tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54381780035980843102024-02-02T02:00:39.166-06:00Cope-ing SkillsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-53179385783109447122016-12-27T10:09:00.003-06:002016-12-27T10:09:33.948-06:00What's in a Name?When it comes to naming our sweet babes we like to put (probably too much) thought into the process. I figured I would share with you how the boys ended up with their names as well as <strike>announce</strike> let you know how we chose baby girl's name. <a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jackson Wade-</span></div>
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When Mr and I were going through our engagement we, naturally, talked about our future kids. I knew a name I really liked for a potential future son and decided I'd poke around and see where his head was at. To my surprise, he said the same name I loved! His grandfather's name was Jack, and his father's name is Jackie so Brenton wanted to kind of pass that name on to one of our kiddos. To add to it, my dad's name is Sonny. Jackson was a perfect fit since it included both our dad's names (Jackie+Sonny=JackSon). Bonus sentimental value....if you don't know me, I'm a SUCKER for sentimental things. My grandfather, Melvin, grew up with the nickname "Jack". There was no way our first son <em>wouldn't </em>be name "Jackson". Where did "Wade" come from you ask? We basically just started looking up names and picked the one we thought fit the best. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Gage Wyatt-</span></div>
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While pregnant with Jackson, yes he hadn't even made his grand entrance yet, we talked about our "list". You know the "list". All the names you write down and think about using for your hypothetical children. Anyway, at a family get together I was talking about the few boy names we liked with my Uncle Gary. When I said the name "Gage" he lit up and told me how much he liked that name. He actually had a dog named him "Gauge" that I had kind of forgotten about at the time, and when I remembered I told him, "as much as I like it I can't name my kid the same name you named your dog!". He laughed and sort of scoffed at me and went on about how much he liked that name and I should just spell it differently. Tragically, my sweet uncle suddenly passed away in April of 2013. We found out we were pregnant that following September and as soon as we heard babe #2 was going to be a boy I knew he would be named "Gage". Its like a special little reminder for me of that sweet man I was blessed to have as an uncle. As for "Wyatt", well that was another "let's say some names out loud and just see what fits" kind of situation. Very touching I know.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sienna Jovell-</span></div>
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We haven't been very vocal about baby girl's name only telling family and friends as we see them. I'm not sure why. We even kept this pregnancy quiet longer than we did with the boys, and have just kind of kept it close. It's been a wonderful time for our family. Before we had decided we would like to add another little one to our squad I had a few health issues going on. Nothing huge, but I knew I needed to become healthier for myself before I should be thinking about adding a #3. After I got things under control I had started reading about the life of St. Catherine of Siena. My mom's group at church was reading about her for our book club, and I really enjoyed reading her story. (If you haven't already, you should check her out. Her dedication to her faith, and her relationship with Christ, is something I had never heard) I had asked for her intercession and just asked that she pray for us and for my health, I even promised to honor her should we become pregnant. Sure enough, without going into to many details, right before I was going back to the Dr. because things didn't seem to be working in our favor, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Fast forward to when we found out babe #3 is a part of Team Pink. I was super excited about naming this sweet girl Sienna as a way of saying "thanks" for St. Catherine's prayers. Then we have "Jovell". This was my grandmother's middle name, and she went by "Jo". Without writing an entirely separate novel, which would be easy to do, explaining to you all the ways she was an amazing woman whom I loved so dearly I will simply say she was beautiful and precious to my family. Baby girl has two very strong women in her corner and I know they will be praying for her and looking over her always. <br />
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I love hearing the stories of where people get their names for their children. I love that each of my sweeties has a special meaning behind their names and are named after/as a "tribute" to some wonderfully amazing people.<br />
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I would love to hear how you chose your kids' names or if you don't have kids yet, I would like to know what names you would like to potentially use. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-50465415166982254792016-11-22T10:31:00.002-06:002016-11-22T10:48:49.030-06:00I've got Texas in my soul.This past weekend we loaded up Eleanor, our silver stallion...our mini van, and took a road trip. I kept wanting to blare "Southbound 35" by Pat Green because, as everyone should know, any good road trip to San Marcos starts with that song, but I got vetoed by our mini passengers and instead got to listen to "The Lion King". <br />
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Side note, to those of you who have to drive through Fort Worth everyday, good. Lord. I seriously think that for every 30 minutes (at least!) one sits there they are working off some of their time in Purgatory. Brutal.<br />
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We were heading down for a friend's wedding which was taking place in Kyle. A town between Austin and San Marcos. I was "nonchalantly" hinting that we should stay in Buda, another town between Austin and San Marcos, so I could commence my stalking of Jen Hatmaker, find her, and make her realize that we should be the best of friends. In a totally "I promise I'm not a creep. I'm a really fun, normal person. Please be my friend." kind of way. Alas, we posted up in Kyle at about 8:45 Friday night and my <strike>stalking </strike>friend finding dreams were shattered. The boys had taken amazing naps on the way, for which we ended up paying. Gage was literally running in circles and back and forth between the rooms. Yes, I said ROOMS. Thanks to last minute planning, which in case you didn't know is a specialty of mine, the only room left was a suite. Trust me, I'm not complaining! Once everyone calmed down, we watched some Muppets Christmas and the boys ended up going to sleep fairly easily. This is where I would insert all the praise hands. <br />
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The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to San Marvelous. (For you outsiders, that's what we call San Marcos because it really is the best place. Ever.) We drove around, got to show the boys the Catholic Student Center where Brenton and I met, and walked al little bit of the campus. It was so fun walking some of the same steps with my babes. I may have gotten a little emotional (thank you pregnancy hormones) watching the boys climb the 1,534 steps of the library.<br />
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Although, I must tell you, the steps were not as hard to take as I remember. A friend reminded me that's because I'm not walking them everyday, while running late, and starting at the bottom of the hill. I think its because I'm in better shape now. Yeah, that's got to be it. After a trip to the bookstore, where I may have lost my mind over the cuteness of a baby dress for a bit, we started our last trek back to the car. <br />
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P.S. I can't wait to take baby girl to a football game in this next year!!</div>
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On our last set of steps, Gage decided to take his inaugural wipe out and bring home a special souvenir. I told the husband that maybe this just means when he's a freshman he will be less likely to crash and embarrass himself in front of friends since he got it out of the way so young. We shall see. <br />
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After a trip to Alvin Ords for the BEST SANDWHICH EVER, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. We had a check out time of 1 o'clock which gave me so much anxiety that we would be ready that early for a 4:30 wedding, but it ended up being perfect. We got to drive to some of our favorite surrounding towns and the boys took another awesome nap. The wedding was beautiful and we got to catch up with some old friends which is always a favorite thing to do. I, obviously, forgot once again to take a dang family picture while all being dressed up. Forgetting to take pictures is also a specialty I'm realizing I have.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This kid and his sweet smile melt my heart! His mom is pretty awesome, too. </td></tr>
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We decided to just leave from there and make the trip back home that night. The boys were champs for taking such a short but long trip with us, and to reward us for being amazing parents they gave us a 6:30 am wake up call on Sunday. Thank you, my sweet children. Sunday was wonderful and relaxing except for one "tiny" hiccup...<br />
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Gage was sitting here for a solid 8 minutes and said the basket was his "hoopty"</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "hiccup". One of the boys snapped my glasses in half. The investigation into who done it is still open. Call 1-800-Thank Goodness They're Cute, if you have any information.</td></tr>
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...thankfully I am my mother's daughter and I kept my old pair from college. Yay. Oh, and Jackson opened my contact case last week which allowed my only pair to dry out, so I'm back to living in glasses for the time being. Double Yay. Que sera sera. am I right? Now we're gearing up for Thanksgiving later this week. Hoping we can finally get rid of Jackson's hacking cough and Gage's phlegm situation. You're welcome for that delicious insight into my life right now. <br />
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I'm currently taking inventory of all of my clothes to decide what I'm wearing. I'm ranking them by comfort and stretchiness, of course. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-36545841983881012962016-11-15T12:59:00.002-06:002016-11-15T12:59:18.713-06:00Let me hear your voiceThere have been some life changing things going on in my family the past few months that rocked. my. world. <a href="http://cope-ingskills.blogspot.com/2015/06/through-it-all-my-eyes-are-on-youmostly.html" target="_blank">As I have mentioned before</a>, I look to music for strength a lot of the time. Oh how I wish songwriting was one of the gifts I was blessed with. This has been my jam for a while now, but only recently did it genuinely strike a chord.<br />
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I knew the first time I heard it I was going to go home and look up the lyrics to really see what the song was saying. Do y'all do that? Sometimes, for me to fully understand the message being sung I have to look at the words and sort of meditate on them. These days, meditating for me is just a fancy way of saying that during the time I'm cooking dinner, and I have wild banshees running around my house, I take a few moments to think about the prayer the artist is singing.<br />
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"Before I bring my need I will bring my heart"<br />
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So simple, and yet this is one of the harder struggles I deal with. I find it <em>fairly</em> (I use that word loosely) easy to pray when I need/want something, but when time comes to sit and just be with our Lord I get restless. Maybe its because silence is something that isn't really heard of here at casa de Copeland. Pun intended. I think that was a pun. Yes? Anyway. What Miss Daigle is saying right there in the very first line of the song is as basic as it needs to be. Before I start asking for answered prayers and miracles to be performed, I am called to sit and simply give Him my heart. A humble and vulnerable thing to do, but necessary.<br />
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"I wanna seek you first"<br />
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I know I've talked a little about my prayer life before, but I figured I'll tell you a little more. God and I have a funny relationship in where He tries to tell me what I'm supposed to do, but I don't always get the message. Because of this, drastic measures are taken. (i.e., suddenly and unexpectedly losing my job because I wasn't listening to the signs that I needed to stay home.) However, I am so thankful that through the craziness of my life, I have seen the part He has played.<br />
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"In every moment, in every season....I wanna seek you"<br />
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This is something I want my children to learn from me. I want them to look and find His presence in e v e r y t h i n g. I know that ONLY because of my faith I am stronger. Stronger when times are hard and heartbreakingly sad. Stronger when the happiest of happy times are being celebrated. Because of my faith I am aware that my soul is on loan only until I am called to prayerfully live for eternity with all the angels and Saints, rejoicing at the feet of our Lord. So while I'm here, I want to make sure no matter what may be thrown my way, I am able to withstand and know He is there.<br />
