Thirty.

Happy Birthday, Dear One!

I wish you were here with us to celebrate your 30th birthday, but I'm praising God that you are at least in an American desert! :) {And sorry the photos have spots on them - I didn't realize that there was something on the scanner until after I finished scanning all of them!}

30 Things that I love about You at 30:

1. I love the way you love our kids. And the way that Noah and Ellie light up when they see you.
2. I love your honesty. And your wisdom in knowing exactly how to share it.
3. I love your silliness. And your ability to freely let your freak flag fly.
4. I love your business-oriented mind. And how you put it to work for you.
5. I love how you keep me sane.
6. I love your creative side. And how you can envision things that I can't even fathom.
7. I love how you want only the best for the kids and I. And how you'll go out of your way to make sure we have it.
8. I love your teaching spirit.
9. I love your work ethic. And your stick-to-it-ness, even when it's tough.
10. I love living under your protection.
11. I love your snuggly-ness. And I especially love seeing you snuggle with the Little Ones.
12. I love how brave you are. And courageous. And strong.
13. I love how you stick up for me. And how you fight for me. And for our kids.
14. I love {and appreciate} how you encourage me. And how you make me want to be a better person. A better wife and a better mom.
15. I love our late night talks.
16. I love your love for monkeys. And for our little Monkeys.
17. I love your hugs. And kisses.
18. I love that you'll do just about anything for my classroom. Including, but not limited to, dressing up as Uncle Sam for the Book Fair and rounding up a group of officers to speak to the entire First Grade.

    

19. I love that even after nearly six years of marriage, I still have to stop and think about whether or not you are teasing me.
20. I love that you love Jesus. And how you remind me how much He loves us.
21. I love your giving spirit. And how you love to share with all those around you.
22. I love your vision for our family. And for our future together.
23. I love that you don't sweat the small stuff. Or the big stuff.
24. I love that you are always willing to try new things. At least once.
25. I love that you love to travel. And I love taking fun road trips with you and all the memories that we make along the way.
26. I love that you are a planner. And that you indulge my OCD-planning ways.
27. I love that you find the humor in pestering and scaring me and the kids. And love to see the mischievous grin you always have when retelling a "When I scared Sam" story.
28. I love how you still love on my former students. And how you go out of your way to make things special for them, like with "Flat Ashley" {in picture below}.
29. I love that we don't have secrets. And how you make me feel so comfortable that I never fear you'll judge me.
30. I love you. And everything single little thing about you.
    

I hope you like your present:

{Click here to see what all is in it}

Happy 30th Birthday. I love you more today than yesterday.... but not {nearly} as much as tomorrow.

Hmmm... Let's See.

We {the kids and I} made it up to Oklahoma today. And we were all glad to get out of the car. Ellie was especially happy to see her Nana, Papa, and the Aunts. Noah was especially excited to get to play with all of his "Oklahoma" toys. I was especially giggly when Noah started wondering with Nana how to {re}build his garage with the Megablocks:

A {very} Long Day

The kids and I dropped Ben off at the base last night a little after midnight. Ellie and her cough kept waking me up during the little sleep that I did get before Noah woke up for the day. Between taking Ellie back to the doctor {this time, we got some meds} and getting ready for our trip up to Oklahoma, not a single photo was taken today.

Miss You Already

Ben leaves for Red Flag tonight. We already miss him.

{And don't let Ellie's smiling face fool you - just as Noah is feeling better, she's getting sick... we went to the doctor yesterday and will probably be going back tomorrow.}


Dear One, have fun, be safe, and because I know you'll be checking the blog while you are gone, check back on Friday for a special post, just for you. I love you.
{More!}

New Toys

Both Noah and I have received new "toys" in the last couple of days. And I'm super excited about BOTH of them!

We had already planned on getting Noah a Tag for next Christmas. But when we recently got a chance to "play" with a Tag, I realized I wanted to get one for him now. And, because I wanted to get the age-appropriate one, we got Noah the Tag Junior....

I love it. Ben loves it. And Noah likes it. I think it kinda scares him just a little when it says his name. {Which is weird, since he loved his Elmo phone!} It's an amazing little reading system that reads {special} books to your toddler. Things I love about it include {but are not limited to}: you can link it up the computer to see your toddler's progress, what pages and items they are repeatedly "tagging", and even print out coloring pages that coordinate with the book. I don't always just wholeheartedly recommend a product, but as a mommy, teacher, and reading specialist, I'd recommend this product to ANY one with a young child. If your child doesn't enjoy reading, this will engage them. And if your child does enjoy reading, like Noah does, then the Tag Junior will give them the chance to really read the book on their own.

And my new toy? My just-arrived Brother Serger. SO excited to try this bad boy out!

{Thanks for my Christmas present!! ;) }

'Tines

Happy 'Tines Day!

I'm realizing all the more, especially now that I have kids of my own, how important traditions are {and were, growing up} to me. One thing I remember is having tinted pancakes on special occasions: pink on Valentine's Day, green on St. Patrick's, etc. {Mom, I always thought that was so cool.} I want our kids to remember and enjoy the little things like that as well... so this morning, we had pink, heart-shaped pancakes {with pink yogurt instead of syrup on Noah's}.

Noah kept calling it his "tine gogurt".

Little Miss Ellie had her first taste of rice cereal today...

...she wasn't a fan. And so we'll just try again in another week or two.

Cookie Tuesday was postponed this week thanks to a little boy being sick. I ended up making the cookies by myself during the week and today we finally decorated them. I think Noah ate more icing and sprinkles than he did actual cookie, but at least he enjoyed himself!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Don't Do it.

I dare you not to laugh. Don't even crack a smile.

I love hearing her laugh - it's so infectious!

