....

...to the backyard!!  What did you think I was going to say?? ha!

Me-Ma and Pa-Pa bought the boys a new swingset for the backyard.  They are loving it and enjoying having something so fun to play with in the backyard.

Thanks Me-Ma and Pa-pa!!

and Thanks Daddy for putting in several hours putting it together! 

Yee Haw!

The boys went to the grandparents' houses the first weekend in June.  The rodeo was also in town that weekend, so they all took the boys to see that as well.  Although the boys enjoyed the rodeo, I heard that their favorite part was climbing the fence to see the bulls and kicking around a lot of dirt.  Collin does a hilarious impression of a buckin' bull now though.  So thankful for grandparents that love spending time with my kiddos!  Thanks mom for taking all these pictures.

Here are my sweet boys at the rodeo with their hands over their hearts during the National Anthem.

Carter and his crazy self!  Look at how dirty those legs are from kicking around the dirt!  I almost had a panic attack looking at this picture. :-)

Carter also enjoyed some pool time at Me-Ma and Pa-Pa's.  Collin was busy at Mimi's playing golf. :-)

RIP Poppy

Carter said goodbye to his beloved "poppy" (pacifier) last Wednesday, June 8th.  Josh tried the same thing we did with Collin and it actually worked again!  He told Carter that he needed to be a big boy and get rid of poppy and throw it in the trash and he did it!  Now, I snuck back in a little while later to retrieve it, but he hasn't had it in almost a week!  So proud of him for being such a big boy!  He asked about it a few times and we just had to remind him that he threw it away like a big boy.  Collin talked to him too and told him that he didn't need poppy anymore....all he needed was lion (his blankie). :-)  Now he asks about it and just laughs.  He'll ask, "Poppy?" with a little fake sad face and I'll say, "No poppy!  It's yucky!" and he just laughs.  Think he just brings it up now to be funny.  He walks around saying, "I a big boy now too!"  So happy that we can see his sweet little smile without the obstruction of poppy.  Love you Carter!

Funny Friday!

Just a few funnies from our week.....

Carter is starting to talk so much now....4-8 word sentences sometimes!  He is doing so good and it is funny because now he is able to "tattletale" on the grandparents. :-)  This past weekend, the boys went to the grandparents' houses.  Carter stayed with my parents and got pretty spoiled, but that's ok.  That's what they're for, right?  Anyways, Carter came home and was wanting some "cheesy chips" aka Doritos.  I told him that he couldn't have any and he replied/yelled, "Me-ma's house I get cheesy chips!"  Hmmm....  So, I called my mom to tell her about it and she said, "Ask him about pop." What?!?  So, I said, "Carter, did Pa-pa give you pop?" and he replied, "Yeah, Pa-pa gave me pop....good!"  Of course, Pa-pa thought that was hilarious. :-)

***

Collin's imagination is in full force.  If you ever hear him saying, "Well, my friends in South America....." or "Yeah, one time when I was in South America....", just know that he doesn't have any friends there nor has he ever been there.  He just likes the movie "Up" where they travel there.

***

Speaking of Collin's imagination, yesterday we were on our way to Walmart and I hear Collin talking to Carter in the backseat about monsters.  He's telling lots of crazy stories about monsters named "Hair Creme" eating people, etc.  Well, he goes on to tell about the scariest monster of all and I hear him say, "Carter, then the scariest monster comes to get the people and you know what her name was?........Carrie Siebert!"  What?!?!  I just had to laugh.  Not sure where he was going with that, but I must have upset him at some point during the day.  Oh well.

Happy 9th Anniversary!

Today, Josh and I celebrate our 9 year anniversary!  I can hardly believe it's been 9 years!  In some aspects it seems not that long ago, but in other aspects it seems like an eternity! (in a good way...ha!)  We have had such a great and happy life together, and now we get to share it with two sweet little boys.  Right after we got married, we moved to Kansas City the week after we got back from our honeymoon.  I can't believe it's been 9 years since we moved there.  We were there for 3 1/2 years and it still seems like we just moved back here even though we have been back in Arkansas now for 5 1/2 years.  My how time flies.....especially after you have kids!  We have traveled a lot of places together and have had a great life together.  I so look forward to our future and what that might consist of.  So thankful that God blessed me with such an amazing husband, daddy to my boys, and best friend! 

I love you Josh!

Can you believe how young (and skinny) we look in this picture?!  I told my sister this morning that my goal for our 10 year anniversary is to get back down to my wedding day size. 

Also, sorry for the "picture of a picture"....I don't have a working scanner, so this will have to do. :-)

Splash Pad!

