Homemade Memories

Well we celebrated another year of the twins life on March 28th!  I really can't believe they are 8 - I mean really when did that happen!!!  Usually I am the lets start planning in January for their party, I spend hours thinking of the perfect theme, colors, food, cake design, invites and what Paige will wear!  This year was a little different... I don't know if it's bc I am getting older of it it's them getting older.  Neither could decide what they wanted to do - one big party, two small parties, sleepover, movies, bowling, Seaworld - even Disney - yeah they reach for the stars :).  I have taught them it never hurts to ask! Paige wanted one friend and have a girls day, Trayce wanted a big party and invite everyone we knew! I told them they had to decide what they wanted and they must come to an agreement.  So for about a week, they went back and forth on what to do - finally they compromised!  I still haven't decided if they pulled a fast one on me... 

We had an evening with one friend each for a sleepover then the next day had a game of bowling and a movie.  Which ended up be fantastic - we did hotdogs, made smores, and Eric and I even played hide and seek in the dark with them - it was a great night!  Then 2 weeks later we had a family party - this was alot fun and special for them to have all their family celebrating with them - it's not all the time we get all of our family together.  However for this party - I didn't stress, I sent email invites out and even used a picture of them from Christmas, I bought what was on sale at Card and Party Factory for the napkins and plates, I didn't spend $100 on cakes - I made a Buttermilk pie for Trayce (per his request) and bought a $9.99 kroger strawberry cake for Paige. These kids had the best time!  They smiled from ear to ear the entire time.  I even enjoyed the party - I wasn't stressed out - I actually visited with everyone!  Not that I don't love throwing the best themed parties - but it was nice to just have a simple homemade party!  Sometimes the best parties are the ones that you don't spend alot of money on but you spend alot of time with the people there.  I have learned alot in the past 8 years - it's not what money can buy that makes us happy its the time and memories we make while just being together!  I can't recall the last party I hosted where I just enjoyed and took in each moment.  I am vowing to do that more often - it's good for all of us.

So keep on smiling and keep on praying - and go have a homemade kind of party!


And aren't these the most precious 8 year olds ever!!! I know I am a little biased! 

It's been too long!

Too long - I looked at my last post and wow it was too long ago to even think about trying to catch up.. however you look at my draft blogs I tried to write you would see I at least started - just didn't finish!  So where are we now... 6 weeks into the twins 2nd grade year!!! 2nd grade - crap when did that happen - it was just yesterday I was taking them to daycare!  Oh well I guess I need to take my own advice and suck it up - they grow up and that they do so quickly. So this blog is just going to be a run down on who they are and what they are up to...

Trayce - my sweet boy still.  He is the most sincere, loving, thoughtful little boy I have ever meet.  Ever since he was a baby he would look at you and make you feel like you were the only one around - well he still does that, his hugs have gotten tighter and his love has gotten grander!  When other parents, teachers, etc talk about Trayce they always say he is such a sweet kid, it makes me feel good, b/c I feel like I am doing my job, I am trying to raise a good man one day and good men are sweet - so I am hoping this means we are on the right track.  He is extremely hard on himself and his biggest critic.  He has this deep desire to be the best at everything and when that doesn't happen he shuts down and beats himself up.  I wish I could say I wonder where he gets it from, but he does get that honestly.  Eric and I are both driven people and when we don't succeed (in our eyes) we seem to take it a little harder then most.  We got his first report card for 2nd grade and it was all A's and 2 B's (which 88 and 86 are pretty dang close to an A), but in his mind it isn't good enough unless there is all A's! Well tears filled his eyes and you could see disappointment all over his sweet face - it really did break my heart to watch it unfold - those are times when I really wish I could shake him and tell him to not be like me!  He snapped out of it pretty quick bc of course he didn't want anyone to see him cry, but how I wish he could be as proud of him as we are!  But, all in all he is doing great - shot his first hog this year with his Daddy and can't wait to sit in his own deer stand this year.  Got his first hunting license and went dove hunting several times already!  He even told us he may not play basketball this year b/c it interferes with duck hunting too much!  For that y'all he is is Fathers Son!!!

