Valentine's Day

Well, we usually don't do valentines day around here, but Josh had other plans. He got me a Teak bench for the shower. Not sure how many ladies out there have ever tried to shave their legs in a stall shower, but it is NO fun! So, I am not sure if this bench was more for me or him but regardless of the "motives" I indeed am very thankful :-)

I have also been talking about getting a tangerine tree. We love tangerines in this house and while being in Florida I thought it would be fun to grow our own. So......when I drove up from work last Friday, my gift was in the driveway. Yeah, he done good =) Love ya babe!

One year later...

Juice and Snacks....

BellyButtons.

Noah.

Jacob

Wow! It is hard to believe that we moved here exactly one year ago. We have so much to be thankful for! Two houses, 2 new jobs, 2 boys starting school, a new team, a new college, a new car, a new church, and many many more blessings. God has been so good to our family. Josh, the boys, nor I have missed one day of school due to being sick, which is amazing. The boy's have done a wonderful job transitioning into their new schools, I have a wonderful job which I love and Josh is enjoying his new position as assistant volleyball coach and club director. His way is perfect... Thank you Father....

Jacob's Sweet Little Prayer.

I didn't understand any of it, but I am sure God did =)

Better Late than Never!!!!

WOW! Okay, that was a huge lul in the blog (I think that usually happens ever year) but here we are. BACK!!! Hope your holidays were wonderful! Our little family just stayed here for Christmas. We had a special Christmas Eve dinner at the house and watched The Grinch. Noah had a VERY hard time getting to sleep that night because he knew that "youknow who" was coming and was so excited to open his presents! I think by 11:30 he FINALLY fell asleep. Christmas morning was exciting as the boys woke up and saw thier gifts under the tree. We read the Christmas Story and enjoyed a French Toast breakfast with Chocolate Donuts as an extra special treat. The boys received a swing set for Christmas and we played on it the rest of the day. Some dear friends invited us over for dinner that night, so we enjoyed spending the holiday with some "adopted" family. The next morning we flew out early to catch a plane to Chicago. We were planning on just driving ourselves to the airport, but at the last minute our friends Phillip and Karen said they would take us. What a blessing! Especially since our flight left at 6:26 and we had to leave about 4am. We spent the next 8 days in Chicago area with my family. It was so nice to see everybody and just relax. Noah wanted to play in the snow so bad, (in fact that is all he talked about for 3 weeks) but when we arrived the snow had started to melt and by the next day there were only wet dirt piles. Poor Kid. Maybe next year. Surprisingly nobody got sick, so that is a huge praise! Anyway, our first week back was nice and normal. I love vacations but I also love routine!!!! Hope your Christmas was amazing! What an awesome privelege we have to celebrate the birth of OUR KING!!!!!

For the Grandparents...

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Reflection

Yes we are still here! Very Alive and kicking! I haven't really had the time to post anything lately! My grandparent's visited right before Thanksgiving, we drove to NC for Thanksgiving, on the Wednesday before, Jacob fell at the playground and had to go to the ER to get 3 stiches in his chin, came back from NC, and we decided to paint and put crown moulding in the "piano" room, which looks amazing (pics to come). I know all that is random and not very specific at all, but that's what you get from me at 10:50. We had a wonderful time with my grandparents. Gosh, I love those people! They were able to spend the weekend with them and the boys absolutely loved every minute of it. Jacob did well with his stiches, he was a little swollen for a couple days, and did NOT do well when the doctor had to get them out, but it's almost all the way healed and he hasn't missed a beat. Noah has a Christmas program next Tuesday that we are excited to go to. It's his first one ever and I will have the video camera ready. I am so excited to see him sing. He loves to sing and makes up songs all the time, so it will be interesting to see him in this setting. Anyway, that's about it. I will post some pictures of our adventures. I know it's random, but at least it's something :-)

Just an Update!