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This has been a little challenging through the whole saga that started with my dad's heart attack while working out of state to his recent cancer diagnosis. Thankfully though, I have been blessed with a Dad who knows how to cling to his faith and fully trust that God has control of all of this. As he likes to say "I'm not sick, I just have cancer." :) I need to take a lesson from him.<br />
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All in all, you guys, what I have to keep reminding myself is that God is a loving God. He is there whether or not I realize. I've noticed that if I have missed Mass, or I'm not running to him in prayer, I'm a lot more susceptible to the "unhappy thoughts". So why do I fight it? Why do I fight Him? If I know I'm better with Him, what's the problem? That's something I'm working on so for now I'll just try to remember not to complicate things and seek him first in everything.<br />
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I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the kind of crazy love He has for us.<br />
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This is the inside of the beautiful St. Mary's church in Bismarck, North Dakota. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-79328825867185382532016-10-26T14:44:00.001-05:002016-10-27T12:47:24.504-05:00A Quick Recap and Story Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A quick recap incase we aren't friends on the book of face or Instagram:<br />
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1. I'm pregnant</div>
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2. Its a GIRL! </div>
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I'm so excited and yet still in awe of the fact that this sweet little human in my belly is a girl. I'll be honest, I'm having a little bit of an issue of not feeling as "connected" to this pregnancy as I have in the past. I mean, I'm a Copeland. According to recent history, Copelands only make boys. Thankfully, I've had two sweet friends reassure me that they kind of went through the same thing and I'm not crazy. I'm really looking forward to the day we meet this little sweetie. <br />
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You're probably wondering how we found out, right? Well, the day I had my appointment the Mr. couldn't make it so it was just me and Gage. Jackson was in school. I was only 15 weeks and was trying not to get my hopes up incase baby was being modest the tech couldn't see anything during the ultrasound. I was trying to entertain Gage and was halfway paying attention to the screen. Once I see the little heart beating I relax a little don't always pay 100% attention. Anyway, she all of a sudden said "ok we're done." I was shocked with how fast everything went and, with as little disappointment I could muster, I asked if she was able to see anything. She said "Yep." This is where I was internally screaming/freaking out, but trying to play it totally cool and nonchalant. I had her write down her findings on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope.<br />
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I texted Brenton that we had the results and he kept telling me to open it, but I didn't want to look without him. We had talked about giving the results to my sister and letting her surprise us, or possibly Brenton and me knowing then surprising our families, but I wasn't sold on anything that day so I decided we would wait. Ashlie and I left to go to a family wedding that weekend so I kept the envelope at her place so no one would be tempted to peek! <br />
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On Monday, I threw a bomb at Brenton and told him he could look but it was then up to him to surprise ME! Hey, I get to tell him when we're pregnant so I figured this could be his thing. Plus, it took some pressure off me. I wish I could have gotten a picture of his face, y'all. You could actually see the wheels start spinning in his head. I told him just to hop on Pinterest which put him a little at ease. He played it cool all week and simply told me not to plan anything for us on Friday night. <br />
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Friday rolled around and that evening we loaded up and took off. I kept asking what we were doing and, most importantly, if it would involve food. Mama's got to eat! We (thankfully) pulled into a Mexican restaurant, and as we were walking up I saw his parents. He had called them, my parents, and my sister. With his brother and sister-in-law living so far away they couldn't make it, and we definitely missed them. He had ordered a cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Which, if you haven't had a cake from there stop whatever you're doing RIGHT NOW and go order one. Flipping delicious. I'll wait here while you do that........<br />
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Okay, moving on. <br />
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The cake was decorated so cute! We obviously weren't going to wait until after eating dinner to find out so we went ahead and brought that sucker out ASAP! <br />
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Please excuse the blurriness. I may have been flailing around a little.</div>
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There was a sweet little rattle sitting in the middle of the cake. All I saw was pink! I had to look at the other side that said "Its a Girl" before it actually set in what was happening. After all the squeals of excitement and congratulations from everyone, Brenton handed me a little present that had the sweetest little outfit in it. He said he new I would be shopping as soon as I could and wanted to be able to say that he bought baby girl her first outfit. :) <br />
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After that we sent messages to our BIL and SIL and other family who had been patiently waiting and went on with dinner. This will be the first granddaughter on both sides of the family and I can only imagine the amount of love she has and will have once she's here.<br />
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Holy cow, you guys. I'm having a girl. How do I do this???<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-43153846193820734122016-10-12T14:42:00.000-05:002016-10-12T15:07:01.294-05:00Oh Hey, October!Ummm...excuse me, but HOW is it October already?? <br />
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I don't know about you guys, but (at least in this moment) I feel like this year if flying. I guess its true that as your kids get older the faster time goes. I'm not quite emotionally ready for that so lets move on. <br />
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Much has happened over the last few months. Weddings, friends having the sweetest babies, too many laughs, B and I celebrating our 5 year anniversary, finishing up and then starting back with St. Michael Homeschool, a super scary family emergency that took us to North Dakota this summer, Jackson starting Pre-K, and much much more. <br />
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I'll spam you with a few pictures in just a bit, but first I figured I'd share some of my goals for the rest of this week. I've figured out that I've got to be realistic and focus on things that need to be done now rather than wanting to do #allthethings all the time. I always end up getting <em>way </em>to sidetracked and lost in dream land :)<br />
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Goals:<br />
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<u>TO DO</u>--<br />
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<li><strike>wash car</strike></li>
<li>wash all sheets</li>
<li>clean out desk</li>
<li>meal plan</li>
<li><strike>list items for sale</strike></li>
<li>bake brownies for church function</li>
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<u>TO READ</u>--<br />
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<li>Familia lesson 2 (oops. should probably order that book)</li>
<li>Two chapters from "Finding True Happiness" by Fulton Sheen</li>
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<u>TO BE</u>--<br />
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<li>better at waking up early for "me time"</li>
<li>more present with my family</li>
<li>better at listening to understand rather than listening to respond</li>
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Okay, enough for now. Here are some pics to hold you over until next time :)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-7493288686536658492016-01-11T16:54:00.001-06:002016-01-11T16:58:21.301-06:00Procrastination at its finest.<div style="text-align: center;">
This may be a little late, but since Christmas techinally only ended yesterday I figured I could get away with still saying Merry Christmas :)</div>
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I had so many posts that I was going to write throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons, but as you can tell, none of those happened. To summarize our holiday, I succeeded at some things and failed at others. (I'm looking at you, my sad Jesse Tree with only two ornaments for the whole season). But you know what, even though I'm not that mom who has fun crafts <em>all</em> the time, my kids had an amazing Christmas and I was reminded once again how awesome our lives really are.</div>
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I should mention, however, thanks to a few girl friends. We all painted peg dolls for a Nativity so that got chalked up in the win column! Here's a picture of Fred, our elf, playing with our Nativity scenes (because you can't just have one!) on his last day at our home.</div>
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I have a few things planned for this new year, but for some reason my mind just isn't there yet. My sister-in-law, Jessica, and I talked about how when it comes to blogging (for us) it has to be done when we're feeling on our game. I feel like my mind needs to be in the capacity to form meaningful posts filled with just the right amount of wit, and sometimes when my kids are napping (who am I kidding its usually only #2 who sleeps) I just want to sit on the couch and watch my "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team" reruns, not actually use the time to get those brain juices flowing. This is something I've resolved to change about myself. To be more intentional with my time.</div>
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I want the word "intentional" to be one of my words this year;</div>
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<strong>Intentional with my time.</strong></div>
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<strong>Intentional with my words.</strong></div>
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<strong>Intentional with my prayers.</strong></div>
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<strong>Intentional with my relationships.</strong></div>
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I have a few others but I'll save that for another post because I really want you all to take some time to read <a href="http://catholicmom.com/2016/01/07/my-struggle-with-threefold-concupiscence/" target="_blank">this post I found</a> on CatholicMom.com. Patricia spoke to my heart, and know I'm not alone!</div>
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<em>"</em><em>I crave real people, you know, the kind that I can connect with. The kind that I can visit on the days when I just don’t think I am capable of surviving one more day. I want to walk into a friends home and have her pour me a cup of tea while offering me a seat on a couch that needs laundry moved off of it, just like mine. I want to let my kids run off with her kids, hollering, laughing, and bringing joy to one another. I don’t want her to judge me for my struggles. I want her to listen, empathize, and tell me that my kids and I are normal and that she has shared in my struggles. I want to be the friend that offers her the same when she is struggling.</em></div>
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<em>I say that I trust in the Lord and that I ask him for guidance; however, there are honestly some days where I start the day and move through it going from task to task never once remembering to pray. I don’t want to admit that I have days where I forget to pray, or admit that some days I am angry with God for whatever it may be and I just don’t want to pray. I don’t want to be vulnerable and open up. There are days I just don’t want to do things His way. I really, really don’t want to admit that the days that I don’t want to listen are much harder than the days where I pray asking for God’s guidance and turn my life over to his plan. Nope that stubborn part of me refuses to acknowledge what I know deep down. I’m human and I’m no Saint. I do strive for it, but the Lord only knows if I will ever be capable of that type of selfless life.</em></div>
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<em>I want to matter to the world, I want to be somebody, those feelings are known as the temptation towards pride of life. I just learned there is a phrase for the three temptations we are constantly fighting against, thank you St. John. The threefold concupiscence: The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life. Somedays I wonder what would happen if I recorded all of the temptations I encounter on a single day. It might look something like this.</em></div>
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<em>I want a big sugary donut (lust of the flesh)</em></div>
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<em>I want to sleep in; can’t the kids just go watch tv (lust of the flesh)</em></div>
