30 Things

In keeping with the 30 theme that we seem to have going on this year, instead of posting some of my actual goals, I decided I would list 30 Things that I Plan to Do This Year. Some of these are related to my personal goals for this year and to mine and Ben's "40 by 40" goals.

spend less, save more

turn off the computer

give stuff away, especially when I see a need

find ways to serve others

write {real} letters

do something daring

stop comparing myself to others

laugh at things that I would normally be annoyed about

read the Bible all the way through

date my Hubby

say no {or yes} when I need to

spend more time chasing my Little Ones

complain less

lose weight

catch up on my scrapbooking without being a perfectionist

determine not to care what others think of me

go on a weekend trip, with just Ben

test more often

truly simplify our lives

fix {even} healthier meals

go on more "field trips" with the Little Ones

ask for help when I need it

take more pictures of my Little Ones and Hubby, with me

learn to like running

get my Little Ones to eat vegetables... whether they know it or not

spend time with friends

be creative daily

return phone calls and emails in a timely manner

be assertive when needed, watch my words when not

get pregnant with Baby #3

Cookie Tuesday: The Waiting

Noah's favorite parts of Cookie Tuesday are the may-ten {making} and ee-ten {eating}. But I think my favorite part is the waiting. Because you never know what might happen in those 6-8 minutes of waiting.

Usually the waiting starts with Noah finishing up whatever part of the ingredients he found that he liked. Today, it was sugar crystals. One time it was flour.

While we're waiting, we also have to check on the cookies.

Sometimes while we're waiting, we talk about serious things. Like pooping in the potty. Or about silly things. Like George pooping in the potty.

But, when the timer gets down to this:

Noah is generally waiting like this, pouting on the floor with his plate ready and nearby:

I know Buddy, the waiting is the hardest part. But it's also the best part because it's special time just for us.

Standing on Her Own Two Feet

Last night while I was getting dinner prepped for Life Group, I happened to look over at the gate. Ellie was holding onto the gate... and standing on her own two little feet. I got Ben's attention {he was sitting at the computer} and we marveled over our Littlest One who isn't so little anymore. Noah, who was in the kitchen with me, was pretty amazed too and immediately wanted on her side of the gate.

Today, she's pulled herself up twice, just this morning. The second time, I made sure my camera was ready.

Noah was nearly as proud as I was and repeated {over and over},

"Ellie stanning! Ellie stanning gate!!"

Littlest One, please don't grow too fast.

{PS Happy Birthday Aunt BB!! We love you so!!}

My Favorite View

Summertime = SnoCones

We love SnoCones. Last summer, while I was pregnant with Ellie, I think we had a SnoCone twice a week! I craved them. Amazingly enough, tonight was the first night that we stopped and got one from our usual place.

Noah inspected Daddy's tongue, now blue from his SnoCone.

And then showed Daddy his own blue {with just a twinge of orange} tongue.

Ellie just watched and marveled at those two silly boys and their blue tongues.

Counting and Crawling with the Littles

I thought we were an Air Force family, but I must be mistaken since Ellie clearly has the Army-man crawl down pat. {She REFUSES to use her knees... she'd rather army-man crawl or try to walk like Mowgli than to move her knees. Whatever. She gets where she wants to go.}

And Noah? Well, he's decided that he no longer wants to count 1-2-3-4-5. Because, well, isn't it more fun to just skip to 10 and 16?

CSN Stores $40 e-Gift Card Giveaway {Via Nutrition and Wellness Bytes}

I'm not joking when I say I'm blessed with some seriously talented and simply amazing friends. One of those friends, Michelle, is a registered dietitian and a nutrition professor at CSU-Long Beach. She's running her own business while teaching {and raising two DARLING children with her hubby Josh} and as part of her website and business, she keeps a nutrition blog. I love reading her posts because I always learn something new or reinforce something I already knew {like, umm... food jags! I just never knew the term!}. She's currently giving away a $40 e-gift card to CSN stores on her blog! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post on her blog {click on the link}.

Personally, I'm kinda hoping to win... I'd love to get my hands on this Rosle Stainless Steel Meat Tenderizer or put it towards a new scale {though, Michelle, I'd want your input on a good one - I want one that will figure up my carb count for me!}.

Be sure to enter and good luck!!

Crafty Friends and Treats

My Dear Friend April came over this afternoon for some craft time {I love our craft times!}. I love it because I have a little company that forces gets me to focus on the crafting task at hand and then who also loves to entertain and play with my kiddos too. I'm not sure how many times Noah drug her away from her scrapbooking project to build him a track or play cars with him. But this little one:

was happy to be entertained and to entertain us with her crazy army-man crawling skills.

Noah was just ready for Daddy to get home. I made the mistake of telling him during bath time that Daddy had bought him some ice cream. He. Could. Not. WAIT. for Daddy to get the ice cream out for them to enjoy some together.

He tried to open the freezer door by himself. Twice.


Lucky for him, he's got a Daddy that like to share treats with him.

A Movn' and A Shakn'

Ellie is a little mover and shaker now-a-days. And, I have a feeling that she, like her big brother, won't be much of an actual crawler:

It's Summertime!

