m.i.a.

     Oh dear blog how I've missed you! Writing my thoughts and memories of my family is such a joy for me! Why do I let it get away from me??? Well tonight I have so so much I would like to say so I am going to try and re-cap the last three weeks briefly... (is there such a thing?)

     Well after we finally all got over our puking sickness, we have been so busy and been having much fun with our boys! The weather has been unbelievable for March! We have spent most of our days outside playing... going on walks in the double stroller (which can be an extreme workout for me)... James started soccer and the weather couldn't be better!

     James' very first soccer game was this past Saturday and I am so proud of that boy!!! He is accomplishing so much at such a young age. The past few years he has participated in a few musicals with the high school, playing the kid role, this year he has taken up piano and he seems to really enjoy it! His most recent adventure though is soccer. He has not really been much for sports, but he is very excited about soccer! I am loving that he has found something that will keep him active and out doors for a bit! He did a great job at his first game, his little team won (the score was a lot of goals... to very little goals :) He would get so excited when they would score pumping his fists in the air, and while on the sidelines he was encouraging his teammates... loving every minute! His brothers were there on the sidelines to cheer him on... Henry kept yelling for "Jameser" "Go Jameser" "Run Jameser" it was too cute... while Charlie just kept trying to sneak on the field to join in on the fun himself. Our little James is growing up way way to fast but we are so proud of this little boy. What a joy he has been in my life. I can not put in to words how incredible blessed I am to be a part of this little guys life.

     Henry is growing like a weed. He will be three years old in July which is just four short months away! I can not believe three years have already come and gone with that little fella. He is so funny right now, he will talk your ear off too! He loves to watch movies, eat popsicles, play with cars and trains, ride his little four wheeler and play with his little brother. His newest thing lately is to play "pow-pow" which consist of him making a hilarious "serious" face and posing his arms like he is about to attack you. He does this ALL THE TIME. I have got to get a picture of this pose. He loves to be read to and he likes to read to you. He has "Brown Bear Brown Bear... " memorized which is so cute to hear him recite it. His favorite song is still "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", yet he refers to it as "Christ the Lord"... He request this song just about every time I put him down for a nap or to bed for the night. He likes for you to kiss (and he kisses his own) boo-boos and then it makes them all better. I love this little boy more than he will ever know. He has changed me for the better... he tests me, he needs me, and he loves me.There is no greater thing than love from your child.

     Charlie is getting closer and closer to being a two-year old. I could cry at the very thought of this. I feel like just yesterday we found out he was going to be joining us... a little tiny baby who has some how grown up to be two years old in the blink of an eye!!! I love this little boy. He talks non-stop now too! His words mostly consist of everyone and everything surrounding him. He likes to announce who is in the room (about ten times) he pulls you where ever he wants you to go... He LOVES fruit snacks and chocolate milk and popsicles, these three things alone could cure just about anything. He is such a good little napper... when we put him to bed he literally dives into his crib. He is a cuddly baby and I will forever cherish his little hugs that linger. His newest thing is saying "I love you" with hand motions.... it is the cutest thing ever! He will repeat just about anything you say. He loves cars, trains, and airplanes. He LOVES the outdoors as soon as he gets out of bed he would like milk and to go outside! He is such a morning person, happy and cheerful as soon as you get him out of the crib (unlike Henry, who needs a full glass of chocolate milk and some alone time before he talks to anyone). He also loves the word no... oh the joys of being 1 1/2.... What a sweet blessing this boy has been. I  love Charlie with all my heart...  I love to see he and Henry play together and help each other. Sometimes when one is hurt or in time-out the other goes and checks up on his brother. This is probably the sweetest thing I've ever seen. These two are bound to be close. I love my kids more and more each day. I love each one of their individual personalities. I love how they take care of each other and play together (even James gets down and plays with the little ones... its music to my heart). After having one child it is hard to imagine just how you could love another... but this is the mystery of being a mother, some how God gives us an incredible gift- that of motherly love and there is so much of it sometimes you fill like you could just explode. The more kids I have, the more love I have, the more joy we all have. It is truly incredible.

