Oh No, More Snow!

This morning we woke up to this! Ugh.

I'm so ready for spring- maybe it's my southern blood, because the azaleas and dogwoods should be blooming by now down in Louisiana. I must say that I have a deeper appreciation for spring now- since we've had so much snow this winter. Here's a glimpse of our snow fun this year...
It's amazing to me how instinctive it is for kids to eat snow. We didn't tell them to do this, it's just a natural curiosity, I suppose. Of course, the day Noah was licking the snow off the driveway, I had to draw the line. Yuck!The hat that Noah's wearing in the picture below is his all-time favorite. It's endearing to me because this hat belonged to a family friend, Scott, when he was little. He's a junior in college now, but the hat lives on. I'm sure it saw more snow this winter in Idaho than it saw all those years in Louisiana!Noah loved the snow and couldn't get enough. Jonah, however, tolerated it. Oh sometimes he enjoyed it, but by mid-January everytime you put a coat on him he'd cry, "No, I don't want to go in the snow!"Our backyard... And finally, in February we were able to build a snowman. The snow was so dry earlier in the season that we couldn't get it to stay packed together.
He's just a little guy, but the boys loved him. They preferred to knock over the larger snowmen we tried to make!
His scarf is hand-made from Honduras- probably no other snowman in the valley could tout that! So now that this post is finally done, may Spring come and know that it will not have to compete with Winter's snow for space on my blog. The forecast calls for 70 degrees on Saturday- that's what I'm ready for!

He Is Risen Indeed!

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him..." Mark 16:6

Happy Easter- from our family to yours!

We've had a great Easter weekend with my brother and his new bride (well, they've been married a year)...more details to come. Here's a sneak peek- last night we made these...

Happy Valentines Day!

In my true form, I am over a month late posting these pics from our Valentine's Day. And someone please tell me why I don't have a photo of my sweetheart and me? Instead, I will grace you with these pictures of our beautiful boys- and their sheer delight at their "Seek & Find" books and their Playmobil knights (aka "Big Guys"). I don't have a good photo of the beautiful roses that Jason brought home to me, but there they are on the dining room table. They were gorgeous and lasted a long time- which makes me very happy. Since we are a one-vehicle family, my sweetie sometimes takes the bus to and from work. On Valentines, he rode the bus from work to the store to buy me flowers, and then walked home- all so he could surprise me. Thanks, hon- it meant alot to me that you went the extra mile (literally) to make me feel special. I love you!
Love the heart sticker on Jonah's face! He was thrilled with his Pooh book.
Noah's favorite part was the "big guys"- he has claimed ownership of his brother's, too. They are so fun to treat!

I wish I had a better picture of our Valentines placemats- I got them at Target and they were so cute! They had an alligator on them with a heart in his mouth and said love underneath. They were perfect for a mom with boys!

30 is the new 20? No thanks!

Since I recently turned 30, I've heard several times, "Don't worry, 30 is the new 20." What? Why would I want to go through my 20s again? Don't get me wrong- I had some wonderful times in my twenties- I met the love of my life, got married, and had my two sweet babies. However, my twenties also had their fair share of insecurities and worries since I tend to be a "people-pleaser."

There are several "wounds" that I carried around from earlier in life and let dictate my responses. One simple example is the manicurist that told me I had "man hands" when I went to get my nails done- of course, he reassured me that I'd leave his shop with "woman hands." Silly, I know. But since that time, I've been a little self-conscious about my hands- not anymore! In this decade, my thirties, I'm letting go of the baggage and the petty worries. So, yes, I've painted my nails four times this past week- including a bright red, and a horrible hot pink. It's an experiment. An experiment with freedom- to unabashedly draw attention to my hands- the perfectly proportioned hands that God gave me.

My mom told me that I'm going to love my thirties. I'm planning on it!

