February Picture Post

The day after Hayden's party, we braved the snowy weather and went to see Beauty and the Beast at the PAC, courtesy of Grammy. Emerson loved it, and her impersonation of the maid-turned-feather duster is epic.

The next weekend was the 2nd annual Daddy/Daughter dance at LT. Emerson has looked forward to this since last year, and Hot Sauce only has to wait one more year!

The littles and I ate at Charlie's that night. Banana pudding rocks.

Hot cocoa on a cold night while Daddy was in Green Bay. I love Emerson's toothless smile. The girl hast lost 7 teeth now. That seems like so many to me for Kindergarten!

Hot Sauce doing her best grumpy face. But really, how grumpy can she be with her fave blankie around her neck?

Emerson working on a project on the 100th day of school (photo via HH website).

Valentine's Party with her 2nd grade buddy, L.C. They were in dance class together last year, and Emerson was waaay excited to be partnered with her. Love her sweet spirit and kind heart!

I'm beyond thankful that so many of these sweet kiddos will become some of her dearest friends over the years.

We had a Friday off and went with Grammy to the Tulsa Children's Museum. The packing tape slide was a huge hit.

Laying on a bed of nails. I did it too...it hurt my scapulae. Thankful no one snapped a picture. The little red-headed boy in this picture became besties with Em during our visit. He would show her around and explain each station. So cute!

The creme de la creme of the month was the Potters' visit. Eric is on sabbatical right now, so they have been traveling around the eastern U.S. (literally) and were able to stay for 3 days last week. My kids had the BEST time with their cousins, and spending lazy days at home with my sis was pure bliss. We did venture out to the aquarium on Monday since J took the day off.

Mindy (or Mindus, as I've called her for almost 20 years now), one of our dearest friends from high school, brought her little man Baylor over for a visit. Talk about a BLAST catching up and laughing our butts off while recounting various high school shenanigans.

Emerson couldn't get enough Baby Saige.

Riveted by a show... probably Lazy Town or something. Even Saige is watching!

Two prayer requests... my friend Sherry from our church has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She will begin chemo soon. Also, prayers going out to a sweet little boy named Ben in New York with an aggressive brain tumor. He is my friend Cristin's cousin's son, and I can't get him out of my mind. Here's the BLOG. It'll tear your heart out.

Why I Love Ebates...

THIS is why I love Ebates:

You see, I am not a huge shopper. And I'm not a huge online shopper. But for those times that I do shop online, it's so much fun to make money doing it. I get little quarterly (or however often it is) checks in the mail, and it's fun to cash them and put them in my 'fun money' envelope. No, really, I have an actual envelope. Here it is:

I know. Bless my heart. I've had a 'fun $' envelope for a really long time. It's where I put birthday money, my Ebates cashed checks, etc. I usually save up for a larger item like boots or a big trip to Sephora or a full-priced shirt at White & Black or other fun store. And on the rare occasion I get a cash withdrawal from the bank and they send it out in a new white envelope, I get excited that I am getting a new Fun $ envelope. Double bless my heart.

So anywho, back to Ebates. It's absolutely FREE to sign up, and all you have to do is start your online shopping through them. And get paid. Click HERE if you are interested. Yes, it's a referral link, but let me tell you, I wish someone would've told me about it a long time before 2010 (see above) because that $225 number could've been a lot bigger!

Hayden's 3rd Birthday - Part 2

The next two hours were spent bowling and opening gifts/eating cake at Andy B's. The three amigos and their cousins had a really great time bowling. If you haven't done a bowling party there, I would recommend it. It's cheaper than BounceU, Little Gym, etc. if you go with a basic party package. The rooms don't have any kind of party decor...I should've asked ahead of time and brought some balloons with us. The good news is that kids don't notice and don't care about those details at 3!

So I'm short on time today (there's a surprise), thus the large amount of photos with no captions. Enjoy!

Hayden's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

I need to be proofing right this second, so I'll just post a few of Hayden's birthday pictures right now.

The day of her birthday, the kids had pancakes with sprinkles and whipped cream for breakfast!

She loves her special birthday place that Aunt Miley made her!

Next on the agenda was a cartoon and then off to the gym to exercise!

It's a tight squeeze in the backseat of Momma's car! And FYI, Jax's seatbelt is in the process of being buckled in this picture...no I don't let him ride around with it like that. :)

The birthday beauty got her wish for a PB&J for lunch. She would have one every day if she could.

A few wrestling sessions and a nap later, our big girl was dressed and ready for her bowling party! 

To be continued... 

January Picture Post

I didn't take very many pictures at all in January. I think the combination of coming off the holidays and the fact that we didn't do tons of stuff due to, well, POLAR VORTEX probably had something to do with it.

We had the girl cousins over to play while Jax and Daddy went with Travis, Matt, and the boy cousins to Philbrook Museum for a kids' art day.

Our beloved friends, the Odoms, were back in town visiting family. We are so thankful they carved out an afternoon to spend time with us! Our kids have been friends since birth...it's so fun to watch them pick right up where they left off.

We went to Grammy and Grandpa's house to celebrate Grandpa's birthday. The 3 amigos have a blast helping Grandpa with the chores (both feeding the horses and the chickens) and building domino towers on the kitchen counter.

Our good friend Alan came all the way from Long Beach, CA, and enjoyed a freezing weekend with us.

Taking down the Christmas cards. I miss all of the beautiful faces we looked at throughout the season. 

And here's my boy, posing on his Pre-K PJ day and looking way too mature for my liking in the second pic.

I will attempt to go through Hayden's birthday pics and get a post up this week. 

The Last Day of 2

Hayden turns three tomorrow. And I am grieving just a bit. Okay, I'm kind of having a really hard time.

The last day of the second year of her life.

The last day of one of the cutest stages, full of wonder and joy and curiosity and downright fun.

This little girl brings life into our home like I never could've imagined. When I held her brother for the first time and looked up at Jason and announced that I "wasn't done," I had no idea what was in store for us. We both really thought we would have another boy. But here came Hot Sauce, loud and fussy and not interested in following the rules her siblings had followed before her. We found out early on that her zest for life was unquenchable. And she really does have a precious little sensitive heart. And her hugs? Best I've ever had.

So this momma has been doing everything she can to live in the moment with her youngest today. I wanna remember this age, her voice that reminds my friend Velvet of the sister on Aristocats, her stout little frame, her beautiful blond hair that's starting to get darker roots, her one precious dimple, and the raucous belly laugh she lets out daily. 

Two was a good year, Hot Sauce. A good year.