Ellie @ 5 months

One dose of antibiotics {of 20} in him, and he's a new kid, ready to work on "tines" {Valentine's cards}.

And, since I'm late in mailing this off...

...I figured I ought to post a picture. The Sisterhood of the Traveling OU Shirt will soon be on it's way to the Birthday Girl. ;)

And, the star of the day, Miss Ellie, turned 5 months old today.

Happy Five Months Ellie-Belly!

Things Ellie loves @ 5 Months:

• Watching Big Brother play and attempting to play with him
• Smiling and laughing at the baby in the mirror
• Smiling and laughing at Brother when he tries to give her the pacifier
• Eating and sleeping {most of the time}
• Tummy Time on the playmat when she can try to pick up the cheetah off the mat
• Sitting in the bumbo with us while we eat our meals
• Chewing on things to help alleviate the teething pain
• When Daddy tickles her in just the right spot
• Reading stories with Mommy and Big Brother
  
  Little Dear One, Mommy, Daddy, and Brother love you - more than you could ever know. We can't imagine our lives without you and are simply amazed at the little woman you are already becoming.

Double Trouble

I've had my fill of snow for this year. Seriously.

And because of all that lovely precipitation, the base clinic cancelled the afternoon appointments and closed down for the day. Which left us having to go to the Walk-in Clinic once Ben got home. Causing us to be there for nearly 2.5 hours. Only to find out that poor little Noah had a double ear infection. I've had my fill of ear infections... for the year forever. And this is only his second time to have one ever.

I'm praying it's the last.


Especially since it looks like this time Daddy-Ben might be getting sick too.

{Still} Sickly

We're headed to the doctor tomorrow for well baby check ups...

and to hopefully get some medicine to help this little one feel better.

Sick & Teething

One is sick.

One is teething.

Miraculously, both are happy

{but one of them only if Dinosaur Train or Word World is on}.

{Just a little} Busy

No post yesterday - we were busy having fun with company {Life Group} and dealing with a slightly feverish little guy.

And today, well, we were still pretty busy... with a {still} slightly feverish little guy and getting Ben started on his Six Sigma Green Belt class.

Both of the kids are learning about it too.

The {Big Boy} Cowboy Room

So today, we finally finished up Noah's room. All we've had left to do for months a while now is hang a few more items. Time {and energy} just kept getting away from us and most of the time, every time I thought about it or had the time, Noah was asleep. In the room that I needed to work in.

The cutest thing of the day? Noah helping Daddy-Ben hang up his name over his bed:

Such a helpful little man.

Without further ado {and with many, many photos}, I present Noah's Big Boy Cowboy Room:

Looking into the room from the hallway

The cactus has hooks on it to hang his things on! {Totally Ben's idea - creative genius my guy is!}

His closet when open for playing.

Here's a few up-close shots of some of my favorite things about his room:

The toybox that my Daddy-man made for him - I love once we outgrow the cowboy room, we can just repaint it and recover it with different fabric.

The horse shelf that my Mom found at a garage sale... seriously so adorable.

His flannel board and cowboy bean bag chair that I made.

The horse-shoe curtain rods that my Daddy-man made. {Seriously, I'm telling you, I get my creative genes from my parents!}

This John Wayne quote... however, I'm not loving the fact that I can't seem to get the vinyl lettering to stay on when I try to remove the transfer paper. So I might have to re-cut it on the Silhouette. Boo.

And I especially like this little wild man who just loves his cowboy room.

That {mile-long} To Do List

This is what I wish I had been doing today:

especially since the little munchkin has been driving me batty with her out of the ordinary night-time sleep patterns. But instead, I've been tackling my mile-long to do list of projects that need to be completed around the house. Including {but not limited to} decluttering the {crazy amounts of} clutter in the guest room and {finally} putting the finishing touches on Noah's room.

Maybe one of these days I'll be able to actually craft again in my craft space!

Growing Up and Out

The kids are getting bigger. It happens. So today, I went through all their clothes and sorted out the too-small sizes. Some of them were packed away for the next kiddo and some were placed in a bag to be given to friends or donated. I've got to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with this part of Mommy-hood: I hate that the kids are growing up so quickly and the clothes that are now too small are simply a manifestation of that little fact. But, I love it too because it means that we're getting to start a new stage of their lives and we get to pull out {and in some cases, buy!} new clothes!

So, Ellie, you can {finally} say good-bye to your 0-3 month clothes {even though you technically haven't worn any of them for the past month and a half!}.

And Noah, despite the fact that a couple of these pairs of pants still fit you, you can say goodbye to all your 12 month size clothes.

Good thing Mommy made you a belt or else all your 18-24 month pants would just fall off.

As for me... well, I've got my little reminder of how small they both used to be and to not let these normal days pass me by unaware.

{Wordless} Wednesday

Cookie Tuesday

We have a thing called "Crock-Pot Mondays" around here. It makes my life a little easier because dinner is made before 10am. And it almost always creates "Leftover Tuesdays"... which leaves me with little {if anything} to prep for dinner on Tuesdays. As a result of that and my never-ending quest to do something creative and meaningful every day, we're adding "Cookie Tuesday" to the weekly menu.

Today, Noah and I made our family-favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies once he woke up from his nap. He wasn't too pleased when he realized that we had to make the "kee - kees" instead of just getting some {Girl Scout kee-kees} from the pantry, but finally decided that helping Mommy might just make the short wait worth it.

He was pretty pleased with the fruits of his labor.

Ellie, on the other hand, was a little sad to wake up from her nap and find that she was only allowed to have one {plastic toy} Oreo.

Give Her Back Please.

So, whoever replaced my sleeping-through-the-night-since-she-was-four-weeks-old baby with this one here

who likes to wake up every hour to hour and a half is in trouble. BIG trouble.

Give her back please.

Seriously.