savor all the moments

i don't know if i've ever said this on my blog or not but i have this major fear that when I'm older I'm going to get Alzheimer's. my dr. assures me that my lack of memory currently is due to the fact that my vitamin d level is still morbidly low. so back to a therapeutic regimen i go.  that being said, i want to be able to look back twenty years from now and savor all the moments. remember all the things. and feel all the feelings that motherhood has made me feel.

there are 8 days left of the school year. at this time every year i freak out as reality sets in and i realize how huge my babies boys man children are becoming. G is fifteen and finishing up his freshman year. WTH? D is 13 and is finishing up 7th grade. HOLD ME.

i thought i'd do a little recap of the year. in photos. lots of them. the difference between a black and white take with my phone and big girl camera is killing me. don't say i didn't warn ya.

 G's first forensics tournament

 thursday night football 

{above & below G is #85}

pencil tricks a.k.a proud mom moment ha! 

surf or die dude. he's never surfed a day in his life, but he sure is cute.

 santa's in that H3. say whaaaat?

hockey shmockey. selfies forever! 

pheasant hunting 

 they day he got his first deer.

momma + son date night

happy birthday JESUS

family camp

 bidding adieu until we meet again to grand

judging by this photo it's like she new her time was near.

we miss her every second.

the first day he gave flowers to a "real" girl. not just his momma.

T H I R T E E N

F I F T E E N

our first boy//girl par-tay. 

YIKES!

boys lets take a nice picture together…ha right.

 snuggled up to watch the voice

 the first of many snowboarding trips

thinking they're hysterical in anthro

track. a new adventure. 

go get em' tiger 

leading the greek dance pack 

OPA 

we tried to get a nice photo to give to the grandma's for mothers day. ha. twas a nice try though.

love you both to infinity and beyond G & D…

not to be confused with D & G

promise to love me boys when i lose my mind.

kiss.kiss 

daring adventurers

"life is either a daring adventure or nothing. to keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable."

-Hellen Keller

i pray my boys are always daring adventurers and they continue to walk their paths together.

happy monday.

S A T U R D A Y {{ part 1 }}

sometimes days are full and long.

sometimes those days are over the top wonderful.

S A T U R D A Y

was one of those over the top wonderful days.

we started off the day bright and early with a drive to a neighboring town for a jr. pheasant hunt.

i normally don't go along on these types of adventures, but someone needs to take photographs and be a keeper of these memories. 

lucky for me another mom ended up in our group went along for the ride. she was so nice and to my surprise she's a hunter. and she just may have convinced me to get my hunting license. of course my husband jumped at the chance of me being slightly interested to get me into the hunter safety class. 

i may have convinced my niece and nephew to go through the course with me. 

i'm a big baby and don't like to do things alone. ha!

this girl is German Shorthaired Pointer and man can she can work. 

she looked like she was having a blast finding the birds.

this lady is a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon she was just beautiful. 

three things that really stand out to me from the hunt are:

1. the community of hunters are not what i expected. they are truly so kind and friendly. 

2. my boys can shoot. like whoa, can they shoot. 

3. watching the dogs sweep, point, and flush out the birds was so impressive. i would go as far as saying it was just beautiful to watch. 

this was only a third of what saturday held. 

i'll be back tomorrow with part 2.

how was your saturday?

new years

there are a few things in life currently that I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around.

1. i am the mother of a high school student.

2. i no longer have a child in elementary school.

3. i am pretty sure that life is about to get really interesting around here. social schedules have been crazy. 

have the best year my big little loves.

and as always conduct yourselves in a manner that is pleasing to God so that everyone you come into contact with knows that Christ is alive in you. 

shine bright. 

do good

be good

&

be happy!

 

boys.

mine are silly.

here's a quick peak into our daily shenanigans.

little brothers alway have to get the last laugh.

big brothers shadow box while waiting for little brothers to shop.

they also sing really REALLY loudly.

and when my brother comes over... things get taken to a whole new level of silly. would anyone like to learn to crypt walk?  we're gangster.  it's how we celebrate.  my brother proposed to his girlfriend on sunday night.  maybe this is his happy dance.  she said YES!  side note... last night my first born had a girl over for the very first time. he played his guitar for her. it was sweet. she was cute as a button and polite as can be. i feel too young for this.  pray for me?! happy tuesday!

