My Eli

Rub-A-Dub Dub

Little Luke in the tub!

Luke's 1st Birthday

I just realized that I posted these pics to FB but not here yet. So....a month later....here are the pictures from Luke's first birthday party :)


























I still can't believe he is already one!!!

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Fireproof

Last week Jay told me that he had a surprise for me. He said that he had asked his mom to watch the boys for us on Friday night so we could go on a date and he had a present that he wanted to give me. He also told me not to get too excited about the present because it only cost $13 (ha!) He knows me to well! I tend to set my hopes high when it comes to gifts (he has a history of giving great gifts...car, computer, camera)

We had a wonderful dinner at PF Changs. We don't get to go there often and it is one of my favorites so it was a nice treat. After dinner we went to the car and he handed me a journal. I looked at it and it was the Love Dare journal (from Fireproof). He has been doing this 'dare' for 40 days and I had no idea! Of course, I cried thinking how thoughtful he is. A little disclaimer....we aren't having marriage problems or anything. Actually, we hardly ever even argue. He said that he just wanted to do this to strengthen our marriage. Over the next couple of days I read through all of the entries he wrote...all 40 of them. He ended every entry with "I Love My Wife." I love that! It has probably been 6 or more months ago when we saw the movie for the first time and both loved it. Who knew that it would stick with him so much to do this Love Dare. As I read through his journal entries lots of things that he has been doing lately made more sense. One day, out of the blue, he brought me home a gift certificate for a pedicure....He would send me random text messages throughout the day....He told me sorry for things that he may have ever done to hurt me in any way (which I can't think of any!). Also, we always pray together as a family before we put the boys to bed but he wanted us to start praying also to pray together just he and I. On Day 40, the journal said for him to write his vows again. He wrote me the sweetest vows. I just cried and cried reading them. Some things I will keep personal between he and I but this part still makes me cry to read:

I knew from very early on that God chose you for me and me for you. I had no say in the matter as He did this before either of us were ever born. I want you to know that even if the choice was all mine out of all the earth, I still would have chosen you.


I am undeserving of this incredible man but I am so thankful that God still chose me for this blessing!

To the man I love...


To the best daddy ever...



Thank you for sharing life with me! I wouldn't want to go through it with anyone else!!

So Far, So Good

When school first started, Sam was thrilled! He was a big kid doing something that big kids do - go to school. The first 3 days were great. He would get up in the morning ready and excited to go. After day 3, we were dealing with a totally different kid. I was literally dragging him out of bed to get ready for school. He cried the entire time we got him ready and the entire time I would drive him to school. Once we would get to school, he would cry because he didn't want to get out of the car. It was to the point where I was seriously debating if I should just pull him out and homeschool him. It was one of the hardest things I had to do leaving him crying like that. Jay went in and talked to the vice principal of the school and they said that Sam was fine (actually, the phrase they used was "good as gold") once he was there and in his classroom but was having a hard time leaving us in the morning. He was having some problems with separation. The school set him up with someone who comes to get him out of the car every morning, Mrs. Wesley. Sam LOVES her! She walks to the car, he gets out with her and she walks him to his classroom every morning. Hopefully he won't be a senior in high school and Mrs. Wesley still has to walk him to class but hey...it's working and he now looks forward to going to school! Don't mess with a good thing, right?!

I say all that to say how proud I am with this....



And this...


Sam's teacher sent this home today. I AM so proud of him!! We had a rocky start but it makes me so happy to know that he has good behavior even when Jay and I aren't around. Knowing that he enjoys it now makes it much easier too!

Feeding the Ducks

On the way home from church today, I heard Sam and Eli in the back seat of the car planning out their afternoon of going to the pool and then going to play in our back yard. Jay and I really didn't feel up to going to the pool today so we offered a different idea. We have a little pond in our neighborhood and they love going to feed the ducks so we decided on that instead.