HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY AND RUBY!!!!

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT I'M SAYING THESE WORDS TODAY....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOLLY AND RUBY!!!!

2 YEARS OLD!!!

You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum

Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie

You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop

Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye

And I love you SO and I want you to know

That I'll always be right here

And I love to sing sweet songs to you

Because you are SO dear

My precious lovies, you are my sunshine.

I have to pinch myself somedays when I realize the overwhelming blessing God gave your Daddy and I. He has filled our cup to OVERFLOWING.

I DELIGHT in you both everyday.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Jesus, thank you for these two precious gifts. As you entrust them in our care, may they come to know you and profess you as their Lord and Savior. May they know your infinite love. May your hands guide and protect them all the days of their lives on this earth. May they seek to love, honor, and serve you in all of their ways.
In your most precious heavenly name,
AMEN

NO MORE SINGING!!!

I had to share this video with you.

I LOVE to sing...love music...always have...always will. So, as one might imagine, I sing all the time around the girls. In the shower, getting ready, eating breakfast, in the car, etc...etc. Lately, when I'm singing to the girls, one or both will say "NO MORE SINGING!!" I get the biggest kick out of it and it makes me laugh and laugh.

The other day while eating breakfast we were singing our ABC's and then Molly started telling me "no more singing!!" very adamantly. Almost like she was in pain from my singing. Hahahaha!




Happy Monday, Y'all!!
Keep The Faith,

Life:Beautiful

I am a TOTAL magazine fanatic.

I have stacks and stacks and stacks of magazines by my bedside table, in book shelves, in storage. I am an information junky. I love to read. I love to find tips and ideas that make my life easier. I like to attempt to keep an eye on fashion so I stay somewhat relevant. I like to know more about how things work, why things are the way they are...

I don't have the "free" moments I used to with the girls keeping me on my toes constantly, but I love to end my day perusing a magazine before I turn in at night. I love ALL sorts of magazines, in fact, I could spend hours at Barnes and Noble looking at all of the different options. When I was working, my favorites were InStyle and Vogue, to keep up with the fashions, accessories, etc. I still LOVE them, but I find that I get the serious "I wants" when I read them these days, so I refrain from fueling the fire.

My current favorites are Real Simple, Cottage Living, Southern Living...and a new one called Life:Beautiful. I came across it a year ago when I passed by it at Wal-Mart. Honestly, it caught my attention because it was sweltering hot outside and there was a picture of some very yummy looking ice cream...well, I picked it up, and within a few minutes realized it was a Christian/Faith based magazine. VERY REFRESHING in every sense of the word.

Many of you have probably seen it...or picked it up, but if you haven't, YOU MUST! It is a FABULOUS magazine and truthfully SO encouraging, honestly faith strengthening, and just all around feeds the soul. It includes monthly contributions from Dr. Gary Smalley about marriage and relationships and Joyce Meyer concerning growing as a Christian, just to name a few. It also has all sorts of stuff you would find in other great magazines like recipes, projects, entertaining, fashion, etc. BUT, you are not bombarded with ANY advertisements...every page is meaningful. Another thing that is great, it is a quarterly magazine, and comes out 4 times a year. In the front of the magazine, there are calendars for the next 3 months with scripture for each day. I've been really convicted lately that I am a "babe" in the Word, and these calendars have made something overwhelming, like reading the whole Bible, into something very do-able.

This is the issue you can pick up in the store, and I just received my Spring copy yesterday in the mail. If you see it, pick it up, I promise you won't be sorry!

Keep The Faith,

AH-CHOO!!!

This tree or rather every tree, everywhere, is causing lots of trouble in our household. This is the W-O-R-S-T allergy season I've ever experienced. It started two weeks ago. After many phone calls to our Allergy Doc, and 4 sinus/ear infections later (including mom), I think we are on the mend and hopefully have the right preventative meds to help us through the "blooming" season.

AND, let me just say that as I am praying non-stop and have such a heavy heart for those that are fighting for their lives, I'm constantly reminded how thankful I should be that we are only treating measly allergies and not something serious. I thought about this a lot the last few days as I functioned on little sleep and some doozie headaches...I thought, seriously, Amy, get over yourself! Just trying to be thankful for even the rough days...as it's clear to me, my "rough" days are NOTHING to what others are enduring.
My cough has been unbearable at night...so, I've slept on the couch a few nights. The girls loved having a place to lounge when they got up the next morning. I was turning on some morning cartoons and turned around. I tip-toed to find the camera because I HAD to catch this.
Grandma and Grandpa came for a Spring Break visit, and we played outside in the sunshine. Here's Ruby in her favorite spot. We had such a GREAT time during their visit.

Ella riding her bike

Bucket-o-rice is so much more fun if I can climb in and feel it on my toes : )

Grandpa reading to Ruby

We made a trip to Gymnastic Joe's for open gym. We've been going to open gym there for a while now, and the girls love it. Grandma finally got Molly on the trampoline. She is VERY cautious, but by the end of our time she was really enjoying herself.

Ella on the wheel of cheese

Molly in the foam pit

Ella having a blast

Ruby bouncin

Balance beam

Parachute time!

I love this...isn't it the best when you see your kiddos do things for the first time...that they just LOVE! Plus, she looks like such a big girl to me here.

Hope you're having a great weekend!
Keep The Faith,

Pretending

Does anyone else out there feel like they are pretending??? Like your days are full of trying to keep up with others perceptions of who you are supposed to be...who you think you are supposed to be??

