Better late...

than never!; that is what they say{even if we don't know who 'they' are, 'they' are sometimes right about this} :)  

And what I happen to be referring to is a date night:)  Jon and I have been married for about 6 1/2 years and had children for almost 5 of those years.  Of course we have had dates and still do go on them occasionally.  Or have a t.v.-date night with a favorite show{who doesn't think Criminal Minds is romantic?}.  But we have never ever had a regularly planned or assumed night for that purposeful kind; you remember those kind-where you love to talk, eat, learn more about him, etc...

So I came across this blog, A bit of Sunshine, just a few weeks ago and Rebekah has this wonderful little thing she has started doing, called Dinner at Eight.  You see, she has little ones as well and doesn't always have the time or resources to go on regular date night outings with her husband.  I was definitely inspired and thought 'oh how nice...I should do this...' But then she posted 'five tips on how to get the kids in bed early' and then I decided to seize the day, take her great advice for involving the kids, and prepare a last minute surprise date night for Jon.

Love birds

My girls really enjoyed helping out; I told them we would set up a surprise dinner date for daddy and me to enjoy after they were in bed.  I gave them a few 'jobs' and asked them for romantic ideas.  Laila suggested I wear my wedding dress and serve food:).  I actually took Laila's advice{although I did not wear the dress-impossible to put on and assemble, alone} and pulled out the candle habra that was on our table during our reception, served dinner, and pulled out a couple of engagement pictures to set on the table.  Maier put all the candles on the candle habra and helped with the table cloth.  Their reward for helping and going to bed well and staying 'down' and quiet was a chocolate covered strawberry{that they helped make for our dessert} in the morning when they woke.  It worked:)

Don't mind those toys in the background of our date night;)

We had baked teriyaki salmon with rosemary brown rice and a spinach salad with veggies.

I used to make Jon's napkins into the shape of a heart and write a little note on it; so I rekindled that ole idea!;)

And for dessert white chocolate covered strawberries and red wine.

  Now, I am sure it will not always go as smoothly with the girls and things could get hairy and crazy with schedules during the summer.  But I really want to aim to do this at least twice a month or more.  I mean, I love dating my husband; and it's important that I show him that.  And it is important for our girls to see us pursue each other, especially through all different seasons in our marriage.  

Because that's what God does; He pursues us because He loves us, even when we wander and stray(Matthew 18:12).  And maybe if Jon and I become more purposeful at pursuing each other, we could reflect something of God's love for us to our girls.  Hmmmm.  Something to think about:)


And a big thanks to Rebekah for sharing so candidly about her date night journeys and inspiration!!

We love Snail Mail

It's always exciting to get mail, especially when you are little and know that a package is coming for you, and you don't know what's inside.  My sister, {Aunt Lala}, is really thoughtful when it comes to sending little cards with treats inside for the girls; she has lived in New York and now in Colorado and the girls always love hearing about and seeing pictures of the places she lives.

And then when they get some mail, that comes "all the way from Colorado!" it's super exciting:)  This week they got a little crafting package.  I told my sister that Maier was really into 'cutting' these days.  You know, using scissors on anything she can{is allowed to}.

She put little jewels on 2 pairs of scissors and lots of scrapbook paper and stickers.  They can sit for so long just cutting and creating pictures.  Thanks Aunt Lala!

Happy Heart day

So if you aren't on a soap box about the commercialism with valentine's day then happy valentine's day:)  I mean, I am not about spending lots of money or anything like that but who doesn't enjoy a tad more of that extra expression of 'i think you are lovely'??

 Jon and I started what we want to be a new valentine's day tradition for our girls.  We cut out hearts on scrap paper(one for each) and we both wrote a couple of things we love about them and a couple of things we love to do with them.  Then we hung them up in the hallway so when they came down for breakfast this morning they would see them.  They loved them:)

Jon gave me some great daisy's; aren't daisy's the friendliest flower?{(name that movie:)}

p.s. I finally added a room to the 'our home' tab; next room up next week hopefully:)

Not just any baby shower & 'Thanks'

Last weekend we,(my friend Nat and I), had a baby shower for my our friend who has already had her little love in this world for quite some time now.  Her whole story, updates, and pictures of little Scarlette are here http://kaylaaimee.typepad.com/, many of  you know it well already.  Here are some pictures of the shower but keep in mind I do not own a schmancy camera!  It captures moments and gets the job done but I do wish for occasions such as a baby shower I had a camera that gave me some more eye candy to look at:)  Until then I will rely on good sunlit rooms and the editing option in iphoto.  We went with a little vintage story book theme-ish-esque thing...

