Anniversary Get-Away

Last night, Mike and I headed to Rogers for a night away to celebrate our anniversary. We celebrated 11 years on February 10th and our sweet friends kept our girls for us so we could enjoy an evening together. We don't get to do that very often - and by not very often, I mean this is the first night away from our kids in nearly 2 years - so it was much needed and so fun!

We had a great dinner and did some shopping that night. Then this morning, we got up, had breakfast and did some more shopping, had lunch and then headed back home. It was such a nice time to just enjoy being together! We have been so blessed with a wonderful marriage and 3 happy, healthy girls and for that we are thankful. It's always nice to just slow down though and have time alone - away from the busyness of kids and life in general and take some time for each other.

Hopefully we don't wait another 2 years to do something like this - wonder if we could convince the grandparents to just move here?! HAHA! We are very thankful for friends that we can leave our kids with and know that they are being loved on and cared for just like they would be at home. We truly enjoyed our night and didn't worry about them one bit. And they had a ball, too! I think it's just as good for them to have time away from us - Macie was calling me her precious angel tonight - too funny!! :)

Us with our free dessert - and yes, it was as good as it looks!

Maddie's 6th Birthday

I don't know how it happened so quickly, but on Monday, February 20th, Maddie turned 6 years old! We had a great day celebrating her! My sister and niece flew in a couple days before her birthday for a visit and that was an extra special treat. Her birthday landed on President's Day so she was out of school and we spent the day doing fun girl stuff. We went shopping and let her spend some of her birthday money, grabbed lunch at Maid Rite, and then came home and played outside for a while. That afternoon, we gave her a new bike, which she's been wanting for a while, so she got to enjoy playing on it before dinner.

For nearly a year, she's been telling us that for her next birthday, she wanted to go to Olive Garden for dinner and Goody's for dessert. And that's just what we did! We had a great meal and then walked next door and loaded up on Frozen Yogurt. It was a great day!

No words could explain how much we love and adore her. She is just the sweetest thing. Her personality is so cute. She can be very shy, and then she can be the most talkative and funny thing you've ever met. My mom and dad call her Chatty Cathy - because anytime they call her, she will talk and talk and talk. Telling them everything her little mind can think of. And don't try to interrupt her - she'll have no part of it. :) She comes up with some of the funniest things. Never a dull moment with her around.

She loves school and adores her teacher. She is a rule follower and wants to do the right thing at all times. I pray this character attribute follows her through her whole life.

She can work up tears like no other. Can seriously cry at the drop of a hat. I'm not sure where she gets that. :)

She loves to do crafts, color, cut things up, play outside, play school with Macie, bug her little sister, talk on the phone, go to church, watch Food Network - HA. I just love her so much - as my dad always says, she's a real treat. And that she is.

Happy 6th Birthday, Maddie! Mommy and daddy love you and pray that you will grow to be a young lady who loves and serves the Lord, strives to do the best in whatever you are doing, and keeps that sweet little personality that people just love.

Random Thoughts on a Snowy Monday

It's cold, snowy/wet/gross outside so I thought I'd share with all of you some of my random thoughts for the day. Get ready - they are pretty deep and thought provoking. Ok, fine, they are neither of those things. Entertaining? Possibly. Total waste of your time? Most likely. Enjoy, anyway.

1. I watched the Grammy's last night. Why are some of these people millionaires? Shouldn't you be able to carry a tune in a bucket if you are going to earn money as a "singer"? Obviously not.

2. I realized while watching the Grammy's that I'm getting old. Because I knew very few of those people. I listened to the Foo Fighters and thought 2 things: That guy needs a shower. And a haircut. I still don't have a clue who the dude with the freaky Mickey Mouse head was and couldn't figure out why people seemed to be enjoying it so much. And I turned Nikki Minaj off because I was pretty certain only the devil could enjoy that nonsense.

3. Adele is amazing.

4. It snowed today and my kids had school. They were so sad. But, there's not a scrap of snow on the roads, so I guess it was a good call. Even though I would have enjoyed the snow day and being lazy at home.