    This week is our first after a very full spring break. We went to the lake for a few days, the boys went fishing and we went on a boat ride... we had some days lounging around the house, watching the OKC Thunder play and James' soccer game. Too much fun for one week! I'm sad that it has come to an end but so glad to have all the memories we created! Charlie had his 18 month check up today and all is well... he is a healthy little guy. I am so thankful for my children and my husband (who puts up with the good, bad and ugly). I do not know how in the world I landed such a great man to call my hubby, but I did. He is my rock, with out him I would not be the mother/woman I am today. I am stronger because of him and I love him with all my heart.

     Well I could go on and on about my little family but we all have to be up bright and early tomorrow so I best go to bed and get some rest!

My Mommy Days...

Whoever knew that being a mommy would be so so much fun! I haven't written much this past week because our schedules have been quite crazy and I simply have not made time for this.

I would like to brag on my kiddos, they have been such a joy this week. Sometimes I think my day to day life gets so hectic and busy that I forget to enjoy the simple things. So tonights post is pictures of my boys and I throughout our week. We played, we laughed, we napped, we cuddled.... I could go on and on. I love my life. I am blessed beyond what I ever imagined and this evening I am thankful.

Henry 

Charlie playing with cars. 

my little climber

cheese!

they love watching movies on the "computer"

i love this guy

Howdy partner, my names Henry!

this makes my heart melt

playing with cars outside on a beautiful February day

Henry almost has this book memorized

James enjoying the iphone camera

yes, Henry loves to wear the hooded towel

this little booger melts me.

So this week try to slow down and enjoy the small stuff. My little guys won't be this small forever and I am trying to soak it all up.

Until next time... 

My Valentines...

Valentines was this week right...??? WOW... I have to say I am glad this week is coming to an end! We started our week with a sick baby. I woke up Tuesday morning to a sick little Charlie puking in his crib... YUCK! I just hate when my kids are sick, I would just do anything for them to take their pain away. So of course I took off work on Tuesday, then Wednesday I thought we were in the clear... boy was I WRONG!!! Wednesday night I began... and then Henry started... I will refrain from giving you any details, but I will say how thankful I am to have such an incredible hubby. I don't know what I would have done with out him. He took off work to take care of his puking family...  I don't know why it always seems to hit the parents worse than the kids, but it has taken me two full days to recover from this sickness!  I do have to say though, I am thankful that all we are dealing with is a simple stomach bug and nothing more serious. Lately I have been reading tons of other blogs and seeing what other people go through in their day to day lives. Some of the stories I read are absolutely unimaginable and yet so inspiring at the same time. Seeing the world through someone else's eyes every now and then can make you incredible thankful for the hand you've been dealt. I love reading people's stories, they all are so inspiring. I love to see how other people put their hope in Jesus and are proof that He is faithful. So tonight is a simple post of how thankful I am for my family and our health. I am so grateful that God has given me a few of His children to care for during our time here. A mother's love is something you just can not explain in words... I am so thankful I get to experience this kind of love in this lifetime.

So to wrap it all up... we all spent this week super sick, but at least we had each other...
here are a few pics of my little valentines...

Here is Charlie wearing his famous "Captain America" pajamas and feeling much better!!! 

Henry boy enjoying a delicious valentine cuppie!

Snow Day Ahead... (hopefully)

     Man does the weekend go by this fast for everyone??! I mean just as I feel like I get ready to settle down, it is 10 pm on a Sunday night and my eyes are burning and my body is screaming at me to "go to bed!!" This evening I am reminded of my school days, begging my parents to let me go stay the night with a friend so that when we woke up the next morning (on a snow day) I would have some entertainment... now I am still begging for a snow day but looking forward to having a day to relax and catch up on everything (my house needs to be cleaned in a bad way!). I hope when I wake up tomorrow we all get to stay in doors and find some much needed time to simply relax! I feel like a kid again when I look out the window and I am so giddy to see little flakes falling and sticking to the ground. :)  I have to give a little shout out to my amazing hubby... he is wonderful! Today I got a two hour nap!!! I can not tell you how amazing this sleep was! We both laid down to nap while the kids were resting and of course just as we begin to, one of the kiddos is up... and today it was Daddy to the rescue! (Yay for me!) 

