play hard, sleep hard

This girl is a force of nature.  I love her very big personality and how she keeps me on my toes.

Gratitude walk day 5

Today I am grateful for friends. 

Beautiful

Love all the beautiful weather and scenes the past few weeks! Two of these bushes outside our front porch.

gratitude walk: day 4

Today I am thankful for crockpots, good food, and the people that I share them with. I'm  grateful for a husband who juggles his schedule to help out at the house.
Thankful for the ability to run and play kickball.  It may seem funny but hey I am lapping everyone sitting on the couch! And last but not least,  I am grateful for the Tuesday morning Women of Faith group that I belong to.

curls

Love this sweet helper of mine and her love of curly hair.

gratitude walk day 3

So tired tonight but I don't want to miss a day!

Today I am thankful for dirty rings in the tub because it means the kids have been outside making memories. 

It also means we have clean water to bathe in.

Grateful for a long overdue breakfast with a friend. 

Kymber's  giggles.

Kendall's face when she dances.

Morning  conversations with Isaac.

Fantastic Foursome

For our non Facebook family and friends.... I love when they play so well together!

"S" for sweet sleep

Kenzie at 7.5 months old dreaming of a Texas A&M victory! 

gratitude walk: day 2

You thought I forgot  already didn't  you! I  didn't I promise. 

Today I am grateful for a fun date day yesterday with my love. Some day (in the not so distant future) we are going to be a couple with grown kids. I want to know Ben and have already invested the time into staying a couple and doing things with each other.

 I am thankful that he pushes me out of my comfort zone and to do new things. 

I am grateful for a place to  worship and pursue my relationship with my Savior. 

Thankful for the ability to run and compete in sports.

Have you started your gratitude walk yet? No?!? Go start now!

gratitude walk

One of our lead pastors encouraged us last week to complete a gratitude challenge. I like the idea of a gratitude walk but I get distracted easily and I learn better from concrete exercises. So here I am. For those that are annoyed by the daily gratitude challenges in November, I am going to warn you know that I am shooting for 3 months of daily thankful statements.

I am making it public to hold me accountable and on the blog so it is included in our daily life for my family to reflect on.

So here goes......

Today I am grateful for Kenzie. In the early morning hours (0420) when she woke up today,  I was thinking just how blessed I was to be her mommy. I never knew I wanted her and can't imagine life without her. Her adorable grin is there to greet me 99% of the time and her baby enthusiasm is hard not to giggle at. I have far too many friends who have lost precious children and even more who were never able to have them, not to realize what a precious gift she is to me.

So day 1 is complete. Here is my challenge to you.....join me on my gratitude walk and see what it changes in your life!

Marriage Advice for my kiddos

Marriage is giving of yourself tirelessly down paths you’d never imagine to travel. Through sickness and pain, poverty and loss, it’s carrying the weight of another. It’s being the smile they see in the morning, and the body they hold close at night. It’s pure love. It’s standing together in the face of adversity. It’s riding alongside each other in a battle that threatens to tear down your marriage and seeks to grab hold of your faith. It’s strength under pressure.
~TimeWarpWife

I read this in my devotional a few days ago and wanted to make sure to blog it for our family journal. It is great wisdom my sweet kiddos. Don't ever forget it or take it for granted.
You don't always have to agree on every small thing but as long as you are on  the same page for your big picture you can make it through those battles.
Love,
Mom

Love them with all my mama heart

These were supposed to be their homecoming outfits.....we turned them into 4th of July fun! These kiddos are so much fun....

My girls

The making of a picture

Trying to get all 4 kiddos looking good in 1 picture is quite a feat! I appreciate what photographers go through and why I like to photograph nature more than people.

This is the best one I got.....

The out takes......

Baby snuggles

She doesn't want to nap so we are making some memories.....

Redneck babysitter

Ever been so desperate for a shower that you use the baby tub to keep the baby entertained while you soap up? Yeah that was me today!

New hair-do

I can't believe my sweet Kymber Roo has enough hair to sport a side pony tail! I also cannot believe that she looks like a big kid not a toddler now!

Welcome home: part 1

Little did we know that our trip to the airport was going to be our official homecoming instead of R&R. I'm glad that the kids talked me into letting them get dressed up for the occasion.

These are the pictures from my phone with more to come from our good camera.

Rolling along

Guess who rolled over for the first time yesterday?

Ben's view: Bell's palsy 2

Another update for those that have been asking.....

Ben is doing better. His speech is less slurred, he has a little movement in his face, and he can slightly close his eye. He is on his second round of steroids and anti-virals. The lymes test was negative. So no antibiotics at this time. He has referrals to an ENT & an audiologist upon arrival back to California.

He still has hearing sensitivity to loud noises.

Mostly the physician was hopeful with the improvements that he has made so far.  

We appreciate all the messages, love, and prayers. I will try to update again as he progresses!

5 months old

Kenzie was 5 months old yesterday. Our sweet girl appears to be teething. Lots of drool and stuffing anything and everything into her mouth! She has almost mastered rolling over and she is scooting around.

She is wearing her anchors away outfit in these pictures yesterday in honor of Uncle Daniel leaving for his next deployment.