Quiet Week

With the girls in Ohio with my parents, the house was much more quite than normal and we were able to enjoy some time together as a couple. 

Cousins!  Only missing Ms. Ellie!   The girls were so eager to see the boys on the way back to Gjysh and KK's house!  

Jimmy got in late Saturday night/ early Sunday morning and really due to plane delays were not sure he would be home before Monday.    Due to the crazy unknown we got someone to fill in for us at church Sunday and had a quiet morning at home.   It was perfect.  Coffee and great conversation!   

My brother and sister in law trusted us with Ellie for Sunday night!  They were going to a concert in Nashville and asked if we would keep her!   I did not have to think long about that!  We enjoyed some sweet baby Ellie snuggles and play time.  (But we did not tell the girls as they would have been most upset to not have time with her).  

I spent half my week in Nashville with my team there, that is the new normal for me I guess.   I did it this way so that when the girls get home I don’t have to be gone that week!    The week ended with a great date night to St. Johns which has become our favorite restaurant.   

Today we picked up the girls.  We sure were glad to see them and get their kisses.   We heard all about their week filled with cupcakes, the zoo, wearing KK’s wedding dress and other sweet memories! 

We love the Toledo Zoo!   The girls enjoyed every party (except Gracie and the smelly monkey house which she comes by it honestly from me!)

Sweet girls! 

My sweet girls! 

KK got her wedding dress out for the girls to play with.  Too sweet!  I love it! 

Gracie in my mom's dress.  What I love is she is also holding the bible my mom carried and I carried!   Priceless! 

One last hug before we each head back to our homes!  We can't wait for the next visit! 

We are eagerly anticipating Resurrection Sunday tomorrow!   It’s not about eggs and pretty dresses but about God’s Son!  

Guys Trip, Mommy Daughter Nights, and Spring Break!

Ready for church in green! 

Sweet in green!

St. Patty’s Day.  I laughed when Gracie came home from school and was insistent that Sunday she had to wear green so she would not get pinched.   So green it was for our girls.   

Sunday we made a quick trip to Atlanta for a late lunch to visit with Jimmy’s family and celebrate Jimmy’s Dad’s birthday.  All weekend the girls were eager to see their family and of course we heard “I really miss Ally, when I am going to see Ally?”.    It warms my heart how connected they are to each other and we pray this only grows!

Happy Birthday Papa!  (eyes shut, but only pic of the gang!)

On the way back we stopped quickly at the outlet mall for us, but of course Gracie wanted to hit the Gap.  She has found yoga pants she loves and really has gone from being my dress girl to my comfy girl.   She still likes to dress up, but day in day out wants leggings or yoga pants (and of course flip flops). 

Monday as we pulled into Maggie’s school her BFF was walking in wearing her favorite t-shirt (cookie monster) and Maggie was wearing her favorite t-shirt (yellow fish).  We laughed and I grabbed my camera phone to capture the moment.  They are just to stinking cute!   Maggie’s summer wardrobe will be fish shirts and shirts with “M” on them.   It will make getting ready much easier! 

BFF!    Cookie Monster and Fish!   Love these girls!  We see many sleep overs in our future with these too! 

That’s right, this was the week of Jimmy’s annual Vegas trip.  He flew out Wednesday and although we will miss him like crazy, we are glad he has the opportunity to go and refresh.    The week seems to pass quickly while we do school and work and small group Wednesday night.   By the time we blink the week is half way over.   

Gracie and Maggie with Maggie and Logan!  So blessed by our small group friendships for us and our girls! 

Gracie while one of us travels enjoys extra snuggles in our bed.  While we rarely let the girls sleep with us in our bed, I do enjoy those extra moments with her too.  I don’t know that I will ever get tired of watching the girls sleep.   Maggie even got to participate and sleep on her air mattress in our room (she is not one to enjoy sharing a bed with anyone and every sleeps better when she has her own space to sleep).   

Sleeping Beauty! 

Sleeping Beauty!

