Friends Forever

We spent Sunday afternoon celebrating one of our favorite little people. Sweet Caroline turned two and her mommy and daddy hosted a perfect little party at a park in Arlington. Allan and I enjoyed the yummy hamburgers and catching up with friends. Claire had a super fun time playing in the sand, sliding, and running almost nonstop. I love watching her play with this little group of girls that she has known almost her entire life now.

Claire passed out on the way home. It was so cute how she was propping her little head up, I could not resist the photo op.

Business Time

Ok I just found this on my friends blog and I think it is one of the funniest songs ever. I think most married folks will find the humor in it.

We had such a fantastic time visiting with Allan's family in Alexandria, VA this last weekend. We got to meet our newest niece, Caroline. She is precious and one of the quietest babies I have ever met. Claire LOVED holding her. When she was taking a turn holding baby Caroline we asked her if she was finished and wanted to go play she quickly said "No. Baby.", it was so cute to watch her lovin on a little one.
The four "big girls" were busy little bees doing crafts, going on an egg hunt, playing at the National Zoo (although Claire slept almost the entire time we were there), we made it to a portion of a church service, they opened their Easter baskets, and did a lot of chasing each other. I love it when they all get together, they just have so much fun and they are so cute. I am really looking forward to all these cousins growing up together and becoming closer friends. We are blessed to have Allan's parents make it a priority that we have a few opportunities a year for the whole family to be together and just focus on trying to make a tighter bond.

Movie Night

I got to have another movie night last night with Amy, Adrielle, and Elizabeth. It was so nice to get out and I have to say that I liked this movie. I also have to say that I am beyond thankful that I live in this day and time. They were some twisted freaks back in the day.

Adventures This Weekend

This weekend Allan and I went our seperate ways for a few days. Claire and I headed to Oklahoma to hangout with my sister and her little family. We had such a wonderful time just being together. It seems like it is so rare these days to be with family and it not be total chaos with everyone having their own agenda. This was a weekend that was much needed for us, I loved every minute of it.

Claire loved the freedom that being in the country offered. Asher showed her the ropes of exploring one year old style. They were so cute to watch on our "hikes" around the camp. They threw rocks, played in the mud, picked flowers, and climbed on the rocks. They played ball, played on the slide, climbed on anything that would get them an extra six inches or more off the ground (especially Asher, that kid is a mountain goat), and one of the most fun things was their little two person Easter egg hunt that Sara and I set up for them. They were thrilled when they figured out that these little plastic eggs held treasures otherwise known as smarties.

This is Asher's happy/silly face that he will do just to make people laugh. He is such a goofy kid.

Claire really bonded more with her Beau. She would wake up in the morning and the first thing she would say is "where Beau go?". When he would walk into the room she would get so excited. She loved just being in his arms. I love how much she loves him, especially since they don't see each other all that often. She has actually asked for him a few times since we have been back. It is too sweet.
A little exploring at the archery range at the camp. This was an empty log that was sure to hold something special, after peering in for a minute adn finding nothing they were off to their next adventure.

Allan and my brother, Coby, were on their own little much needed get away. They went on a fishing and golf trip to Arkansas. This is a guys trip that a bigger group usually goes on but for one reason or another everyone else couldn't make it so it was just the two of them. They had a great time. Allan was proud to say that he caught the most fish and the biggest trout on the trip (everything is a competition to him).

I have said it before, but I am so thankful that I married a man that gets along with my family so well. He and Coby have a special bond which makes my heart happy, they just get each other- maybe that is because they were the only boys with sisters growing up, they are the brothers they always wanted.

Things I Love And Things I Take For Granted

I have told you guys about my "friends" Nate, Tricia, and Gwyneth, but just in case you forgot here is a wuick recap...
Nate is the main author of the blog Confessions of a CF Husband. He has chosen to share the story of his families struggles and victories with the world in order to show the power of God and to educate us all a little more about CF and organ donation. His wife, Tricia, has Cystic Fibrosis and is need of a miracle. Besides being an amazing warrior in her fight to live she also had the joy of having her prayers answered and was given a daughter, Gwyneth. It seems that this little princess has taken on her mommies fight to live as well and is doing a fantastic job. She was orn very prematurely (24 weeks) and is two months old now. They are one of the most amazing families I have ever known of.
Yesterday he challenged is readers to make a list of things that we have the honor of experiencing as parents and share them with the blogosphere. So here is my list of things that I love and things that I take for granted; my list of things that I can't wait for Tricia and Nate to experience with their sweet baby girl once they all get to go home together.

