I'm seriously thankful...

 I am exploding with thankfulness this morning that God chose me to share life with these two stinky kids...

Landry asked me to give her kisses this morning, so I asked her how many. It's a normal conversation that we have, and she started to answer in the normal way...

"34...no, 23....no, 14.....ALL OF THEM!" 

And boy did she get all of them! That girl was covered in sugar when I was done with her! 

Despite the terrorists that climbed out of my kids' beds this morning, I am so thankful that they are mine. They make me laugh and smile, they remind me how simple life can be, and they put so much joy in my heart. 

They also make me want to pull out my hair and scream, but that's a rant for another day. Today, I'll just stay hidden in this time of bliss while Collier naps and Landry has her rest time. 

Living life and loving these babies and their daddy was what I was made for. Thank you Jesus!

Family Date Nights...

Last week, we had date nights with the kids. Micah and Landry went one way, and Collier and I went another. We've talked about doing this for a long time, and finally Chick-fil-a had their Daddy-Daughter night, and it reminded us to get started. We're going to try to do this regularly and switch off which child we take. It is so important and special for us to have one-on-one time with the kids, and Landry really seemed to soak it up (Collier, not so much...ha!). 

Micah came to the front door and picked up his date. He even brought her flowers. She LOVES her Daddy so much! She picked out her dress the night before and begged to put it on all day long. :)

My date was not so excited for Landry and Daddy to leave him behind. :) 

 Landry and Micah went to Chick-fil-a for dinner and then he took her to Claire's to pick out new earrings. That was a hit! They came home with a bag full of stuff I won't actually let her wear. "Well, she wanted flip flop and palm tree earrings...is that not okay?" 

First of all, no. Second of all, they are adult earrings and weigh like 50 pounds. 

LOL. I'm just glad they had fun! 

My date and I met up with some friends to go bowling. I could almost eat Collier up with his precious bowling shoes...I had no idea they came in little sizes! 

He had a big time getting to push the ball down the "slide." He wasn't so great at waiting for his turn, but he is learning. I can't wait to go do this with Landry too! 

After our dates, we met up to feed "our" horse that lives down the street. Landry has named him Cheena for some reason, and each time we leave the house she says, "Everyone look for Cheena!!" 

Cheena loves carrots, and the kids have a blast feeding him. 

We had such a good time with our little stinkers. I can't wait until next time! 

She's kind of right!

Landry has really started to get opinionated about what she wears. She likes to pick things out and put outfits together. We have been working on "matching" (or at least coordinating), and it is really a funny process! 

One morning I picked out the outfit on the left for her to wear. We talked about how the shirt had pink in it, so we found pink shorts to go with it. She decided she didn't want to wear that, so she picked out the green skirt on the right. I told her we would have to look in her closet and find a top to match. She got excited because she knew EXACTLY what would match! 

She pulled out this navy floral dress and said, "It's perfect! This has flowers and so does the skirt!" 

Um...not exactly. :) Please don't judge me on what you might see on my sweet girl's body over the next several months. Ha! 

Landry is such a problem solver and loves to do things for herself. Collier was bothering her while she sat on her stool the other day, so she just moved the stool up to the couch...problem solved. :) 

So far, 3 might be my favorite age yet. I just can't decide....it's ALL so good!!

What's a dull moment?

I feel like we have been going 100 miles per hour this summer. We have not slowed down much, and the calendar just keeps filling up. I love staying busy, but I like a little down time too!! 

This is my attempt to clear out all the pictures that I want to document but don't want to hang on to for their own blog post.

This has been our summer so far...

Would you ever in your life let your child ride on the bottom of a shopping cart? I didn't think I would either until we had the world series of meltdowns at Target the other day. A+ mama right here. 

Lots of BBQ eating and cooking...

Evening walks in our pj's...

Swinging, and swinging, and swinging....

Parks and play dates....

Family date nights

with ice cream outside, of course!

Monkeys learning to climb trees...

A little bit of sleeping in...:) This boy!

More play dates with sweet friends.

Art projects.

 Road trips and picnics with mama to visit family...

Lounging...

Cuddling...

Maybe a little pouting...

Story time with Daddy...

and Splash Pad fun. 

Climbing on tables...

stealing each other's shoes...

swim diaper hats...

and HAPPY kids! 

I'm loving these stages and our crazy busy lives right now! 

I hope you are each having the best summer! 

The many faces of Landry...

Oh, this girl...she keeps me on my toes! 

She is such a sassy little mess these days, but I love her so very much! 

She looks for any excuse to get dressed up in a "princess" for a party, and she constantly wants to dress "her" way or fix her hair a different way than I do. The fun is just beginning! :) 

Silly, sweet, sassy, sensitive, little stinker....so glad she is mine!