The girls fell asleep together before I moved Maggie to her bed!  This is why Maggie has to have her own space to sleep!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays!  The fresh reminder of what Christ did for us on the cross and the empty grave leaves me in awe!  The fresh grass and flowers makes me take inventory of all of God’s creation.    Our pretty girls in dresses are my daily reminder to love beyond measure.    The egg hunts fun moments to connect with friends, build relationships, and make memories!    

Maggie’s school does an annual egg hunt with each class.   Its fun to watch each year as the kids grow older how they really get it....the more eggs you find the better!  I just love to watch her with her friends.  

Gracie was a great big sister and helped Maggie find her eggs!   

Gracie’s 3Q report card was available for viewing.  She really seems to have embraced this learning thing and just blossomed!   While she is not perfect, she has done very well academically with S and S+ in all categories.  Here are some of the comments that warm my heart.  

Art teacher “the enjoyment in art is evident”.  She is our budding artist and no doubt gets this from her Gjysh!   Mrs. Barrow her main teacher “Gracie is my ray of sunshine.   She always strives to reach her full potential.    She exhibits a positive outlook and attitude in the classroom daily”.   

SPRING BREAK HAS STARTED!   I met my parents today in Lexington for lunch and to get the girls settled with them for the week.  The girls look forward to the week with them.  I can’t wait to hear all the stories!   

A great taste of spring!

Sunday was the most beautiful day!  How do I gage that?  Partially by 1) if we can do “church pictures” outside and 2) how quickly we rush back inside because its too cold. We could have stayed outside for hours!    Grammy was still in town and went to church with us before heading back to Atlanta.  It was so nice to have her visit for the weekend.    

Big Sis helping Little Sis "look pretty" (we continue to reinforce beauty is inside and out but a little lip gloss never hurt!)

Sweet sisters

Finally, a smile picture!

Maggie, Gracie and Grammy!   We loved having Gram in town! (and she spoiled us with chicken and dumplings)

After church we ran a few errands then headed home and spent the rest of the afternoon outside soaking up the sun and warmth. What a blessing!   I love spring for so many reasons which include reconnecting with neighbors and visiting after a cold winter.  I think everyone was outside enjoying the day.   

Sunshine! 

Daylight savings time really throws us off for the week.  Although we try to go to bed early through the weekend in hopes that Monday will not be so bad, it almost always is a trying morning and this year was no different.  Monday was rough, but not as bad as I had thought.   We have enjoyed the extra day light so I guess the loss of sleep is okay.  Although, Jimmy always says you don’t loose an hour you gain an hour!  What?  Right, its not about sleep.  You gain an hour or daylight!  That is my wonderful husband, always looking at it positively!  

Almost tall enough to ride her trike She is really trying! 

Awesome bubbles!   One of my favorite pics!

Maggie had a rough week, I keep telling myself its due to the time change but after a whole week of her whining and crying to get her way (boy she can turn if off and on) I am more convinced we are into the terrible 3’s and need to just buckle down, discipline as we always have done and pray for patience to love her through it!  The sweet snuggles from Maggie regardless of the day and looking at Gracie (who went through the same thing) are great reminders to me that “this to shall pass”.  While we never are through parenting, the type of parenting changes as they grow and for this I am thankful.  I may think parenting a 3 year old looks easy when we hit 13! ha! 

Saturdays are cherished and this one was no different.  The girls enjoyed gymnastics class then headed off to a lunch and fun on their Daddy Daughter date!  They love these and were looking forward to the time with their Daddy.  They also know this week he is leaving for his guys trip to Vegas they will be on Spring Break in Ohio before he comes back.   I often watch and listen to Jimmy interact with the girls and feel so blessed.    He takes such an active interest in their lives and desires to spend time with them (and spoil them too).    These are memories that we will all hold onto forever!  

A Full Week

Sunday the girls and I loaded up and headed to Nashville for a fun girls trip!  Jimmy could not go due to a work meeting in Memphis Monday and Tuesday so we headed on and missed him!   Nashville was an impromptu trip to see Sophia who was in town with her Dad for a convention.   It was wonderful!   Sophia (and her sisters) and I are very close.   I consider her mom one of my dearest friends!    When Sophia was born I started babysitting for her and her sisters.   Sophia and her sisters were flower girls in our wedding and every time we go home to Ohio they are one of the must see before we leave!    