5 things. 4.13

via

1. we are scheduled to close escrow on friday. lord willing. i am so excited i can hardly contain myself.

2. i have been doing a lot of reflecting lately. last night i had a revelation. all these years i have been a little upset that my husbands job has required him to work night and weekends. when really i should be thankful for the special time that i have had with my boys. special time that will always be near and dear to my heart. the three musketeers. but don't tell them that's how i think of us. they already find me too silly.

3. i have had so much fun the last month or so day dreaming about our "new" home. i want to get white slip covers so bad i can taste it. i love the above room. even if it'a a grainy photo. when i showed this little bit of inspiration to my husband the other day he said, "i love the contrast of the white and turquoise." makes my heart want to explode.

4. my mom pointed out something to me this week, also involving my husband. she said, "i love the way he values your opinion and lets you "fight" with him." my mom had been in an abusive relationship for 15.5 years, she got out about a year and a half ago. so thing she notices about my relationship with my husband that maybe i take for granted mean so much to me.

5. the orthodox church is more than half way through lent now. it feels weird that easter is so much later than the western easter. but even still i can't wait to celebrate the pascha.

thoughts on a friday

first of all i miss everyone so SO much.
i have been busy which has left me with little to no blogging time. *sad face* i have so much to say and literally no time to say it.

some thoughts

when my boys were tiny men (bubba was 2 and mitche was 2 months) my husband worked at night, and because i am a big time sissy la-la i made my boys sleep in my bed with me.  i do believe in the family bed, co-sleeping,  sleep sharing or whatever it is being called these days, but i didn't originally set out to raise my boys that way. i was purely a victim of circumstance and it turned out that i loved it.

i did have my tiny mans crib next to my bed but every time i laid that little monkey in it he would cry. not just a tiny whimper but full on wails.  i guess you could say he was spoiled. but lets be real who doesn't want to cuddle their baby 24/7?

this is sort of off topic but i am going to tell you anyway.
there was a king in france (i forgot his name) in the 1500's and he decided to do a study on babies to see if they would come up with their own ways of communication with out having interaction with people to learn from. only each other. so the king took over 30 babies from their families and put them all together in a nursery in his palace. he had nurses feed them, bathe them and change them, however while giving the babies "everything they needed" the nurses were not allowed to talk to them or cuddle them. Guess what happened. all the babies died.

i read this article in a child development class and it hit me hard. i was heart broken for those babies. moral of the story: babies need to be loved on, talked sweetly to, touched, and cuddled. with every soft touch and sweet word spoken their little brains start making connections. without said connections they do not thrive.
so really...

via

this week my husband was away over night for business, and like i said i am a sissy la-la. so i asked my not so little munchkins if they wanted to sleep in my bed. as i was lying there with them it threw me back in time. i laid awake in reverie for most of the night cuddling them and playing with their hair. (they have really great hair it's so thick and wavy yet *silky smooth). which is something they don't let me do while they are awake anymore. 'cause you know i am going to mess it up, and well you know they have to impress the ladies. hee-hee

another off topic story. my oldest would not nurse we tried and tried for weeks . he would scream each time we'd try and i would cry because i felt rejected. after a month i brokenheartedly quit. i felt like such a failure. he  just loved that bottle.
when it was time to feed him i would hold his bottle with one hand stroke his head with the other. talent i know. when he was right around a year old he didn't want me to stroke his head anymore. he wanted to do it himself. it was so cute. to this day if he's lying on the couch or in his bed and he's tired up goes his hand and he strokes the top of his head. i melt. his independence from such a young age has always amazed me.
my second born is very dependent on me still. which also amazes me he's 10.

i am so proud of the young men they are turning into. they are loving and kind and make an effort to spend time with God everyday.

i am amazed out how fast children really do grow up. when i was growing up it seemed like it took forever and my mom would always say "my kells is growing so fast" i would roll my eyes.
but now that i am in it she was so right. kells grew up so fast (cause no way i am already 31) and kells' boys are growing so fast too.

Thank.God.Its.Friday

happy weekend friends

*conditioner is better it makes your hair silky and smooth... name that movie.  it's one of my favorites.