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<em>I want my bedroom to look like that Pinterest picture (lust of the eyes)</em></div>
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<em>I should be doing more with my degree (pride of life)</em></div>
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<em>The list would get quite lengthy I’m sure. The threefold concupiscence is around every corner. The devil never rests, fighting him is exhausting, and quite honestly I fail constantly.</em></div>
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<em>The Lord has offered me all I could ever want. Yet, the devil is right there throwing everything he’s got at me. Man is he relentless! The best tool to use against him; human connection and true presence that comes from face to face friendships. Yep that’s right eventually I was going to get back to my original point. I crave and want that friend who I can just drop in on and she will care for my wounded spirit. How is it possible an entire generation of moms, myself included, has given up on face-to-face nurturing friendships for the digital likes of 400 Facebook friends? What???? My digital friend does not soothe my broken spirit or dry my tears of fear and anxiety. When I am run down, too bitter, and stubborn to pray with regularity I am the devil’s prime target. He has got me right where he wants me. That’s when I am the most vulnerable and because those face-to-face friendships have been replaced by all my digital friends I check out and seek comfort in Facebook and Pinterest and mommy blogs. There I am met with threefold concupiscence and I’m weak so I will likely give in to those temptations once again."</em></div>
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So get ready, friends of mine. I'll be calling to hang out! At the same time, please know that if you want to drop by and chat for a little while you are always welcome!</div>
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I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying a Happy New Year :)</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-20430097202850284122015-12-18T08:00:00.000-06:002015-12-18T08:57:51.852-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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...for semi successful advent activities, a half blinking Christmas tree, Celine Dion being able to automatically putting me in the Christmas spirit, and eating all the cookies from the cookie exchange before the kids wake up from nap. AmIright?!<br />
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For a quick look into how life is going at Casa de Copeland currently, let me paint a little picture of our Thursday evening...<br />
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While <strike>preparing our four course meal complete with homemade bread</strike> heating up frozen turkey burgers, ranch style beans, and cooking some rice, the boys were actually getting along! Gage had only eaten a tiny bit of play-doh (win) and Jackson was at least wearing underwear (double win) so we were all in all having a pretty successful evening. I could hear the fire sirens going on/off for quite a while and thought "dang, those guys are exceptionally busy tonight." We continued on with our Christmas music jam session, when the sirens got really close sounding. As I walked into the living room and could see the lights through the blinds I knew EXACTLY what was going on. Each year our town's fire department drives around with Santa, while playing Christmas songs, and handing out candy canes. In a panic I holler "JACKSON!! IT'S SANTA! SANTA IS HERE!" Imagine Will Ferrell in Elf, but with a messy bun, no shoes, and looking a straight HOT MESS. <br />
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You guys should have seen it, Jackson and Gage are starting to freak out because Santa is literally right outside and all I can get out is "We have to hurry! We're going to miss Santa! WHERE ARE YOUR CLOOOOOTHES??!" You fellow moms can imagine the state of my house at this point of the day. I'm cooking so obviously the kids can make as big of a mess they want as long as they stay the h-e-double hockey sticks out of the kitchen. I channeled my inner Bradley Anderle and was hurdling toys like a pro! For those of you who don't know, Bradley is a friend from high school who was basically a badass at everything but <em>especially</em> running hurdles. I put him to shame with my skills on this night.<br />
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I somehow found J some pants, a semi matching shirt, and grabbed his boots. Unfortunately, Gage wasn't so lucky and braved the outside sans zapatos. I barely even got mine on. Luckily, we got out just in time!! The boys were so pumped and Jackson rattled off his list of "must haves" (which consists solely of a Chase police backpack, with a light, a mega phone, and a net) to the big guy. We got our candy canes and watched Santa visit with the sweet little girl next door, and because I am who I am, this is when I remembered I hadn't taken a picture.<br />
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Lets have a comparison shall we...<br />
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Last year, we were prepared with our hat, cute winter jacket, and a letter. This year we're lucky we even had pants on. I can't help but laugh when I think about how tonight went and I'm so glad the boys got to see Santa. Here's to hoping I can use this little visit as ammo in the next week when one (or both because it's never just one of them) of the boys is on the verge of a tantrum! <br />
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Cheers, friends :)<br />
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P.S. Don't you just love our wonderful trash can making its photo bombing debut as well. #classy Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-72542696252135773252015-11-06T09:15:00.006-06:002015-11-06T09:40:31.758-06:00Its Friday! Its Friday!As I sit here with my coffee, which is a daily must have lately, I figured I would share with you some of my current favorite (kind of fall related) things. <br />
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TREES! We recently took a trip to St Paul, Minnesota for a dear friend's wedding, and we decided to roadtrip up there. We left the boys with the grandparents while Brenton, my sister Ashile, and I hopped in our van a headed north. It was such a fun trip getting to see all kinds of new places and eat yummy food. This is where I found one of my fall favorites. The trees y'all. I've never seen so many beautiful vibrant trees changing colors. The colors were so rich and everything was just so darn beautiful that I pretty much decided we would be move up there and staying forever. But then I remembered hearing about winters where you get snowed in for days at a time, and I changed my mind. I'm more of a snow <em>day </em>kind of gal as opposed to a snow <em>season</em>. Anyone else?</div>
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Along with trees changing colors come the smells of fall. There are certain smells that are only around at this time of year that strike up great memories from growing up. For example, when the weather starts getting cold at night and there is just a faint scent of a bon fire in the distance, I always think of riding around in a friend's bronco when we were in highschool. Tis the season for all things pumpkin so of course when that and the rich scents of nutmeg and chai waft my way I get the warm fuzzies. Right now I am LOVING this mixture in my diffuser. The mixture of Citrus Fresh and Thieves give the scent of hot apple cider and its glorious! I'll get you hooked up if you want more info on these amazing oils that aren't just great smelling, but are also so good for you!</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A few months ago I found </span><a href="http://blessedisshe.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blessed is She</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> on Instagram. If you are looking for a Catholic based site for daily devotionals, blog posts, merchandise and things of that sort this is your place. BIS has beautiful graphics and powerful messages. They haven't disappointed me yet. They even have a free study guide for personal study and/or small group study that you can download! (You can also find them on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/blessedisshenetwork?fref=ts" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/blessedisshe__/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pinterest</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/blessedisshe__" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">)</span> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Due to some medical issues I've got going on, I've been challenged to up my workout game. The Mr. and I already have a weight lifting routine three days a week, but I need to be doing more. As most of you know, getting a good workout in with kids is sometimes easier said than done. Sometimes the hassle of getting everyone ready and together just to go for a long walk is too much. My sister introduced me to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqVof1x_T_7xEcv4_LQetOg" target="_blank">Dance Fitness with Jessica</a> on Youtube a few months ago. She showed me Jessica's routine to Dark Horse (which is my JAM I might add) and I was highly intrigued. I've only recently been trying out the videos for myself and MY GOODNESS. Girl knows how to WERK. If you are looking for an at home routine that will get your booty moving and you're not afraid to shake what your mama gave ya then check this girl out! The videos are only a few minutes long each so you need to do a few to really get your heart pumping, so you can choose how much dancing you want to do.</span></div>
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Adele. Because, duh. A few of my favorite quotes from her very personal <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/adele-inside-her-private-life-and-triumphant-return-20151103#ixzz3qiqabHKj" target="_blank">Rolling Stones interview</a> are:</div>
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"My career's not my life," she says. "It's my hobby."</div>
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"But with kids, hangovers are torture. They just know. They pick up on it and just go for you." I mean...FOR REAL!</div>
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When asked about her workout regimen..."I mainly moan," "I'm not, like, <em>skipping</em> to the f***ing gym. I don't enjoy it."</div>
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WORD. *sigh* I just want to be her best friend.</div>
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And because you know you want this in your head for the rest of the day!</div>
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That's all for today. I've also been reading a few new books, but I wait to tell you about those later. :) I would love to hear some of your current favorites so please leave me a comment telling me about them! </div>
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<strong><span style="color: cyan;"><em>What are you up to this weekend?? Anything fun?</em></span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: black;">We have a concert to go to, a birthday party for my friend, and are supposed to finally have J's last Blastball game. This will be the third attempt because we keep getting rained out!</span></div>
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<strong><em><span style="color: cyan;">What should our next Netflix show be? </span></em></strong></div>
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<span style="color: black;">We just finished Parenthood and need something to hold us over until they finally release the final season.</span></div>
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As usual I'm linking up with these lovely ladies :)</div>
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<a href="http://alizadventures.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">April at A. Liz Adventures</a> </div>
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<img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHub6NfVvbVRGMgmRtZU4dn3ewWEpTZHrvSybMbRp5Qe3o3gF70ubT0BPnvTjf2Cmd8jctngWk0QGbj9I995GzBByoBZ9RMsNzvkBTyjGJPq_-8ZZtpSjGWoSEFzuV0aw9JRjpOpgxkaw/s1600/five+on+friday.png" width="200" /></div>
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<a href="http://denimandplaid.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Amy at A Farmer's Wife</a></div>
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How is it already November?!? Does anyone else know where this year has gone? Sheesh.<br />
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This weekend was a fun one. I mean they pretty much all are, but getting to celebrate Halloween was a good time! I had such big plans for Friday. Mother nature, however, decided otherwise. We were planning on hitting up our town's downtown "Safe Spook" where all the stores have candy and the kids can walk around there followed by the elementary school's Monster Mash with games, prizes, FOOD, and bounce houses. But alas, as I said before mother nature had different plans for us and everything got rained out.<br />
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After an appointment, I decided to run to Target (typical "no kids", mom outing) to pick up a few things. Jackson was most excited about the new movie I picked up! This kid LOVES him some Toy Story short films. Last fall we recorded the Toy Story of Terror short Pixar put out, but I somehow deleted it and the boy was crushed. On Friday the Target angels sang their sweet song and I found the movie on DVD and more importantly on SALE. I may have done a little victory squeal/hop combo. Don't judge. I should tell you that we've now watched that darn movie about 23 times.<br />
