What I love Wednesday

I am linking up with this lovely lady for WILW. What a cool idea. You should go check her out and jump in on this link. It really makes me appreciate all the little, lovely things that happen in my life on a daily basis. I am not sure I am proud to say this, but since I have started blogging and joining link-ups it has really made me stop and think about all the wonderful moments that happen in my life on a daily basis.

Some I take for granted and some I am well aware are precious gifts.

1. I am loving this little guys bed head in the morning now that his hair is getting longer. If he follows at all in his momma's footsteps it only gets worse from here. My hair is nothing to be desired in the morning.

2. Loving that the weather is warming up just enough to start pulling out spring/summer clothes.

3. I was loving that we close on this house tomorrow, which I was later bummed to find out that the closing got pushed back. So technically not really a love but a tolerance. I do love all the before and after pics soon to come and I know Holly from The Stanfield Clan will appreciate them as well.

4. I am soooo loving all the polyvore styles on Pinterest. You see I was not born with the fashion "jean" (haha so funny, I am a dork, sigh) at all. I really need somebody to hold my hand permanently when it comes to putting outfits together, but thanks to polyvore I can act like a big girl and dress like I understand fasion all on my own.

5.   I love these girls blog. They are so fun and cute. Definitely check them out.

6. I love that I am learning to proofread post more carefully before I post them.

6. I love this quote and am trying to go through these before I speak.

7. And this one

8. I am loving my family

9. I love that I have so many "loves" to share with ya'll today, but will stop here in fear of boring ya'll to pieces.

Happy Wednesday!

A Surprise Birthday

I have to preface this post with my camera situation. You see we are closing on our house on Thursday and have been heavily saving so our down payment will not be such a hit to our savings account. My sweet sister gave me her old camera when she upgraded. It it is a Kodak EasyShare Z812 IS.

See that nice piece of silver down the center? Yes that is what you think it is! Duct tape. The battery clip is broken. I have called several camera shops and they all have the same answer, "It would cost more just to have it sent off and they can't even promise is would be fixed." The duct tape doesn't really bother me unless I hask somebody else to take a picture. Then I start sweating and giving explanations for my ghetto camera.

Other things are starting to happen as well. It has developed a mind of its own and will randomly switch to video, or take me to the favorites folder, etc.... It is time for a new one, but strictly saving and buying the camera I want (Canon T3i-swoon) don't really go hand in hand. I have tried not to complain much until this weekend.

We had a surprise 60th birthday for my dad. So many worked so hard on the food and decorations. I took around 150 pictures and the camera deleted over half the pictures for some unknown reason. To say I was disappointed is a HUGE understatement. This kicked my "new camera desire" into high gear!

ALL that to say, that is why if the pictures seem to go from the very beginning then skip to the end it is my camera's fault. I lost everything inbetween. The pics I have are still memorable.

Without further adieu

I wanted a BIG decoration, so this is what I came up with.  I purchased rolls of plastic table cloths from Party City. It was much easier to work with and came with 100 ft for $16.99. Pretty economical. I bought 3 but we probably only needed 2.

Of  course we had to take many breaks to play with the balloons.

I also got to flex my Pinterest muscle this weekend. Everything on the menu list came from it and we did not have much in the way of leftovers. All of the pictures below can be found on my "Must Make Recipes" board.

We only had 6 hours from the moment they walked out the door until their return.. I was sooo thankful my sister and her in-laws came to my rescue. Sweating through my clothes seriously decreased after they arrived.  The men even had to help cook and I was more than impressed. We were all like a fine oiled machine.

 Dad walking in

   

We ended the night contemplating Yo Gabba Gabba, with balloons tied to our pants

I seriously could have layed on the floor and thrown a 2 yr old fit when I realized all the pictures were gone. I didn't, but it crossed my mind more than once

Dad,

You are an incredible man, father, and Poppers. I love getting to watch you with Crewe and am so grateful for this season in my families life. We will never forget it and I will make sure Crewe does not either. I love how you always try to see the good in everyone and if every situation.

Thank you for all you do for everyone else. We are so lucky to have you in our lives.

Blogging

Man, this blog designing stuff is no joke. It has taken me F.O.R.E.V.E.R (envision the kid in the Sandlot)!

