More to come...

Just figuring this all out! :)

Some of my play...

Mom and Tam...I know you all have been wanting to see...so here goes! For those of you lucky enough to live close to family...enjoy it! And, I have supply lists if anyone wants to know what I used. Am I the only one that has such trouble getting these together?! I just want to CREATE! :)

So...finally...a photo! :)

Been busy busy working today on "getting back into school paperwork", balancing checkbooks, updating my blog, doing the church newsletter, laundry, and just enjoying the day...glad to share with you this fun from last night...

Happy Independence Day!

Focus or lack there of! :)

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure. To embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting. For in movement there is life. And in change there is power.
-Alan Cohen

Working on changing my normal everyday and weekly routines. Hopefully this will help me to have better focus...something I have been lacking in big time lately.

Also-look for lots of layout postings soon! ;)

Where I have been...

...birthday fun and travel stories. We started off the birthday fun here at home and then onto Utah to visit family. We drove and enjoyed 5 states in the process...

Colorado mountains. One word-WOW!!

While in Utah, Emery got to go fishing with his Grandpa for the first time. He LOVED it and caught 3 fish. We LOVE the stories he tells of the "one that got away." Hee hee!

One of our adventures...my nephews baseball game...

We enjoyed a friends and family picnic on Saturday and Em found this caterpillar...

An amusement park on Sunday. Em got scared on the first ride and would only do the boats and cars for a while. He enventually ventured out to the bumper cars, a log ride, and a "race car" with Daddy...

His favorite part of all, though were the fountains as we were leaving for the day. Too bad I did not notice these before; I bet he would have spent all day there and loved it...

A scooter for a little boy from Auntie Tammy. She sure does know her boys! Just what he always wanted...

More of those gorgeous Colorado mountains. This time on the way back...

A cool car we saw in I think Missouri at a Dairy Queen. Looks just like "sheriff" in the movie Cars..one of Em's faves. We were laughing that we were not the only ones to stop and take a photo...

Love those little toes. If you ever need a hotel, Hyatt Place is THE place! WOW! The room was absolutely beautiful, the beds amazingly fluffy, and that t.v.-WOW! Anyway, we were thankful for this room the most. It was the best and actually cheaper than a few others we stayed at. Nice!

We loved our trip, loved seeing family, loved seeing the states, loved the time together, and love being home. Lots of loves...

And, one last thing. Aren't they just LOVEly...?! :)

Catching up!

Hey all...I am busy busy catching up on life. Been on a trip and lots of fun birthday stuff to share. Coming up soon, but for now...just sendind out a HI! and loves...until hopefully tomorrow I can post a huge one!

HAPPY breakfast and "boot-hang"

So, today I made Em this for breakfast...

He loved it so much for dinner last night that he asked for it again. This morning he made a "mustache" out of the chocolate chips on his face...

Silly guy! Also, forgot to tell ya yesterday about Em's creativity...I just love it! He made this...

and when I asked what it was he said, "It's a boot-hang!" Duh! So glad he comes up with this fun stuff!

Loves for now...

Catching up!

So, I have been gone for a while. Still working on slowing down. What's been happening around here lately...

New goggles for Em...

He's such a goof!! :)

Fun at a friends house...

And this...

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."-Martin Luther King, Jr.

We found out on this day that a friend of a friend might be having a miscarriage, so I asked Em if he wanted to pray. On his own he bowed his head and said, "Dear Lord, I love you and I love that baby. Amen." Ok, so if that does not melt your heart! He is 3!! WOW. Anyway, this is one moment that caught my heart and will be holding on forever. And, btw...the baby is fine! Amen!! :)

A soccer trophy for a little boy...

We are so proud of him. He had great progress going from hardly ever staying on the field being too distracted by the flags and dirt to staying on the field and at least trying to play. We plan to put him in fall soccer too.

Tonsils and adnoides out surgery for a little boy...

NOT a happy camper! 7 days later, he is doing good. We have had some ROUGH nights and some rough days, but he is on the mend and will be better for it.

My crazy obsession...

No, I don't know why...but I am FASCINATED by these things! I will miss them when we have to move! Oh...and, ok...remind me to NOT roll up those pants like that again! Such a dork!!

And, last but certainly not least...

See, told ya he is doing ok! Ok enough to shoot his Momma over and over with a water gun after bath time! Such a silly guy.

Hopefully I will get better at keeping this updated!! :) Loves...

On my mind lately...

Been a crazy couple of days. Friday morning I woke up and I don't know what in the world I had done, but wow...the back of my shoulder hurt! Tried to get moving and it just hurt too much. I called Joe and he came home to take care of Emery for me. I am one lucky girl! Feeling better today and was able to do some work, so that is good. Anyway, funny thing is I was way behind on everything when this happened and it just made me even more behind. Being behind got me thinking about time and about some things...

There is this phrase from an old finance book we have used in the past and it says, "Take care of what you have before you expand." It really helps in finance situations and I got to thinking this past week that it might well help with chaos in everyday life and taking on too much as well. If I just pay attention to what I already have and take care of it, I might be less likely to take on more which sometimes I tend to do way too much of and then I get overwhelmed. Isn't it crazy how somehow or another, I manage to take on stuff to do all the time?! What is that?! Why do I do that!? I say out loud I will do something before I even realize I do it. Thinking a lot about this and time issues I of course have. I don't know the answers, but I do know I can try to change it. So, my goal is to work on taking care of...

-my health-time for baths, exercise, reading, creating, writing, enough sleep, eating right-meal planning and cooking, reflecting, and thinking
-our dogs and cat-time for baths and play
-our home-time to clean and work on the already massive to do list
-Joe-snuggles and time together
-Emery-time to play, listen, and document
-friends and family-time to call and write hand written letters

And, my biggest goal is to do all of this with what we already have and to NOT take on any more or create anymore to do's!!

...all before I expand.

Does anyone else out there do this too?

CONGRATULATIONS TO DADDY!!!!

Got word this morning at 7am...Joe made Senior Chief!!!! YEAH!!!! Hooray for him. Had the pinning ceremony this afternoon and Em loved the ice cream social after. We are all super excited over her and having lots of thoughts of what the future holds. Hope to post a photo of me pinning Joe soon...

Being young at heart...

Remember the days when you played so much that you were just absolutely "starving"?! I love watching my son play because it reminds me of being young and carefree. Today was just too pretty a day to clean our home (which is what I had scheduled for the day), so we packed up the picnic lunch, the pool, the tunnel, bubbles, and lots of other toys to enjoy the front yard instead. Such warm, pretty, sunny weather. I think we are both exhausted from the sun, but in a good way! Em loved being out and kept running back and forth between the pool and his "dinner" as he called it. It was so much joy to watch him shovel in the food and go back to his pool over and over and over again! I so love his youth! Good times, good laughs, and good tans! :)

Sunny day...

Park day

Silly silly boy. Emery decided to make a "sand angel" on his own the other day at the park. Love the fun, the innocence, the squinted eyes from the sun, and the sound of his sweet little voice saying, "swish-swish" as he moved his arms and legs back and forth. Pure fun.

Hi!

Nursing a migraine today. Will post more with new pics soon! :)