     On another note, here are a few things I am loving right now...

     I love my church. I do not think I have ever felt this way about getting up for church on Sunday morning. As a kid, we really didn't go much... here and there and of course to the youth on wednesday nights. As an adult, I have really come to appreciate what our church is and what the people do here to make a comfortable place for us to come, learn, and worship. I am EXTREMELY thankful for a very special woman who is in the nursery with my kids every single Sunday, words can not express the gratitude I have for her. She is an angel. 

     I love to worship. I think my favorite part of a Sunday morning is praise and worship (I always hate when I am late because this is what I miss the most of!) I really love praising God with song. I love that even though I have a terrible voice, God finds beauty in it.  I also really enjoy hearing my husband lead, he is a gifted man and even though he doesn't always realize it, his talents are bringing glory to God and touching other people. I am very proud of my hubby. 

     I also love the message. No matter where you are in your walk with God or the life you live, somehow God finds a way to reach us all. We serve a mighty and powerful God. It is truly amazing to witness HIS works here. I love how today our pastor talked about marriage, but I also got something completely different out of his message as well. I love hearing stories from the bible and putting them to use in our daily lives. God is working in me everyday. He is working in my marriage, the raising of my children, and all the things I encounter daily. Put your hope in HIM, he wants to work in you and trust me He is faithful!

This song is from the set list today, it is dear to my heart right now...  Enjoy!

"HE is faithful, He is glorious and He is JESUS and all my hope is in Him, He is freedom, He is healing right now, He is hope joy, love, peace and life!!!" 

Encouraged...

     This week has been unbelievable!!! I have had such a busy busy week and it has gone by so fast! I have decided to change my major to early childhood education. I have realized that I gravitate toward the material of the little bitty kiddos and I am excited to get finished with my college career! Also this week, I signed up to take to OGET test, (which I am totally scared of at the moment!) and I finished my week with Scentsy and some of the powerful women behind this wonderful company.
   
      I started today off at the Salon at eight a.m. and then swallowed some lunch whole... and was off to a Scentsy training for directors by noon. I have been so blessed to have this company in my life. I totally fell into Scentsy, I hosted a party and signed up because I liked the products and thought it would be nice to get some free stuff from time to time, little did I know this would be the most amazing decision I have made in a long time. My first month selling, I got my first recruit... one year later I promoted to director and now have a team of almost thirty women becoming successful leaders in their own Scentsy businesses as well.  Scentsy has given my family so much, this year my Scentsy check completely funded our Christmas and then some. However, since the new year, I have really needed someone to light a fire of motivation in me!! I (just like everyone else) was needing to be encouraged! Today I got the encouragement and motivation I was longing for... I was able to meet with some incredible and successful women of this business. Today I received some wonderful enlightenment and met some great women who want to see me succeed! I am ready to make my goals become my reality! Thanks to the ladies who took the time today to come train and encourage! I am grateful!

2012 is going to be an INCREDIBLE year... would you like to join me on this journey to success??

Day 1 as Mrs. Mann...

