Beach Trip

As usual, I'm late posting pictures, but we headed to Rosemary Beach, Florida a few weeks ago for our first ever family beach trip.  By family, I mean the four of us.  We've been to the beach with my family and with friends in years past, but we've never taken a beach trip by ourselves with the boys.  We felt so grown up taking our family on a trip!  We had a fabulous time despite the fact that a tropical storm dumped crazy amounts of rain on us the first few days we were there.  I think the best thing about the whole week was the intentional time we got with the boys.  I feel like so often when we are home that we get caught up in the ho hum of everyday life.  We are easily distracted by cell phones and internet and laundry and dishes and emails and decluttering and bed making and all the unimportant things that we fill our days with.  On vacation, there was none of that, the only thing there was to do was spend time together with no schedule or agenda, and it was amazing!!!!    We kept the boys up way later then bedtime several nights to eat snow cones or watch the sunset on the beach or watch movies on the Rosemary Beach lawn under the stars.  We biked to the donut truck for breakfast several mornings and had ice cream for lunch sometimes and stayed on the beach all day instead of going in for naps.  We just spent time together and were flexible and enjoyed each day and whatever it held.  It was awesome! 

The boys loved the beach.  I was shocked at how much they loved it.  Braden would literally wallow in the sand...for hours and then run and jump waves...for hours.  Asher would dig in the sand, eat lots and lots of snacks and then sit in the chair and listen to the ipod...for hours.  It was so relaxing.  I actually couldn't believe how much we could just sit and relax.  Anyway, a wonderful memory for Austin and I, one that I hope we can recreate every year from here on out.  Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Asher ready for a dip in the pool - 

 Braden loved being buried in the sand -

 After a good sand wallow, notice the sand caked on the side of his face -

Asher's favorite spot, sitting in the chair, eating snacks -

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 Of course we pay for beach chairs and the boys want to sit on me while I'm laying out -

 Watching the sunset on the beach...such a sweet moment as Austin and I sat back and took in the beauty of the sun setting behind us and the joy of watching our boys play together in the sand. 

 Family Beach picture

 Braden and Asher's pirate face on a VERY HOT pirate cruise we took the boys on -

 Riding to the beach in style -

Perhaps one of my favorite memories from the whole trip...Asher fell asleep on me one afternoon on the beach and I got to hold him and cuddle him for way longer then I normally do -

 The lighting on this day was incredible....my beach bums -

 Asher loves to cup his hands under his chin...this picture makes me smile b/c I caught him pensively thinking on the beach one afternoon -

On our way back home we stopped at the Huntsville Space Museum since Braden is obsessed with space and astronauts these days.  It was a fun break in the long drive home! 

 And when we got home, this is the really large zucchini we found growing in our garden.  Braden thought it was hilarious how big the zucchini was -  

A sad day...

So this guy had a big day today....he gave up his paci!  We have been talking about being a big boy all week and so today we took him to Toys R'Us and let him buy any toy he wanted with his paci.  He picked out a batman toy and as we were walking up to the counter to hand the clerk his paci to pay for the toy, he took it out of the bag, looked at me and said "I have it one more time."  Then he put the paci in his mouth and sucked it, smiled and put it back in his bag and said, "Bye bye paci."  So that was all fun and cute and we were so proud of him and he was so proud of himself, however now the tough stuff begins because he is crying and crying for his paci and it is breaking this momma's heart.  I didn't know a little guy could grieve something so much.  So if you read this, say a little prayer for my little guy and for us :)

If your boys are totally quiet for 45 straight minutes, be aware, be very aware....

Because they may just decide to "go camping," and by camping I mean they pile every conceivable thing from both of their bedrooms in a large pile -

 A convenient place to find all of your books though -

At least they had fun making such a mess and I was able to get lots of stuff done around the house while they camped!  Now for the clean-up...

Graduation Day is here...

 So last week, my little Braden had his preschool graduation.  It was such a bittersweet day for this momma.  I'm so proud of him and he is growing so fast and has turned into such a sweet, kind, caring, compassionate, imaginative, funny little boy and yet, I still feel like he is my baby, even though he turns 5 in just a few weeks!!!  So this Graduation Day was indeed hard for me as I realized this is the first of hopefully many other graduation ceremonies we will attend for him over the next 18 plus years.  As he walked down the aisle in his cap and gown with this huge smile on his face, so proud of himself, my heart too was so proud of him.  I also wanted to scoop him up and make this parenting process slow down just for a bit.  I mean aren't we all grooming our babies to eventually let them fly on their own someday?  So isn't this the first step????  I'm just not sure I was ready for all of it to pass so quickly.  As I've said before, for us stay-at-home momma, the days sometimes seem to pass so slowly and the years seem to fly.  Today was one of those moments that I realized how quickly time is flying.   So thankful to have the slow summer days ahead to spend some time with these two little boys...

