February Photos

 Wyatt the model-Wyatt decorated the fridge with math problems- Sunset in Western KS

Wyatt spelling words- Crazy straw drinking- Grant builds with anything

Star Wars journaling- Our house with snow- Wyatt's journal page

Caught in the act of thumbsucking- Goofy and Minnie- Grant's ATRT

Wyatt said to give him a spelling test- Did you know a 2+2 makes 4 and a W- Outside play

Fave mac and cheese- Legos in the sink- Imaginext and Littlest Pet Shop

Mommy Moment

I bought this book called Q&A A Day For Kids and we've enjoyed answering the questions each night before bed. We've missed quite a few days, so we caught up tonight. One of the questions was, "If you had two wishes, what would they be?"  Grant went first and his responses were: "1) A million Lego sets and 2) more stuffed animals." I probably could've told you those answers without even asking him. Gifts are the way to his heart!! I wasn't sure what Wyatt would say but I had a feeling they would be quite different. His responses were: "1) If I didn't have my brother, I'd wish for him and 2) Daddy to get home." Of course they would be heartfelt and totally genuine. The difference between those two boys is astounding!! And I love them equally with my whole heart and soul!

Fall Pictures

Somehow, I managed to forget the pictures the boys and I had taken this past fall!! So better late than never!! I love looking back at our pictures we take each fall. The boys get so much bigger and more mature year after year. Of course that's to be expected, but I don't always realize the change until I see the pictures in comparison. My sweet boys mean the world to me!! If only their amazing dad was there with us as well!! Next year, well, really because this is so late, this year!!!

Snow Fortress

Wyatt has been waiting all winter long for a big enough snow to make a snow fortress. I'm not quite sure where that idea came from, or what he was really expecting a snow fortress to look like, but I sure did my best with what we had! Our amazing neighbors plowed our driveway the morning of our "big" snow. John has an attachment on his mower that turns it into a plow, so we had some big piles of snow at the end of the driveway. As soon as I saw it, it reminded me of when I was little and my dad would use the snow blower and we'd have big piles that ran the length of our driveway. Those were the perfect places to make snow forts, or our personal favorite- snow chairs! So I told the boys that THIS was the perfect spot for a snow fortress and Wyatt's eyes lit up!!! 

It's hard work I tell ya!! I was so sweaty and tired, I knew I didn't even need to do my workout for the day because I just did it!! But I think we have some pretty cool fortresses to show for it! 

And of course, it was all followed by some hot chocolate!!!
Ok, now time for spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We Went Sledding!!

We've been waiting ALL winter long to have a good snow to play in! We had a decent amount right after Levi came home for Christmas, and we made and awesome snowman and had a great snowball fight. But the snow melted so quickly, we didn't have time for anything else. So everyday since then, we've been waiting and waiting for more snow!

Well, we finally had a measurable amount AND it wasn't single digit temps so we went out to play!! After school and lunch, we all got changed and headed out to try sledding. We thought of a few spots in our yard that could potentially make for some good sledding and they turned out the be the perfect spots!! We had so much fun!!  The boys giggled and screamed the whole way down!! The only thing that would've made it better is if we had two sleds!!! But once they learned going down together was even more fun, that problem was solved pretty quickly!!!!

I think its safe to say now that we have this"big" snow under our belts, that we are ready for spring!!!

Happy Heart Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day from these cute boys!! I love them with all my heart and soul!!!

And while my Valentine may be almost 8000 miles away, he still showed me he loved me today!!

All You Need is Love

My friend Nicole took these of all the kids in Grant's class and made the photos for us. Lucky for me, I had Wyatt with me one time and she snapped one for him as well! Such a cute keepsake!

  

Valentine's Fun!!

I love Valentine's Day! It's probably in my top 3 of holidays!! It's just so fun, festive, and what's not to love about LOVE?!?  My favorite thing about Valentine's Day is showing LOVE to my boys, teaching them how to LOVE, showing them examples of true LOVE! I probably always do too much because when I'm in the midst of it, I ask myself, "Why did I do all this?" But I know why- because "the greatest of these is Love," 1 Corinthians 13:13. 