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More importantly I found a beautiful new nail polish and an $8 dress. EVERYONE won on Friday!<br />
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On Saturday, Brenton decided it was a donut kind of morning and treated us to some sweet treats. After enjoying those, the cleaning commenced! We didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but hey, we tried so I'll call that a win. Our church had their "holyween" carnival, and we invited the grandparents to come along so they could see the boys in their costumes. A great time was had by all as expected and we ended the excursion with a trip to Frilly's. Frilly's is an amazing Cajun food restaurant in Denton. You much check it out if you're in the area! Here are a few pics from the carnival...<br />
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That evening, we headed north to visit my grandparents and do some trick or treating. We ended up in the historical part of my parents' town where all the big, beautiful, old homes are and it was hoppin! We came out on top as far as candy goes, and had a successful first official night of trick or treating. I have to say, I think we had the cutest Ninja Turtles of all! Honestly, I had been perusing the world of Pinterest for a while trying to come up with the best costume ideas when, once again, the Target vortex took me in and threw a "Buy one get one free" sign in my face. You can bet your bottom dollar I completely ditched all other ideas and scooped up two turtle costumes and two weapons all for about $40. WOOHOO!<br />
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Sunday morning came and bright and early my dad was here to pick up Brenton to go to the deer lease. Opening weekend for deer season is next weekend and the men had to go take care of man stuff to make sure they're all ready. The boys and I got ready and headed to Mass. I'll be honest and tell you I took the easy road and dropped the littles off in the nursery so I could celebrate Mass alone. It was pretty awesome! The readings, the songs, Fr Tim's homily, everything tugged at my heart strings so it was nice to be able to fully engage. After, Jackson insisted on having a cheese hamburger (as he calls them) from Braums so that's where we dined for lunch.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">of course a photo shoot had to happen....these are the best I got HA!</td></tr>
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The boys and I closed out the weekend with heading back up to my grandparent's house for dinner and hanging out with some family. My mom's cousin is on her way back up to OKC so she's stopped and we got to see her as well. <br />
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I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween. Thankfully Sunday was All Saints Day so we are calling even more on our heavenly intercessors for extra prayers for all those affected my the floods down south and pray that everyone stays safe. More rain is expected this week, so I just hope its at levels that can be controlled and there isn't anymore damage. We are also saying prayers and giving thanks for all of those who are no longer with us as Monday is All Souls Day. May they all be rejoicing in heaven with the saints and angels singing praises to our most holy Lord. <br />
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See you next time!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-70340587284131476102015-10-27T00:19:00.001-05:002015-10-27T00:24:01.845-05:00Weekend Recap 10.23-10.25<br />
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This past Friday was a rainy one. THANK YOU, JESUS! And with that came some cooler weather that was also much appreciated. It was a Play-doh and pjs kind of day for my big boy while Gage was doing his thing by wandering around finding things to get into. <br />
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While the boys were playing and listening to music I got the chance to do a little organizing and purging. I decided to move some of their toys around and bring all of the book into the living room. Their books were in Jackson's room before, and he's always been a super fan of reading together so I decided that it would be nice to bring them all in to the living room and make them even more accessible. I, of course, forgot to take a "before" picture, but I managed to get an "after' to show you how I have our book case set up....for now. </div>
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I know. The top half may look a little busy, I'm seeing that now that I'm looking at this picture again (HA!) but let's focus on the bottom half shall we? Where the books are now, I had a few more of those clear boxes. One for cars, one for train sets. There was also another little toy, you know the one with swirly pieces of wire and you move the beads from one side to the other. Those all got moved to the book case in Jackson's room, which is essentially a mini version of this big guy we have in the living room. Jackson's book case is from Target where as the one pictured is from IKEA. </div>
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The Mr. got home and we all just continued to be rainy day lazies until it was time for me to get ready for a Girl's Night Out! HOLLA! I made dinner then braved the downpour that was taking place outside. Unfortunately, I got a call while on my way and was informed that due to life GNO was a no go. So, like any sane mother would do I DID NOT go home and took the opportunity to have a solo date at Panera. Broccoli cheddar soup never tasted so good!</div>
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The next day, we did some chores around the house and hung out. Jackson's blastball game had been cancelled so we didn't have to be anywhere. The boys and I then got ready to go to our two little cousins' (Raelee and Kyler) birthday Halloween carnival while, sadly, Brenton had to head to a funeral. The Halloween carnival was a BLAST! Any chance to get extra use out of those costumes is a win in my book. My cousin <a href="http://cope-ingskills.blogspot.com/2015/07/breaking-news-dinosaur-sighting-at-jcp.html" target="_blank">April</a>, who's made an appearance<a href="http://cope-ingskills.blogspot.com/2015/07/breaking-news-dinosaur-sighting-at-jcp.html" target="_blank"> here before</a>, hit it out of the park with this one. There was a duck pond, a cookie walk, bean bag toss, football throw, basically all the games you could ever want to play at a carnival along with prizes. That's right PRIZES! Now let me shamelessly bombard you with pictures of my adorable children...</div>
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This is my cute cousin Amye with her son Austin. Pretty much the cutest dragon that you ever did see! Check out these adorable pictures she took and posted to Instagram</div>
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We wrapped Saturday with a dinner with my parents and two tuckered out ninja turtles.</div>
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Sunday, we got up and went to church (P.S. who else LOVED the gospel reading as much as I did?! More on that later! #foreshadowing) After, we headed to a great spot we found close to downtown Denton called Roosters. Super fun atmosphere and we enjoy the food. This little guy let me snap a picture in between coloring and playing with the butter knives. Yes. Butter knives. Its a fight I don't like having e v e r y time we go to a restaurant so I just give him the rules and we move on. <br />
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We ended our Sunday by carving pumpkins out at my grandparents' farm. I love getting to see them basically every weekend and the boys being around their great grands. I'd say all in all, even with the rain, the weekend was great. I'll be back soon with more posts for y'all :) Until next time..</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Cutest parents" award winners. Taking their selfies :)</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-14647317824142528322015-08-19T21:16:00.001-05:002015-08-19T21:21:06.478-05:00Well this is newAfter a lot of thinking and working with numbers, Brenton and I realized that going to a preschool just wasn't in the cards for Jackson this year.<br />
<a name='more'></a>The schools we were really wanted him to attend are pretty darn expensive and we would like to work our way out of the little bit of debt we have (I'm looking at you student loans!) before it comes time to buy a house. I was super bummed about this because so many of his friends are attending the private school our church provides, and I don't want him to miss out on too much. However, when I really thought about it I came to terms with the fact that he's three. Three. Just how much can a three year old miss? I can totally make sure that we set up play dates with friends to get his socializing done, and I can pull myself together and teach him things here. Right?<br />
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Enter a whole new concept for me. Homeschooling.<br />
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I have ALWAYS said that I would not be a homeschooler. Of course, I also said after we got married we were going to wait for a while to have babies, but someone had other plans.<br />
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I'm not sure why I was against the idea. I think I put to much thought into the stigma that homeschoolers were kind of *ahem* different. I fully apologize to those of you reading this that were homeschooled and/or are homeschooling your kiddos. I have realized that that is not always the case and I've been brought into the light and shown all the benefits that come from teaching your own kids in your own home. Let's talk about the main reason I was not a fan of homeschooling though...I have NO IDEA how to lesson plan <em>or</em> teach! Discipline with routines is not always my forte. <br />
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Thanks to some wonderful help from friends, and some amazing bloggers, I found a wonderful program called Catholic Heritage Curricula. I requested some free info, and boy did they convince me that I could do this. Last week I ordered the preschool core kit and yesterday we came home to found this fun little package on our door step. <br />
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We got like a full 45 minutes of fun out of this mess! #momwin<br />
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I'm still not 100% convinced that I'll be able to do this, and I'm not sure if this is the road our family is being called to take long term, but its something we're praying about. Below is the unboxing video so you can get a sneak peak in to what our preschool lives will be like starting next week...or the week after. Like I said, self discipline is not a strong point for me.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-87127461917205690212015-08-07T09:51:00.000-05:002015-08-07T10:09:45.431-05:00Its Friday! Its Friday! <span style="font-family: inherit;">And we finally have wifi again!!! I apologize for my absence this past two weeks. Trust me, the struggle was r e a l. I have so many things to tell you about that I've been doing, and I'll have to find someway to catch you all up, but to start lets just look a some good ol favs of mine on this ridiculously hot Friday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">ONE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This weekend the boys, myself, my parents, my sister, and a few other extended family members are hoping on an Amtrak train and heading north to Oklahoma City to visit my mom's cousin and her husband. Jackson is FREAKING OUT because of this trip. Its all he can talk about, plus Judy (mom's cousin) has a pool, and owning a pool is one of the quickest ways to that little boy's heart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am loving everything about this book!!<br />
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I first picked it up at Half Price Books, I was nervous that it wasn't going to be what I was looking for. I had concerns about it not being in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church, but boy was I wrong! It is wonderful. I'm only a little way through and I can already tell you that I'll be recommending this to my mom's group book club. Here's </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Through-Catholic-Women-Themselves/dp/1612786669/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1438958261&sr=8-2&keywords=breaking+through" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">a link to check it out</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">! Is it me or does that lady on the cover look like Kourtney Kardashian?! Yes?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">THREE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This song...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have an entire blog post about this amazing song that I've been trying to write for about a month now, but I can't seem to eloquently put in to words what goes through my head when I hear it. Let's just say it gives me all the feels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">FOUR</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> The blog </span><a href="http://www.athomewithnatalie.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At Home with Natalie.</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.athomewithnatalie.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="At Home With Natalie" src="http://www.athomewithnatalie.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/LOGO-NATALIE.png" height="115" scale="0" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I mentioned her real quick </span><a href="http://cope-ingskills.blogspot.com/2015/07/my-happy-place.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Her Instagram is awesome, as well. She's adorable, her (growing) family is precious, and I just really think that we would be best friends. You know, if it wasn't for the whole "her living on the other side of the country" thing. Some of you may know her as the "Busy Budgeting Mama", but Natalie just went through a re-branding and I think she's done such a great job at really identifying what she is about. Go check her out and let her know I sent you! Maybe she'll realize she's got a best friend here in Texas. If you read this I promise I'm not that creepy, Natalie!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">FIVE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I think this one is pretty obvious. The wonderful treasure that is wifi is totes on my list. Yes, I know there are other ridiculous (I'm looking at you Donald Trump) and terrifying things to worry about, but the anxiety I would get every time I knew our cellular data amount was going down was a little much. Shout out to the nice tech who surprised me yesterday in the middle of this weeks laundry-fest and didn't judge me <em>too much</em> for the craziness that was going on up in here. Hey, gotta give a girl a head's up, dude.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I won't count these cuties because they are a constant favorite, but I HAVE to leave a picture because I'm sure you need a little pick-me-up</span></div>
