Sweet Prayers

After I heard Reid pray at the dinner table last night, I knew I wanted
to remember it for the rest of my life. I knew I had to post it.
We were sitting down to eat dinner on a normal Friday night.
Pizza. That's our usual every Friday. Who cares about calories, right?
Usually Rod prays, but this time I asked Reid if he wanted to pray.
I reached out to grab Reid's hand. Not our usual way of praying.
I felt the need to hold his little 3 year old hand.
His normal prayer is... "Thank you for this food. Thank you for this day.
In Jesus name, Amen." But this time, before the amen, he slowed down
(his prayer is usually said in a hurried fashion so he can eat)
and without hesitating, he said "And thank you for your mercy and grace.
In Jesus name, Amen."

How sweet and precious is that?
Thank you Lord for this precious little boy already being
cultivated into a heart for you at such an early age.

In the quiet moments of my day, I sit back and think.
I try hard not to get so caught up in the "I have to do" list.
Who cares about a dirty kitchen or piled up laundry when
you can make memories with your children? I have to train
myself to remember that each day.
I try to remember that in just a blink of my eye
Reid and Riley will be grown boys.
Oh how I cherish this time.
Thank you for your grace & mercy, Lord.
Thank you for gifting me with these lives that we can call our very own.
Please help me remember these moments.

Riley - Roo is 10 months!

Another month has gone by and you just get sweeter & cuter!
10 months... Really?? I can hardly believe it! I know I say it
every month, but I truly can NOT believe it!
I'm already having dreams and visions about your 1st birthday party!
Oh how I love to plan parties... especially birthday ones!

Your new favorite thing to do is grab the curtains.
You think you're pretty funny!

Look at me Mom! I've found something perfect to hold on to!

You would sit in your brother's chair if you could
figure out how to get in there!

You are getting around everywhere now. Since you turned
9 months, you've learned how to:

• get into a sitting position all by yourself
• scoot around on the floor pushing off with your right foot
• pull up to your knees and sometimes stand on your feet
  
• feed yourself puffs
• take off your bib
• make your brother laugh
• push your high chair across the floor by bucking back and forth like a bronco

You are adorable and sweet and my favorite time of day is when I get to snuggle
with you at night in the chair and give you your bottle. Not much longer and you
won't be a baby anymore! Sniff, sniff... :(
Happy 10 months sweet Riley-Roo!
We are SO in love with you!

A pirate, a saxophone, and driving a car... what?

There are so many things that happen that I take pictures of,

but don't always have time to post.
These are some random pictures of the boys that were all taken recently,
and I wanted to make sure I document them because they are SO precious and sweet!

Reid went to a bday party and it was a

pirate theme. It was adorable! He LOVED it and he was so cute
wearing his little handkerchief and pirate sash.
Aargh! :)

Mommy came up with the idea to put marbles in cups for
behavior incentives. Whatever works. Right?
Mr. happy face & Mr. sad face they are called.
Mr. happy is for good behavior and Mr. Sad.... well, you get the picture.
Reid recently filled up Mr. Happy face and has been wanting an instrument.
A saxophone, a violin, a trumpet, trombone, viola, any of the above!
I found a saxophone and well, it was a HUGE hit! Just
look at that face!
He was THRILLED and has been playing it ever since!

My musical boy!

He wants a violin next.... really?

Reid loves his little cozy coupe car we got him for his
birthday last year. I asked him the other day if he wanted
to take Riley for a ride and he agreed.

My boys riding together!
Hilarious! LOVE these 2 together!

I think Riley is ready to get out. Hang on for the ride
Riley! It's going to be a wild one!

Riley-Roo. I'm SO.IN.LOVE with those cheeks!

Riley has started crawling recently and scoots around every-
where he wants to go. He's a military crawler for now,
but it won't be long now and he'll be up on all fours!

Mother's Day weekend 2011.
My sweet boys. LOVE them.
Love all these memories.
Thank you precious boys.

Boys in the bathtub

We have been bathing the boys together for a while now, but a few weeks ago, we took Riley - Roo out of his baby bathtub and let him be in there with his brother.
It has been nuts to say the least! Riley is quite the splasher and this boy DOES NOT want to
stay in one place! He is ALL OVER the bathtub! Hence, the new bath mat I had to buy so that little boy won't slip and fall over. He loves his baths and gets so
excited when he sees the bathtub water running!
It's such an absolute ball to watch the 2 of them together and Reid loves
taking baths with his little bro.

