Insta-Friday

I'm linking up with Life Rearranged today for Insta-Friday:

   

{1} Chris and I attended a wedding of some dear friends the weekend before last

{2} My final cake in my Wilton cake class  

   

{3} Evi on the way to the vet. Scare'd'y cat!

{4} Evi and Avery on the way home. Evi was a little more calm and Avery thought it was way cool for the cat to ride in the car, in his lap nonetheless.

 

{5} Evi "nursing" on Leroy who is our male cat and who also isn't even her biological father.
{6} Avery sleep this morning. Why do they have to be so sweet when they sleep?

sometimes...

Sometimes, it rains when we really want to go outside and play.

Sometimes, mommy can't handle the cuteness of a sweet tush, in tractor undies, with froggie rain boots.

Sometimes, we have to break the rules.

Sometimes, it's OK to wear our cute undies and froggie rain boots and go outside and play in the rain.

Sometimes.

what it is to be a mother

I hope all of you mama’s out there had a fantastic Mother's Day. This past Mother's Day, I woke up with a different attitude than I had had in the past. I didn't wake up thinking, "oh it's just another day." I truly absorbed my day with my family and most importantly my kids. It took me a long time to fully grasp what it means to be a mama. No one has the right to be a mother. Being a mother is a gift, a privilege, and an honor.

A Gift 

When I found out I was going to be a mom, I was terrified. How could God possibly think I could raise a baby? Geez, I could barely pay my own bills and I only had $72.43 to my name. However, as soon as I listened to that precious heart beat going lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub I knew this sweet child was a gift. God gave me Avery to make me a better person, to bring joy into my life, and to bring light into my world when the days seemed oh so dark.

Two and a half years later, God brought me Trevor, a thriving 6 (now almost 8) year old who has brought even more joy to my life. To watch my boys grow and bond together warms my heart like nothing else possible. Never did I imagine this life and never did I think this would be my life, but God knew. God planned this all just for me and I wouldn't trade a single second of it.

A Privilege 

It saddens my heart to think about the precious woman out there who yearn for a baby and who have lost their babies. I didn't fully understand what a privilege it really was to be a mom until I lost a baby myself. Eight sweet weeks in my womb was not near enough time for me and my sweet angel. It was that day that I realized how privileged I was to have carried Avery for 9 months and to have him here and thriving. Yes, there are so many days I get frustrated and want to have a pity party because of the tantrums, the messes, and the disobedience, but at the end of the day, as long and stressful as it can be, I thank God for the privilege to be a mother.

An Honor 

I am reminded often that our children aren't really our children. They are God's children and God allows us to raise them and he entrust us to mold these sweet babies into Godly children. It's an honor to be a mother. It's an honor that God chose me to mold and shape two, sweet, boys into men of character and dignity. It's an honor to have been given this amazing gift of motherhood and it's a privilege to be not just a mother, but Trevor and Avery's mom; two little boys who God handpicked for my life.

 I love you boys very much and I thank you both for the joy you bring to me every day!

mother's day is coming up {hint-hint}

I found a necklace a while back that I absolutely adore! It's a hand stamped necklace that you can put your children's names onto and it also has a pearl. I love pearls. It's practically the only type of jewelry I ever wear. That's probably why when I found this necklace, I fell in love. I would love to have one for Mother's Day {hint-hint} with Avery and Trevor's name on it. Isn't it adorable?

If you want one for yourself, here is the link to the Etsy store, Imblessed.

my baby's a cowboy

"There's a little cowboy in all of us, a little frontier." -Louis L'Amour

the shed {oh, the marvelous shed}

Our shed is complete. It actually has been complete for several weeks now, but I've been way behind on my blog post. I'm catching up and life is good. Life is especially good with the shed. I've been very careful about what I put in it. I have gone through most everything I own and tossed out the junk, kept the keepsake stuff, and reorganized most of the entire house. When I was in college, I moved every year to a new house, with new roommates, and so I grew very weary of moving stuff. Since then, I told myself I'd never be a pack rat again. It's a good feeling, not being a pack rat and all. I try to keep only the basics. If I don't use it within 6 months, out the door it goes. Clutter will bring you down my friends, it will bring you down. It's nice coming home to a clean house. Everything is really coming together and I owe it all to our shed. Well, actually I owe it all to the special men that built the shed-my sweet boyfriend, his dad, and a family friend.

I've done lots of redecorating and moving of furniture in the house since the shed was built. That'll be a whole'nother post, so be sure to check back soon. I still have a few Pinterest ideas floating around in this ole' noggin' of mine, but I did get one project done this weekend. I'm so stinkin' proud of it. I'll post pictures of that soon as well.

I hope everyone is having a great Monday!

chirp chirp {bird houses}

My kids love all things artsy and crafty. When it comes to our arts and crafts projects, we aren't the most environmentally friendly folks. I could not tell you how much paper we go through a month from tracing, painting, and building things. But you know, the kids are having fun, we have tons of masterpieces made, and I love the fact they can express themselves in such ways. We can't hug trees all the time, especially when there is art to be made.

The other week, we went outside of our paper makin' skills and we painted wooden bird houses. Ooooo! Ahhhhh! Yes, there was much excitement in my children's eyes; so much in fact, these little jokester's woke me up at 7:30am on a Saturday morning to paint these bad boys. The actual idea of buying bird houses came from little ole' Avery. He drank a juice box one day and then wanted me to cut a hole in it for birds. I was quite impressed that he came up with the idea. I haven't seen where they've done this at school so it was amazing to see what his little brain came up with. I didn't think the cardboard juice box would withstand Mother Nature, so I headed to the good ole' Hobby Lobby and picked up what would soon be bird house masterpieces.

Look at the kiddo's working so hard! I wish I could concentrate that well at the crack of dawn.

No birdies are residing in these beautiful houses yet, but we check them often and are anticipating the sweet sounds of chirp.chirp.chirp soon!