Paige - my little miss priss!  She is all girl but with a tom boy side starting to set in.  More and more each day she is outside throwing the football with Trayce, shooting her bb gun and trying to kill squirrels with it!  But, she in all of that she has a bow in her hair and lip gloss on!  In my eyes perfect!  The funny thing with Paige is she doesn't want to grow up - she tells me all the time she wants to stay little and never get big, she likes being the baby of the house.  Hopefully this won't bite up in the you know what later - but right now I do like the fact she doesn't want to big!  She is very versatile - one day she is wanting cute boutique clothes and the ruffles and big bows then the next she wants her nike shorts and a t-shirt (however there is still a bow - just not a huge frilly one!).  She is an athlete in her own right - her tumbling skills have surpassed my wildest expectations!  I was happy with one back hand spring - nope she is now wanting to see how many she can do in a row!  She is working on getting her back tuck down (which that scares the begeezies out of me!).  She makes it look so easy!  She is also in dance and loving it hip hop of course - she has the moves - her Daddy says he got it from her, but anyone who knows Eric knows she def got the better part of his dance moves!  Her grades are all A's - she is struggling in math a little, to the point where she is having a little anxiety (again she gets that honestly - notice the pattern my kids get my bad traits!).  For her to struggle with something is new territory, but I will say she is not a quitter, she will work and work at it till she knows it - which that I am so proud.  When she saw her report card - she said it quietly to me that she made all A's - she didn't want to hurt her brother bc she knew how badly he wanted all A's. I hope their love and sweetness stays like this forever!


Here are some pics of my loves... I will try to not wait so long next time to blog - since the whole purpose of this blog was to have something written down for the kids to look back at when they are older!  So I apologize now for letting life get in the way - but at least we are living life!!!

Keep smiling and keep praying - I know I will!

Hustle and Bustle

It's been awhile since I sat down and took the time to put fingers to keyboard (I really wanted to say pen to paper).  I feel like the past year has been a blur.  We are in the last 6 weeks of the twins 1st grade~! How in the crap did that happen!!!! 

They have lost teeth, did things they couldn't do a year ago, turned 7, didn't want a big combined birthday party, they are growing up!!!!  I hate it - I see people with 3 and 4 year olds and I think to myself I wish my babies were still that small - not that I haven't enjoyed these years, b/c I have, but I really do feel I haven't enjoyed it as much as I should have!  I was too worried about manners, being kind, playing fair, teaching compassion, love, and how to be "the" good kids!  Yes, I did let them play in the mud, take huge bubble baths, go places, be kids - but I think I didn't enjoy those little things like I should have.  I hope it isn't too late!

I worry that as a Mom they are not going to think I was fun, played enough, laughed until we cried, played in the rain, dance crazy - yes we have done all those things, but did I do it enough.  I think I feel sometimes as Moms we get so caught up in the everyday hustle and bustle we forget to stop and enjoy the small things.  I beat myself up for being too hard on them, I should have said it differently, I shouldn't have yelled, I have to remember they are only kids, I shouldn't have compared them to each other!  Things I do in the moment and then instantly feel bad for - usually I say I am sorry, but there are times I don't.  I need to reroute my focus!

Lent just ended two weeks ago. I didn't give up anything, but I vowed I was going to take more time for prayer, which I did and it felt so good.  However, there were days I slipped and didn't pray like I should have, I didn't give the Lord my full attention - I let the hustle and bustle of everyday life get in the way - the same as I do with my kids.  I let the smallest but most important things get in the way of what the big picture is about.  So I am vowing today, to not allow the hustle and bustle of life get in the way of 1.) my prayer time with my Lord and 2.) to allow me to stop and enjoy these years with my kids - b/c if the rest of their childhood is anything like this past year - it is going to fly by and in 10 years I will be blogging about them leaving for college and how I missed so much!  I refuse to let that happen! 