Hurry! Before January Ends- Post About Christmas Day

Christmas morning we woke up and headed downstairs to see what Santa had left for the boys. Noah was immediately excited about the toys and stockings- and Jonah was immediately excited about eating the cookie crumbs Santa left behind! He cleaned the entire plate before he ever paid any attention to the gifts! It was so fun to see the kiddos open their gifts- so much energy and enthusiasm! Both boys really enjoy Toy Story and wanted a Woody- they loved them!Noah got his first remote-controlled car. He ran around the house chasing it for a good part of the day. Jonah loved his Winnie the Pooh movie from Mima & Papa. He wanted to watch it right away. "It's Pooh, Nom- it's a mooobie- I wanna watch it now. Pease, Nommie."
Noah got LEGOS from Mima and Papa- he was thrilled! He loves building with them- or rather, having us build with them! Brent & Amanda indulged our addiction to Settlers of Catan by getting us the Seafarers of Catan and expansion set! Love it! Trucks from Uncle Wiley & Aunt Amy... they race these huge trucks down our stairway!

Lego sets from Granny & Pa!
Cars racing set from Mima & Papa- Jonah thinks its great!

Christmas Classics movie collection from Uncle Brent & Aunt Amanda- we watched all the movies over and over again. They're classics- you have to! Memory game from Mima & Papa. I think we've played this game every day since Christmas. The boys love it- and are getting pretty good at it!
Ohhhh! A pirate ship! This is from Grandma and Grandpa- the boys carry it around the house- up the stairs and down the stairs every day. They are crazy about the pirates and the "bad guys" included- and love shooting the cannon balls directly at Mom's face!
We took a few pictures of me and Jason with gifts- just as proof that we were there- it seems like we're rarely in my scrapbooks since we've had kids!

Toy Story 2 from Grandma & Grandpa- the boys stand on the fireplace and sing "You've Got A Friend in Me" regularly. Red, the fire engine from Grandma and Grandpa- another toy that shoots something- always aimed at Mom!After all the gifts, the boys just played and played. Then we enjoyed a late lunch- ham, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole. It was delicious, if I do say so myself! God is so good! What a fun day together as a family. Of course we missed being with our extended family, but it was good, quality time together. The boys were so tired they fell asleep around 6:30. Jason and I stayed up watching the video we made of the day! Merry Christmas!

Remembering One Month Ago...Christmas Eve!

This was the first Christmas that we did not travel. It was also the first Christmas season that we didn't spend with extended family, so we instituted some of our own traditions- many of them are traditions that we had already established but had to do earlier in the month during Christmases past.

After attending our church's Candlelight Christmas Eve service, we made Christmas cookies for Santa. Of course, the boys loved it- and loved eating them, too. Jason read the Christmas story and several other Chrismas books to the boys (The Night Before Christmas, Away in a Manger) while they enjoyed cups of eggnog. Jason's mom gave the boys Mary Englebreit's illustrated version of The Night Before Christmas last year and they love it. It's an annual tradition to read it Christmas Eve- and eggnog has always been a tradition with Jason's dad.The year that Jason and I were engaged, we decided not to exchange Christmas gifts (due to tight budgets), but to exchange Christmas ornaments for our tree. We decided that was a tradition we would continue through life- so that we always have a special treasure from each other each year. We've included the boys in on this tradition and on Christmas Eve, they opened their ornaments from us.This year, we gave Noah a Buzz Lightyear ornament. He loved it! It really didn't stay on the tree- he and Jonah played with all the time! We gave Jonah a Thomas the Train ornament this year. He slept with it the first night!
Jason didn't get me an ornament this year, but he got me a tree topper! We have never had one- in the past we used ribbons from our wedding, but those were looking pretty rough this year. I love this snowflake! It was beautiful on top of our tree!See, our "big" tree is decorated in silver, white, and crystal. So, our ornaments to one another always stay within that theme. The kids have their own tree to put the more fun ornaments on! This year, I got Jason this ornament from Starbucks. Silly, I know, but I started drinking coffee this year for the first time, so I thought it was appropriate to commemorate the year this way- and the ornament is white, so it fits the tree's theme!Growing up, there were several Christmases that we got new pajamas as kids. I love that! So last year, we began the tradition with our boys. On Christmas Eve, they open new jammies to wear that night. My boys in matching jammies- I know it won't last forever, but I love this! Aren't they the cutest?
I'll post Christmas day pics soon- just didn't want to overwhelm everyone at once! Happy Holidays!