spring family photos

{all photos are copyright of Inspire Photography and were reposted with permission in accordance with the copyright release}

on st patrick's day, we had some family photos taken by the lovely Kathy Wickey of Inspire Photography. if you're in northern indiana or southern michigan i highly recommend her!

i cant believe how big my kids are getting! moosie is nearly walking on his own now, and isaiah's vocabulary is increasing at such a rapid rate! i've been teaching the kids some simple sign language, and eleanor signs all the time now! it's so wonderful!

the crud

we're battling the crud at our house. i had to pick up isaiah sick from school twice because of it. zay and nona are coughing, and their noses are a continuous faucet of drippy snot. it doesn't seem to slow them down any, which i guess is a good thing. moosie is cutting teeth, so he is also a drooly, snotty, rashy mess. but he is happy all the time! unless it's bedtime. then he throws a screaming fit whilst rubbing his tired eyes.

hopefully we'll be over that soon.

happy mid-week!

good enough is the new perfect

i'm sitting on my kitchen counter right now. (yes, you heard me correctly.)

one hand typing, the other scooping forkfuls of pecan pie into my mouth.

all of my kidlets are in bed. the dishes are done. the laundry is sorted. dinner is cleaned up and leftovers put away. there is still so much that i need to be doing. but honestly, i don't care.

my house doesnt need to look perfect. yes, there are cheerios and cracker crumbs surrounding my table. yes, my kitchen floor needs a good scrubbing. yes, every inch of the playroom is covered in toys.

i used to think my house had to be perfect. when i did, i was frustrated and exhausted.

all.the.time.

why? because i didnt have the time nor energy to work nearly full time, come home and be a mom full time, and do the majority of the housework on top of that. i started to think about what my priorities are.

my children.

(next to my relationship with the Lord, which is my first priority)

so yes, i put off vacuuming in favor of playing barbies with eleanor or trains with isaiah. yes, the dishes sit on the counter while we read Bible stories. yes, the laundry sits unfolded while we dance to david crowder band in the livingroom or sing our ABCs.

i don't have to have a perfect. i'm content with "good enough"

cafe discussion

i'm so very excited to be taking part in the (very first!) cafe discussion going on at our beautiful little journey.

what's the purpose of cafe discussions? i'll let Noelani explain:

 Well, it's a place for us ladies to gather in together, and share our thoughts and emotions. Every two weeks, there will be a new topic of discussion being brought to the coffee table. A place for us to pour our hearts out, exposing our emotions. A place for us to meet new ladies, who share the same views and beliefs ... who we can relate to.

These topics will include things on - parenting, marriage, Military, our Faith, etc.

The first topic of discussion? What's the best part about being a parent?

i hope you can join us, and i'm so looking forward to hearing your responses!

((don't forget to enter my blogiversary Starbucks giftcard giveaway, and spread the word!))

pressing on

Pressing on, all my distress is going, going, gone.
(Pressing on, pressing on)
And I won't sit back, and take this anymore.
'Cause I'm done with that, I've got one foot out the door.
And to go back where I was would just be wrong
I'm pressing on.
-Relient K

Thank you, Jesus for bringing me through one of the toughest years of my life. Thank you for bringing Jackson safely into this world, and for Isaiah and Eleanor's continued health. thank you that Adalynn is home. Thank you for helping me to find joy amidst every one of my trials. thank you for your mercy and forgivness. I fall more in love with you everyday, through your WORD and our conversations. i'm learning how to "be still" so i can hear Your voice. i love that in YOU i have can have HOPE that 2012 will bring greater things.

Christmas recap

the kids were SO excited about their quilts. moosie can't stop jamming on his keyboard.

hope your holiday was lovely.

happiness is...

Christmas lights.

have a lovely day!

trick or treat!

isaiah didn't want to take his 'stache off.

moosie-bat knocked off 1/2 hour into our walk. so glad he isn't nocturnal.

no aphids for that lady bug. she wants the tootsie pops.

we had a blast trick or treating on monday!

(a HUGE thank you to grammy judy for their costumes! LOVE YOU!)



corey lake orchards

 

we took our annual apple orchad trip, a few weeks back. it was the perfect day. sunny, breezy, and the trees were FULL of apples!

{this poor tree split, it's branches were so full of apples!}

DIY FRIDAY: finger paint!

{easie peasie blog}

i stumbled upon this awesome DIY via pinterest!

homemade (non staining!!!) finger paint!

tiffany has such a wonderful blog! (go check it out, y'all!)

she's got a whole page full of DIY projects and toddler activities! YAY!

happy friday, lovlies.

aaaannnddd we're off!

these two are all about school.

it's awesome.



louisiana/my sister's wedding

[mr. and mrs. corey donaldson]

hey y'all. so sorry, i did not disappear off the face of the earth. i took my sweet family down to louisiana this past weekend for my sister's wedding. it took us 22 hours to make it down there (and back) the kids did well considering they were trapped in the car for 22 hours. on the way down, we stopped in arkansas for gas at 4:30am and i realized that eleanor (who was sleeping) had something caked all over her face and eyelashes. turns out she dumped a whole canister of formula all over the backseat and played in it. Isaiah, dumped a whole box of rice cereal out on the floorboard. no wonder they were being so quiet...

once we got to my sisters, we had so much fun. want to see?!

crawfish boil!

le crawfish!

gator sighting!

mini lizard

 little sister kayle and i

teryn getting into her dress!

big sister nikia

momma and nona.

keeping herself busy with my pearls

the cake!

kayle and daymein dancing away

teryn and i (after she got out of her super awesome dress)

my granny (on my dad's side) with all of her great grandkids!

(eathan, isaiah, jackson, gavin, eleanor, daymein)

congratulations teryn and corey, wishing you all the best and many blessings in your marriage!

(and two more just because my sister is unbelievably beautiful!)

Moosie at 4 months

can you believe my little moosie man turned 4 months old today?!

jackson henry, please stop growing up so fast!

jackson is cutting his first tooth y'all!

he also loves to be held...all the time. (and he lets you know it. screams until he makes himself sick!)

he loves to be out of doors

he won't sleep without his monkey security blanket

he is sleeping through the night


how was your weekend, friends? do anything fun or exciting?
tomorrow our family is embarking on a trip down to louisiana! my sister is getting married on saturday! wish us luck;  it's an 18hr drive straight through!

potty training!

sorry for being pretty absent from blogging lately! i've been devoting the time that i'm not working to potty training eleanor! today we've had a breakthrough! we were coloring at the table (isaiah, eleanor, and i) when she loudly proclaimed, "i potty, mommy!" and climbed down from the and marched her little self into the bathroom! (no prompts from me! Hallelujah!)

Isaiah also is having some potty breakthroughs today! he has somewhat of an aversion to pooping on the potty (so he usually waits until nap/bedtime to go when he has a pull up on) but he has gone poop on the potty TWICE today! YEEHAW!

yesterday i spent some time at my grandmas with my sisters (Kayle and Nikia) and my wonderful nephews (Daymein and Gavin)

{grandma and gavin, kayle and jackson}

a big hello to a my new followers! so happy to have you!

happy 4th, american lovelies!

(and happy belated canada day Andrea!)

big sister love

eleanor loves to cuddle jackson. mostly she loves to hold his hand.

they melt my heart.