So with all that said - whomever reads this blog, if you are a Mom and are letting the hustle and bustle of life get in your way of your prayer time and your Mommy moments - please stop what you are doing and pray and the second you get a chance grab your kids and tell them you love them and go and have fun with your kids b/c in a blur they are grown!!!

Keep smiling and keep praying... I know I am

My Love Always...

Tonight (or morning really - Paige had a nightmare, so I am wide awake) I am blogging about my husband - I know I said I would do this blog so my kids can look back on this one day and see how much I really did love them and I wasn't just always telling them to brush their teeth, eat all their vegetables etc... But, I think they also need to know how much their Daddy means to me.  As the kids are getting older they are realizing Mommy and Daddy's don't stay together forever.  I sheltered them as long as I could about the word "divorce" but it's apart of life, so of course we had to explain it (better hearing it from us then other people).  They question me every so often "Mom you and Dad aren't going to break up right.." of course I assure them all the time that when we decided to get married breaking up was not an option.  Trayce even told me "Mom I never want another Mommy :)"  I assured him that would NEVER happen.  Trayce is my thinker - he asked me one afternoon on our way to basketball - "Mom does God live in your brain too?  I told him God is with all the time in your heart and mind - that he is everywhere.  I asked him why.. he says well I just want to know will God just tell my brain who I am to marry b/c you said you just know (you know like when you and daddy meet) and that I have to pray about it"  After I composed myself and thought how can a 6 year old little boy think this deeply, I told him as long as he prays about it God will take care of the rest!  So in light of them learning about this - I think it will be good to know that their Mommy and Daddy really love each other and know how much their Daddy means to me.

I always knew Eric was the one for me - from the first date we had when I was only 17, I just knew he was the one.  I prayed as a teenager God would bring someone in my life that would love me unconditionally and love me for me - not someone they wanted me to be.  Eric was that one.  Now, I am not saying that we did not put each other through pure hell sometimes, but in the end all the heartache we endured was worth it - I really wouldn't change one thing about our past!  It made our love stronger and more deserving due to all the heartache.

In the past year we have become ALOT more busy in life.  I knew the days were gonna come when we would feel like we were passing each other in the hallway and those days are here.  But, even though we may not have our usual front porch talks as often or get our date nights like we want - I do still know our love is strong and we will conquer this crazy life we have.

Today he called me and asked me to play hooky so we could go sand bass fishing - of course I couldn't b/c of work, but the fact he asked me gave me butterflies.  Even though I couldn't go, at least he still asked and wanted me to be the one to spend an afternoon on the riverbank catching sand bass instead of one of his buddies!  I don't tell him as often as I should - but thank you honey for still being my saving grace and for still asking me to be your fishing partner and I promise I always will be. SO here is to many more crazy days with our beautiful kids and here's to us still asking each other to spend time together - my promise to you is I will never stop asking as long as you don't either!  I Love You Eric Christopher~!



As Always...Keep Smiling and Keep Praying... I know I am!!!!

Time Flies

It feels like forever since I blogged!  So much going on you would think I would stop and write it all down - but yeah that hasn't happened :).  I can't believe it is almost Christmas!  Where has this year gone?  SO many blessings this year.  Some came with heartache, some came easy, and some came when we weren't expecting them.  My precious babies are growing up so fast and becoming such little people - not babies!  It is hard for me to remember that - they aren't babies anymore!  Well they will always be MY babies, but you know what I mean!

This past weekend we went to New Braunfels for the Holiday in Gruene - we got to see Cowboy Santa, shoot pool in Gruene Hall, shopped and had lots of laughs.  I had a Mommy moment when Trayce decided his tummy wasn't feeling too well - he had that cough - that I knew was a cough that would slowly have something follow! Well let just say I was faster than a speeding bullet in getting him out of the store!  Once he got some sleep he felt much better and once he woke up he wanted to go to Gruene Hall - how could I deny him of that!  This is the second year that I have taken the kids and they love it - they actually ask to go back - there isn't a ton to do, but there is something about Gruene that gets a hold of young and old.  As we were standing in front of Gruene Hall - I looked at the kids laughing and playing - I prayed that one day they would bring their kids and remember all the memories they had (the store tummy ache will def be one!).  As we left the parade - the kids were on cloud nine - there was a airplane in the sky with red lights - they swear it was Santa and Rudolf - it brought tears to my eyes watching their smiles and eyes light up when I confirmed that is what they saw!  It even brought the kid out in me and hand in hand we skipped all the way to the car (literally we skipped - you would have thought we all had laughing gas - we were laughing so hard) I hope we always laugh like that!