We went for the 1st time today to the new Splash Pad at Lawrence Plaza in Bentonville.  It's just off the square.  In the winter, it's an ice skating rink and in the summer its a fun splash pad with little fountains of water that shoot up everywhere.  It took a while for the boys to "warm up" to it....well, actually Collin never really did.  He's not one for having water squirted at him.  We'll keep trying though because it's such a neat place! 

Carter was hesitant at first, but once I told him to race from one side to the other, that was it.  That kid was all over, letting the water shoot in his face, on his head, up his shorts,etc....!  We will definitely be spending some time here this summer.  We just packed a lunch and made an afternoon of it there.  The other bonus was that naptime was a breeze today! ha! 

Boy, do I love summer and playing with these two cute beach babes!  

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

With the heat of summer already upon us here in NWA, I thought I would share one of my favorite cool summer treats to help you "beat the heat".  This was shared with me by my friend, Shannon, a couple of years ago, who made this for our small group.  I make it as often as I can and it never fails to disappoint and have people running back for more!  I hope you enjoy!

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Blueberry Mixture:

1/2 c. sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 c. water

1 1/4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Graham Cracker Mixture:

2 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. butter, melted

Ice Cream:

1 1/2 c. sugar

1-3.4 oz. package of instant cheesecake pudding mix

1 quart heavy whipping cream

2 c. milk

2 tsp vanilla

1.)  In small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.  Gradually stir in water until smooth.  Stir in blueberries and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

2.)  In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon.  Stir in butter.  Pat into an ungreased 15" x 10" x 1" baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

3.)  In a large bowl, whisk the ice cream ingredients together.  Fill ice cream freezer cylinder 2/3 full and start machine.

 *I use a cuisinart ice cream maker and have found that you aren't able to use the whole amount of mixture in it because it is smaller than a typical ice cream maker

4.)  Crumble the graham cracker mixture.  In a large container, layer the ice cream, graham cracker mixture and blueberry sauce 3 times and swirl together.  Freeze.

ENJOY!

Funny Friday!

Our funnies for the week....

Uncle Joey bought Collin and Carter some Star Wars guns a couple of months ago and of course the boys love them.  They are a little hard to pull back to shoot, but I thought it was hilarious when Carter came up to me the other day, handed me the gun and said, "Cock it mommy!"  I didn't even know he knew what that was!  So funny.

***

I was making a mess in the kitchen the other day, so I had on my apron (which I really don't wear that often, but it's got a quilted pattern on it).  Collin comes up to me and says, "Why do you have that picnic table shirt on?"

***

Collin was working on his "homework" for school the other day and I was trying to tell him something to which he replied, "Mom, I need you to be quiet so I can concentrate!".....well excuse me! :-)

***

Josh took Collin to the driving range last weekend because he is always begging to go hit golf balls.  After they were done, Collin says, "Hey dad, next time can we play at the REAL golf course where we hit the ball at the flagpole?"

***

One of Collin's random moments this week.....He comes up to me and says, "Mom, you know what I like?  Daddy and Root Beer."

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The boys have one of those Kidz Bop cds that we listen to sometimes in the car.  There is a Justin Bieber song on there that the boys always want to listen to called "Baby, Baby".  So, anytime we want to get on Josh's nerves we just start singing that song.  Last night while the boys were in the tub, Collin and I started singing it and Carter gets this really mad, gruff face, stands up and yells, "STOP!  Daddy don't want Baby song!"

***

Happy Friday to you all!

Last Day of School

Today was the boys' last day of school.  I was SO sad this morning, but the boys were excited to go see their friends and their teachers.  They have truly loved it this year.  They have made some wonderful friends and have had some wonderful teachers who have poured so many wonderful things into their lives.  Collin knows and can name all the kids in his class.  He likes them all so much.  Carter loves hanging out with Hudson, Peter, Lily and Shelby.  He's pretty possessive of Lily and Shelby though, referring to them as "MY Lily and MY Shelby".  I also love it that they not only learn about Jesus at home, but he is also the focus at school.  It is amazing to see the transformation of my guys into little boys this year!  The boys have gotten so much taller and skinnier and have learned so much.  We are already looking forward to next year, but will definitely be enjoying the summer!

Collin and Carter-1st day of school-September 2010

Collin-1st day of school, September 2010

Carter-1st Day of School, September 2010



Carter-Last Day of School, June 2011....he wasn't happy about it.....rough morning.



Collin-Last Day of School, June 2011...I can't believe how grown-up he looks!