These boys are growing like weeds! I can hardly keep clothes on them! It seems like I finally get to the point where everything in their drawers fit them, and I am pulling out the next bin of clothes because the pants are too short! What a job! Anyway, Just thought I would give a quick update to the fam on how we are! Jacob went to the doc for his 18month check up and is in the 75% for height and 50% for weight (no idea what the height and weight were but I am sure I have it written down somewhere). He was such a trooper getting his shots too! He is the human version of PigPen. I know I have said that before, but seriously Look at that picture! This is how he is whenever we play outside....no joke! He LOVES dirt and being messy!!!!! He is doing so well at "Granny's" house. He is starting to talk and use phrases. One of his favorites is "Thankyou Momma" or "Hiiiiiiiiii Dadda!" He tries to copy whatever Noah says and Loves to answer Diego and Dora's questions. Whenever Little Einsteins is on he shouts, "Dine Dine" and smiles. Too sweet. Noah also loves to play outside but is really into his bike lately. He loves to ride it around the culdesac and have Jacob "chase" him. They both love to wrestle and I love to watch them interact with each other. Noah absolutely LOVES school. He knows the days of creation and what God made on which day. He gets some of them confused, but for the most part he does a good job! The season is almost over! We have one more conference match on Friday night and then it is the Conference Tourney. If we win that we will go on to regionals (which is the week after Thanksgiving). It's been a great season, but we will really love having our daddy around a lot more! That's all from Florida! Stay tuned! Things happen quick around here!!

For the Grandparents.

Sorry I haven't posted pictures yet of our adorable Buzz Lightyear and Tigger...oh, and Superman! Here you go! You can see more HERE

New Treasures

Found this basketball hoop on the side of the road. It is really durable and will NOT knock over if somebody plays too rough! We have it out by the pool and it fits PERFECTLY!

We found this in on the side of the road in our neighborhood. I knocked on the door and the lady told me to take it. I scrubbed it tonight (pic was taken before the scrub) and it came clean! No cracks, holes or anything!

I picked this up at a yard sale a couple weekends ago. They were asking .75 for it. I am NOT kidding. I had to carry it a couple blocks (it was a neighborhood yard sale and I parked far) but it was well worth it! The boys use it as a water slide!

The thing I love about these things is that they clean up so nice (with some Krud Kutter) and we use them, then put them on Craigslist and use that money to put towards necessities. Praise the Lord!

I promise I did not set them up like this! I am amazed at the love my boys have for music! Noah sings ALL the time! He makes up songs constantly about houses, dogs, animals, Jacob, mommy and daddy. It's quite humorous to listen to him. Jacob loves music too! He is always wanting to "help" me play the piano. I teach piano lessons every Monday night here at the house and Noah will come in the room and say, "Mommy, Noah's turn for Piano!" It's so cute, so I give him a little "mini" lesson and then he is off. I love it that they love music so much! Maybe it's all the Baby and Little Einstein? Who knows, but I love it!

Oh and I almost forgot, Here's a video of Noah's newest toy. (Also bought at a yard sale!)

I kept telling them they were tired!

I had two boys today who did not want to take a nap. For naptime, I would find them in each other's beds, the closet, playing in the toy chest, everywhere, but in their beds sleeping. Well, it is 5:00 and guess what?

What a weekend!

Click HERE to see more

Last weekend Josh was in Alabama for a tournament from Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon. The team did great with a 3-0 weekend. Wooohoo! The boys and I went to a friend's house for dinner on Thursday night and Friday I had a wedding to shoot in Tampa, so a friend picked the boys up and took care of them. Saturday was "clean the house before we do anything" day so we stayed at home and picked up and then went to Chikfila for dinner and some play time. Josh was home by 3:00 on Sunday afternoon so we enjoyed spending a little time with him before bed.

The wedding I had to shoot went so well! The couple was great, the guests were great and the beach was beautiful!!! Would you beleieve I took over 700 shots? I couldn't help it. Everybody was smiling. ALL THE TIME!!! Here are a couple and you can click on the link to see more!

Have a great Hump day!

Oh, What a Happy Day!

The Gang..

