Snow Day

We haven't had much snow the last few years around here. I seriously remember being a young child and going sledding or building snowmen multiple times each winter. Anyway, we had a small snow on Tuesday and the kids and I enjoyed playing out in it for a bit. We attempted a snowman but there just wasn't enough and Shawn wasn't here...he's our master snowman builder.

The view out my kitchen window was pretty spectacular.

And the kids were so ready to break in their snow boots that haven't gotten much action this year. Unless you count wearing them around the house with their pj's.

It was snowing lightly and Lauren kept trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue.

Don't mind the pink gloves....we couldn't find his manly ones so he borrowed sissy's. :)

Yummy SNOW!

Of course no snow outing is complete without a few snow angels.

We played outside for about 30 minutes and then decided the wind was pretty chilly so we headed in for some hot warm chocolate.

The snow day was great, but I'm not gonna lie...I'm dreaming of SPRING!!!!

On the Off Chance You Haven't Seen This

Fair Warning...Grab a Tissue!

I watched this video this morning and bawled my eyes out. Don't say I didn't warn you.

While We Were Gone...

My amazing parents watched our babies for us while we stole the weekend away. Of course I missed them but it was so nice to get away and be with my man. I'm so thankful for my parents and my grandparents who lavished them with love and ice cream this weekend.

Here are the pics I got from my grandpa that prove they had a blast! Easton even told me he didn't want to come home. Nice, right... ;)

Popsicle anyone?!

The kids went to visit Lauren's kitties, Ariel and Ella. They live with Meme and Papa but Lauren knows they are really hers, hahah! :)

Papa said Easton was really gentle and loving with the kitties. Which made me happy because I figured he would have literally loved them to death. That boy is a BOY.

SO grateful for my parents and grandparents. Couldn't do this parenting thing without them and that is the absolute truth.

I should also add that my baby brother, Jared, watched my kids for a couple of hours on Sunday night so my parents could go to their Bible study at church. He fed them dinner, played with them, and made sure they stayed alive all by himself. I don't think I've ever been more proud of him than I was when I heard he had it all under control. I laughed so hard though because mom said that when they were pulling back in from church they saw Jared taking the kids to the car. Apparently Easton had pooped and obviously Jared was having nothing to do with that so he was going to drive them to the church for my mom to change him. Hahah! Now that's the brother I know and love. ;)

What a Weekend!

This past weekend was so much fun! We got away for a night with some really sweet friends of ours to go see Mr. Luke Bryan himself in concert! We left pretty early Saturday morning so we could hit up some shopping in Lebanon and Lake of the Ozarks before heading on to Columbia.

The road trip was so fun and other than getting a tad bit car sick when we missed our turn to get to the Lake and ended up taking the scenic (read: curvy) road the long way around it went by really quickly. We had so much fun just joking around and talking the whole way.

When we made it to Columbia, the girls all hit the hotel to get ready and the guys went to a boot store a few miles away. It was kind of nice because I felt like I was getting all ready for a hot date that night. :) Haven't done that in a looooong time!

I got a pic of Lindsey and I in our boots but somehow missed one of all three of us girls. :(

We went to eat before the concert at Murray's or something like that. It was really delish although I kind of killed it with my order...I got a greek salad which was yummy and then some blue cheese bread. It was WAY too much smelly cheese in one little dinner. Haha. Needless to say the bread ended up half eaten and I picked a lot of the cheese of my salad too!

Our men wanted to sit by each other at dinner, hah!

And us ladies sat by each other...

 Of course Jeremy chose this opportunity to photo bomb Kasey and me.

When we got to the arena for the concert we all decided to try to sit by each other. When we bought our tickets forever ago we couldn't get six together. We had to buy two seats here and there and there.  We figured we would just all sit in the highest seats up we had and hope that the people sitting next to those two tickets would be willing to move down to a lower section. It worked! We ended up pretty high up but we were all together which was pretty cool. Especially since we I had some pretty sweet dance moves...oh dear!

The concert was absolutely amazing. Seriously, Mr. Luke Bryan loves what he does and puts on quite the show. I blushed several times at his dancing but he was confident in how he can move! :) I didn't get any pics of him at the concert because we were pretty far up and even to the side where we couldn't really see the jumbo screen very well. After the concert we went back to the hotel and popped popcorn and chilled in Jeremy and Kasey's room before we all decided we were old and needed sleep.

The next morning Shawn and I got up and showered and dressed and headed downstairs to get some coffee. We sat right in front of the fireplace and talked. It was so nice to spend a quiet morning with my man. It's usually crazy and hectic and rushed around here. It was an added luxury!

We had the best time and are already looking forward to our next concert adventure whenever that might be! So thankful for good friends and country music!!!

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday!!!

This week was a strange one for me. Full of all kinds of thoughts and fears and just dealing with my own self. I don't really know why but I'm trusting God will reveal it in due time.

