Happy Birthday to My Love!

 This the 14th birthday I get to celebrate with him!

We go way back and started dating when I turned 16.

2002- seniors in HS

2004- sophomores in college

2005- rehearsal night

2007

2010

2012

Brian,

I am so thankful for your life and that I get to spend each day with you. You are an amazing daddy, supportive husband, hard worker, and have such a big heart. I hope this is your best year yet!

Happy Birthday My Love!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father." James 1:7

Camping Trip

Friday after school we packed our bags and loaded up the Jeep with our tent and a few other necessities. We picked up Chick-fil-a for dinner, and then we were on our way. We arrived after the sun set, luckily the tent is an easy up.

 

We camped with 3 other families from our Sunday school class. Jackson had lots of friends to play with. We ended Friday with smore's and Brian playing his guitar around the fire.

The three of us shared a tent. A queen sized air mattress fit in it with little room left on each side. At one point I woke up and Jackson had half the mattress to himself! I didn't sleep well, but at least there was a nice breeze coming through the tent. 

The men ran into town to get bait for fishing, so Brian decided he would rather pick up breakfast than mess with making pancakes over the fire. I was totally ok with enjoying a latte while camping.

Next up was a hike to the river! We all trekked down there. 

There was no real place to sit down by the river. The boys were really excited to fish for about the first 10 minutes. The excitement died fast as no fish were being caught.

After fishing, we cooked hot dogs for lunch and tried to put the kids down for a nap. That didn't work well because police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance showed up at the site behind us. A 10 year old boy was ran over by a golf cart. He ended up getting life flighted to a hospital downtown. Please pray for him and the lady that hit him.

 

The rest of the afternoon the kids rode bikes, played games, dug in the dirt, and entertained themselves.

There was some popping bubbles too!

I am so glad we decided to go camping! 

We ended up packing up late Saturday night and heading home because of some lighting and rain that was supposed to come in the morning.

 

Jackson was out before we had the Jeep packed up.

We had a great time with friends, and I enjoyed being out in the wilderness with my family. Although, we will get a bigger tent before our next camping trip!

Christmas Cards

Winner of the $50 Shutterfly credit is:

Congrats April!

 

 

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is walking to the mailbox each day and see if we received any new Christmas Cards! I spend hours trying to decide on a card and picture(s) to use for our card.

 

Shutterfly is a site I use often to order pictures, photo books, and cards. They are easy to work with, reasonable, and your products arrive in a timely manner. The last two years I even ordered our Christmas cards from there. They have some great deals going on now!

 

Here are a few of my favorite this year...

Add caption

Simple and a monogram!

 

Love the verse!

 

 

Would you like to win $50 off a total purchase from Shutterfly(does not include shipping and cannot be combined with any other offers)? Well, you can! Leave your name and email in the comments. I will pick a winner Saturday the 20th!

 

 

Shutterfly provided me with a promotional code to be applied to my total order for this post. All opinion and thoughts are my own.

Pumpkin Patch 2012

We woke up Sunday morning to some beautiful, crisp weather. I knew we had to go to the Pumpkin Patch. We have sweated every year since Jackson was born. It was nice to break out our coats (and boots) and feel the cool breeze ripple past us.

 

Full of pictures post:)

Driving the tractor like Papa Gary.

My boys

Cow train

 

It was a perfect day temperature wise, but not so much for pictures. Windy=crazy hair!

 Corn Maze

Which way to get out?

 

 Jackson had a blast doing all of the activities that were included in our admission.

 It took him a little bit to get used to jumping onto the rope and swinging. He couldn't get enough once he somewhat figured it out.

 Laughs all around!

 I couldn't buy a decent smile from my boy yesterday. He wouldn't look up at the camera, and his smiles were as cheesy as could be.

 Wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch field filled with pumpkins.

 So strong!

 The best we got of our silly pumpkin.

We brought home a 26 pound pumpkin that Jackson can't wait to crave.

Family shot, so blessed!

 

It felt a little like a day in Wisconsin going to the Little Farmer. Jackson said his favorite part was the pumpkins. Such a fun day with my boys!

 

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

A Love Worth Fighting For

Friday night Brian and I attended a Marriage Conference.

We dropped Jackson off at Aunt Midge and Uncle Dan's house. Then, we headed to Freebirds for a quick dinner before the event.

Warren Barfield was the musical guest and Kirk Cameron was the speaker. Warren was extremely funny and shared a lot from his heart about marriage and how it is worth fighting for. Kirk spoke about being selfless and transforming your heart. He said the purpose of marriage is to be holy; joy and happiness come as a result of being holy. He also talked about squashing any sin in your life so it doesn't destroy the marriage.

 

At 10:30 the event was still going strong, but we ended up leaving so we missed the second part of Kirk's message.

Thankful for an evening with my love to think about our marriage and thank God for it.

I definitely want to give my best to Brian and fight for our marriage every day.

The Work Week

Monday thru Fridays are busy!

The best part of the my day is snuggling with Jackson when I go wake him up. Then, the rest of our morning is crazy and chaotic trying to get out of the door and to school on time.

 

Days at school go quickly and slow at the same time. I have to be on my A game with my class every minute of every day.

Treats from co-workers make every day better!

 

 After school is spent with Brian and Jackson. Our evenings are spent playing, swimming, walks, reading books, packing lunches, laying out clothes, and some meltdowns.

 

Mr. Mechanic

Swimming with daddy

Helping mom pick out clothes

Once Jackson is in bed I read my Bible, work on school stuff, and hang out with Brian. I also try to fit in laundry, cleaning up, and me time. This week I was able to get out with some friends one night. I probably should mention how great of a help Brian is with Jackson and things around the house during the week.

 

I wouldn't survive with out him!



Weekend. LOVE.

When I came home Friday, out jumped this Angry Bird! Miss Deb gave them bird masks for "B" week. We went out to dinner and to the mall all while Jackson wouldn't take off his mask. Miss Deb also gave him a car tattoo. He loves her! We are sad she will be leaving.

 

Saturday was a Pizza and Ice Cream Party at Jackson's preschool. He showed us how he could ride a scooter and was extra shy since we were there.

 Lots of sugar and family fun!

 We ended the rainy day with family movie night. We watched The Lorax and had some popcorn.

 

After church, Jackson helped Daddy change the oil in the cars. He is going to make some girl real happy one day!

He was too scared to actually go under.

 Since it was only 70 degrees with a cool breeze, I decided it was time for some taco soup.

We also spent a majority of the day outside enjoying the beautiful weather, minus watching the Packers win. What a game!

Is it Friday yet?