The Graduate - 

Brothers -

Proud Grandparents-

 And proud parents -

So thankful for Ms. Julie and Ms. Lisa who were willing to pour into Braden's life this year and grow his heart -

Braden and his best buddies, some of these little boys have been with Braden since they were 2.  They are forever fighting bad guys and wrestling together. Love the imagination and innocence of four year olds -

 My sweet boys on their last day of mother's-day-out -

Mother's Day...

When Braden was just six days old, I sat in the pediatricians office, holding this tiny baby  and the nurse looked at me and said "being a mother is the hardest job you will ever love."  Almost 5 years later, I have reflected back on that moment countless times and I am amazed at how true those words are...this job is hard, really, really hard, but I have never loved like I do now that I know the joys of being a mother!  And I certainly appreciate my own mother so much more now that I have walked in her shoes.  I love you Braden and Asher! I am so thankful that I get to call myself "mommy" thanks to these two!  What an amazing blessing this journey has been for me...one that has grown my faith, brought me to my knees, caused many a tear, and exceeded my every joy!

Easter Season

I love the Easter season, in fact just the other day I was telling Braden that it might just be my favorite holiday. I love that it is in the spring, when new life grows and trees blossom and the long winter days fade away into long warm nights, where little ones can play outside until bedtime. But most importantly, I love the meaning of Easter. I love that as believers we get to celebrate the amazing love that Christ has bestowed upon us. I love that we celebrate grace, unending grace, undeserving grace, unconditional grace. I love that Easter brings hope...powerful and real hope, hope that is touchable and tangible. I love that during this Lenten season that we celebrate Life, both eternal life and Resurrected Life. With every passing year, I find myself filled with gratitude for what was done for me through a Man who loved me beyond words when I was so undeserving. I don't know about you, but often times at the end of the day when the house is quiet and the boys are tucked beneath blankets in their beds and I've had a few moments to reflect back on my day and how chaotic it was and how many times my tone of voice was a little too harsh with my kids, or how many times I failed to show compassion when one of my boys hurt themselves for the umpteenth time that day, or how I chose to use words that were biting instead of life giving, or how I chose to embrace stress instead of gratitude, it's in those moments that I feel the most undeserving. The Easter season reminds me that we are all undeserving and so was Christ. And yet He loves me...deeply....I am still humbled by that. This Easter season was particularly special in our home because we had the privilege of praying with Braden to accept Christ! On that day, we had just finished making a little Easter craft that I found on Pintrest -
where we planted a bunch of grass seed, made three wooden crosses and even an empty tomb on "Calvary." As we finished up the project, Braden began asking about why there were three crosses instead of just one for Jesus. We went on to explain about the two men and about how one went to Heaven with Christ because he confessed his sin and sought forgiveness and asked to be with Jesus in eternity and the other went to Hell. Well this opened a whole conversation about sin and Heaven and Hell and what it means to ask Jesus to live in our hearts. Braden came up to us a few minutes after this passed and said "I want to ask Jesus to live in my heart." We then hear him on his own with his head bowed, praying to God, those sweet words of surrender. He then asked both of us to pray with him and as we prayed over him and for him, my heart was overcome with joy as I realized that Braden really got it. He on his 4 year old level, understood that his heart was yucky and that the only way to make it right was to ask Jesus to come and live in it and help make him like Him! Sweet, sweet moments for sure!!! The rest of our Lenten season was spent doing all the fun Easter things that we all did as children growing up...and it sure is fun to relive all of that through my own kiddos. Here are some highlights from the past month...

This picture, makes me laugh, this is a close up of the tomb...as you can see, the only Jesus we had was a Little People, and not just any Little People, it is one with a mustache and a cowboy hat.

Braden, before his Easter Egg Hunt at my parent's clubhouse -
And Asher, looking so grown up -
A brother's shot -
Meeting the Easter Bunny -
We made some fun Easter goodies -
We unsuccessfully tried to potty train...which ps...when in doubt, always wear a helmet -
We watched the grass finally grow on our tomb -
On Easter Sunday, we may have indulged in a little too much chocolate -
But still somehow made it to church on time -
We attempted a family Easter shot, but Asher thought it was more funny to pinch my face -
But were able to get a "sisters" shot -
We went to my parents for Easter lunch where we had some sweet time with my family -
We ate some crazy good food, with a crazy amount of desserts -
All in all, a wonderful Easter with those I love most.

Why is it...

That this little friend of mine likes to wake between 5:15 and 6am every morning...
and this little friend of mine could snooze till 8am or so...
and the bigger question is, how are they ever supposed to share a room when, this little friend of mine likes to party in his crib till the late hours of the night...
and this little friend of mine is out like a light within a matter of minutes after being put to bed...

I feel like once they start to share a room, there will be a lot of this going on, instead of sleeping...
and some of this, where someone is screaming at the delight of the other...
and I am confident that there will be some of this, where someone gets tackled...
but in the end, I hope these little friends of mine will be best buds their whole life long, because they sure do love each other...
oh and ps...please start sending prayers our way, because they will hopefully be sharing a room this summer!