So those are it...None of Kayla with Nat or me!  Kayla's sister in law did take some with a nice camera once people arrived so she will have some better ones at least!  But it was such a great time; a time where we could celebrate more than 'a baby on the way' kind of shower.  We were celebrating a life that may not be "100%" yet,(depending on the way you look at it), or a baby that may not be "home" safe and sound with her mama & dad yet but none the less, we were celebrating.  Because Scarlette,(aka spaghetti), is a beautiful girl with an amazingly beautiful mother.  Jeff,(the doting dad), is pretty great himself.  I have been in love, if you will:), with this girl, Kayla, for about 14 years.  That is almost Half of my life people!  I am 'in love' with what crazy depths this relationship has reached in my world and we have God to thank for it all.  We don't take it lightly.  And now I get to be in love with her family. Do I even know how awesome this is?!  Look out Spaghetti, because I may kiss your face off when I get to hold you.

And speaking of Kayla, I know she informed her blog peeps of my 'trying out the blog thing' and I wanted to say thank you for your kindness and hello's:)  It was really nice to 'hear' from people:)  And Thanks for excusing this place while it's under construction and development-hehe.

Movie date

So Jon has been planning on taking Laila to the movies when she turns 5, this summer.  This date was going to be her very first trip to a movie theater.  She has been seeing the commercials for the movie Tangled for several weeks and HAS not stopped talking about and begging to see, this movie for one of our family movie night dates-for weeks.  Little did we know, (b/c we have not been in the 'movie theater scene' for quite some time), that it was still playing in theaters.  

So Laila's Prince(aka dad) decided it was time for that movie theater date:)  When he told her he wanted to take her to see it the next morning, she was shaking with excitement, literally shaking!  The morning of the big date she requested that they skip breakfast and just eat after the movies:)

"Yesss for Tangled!"

"I love him"

A 2 week-long playdate

This past couple of weeks one of my sisters and my niece have been in town.  It was a long and great visit! They live in Colorado, (and so does my other sister), so we don't get to spend enough time together doing 'sister' stuff.  And my niece, Maeson, is Maier's age so all of the girls have {mostly} a grand time playing together.  Until they decide it's time to turn into the crazy women that they are and cause a ruckus.  With 5 girls under the roof for two weeks, it's bound to get raised:)

"What?  Nothing is going on here..."

Tea time

Little beauty!

Taking turns scooping out cereal for the tea party.

Laila fixed her hair for the occasion.

One last pic!  It isn't quite working out...

My sister, Teri, is wanting "one last picture" but no one wants to participate.  Maier, where are you??

Bye girls:(  We will miss you!

Snow, snow, stay away...

I am pretty glad all of the ice and snow is 95% gone from our streets.  It was kind of nice having a little(or alot) of an unexpected brake from school and work.  But here in the south we don't know how(or have the 'tools') to drive in icy conditions so life kind of stopped for a bit and it's nice to get back to the norm!  We did have fun playing in it though.  

Jon's little snow man who still lives on in our freezer.

Poppi brought the 4 wheeler over and so we got to explore the neighborhood.

I know you can't tell from these pictures, but Laila(and Maier too), is wearing a pair of  trash bags over her pants to keep dry-it really worked well-thanks for the idea Mimi!

Maier and Poppi bundled up.

I really hope we are done with freezing ice temps; I like a little 'white christmas' now and then but really I  would take the beach any day!  

Sarting again:)

So I began last fall with this idea of attempting to start a blog and then I sort of crashed and burned with that goal!!  It was a bit too much to add to my 'lists' at the end of the year--an un-realistic expectation for myself at that point!  We had just moved in our 'new' old house in April and spent most of the summer unpacking/adjusting and then began our first year of pre school,(for both girls), and then the start of the mad rush of the holiday season.  When I look back over last year I sort of don't recall how it went so fast or recall many details at all for that matter!  

I am going to set goals for myself; goals that I can possibly meet. I would love to be more purposeful in my daily living;  So that my daily roles as wife, mom, friend, etc. firstly could reflect my being as a child of a holy and graceful God.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from last year in our "new" home:

                                          Here is the 'spindle' wall.

                                                 'Spindle' wall is coming down!

                                                  It is almost non existent, yay!

Jon painting red bricks white; he hates painting but...it has to be done, a lot in this house;)

    The girls crafting their pipe cleaner fairies; these girls focused like crazy on this 'project':)

                                          Summer time in the blow up pool:)

 First day of school!!  I love this picture; Laila is such a 'pose pretty' while Maier is looking like, 'not sure           what she's doing...?' kind of thinker.

          These last few were taken by my friend Laura:)  Amazing photos she captured of our family:)

The girls started back to school this week and 2011 has officially begun-at least in my head.  And for the remainder of this week, we will try to rest our focus on this:
                     "The Heavens are singing about how great God is; and the skies are shouting it out, 'See what God has made!'  Day after day...Night after night...They are speaking to us."
Psalm 19:1-2(paraphrased from the Jesus Story Book Bible)