Grayden Robert, you are 4 years old!

Wow, buddy! FOUR?! You are getting so old!  You are such a joy, Grayden.  We love you so much and are so proud of the boy you are becoming. You are so sweet and silly. 

Your third year proved to be the most difficult for us as parents, to date.  We struggled with listening skills and talking back, but we've been seeing improvement, bud! I think year number 4 is going to be the  best year yet!

Here's what you've been up to lately:

You are a good {slow} eater, pretty willing to try new things. We usually have to remind you to take more bites as you are typically quite distracted at meal time, but you finish your plate eventually, and even ask for seconds. You love eggs, pizza, tomatoes, tacos, milk, yogurt, chicken, pork chops, pasta, pickles, and 'cheese hamburgers'. And you have a BIG sweet tooth!

You play so good by yourself, but also love to play with others.  Sharing is still a difficult task for you, especially when it means sharing with Sadler.

You have absolutely loved 3school. You have done so many fun things and made many great memories. One of my favorite times of our week is on our twice a week drive to school, when we pray in the van together. It's been so amazing to see your prayer life unfold over the past year. We started the year with me praying and you repeating after me, but for the past couple months you pray out load yourself and I  just love to hear you talk to Jesus! You've also learned the Lord's prayer recently and pray for us before meals and bedtime.  

 You love playing outside riding your toys in the driveway and in the sand box. 

You still LOVE playing with John Deere tractors, matchbox and hot wheel cars. You love Jimmie Johnson. 

Your favorite colors are blue and orange.

Your favorite shows are: Wild Kratts, Henry Hugglemonster, and Sadler's gotten you hooked on Sofia the First. ;) Such well-rounded taste! 

One of your favorite things we've done this past year is taking the train to Chicago and going to the aquarium. You still talk about it and remember every detail.

You've become a little back seat driver, always telling us to slow down, look at the road, keep two hands on the wheel, and stop all the way. I really have no idea where you've picked up these drivers tips, but I think you'll be a great drivers ed. student in 11 years!

You are the king of compliments, and such a gentlemen. You often tell me you like my outfit or tell me to "be careful walking in those heels!' Although, I do have to mention what you said to me the other day after giving me a kiss! "Mom, you need polish for your lips! lol, better get some more chapstick!

You sleep about 10 hours at night and take a nice long nap (2-3 hours) about 2-3 times a week. Still not completely dry at night but were in no rush, you'll do it when you're ready!

You say the cutest, funniest things to your brother, like "Buddy, your cheeks are so rosy, are you sure you don't want to go back to sleep,?" in the sweetest, most motherly voice! You almost always call him honey, sweetie, or buddy and then usually hit him two minutes later. Ugh, brothers! That's normal, right!?

You have no fear of strangers, and are almost a little too friendly to people. You'll strike up a conversation with anyone who makes eye contact with you! Those poor Target cashiers ;)

We couldn't be more proud of you and your verse memorization we've been working on with you.! We're working our way through the alphabet of Bible verses (see Pinterest) and were doing about 1-2 a week for awhile, then we took a break so you could work on Psalm 100 with your Rev. Kids class. Now that you're finished with that we have to start back up! You have such a thirst for learning and my heart bursts to hear you recite scripture! Keep it up, buddy!

Although you do have your moments of willful defiance, deep down you really do WANT be obedient, and you are so thrilled with yourself when you remind us of the times when you make good choices and listen the first time!  You even tell us to forgive Sadler when we have to get after him! You love having our praise and approval. We don't tell you enough how proud of you we are. You are a good boy, Grayden!

We know that God has big plans for you, Grayden. You are such a special boy, and we love you SO much!

Photo credit: Kim Egedus 

*I've gone back and added a few more adorable and hilarious pictures to Sadler's birthday post too now that I've gotten all the proofs back, so click here if you want to see those, and trust me, you do! :)

Happy 4th Birthday Grayden!

Grayden turns 4 years old today, at 9:51 pm!

Since he had to share his special day with Mother's Day this year, and we had a couple parties to go to, we celebrated his special day yesterday.

We went out to breakfast at his favorite, Panera Bread!

Then we had a couple errands to do, including getting a new battery for his new quad he got as a gift at his birthday party a couple weeks ago, he was so excited to go home and finally be able to ride it that he chose to not go to daddy's work and get a ride in a big semi (which has been our tradition on birthdays). I couldn't blame him, so home we went for his endless laps around the house, he loved it!

At night we let him chose where we went for dinner, he chose Taco Bell! Cheap date :)

After dinner we let him pick out his OWN redbox movie, he was so excited!