As a Mom we all wear so many hats and most of the time we are wearing them at the same time.  I tend to let things slide by - my house isn't always spic and span, I have dust, dirty floors, and laundry that piles up - but I do have really happy kids that have done more in their 6 years of life then I did my whole childhood.  The second I decided to be a parent, I vowed to the kids and myself I would never push them to the side b/c I was too tired, or I needed to stay home and clean, or I cooked each night and didn't spend time with them in the evenings.  Believe me they don't notice the messy house and the sandwiches for dinner - but they do notice when I am not spending time with them.  I hope they always notice that b/c I never want them to feel 2nd to those things.  I want my kids to look back on their childhood and remember how much fun they had and how I always played with them, and even skip with them in the parking lot.

Until next time keep smiling and keep praying - I know I am!

Fully Charged

This weekend I went to the Women of Faith Conference in San Antonio.  I haven't been in several years and I forgot how much I missed the conference.  I also got to spend this time with one of the most amazing women I know - my college roommate Stacey - she and I were thick as thieves back in the day and I cherished our time we got to spend together - she is an amazing woman of Faith and I am so blessed she is in my life!

This year the conference was very centered around young Mom's and finding your way through your crazy days.  I prayed during my (4.5 hour road trip) that He touch my heart over the weekend and give me the extra push that I need to work on my relationship with him.  I say I am a Christian and I try to be a good one.  But, so many times I trip and fall and I wonder - will he really love me if he knows the real me?  I know stupid question huh (he made me so yes he knows me!).  But, what if I am not all he made me to be, what if I am falling short, what if I can't be that good Christian woman that I think I should be...  This weekend one of the speakers (Angie Smith) talked about the what if's and we need to learn to let go of those and concentrate on the What is...  so what is my what is?  That my friends I don't know - but I do know that I am willing to dive into the scripture and find out.  I bought a bible study for me and a girlfriend to start - we have been talking about for a while now - but now we are doing it.  It is about Chasing Jesus (Jennie Allen) - well I am ready to chase him that is for sure.  I know I will never be perfect and I know at times I will fall down - but the glorious thing is he is ALWAYS right there with open arms to embrace me and love me for who I am with all of my imperfections.  I prayed hard on my way home - I turned the radio off and I just prayed - it rained on me the most of the way home - during my prayer I went through a town and it stopped raining for a few miles - there was a rainbow - I think He sent that to me to show me He was listening and riding in the car with me.  I haven't seen a rainbow in years - how ironic that I saw one then...  We say we need signs - well I am here to say I believe that was my sign.  I prayed He would continue to push me to find him and to work on our relationship.

 Sunday morning at church I had an amazing thing happen to me.  Each Sunday I sit on the pew while Eric and the kids get up and take communion (well Eric does - the kids get blessed for now).  I usually take that time to pray alone and it is nice, it's like my own special quiet time with God in his house, however something came over me and I just got up and walked up to the alter and Father Lowery blessed me (I think I shocked him - when he saw me he just smiled so big and I knew it was okay, I had a sense of calmness...)  I sat down and was shaking almost, tears in my eyes - I couldn't believe I did it - I walked up there and got blessed.  Most of you are thinking so what is the big deal - but mind you it is a very small church and everyone notices... I just always worried what others would think if I got up and just got blessed.  I thought it was easier for me to just sit in the pew and pray and hope no one noticed I didn't go up there.  Apparently Jesus didn't care and he pushed me to get closer to him.  Again - something else I learned I need to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks of me and just concentrate on what He thinks of me.  How thankful I am for that  push!  I guess I experienced one of those moments I always hear about!   I have a long way to go, but I am so ready for this journey - I need this void filled and who better to fill it then our God!  He defiantly charged my spiritual battery for me and now it is up to me to keep it plugged in!

