Our Saturday

 You know you're in for a good day when you start by sleeping until after 7:00.  So nice.  

THEN! It's even better when your husband makes breakfast for everyone...thanks Love.

At that point we went our separate ways.  He took Zeke to fix the kitchen faucet at the rent house and I took the girls to the farmer's market.  Love me some small town farmer's market!

The little boys do better with a good schedule and since there was none they were all over the place, discontent, and not knowing what to do with themselves.  So I pulled out the paints. 

 

There was a lot of this going on....

 

And some shooting...

 

 

Aren't they so cute? 

 

*Catching frogs is just about his favorite thing to do.  Last night we even had one in the house!  EEEK! And while he was tormenting frogs, I called my mom to catch up.
 

*Leftover burgers for lunch.  Then soccer on TV and a nap. :-)

*Laney is driving the Explorer these days and Jesse has taken her car.  He paid to get it fixed last week and Saturday he washed it.  His dad even took him to get it waxed.

*Speaking of soccer....this is my current lock screen.  When I get a text or call the whole day stops.  I want to know everything!! I am loving getting to "follow" him around Russia.  And he's all the way across the world but it seems like he's still right here.  Of course there's pictures and videos and updates that he's texting us, but also questions about artichokes and what he thinks of the Russian church.  My heart just might explode!!

 

*I took some quiet time to work on my bullet journal....

   

 

Still working on our Destin trip layouts....

 

*A friend gave us zucchini from his garden.  So I shredded it and make a new zucchini muffin recipe.  I made a healthy one last week that was delicious.  But this time, I didn't have all the same ingredients so I just looked up another one using what we had.  They were good.

*Remember I said that Mike made breakfast?  And we had leftovers for lunch?  Well it gets even better!!....My man also made dinner.  I KNOW!!  Blackened chicken that he planned, shopped for, cooked, and cleaned up.  It was simply amazing.  And I was out of the kitchen almost all day.

*Meg and Brycen joined us for dinner and for some Wii Dance.  Brycen Claire is so cute shaking her booty and trying to keep up!

*I squeezed in a short walk.  I'm walking in my first 5K next week and trying to get used to the heat.

*We ended the day with kids beating me at Dutch Blitz on my bed.  They beat me every single time. 

God's Goodness This Week

Isn't it funny how you don't usually recognize the goodness until after the time has passed?  Maybe that's why it's such a bitter sweet time looking through old photos.  It always seemed hard in the moment.  But after you lived through it and didn't die, THAT'S when you see how faithful God has been to you all along.  

It's Saturday night.  My heart is so full.  It's been a great week of being home with my crew.  

This is my happy place.  I love this chore.  In fact, unless there's a big storm brewing I don't let any kids help me at the clothes line.  

"Momma! Come take a picture of my bed.  I made it by myself!"  

*swoon*....my little boys are doing great learning their chores.  

This kid is always finding frogs.  But this week he found this tiny turtle.  

I love summer time for toddlers.  Naked kids outside in the pool all day.  Filthy.  Tired. And so happy.  

Nana bought us new decorating tips and Mallory made us a cake.  Yay! Just because.  

Getting to share life with this baby makes me so happy.  I love Brycen Day.

Jes is quick to try to bless his momma.  I sure appreciate him making breakfast for the family without being asked.  

Look what Zeke grew! 

This.  This was the last detail to work out today.  Christian leaves for Russia tomorrow for World Cup and I could not be more excited for him.   Such a dream come true and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.  He has planned the entire trip by himself and I love that he has let me be privy to the particulars.  He's been telling me all his plans and preparations and new Russian words.  But his phone plan situation wasn't clear and I sort of resigned myself to not hearing from him much for 17 days.  But today was the day to nail down this important matter and we (he....completely him) found out he has free roaming for the entire time!  No buying a new sim card, no buying Passport, no figuring out which is a better option.  Nothing.  Just this!!  

And I actually cried after he told me.  Now we can talk, text, send pics, ....the whole thing for the whole time.  Plus he has all the data he needs for navigating his way in a foreign country.   Maybe that's even more important than talking to his mom. :-) 

God is so so good.  

Spice Cabinet Love

 

 Have you ever seen such a mess?

I've been looking at this at Walmart for awhile but was slow to lay down the 20 bucks.  But my mom's kitchen store in TX had one and I decided I couldn't live without it another day. 

 

 So I pulled out every single thing, wiped the shelves down, and did something scary....shelf paper!! 

The stress y'all!  Because if you don't do it right the first time, it's a nightmare to get it off and try again.  So I told everybody not to talk.  But Laney took pity on me and took over.

 

 So pretty!

 

Ta-Da!!  It's beautiful!!  I wish my whole house was as nice as my spice cabinet.  

A Little Bit Of Lately (in pictures)

Whiffle ball in the back yard...

When your brother is in danger of being the easy out...

Hit it Mallory!

Oh them blue eyes!

]

Laney had an idea to build a fence around our trash can area.  I think this turned into more of a project than she planned. 

Silly girls leaving selfies on my phone

1/2 Price burger night at Sonic AND beautiful flowers! Thank you Nana!

Waiting for an appointment with my guy. I love him.

And LOOK IT.  Another future driver in the house!! Proud of you Jesse.

I Just Wanted One Cute Picture

 

Just say Cheese....

Bennett, don't cry....

 

Don't touch each other...

 

 Bennett, open your eyes...

 

 Put your hand down...

 

Oh well. 

New Fire Spring 2018 Season

In the bag!

The spring season dates are always iffy because of our crazy Arkansas weather.  And although he had to do some shuffling, Christian didn't have to add extra weeks because of storms.

Here's some of the cuties.....


These guys got to play on the same team.



With their dad coaching....



Waylon did so much better this season.  He didn't play soccer better as much as he was able to participate without freaking out.  It was good to see him in a social setting and do well.  Such progress!




Trying to get a game in before the storm hits!
Most moms seem to enjoy the tiny kids' soccer best but I much prefer THIS.
Christian's competitive team did great this season. 



Don't let this picture fool ya.  He takes the camera with good intentions but gets so distracted with the game that he hardly takes any!

Best buds

The new uniforms are sharp!

These guys were swapping hunting stories during half time. Love the South!

See those wet heads?  We didn't miss all the rain but at least it wasn't a downpour.  And I love watching my boy coach. 

Here's what you do when you're tired of soccer but your brothers are still playing and Mom won't let you leave.