Anywho, I think I have finally committed to a header I like, keyword, I think! This header for me has been like committing to a hair style and actually being okay with waiting for it to grow out if I don't like it. Constantly backing out at the last minute is what I feel like I have been doing.

Now onto the sidebars and blah, blah, blah. Once it's done I am keeping it F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

Thanks for sticking with me on this. I am sure it has been as annoying for you as it has for my husband and the 100 times I ask him if he likes it!

This sweet babe has needed some extra lovin lately due to 7 teeth coming in!

Crewe goes big or goes home and Momma's just tired.

Happy Monday!

20 Rules for Mother's of Sons

I came across a sweet blog of a momma's rules for Mother's of daughters and just HAD to do one for Mother's of sons. I think many of my "rules" could be for mother's in general, but there are definitely some that are just for "snips, snails, and puppy dog tails".

This WILL be printed on pretty paper and framed so I never forget to do ALL these things regularly.

1. Get dirty with him. After all isn't that what childhood is all about? Getting dirty, being hosed down outside, grass sticking to your wet feet, hearing the ice cream truck coming down the road and running to mom and/or dad to ask for money, picking out your own clothes. It might help momma's get back in touch with their  more childish sides in the process. 

2. Always be his biggest fan-  win or lose, at his sporting events, choir/band performances, chess tournaments, or whatever he fancies. I think it sets the perfect stage for him to know you will always be there for him, through the good and the bad.

3. Remind him that winning is not near as important as doing you best.  If he learns that, nothing anyone says to him about his performance will make him question himself.

4. Make  a To Do list and put playing on it- Being that I am a huge list maker, I have made it a point to always have playing with Crewe on my list of things to do. That way everytime I look at my list I am reminded of what is most important.

5. Lick you finger and wipe food off his face- whether in public or at home, 8 or 18. It's a sign of affection.

6. Cook with him and let him help with laundry- it will help him impress the ladies on down the road and value what his wife does for him day in and day out. Cooking and laundry are a valuable lessons whether male or female.

7. Cry with him- teach him emotions are okay. Let him see you cry when you are upset and let him come to you when he is upset.He needs to see life can be hard for you too, but also let him see you become stronger from the situation

8. Always tell him he has what it takes- but immediately follow it up with it's okay to let some things go.

9. Always kiss him and tell him you love him- even when he is 40 and has a wife and kids of his own.

(I seriously cannot believe I am putting this picture on here. Me in all my nursing bra, bib wearing, left over makeup glory!)

10. Love his father well- the relationship he watches between his parents will set the stage for how he views and functions in relationships the rest of his life.

(even though it appears otherwise, I do have clothes on!)

11. Encourage him to be silly and take risks. Some of our greatest accomplishments come from the things we were most scared to ever try.

12. Model patience- with him, with your spouse, with complete strangers. Consistently show him that everyone is deserving of the same treatment.

13. Let him stay up past his bedtime- whether it's watching movie's and eating popcorn until midnight or swimming in a hotel pool until it closes. Some rules are okay to bend.

14. Let go a little- you will always be his first love, so when a serious love comes along, remind yourself of that and let him have some space.

15. Camp out in the backyard together- roast marshmellows, tell stories, and sleep under the stars.

16. Go on a date together- teach him chivalry and that it does still exsist.

17.  Go out for ice cream for dinner- spontenaity is so fun and part of being a kid.

18. Let him always believe that he is a superhero- even if it is just jumping off his bed with a towel tied around his neck as a cape.

19. Start traditions that he can pass on to his family- the traditions that my family had are some of the most prominent memories of my childhood. Sweet, sweet memories. Remind yourself that you are writing your childs book right now for them.

20. Talk to him everyday about Jesus- I pray daily that John and I are the reason that Crewe accepts Jesus as his Savior and that we can fully model what it means to love and follow Jesus.

I hope everyone has a super great weekend!

I got nothin

Do you ever have those days weeks where you just feel you don't have anything interesting to blog about? Well I am having one of those weeks.There just hasn't been much going on that I feel is blog worthy, unless you count being incredibly hard on my husband just because he is the first one around when you have had a frustrating day. Yeah that has pretty much been me since Monday. Lucky him,  I know he feels like he has won the lottery ; )!