So I set out to shower my boys with overly abundant love!! 

 How could I not do a candy countdown!?!  

 This was our act of kindness jar. Each morning we picked one out and we had to complete it by the end of the day. Simple things- compliment a classmate, let others go first all day, make a card for the neighbors, pray for your brother, make an I-Love-You list about your family, be the BEST brother, leave a gift for the mailman. I was so happy when I picked Grant up at school and he told me about the things he did! I was so proud of him for remembering, even when I wasn't there to remind him! Small acts of kindness can leave the biggest impact in someones life!

Every morning, I wrote a heart for each boy about what I loved about them! This was their favorite part of our morning- they loved hearing the things I love most about them!! We also read about God's love each day! Reading those short and sweet verses really brought about some great conversations! 

This was probably my favorite activity! We took my favorite verse from 1 Corinthians and examined it, line by line. Each night before bed, we'd snuggle up and read through one or two lines and really talk about what it means to show love. The boys were so excited to "act it out" each night and I'd have to guess if they were showing love or not. Love their sweet little hearts! This is a big lesson for them to learn- there are a million was to show love but it all comes down to one thing- Love God with your whole heart and love one another. If they can learn that, they will show love to all who cross their paths! That is my prayer for them!! 

Date Morning With Grant

It's a very rare moment when Grant and I get to be alone together! We have special times at home, where once Wyatt is asleep, Grant sneaks back down and we watch a show together, but that usually is all our alone time we get. Unless we schedule a date and have someone watch Wyatt. But on this day, we were lucky that Wyatt had school and Grant did not, so Grant and I got to have a date morning!! We both were so looking forward to it!! Grant knew exactly what he wanted to do- go to Target for a Lego set he's been eyeing (he did 10 extra chores around the house just to earn this!), and then to the treasure shop! Any surprise that his love language is gifts?!?! 

Cuddles came along on our date as well and got VIP treatment at Target!!! Grant picked out his Lego set immediately, and then he said he felt like we should get Wyatt something too. While looking at the smaller Lego sets, we realized we already had them all, but he was just bound and determined to find something to give to Wyatt. So he picked out a bag of chocolate covered peanuts, one of Wyatt's favorite treats!! You would've thought Wyatt won the lottery when Grant showed him his surprise!

 On each of our dates we've been on, Grant ALWAYS chooses to go to the treasure shop (antique mall). He likes to make it a point to find a souvenir from our date to put on his tiny treasure shelf in his room. This was the one he picked out this time- a boy bear and a girl bear hugging, with a springy heart that says You&Me. He had me write the date on the bottom so he can always remember when we bought this together. Seriously- melt my heart!!

 He really really REALLY wanted to take this guy home! But at $85, he had to stay at the store! Very proud of Grant for getting over it so easily! That's not an easy thing for him to do!

 I had (still have) this doll from my childhood. You pull the string and it talks to you. I always loved it and thought it was adorable. Grant found it in my bag of stuffed animals at my parents house and brought it home years ago. He showed Levi and Levi said, "Get that creepy baby out of here!" Ever since then, Grant thinks its hilarious! So when we found another one at the store, he couldn't believe another one actually existed!!!

 Here is where Grant hit his jackpot!! Tons of beanie babies, all $1 each! He picked out three for him, and three for Wyatt, so they could add them to their zoo of beanie babies! 

At the end of our date, as we were driving back to Wyatt's school, at a stop light, Grant asked me to give him my hand. So I reached back there and he kissed the top of my hand and said, "That's what you're supposed to do at the end of a date!"  I teared up at such a sweet gesture, especially coming from Grant. He typically shys away from emotional moments. But there is something magical that happens when he's alone with me! He just morphs into this sensitive, emotional, sweet little man!!

 I pray for the girl that Grant dates in the future and that she may always see what a gentle natured, sweet guy he is!! I am so thankful for the special dates I get with my boy!