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I would love to hear what some of your favorite things are lately. Leave me a comment, and let me know what you've been up to! Can't wait to hop on the train this evening. I've baked cookies which I'm thinking may not have been the best idea seeing how I'm supposed to be in a bathing suit tomorrow, but let's face it when have I ever turned down a cookie. Bathing suit or not.</div>
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I'm linking up with these two lovelies:</div>
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<a href="http://alizadventures.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">April at A. Liz Adventures</a></div>
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<a href="http://denimandplaid.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Amy at The Farmer's Wife</span></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLoRBwdBHm-k3PHM5279xSG_TJn_NYb3jClvRP6dDYxkh0njE_-8f5Cwkf303GexT01M8vZpwUO-wxpQKmihIQeS2UBwttLOm66LCdSgCA3qTt3yCKs-14bO2QD7D8lJrlPV34L9wGwX8/s1600/SUMMER%252520oh%252520hey%252520friday_zpsozsveclw.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLoRBwdBHm-k3PHM5279xSG_TJn_NYb3jClvRP6dDYxkh0njE_-8f5Cwkf303GexT01M8vZpwUO-wxpQKmihIQeS2UBwttLOm66LCdSgCA3qTt3yCKs-14bO2QD7D8lJrlPV34L9wGwX8/s200/SUMMER%252520oh%252520hey%252520friday_zpsozsveclw.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!<br />
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Here are 5 things I'm loving right now;<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">ONE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Look these lovely new pens my husband so wonderfully bought me. The Paper Mate FLAIR pens are my favorite to use in my planner. These bad boys are limited edition colors, and well, I'm a sucker for anything that says "limited edition". I know. Its one of the many crosses I bear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">TWO</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have discovered the fun world of Podcasts. I've just barely breached the surface. I have found one so far that I like, and I have a few other waiting to check out. Please let me know if you have a favorite that I <em>need</em> to look into. Here is what I'm listening to now...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteqGaSUKAKaEJ4O9cKJRQvCyuVPHn5KNEGo1TiBiGsXZc-9D4JfT9aqkxLSYOJkS0qIVm8gTVDJcoiJbXCOGrPXbEBUKl00xD3Fb22YHNXNjutToOgJPCzSdP5xt4hSQD4fk1H-rxgL0/s1600/IMG_3840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteqGaSUKAKaEJ4O9cKJRQvCyuVPHn5KNEGo1TiBiGsXZc-9D4JfT9aqkxLSYOJkS0qIVm8gTVDJcoiJbXCOGrPXbEBUKl00xD3Fb22YHNXNjutToOgJPCzSdP5xt4hSQD4fk1H-rxgL0/s320/IMG_3840.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">THREE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jackson and Gage are starting to play together more. Like actually play and interact with each other. Sure they still act like roommates who owe each other money so eye contact is avoided at all costs sometimes, but all in all they have a good time together. Gage thinks Jackson is HILARIOUS...most of the time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">FOUR</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Parenthood. I have finally emerged from the rock of which I was under, and discovered the emotional rollercoaster that is Parenthood. Let's give it up for Netflix and the ability to binge watch an entire series. I'm hooked, and have now brought the Mr. over to the dark side.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">FIVE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Two words; new sandals. Two more words; Target clearance. Does anyone else hear angels sing while perusing the aisles of Tarjey? I sure did. I have been drooling over a pair of sandals on Instagram f o r e v e r, and the other day I saw that beautiful red tag on these bad boys. So what if they're a size too big, with my Flintstone feet I make them work.</span><br />
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So that's it for this Friday. Hope you all have a great weekend! I was somehow suckered into partaking in a bike race with my family on Saturday. Don't worry, I've already made an appointment with my chiropractor, and plan on cashing in on the massage I was gifted last Christmas. Praying that my "Privett" instincts come in for the first time in my life, and I become naturally athletic enough to handle this shindig.<br />
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I'm linking up with these two lovelies:</div>
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<a href="http://alizadventures.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">April at A. Liz Adventures</a></div>
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<img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHub6NfVvbVRGMgmRtZU4dn3ewWEpTZHrvSybMbRp5Qe3o3gF70ubT0BPnvTjf2Cmd8jctngWk0QGbj9I995GzBByoBZ9RMsNzvkBTyjGJPq_-8ZZtpSjGWoSEFzuV0aw9JRjpOpgxkaw/s1600/five+on+friday.png" width="200" /><br />
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<a href="http://denimandplaid.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Amy at The Farmer's Wife</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxgin6CMxB4DerH6qwS2GlA2iD9fUXF3x-6Giu-3Tcrw7lc-OG5kEuBEg7ZgW5HOGUFZmz0X2hOhs6FTI2yvs55ZBQVbSHxslRncfk1bftkQhEv4kAWy5bY9oUwH5n6sZdUiICio_O-_A/s1600/Lid3i11436911647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxgin6CMxB4DerH6qwS2GlA2iD9fUXF3x-6Giu-3Tcrw7lc-OG5kEuBEg7ZgW5HOGUFZmz0X2hOhs6FTI2yvs55ZBQVbSHxslRncfk1bftkQhEv4kAWy5bY9oUwH5n6sZdUiICio_O-_A/s320/Lid3i11436911647.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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HEY HEY HEY!! Trying something new here today! I hope you enjoy the video. I may do more like it in the future. I don't know...we'll see. <br />
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Let me go ahead and apologize for the all the out of focus shots that are ahead :/ Maybe next time I'll do a quick read through the manual and figure out how to make the camera auto focus on things. You'd think I would think of these things <em>before</em> I sat down to film. Que sera, sera.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2ffrXM0FX1k/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2ffrXM0FX1k?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
What's up with that thumbnail? Sheesh!<br />
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Here are the two products that I tried this week- <br />
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I said these are $10 each, but they're actually $13. Still super affordable for the two products!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWyiLt-QTN6GsShXPiIOcJVvlAm9hvYPJk-XmiQc5VHpJr6cDDHbKsGLDGfYIQ8qcylFj1iei09FADpA9UBz9uYc2dgNo5N1dR2ejIMQxbfiVbnyewghVyD3zvqH1DrrOkuus6EzW7yQ/s1600/DOIg0d1436913143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWyiLt-QTN6GsShXPiIOcJVvlAm9hvYPJk-XmiQc5VHpJr6cDDHbKsGLDGfYIQ8qcylFj1iei09FADpA9UBz9uYc2dgNo5N1dR2ejIMQxbfiVbnyewghVyD3zvqH1DrrOkuus6EzW7yQ/s320/DOIg0d1436913143.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I really liked both of them. The shadow/liner duo was long lasting a super easy to apply. It comes in four colors and <a href="http://www.marykay.com/klira/en-US/_layouts/MaryKayCoreCatalog/CategoryPage.aspx?dsNav=N:10021" target="_blank">you can go here</a> (this is my friend Katie's link) to check them out and/or purchase. The lip gloss is such a fun color and felt good on my lips (<<that's sounds weird haha). I recommend both for those of you looking for easy on the go beauty products. </div>
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I'm in the process of deciding what I'm going to try next time. Probably going to be something different than beauty products so I need suggestions! Let me know if there's anything you want me to try for you.</div>
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P.S. I pronounced it as car-mellow, when its actually cara-mellow...like caramel and mellow put together. As I said....this may be my only go at doing a video haha.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-28083089697859410952015-07-14T22:02:00.002-05:002015-07-14T22:07:49.975-05:00Oh Hey, Wal MartThis past weekend, my dad, mom, and sister rode in a bike race at the Weatherford Peach Festival. They spoiled us and brought over some of the sweet fruits of their labor, and the heat was on to decide what we were going to make with those juicy fruits. It was decided that we should experiment with some peach ice cream. I was able to put it off yesterday, but this morning when he woke up Jackson insisted that today was the day.<br />
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After my chiropractor appointment we were on our way to the craziness that is Wal Mart. *Side note: I recently started going to the chiropractor and good Lord what have I been missing?! I've had lower back pain since I was a teenager so this new discovery has been wonderful. <br />
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I digress...Obviously we didn't go straight to the grocery side of the store when we arrived. Who goes to Wal Mart and <em>doesn't</em> scope out all the new goodies. Am I right?! Wait, am I the only one who's a sucker for low priced, sometimes poorly made, goodies? Eh, c'est la vie. (Does anyone else sing that <a href="https://youtu.be/UvjLgjtJKsc" target="_blank">song by B*Witched</a> when they hear that phrase?! I'm looking at you Lauren Carter!)<br />
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I didn't go all over the store, but I did happen to stop in the accessories section. I'm not gonna lie, y'all. I was kind of impressed with some of their options. This was my favorite.<br />
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I love the length of this bag. I'm wearing it as a cross-body purse in this picture, but you could easily shorten it to be over the shoulder. I'm really digging the color, too. I feel like it would transition from summer to fall pretty well. I didn't get a picture of the opening, and I'm bummed because the opening isn't as big as I would like for it to be, but I could work with it. Plus, the flap is a nice extra pocket for whatever you might need, and there's a zipper pocket on the back for your phone. It came in quite a few colors including this delicious green.</div>
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Now that we have multiple children, I have decided that ditching the conventional diaper bag for a backpack is the only way I can function. I need free hands and to not worry about something falling off my shoulder when I'm chasing these hooligans around. Right now I have a Vera Bradley bag that I got as a Christmas present a few years ago, but I think its time to move on. I'm not so sure how long some of these would last, but I liked the options Wal Mart is putting out for back to school. I won't even touch on the fact that I feel like its a little too early for B2S merchandise to be out, but hey, Hobby Lobby already has Christmas supplies out so I guess WM is behind. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitesT3D4EnOr6ek-3qwg5nKbvKTiOO8fbLKFabtcv-srFqynZMbqJ1P3beGhzQaG5aOWgLySb9n1iUR53mfjVsO3Bw8rTaeJmcakgg3vo4X9UyBwz_M91FvAzia1tQJ0gbIxogsHjFfow/s1600/IMG_3741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitesT3D4EnOr6ek-3qwg5nKbvKTiOO8fbLKFabtcv-srFqynZMbqJ1P3beGhzQaG5aOWgLySb9n1iUR53mfjVsO3Bw8rTaeJmcakgg3vo4X9UyBwz_M91FvAzia1tQJ0gbIxogsHjFfow/s320/IMG_3741.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcZpmf3OPnZng7GRMuERH2l19lucJLA9ci9EA8XFTljClHYIkarVBsmOnGtexTrnufArIlfFLr9bnq86gHN_jyNMNawQ9f9oE4FzQxRuU1EjZuHsTe8RLd1Yi-6PX7SJ36DYxMLtiAFk/s1600/IMG_3739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcZpmf3OPnZng7GRMuERH2l19lucJLA9ci9EA8XFTljClHYIkarVBsmOnGtexTrnufArIlfFLr9bnq86gHN_jyNMNawQ9f9oE4FzQxRuU1EjZuHsTe8RLd1Yi-6PX7SJ36DYxMLtiAFk/s320/IMG_3739.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The bags on the left are price pointed at $9.88, and that is why I'm hesitant about their quality. I'm loving the color choices though. A few rows down I <em>did</em> find that they have some higher priced backpacks ($18.88) that are super cute as well. I believe the fabric on the bottom of the lower priced bags is thinner therefore not as good in quality. There was a black pleather bag that I really liked, and I love this cute navy/gray polka dot option. I love me some polka dots! <br />
