This Week

Not much going on around here.

If you came to my house this week you'd probably find the boys playing with their new play doh. Usually they get their toy trucks and tractors out along with the play doh and make roads for them but one day Elijah was happy with the cookie cutters...

Elijah made "cookies" and i came to his bakery and bought them! Then he decided that since i didn't have enough money (he told me one cost $80!) that they were all free so i could try them all! That's my kind of bakery!

The boys havn't been feeling 100% this week. Runny noses and coughs and such so there's been some nice naps going on.

Speaking of sleeping children. On Monday after an appointment I was kid free and got to spend a couple special hours with my friend Sherri holding her little Joseph. He fell sleep on my chest and I got to just sit there and hold him as he napped. It was perfect!

Today is gray and rainy. Elijah and I are cleaning and organizing the boys room. As you can tell from the way he set up his play doh bakery he loves to organize!
Enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend!

embrace the camera: jan. 26th

I'm joining fellow Florida blogger Emily in Embracing the Camera. She's realized that we mom's are so often the ones behind the camera and don't get in many pictures with our kids. So now she's encouraging us to be intentional about turning the camera around and including ourselves in the photos so one day our kids will have those memories that include us. For our kids.

Alana snapped this picture of Geoff and I on Saturday at Blue Springs when we went to see the manatees.

my handsome husband and I

Your turn! Embrace the camera and link up with us!

A Hug from the Lord

Saturday was special.

We were given the afternoon to spend with this special couple. Grant and Alana were some of our small group leaders during our time in Missouri.

After a nice lunch we drove to Blue Springs to see the manatees.

The manatees come into the warmer spring waters during the winter months.

See the gray blobs on the far side of the springs? Those are the manatees. I was a little disappointed that they weren't closer for Grant and Alana to see them better for the first time. Sometimes they are so close and right under the walkways! 

It was still a lovely afternoon and we enjoyed our visit so much.

Dear Auntie Rachel, Granda Charlie and Nana!

Thanks for my birthday movies !!

Love, Ethan

My Knight is Three!

Good morning Birthday Boy!

Brothers

Friends

the family

a gift from grandma and grandpa

"I am Ethan, righter of wrongs, defender of the weak, the squisher of all things evil. I raise my legendary sword and shield this day and will do battle as Ethan, God's Mighty Worrior!"
- from a children's book by Sheila Walsh

two against one?

and the littlest takes the rest down! =)

Coming up

Busy weekend coming up for this family!

Ethan's 3rd birthday is on Sunday! THREE! Can you believe it!?

Today my sister is coming over and we are going to bake cupcakes for his birthday. I thought I'd try these cupcakes. With frosting of course! Do you have any good frosting recipes you could share with me?

Tonight we might get a visit with friends from Missouri! They are on staff at the missionary training center there and were our neighbors for a while. Lucky for us the missions headquarters is not far from here and they are down here for meetings so we get to see them!

Tomorrow it'll be cleaning the house and preparing some sides for a dinner with a couple from church. They invited us over for dinner and then s'mores over their fire. Fun!

Sunday my little guy turns three! We'll go to church. But before that I'll put this in the slow cooker for lunch. A lovely family with three little kids are coming over for lunch after church. Our boys just love their kids and they get along great!

Later on the rest of my family will come over for cupcakes, coffee and ice cream!

See you on Monday with pictures!

Have a great weekend!

My Knight in Shining... Huggies?

Thought I'd put this classic Ethan photo up for the family not on Facebook. =)

pressies and snuggles

Most of today has been spent on the couch with a sick little boy who keeps saying "Mommy, i just want you to hold me!"
Over the weekend some gifts arrived from the family over in Northern Ireland. These are for you Gills! Thanks for the smiles you brought to our boys faces! They are thrilled! The binoculars also arrived earlier much to delight of both boys. Before he got sick Elijah was outside spotting all the planes and birds he could find. =)

exactly what they wished for, cars and play dough!

The first thing they wanted to do this morning was play with the new play dough. =)

He loves his kitty