My birthday was yesterday and my oh my did people make such a fuss about it. Can't complain though. It was sort of nice to celebrate my special day with my new friends. The day started out with my boys singing me "Happy Birthday". Okay, so Noah sang it all (I should have gotten it on video it's too cute, he is actually on key!). Jacob tried and said something that sounded like "Happy Birthday Baa Baa" (this is how he says Ma Ma). Then I got to school and there was food, food and more food brought by the wonderful fine arts department at LCS. We had cakes, doughnuts, cheese, crackers, Fruit, Candy and lots of chocolate! My friend Shelley gave me the cutest bag and my students loaded me up with more chocolates and candles! For lunch, my wonderful husband took me out which was so nice! Josh comes to school every day to eat lunch with me. We usually eat in the cafeteria, but today we splurged and made our way over to Chilis. So nice to spend some quiet time with him. Then when I got back to school there was a WONDERFUL bouquet of fruit from Edible Creations from my friend Trisha! Wow! Seriously fuss fuss fuss! To top the whole day off Pam, Terri, and Karen took me out to Mimi's Cafe! We had such a great time! Pam and Karen got me the cutest little pumpkin candy dish (which I have been searching for) and wonderful coffee scented candle and Terri gave me some delicious specialty cupcakes. Thank you so much everybody for help making my day so special! Wow! Lord, you have blessed me so much!

Gator Game!

We had a terrific weekend! We got up early this morning to get to early service, came home for a quick change, and then headed to Gainesville to watch the Gators sweep Tennessee in 3! It was so much fun! Tiring, but fun! They had a blow up jump thing for the boys and afterward we went down on the floor to see our old friends. You can view more pics HERE

Me and My Boys

New Recipe!

Ooooh, look what we are going to try this week. Hope I can make mine look as yummy as the picture!!!!

Smoked Turkey Quesadillas
Here’s a recipe that smokes! Add it to your 30-minute specials.
Prep Time:30 min
Start to Finish:30 min
Makes:4 quesadillas

1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
4 oz (half of 8-oz package) regular cream cheese or reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup julienne-cut oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles, drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers or regular Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz)
1 package (11.5 oz) Old El Paso® flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas)
8 slices (1 1/2 oz each) smoked turkey breast
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
4 ripe olive slices, if desired

1. In medium bowl, mash avocado. Stir in cream cheese, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in tomatoes and chiles.
2. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the Monterey Jack cheese on 4 of the tortillas. Top each with turkey slice. Spread avocado mixture over turkey. Top with remaining turkey slices. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup of the Cheddar cheese. Top with remaining tortillas.
3. In 12-inch skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Add 1 quesadilla; cook 2 to 4 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining butter and quesadillas. Garnish with remaining Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses. Top each with olive slice.

Just a quick note...

Well, we finally took the plunge and buzzed Jacob's hair. He looks like a little boy now. We still need to get it a little better on the sides, but overall I really like it. Here is a random conversation I heard the other day. I was cleaning the bathroom and Jacob and Noah were right around the corner eating their lunch. Jacob had his applesauce (as always) all over the place. All in his hair, down his belly, his face, the table, you get the idea. Noah is Mr. Clean. He hates messes especially when it involves anything getting on him. He freaks if there is dirt or something on his hands. Well, Jacob decided to share his applesauce and got some on Noah's arm. Noah looked at Jacob and said, "Jacob, got applesauce on my arm, Bad Choices Jacob!" and then went on to yell (or whine because it definately was a whiny voice) "Momma, Jacob make bad choices!" It cracked me up, but gave me a little insight to our 3 year olds little mind. We have really been trying to stay on him and make sure that he knows life is all about choices and consequences. Good Choice = Good consequence. Poor Choice= Consequences that aren't so nice. Anyway, it's good to know that he is trying to teach this lesson to his little brother...well, sort of ;-)

A new Game!

Not that I have time to play it, but I LOVE puzzles! Enjoy this one! you can get more at jigzone.com! Thanks Kathleen!

Feel the Love?!?