5. I ordered a dress and got it in the mail today. It's adorable. I can't wait to wear it.

6. I'm starting Crossfit tonight. Pretty sure I'm a glutton for punishment.

7. My sister is coming to visit this weekend. Beyond pumped.

8. I want a spray tan. I'm so white that I'm glowing.

That is all for now. I told you it was random. There's 3 minutes of your life you'll never get back. I'm like the Foo Fighters of the blog world, except I showered today. :)

Getting Crafty

On Tuesday of this week, my friend Sarah and I got together and did some crafting! Of course we got our ideas from Pinterest - where else!?! It was so fun and all the things we made (some crafts, some food) were really easy and turned out so good!

The first thing we whipped up were these ADORABLE key holders!

They were so simple and didn't cost much at all! Our supplies included an 8x10 canvas, fabric, felt for the flower, hooks, hot glue and 1 pair of really awesome scissors! (HA! Ok, my scissors were totally dull and ridiculous, but we pushed through and made them work - Sarah may or may not have left with a war wound from said scissors. May they rest in peace.)

We cut our fabric down to size and hot glued it nice and tight around the canvas. Then, we used a square of felt and cut a bunch of circles out to create that cute little felt flower. Hot glued that baby to the fabric covered canvas, screwed the hooks into the bottom and viola - cute little key holder! These can also be used to hold necklaces or other jewelry items! They are very easy to do - if I can do it, anyone can!
Click HERE and HERE for the Pinterest links!

The next thing we made were these fun candy jars!

Again - as simple as it gets! You need a candle holder from the Dollar Tree, a small mason jar, spray paint and hot glue.

We spray painted the candle holder and Mason jar lid a chocolate brown, let it dry, added our M&M's and it was done! These are so cute for a party - you could do several in different sizes and add all sorts of colorful candies! My girls love them!

We made 2 snack items - the first was Valentine Chex Mix.

It came together really fast and is such a yummy snack. A fun idea for this is make up a batch and put it in Dollar Store plastic containers, add some fun ribbon and give it to friends, family, teachers, etc. as a sweet Valentine's Day treat! Here's the link to the recipe, but note that it is a half batch. If you want a full batch to share with others, make sure and double this!
Click HERE for the recipe link.

And last but not least, Sarah made homemade granola! Again - so easy and very good! I love granola as a snack or as a topping on my yogurt! And who knew it was so simple to make your own! I forgot to take a picture of it, but here's the link if you want to check it out! GRANOLA RECIPE

I love getting together with friends and making crafts and yummy snacks - it makes for a fun girl's day! I hope you got some good ideas and even try out some of this yourself!

Happy Crafting!!

11 Years

Mike and I are celebrating 11 wonderful years of marriage today! I can honestly say that 11 years later, I love him more than I did the day we said "I do". We got married at First Baptist Church in Arnold, MO at 2:00 p.m. That was the church where I attended from the time I was in the womb and where Mike's family came when he was 11 years old. His dad came to our church to serve as the Youth Pastor and I'll never forget when they first came. Mike was so cute, but 2 years younger than me, so I thought he was just a cute "little boy" - HAHA! Mike's mom was pregnant with Luke, their 3rd child and Mallory was 2 and possibly the cutest thing ever. Who knew that when they moved to St. Louis, that God was bringing me my future husband?! Well, God knew, but the rest of us had no idea what would unfold.

Mike's dad served at FBCA for 8 years and over that time, I became so close to their family. Mike's mom and my mom taught Youth SS together, and were great friends. I used to go stay with Cindy when Mike Sr. would go out of town and help her with the kids. Taylor came along 3 years later and then the twins, much to their surprise, came along 4 years after Taylor. So, Cindy appreciated all the help she could get if Mike had to be gone for any reason.

Mike and I used to hang out all the time - just as friends - but in 8th grade he told a few boys at church that he knew he was going to marry me. They all laughed at him. I don't know if they were laughing because I was 2 years older and so cool, or laughing because they thought he was dumb for wanting to marry such a goon. I like to think it's cause I was so cool - HAHA! By the time Mike was a Senior in HS, it became pretty obvious that we needed to just be together. So, we started dating and never looked back. All together we dated 4 years and were engaged 1 1/2 years. We've been together for 16 1/2 years total. And there's not a thing I would do differently.

I'm so thankful to be married to a Godly man. Someone who leads our family and teaches our girls about Jesus. Someone who I NEVER have to worry if he'll stay faithful or not. Someone who has character and is honest. He adores our 3 girls and would die for them or me. He works hard to provide for us. He is quiet and doesn't seem to mind too much that I am not. :) I could go on and on, but I'll just end by saying that I'm thankful. God gave me a blessing when he sent Mike to me all those years ago. Happy Anniversary, Mike! I love you!