     So today was just like any other usual Monday... get up, have some much needed quiet time before the kiddos get up and around, and get ready for the day ahead! Today was what I would like to call the beginning of my teaching days.... Which I did none of (teaching that is), but it was my first day of field experience. The real teacher introduced me as "Mrs. Mann", which I was not prepared for... sounded so weird to hear... Heather is what I was thinking, but of course the little ones began chit chatting with me as Mrs. Mann... I don't know, hopefully I'll get used to it one day...  I was assigned a sweet second grade classroom to observe over the next few months. As I entered the class today, I was quite the distraction... all of the sudden the quiet reading children became very inquisitive children... some quotes from today include:

"Who is she?"
"What is your 'teacher' name?"
"So your a man?" (Mrs. Mann... I'm sure that won't be the last time I hear that one)
"Are you a tutor or somthin?"
"Can I read to you?"
"I need some lotion!"
"sup"

And my all time favorite... "Hey, you got any dollars?" to which I responded "daughters??" then my little friend quickly responded back with "No DOLLARS, cash money, you know?!
me: "Oh no, I do not have any of those either"
my friend: "What you don't have any?!! Well I got twelve!"

Oh children. Too cute.

I'm sure there will be much more funnies ahead. I'm looking at this like the beginning of the end of my college career. There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, it is faint but I can see it :)

Until next time...

Out on the Town...

     We began our evening in the minivan... (yes I drive a minivan and most of the time I actually like it), My how our lives have changed... If you would have told me I'd have three kids (all boys), a mortgage, and a minivan all by the age of twenty-five, I think I would have laughed out loud!!! I'm so in love with the life we have been given, never in a million years though would I have thought it would have worked out this way... (so thankful it did though)!!! So back to our evening out on the town...
     We picked up James from school, went to the bank, then decided to go out to eat with everyone (by everyone I mean the five of us, we are daring on a Friday night). I was not planning on going to dinner... I was still in the sweat pants and tee-shirt I had been cleaning in all day and not a lick of make-up... (Some how my hubby talked me into going) So we eat and the boys were very good, which makes me a proud momma... On our way out Henry tripped over his own two little feet while I was holding his hand and I look down only to notice his shoes are on the wrong feet!!! Who put those shoes on his feet??? ME!! Good grief!! So I tell Justin, I'll changed them when we get to the car... (or van whatever)... So then we are off to our next destination... TARGET!
     It is amazing to me how my two little ones always fight over who gets to sit in the seat in front, Henry cried because he had to sit in the buggy... Oh to be two again... I am sure we are a sight to see in Target with all of our kiddos... Henry is VERY loud saying every item he sees at the loudest volume he has, Charlie is usually trying to wedge his way out of the seat in front and I look back to check on James and he is lagging behind us reading a book he picked up in the dollar bin :) Oh how I love moments like these... it is so funny how much I love each one of those boys, and to see how different each child is!!
     Normally in my single, pre-mom days, I would go through each rack of clothes, shoes, stationary, and home decor.... now my Target days consist of walking straight past the clothes, shoes, etc. and immediately to the diapers, wipes, toothpaste, trashbags, etc.(and I still enjoy Target as much as I ever did before...) As I gathered up all of our staple items, we stop for a gift for our friend Preston (he is having an Angry Bird themed birthday party tomorrow and we are EXCITED!) and to the check out we go...
     On the way home Justin and I decided to treat ourselves to a little starbucks drink... full of unnecessary calories, but totally worth the cheat! As we are driving home, he and I were just talking about how great our kids were at the restaurant, how we just spent our Friday night running around town, how close to bed time it was, and then I asked him if he had seen the new ford taurus... and then he just started cracking up laughing... it is so funny how much our lives and conversations have completely changed... and we absolutely love it! Justin was telling me earlier today how incredibly happy he was right now, how sweet our lives were with our three kids. We are blessed!
     So I know I totally just bragged and blogged about how awesome our kids are and how much we love them and how blessed our life is and I'm sorry if that bored you to death... but I'm just a bit giddy tonight about my little family, its funny how everything works out :)

 So to end I'm going to share a few pics of our night out...

Henry wearing my shades 

Charlie boy... a little ray of sunshine

James with his new book... Oliver Twist

Oh yes and I forgot to let you know... I totally forgot to fix Henry's shoes and didn't realize this until we were getting dressed for bed!!! Mom of the year right here!!! HA!