Ten on Tuesdays: B

1. Baby Bellies-I loved being pregnant and the feeling of having life growing inside of me. Sometimes, I can still feel baby kicks in my stomach. Weird, I know.

2. Boys-Hey, I'm a girl, ofcourse I love boys. Especially my boys! What would this world be without them?

3. Bedtime-Honestly, some days, it's the best time of the day. The evening become my time to create, relax or catch up.

4. Beach- I LOVE the beach. The sound of the ocean waves, the smell of the sand and water, the feel of the sand on my feet, the fun of catching a wave.....yes, I would live at the beach if I could choose any place in the world to live.

5. Bikes- Bicycles, that is. The two older kids ride without training wheels now and Linda bought me a trailer for my bike so the little kids can ride with us. We love riding together as a family. Good times!

6. Band Aids -Truly a mom's best friend. So glad they come in such fun varieties. Just the other day I was sporting a waterproof Ariel band aid on my finger. Thanks for letting me use it Ashlynn :-)!

7. Bathrooms-yep, must say I do enjoy the few moments I sometimes get in them. In mine, I have a lovely stack of books and try to steal a few pages from them when I can.

8. Balloons-this usually means a party, which means fun, laughter, friends and family. Bring it on.

9. Butter-What are waffles, pancakes, french toast, raisin toast and sourdough bread without this goodness. Yes, I love my vegan Earth Balance Buttery Spread, but I do love the real deal too!

10. Baseball- Ever since John and Mike were in Little League, I have loved this sport. It is so fun to watch and so easy to follow. And now, my little Ryde man is playing, how I look forward to those games!

Twelve Years!!

Twelve years ago today.....

Last night.....

Randy is on shift today, so we celebrated our anniversary by going out to dinner last night. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Dale had Ashlynn and Ryder spend the night and Auntie Paula was kind enough to watch the little ones (and put them to bed!) for us.

Coleen and David, Randy's aunt and uncle, gave us a gift card to a really great restaurant and we gorged ourselves until we had no room left. Alas, we found ourselves right down the street from Cheesecake Factory and decided we could squeeze a piece in. While we let our first course "digest", we went over to a sporting goods store and practiced our putting and I tried on some swimsuits. Yes, kinda crazy to be trying on swimsuits after a gi-normous meal, but let's just say this place had the best dressing room lighting ever, so one must take advantage of the situation or one would never own a swimsuit.


We cruised over for our dessert and further gorged our already majorly, full stomachs. We always get the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake and it was soooo good! We ordered coffee and sat and talked and just enjoyed each other's company. Nothing fancy, nothing outlandish, just some good time together.

That's the way we like it, just being together!

Ten on Tuesdays: A

Ok, Jen, I'm giving this a try...hopefully I can remember it each week!!

1. Ashlynn-My firstborn, what a blessing she has been! Her name means Vision or Dream and we chose Faith for her middle name. She has truly been our vision of faith!!

2. Adysen-My newest baby girl. How can anyone not love your mega-watt smile! I love your joy and love that it's contagious!

3. Aprons-Even after making gobs of them, I still love them and their useful/cuteness.

4. Anniversaries-Randy and will celebrate twelve years at the end of the month! God couldn't have created a better man for me.

5. Airmail-Who doesn't love seeing that on an envelope?

6. Anna Maria Horner-Only the best fabric designer around. I love her blog, she seems like someone I'd like be friends with.

7. Amoires-There's just something so mysterious about them. I love the keys on ours, it's like opening a treasure chest every time.

8. Analogies-They are a great way to teach lessons to small (and big) kids.

9. Anthropolgie-I love that place. Love the website, love the store, love that I found some beautiful knobs for Ashlynn's armoire there.

I realize my teeth are big now...

...but apparently they were big then too:



Does this mean that after carrying and birthing four children one will actually look like me?

Potty Training Boot Camp: Day 4

Those inevitable words have been spoken: potty training. Yes, with the age of three fast approaching, I thought I should give it another try with Gage man. Not that I have ever really tried before, just the occasional random "success" that apparently was never enough to motivate me into full-fledged training.

Monday was the day. The day to start a new way of doing things, so to speak. We began the day with lots of liquids and, initially, the potty chair in the middle of the living room with Cars playing on repeat mode. To my absolute delight, the kid hated the potty chair and only wanted to use the real deal.

Amen. I loathe the potty chair.

It's not the chair itself, I suppose, just the spill over factor and the "I can get it myself and empty it into big toilet" that really gets me. If he wants to do without it, there will be no resistance on my part.

So here we are, day four. Only two accidents, three outings staying dry and two mornings in a row of a dry pull-up! Hopefully we are on to something.....sure would be nice to only have one diaper to change!

Self-esteem, no we're good, can you tell me where to pick up some humility....

Standing in front of the mirror, gazing at her reflection, Ashlynn spoke her thoughts:

*"Isn't it just so funny? I mean, I have the same beautiful hair, the same beautiful voice, and I'm so pretty, just like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. It's like we were born with all the same things. Isn't that so funny mommy?"

Seriously, we want our kids to have self confidence and be comfortable in their own skin, but is this a little extreme? Half of me wanted to just crack up (the tone she used was so matter-of-fact) and the other part of me needed to reinforce that it's what's on the inside that counts. I wanted her to remember, God looks into our hearts, that is the reflection He sees and the one we want others to see.

Confident, yes. But I also want to be raising kids that are confident because they know their Creator and understand He has given them a purpose in this life that is far greater than looking, sounding or acting like someone else.

*Note: Ashlynn is still far removed, thankfully, from being concerned about her looks, her clothes and what is "cool". She said these things in such a sweet way that I spoke carefully to her in my explanation, but I wanted her to understand what is really important.

My favorite time of year....

One of the reasons late spring and early summer is my favorite time of year:

If the kids (and Randy!) don't eat them all after I wash them, I like to "flash" freeze them and have strawberries at the ready for a smoothie!

Bring on summer!!

Superman.

While at the pool on Sunday, Randy stopped to help one of the kids in our neighborhood (who uses wheelchair) out of the pool. With a career in emergency response, helping someone out is just a natural part of his character. It's not in him to just stand by and wait for another person to come along and assist without being directly involved in the process.

Of course, he would never "toot his own horn" and all too often I am conditioned to his abilities as "something that has always been". Even when we were dating, it seemed we would happen upon an accident or car fire or similar emergency and he was there taking charge of situation, bringing order out of chaos.

As a middle child, I'm the peacemaker. Control, responsibility, leadership, organization....not my strong suits. If a person were to run in the house with blood coming out of a wound, I would toss them a towel, advise them to put pressure on it and wait for help to come while running to hide myself in the bathroom. Not that I'm an out of control, irresponsible, unstable person, I just don't assert myself in those roles unless absolutely necessary. Randy, well, he was made for it. I am so grateful to have my Rock and my Redeemer in Christ, but I feel tremendously blessed to have a "rock" here on earth.

Ok. Getting back to the pool. When he was helping the kid out, he looked up at Randy and asked in earnest, "Are you the strongest man in the world?" Randy just laughed and responded, "No buddy, I'm not." Now that I've been thinking about it, I'd have to say he's the strongest man in my world.