Bathroom Redo

I woke up yesterday and got a wild hair to redo our hall bathroom. I've been wanting to make some changes in our house for several months now and finding the time to do it all along with the busyness of the holidays proved difficult. Plus, who wants to spend money on Christmas, travel, and a redecoration project all at the same time? Not me.

Another issue for me is just the whole decorating process as a whole. I know what I like, I just have a hard time putting it all together. I go to a store and about 10 minutes in I just get flustered with where to start and what will look good in certain areas and typically just leave. That being the very reason my house is the same as it was when we moved in - which was 2005. Yes, that's 7 years.

So, yesterday, I decided it was time to start - and I thought I'd start in a small room and get that tackled. I didn't need much, but I knew exactly what I was looking for. Another good idea if you are like me - go to the store with a list of what you want to buy. Makes it much more pleasant going in with a plan. I headed to TJ Maxx and was hoping to get it all in one spot. And I did! YAY! Walked out of there with a load of new towels, baskets, shower curtain, curtain hooks and a frame. All for $85! Even better! Then I headed to Home Depot for spray paint (chocolate brown) because the baskets I bought were kind of a hideous yellow/gold/brown color that wasn't going to work. But the price was great, so I painted them the color I wanted. I had some pictures on the wall that went with the old decor and decided to repurpose those as well. I was looking to go as cheap as possible - that's how I roll. The frames were also spray painted chocolate brown and I went online and printed a couple of cute word art prints for $2.50 at Walmart. I have another one with a scripture verse coming that I'm also going to use, but I don't have that yet.

The bathroom went from red/green/tan palm tree theme to an updated Robin's egg blue and chocolate brown color scheme. I really love it! It's so much brighter and looks nice and fresh. I don't have any "before" pictures, but here's the bathroom now! Next up: Living Room. Lord help me. I'm nervous already.

(Oh and if you notice the gold frame around the mirror - that's getting spray painted, too! Totally clashes - I just need Mike to take it off the wall and I'll get that done next week! :))

17 Months

Look who is 17 months old TODAY!

She's so much fun!! And so I don't forget these important things about her at this age, here's a list of some fun things she's doing now!

She still loves to suck on those 2 fingers - breaking this habit will be interesting.

She has never had separation anxiety. She'll go to anyone, any time.

She takes 1 good nap a day. Usually between 2-3 hours long, right after lunch time.

She sleeps between 12-13 hours a night and has since she was about 2-3 months old. Baby Wise. Holla.

She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Elmo. She will hand me the remote and say "ELMO!" - which means, turn it on immediately.

She also loves Libby (our dog) - thank goodness someone in this house does.

She's not a big fan of breakfast. Getting her to eat in the morning isn't easy. She pretty much wants a cup of milk and that's about it.

She will scarf at lunch and dinner, though and loves all sorts of stuff. She loves fruit, green beans, chicken, soup, grilled cheese, pizza, spaghetti, pretty much anything I cook. Except chili - she seems to hate that.

She wears size 18 month clothes and just moved up to a size 5 shoe and size 5 diapers.

If she's crabby, taking her outside to play or putting her in the bathtub works every time.

She can say all sorts of words and the list grows daily. Some of those are: Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Papa, Mom, Milk, Book, Bibby (Libby), Nap, Uh-oh, Elmo, Peez (please), Nack (Snack), Robby (that's what she calls her little rocking chair toy), ball. That's all I can think of, although I know that's not all.

She knows the sounds the following animals make: Cow, Lion, Dog, Horse, Cat

I could keep going, but I'll stop there! She is a joy to our family and so much fun! We couldn't be more thankful for her! We love you, Mabrie!

Looking Back

I am often asked this question, "Who does Mabrie look more like? Macie or Maddie?" I always say that she looks more like Macie as a baby, but I guess in reality, she has her own unique little look. I started looking back at some pictures of each of them around 17-18 months old and while Macie and Mabrie favor each other more than Maddie favors either of them, I can't say that they are spitting images of each other. Now, we all know that Macie is Mike's twin, and I guess Maddie looks like me, although I still don't see it, so I guess Mabrie looks more like her daddy and Macie. My gene pool must not be very strong. :) What do you think?

Here they are!

Macie around 17 months old

Maddie 17-18 months old

And last, but not least, Mabrie at 17 months old