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The last purse/bag/trash holder that I found and <em>almost</em> bought was this little weathered gray number.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCL1In27Ypp3rHMrhyt5iq-9D7pIvhTDEp4MlmvBYLnx1AUH7hB4Q3N5Zz1gtFuB6lgb2ZqC4ARpai8rJtIXiI5dkuoDvsAB0CrVg37o45a4sg4Gyr8Al6fvDrMFp2RP4Kd2cDtt7fkM/s1600/IMG_3740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCL1In27Ypp3rHMrhyt5iq-9D7pIvhTDEp4MlmvBYLnx1AUH7hB4Q3N5Zz1gtFuB6lgb2ZqC4ARpai8rJtIXiI5dkuoDvsAB0CrVg37o45a4sg4Gyr8Al6fvDrMFp2RP4Kd2cDtt7fkM/s320/IMG_3740.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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It is a great size, really soft, and ONLY $7!! Clearance...gotta love it!</div>
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I won't bore you with much more I promise. Wanted to show you guys that WM is trying to up their crafting game. They had this end cap set up, and I was impressed again with their effort. </div>
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That's all for now, but I know you'll be waiting with bated breath so I'll keep this ol blog of mine updated with new treasures when I come across them. Until next time :)</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-54127285444844370582015-07-11T23:07:00.000-05:002015-07-14T22:03:59.075-05:00My happy place.I have been trying to coerce my sweet hubs into taking me to IKEA for a few weeks now. I know, I know I could easily have driven myself, but I knew it would be more fun if he went with me. He has somehow figured out ways to get out of this trip, but yesterday I realized that we had NO PLANS for the weekend. WHAT?! This happens rarely so I capitalized on the opportunity. I also enlisted the help of an adventurous 3 year old who I knew would want to go to this magical place, and I knew Brenton wouldn't be able to say "no". Manipulative you say? NAH! I say resourceful.<a name='more'></a><br />
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We woke up bright and early at 8:30 *fist pump*, Brenton made some delish breakfast, and we all got ready to start the 45ish minute trip to Frisco. (that's in the northern part of the Dallas area for you out of towners). First, we obviously had to stop for some Chai Tea Lattes at "Starwars" as Jackson so affectionately calls it. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcotII8anSM7pYyy2Ycn1JNXfLEXJTxZlbJb29bHhLac6rPLKsMfOFpcm0iDgvmRbiW-iZ-8UlSih2JujZIWOACHT1lHqAy67sEBlqUZdXEK798XtcvbBU0hBwiR1vKhwLhlsvhKFEpo/s1600/IMG_3675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcotII8anSM7pYyy2Ycn1JNXfLEXJTxZlbJb29bHhLac6rPLKsMfOFpcm0iDgvmRbiW-iZ-8UlSih2JujZIWOACHT1lHqAy67sEBlqUZdXEK798XtcvbBU0hBwiR1vKhwLhlsvhKFEpo/s320/IMG_3675.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrO_A_Ve2-ASUswzGdmJJLj2GhV3Uy66b7s2jOqQO06X9lA59DPVD1LT39mySJOlF3jCbX1be1ezzQ6N28RD45OyqWo4G9OqNTLEFzsEm1zPzZMnUMDQ6ngyKf8NCri0Ey2S2pwgi-TeI/s1600/IMG_3701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrO_A_Ve2-ASUswzGdmJJLj2GhV3Uy66b7s2jOqQO06X9lA59DPVD1LT39mySJOlF3jCbX1be1ezzQ6N28RD45OyqWo4G9OqNTLEFzsEm1zPzZMnUMDQ6ngyKf8NCri0Ey2S2pwgi-TeI/s320/IMG_3701.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He can't go anywhere without his police gear</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZw9kX8T4zh17Qri266tITVikA0lrOs77BVvLu2nBZ03i8Jm3E8GdH8A1QsIVl6io_GjdF-AEDyFv3v0QmFrFXS8YSf2meqVuoE6phEE2Egvgezhu4PwJ6vXqdDXDQrEZ4fHl4OkgF90/s1600/IMG_3702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZw9kX8T4zh17Qri266tITVikA0lrOs77BVvLu2nBZ03i8Jm3E8GdH8A1QsIVl6io_GjdF-AEDyFv3v0QmFrFXS8YSf2meqVuoE6phEE2Egvgezhu4PwJ6vXqdDXDQrEZ4fHl4OkgF90/s320/IMG_3702.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical "waiting in line at Starbucks" picture...</td></tr>
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When we got there around noon we were pleased to see that is wasn't near as crowded as it could have been for a Saturday. Gager-man and I scoped out a shopping cart, while Brenton and JW took an exciting ride up the escalator. Then it was GAME ON! Too many things and not enough money in my bank account....or room in our house. We dreamt about some couches that we would love to have in the future, sat in some super comfy (some not so comfy) chairs, and then heard the angels sing. We turned the corner to find our dream kitchen. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoQ-GpCUB2mAKerclQXe9cPbpAr4Ep6LUKoj90L_j6orNUZEq8diAdiSNlx2aVN9uuXQ05Rl5et2x6Ik8mDT7JRrvm7jaMLInchY3TlOMIojA5UJ5qkGqFSy_3dD5yiflQyIv4UaUljw/s1600/IMG_3703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoQ-GpCUB2mAKerclQXe9cPbpAr4Ep6LUKoj90L_j6orNUZEq8diAdiSNlx2aVN9uuXQ05Rl5et2x6Ik8mDT7JRrvm7jaMLInchY3TlOMIojA5UJ5qkGqFSy_3dD5yiflQyIv4UaUljw/s400/IMG_3703.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Y'all. If IKEA would let me move in and call this kitchen my own, I would be elated. Without boring you with details I'll just say that I want my future home to have this set up. This <em>exact </em>kitchen. Swoon....<br />
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From there we continued around the maze that is this magical store. Through entertainment storage, to more kitchen ideas. Around the bend into culinary gadgets. Then we stumbled into dining. Little did we know that we would find a table we really love, and a super cute alternative to the gigantic, yet beautiful, china cabinet I bought before we got married. This coming week I'm going to see if anyone is interested in buying our china cabinet so that we can then get the IKEA cabinet. Say 'cabinet" one more time, Kaylee. Sheesh. More on that and (hopefully) pictures of them both in our home soon.<br />
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After wading through a sea of throw pillows and finding some Christmas gift ideas we decided to stop for lunch. MEATBALL TIME! Yes, they're awesome.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpflaw7ZAnPnaPGTKlA3F0nwbIZcXjsrC8l4eobRP_cPkbb1mYvC61s_-OsNseMirb9Iy4JycHlHj6kHol3-08EsJYu5w2zOS9JDp7aD1bGan_FLg6e9-tNlU0eu6flG02l4wvCKJ9n2g/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25289%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpflaw7ZAnPnaPGTKlA3F0nwbIZcXjsrC8l4eobRP_cPkbb1mYvC61s_-OsNseMirb9Iy4JycHlHj6kHol3-08EsJYu5w2zOS9JDp7aD1bGan_FLg6e9-tNlU0eu6flG02l4wvCKJ9n2g/s200/FullSizeRender+%25289%2529.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjSOp9aswSU9zUZgLnt2cFLKKsKVRE1vAAPZ45yEsiEgYfomZPxrrJlgMS5o6TIkDp-haNrKYp5ufKCcknD5mmHdNBadFJJ2pN7j2fYucawEOKjhDJUPgmpP37UopkPh_xIjiMK6JhTE/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25288%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrjSOp9aswSU9zUZgLnt2cFLKKsKVRE1vAAPZ45yEsiEgYfomZPxrrJlgMS5o6TIkDp-haNrKYp5ufKCcknD5mmHdNBadFJJ2pN7j2fYucawEOKjhDJUPgmpP37UopkPh_xIjiMK6JhTE/s200/FullSizeRender+%25288%2529.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
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We headed downstairs after eating and zoomed through the first few sections pretty quickly. Not before grabbing random things for the house, however. Here are a few of our purchases...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPohDFXpFpOp1vcgtUF-7Wjb3_1S-HeHTh_zvkEiZ_cMwLJq7On5bokcxwqiSOYHyfKVoJzOpwKz0nX7c9nNaB__nlmK8hHx92AhCIU2DJ-4hQwbXAfsJ3vt0pseLAHBtTSTzWCvsDfg/s1600/ikea+goodies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPohDFXpFpOp1vcgtUF-7Wjb3_1S-HeHTh_zvkEiZ_cMwLJq7On5bokcxwqiSOYHyfKVoJzOpwKz0nX7c9nNaB__nlmK8hHx92AhCIU2DJ-4hQwbXAfsJ3vt0pseLAHBtTSTzWCvsDfg/s640/ikea+goodies.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFZwe95y9lNDfttZxt-lHknr3-xySbx98v-QL6GuAqR5VEKFesticHYlYFisCxa3SoIf5CEIbCwqYsDDdFWB2HsD58vXZVcoxxCfc7Jt8wkPiic70vVQ9hK5l0KI98R3yXT-hyNGWuf0/s1600/FullSizeRender+%252812%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFZwe95y9lNDfttZxt-lHknr3-xySbx98v-QL6GuAqR5VEKFesticHYlYFisCxa3SoIf5CEIbCwqYsDDdFWB2HsD58vXZVcoxxCfc7Jt8wkPiic70vVQ9hK5l0KI98R3yXT-hyNGWuf0/s1600/FullSizeRender+%252812%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFZwe95y9lNDfttZxt-lHknr3-xySbx98v-QL6GuAqR5VEKFesticHYlYFisCxa3SoIf5CEIbCwqYsDDdFWB2HsD58vXZVcoxxCfc7Jt8wkPiic70vVQ9hK5l0KI98R3yXT-hyNGWuf0/s1600/FullSizeRender+%252812%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFZwe95y9lNDfttZxt-lHknr3-xySbx98v-QL6GuAqR5VEKFesticHYlYFisCxa3SoIf5CEIbCwqYsDDdFWB2HsD58vXZVcoxxCfc7Jt8wkPiic70vVQ9hK5l0KI98R3yXT-hyNGWuf0/s200/FullSizeRender+%252812%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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The main reason I wanted to go to make this trip was because of this super cute idea <a href="http://www.athomewithnatalie.com/" target="_blank">Natalie from At Home with Natalie</a> posted on Instagram a few weeks back. <br />
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I ran to Target as soon as I saw the post, got the same two prints, and wanted to hang them ASAP. Unfortunately, in my haste, I discovered once we got home today I got frames that are too small. Looks like another trip is in my near future....bummer. HA! Yeah right! I'm pumped. <br />
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I loved every bit of today. The boys did wonderfully during our four hour stroll. Yes...four glorious hours. When we left, Brenton decided to drive around town and see all of the changes that have been made since we left Frisco two years ago. So many new buildings! We definitely miss the town. We had a lot of firsts there and it will always have a special place in our hearts. <br />
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After chowing down on <strike>some pizza</strike> a wonderful feast when we got home, the boys went to bed pretty easily and the Mr and I got to enjoy a few beers. Again, I loved every thing about today.<br />
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P.S. Sorry for the novel<br />
P.P.S. I'm not sorry for your sudden urge to run to your nearest IKEAAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-51737989250646327592015-07-07T15:13:00.003-05:002015-07-07T15:54:33.219-05:00Breaking News: Dinosaur sighting at JCPI love my son. I love my son. I love my son.<br />
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This is what I kept saying over and over in my head while we were at the mall today. I had a chiropractor appointment this morning and told Jackson we could go play because he did so well. After hanging out in the mall play area he decided that a trip to the train tables was needed. <br />
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Bless you, Barnes and Noble, for your free entertainment. He and Gage play, I read, everyone wins! <br />
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Long story short, Jackson and I made a deal that we could run in to JC Penney and do a lightening fast run through the kids department. What. Was. I. Thinking. <a name='more'></a>About 30 seconds after getting there Jackson found one of those poles used to grab things that are out of reach. I simply said "Sweetie, that doesn't belong to us and we need to put it away. You could get hurt." Y'all. Jackson was no longer with me. But in his place was this Jackson sized pterodactyl screaming shrill "NO"s and high pitched "I don't love you"s. Yep, we're in that phase right now. Just as I turned the corner to leave and let him take up residency at JCP I looked up to see my sweet cousin, April, walking towards us. <br />
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Let me add here that I am one of those people who doesn't really care what the random strangers around me think because its not like I'll see them ever again. However, when it comes to my kids losing their cool around friends and family...I can't. <br />
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I was instantly mortified when I saw this cute blonde in her pink scrubs. Somehow though, as soon as April bent down to Jackson's level and started talking to him in her super sweet country voice, he calmed down. WHAT?! I've never seen him react to someone like this. He was instantly back to his sweet self. I was speechless. Embarrassed and speechless.<br />
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But why was I embarrassed? April has four kids of her own so I know she "gets it" when it comes to tantrums, but still. I think its because I have this idea that I need everyone to think I've got it all together. That my kids are these sweet little angels at all times who listen and follow through when they are told to do things. This is not the case.<br />
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Okay, so you are probably saying this right now....<br />
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"HELLO, KAYLEE!!! You have a three and one year old! Of course they don't always listen, they're trying to figure out this thing call "life" just as much as you are." <br />
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I know there is no judgment from family and friends even when my babes aren't on their best behavior. At least I hope there's not... I just need to learn how to give myself some grace. Alas, one other thing to work on. I'm just thankful April showed up when she did and was able to diffuse the situation. It takes a village, y'all. The whole. darn. village.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-87605515764944916462015-07-01T08:48:00.000-05:002015-07-07T15:55:11.329-05:00Those things called "Resolutions"I've never been real big on the whole "New Year Resolutions" gig. Let's face it, I <em>rarely </em>(if ever) accomplish the things I claim to be resolutions anyway. For some reason I decided this year I would set a few goals and try my darndest (that's a word, right?) to check them off at least by the end of the year. I figure with it being July, and basically halfway through the year, this would be as good of a time as any to look back to see how I'm doing.<a name='more'></a><br />
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Here are the resolutions I wrote down at the beginning of January and where I'm at with completing them:<br />
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1. Start a blog---<br />
