my hungry caterpillar...

To celebrate Hayden's 1st birthday, we had a Hungry Caterpillar birthday party with our family.  How.much.fun.

Hayden's sweet cousins came for his party, and we were so happy to spend the time together!

We all got to wear 'Happy Birthday' crowns... ;-)

James cracked us all up... "I must be king!"

Red smash cake = crazy & fun.  (not as big a mess as you would think).  Oh Hayden, you make the funniest faces.

Hit of the party: lightening McQueen racecar.  Can you say interest?

Needless to say, we had some trouble sharing & taking turns.  Check out this posture...

We had such a great time.  Thanks ya'll for coming.  Whew, this momma is worn out. ;-)

Happy Birthday Hayden!!

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday, dear Hayden...

Happy Birthday to you!!!

anything you can do i can do better...

Anything you can do I can do better...

I can do anything better than you.

no you can't, yes I can, no you can't, yes  I can...

Oh the little.boy.wars. that go on in my house.  At this age is still sooo sweet, until the teeth & tears come out.  (oh.boy)  wouldn't trade it for anything.

you.are.beautiful.

James was sitting on the couch with us & sheepy and decalred, "he's beautiful mommy, he's beautiful!"

Sheepy, you are beautiful.  Should you become more shabby than this, we can look back to your 'beauty' ;-)

In your honor sheepy, a little tribute.  Here you are brand new, with your little family we got for James' nursery room.

James has taken you on many adventures, and many more to come I'm sure... whale riding...

hanging out/snuggling with Riley...

Even balancing with Daddy when you were just a little guy.  what a good 'lovie' you are!

Sheepy has helped in many stressful situations too.  ;-)

haha, couldn't help myself.  Sheepy is pretty much one of the family.  Hopefully Hayden will love his 'lovie' as much as you have.

miracle grow.

I can't grow plants.  I can weed, when it gets bad OR when I need a tangible task where results can be SEEN.  But, I planted some summer plants this year for a change, and with the help of miracle grow, got to watch them get so big!

check it out.

           6/9                        -                     6/15                        -                     7/21

 The heat killed the flowers, both the purple & the pink ones.  But, the wow did they grow!  Loved planting these flowers.  Thanks Kings St. Farmers Market - they helped me pick them all out.  I will miss you!

Loving the Little Years

I have to pass on this book title and highly recommend it. HIGHLY.  If you have little kids, you should read this.  Such a quick and easy read- but resonates so deep.

How true- isn't it easy to think, 'if only I could have my coffee, this would be better'.  Gotta stop fussing myself.

The feeling of being 'overwhelmed'.  I don't have twins or 5 kids 5 and under, like the author, but I have struggled with feeling overwhelmed some days.  This is how she decided not to use the word overwhelmed, anymore.

Prayer to 'absorb' the chaos- the be the diffusing force in situations that seem to be spiraling out of control.  And encouragement to find the right times to get my own perspective right, so I CAN face the debacles with confidence, patience, and grace.

 Ecclesiastes 5:19.

Thanks for this book friend.  I am going to read it again.

simple things.

Simple things in life- milestones: Hayden moving up to size 12-18 month size clothes.  He just looks so grown up.  Something about it just makes me all fluttery.  I didn't think his other clothes had gotten quite too small, but the new ones seem to fit just a little too well. haha.  this momma has to let go- haha.

Milestone: James can count now & do shapes.  He never ceases to surprise me when he does it though. He's gotten so good at counting to two, he just comes right to the point.  This was him showing me, "Two squares."  seriously??  He sees circles, triangles, and ovals pretty often.  But this was one of the first times he's shown me squares.  wow.

Milestone: Monkey Joes.  James can now do all the blow up slides and obstacle courses there.  and little  Hayden really enjoyed himself- he loves to bounce just while sitting up- so he thought the bouncy castle was awesome.

Milestone: James has quite the sense of humor.  He says now on a daily basis, "that's funny Mommy, that's funny!"  This was him lining up the bug toys his Grammy gave him on his leg in the car.  "Bugs on my leg mommy, that's funny!"  I told him I was going to take him picture, he says, "cheese bugs, cheese!!"  what a goof.  I love it.
 

Milestone: organization?  James has lined up his trucks now for a while, but this was new.  same cracker, different images, lined up in rows.  I was pretty impressed.

oh Anna 'Cake'...

My son loves Anna Kate.  He also loves cake.  So why not marry the two??  We were so lucky to get to spend some time with our friend at the 'mountain' (aka fountain) and play with James' buddy, Anna 'Cake'.

Simple joys in life.

Isn't it lovely?

Sweet girl was helping Hayden put his hat on, and James was just having a blast.

Two heads (in a basket) are better than one??

Surprise!!

Oh my, Anna 'Cake' and Mrs. Kelly, you guys made our day.  :-)

road warriors

All of trips down to figure out this move coming up have resulted in the feeling of being here, there, & everywhere.  Many time eating out for too many meals which can cause the tension to rise with little guys who haven't gotten as much sleep as normal and mommy/daddy who haven't either.  Gratefully, we are being taught- learning- and hopefully growing-up as parents as our boys grow up.  I can feel some personal growth which makes me so thankful to God, but when the stress is on, the waves crashing in over the bows seem likely to sink the ship altogether.

Good thing for us we know who can calm those wind and waves with just a word- or do the same to my heart-in-turmoil.  Gratefully, we have come though some of the most trying situations our patience can face, and we are looking back on the other side.  

What a testament of our Lord's goodness- no matter if things are going our way or totally going awry, we can move through with confidence.  We can move through loving each other, WELL.  We can move through with hope, for the amazing gifts to come that we can't even imagine.  Isn't it easy to imagine the bad??

Life is always better when we all can REST.  Sleep is important, but even more, I'm learning to find moments of rest for myself during the day.  Learning to enjoy the moments quiet- when I can find encouragement in a daily verse, or book, or friend.  Sometimes I go to long pushing through the chores like the kid who hangs their head, but I've been challenged to face the chores and the tasks given to me like I would like my child to act, when I ask to pick up his toys, cheerfully & completely.  And don't I help??  Won't my heavenly Father also help me, if I put myself to the work?  Forgive my indulgence to go on and on, but these little revelations give me so much STRENGTH.  Makes me feel silly for indulging my need to feel 'over-worked' and let out those big sighs.  ;-)

Waking up to a new morning in our new (old) city.  I'm so attached to calling it our "safe place to land".  I love the image of that- and I'm so grateful to believe that it will be.

House hunting with our two boys- trying out the local park.  Not going to be our local park, but we are crossing our fingers that we will have 'our' local park nailed down very soon!!

I'm just so glad that we have each other.

I mean, how can it be a 'bad' day with this face around??  Hoping that we won't have to be road warriors for very much longer.