Until next time keep smiling and keep praying - I know I will be!

We survived the 1st Six Weeks of 1st Grade!!!!

We have survived the first 6 weeks of 1st grade!  I feel like I am back in school.  We read, do spelling words, work on sight words, and attempt math (poor things I think I will need a tutor when the math gets more than just adding and subtracting!).  But, all in all they are doing great.

 I meet with each of their teachers last week to check on their progress and transition from kinder to 1st.

We will start with Trayce man:
   He has and I think will always be my perfectionist - he wants everything just in the right order and hates nothing more then to NOT be good at something!  Well - school is going to come a little harder for him then most.  He is very smart, but he has to work at knowing his sounds, recognizing his sight words etc, BUT I will say in the past 6 weeks, he has came miles from where he was.  However, not making all 100's is very hard for him to accept.  He threw away a 90 grade on a test in math he got - I found it and asked why - he said it's not a 100!  I was like seriously it's an A (wish I would have made A's in math.. another blog ha) - he thought he should have done better.  He is going to be his toughest critic, but it also pushes him to do better.  It is sad the kids are so worried about making 100's now - spelling test for example, if they make a 100 on their pretest they don't have to take the test on Friday.  I like the 2nd try, however it makes them think if they miss one or two they didn't do good... we are struggling with this at home, but he is getting better with accepting he isn't ALWAYS going to make a 100!  Overall he is doing great and is making strives each week to be better.  He goes with a teacher one on one each day for 30 minutes to have the extra help with the phonics, which he LOVES going, I think he just likes the attention :) but it's working so I am all for it.  Our amazing friend Casey is helping a little each day and she is making more strives with him then I think anyone can - he wants to please her so bad!  She is definitely a blessing to us!  I really don't know what I would do without her!

Little Miss Paige:
  She is having a blast being in school.  Her teacher told me she is in her top group and would run things if she let her (her Kindergarten teacher said the same thing ha!).  I think we have a little leader in the bunch.  She loves writing and her teacher told me she is excited to see where her creative writing takes her as her vocabulary and spelling progresses.  At home she write songs and books - it is pretty amazing.  She is NOT hard on herself - she just goes with the flow. I love her free spirit and stress free attitude. She also takes everyone's feelings in to account.  Especially her brothers.  At the beginning of school Trayce was not making 100's on his spelling test and she was making them on the pretest (without effort!). Eric and I call her Mini Tiffany! They came home a couple weeks into school and I asked about the spelling - Trayce tells me (sadly) he missed 2, Paige says oh I think I missed one or two.  I didn't pay any mind to it - I went about the evening - when they were taking showers I went through their folders - low and behold Paige made a 100.  I went and asked her about it - she said "oh okay I guess I forgot"  then she went on to tell me - "don't say anything to bubba I don't want him to be upset".  My heart melted and I was so proud of her at that moment!   Anytime Trayce says he isn't good at something she is the first person to say well I am not as good as you in math :) So many kids would have wanted to rub it in their siblings face - but not mine - they actually care about each others feelings!   

In general I am so proud of both of them and the little people they are turning in to.  I am so blessed that I get to be a Mom to them - they truly are the light of my life!Not saying they don't have their moments - but all in all they are such good kids!

We went Dove hunting as a family a couple weekends ago - against Paige and I's will - but Eric was persistent that we go as a family.  Low and behold we (all of us) had a blast!  I didn't kill a bird, but I was going through bullets like crazy!  Trayce killed his first Dove and I think Eric was more excited then Trayce - Eric was jumping around like a wild man!  Paige had a blast finding all the birds - she didn't mind at all getting in there and picking up dead birds - she even helped her Daddy clean them when we got back to the camp house!

So until next time keep smiling and keep praying.... I know I will be...