Reid was trying to "nose" Riley as he calls it
(give him "nose" kisses).

LOVE those 2 little faces!
I could just kiss those cheeks ALL day!

Mother's Day 2011

My sweet husband always outdoes himself on Mother's day and this year was no different. Sleeping in, homemade pancakes, running errands
and just playing with my boys. It was a perfect weekend!
Thank you Rod. You're an amazing husband & father!

The beautiful flowers I saw in a store window
and my husband went back to get them.
Surprise!

Pictures Rod took of our precious boys!


One of the other precious mother's day gifts Rod made for me
with the boys' help. So sweet!

R & R on Mother's Day

The boys that made me a mommy. LOVE THEM and
LOVE being their mother!

The boys' great-grandmother (L) and their Nana (R).
Unfortunately, my sweet mom was sick this past weekend
and couldn't make it to our Mother's Day dinner.
Boo! :(( It was not the same without you mom!
We missed you TONS!

Grandpa, Nana, R, and Papa (my dad).

Riley was not a happy camper about all this picture takin' business!


My precious angels.
Reid 3 1/2
Riley's 10 month bday!


It was a wonderful day filled with family time and my favorite part was
just spending time with Rod, Reid & Riley.
Thank you Lord for these most precious, amazing gifts.
I remain humbled and amazed by your goodness to me.
Happy Mother's Day to all the precious moms out there!

Easter 2011

I love the Spring. I know I've said it before, but I just LOVE this time of year!

Flowers are blooming again after a long winter's rest, birds are chirping,
the weather is getting warmer, flip flops are coming out of the dust,
children are riding bikes, and people are just more chipper it seems like!

Easter is another one of my favorite times of spring too!
I love going to church and worshipping the Lord, but there
is something about going to church on Easter and celebrating our
risen Savior. It's joyous and an extra special reason to celebrate
our AMAZING LORD!

We went to Rod's parent's farm this year for Easter and it was perfect in
every way! Reid absolutely LOVES . THE . FARM!
He cannot wait to get there and once he is there, he just wants to
be outside all the time, playing in the grass, and running like a boy should!

Riley-Roo was so good this time (compared to his screaming all night fit at Christmas)
and he seemed to enjoy the country air too!
Rod & I love going up there and it's just so nice to be away from the city
hustle & bustle for a day or two.

Waking up on Easter morn to the treats from the Easter bunny!

After Easter service.

Rod's parents and our sweet fam!

Daddy & his boy. :)

My two Easter bunny boys. Wonder if I can get Reid
to wear these next year??

I just couldn't resist this one! LOOK . AT. THAT . FACE!!!

Sweet Grandpa helping Riley go on his first hunt.
The bucket is almost as big as he is!
Thank you, Grandpa! I love you!

How appropriate for our boy to find a football egg!

Reid was speedy gonzales this year!
I could barely get a picture of that boy!

All done... now what?

A farm trip wouldn't be complete without a ride
on the tractor.....

and the new wheelbarrow Nana got!
Nothin' cuter than 2 kids in a wheelbarrow!
Can't wait to come back to the farm!

Happy Easter everyone!
We had a wonderful time, Nana & Grandpa!
Thank you for a special weekend at the farm and for
the sweet service for our little dog Jake.
He will rest well at the farm and we hope to see him
in heaven one day!


The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Savior!
Psalm 18:46

Jake 1997-2011

Dear sweet puppy Jake,
We are so thankful for the 13 years of life you had with us.
We are so thankful you are no longer suffering and that it doesn't hurt
for you to breathe. You can rest easy now. You lived a long & happy life.
You had so many fun days and you were always full of energy!

Daddy got you when you were just a pup barely weaned from your mother.
He carried you all the way to California with him during his airforce days.
You have been a great dog. You loved to go on walks, beg for food, and sleep on the couch.
You loved to chase animals -- any kind. Especially bunnies!
You would let anyone pet you and never hurt a fly.
You didn't have a mean bone in your 12 lb. body.
You had such a pretty coat and your fur was so soft.
You loved, loved to run and you could sense when we were getting close to the farm.
It was your favorite place to be...
out in the wide open spaces where you could just run for miles.
We will bury you out in those wide open spaces.

You will forever be our little Jakers and we now feel so empty without you.
I already miss your bark at the back door when we would come home
and you following me around the house. Your bed is empty, but
you will forever be in our hearts.

We love you sweet Jake.
Rest in peace.

Love,
Daddy & Mommy, Reid, & Riley