**Learning all the songs and dances by The Wiggles
**Playing dress up
**Watching my baby girl walk around in her "clip clops" (aka plastic high heels)
**Letting her play in my makeup
**Reading the same books so many times that I have them memorized (I just pretend to read the pages now because Claire like to turn the pages)
**Trying to figure out what my picky little eater will eat. Once I find something I feel such a sense of accomplishment!!!
**Holding my sleeping princess in my arms, listening to her breath, studying her features
**Napping with her in my arms
**Having her reach for me and get so excited when I walk into the room
**Hearing her chatter turn into words that I can understand. She has the most amazing voice!
**Watching her make new discoveries in her little world every single day
**Dressing her up in cute clothes
**Giving her a bath (almost) every day
**Hearing her laugh
**Hearing her cry and knowing that I can help her feel better
**Cuddling
**Having tea parties
**Watching her play with her daddy in ways that I would never think to do (wrestling all over the living room, playing chase and hide and seek for 15 minutes as soon as he walkes through the door, etc.)
**Going on family walks around the block every evening

There are so many more, but my little 19 month old princess needs me to come play right now. I love taking time to remember the little things that make being a mommy special!!

Book Tag

Alrighty, I am a sucker for these games of tag. My sister tagged all those that read her blog and I am it.

The rules: "Look up from the computer, look around the room where you're sitting and pick up the closest book. And closest really means closest. No cheating by running upstairs to unearth your pink-highlighted college copy of The Critique of Pure Reason or the Prolegomena. Open the book, turn to page 123, count down to the fifth sentence on that page, and then post the next three sentences."

There was not a book within sight so I had to go to the closest cabinet and get the first book I saw. Here is my excerpt of Sacred Marriage (I know, I know, I am incredibly holy and on top of keeping this marriage the best it can be...don't be jealous...and don't remember that I had to get it out of a cabinet hahaha)

There is exalted truth in this conversion experience. What really happened was that by remaining faithful to an unfaithful husband, Leslie demonstrated the truth of a God who remains faithful to an unfaithful people. Her father had heard the gospel many times, but it wasn't until he saw it displayed in Leslie's life that he wanted it for himself.

Tag you are it, leave me a note and let me know if you are going to play.

A Fun Day

Yesterday Allan and I had asked to hang out with my sisters kids so that Amy and Corey could some work done on their new house. The plan was for us to just bring them home with us after church. While we were heading to church Allan suggested we suprise Allie and Jack with a fun afternoon, an adventure.

We headed out around 2pm and the kids had no idea what to expect. They guessed everything from Disney World (a kid can dream right?) to a scavenger hunt around town. As we drove towards Dallas, Allie said are we going to Allan's office? and Jack guessed we were going to fly to Arizona (random much?)...they were both thinking in the right direction though. We pulled up to Love Field, went through security, and walked up to gate 2. they still were a little confused. It wasn't until the lady said have a good flight that they actually realized we were FLYING somewhere. We headed down to Austin to eat at the pizza place, Mangia's, in the airport. We had a little time to waste before heading back so we came up with a scavenger hunt list and broke into teams. Allan, Jack, and Claire were Team Soaring Eagles and Allie and I were Team Bootstrap. It was so fun looking for random things to mark off our lists as we headed through the terminal. We had a hard time finding the fannie pack and the seeing eye dog. Allie and I won by two which was so exciting!

The flights were good. It was so cool to watch Allie and Jack stare out the windows and try to figure out what they were looking at. Jack commented that the view looked like and ocean made of clouds.

We loved spending time with them and loved the random last minute decision to do something out of the ordinary (it helps that Allan works for Southwest and we could all fly for free).

Call me Kate...I mean Marianne

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

Take the Quiz here!

