Ice Cream

One of Matthew's new favorite foods is tomato soup - random, but he really loves it. So tonight, after 3 good helpings of tomato soup, he was rewarded with a small bowl of one of his other favorite foods, ice cream. I had taken kaylie down from the table a little while before, so she was off playing - I start clearing the table from dinner while Matthew is eating his ice cream when I hear "Here you go kaylie, you can have some ice cream" and he's feeding it to her - his beloved ice cream and he's sharing it with her, bite after bite. The photo doesn't do it justice - after every bite she would come show us her bite and smile at how yummy it was, and Matthew was just sitting in his chair smiling, happy to be eating ice cream, happy to be sharing with his sister. It's moments like these that I am so thankful for the treasure God has blessed me with. Moments like these that make it all worthwhile, that the crazy moments/hours/days/weeks that happen are temporary, that we have such beautiful kids who love each other. More and more every day I see them growing closer, and it makes me so happy :) I had a great relationship with my brother growing up, still have a good relationship with him, and I pray so much that my kids grow up as friends :) I know that's a lot to get out of a little bowl of ice cream, but it really brightened my day :)

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They make me smile :)

Deck the Halls!

Spent the day decorating and listening to Christmas music.  All we need is a Christmas tree and we'll be set.  Bring on the season!

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Could you imagine. . .

Triplets? lol, neither can I (Photo courtesy my Dad, aka Grandpa, aka Bampa :)

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I can, however, imagine a nice walk on the beach to see a beautiful sunset with my kiddos, dad and cousin before enjoying another delicious Thanksgiving meal :)

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Thankful.

Thankful for a husband who works hard to provide for his family, who loves and cares for us too.
Thankful for two wonderful, crazy, fun, incredible kids. (and thankful for bedtime :) )
Thankful for amazing families who are all wonderful in so many ways.
Thankful for a God who loves me and saved me, despite the sinner I am.
Thankful for great friends I can lean on and enjoy life with.
Thankful for a home, a warm bed, clothes, food, and SOOO much more.
THANKFUL!!

Feed the Birds

Today we got out of the house for a little bit (Kaylie has been sick with a cold and ear infection), took a big bag of stale bread and went to the local pond to feed the ducks.  So the past few times we've gone, and it's been awhile, there are usually at least a few other people there feeding the ducks, and it seems all the ducks and birds are full and couldn't care less, always a bit disappointing.  Today was another story - the moment we set foot on the sand leading to the pond they all started moving our way and coming up on shore - they were literally at our feet - regular ducks, the little black ducks, seagulls and, of course, geese.  Matthew and Kaylie both really enjoyed tossing the bread, it was fun - until the geese came along, they are pretty intimidating!  All and all a fun quick trip to the duck pond, we'll do it again soon :)
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Just Because :)

Matthew received a gift in the mail from Aunt Kristen & Uncle Greg - here he is opening it up, so fun :)

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I just love how Kaylie cares for her babies & stuffed animals now :)

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New Girl.

Had a very productive day - I like days like that, it doesn't happen very often ;-p.  I was able to go to Ulta, Michaels, Target, Trader Joes & Teri Cafe as well as get my eyebrows waxed and make dinner for some friends. Phew! Thankful for my amazing parents who are always so willing to play with the kids so I can get a little break and get things done :)

But the best of the day was New Girl on Fox. Seriously. That show makes me LOL - EVERY week. It's so funny :)

Another best of the day (really yesterday) was discovering Parenting. Illustrated with Crappy Pictures - another thing that makes me LOL frequently.

So check those two things out - you won't be sorry!

Cupcakes :)

Enough said.

Rainy Day

I love rainy days. LOVE them! There is just something so fun about spending your day in your pjs, playing with puzzles, games, watching movies, it's great :)  A few pics and a fun video from our rainy day indoors :)

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Arts & Crafts time!

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Kaylie actually had some pretty brush strokes!

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Matthew got to paint a little birdhouse :)

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He's getting more and more fun, love mornings like these :)

Pics :)

Just a few pics from today. . .

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So stylin'!

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Matthew's boxcar for the Drive-in Movie Night at Cubbies

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Rock climbing ;)

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This is Kaylie "hiding" after being scolded for something. . .she's still so cute :)

The best of today. . .

• Spent some quality time just Kaylie and I.
• Breaking Free Bible Study with some awesome ladies.
• Cupcakes that were eaten at said Bible study - Jessica, they were SOOO delicious!

The best of today. . .

• The beautiful sunshine along with the crisp cold - love it - would love for the rain to come back though :)
• A relaxing day at home, full of games and arts and crafts with the kiddos :)
• My Dad picked up a few copies of The Coast News - Matthew made the newspaper! His picture was taken while enjoying the Halloween on Elm St in Carlsbad :)

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Birthday Party :)

I just love the rain :) And what better way to spend a rainy Sunday than celebrating Matthew's birthday with family? He is one blessed boy to have such a loving and generous family! What fun :)

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Matthew is 4!!!

Today our little big boy turned 4 years old! Can you believe it?! He is growing into such a smart, fun, creative, active little boy - we just love him so much :) 

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 We started the day off with a cinnamon roll "cake", candles and all. . .
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  then he opened his gift which was a set of puzzles and he spent the entire morning working on them, he is absolutely in love with puzzles right now, and he's really quite good at them!

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 Then in the afternoon we took the kiddos to Legoland, where Matthew got to ride the horses he's wanted to ride for SOO long (you have to be 4 to ride them) - he went on that ride 4 times, and would have gone more if we hadn't directed him elsewhere ;-)

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Ended the day at Grandma & Grandpa's while we had Growth group. He got some awesome pillow cases my mom made for him (they are so fun, Thomas & Cat in the Hat) and they celebrated with a piece of cake and a sleepover, which he loves.

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 All and all a pretty good 4th birthday for a pretty special 4 year old boy :)

The best of today. . .

• Got to meet Jeff & Gina's brand new baby boy Luke, only a week old, so cute! What a blessing little babies are :)
• Loved watching Kaylie "talk" on the phone today, she had a full conversation with herself :)