Crewe agrees.

Since I don't have much to say, well I always have lots to say, but nothing that would probably  interest you. I will leave you will an overload of pictures.

Kind of a mish mash if you will.

If you have a babe under 2 and do not have a zoo in town, I highly recommend Petsmart. For real? For Real! We went for dogfood and ended letting the bubs play on the dog toy aisle for much longer than I am proud to admit and I could of stayed longer. Just sayin. It crossed my mind that this is better than a toy store for him because none of the toys are packaged. It also crossed my mind to buy him one.

How I wish I had the top photo on my regular camera! Love the pure joy in his face!

We may or may not have gotten some "Get a life" looks from the people in the dog class.

Crewe's sexy and he knows it. He kills me with his poses.

We ended the evening with a bath. Please tell me I am not the only one who kills two birds with one stone and bathes with my child. It is so much easier! Oh and blue bath tablets are the only way to take a bath, if you haven't heard.

I am currently watching my husband play the wii and bow (so weird that is how you spell it, and I googled that one) to me as he sets the high score on an archery game. Really??? Yes that is my week friends.

                                      And this shall be my motto for the remainder of the week!



Stay tuned I have a fun post coming!

Any day with daddy is a good day

This lovely lady is hosting her first link up that I just had to jump on board with because I feel it is so important to find the bits of splendor in our every day activities or little moments that you look back on with such fondness. I hope everyone will jump on over to her page and join along.

I find so much splendor on the weekends, when the three of us are together as a family. I get excited about the weekends like I do right before I walk into a movie theater, the smell of the popcorn, sitting in the seats watching all the advertisements and the previews. Maybe it is something that takes me back to hanging out with my own parents on the weekends and going to see an afternoon movie or even more exciting was a movie that allowed us to stay up past our bedtime.

The excitement bubbles over for me when there is impending weather that might cause Daddy to be home on a weekday which was exactly the case last Monday. As many of you know, it only takes about and inch of snow here for the city to shut down. Us southerners!

Although we didn't get a full day, we did get a half day to explore the great white outdoors.

I also find so much slendor in how hard my honey works to think of creative photos for me to take.

The snow literally melted within 1.5 hours of our outdoor adventure, but I will surely remember it much longer than that.

Thanks so much Laura for hosting this link-up! I love the idea and the fact that it will keep me looking for little bits of splendor throughout my day.

Love,

Our Weekend

Our weekend was slow and steady. We had a semi sick baby and I say semi because he partly acted like himself, but then was overly clingy and warm most of the day. His sleep was awful Friday night but luckily I have a wonderful husband to help out when momma had one too many glasses of wine ; ).

Of course little man is never too sick to lay one on the ladies.

 

We tried out lots of pinterest recipes and I for one always remember to take pictures half way through my cooking, but this recipe was super easy, pretty healthy, and really yummy.

Crispy southwest chiken wraps:

You can find the full recipe here. I am telling you it is sooooo easy. I did substitute whole wheat tortillas as well as a rotisserie chicken. It made everything go much quicker.

My sweet sister got all Betty Crocker in the kitchen and made oreo balls Friday night and Red Velvet balls Saturday, not only were they yummy, but I didn't feel quite as guilty. I mean that is like one fourth of a slice. Totally quiltless.

I mean all kinds of yummy happenging up in here!

Speaking of the sis. She is going through some rocky times with her friends right now and I was totally the girl in high school that never really felt like I quite fit it, no matter how much I wanted to. Like I was trying to force friendships. Don't get me wrong I had a few close friends, but more felt like the girl that wanted to be part of certain groups, but never really felt like I had what it took to be one of "those" girls. It is funny the things that stick with you over a decade later, but I will never forget the feeling of wanting something so bad that just wasn't there.

My sis is and probably always will be way cooler and more stylish than me, but it kind of hurts when she calls and talks about friends that "forgot" to text her to go to church, when they said they would and then post on facebook about the service. It stings because I remember that feeling of "did you really forget" and then I would over analyze it for days. Anyway, just wanted to shout out to my sis that  I love you!

The rest of the weekend we mostly played around

Caught up with some friends

 Walked for a bit outside

Did some nom, nom-in

And Momma got a ton of cuddles!

 Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!