The Newest Member Revealed

Here is a picture of Sweet Caroline with her big sister, Charlotte, and her Mimi, Gig. Please pray for my sister in law, Elizabeth. When we called today to try and talk to her she was in pretty severe pain from her C-Section and was not having much luck with the pain meds they had given her.

New Niece

I don't have any pictures yet, but our newest niece was born a few hours ago. Caroline Genevieve came into the world via C-Section with a strong pair of lungs and brown hair. She weighs 7 pounds 15 ounces. That is all the info I have at the moment. We are so happy to have another little cousin for Claire and sweet niece to love on when we get together with the Kav clan. I will add some pictures when I recieve them from my brother-in-law. I guess they are a little busy at the moment.

At Least I Tried...

That is what I have heard a couple times this week. Allan and I have made a few decisions on how to improve life and one of the things I am trying to do is cook more (at least three time s a week). I am 0 for 2 and I have one more meal on the way tonight. The first try was going to be this fancy tropical BBQ chicken in the crockpot. I have never seen anything so burned in all my days. The poor chicken pieces looked like lumps of coal, seriously. The second meal was a roast and veggies in the crockpot and within a few hours the roast was as tough as a bootstrap, seriously. Mt sweet husband responded with grace and not sarcasm which was a smart move on his part. He said "well at least you tried". He even attempted to eat the roast. I think it has to be the crockpot because I have made a few delicious roasts over the last few months. So much for the "fix it and forget it" method of cooking, grrrrr.
So I am off to make homeade lasagna for tonight. If it is gross I think that I will find a new way to help around the house- like fluffing pillows or making sure the TV still works hahaha

Oh yeah to add to the glory of trying to be a better housewife I cleaned for what seemed like hours last night (it was probably only one or two total). As I was folding laundry last night I heard Allan say something to the effect of "oh no" and when I went to see what had happened Claire had poured chocolate milk all over herself, the rug, and the chair she was sitting in. She repeated this again today and then followed it with digging in the trashcan and pouring old yogurt all over the freshly cleaned floors. I think I need to start being careful how I react to these kinds of "accidents" because she immediately started loudly saying "oh man" and "shoot" (which actually sounds much more like another word that fit the situation perfectly, but should not be said by a 19 month old).

I guess I have a long road ahead of me and a lot of patience to learn if I am going to improve my homemaking skills and my mothering of a little rugrat.

***While writing this post my girl made her way into the pantry and dumped an ENTIRE box of Grape Nuts on the floor. Do you have any idea how hard it is to clean those little buggers up. Can someone please help me with my straightjacket, I am having a hard time with the buckles.

Winter is Finally Here!!

We looked outside just before it was time for Claire to go to bed and we found a winter wonderland. I hope that it does not all melt before she can play in the snow a bit tomorrow! I LOVE snow and it seems like my daughter is going to share my passion. She kept looking out the window saying "Wow! Snow!"

Maybe one of the sweetest pictures I have ever taken of my sweet angel. I love this daughter of mine so much my heart aches sometimes. Isn't she one of the most peaceful little princesses when she is dreaming.

At one of Claire's craft times she decided that markers were a great form of make up. So you think that this shade of orange is her colror? Thank goodness it washed right off.

One of Claire's favorite activities of the moment is brushing her teeth. She and Allan were just too cute not to capture this moment. I love these two like crazy!!!

Chalking

We have had a lot of time to hang out with my nieces and nephews over the last couple of weeks and had fun playing outside on the good weather days. These were some of my favorite drawings that covered my driveway.

-Allie, Jack,and I worked to get all the cousins name to fit together
- Allan drew a Southwest plane
- Allie also drew this girl who Cooper said was "his girl, Skyler"

Healthy?

If buttered popcorn is in a bowl shaped like lettuce does that make it healthy?

We are enjoying a very laid back evening watching a movie, eating popcorn, playing with Claire, and cuddling on the couch. We have had an incredibly busy last week and a half and are thrilled to be getting some down time.

I Am Alive

Do not fear, I am still here. I have been way busy the last two weeks and exhausted by the time I sit down at night. Please forgive my lack of blogging, I promise that all will be back to normal in the near future.