Ben took the day off from work to recoup and get a few things done around the house. While he was working on the sprinkler system in the backyard, Noah went out to play....

and discovered that he too could turn the water on.

Home Again, Home Again

jiggity jig.

We made it home this morning at about 6am. We put the kids into bed and {thankfully} everyone passed back out for a few hours. Noah was probably worn out from talking about how the Red Macks and Blue Macks were getting a wash... at each. and. every. single. gas. stop. Ellie was probably worn out from eating too much. And Ben and I were, without a doubt, worn out from driving all night long.

All that to say, no photos today. We tired. Ahh-suh, ahh-suh.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Daddys, Daddys-to-be, and Trying-to-Become-a-Daddy Daddys!

And a special Happy Father's Day to one of my favorite Daddys, my Daddy-Ben:

I love you Dear One. I couldn't imagine taking this journey with anyone but you - you love me, you love our kids, and best of all, you love our Lord. You. are. AMAZING! And you are such a fabulous Daddy to our kids.

And, to my other favorite Daddy, my Daddy-Man:

Happy {30th} Father's Day, Daddy-Man! I love you! Hope you are enjoying Europe and that the girls bought you a pint for us! ;)

{I really wanted to post the one of you holding me while I was holding BB when she had just come home from the hospital, but I couldn't find it don't have a copy. And Ben and I both liked your big grin in this one.}

***

This morning, we loaded our Sequoia back up and headed out to Shelly and Jeff's for a little more family time before we headed back home to Texas. We spent the morning and part of the afternoon out on the farm and then went out to eat with just the immediate family {minus Marian and Sylas} before starting the drive back home. Here's a few of the photos+words:

Marian and Sylas were enjoying their breakfast up on the hay bales and Noah, who couldn't be left out, joined them with help from Daddy.

But only to sit. Not to eat. {A recurring theme over the weekend.}

In another recurring theme for the weekend, Ellie ate his biscuit instead.
Out of his hat.

I ♥ these little stinkers.

Colorado is really pretty... during the summer! ;)

Poppa has been looking forward to taking Noah on the four-wheeler since he found out that we were coming. Noah was pretty excited about the "moto-sicle".

And willingly wore the helmet. {He probably knew that Mommy wouldn't let him go if he didn't.}

Carol said she wasn't worried about Noah... she wanted to know how I was. Umm, yep. My heart was beating a little faster. {Okay, A LOT faster.}

I sidetracked myself for a moment by giggling at my classy little niece... that's a piece of cake and a bag of brisket.

Oh, but wait. There goes my heart again.

As they were coming back up the road, all I could hear {over my heart that was slowing back down} was "Whooo!", "Ya-hoo!", and "Whee!" from Noah. Thanks Poppa Haze- I know he loved it!


Thanks for all the fun and we're so glad we got to see ya'll and celebrate with you!

Celebrating {Eric and Amanda}

{Just a forewarning... it's going to be a photo+words heavy post.}

***

Ben's brother, Eric married his long-time sweetheart Amanda on Thursday during a small ceremony. {Congrats again, you two!} Since the ceremony was really meant just for the parents, a family reception/party was planned for today - hence the reason why Ben, the kids, and I came to Colorado for the weekend! We had a really good time and got a chance to catch up with some family members that we hadn't seen {or in some cases, met!} in a while. Here's just a few of the {nearly 200} photos from the day:

Ellie got in some good conversation and time with Aunt Marian.

Noah spent plenty of time hanging out with {and, sometimes aggravating} his cousins.

He seriously needed a real nap. But he refused to sleep. He also refused to eat anything but chips, cake, and water.

Ben's Dad, Mike, and Brenda finally got to meet Ellie.

The cupcakes turned out beautifully {and were quite tasty too}.

The matriarchs, Belva and Grandma Lucy, kept a close watch on everyone.

Grandma Haze used her magic and got Ellie to take a little cat-nap.

If you had trouble finding Ben and Noah, they were most likely down feeding the horses.

Or petting the goats... also known as "sheep", by Noah.

The cake turned out pretty good too, I think.

Cake cutting time for the newly married couple. And, by the way, they kept it classy - no cake in the face. :)

Noah decided that he needed to help Poppa open his Father's Day card {a day early}.

The Cousins. {Chanel also took a few family photos - hopefully we'll get some soon.}

Ben with his Momma and the Little Ones.

I think one day out on the farm has turned my Little One into a Cowboy.

We Made It.

We made it to Colorado this afternoon... after driving all night and a good portion of the morning. The lack of photos from the drive itself and from the evening that we spent out at Ben's {second} cousin Shelly and Jeff's farm tonight points to how tired we were. We were glad to get to spend some time with Ben's Mom and Dad, and once we got back to the hotel with Ben's Dad and Brenda, but we were also glad to put the Little Ones to bed and get some rest ourselves {considering that we left last night at 11PM and arrived at our hotel after noon today!}.

Out at Shelly and Jeff's, Noah was completely fascinated with the pygmy goats and the miniature horses:

I think the pony even liked him a little too.

Shelly was even sweet enough to let Noah sit for a moment on the pony's back!

And Ellie? Well, she wasn't fascinated by much due to being a little tired and crabby.