A BIG Texas sized weekend

We went to Texas this past weekend for my cousin Zachary's wedding to Chelsea. What a great time was had by all. I got to go to a Garland Owl football game, which brought back a lot of memories. The kids had a blast at the game! My parents had bought them Garland Owl t-shirts to wear to the game. They loved when Ollie the Owl(mascot) came around in the stands. They were yelling for him to come and shake their hands. It was too cute! Not only that, but my sister Morgan is on the same drill team that I was on in high school 10 years ago, with the same director! It was so neat to be able to watch her perform. She even got Performer of the Week, the one time we were at her game(you only get this from being nominated as having a great week of practice). Here are some cute pictures of the kids enjoying themselves at the game.

A day in the life of a 2 year old....little girl that is!

So, trying to understand a 2 year old is hard. Trying to understand a 2 year old GIRL is hard hard hard!!!!!! Not only does she want my undivided attention all the time, but when she is not getting exactly what she wants, a raising of the voice starts to happen. Her and I can butt heads real bad sometimes. So today Elle decided that she wanted to watch Barbie Fairytopia that we had rented from the local library. So as I am putting it in the dvd player, my phone rings and I pick it up. As I am talking I realize that for some reason or another, my dvd player cannot read the dvd. Don't you hate when that happens????? So, as I am chatting with my girlfriend, I just grab the "Ariel" dvd or "A-O" as Elle refers to it. She becomes so livid that I am not putting in the Barbie dvd that she starts to throw the 2 year old typical tantrum. So, as I am trying to hear my friend, I do what any mom at this point has learned to do, run in my room and shut the door and lock it! If I did not do that then I would not be able to even hear my friend. So I apologize for the ruckus and try to finish up quickly with my phone conversation. After about 5 minutes of her standing at my door trying to cry her way in, there is a little silence and I realize that she may have just moved on. I finally end the conversation to come out and find this.....

Oh, yea! Baby powder all over my coffee table with Elle rubbing her body all into it. Not only there, but over here with it all over the floor of my living area! She is laughing like it is funny! So, now I have a newly scented living room. Here is Elle after it all played out. Enjoy!

Rekindling the flame

So, we all know how God does his work on a daily basis right? Well, let's just say that Matt and I have some really great friends who care a lot about us and think of us often. We got a phone call on Wednesday night from a good friend whom we have known since we moved to Clermont in 2003. He had signed up for a Marriage Retreat for he and his wife over the weekend. They have a restaurant in town and were going to have to work this weekend. So....guess who they asked to go in their place? You guessed it right! US!!! This included 3 FULL days at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando. Who would say no to that? We definately started making phone calls to find sitters for the kids, chauffers to the soccer game, someone to sit in my place as a room mom for a "nature walk" at preschool, etc. God provided Matt's parents to be available for the entire weekend! I must say, as easy as it was to say yes to this opportunity, it was also hard at the same time because we have never left our kids for more than one night, My dear husband is the one whom I planned a surprise weekend away for our 5 year anniversary and he chickened out the 2nd day and went and picked up the kids. He could not stand for another 24 hours to be without them! It was okay I guess....it kind of turned into a family weekend. The kids had fun and so did we...but back to the subject at hand. The Gaylord Palms.

Well, it was a much needed retreat if I must say myself! The things we learned about each other have been invaluable. Through some personality life tests and a few s*x talks later, we were on a better road. Now, I must say, we did not come here with any baggage as they would call it. But every marriage can always use some new ideas, whether biblical or from wisdom. We learned a lot about each other and how our personalities explain a lot about us! I realized how much I love him, appreciate him and am so glad God chose him for me. I realized this weekend how much my God loves my husband and why!!! He is so amazing inside and out and I love him for that. He is my hero and I am his queen!

So, this weekend was one of the busiest we have had in a long time! We had a surprise 30th birthday party for one of my best friends Emily and her husband Luke. We called this, "Kiss your 20's goodbye!" They were totally shocked and could not believe we got away with planning this. They thought they were coming to eat dinner at a restaurant with our small group bible study, but little did they know.....

The start of a new thing.....

As my children are getting older, I am realizing the importance of not just documenting in their baby books, but by blogging or journaling so that they may have some record of my thoughts as a mother. Not only will my children benefit from this, but we have so much family spread out over the US I thought this would be a great way to keep everyone connected with our family. So, until I learn how to add pictures and details to this, here goes.....