In the meantime here is my Top Five for this week...you are so welcome. ;)

1. We've started back at decorating/painting/just getting our house out of the 90's again. I found this darling little half table at TJ Maxx and couldn't resist. It was just what I'd been looking for and it fits the space perfectly.

This picture was taken in the evening so it's a bit dark but you get the idea, right? 

We finally painted our master bedroom and bathroom! The rooms aren't finished yet so I won't share all the pics, but we painted our bathroom white....which I absolutely love and the hubs isn't sure about yet.

I found this old looking shelf-y thing at TJ Maxx when I found the hall table so I had to pick it up too. I have big dreams of fun little things going on the shelves...for now my lone perfume bottle occupies the space.

2. My friend Miranda has started selling Scentsy and I ordered a few things from her as she is getting started and I love my house to smell yummy! I bought this little warmer that was discounted and three scents for now. She has just started a scent of the month club too which I am signing up for!

3. I. Bought. Boots. I've been wanting a pair for a long time but could not justify the cost...because of course if I was gonna buy a pair I'd want a nice pair. I come from a family that spares no expense for their boots...my mama has a pair of Corral boots and she rocks them. My daddy and brother both wear boots and I think they look so stinking handsome in 'em. My sister in law looks adorable in hers with skirts and jeans (and let's face it anything because she is so unfairly beautiful...a sack would look amazing on her!) Of course, my hubby also rocks the boots and oh man do I like that. :) The moment I saw these Corral boots I just knew I loved them. They are a distressed brown leather with cream embroidery all over them. Be still my heart. They are tall so I can wear them with skirts, skinny jeans, and my boot cuts.

4. After BSF on Wednesday we met my SIL for a little Target date and then I stopped at McDonald's to get the kids some chicken nuggets and let's just face it....mama needed a Coke. About 5 miles from home I looked in my rear view mirror to see this....the kid fell asleep with a chicken nugget in his mouth! How does that even happen? Lauren and I couldn't stop laughing and of course I had to stop and get his picture. 

 5. Lauren drew this picture of her and Easton and I think I will treasure it forever. It's such a real representation of their relationship right now. All hurt feelings and she/he is not sharing moments. According to her this is a picture of the two of them playing with Easton's tractors. When asked why Easton is frowning, quite frankly she says it's because she has the tractor. Welcome to my world.

Okay I know this post is high FIVE for Friday but I'm totally adding one more...

This evening Shawn and I are loading our kiddos up to drop them off with my AMAZING parents for the weekend.  Tomorrow morning we will be heading to CoMO with our friends the Drew's and McMillan's to go see this man....

Woo Hoo!!!!!!

Linking up here.

Just Do It

The other day I was lamenting to Shawn about how I just feel like I am failing this whole wife/motherhood/stayathomemom/homemaker gig I have going on. It's a great job and yet most days I just feel like I'm chasing my tail.

The look on his face was priceless as I could tell he was struggling internally with whether this was an offer suggestions and help moment or a shut your mouth, listen, and nod emphatically moment. Even though I didn't really want to hear what he had to say (because he's usually thinking what I'm thinking and if I've already thought it then the reason I'm not doing it is because I just plain don't want to) I braced myself and listened.

Of course he was kind and gentle with his words and of course they were spot on with what I already knew.

I needed routine. A purpose for my days at home.

I needed to get my booty up and dressed and have times throughout the day for specific things....school time, chore time, lunch time, errand time, reading time, etc. All stuff I knew. All stuff I'd been putting off doing.

So I took a deep breath and said, I'm going to go do some research (ahem Pinterest) on setting up a routine for us. And he said....

"Jen....just do it. Don't plan it. You are great at planning things but you need to just do it. Follow through. See results. Just do it."

And I wanted to hide in a hole because he knows me so well and if that wasn't the exact truth then I'm not a girl.

So the past couple of days I've been mulling over this new little thought my sweet husband put in my head about just doing it already. Sure, a cute little routine taped to my fridge might make me feel better, but if I don't just suck it up and do it I've gotten nowhere!

I'll never regret playing with my kids, quiet time alone in the mornings, or teaching Lauren to read. But, I will regret time wasted thinking about doing things or searching Pinterest for the best way to do things but never actually getting around to doing them.

So, here's to just doing it! No more creating a list of books to read in 2013....I'm just going to read! No more researching the best way to do at home preschool.....we are just going to learn! No more looking to other people to see how their quiet time looks....I'm just going to meet God the way I am (with what little I have to offer in the mornings!) No more trying to come up with the perfect gift or meal or whatever...I'm just going to do it.

I'm learning over and over again that perfection is my enemy. God hasn't called me to be perfect. He knows I am so far from it. He's called me to daily take on the characteristics of his son, Jesus. When I look at Jesus' life I see that he just did it. Whatever God called him to do, he did. He didn't research or wait or mull over for days that turned into weeks. He just did it. And so, with his help, I will to!