I think he had a pretty fun day, and we did too!

(His 4 year update is to come later this week)

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to quick wish all you mothers out there and my own mom and mother in law a "Happy Mother's Day!" I hope you each had wonderful days and were loved on and treated extra special by your children today! I had a great day going to church with my family, then we went to my Grandma's house for lunch. After naps in the afternoon we went to the Revolution service where Grayden recited Psalm 100 in front of everyone with his classmates (good job buddy), and then went to Mindy and Kyle's house for dinner with my family. 

I also wanted to let those of you who are not mothers (yet) or who have a child(ren) in Heaven, or whose mothers are not in their lives anymore that you were heavy on my heart today. I prayed for you often. I know many of you struggle on this day and I wanted to tell you that you were in my mind and in my prayers. 

Me and my boys before church this morning, so blessed to have been chosen to be their mommy. 

I know I am far from the perfect mom, but I try my best to nurture them, and love them, and teach them  about Jesus. I often lose my patience with them and get angry, I don't always give them all the attention they deserve or tell them how proud I am of them often enough. 

But, I pray that they always know how deeply I love them, and how thankful I am for the blessings they are to me. I ask God to help me be the best mother I can be and parent them in a way that pleases Him. 

I love you boys! Thanks for making my day so special!

Insta Friday

The last few weeks of iphone pics:

Gray's 3school class had a bike parade at the end of the day a couple weeks ago, for someone who's not too sure of himself on his bike, he did GREAT!

so fun! It was a perfect day for it!

it's prom season, love doing the updo's

we had family date night a few weekends ago and tried out Peachwave, the new fro-yo joint in town, so good!

 The boys looking so handsome for church in their new shirts from Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Alyssa.

you know its Spring when the driveway looks like this!

praying over our first meal on the back patio of the season! 

cool dudes

roasting hot dogs over the fire last week! LOVE!

relaxing in the sun on Sunday in my new chair I got as an early Mother's Day gift :)

 When Gray wakes up in the morning he helps himself to the pantry and has been making his own 'breakfast'

this particular day (yes, in Christmas jammies) he made a parfait of peanut butter crackers, chocolate chips and potato chips in a pitcher!

then it was chocolate chips in a strainer!

Tulip Time parade on Wednesday with my friend Emily and her girlies!

I had planned on going downtown again that night for a junk food dinner when Robb got home, but wasn't excited about braving all the chaos again, so a last minute pizza picnic was our back-up plan!

Robb spotted a snake, but this girl wasn't about to let it ruin or picnic :)

 

Gray made me a sand cake, it loosks quite similar to one we had at some one's birthday a couple weekends ago! Love it!

Who cuts themselves with a butter knife? Me, ouch!

 They go outside to watch the underground sprinklers for fun, must be a boy thing!

The boys chose to watch TV in my salon, of the 6 TV's we have in the house, they picked this one, too funny!

Had an early morning visitor in the house this morning, a nurse doing blood work and vitals for our life insurance plan, it was a little weird!

 best moments of the week:

~lots of beautiful weather to play outside.

~special lunch picnics at home with daddy one day, and at the park with Grandma another day.

~spending time with Robb at the Summit last week, so thankful to have him there with me, he's my best friend and I love when we're together!

~Surprise 'just because' flowers from Robb! 

~ A good friend of mine welcoming a new baby into their family this week though the gift of adoption. An answer to many prayers!! 

CAFO Summit

Robb and I, along with a couple others from our church, left for the Christian Alliance For Orphans Summit in Nashville, Wednesday afternoon. 

We stayed at the Hyatt, our room was so nice and the breakfast was amazing, Robb couldn't wait to dig in!

The Summit was held at the beautiful Brentwood Baptist Church. 

The Summit was all day Thursday and Friday, we had a great time. The sessions were so powerful, and the speakers were inspiring. 

One of the breakout sessions we went to was with Mary Beth Chapman and her daughter Emily. Steven Curtis Chapman was in the back of the room listening the whole time, and came up to say a few things at the end, and later did a musical performance at the group session. 

They have such an amazing testimony. 

One of the many amazing musicians, George Dennehy, was born in Romania without arms. He was placed in an orphanage and later adopted by a family in the U.S. He now plays guitar with his feet. His story was so inspiring!  

"The care for orphans isn't just a biblical mandate. It's ultimately a mirror of the character of God, the "Father to the fatherless." In it, we see not only His love for the orphan, but also for each of us as well. 

