My babies...

Starting with my first babies....

I thought this one of Jack stretching in the sun was so cute!

And ending with my human babies...

Garden

A few weeks ago, Andy started this project for me in our backyard. We had wasted space behind the garage, and it gets fantastic sunlight, so we decided to start a garden. He built me an above ground garden and worked so hard for two Saturdays to get it done. This is the beginning. We put the posts on top so we can drape netting on it to keep the critters out.

It is still early to plant most things, but we were so excited that we planted the things that we were allowed to now. It is so great to be in Texas where we can do this in late January/early February.

We have tomatoes.

Sweet onions

Spinach

Broccoli

Mixed leaf lettuce (these I planted from seeds and they sprouted 10 days later). We also planted carrot seeds, and they are just barely sprouting, so I'll hopefully get pictures in a week of those.

Regular leaf lettuce

You can see Rosemary, Italian Parsley, Broccoli, and Spinach here.

More tomatoes

Here's what the whole thing looks like now. There are still some big spaces waiting for our peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. In the late summer we will switch some of these out for fall veggies. I'm so excited!

Get ready for a lot of updates!

Well, I haven't updated in the last 5 months, so be sure and click on the link to the older posts at the bottom of the page to make sure you don't miss out on any of the new posts I am adding today. I have been taking pictures, and blogging has been on my list of things to do, but honestly I just don't get to sit at the computer any more. Life with three boys is busy, but in a good way. It's overwhelming most days, but what a blessing to be so overwhelmed!

This summer when school was getting ready to start, I was so excited because there were going to be two days a week with all three boys in school. Everyone asked me what I would do with all of that free time (about 4 hours twice a week), and my hopes were so big....I was going to paint the boys' rooms, learn how to sew, paint more pictures on canvas, get pedicures/manicures....you know just "me" stuff.

Well, the school year is halfway over and I have had one of those manicure/pedicures, but that is it. For about a month and a half someone was sick. We had the stomach bug, a mysterious fever, strep throat, and Colton had pneumonia. I decided to be homeroom mom for Braeden's class with a friend, and helped in Austin's class also. Volunteering at Austin's school, continuing to lead a table at bible study, and managing life, laundry, and cleaning just seemed to take away all of that "me" time. I guess it's my own fault really.

Then I started thinking about it differently. My "me" time was filled with things I love to do... caring for my children, working in the classroom, and being rooted in God's word. I might work on fitting some more relaxing things in this second half of the year, but really spending as much time with my joys (my boys) is the best use of my time I could possibly make.

So, if I blog a little less often, that is just fine with me. It just means I was busy loving my family and that is something to be proud of.

Happy New Year!

Hunting with Daddy

Austin and Braeden went on a hunting trip to the Hillcountry with Daddy over the Christmas break. They stayed at one of Daddy's friends from work ranch house with his son Garrison. They didn't bring home any deer, but they saw some. They were able to get some ducks and had a ton of fun.

Roasting marshmallows on sticks over a campfire. Yum! Braeden likes his burned, just like me.

Christmas 2011

Christmas this year was so fun with the boys. Austin and Braeden truly understand that Christmas is a time when we celebrate Jesus' birthday, and that Jesus came for us. Having said that, Colton is learning, and he carried baby Jesus from our nativity scene while giving him kisses which means he understands Jesus is someone we love.

These boys are such gifts to us, and I can't imagine sacrificing my child for someone else the way God did for us. The love you have for your children is so much more than could possibly fit into a heart. It is a love where you would give or do anything for them, and to think that God loves us even more than that is just amazing to me.

I thank God each night as I kiss each one of these sleeping boys for the precious gift He gave me.

We tried to have fun while taking our pictures for the Christmas card this year. We took a bunch more than this, so I narrowed it down a lot, but thought these were too cute not to post. Enjoy!

On Christmas Eve, Grandma joined us for the Children's service at our church. I think they were thrilled to have her there, don't you!?

After church and Jesus' birthday party we took a nap to recharge for more fun times with family. We spent the evening at Grandma's house.

Colton and Aunt Jennifer.

Austin loving on Grandma.

Opening gifts. I took more pictures of Lisa and Grandpa too, but either eyes were closed or they were blurry. Hopefully the new lens I got from Andy for Christmas will keep that from happening again. We were surrounded with love, and that's what is important.

Christmas morning before the kids woke up.

Opening gifts from Santa.

Uncle Chris, Aunt Tina, Hope, Hardt, Oma, Tim, Uncle Ben, and Pops came over for Christmas lunch. We got a great picture of Pops with all his grandchildren. Love it!

Thank you God for another year of blessings.

Ivy our Elf on a Shelf

Ivy, our Elf on a shelf joined us two years ago. He comes around Thanksgiving every year and watches over the boys to make sure they are behaving. He flies back to the North Pole each night and reports to Santa if they have been naughty or nice. The boys love waking up each morning to see where Ivy will be. This year Ivy really had a great time being silly and having fun when he got back to the house. The boys said he was just shy the last couple of years, and I think that is a good reason why he wasn't as creative. Anyway, here are some pictures of what they found in the morning.

Ivy in the Christmas tree.

Hiding in the candy jar (he managed to eat a few candies and leave wrappers the next day).

Playing cowboy with the nutcracker.

Making snow angels.

The night he made snow angels, he left a note and a Christmas countdown clock.

Bungee jumping from the mistletoe.

Building with blocks (he spelled out "A, B, C, Be Good")

He traded their stockings for underwear! Look closely, he is giggling!

He went to outerspace and played with the aliens.

He drew a reindeer face on our bathroom mirror.

The same night he drew on the mirror in the bathroom, he drew on the foyer mirror and all of our pictures.

He played candyland with some friends.

On Austin's birthday, he woke up early and made birthday pancakes so Mommy didn't have to.

He went on a sled ride.

He ate Austin's birthday cake and left a note reminding them to be good.

He took some friends on a train ride and brought back lots of hershey's kisses.

He wrapped the Christmas tree in toilet paper.

He dressed up like a reindeer, red nose and all.

He read his favorite story.

He left some coloring books in the boys' stockings.

He had a marshmallow fight with some friends.

He took a nap when everyone was sick. Empathy for the boys I am sure.

He hung out on the leg lamp.

He drank from the syrup bottle.

He made Christmas cookies for the boys to decorate and leave out for Santa.

He was a busy little elf, and he was so much fun this year! I hope he can be as fun again next year!