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,

A Glimpse...

A glimpse into just a few of the many things I love about my husband. 19 to be exact because not only is today the 14th of February, but also our 5 year anniversary (just in case you were confused where 19 came from).

Let me give just a tad bit of background because I feel it is important to understand the greatness that he is.

When John and I first hung out it was exactly 2 weeks after I had moved into an apartment and out of my house. The house that my ex-husband and I shared. A divorce was imminent. I was convinced I would spend Valentine's Day alone, when my phone rang at work. John, who had gotten my number from a friend, was calling to see if he could cook me dinner because he didn't feel I should spend Valentine's Day alone. I was hesitant, but accepted. 

You see, John and I had crossed passed several time over the past 4 years, but it was never more than a casual "Hi" because we had mutual friends.

I am surprised he hung around after that night and me rambling on and on about how much baggage I had and really wasn't in a point to start a relationship. And that is exactly where we left it for months. He was just my friend and there for me. Yes we hung out and talked and got to know each other, but there was never any pressure for anything more.

And that is where we all started.

A beginning

A Baby

A Wedding

and a home and (in that order) we have loved, fought, grown, cried, laughed, prayed, and healed. I couldn't be more blessed to have him as a husband. God has confirmed multiple times that this was ALL part of his plan.

So onto the 19 things I love about John:

1) He will always let me have a bite of his food even before he takes one and I am sooo stingy with my food.

2) He loves giving Crewe a bath and has done it every night for almost a year. Crewe now only wants Daddy to bathe him, but I tried giving him a bath a while ago and he cried and reached for John the whole time.

3) He is one of the most laid back people I know and Crewe is following in his footsteps which this momma loves.

4) He always gives me a choice in what we watch on television.

5) He L.O.V.E.S hunting. I mean loves!!! He can spot a deer from a mile away.

And as you can tell, I cleary have hunting and country pulsing through my veins ; )

6) He will be the first to try any sweet with the justification that he is just making sure it is safe for everyone else to eat and he goes to great length to create healthy low calorie desserts to satisfy his sweet tooth.

85 calories in case anyone is interested

7) He has been so dedicated to losing weight, hence the low calorie sweets, and when he is passionate about something his in it 100%. He has lost 30 lbs and I am so proud of him even more so because I know how much he loves sweets.

8) He always tries to show interest in the things I like, Pinterest being the most comical, because I still don't think he understands it.

9) He is my number 1 blog reader and commenter too.

10) He is always trying to be creative and come up with good picture ideas for me. For example:

Seriously I was so impressed!

11) He is an awesome dancer, I mean good. Like sexy good.

12) He carries my purse all the time for me and never complains.

13) He always tells me how beautiful I look, even when that look is 5:30 in the morning with matted hair and smeared mascara. (Not my best look) I will spare yall the picture.

14) He is a manly man and does all our car repairs.

15) He has sacrificed SO MUCH for me to be able to stay at home with Crewe. He never acts like it is a sacrifice, but that he is happy to do it.

16) He has always helped me with Crewe in the middle of the night even though he has to get up to go to work.

Sidenote: We have concluded together that 3am is not the best time to make parenting decisions or any decisions, for that matter, that could lead to an argument.

17) We an talk about our faith and God, I mean really dig deep talk, and he never gets offended or thinks I am crazy. He is an awesome spiritual leader of our house and gets up early to have time to read the bible before he works out and goes to work.

18) He gets up early to workout so that it doesn't cut into his time with us when he gets home from work.

19) He never brings up previous fights when we have a disagreement. My head is like a huge filing cabinet when we get in an ahem... argument. Sorry honey I will work on that.

Ok lets make it an even 20.

20) He is our rock and I hope Crewe grows up to be just like him when he is a husband and father.

Just kidding 21, there are just too many great things about him.

21) Most importantly he loves God. I love that inside my wedding band he engraved "you are my #2", because we always talk about how God should be our #1 and your spouse your #2.

I never want to reach a point where I take him for granted and it doesn't phase me. I will always strive to be a Godly wife and mother.

Honey you're the best and even though our evenings sometimes consist of sending each other facebook messages from opposite couches just to make the other one laugh, I am so glad I get to experience all of this life with you.

I love you!

What was that Honey??

It is mind boggling to me some days on how down right comedic our lives can be. None of this happened until I became a momma, but trying to get everyday task done with a 1 year old can get quite hilarious. Just yesterday we were in Market Street; I was just running in to grab a pound of chicken. In a matter of 10 minutes the munchkin managed to spit up 3 times; yes I am convinced I will be sending him to Kindergarden spitting up. Amidst the frustration sometimes all I can do is laugh that I am wiping spit up off of the side of an isle, the floor, as well as my purse. Which leads to this.....

Like I said in the last post, Pinterest has change my life in the kitchen, so much so that I have surpassed Betty Crocker to become Better Crocker : ). If that doesn't make sense read my last post.

 I was in the middle of cooking dinner when I looked over to see little man doing this.

He loves this particular box of dog treats so much that I have turned around before and he has had one sticking out of his mouth. Where is the camera when you need it?!?!

I redirected him and turned around 2 minutes later to find him unloading every plastic baggy in 3 boxes. At that point I had to give up because 1) It was keeping him entertained and 2) it allowed me enough time to wash the raw chicken off my hands. 

He migrated over to the drawer, at which point momma cracked open a Corona and watched as he played enthralled at the strainers and pans. I LOVE that he is at the age that everything is new and amazing to him, so fun to watch and maks those, ahem... frustrating moments so much more bearable!

He was quickly redirected when he decided the cabinets with all the bakeware was where he needed to play and from there it all went down hill. A fit or two was being thrown when Daddy walked through the door and this is where I sit and ponder.

 Daddy came in scooped up Crewe and started talking to him, like he does everyday. He continues to talk and I here him say to Crewe, "Daddy doesn't like to walk in and find you giving Momma a hard time. You need to be nice to Momma. Trust me, I know!" I stopped stirring for a moment, turned around to find them walking towards the hallway and caught myself before saying, "What is that supposed to mean". It was significant moment in my life that I decided to pick my battle and this is not one I was willing to fight. I write this and still wonder what he meant by that. : )

Hope everyone had a great week!