Oh hey there! If you're reading this then we can obviously all say this together..."CHECK". HOLLA!<br />
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2. Play more with the boys---<br />
I wrote this because I have gotten in the habit of cleaning while they're awake during the day, and sitting/laying down when they are napping/resting. I realized that I was a lot more stressed about cleaning because they would both "get in the way" while I was trying to get the chores done, and all they wanted was some mommy time. Still working on this, but I <em>am</em> making more of a conscious effort to stop and play when I feel myself or even the boys showing signs of frustration.<br />
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3. Read a book with Brenton---<br />
So we started reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Languages-Secret-Lasts/dp/080241270X" target="_blank">The 5 Love Languages</a> last year, and we really tried to get going during Lent, but life happens and we have NOT been successful with this yet. I'm not giving up though!<br />
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4. Weigh less than 200 lbs---<br />
Do you even know how hard it was to type that number?! I know that it isn't about the number, its about how you feel. But when you hit 200 (or more) you don't feel too good about it. At least I don't. P.S. have you ever noticed its mostly the naturally skinny people who say stuff like that? God bless them for their awesome metabolism and ability to eat whatever and still stay at a healthy weight, but momma wasn't built that way. I'm fine with that.....until someone brings out cake. Then I'm not so fine. Mercy. I digress. I haven't been below 200 since before I had Jackson. I've lost a little over 10 pounds so I'm almost there and I'm not giving up on this one!<br />
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5. Read more spiritual books---<br />
I've read two. I have about six on my shelf that I would like to get through. I'm gonna chalk that up in the "win" column! I'll try to add one or two more in for the year, but I'm happy with those two at this point.<br />
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That's them. My five little baby goals. To some, five might seem like too many. To others, it may seem like "geez, Kaylee. <em>Only</em> five?!" Let's go ahead and realize that I'm not really known for my over achieving status, so we can all be proud that I even wrote some down. Let alone have actually accomplished some!<br />
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<em><span style="color: #674ea7;"><strong>What are some of your resolutions?</strong></span></em><br />
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<em><span style="color: #674ea7;"><strong>Have you accomplished any of them?</strong></span></em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-83634180723621719532015-06-29T07:44:00.000-05:002015-07-07T15:55:31.206-05:00Pray. Hustle. Repeat.Everyone needs to do themselves a favor and go check out this amazing company. My sister-in-law, Jessica, and her sister, Trish, teamed up to make <a href="http://www.prayhustlerepeat.com/" target="_blank">Pray. Hustle. Repeat</a>. An amazing company with some adorable Ts, a blog, and a love for life like you've never seen. Not to mention they're badasses who Crossfit and lift more than some men. My favorite part about this whole company is that as portion of profit from each sale is donated to a pro-life organization! <a name='more'></a><br />
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Here's and excerpt from their site:<br />
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<em>"Pray Hustle Repeat was inspired by the sisters’ passion for life. Both living the life that God has planned for them and embracing new life, all life, into theirs. The image of the precious feet* on all of our merchandise is a testament to the joy that a life can bring – from conception through all its wondrous stages. Our desire is to spread a message of encouragement, perseverance, and openness to life. We know first hand what it’s like to “be in the trenches” and what a kind word or a smile can mean."</em><br />
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Here's a little glimpse of their goodies:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh272P2tt9HZIwrNs5ke199FWJtVQXrEmCK2qmkXFh15fW1OQF2GVNI2FYHq8FM6h2btezfZS9DxzDEXZrvD31PKy8nZbjYC9AIWZOZLtJXHuGttFTAvWGc3paWArjY0A_M-hPHLkWCW7k/s1600/phr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh272P2tt9HZIwrNs5ke199FWJtVQXrEmCK2qmkXFh15fW1OQF2GVNI2FYHq8FM6h2btezfZS9DxzDEXZrvD31PKy8nZbjYC9AIWZOZLtJXHuGttFTAvWGc3paWArjY0A_M-hPHLkWCW7k/s320/phr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgWOzBxGwHoIBrRk9x2kDmj7lc-gsqBS2nbrOE9K2_iO0c09hhZCvMHczmRs9FP1W98k0YXGoU6e3BtNH2O32RjGUNZs11ej3sqCwHVZz_gDpd4yqQ0_30ecJrE9EPxthdsZRnjYS7n0/s1600/speaklifeoutfit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgWOzBxGwHoIBrRk9x2kDmj7lc-gsqBS2nbrOE9K2_iO0c09hhZCvMHczmRs9FP1W98k0YXGoU6e3BtNH2O32RjGUNZs11ej3sqCwHVZz_gDpd4yqQ0_30ecJrE9EPxthdsZRnjYS7n0/s320/speaklifeoutfit.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Jess and Trish are two of my favorite people! They are stinkin hilarious and I am in stitches every time I hang out with them. <a href="http://www.prayhustlerepeat.com/" target="_blank">Go check out their site</a> and buy a shirt while you're there. You can also follow them on all forms of social media for their cheeky memes and the occasional surprise sale :) Who doesn't love a discount?! <br />
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*This is totally not a sponsored post, nor was I asked to write this. I just simply love these ladies and love the whole idea of this company :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-9846106995671208372015-06-23T22:52:00.002-05:002015-07-07T16:02:07.264-05:00Try It Tuesday!So here it is! Try it Tuesday...at the end of the day. Because you know, kids...<br />
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I am so excited to show you this fun new product that I got for my birthday! My mother in law pretty much read my mind and surprised me with the amazingness that is...<br />
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Younique 3D Fiber Lash Mascara!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYHGtNfqeMvXXaDyNXSltvX9Qgpr4FS6UN4zcYM7NIxfV27UIK-Up9h7G10okp5wcpWsc3eEiZOVQTYja5LOWsMZi7_DB1y7XBLPrsSSWNv4wdkaeuLc5cuDmJUhNYEsGTp4z41UFN98/s1600/Exk95u1435117779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYHGtNfqeMvXXaDyNXSltvX9Qgpr4FS6UN4zcYM7NIxfV27UIK-Up9h7G10okp5wcpWsc3eEiZOVQTYja5LOWsMZi7_DB1y7XBLPrsSSWNv4wdkaeuLc5cuDmJUhNYEsGTp4z41UFN98/s320/Exk95u1435117779.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am blown away by this stuff. I was totally skeptical, but I am now a believer. Here are a few quick pics I took.. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35gb8Gp4KorrFsSIEtqLXdPKyrEYMcygn-K7XMpmFjAytTAxQZ0_agzbttkxEgHe7w70Ux1Kwl_IUdHsGAy9mZeQvI_5amt1GCswLABIaDshKxhGFVvqHMRqTJHal2RiSjqg6tniV88s/s1600/IMG_3493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35gb8Gp4KorrFsSIEtqLXdPKyrEYMcygn-K7XMpmFjAytTAxQZ0_agzbttkxEgHe7w70Ux1Kwl_IUdHsGAy9mZeQvI_5amt1GCswLABIaDshKxhGFVvqHMRqTJHal2RiSjqg6tniV88s/s320/IMG_3493.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSILmySQn_KXQugFTNE7k2EtsiUAzm8GjiWL-xzfJ2Qiy2TcaumUNiXZtllsIC0h719iFX1C10MtiizqiTT7xVnVKqnlDUgga2tWVUcbE_8PQozrvPqg5Dcdkwxz93JvjAXnunPaSrCbc/s1600/IMG_3494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSILmySQn_KXQugFTNE7k2EtsiUAzm8GjiWL-xzfJ2Qiy2TcaumUNiXZtllsIC0h719iFX1C10MtiizqiTT7xVnVKqnlDUgga2tWVUcbE_8PQozrvPqg5Dcdkwxz93JvjAXnunPaSrCbc/s320/IMG_3494.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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WHAT?! Holy lashes, Batman? </div>
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Please excuse the terrible lighting, I'll take a follow up picture when the Mr. and I get to get gussied up to celebrate a friend this weekend. Holla for date night! </div>
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To wrap this up, I LOVE THIS STUFF and you should go getchya some! Oh, and I promise to be more on the ball with timing next week!</div>
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<em><span style="color: #674ea7;">Give me some ideas of things you would like to see me try! </span></em></div>
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<span style="color: black;">*UPDATE*</span></div>
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Here's what my lashes looked like when the Mr and I went out...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyfs9tZ3FsZIDAkSuYnp2MD2TOx7HL-9vfPPUU-k3M0iPXpUn2iU2oeYTccjEAn-kK-LQ7zxJGiOP_-8B2lDtz3PKCzA53Vnx01DDT1UFBEb0lmN4O1kdAFUSPfK494LiZWimOn8lG2o/s1600/IMG_3557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyfs9tZ3FsZIDAkSuYnp2MD2TOx7HL-9vfPPUU-k3M0iPXpUn2iU2oeYTccjEAn-kK-LQ7zxJGiOP_-8B2lDtz3PKCzA53Vnx01DDT1UFBEb0lmN4O1kdAFUSPfK494LiZWimOn8lG2o/s320/IMG_3557.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sometimes your kid smudges up the camera and you don't realize it until its too late</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsD1AyJ-wBu_MQmbIc2x9YcGfK7XPVPRDznKDQGdU8YoHKpWP8o6Vk8QnzJgUZbysi8ikLB5HR5Hi-T0gRQfmWND6mG506znNElF6g2lVrf6k-vKv0Xk2qZGYvQ3ws8UgyiIDM1PtL_I/s1600/IMG_3561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsD1AyJ-wBu_MQmbIc2x9YcGfK7XPVPRDznKDQGdU8YoHKpWP8o6Vk8QnzJgUZbysi8ikLB5HR5Hi-T0gRQfmWND6mG506znNElF6g2lVrf6k-vKv0Xk2qZGYvQ3ws8UgyiIDM1PtL_I/s320/IMG_3561.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well hey there lashes! I promise to remember lipstick next time I take a picture this close up :/</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-86280556285715387342015-06-22T15:24:00.004-05:002015-07-07T16:02:28.612-05:00Weekend Review (Birthday Edition) 6/19-6/21So with the B's new job he gets off early on Fridays....well he's <em>supposed</em> to get off early. This Friday he had to stay a little longer. BUMMER. When he got home he decided he needed a nap since Gage was sleeping and Jackson was having quiet time. In the mean time my sister had decided to come and hang with us for a little while. <a name='more'></a><br />
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*side note* Ashlie and I were planning to go on a little, sister, beach vacay this past week, but because of a few unforeseen and uncontrollable "road bumps" we weren't able to go... BIGGER BUMMER!<br />
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We hung out for a bit at the house, then called mom who was planning on meeting us for dinner. B, me, the boys, Ashlie, and mom headed to a sweet little restaurant here in town to check out some of their BBQ. SO GOOD! After dinner, the boys all went home and the girls decided we needed to do some shopping and had a mini Girl's Night. We had so much fun, and got a few cute things at Old Navy and Target that I'll talk about in another post. <br />
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Saturday, I had to wake up early and go help set up for Vacation Bible School. My friend Katie and I were asked to do the daily skits, and we will be helping our other two friends <a href="http://www.beautyinthecrazy.com/" target="_blank">Kristina</a> and Alisha with teaching the motions to some songs. I'm pretty pumped about my first VBS being a momma! Love getting to share these times with some of my favorite mommy friends. I got home a little after noon, and was ready to get the boys out of the house. B was supposed to work all afternoon, but we no more than walked in to Hobbly Lobby when he called to say he was already on his way back home. We decided to meet at Home Depot and get a few flowers for our front porch and this sweet little wheel barrel. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiJCUKr-xAVj2CTHDFsHzGudmITAiYJyT9Z2q0_ffYMwy3rDMynnWAkUujXwahwj3V9Z4-eAzxwk6TFlKU_k-_SXFUiViuDuI8QAAHmxkUDJjFK2VcR-vxLOQCInuugDsQTpubq7T85I/s1600/IMG_3490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiJCUKr-xAVj2CTHDFsHzGudmITAiYJyT9Z2q0_ffYMwy3rDMynnWAkUujXwahwj3V9Z4-eAzxwk6TFlKU_k-_SXFUiViuDuI8QAAHmxkUDJjFK2VcR-vxLOQCInuugDsQTpubq7T85I/s200/IMG_3490.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPIoPi2iQVBGo3T06BhT3YeFXFJ0F4nQsXgsRwE8n1lHUiWoTQ95G-bzy71QpInz8vu6Gj90-BO9jOggnS6huhCSu_aoLZ19GMXfOWn5YbNg50iiGIb76IxYma3gjFIAXQKail9jHCIc/s1600/IMG_3489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPIoPi2iQVBGo3T06BhT3YeFXFJ0F4nQsXgsRwE8n1lHUiWoTQ95G-bzy71QpInz8vu6Gj90-BO9jOggnS6huhCSu_aoLZ19GMXfOWn5YbNg50iiGIb76IxYma3gjFIAXQKail9jHCIc/s200/IMG_3489.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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Marigolds in the front</div>
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Balloon flowers and Vinca flowers in the back</div>
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B and Jackson decided to go on an adventure while Gage and I headed home for a nap (Gage) and to plant (me) our new goodies. We grilled out and after dinner exchanged birthday and Father's Day gifts. We're not very good at keeping presents from each other so they're usually given a little early. Gift giving is totally one of my top love languages so I'm fine with this HA! The boys spoiled me once again with all kinds of fun things including a new pillow. I was especially excited about that! You know you're an adult when.... </div>
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Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to Coppell to spend some time with my in-laws. Jackie (my father-in-law) grilled up some DE-LISH chicken and sausage, and of course we had all kinds of sides. The meal was complete with red velvet cake for me and pineapple upside down cake for the dads. Y'all I am so pumped to tell you about what Pam and Jackie gifted me, but you'll have to wait until Tuesday when I start and new little "series" called Try it Tuesday. So stay tuned! We then all got ready and headed back up to Denton for church. </div>