Light heartedly, these thoughts crossed my mind yesterday as I was feverishly trying to tidy the d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r that is our home before our in-laws come to visit this weekend. No worries, they know full well how quickly our house can go from tidy to hurricane "Sweet Girls". BUT still, there I was cleaning house, organizing toys, tackling "mount" laundry so that I can at least "PRETEND" to look like a good wife...mother...daughter-in-law.

I thought about this yesterday, too, as I was sitting in bible study listening to some pretty amazing women share about trials they've been through...and how God brought them through it. I was sitting there listening with a million thoughts/words that I would love to share, but sometimes just can't muster the courage to speak...because sharing my thoughts, insecurities, past mistakes...and daily mistakes, trials, only shows my weakness, right?? It shows that I'm not perfect, which I already know VEEERRRRY well.

Well today, I kept thinking of this verse....

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Ladies/Friends/Fellow Moms...whoever finds the time to read this blog, I just want to say to you, being as "real" as I can, that I am a MESS! I try, and I struggle EVERYDAY. I constantly worry about what others think of me...if I'm a good wife, mother, friend, if I outwardly look as desheveled as I feel on the inside. Our house is RARELY clean to my standards (which are VERY low after 3 little ones). Most days, there are dishes sitting in the sink and a ring around the bath tub. There are days, many days, that our dinner is prepared in the microwave. Gasp, I know! ALL days, there is a pile...no...a mountain of laundry stuffed behind the laundry room door. Sometimes, I literally have to roll out of bed. Not because I don't LOVE the life God has given me...but, because I AM WEAK, and I need HIS goodness, HIS power, HIS strength to rest on me. I need Him to go before me each day, and orchestrate my day.

I say all of this, because I just want to be real. I don't want to pretend. Let me be clear, I don't want to sulk either. I just want to encourage one another! I am going to make every effort to encourage all of the women I come across with an effort to be as real and genuine as possible, knowing that HE is made stronger when I confess my weaknesses.

I would post pictures but, we are experiencing some pretty bad allergy attacks with pink eye. Yuck! It is a LOVELY day in our neck of the woods, however, due to allergies, I'm not sure if we will make it out today, but I hope everyone else does!

Happy Thursday, Y'all!!
Keep The Faith,

9 Years

Wes and I are celebrating 9 years of marriage today! What a blessing it is to say that.

The pic below is one of the only pictures I could find of us on our wedding day. All of the others are in storage. I remember that day so vividly. One, because it was the happiest day of my life to that point, but the other because it was the coldest day EVER in Houston. We planned an outdoor wedding in March thinking that the temperature would be mild...but a cold front blew through 2 hours before the wedding, and it was 19 degrees!! Needless to say, the outdoor festivities had to be moved inside at the last minute. It was a VERY cozy wedding. It was actually so much fun, because everyone HAD to mingle. We laughed A LOT!!

This is the chorus from one of my favorite "love" songs by Watermark.

Remember I promised forever

Life brings change

But my promise is the same

And through these years we've been together

Life has made us grow

But through it all I know

No matter what may come

My heart was made for you forever

Wes, I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. And, although this marriage thing is work...when we're good at it...and we make the effort....we're REALLY good!

I love you!

Single Mom

Hats off to all of the military moms/dads, single moms/dads out there that handle the day to day without a spouse or partner. Wes was gone for 6 days last week and let's just say we were SOOOO happy to have him back this week.

We don't live near family, and there's always a little anxiety when he has to travel. I prayed for God to give me peace and calm my anxieties, and I think Wes was praying the same thing, because the minute he tells me he has to travel, he knows I get myself pretty worked up about it. I mean, it's nothing major, I handle most of the day to day as it is because he's at work all day, but he's just 5 minutes away if I need him...you know what I mean?? Anyway, I TOTALLY felt God's peace last week, there were so many times that I stopped and thought to myself, everything is good, we're having fun, I can do this, just a few more days. I say all this, because, it was so clear to me that God DOES care about the small stuff. I'm so thankful for that.
Molly is our sleeper, she's always the one to linger in bed in the morning and after naps...I found this the other day when I went to get Ruby from her crib...Molly was SUPER comfortable and snoozing away.

I mentioned a few blogs ago about a dvd called Eebee Baby. It shows babies exploring and playing with all sorts of toys and household items. My girls LOVE it. So, I thought I would throw together one of the "toys" they use in the dvd. It's a large storage bin filled with rice. Kind of an inside sand box. We have all sorts of little pots and pans, bowls, etc that the girls use to pour and fill up...and we love to hide things and dig for them.
It can get a little messy, especially with 3 little ones, but I put down a blanket, and when they're done I just fold it up and pour any rice back in the bin. AND, just in case someone decides to walk off with a pot of rice to "play" with in the other room, it cleans up very easily with a vacuum. BUT, I promise, they have SO much fun with this and it keeps them busy for such a long time that this mom doesn't mind the mess....I know, I know, I don't know what's happening to me...I guess I'm realizing more and more that I want to have a fun, loving, home...rather than a "perfect" home.

Praying for some more Spring weather to head our way. I need some sunshine! I've heard from 3 people in the last two days that the the Farmer's Almanac is calling for another BIG snow storm right around Spring Break. Deeeeeep breath.

Have a fabulous weekend!
Keep the Faith!