Sunday Pic...a little snow flurries 

Pretty close up!

Not really into have her Sunday pic!

We had a great weekend with her.  We shopped, ate dinner, swam, talked before bed, walked around the Opryland Hotel, and finished the weekend with some jumping at the Sky High Trampoline Park!    The girls took to her like she was an old friend to them too as they each fought for her attention and to be close to her.     

Ready for a late night swim

This is how Maggie rolls....its late, ready for bed but does not want to miss anything!   

Having fun walking around the Opryland Hotel

Sophia with Gracie and Maggie!  

Me with Sophia (age 4?) and Chloe (age 2?).  Love those special memories! 

Sky High Sports Trampoline Park!  Awesome! 

When we got home we had one last “girl day/night” (that is what the girls refer to the time when Jimmy is gone) before Jimmy was scheduled to fly in.   We did great, but our home works much better when we are all here!  

Small group was Wednesday and while it would have been nice to be home and snuggle, we decided we had a relaxing weekend coming up and really missed our group and the girls did too.  The discussion was a thoughtful one regarding God having our hearts and what that looks like today for us.   Its a struggle for me as I feel like we should be doing more outreach as a family and individually, but have recently been convicted and at peace that we already are.  We are doing this by making our daughters our mission field and pouring our lives and Jesus into them, we are by serving at church in areas we both are passionate about, we are by taking meals to families who need the support, we are by giving when there is a need we feel a tug at our heart for.    

Sweet sisters!  Praying for patience, guidane and peace as we raise them. 

Unfortunately our careers require more travel some weeks/ years than we would like, but we all embrace it and work to get the girls on a good schedule.   My area has changed and while I will not be supporting Charlotte, NC any longer, I am picking up Nashville.  There is a lot of good to this change as Nashville is closer, however it also means more frequent travel for shorter visits.  I will be going every other week for 2 days (one overnight).  I spent Thursday and Friday in Nashville this week and had a great trip, but it is always good to be home!  

A weekend is not complete without snuggles for Ellie! 

Maggie loves Ellie snuggles (but still wants her to "swing"..her way of playing).  

Special Moments

This week was a typical week but with some special moments mixed in.    We focused hard on sight words with Gracie and have seen her really begin to excel in reading.  Praise God!     Working with Gracie on reading has been a challenge for me as I have not so great memories of 1st grade filled with hours of learning to read so I did not fall behind in school due to my eye sight.  

Sunday Picture 

Sunday Picture 

My mom was in town to help with my new niece so we got to spend some time this week visiting her.  It was so special.   

KK snuggles! 

Uncle Gabe teaching us how to suck the helium out of a balloon for a funny voice!  We got lots of giggles out of this! 

Gracie just shy of age 7 has now lost 8 teeth!  She lost her bottom tooth just 5 minutes after her best friend lost a tooth!   

Kenzie and Gracie at lunch with Jimmy  (each minus one tooth!)

Gracie age 6 and 10 months having lost 8 teeth! 

When the girls were born we choose life verses for them that we wanted to speak into their life.    They are in our keeping room printed with their 1st year photos.   I love sitting in that room and looking at how they have grown and praying over them.     It is amazing to me how each verse is so personal to each of the girls even before their personalities were ever know by us.   

For Gracie we chose Philippians 1:9-10 “And this is my prayer: That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.”    Gracie is an extremely loving lady eager to learn not just academically but in life!   

For Maggie we choose Numbers 6:24-26. “May the Lord bless and protect you, may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace”.   Maggie’s life (outside of some 3 year old moments) radiates joy!   

When we first learned we were having a daughter, I never wanted her to get a princess mentality thinking she entitled and could do no wrong!    I often tell the girls as they are growing into ladies they are princesses only by the grace of God! I want to fully grasp who they are in HIM! 

Dr. Seuss Birthday was Friday so each celebrated at school (Gracie Jammie Day and Maggie Dr. Seuss One Fish apron)