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I was extra excited because I was going to be a Eucharistic Minister at Mass. There's just something about handing the body and blood of Christ to your friends and family that can really humble and amaze you. Especially when you're celebrating<em> </em>your birthday! The act of handing our Savior, the man who was sent to save us, to people in Communion while celebrating the day your life began was an experience I can't even begin to put in to words. Let me just say that I may have almost started crying when my sweet friend's little girl (who had her First Holy Communion early this year) came up to receive. So amazing.</div>
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After Mass, the guys and I headed out to the farm. We had a huge dinner to celebrate all the dads and sing "Happy Birthday" to my dad and me. Yep, my sweet papa and I are birthday twins!! It was also Father's Day the day I was born. I mean, sheesh, talk about upping the gift-giving ante, mom! </div>
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Now that the five of you have made it this far I'll wrap this up. All in all the weekend was a great one! I was spoiled once again and was reminded of just how wonderful my friends and family are.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">someone sweet talked Aunt Ashlie for some ice cream</td></tr>
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<em><span style="color: #674ea7;">T</span><span style="color: #674ea7;">hank you, Jesus, for these awesome people I love and for another amazing year of life. I pray the next one is full with as many or more adventures!!</span></em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-82875044841895339612015-06-18T21:08:00.004-05:002015-07-07T16:02:41.535-05:00He's One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I don't even know where the year has gone.<a name='more'></a> Our sweet Gage Wyatt (or "Gager" as he is also known) is one of the friendliest, most well-mannered, handsome babies I've ever known. He is absolutely precious and our lives are so much better with him around. He eats all the time, loves his big brother, and has lashes for days. Really though, if I had a nickel for every time someone commented on his eyes, I'd have A LOT of nickels.<br />
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I love him more than I could have ever thought. I thought my heart was full once we welcomed Jackson, but my goodness Gage has filled me with even more love. I love that saying "hands full, heart full". That is my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything.</div>
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Now, I'm going to blast this post with some adorable pictures of Gage that will probably give you crazy baby fever so consider yourselves warned :)</div>
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I could probably stop now, but I've decided that I need, NEED to add more pictures of Gage. These are from his newborn session that our <a href="http://www.yourcandidmemories.com/" target="_blank">sweet friend, Cynthia</a> did for us. She's just wonderful and has taken all of our family pictures since we had Jackson.<br />
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<em><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">We love you so much, my sweet Gage. You are such a delight and I can't imagine our lives without you. You make us giggle all the time, and I can't wait to see what kind of adventures are in your future. Mama loves you too much.</span></em><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-65795772946930999332015-06-11T15:36:00.001-05:002015-07-07T16:03:05.828-05:00My keepersI sat down to write a post titled "Toddler For Sale". I was maybe three sentences in when all of a sudden Jackson "The Wild West Bandit", as he as named himself, busted through my door. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So much for quite time ;)</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>This is usually how it goes though. Just when I'm ready to throw in the towel on this whole "motherhood" gig Jackson does something extremely funny, or randomly says "I LOVE YOU" while squeezing me as hard as he can. Or Gage lets out one his amazing baby belly laughs. You know those laughs. The ones where you can almost feel your ovaries jump and you all of a sudden want to have all the babies. Yeah.<br />
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The reason I was going to write the above mentioned post is because I gotta tell ya, three year olds are hard. Otherwise known as "threenagers" I was recently told. They are so passionate about so many things, and have mercy on you if you try to take one of those things away. For example, the other day Jackson was watching a few cartoons, and when time came for the TV to be turned off he lost. his. mind. This is where I would insert the emoji with the bulging eyes because that is literally all I could do. Standing there and trying to not laugh, or lose my patience with this kid who is screaming "I don't love you" and running around in an honest to God circle all because I turned off the TV once his beloved Paw Patrol was over. Thankfully, my peace offering of milk and bubble time was happily accepted, and we went along with our day.<br />
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Praise the Lord that Jackson is who he is, though. He is one of the funniest, sweetest, smartest, thoughtful kids I know. He loves big and hard. Just ask Gage the next time Jackson tackles him to give him a hug or kiss.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPb7GBllwdzvjW-Nuhvq4iHbDseGxPjjtwGL8Fclpat297yNnpXSX2pLpnnHMsVrptx9shRP_BJpBG7AZGgrlP10YtYs5MUseK6-kiLmSMoy1JHx-e1ze7AAztWkR4L4YGssmYReSG6Qk/s1600/IMG_3376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPb7GBllwdzvjW-Nuhvq4iHbDseGxPjjtwGL8Fclpat297yNnpXSX2pLpnnHMsVrptx9shRP_BJpBG7AZGgrlP10YtYs5MUseK6-kiLmSMoy1JHx-e1ze7AAztWkR4L4YGssmYReSG6Qk/s320/IMG_3376.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Case in point. I said "give Gage a hug" and that obviously means squeeze and pull.</td></tr>
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His times of trying to figure out the hard parts of this life are totally outnumbered by all his laughter and kisses. And speaking of Gage, well, he's pretty much the easiest baby to have ever been born, so as long as I keep giving him food he's good. Except we'll revisit that statement once the next set of teeth start trying to viciously cut through his gums. Teeth are jerks, man. <br />
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All in all, these boys are my favorite little people. They are definitely keepers. Being their mom is the best thing I've ever done. Should we be blessed with more babies in the future, I know more tantrums and meltdowns are inevitable, but hopefully the Mr. and I will continue to teach the kiddos that laughing through life makes everything a lot more fun!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-21074778813345700792015-06-09T07:50:00.001-05:002015-07-07T16:03:19.178-05:00Through it all my eyes are on you...mostlyLet's be honest here, sometimes its a lot easier to say that I have complete faith in God's plan for myself and for my family. However, because I am who I am, that's not always true. I wholeheartedly <em>want</em> that to be the way I live my life. I get caught up in the whirlwind of things, though, and get lost on the path. When I try to take control of things I usually just cause a big ol mess.<a name='more'></a><br />
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This song by Kristen DiMarco and Bethel Music is one of the songs I try to go to when I'm failing, or when I just need a moment to refocus.<br />
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My prayer life if a constant struggle, and something I'm trying to improve. I'm learning that when I need a moment to pray but can't seem to get my thoughts together, if I turn to music I can center myself and just sing out all my prayer needs. Sometimes I sing pretty darn loud! Momma needs Jesus a little extra at certain points of the day. (a certain 3 year old boy has recently stopped taking naps so you can only imagine how loud I'm singing come 5 o'clock!) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moments like this make up for the tantrums though :)</td></tr>
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You would think I'd have realized by now that once I start praying about something, I get an answer fairly quickly. There's something about completely humbling myself, and asking for help that slows me, however. I guess its my human-ness. Thankfully, He knows what's on my heart. <br />
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Here are a few things that are on my heart this morning...<br />
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- B is starting his second week at his new job. We prayed that God's will be done, and that we be shown the path our family is to be on, and after a little while of actively praying we were given an answer. An old boss of his called and told B he would possibly have a job for him in the next few weeks so standby. We waited, prayed about it, and B finally got the call for an interview which led to an amazing new opportunity for my sweet guy. Y'all he has come home smiling with an extra pep in his step every day since he started! It is well.<br />
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- I want my boys to have a strong and passionate relationship with Christ so badly. One where they feel comfortable to stop and pray when both times of celebration and times of struggle present themselves. My heart aches for the things of the world that are out to get them, make them doubt, make them feel not worthy. So it is my fervent prayer that <em>they</em> know to turn to prayer when they need guidance. It is well.<br />
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- I'm still trying to figure out my place in this world. Some days I am so in love with being at home, spending all this time with my boys. Some days, all I can think about is going back to work. I loved working! Yes, I worked outrageous hours and let it stress me out more than I should have, but the good days were GOOD! I even think about going back to school. WHAT?!? Mercy. Like I said, trying to figure out my place. It is well.<br />
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So many more thoughts and prayers, but those are the ones that have been constant lately. <br />
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As I'm writing all of this, I'm starting to hear the sweetest babble coming from Gage's room. It's crazy how that sound can put the biggest smile on your face. <br />
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It is well.<br />
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love love, <br />
Kaylee :)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438178003598084310.post-29397635836301126372015-05-26T10:59:00.002-05:002015-07-07T16:03:31.865-05:00This guy...<br />
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...has my heart. <br />
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CAUTION! If you aren't a fan of sappy "I love you" posts I recommend skipping this one. But be sure you come back for the next! <br />
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Where was I...oh yeah. Brenton. He's my dreamy, handsome husband and best friend. Today is his birthday so I wanted to throw some love his way. He's pretty much my favorite person. The things he does or doesn't do so our family can be this happy are so abundant that I can't list them here. Hell, he puts up with my shenanigans so the man is close to sainthood! He makes me laugh, wipes my eyes when I cry, and tells me I'm beautiful multiple times a day. <br />
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He has helped me see the world in a whole different way. I am the type of person who can hold a grudge if someone does me wrong or something doesn't go my way. He is teaching me how to let go, and laugh even more than I already do. He has helped me see that talking about problems solves things A LOT faster than holding my feelings in and pretending like everything is ok. When friendships change and I devastatingly don't see it coming, he's there to get me through...even if all he can do is offer to call my mom because he doesn't know what else to do. I love that he knows that I still need my mom. He understands my need for the occasional late night ice cream. Bless. He's as passionate about our faith as I am and I love growing closer to God with him.</div>
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He loves our babies more than I could have ever imagined. His eyes sparkle every time he looks at them.</div>
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And <em>they</em> love <em>him</em> so stinkin much. The way Jackson and Gage look at Brenton is the stuff you dream about. His example of what a true and honest man is, is so amazing and I just know my boys will grow to be not only amazing humans but wonderful men. (Future daughters-in-law I'll go ahead and apologize because its gonna be hard for me to let go when its your turn to take the "leading lady" role). </div>
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To summarize, Brenton. is. AWESOME! </div>
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<em>I hope you have the best birthday ever, babe! Thank you for doing life with me, and for making me feel like we're still dating...most of the time ;) Ha! I love you and can't wait to celebrate!</em></div>
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<em>To the moon, my love</em></div>
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love love, </div>
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Kaylee :)</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10862757378631465365noreply@blogger.com0