Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

I'm skipping a lot of posts because, frankly, I am ready to be caught up. So here goes Christmas!

Jack and Coop were SO MUCH FUN this year! Coop was excited, but Jack truly was out of this world excited, and we loved it! He is into all things Christmas, Santa Claus, and the Elf on the Shelf. We had a great month with Monkey Toes. He kept the boys on their toes (not really) with good behavior and kept Christian and I on are toes with making sure Monkey Toes remembered to move. We might have been caught once, but we told Jack he woke up too early and had to go back to bed!

Christmas Eve day was spent at Christian's parents house where we had a good time visiting with them. The afternoon even ended with their neighbor backing his Hummer into the back of my car :( But we were all so excited about Christmas it couldn't dampen our spirits. (But when the other neighbor backed into Christian's the 2nd week of January it all became quite comical!)

We had our family over Christmas Eve night and even had our traditional visit from Santa Claus. Jack was amazed that Santa came and couldn't get enough of him. Coop tried to get outside the whole time so he could check on Santa's reindeers. Oh how I love sweet children and their faith during this time!














We put the boys to bed around 9:30 and then quickly went and woke up Jack. We forgot to put cookies out for Santa and the reindeer food in the front lawn. I guess Coop will participate next year!


Coop woke at 7:30 and we actually had to go wake up Jack at 8 because WE were so excited to see their faces.



The look on Jack's face was priceless!

The boys had a blast ripping open their presents.


Jack automatically held up each opened gift and smiled with it. He was either very proud or well-trained...or a little of both!


Merry Christmas sweet boys!

A couple of pics was even taken of Christian and me.


My favorites were my awesome Hunter boots and a Kindle Touch. Thanks honey!

We went to my parents house so we could have a 2nd Christmas! Gigi and Poppy spoiled everyone rotten...as usual.






My boys got a really cool Jeep that they love to drive. Christian has brain washed the boys into thinking that Jeep's are the coolest cars ever.

Christmas lunch was at my parents also.

Yummy!

We had a great Christmas with our 2 boys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

After 7 years of marriage, we finally made it to Louisville to visit Christian's sister, husband, and our niece. Whew! We always had what we felt was a valid excuse. The first 2 years of marriage I taught so we really only traveled in the summer and that's when we went to the beach. Christian couldn't take off too much time in the summer so there went another year. Then we had Jack, and who wants to travel with a baby for 12 hours?! Then we had Cooper, and again, who wants to travel with a baby for 12 hours? Finally, after 7 years, we felt ready. And I am so glad we went and I don't want to wait even half that long to go again.

We drove to my brother's house in Jackson and slept there. We left at 4AM the next morning and were there by 3. The kids were awesome in the car. Thank God!

We had such a great time visiting my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. The kids were in heaven being with Lilly. Jack even got to sleep in her room upstairs and he loved it. Cooper slept with us in the basement...which means there were 2 flights of stairs. Cooper was in his own little heaven too! We couldn't keep that boy from running and jumping off the stairs. We just might have to blame awesome Uncle Dan for that one! Uncle Dan also baked cookies with the kids, so as far as Coop is concerned there is no better than Uncle Dan!

Thanksgiving Day was spent at Kentucky Downs. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and watch a bunch of races. Jack and Coop got to learn how to bet...great...they picked the horses they wanted off of the coolness of their names. Monkey Toes was a fan favorite and that is how our elf got named Monkey Toes.

We had an awesome Thanksgiving and we can't wait to go back!


Christmas time together

Wrestling with Lilly

Jack loves Lilly so much!

Blessings

I lead a charmed life or so it feels.
I count my blessings daily. I am so blessed to come from awesome parents that love God and have raised me and my brothers to love God and to want to live for Him. I am so blessed that I married my best friend. After breaking up for 6 years while beginning college, we were able to reconnect and fall in love again. I have been blessed with 2 incredible sons that I have the pleasure of raising from home instead of having to work. Although not everything has come easy, I lead a blessed life.

I want God's blessings, but I want them to come easily. This song by Laura Story, "Blessings", reminds me that His blessings don't always come easily.

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if trials of this life Are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights Are what it takes to know You're near?
And what if trials of this life Are Your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if my greatest disappointments Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst This world can't satisfy?
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Pumpkin Patch

We went to Mrs. Heather's Pumpkin Patch in Hammond at the beginning of October with the Rongey's while Christian and I were both sick with a stomach virus. It seems that most of October and now November has been spent with at least 1 family member sick. If it wasn't a stomach virus it was a cold. Enough with being sick already!

The boys rode on the tractors down a hill as soon as we got there. Jack was a little hesitant, but caught on quickly after seeing the Coopers didn't flip off.







Jack was so excited to pick out his pumpkin


The Coopers being entertained on the big jumper


My boys checking out the really BIG teepees



Jack and Coop loved the petting zoo. They got to pet lots of animals and even got to hold a few.




Milking their 1st and probably only cow!


Since we weren't feeling well, we didn't do a good job of taking pictures while at Mrs. Heather's so I took the kiddos back to a pumpkin patch at St. Augustine's with my parents, Robyn, and Rylie Girl.


It was Jack's turn to have the stomach bug at this visit. My poor baby felt terrible but he was such a trooper!





Coop found his pumpkin

Bubby tries to help him

He settled for this one

Jack found him one

Rylie Girl found one just her size