For the Christian, love the orphan doesn't rise merely from duty, guilt or idealism. Rather, we are simply responding to the lavish love of the God who pursued us when we were destitute and alone."

~Jedd Medefind, President, CAFO

*and now, since i know it will be asked...no, we are not currently in the process to adopt. But, we are seeking God's will on how we can better reach out to the orphans, whether that be though adoption, foster care, offering encouragement to those that do, or financial support, we are open and willing to see where He leads. 

Blog Swap with Brenna

My fellow blogger friend, Brenna, and I did a little Q&A swap. Below is the interview I gave her, to read the answers to the questions she asked me, and to learn a little more about her, her family, and her current weight loss journey hop over to her blog by clicking here.

Thanks Brenna, for inviting me to participate in this blog swap! 

1. Why/how did you start blogging?

Initially, WAY back when I first started my blog, I intended to chronicle my new life as a parent.  But then I had almost no followers, and found that I never quite knew what to say, so I didn't end up posting very often.  Then I took a LOOONG break.  When I came back to blogging, I put more of an emphasis on fitness and eating (to help keep myself accountable, really).  And people actually read!  But I still plan to keep writing about parenting and crafting and fun stuff like that!

2. Biggest pet peeve?

People with a lack of compassion for others (bigots, bullies, etc).  I don't understand why people want to live that way.  It shouldn't be hard to choose to live life with love in your heart.  On a less serious note...it drives me nuts when drivers put on their turn signal just because the road ahead is bending.  What's up with that?

3. What did you do on your very first date?

We were poor college students, so I think our first "date" involved sitting in his dorm room watching "Family Guy" episodes, lol.  But the first time we went out, I believe we ate at Swiss Chalet and saw a movie!

4. What's your best wedding day memory?

 

That's a tough one...I think the rain was really memorable.  It only rained for a very brief time, when we were first starting our photos, and as a result we have some really beautiful photos with a big black umbrella. I also really enjoyed dancing with my high school friends to an East Coast Canadian song that we used to listen to at our school dances.

5. What was the title of the last movie you watched?

What to Expect While You're Expecting.  Is it bad that I loved the birth scenes where everyone was in pain?  The last movie I saw in theatres, though, was 42, and that was AMAZING...but the racism is a bit hard to swallow, knowing that it really happened/happens.

6. If you could have named yourself what would you choose?

I actually really like my name :)  But when I was younger, I loved the name "Amethyst".  Which, coincidentally, is my son's birth stone.

7. When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried and why?

I think it was the last time I watched Modern Family...though I tend to end up in hysterics over my mother's reactions to things more than the show itself, ha ha. 

8. Do you have reoccurring dreams? What about?

I have two.  One involves me driving, and I realize I'm speeding and I can't stop.  I usually end up running many stop signs and almost crashing my car.  (These started after I was in a car accident in which I was driving on the high way, got hit by a transport truck, and couldn't brake enough to prevent myself from going off the road.)  I also have dreams where I am in a plane that's filling up with smoke.  I'm afraid of flying as it is!

9. What are you most afraid of?
AIRPLANES!!!

10. What do you have stashed away under your bed right now?

So.  Much.  Junk. Basically anything that doesn't have a place anywhere else in my house.  Like my beloved flute.  Oh, and my hand weights.

That's all I got!

Grayden and Sadler's John Deere Birthday Party!

Since the boys' birthdays are only 3 weeks apart, we decided to do combined parties for them from now on. 

I'm glad Sadler had his 1st birthday party separate, but the shared party worked out great! It was a bit chaotic at times, but well worth not having to go through the 'trouble' of throwing another party 3 weeks later! 

Both boys are really into tractors (what boy isn't?!) and since the John Deere dealership is right down the road from us, and we pass by it everyday, they have developed a deep love for John Deere. 

Their party was Saturday, the day my Aunt passed away, so definitely a bittersweet day for us. The party was a nice distraction from our sadness, at least for a little while.

the invite:

the decor:

the food

I wanted 'farmer food' so we did KFC, cole slaw, baked beans, potato chips, and pickles and olives (which my boys love!)

the kid's table

 

the gifts

 The boys were gifted many wonderful new things! They are lucky, spoiled boys.

We got them a new quad, the one Gray got for his 2nd Christmas was definitely small for him, so he's excited to ride this 'new to them' quad, and Sadler is excited to have Gray's old one all to himself, at least for awhile ;)  I'm going to do my best to keep him away from it for as long as I can!

 The cupcakes:

so cute (from walmart), not as tasty as the ones my friend Angie makes, but I couldn't pass up the cute 'John Deere' kit they had in their bakery.