Pics from Kingsburg Trip

Summer Happenings

I feel like summer is quickly coming to an end...probably because it is. In just 2 short weeks I'm gonna have 2 kids in school all day! So weird!! Summer has been good. We crammed a ton into the 2 1/2 weeks that Danny had off. We've had many great trips to the beach, most days with suprisingly good weather! We headed up to Kingsburg for a few days to celebrate Stetson's 3rd bday as well as see many of our old friends. How fun it was to see how many kids everyone has now and how old they are! It was great seeing Taylor get SO excited to see Marlene and spend time at their house. Brent and Marlene were Taylor's "adopted grandparents" as they didn't have any grandchildren of their own yet, and they took us in as if we were family. So it's cute to see, even though Taylor was too young to really remember, she still has such a thing for them! Danny and I also were able to get away for 2 nights to Palm Springs thanks to a special treat from my parents! Danny's back at work now, but we get to go to the river this upcoming weekend before school starts! And oh my am I have total anxiety about starting this school year! It's gonna be B-U-S-Y!!! And as you all know, I hate busy. So this should be interesting. Taylor starts soccer up next week, and I just found out they practice twice a week, plus 1 game a week. Plus AWANA and 3rd grade being a hard year...I know it's not much to most people, but for me it is. So I'm gonna have to try my best to be oraganized and plan ahead!! :)

**got a zoo pass again**

 **love going to the fish hatchery**

 **this area is our favorite spot there**

 **girls meet The Dog with a Blog at Home Depot**

 **mom and dad only beach day**

 **another nice day at the beach**

 **night away for a wedding**

 **look REAL close on his shirt...little baby lizard**

 **4th of July-Danny worked but we got to do fireworks with family and neighbors**

 **another fun yet chilly day at the beach with friends**

 **summer evenings with my man**

Let's be real...

Maybe I shouldn't be writing right now, I don't know. But I feel inspired. It's been a LONG day. I feel like my girls fought, Maverick does his HIGH pitch scream, I yelled, was impatient and annoyed. I did not get everything done that I wanted to. The house looks okay at the moment, but that's rare. I've been wanting to start a new blog now for a while because to be honest, I'm a bit annoyed and beat down by ALL the blogs out there that make life/being a mom look so cute and perfect. Cause I don't know about most of you, but it's not. It's hard, and most days I feel like a failure. I do not get dressed up all cute every day, if I did my house would really be a mess. Cause how do you clean bathrooms and do laundry and clean up dog, pig and chicken poop with your hair curled and your cute bangles on?? Every piece of food my kids eat is not organic, homemade or "clean". I do not wake up before my kids every morning and have a quiet time...although I try. I don't workout. I get annoyed by my children, impatient, give them an attitude and yell. I strive to work on those things daily, but I fail. Day after day. I don't dress them cute  and do their hair all the time. The girls mostly dress themselves and often times choose some very "creative" outfits. Devan rarely gets her hair brushed and you will almost ALWAYS find her face dirty. I have clutter and random stuff all over my house. We have lived in this house 4 1/2 years and I would say that 70% of the house is still not really decorated. I suck at creating and keeping up with a budget.

 Yes, our backdoor is always this dirty, if not more. Yes, Maverick has a green shake all over his face that I did not wipe off before I took him out of his high chair. And even though it's not pictured, it's pretty safe to say I did not wipe down the trey of his high chair either.

 This is the best picture I got of Devan at her Cubbies award ceremony.

 This is what I saw as I looked out the kitchen window while I was making dinner. No, I don't always watch my kids every second.

 

 This guy and his high pitch scream. Words can't even describe how much I can't stand it. I hate loud screaming...The Lord has such a sense of humor.

 This is a typical scene in our house.

Lovely outfit right? And its hard to tell but she has pink hair from chalk that she put in it..a day or 2 ago...

I don't mean for this post to be negative, OR to put any naturally organized super cute crafty they have it all together moms down. I love the blogs that have all the cute pictures and the crafty ideas and recipies  and all. But I wanted to throw a shout out to all of us moms where things like that don't come naturally and let them know they are not alone. There is NOTHING wrong with having a messy house, or loosing your temper and yelling at your kids. It happens...and there's this thing called forgiveness and grace. Not sure where I am going with this now, maybe it's time to stop writing. Being a mom/wife is not always glamorous. I know people don't always want to hear about the negative, or look at blurry pictures of your uniquely dressed, dirty kids but that is what's REAL. This is REAL life folks. Even if this post encourages 1 out of the 2 people who read my blog, then this post has served its purpose. Just trying to keep it real...

Captain Promotion

This blog has been WAY over due for a little update and change. It's not much, but it works for now. I've had SO many things that I've wanted to sit down and blog about, but just haven't had the time. Now that school is out and I don't have anyone to drop off or pick up or anywhere I HAVE to be hopefully I will have more time to write. There is stuff going on in life that I just don't want to forget.

First up is this guy.

I don't normally like to gush about my family, but I'm going to for a moment. This was such a special occasion for Danny and our family, but there was SO much going on in the lives of friends and family close to us that a lot of our attention was elsewhere. To say I am proud to be his wife is an understatement. Danny is such a hard worker and has always provided for our family(all glory be to God for providing Danny with such an amazing job). The opportunity to test for Captain came a bit sooner in his career than he would've liked, but the opportunity came so he wanted to take it and not pass it by. He truly didn't think that he would get the position. Through every step of the testing process he thought "well that's it. I talked about my kids and my sprinkler system in my oral interview." Every step he passed we thanked God and prepared for the next. I don't ever want to forget the morning that he got the phone call that he got the position. Danny got off the phone and jumped 5 feet in the air with excitement! I screamed! What a feeling of accomplishment. We feel so blessed and humbled.

 The day of the badge pinning ceremony was special. Like I mentioned there had been a lot of other things going on, so it was fun for the day to come that we could celebrate Danny. Most of our family and a few close friends came to the ceremony. Danny had asked me if it were ok with me if his dad pinned his badge. I of course said yes! Danny saw it as an opportunity to thank his dad for the example that he was for Danny growing up. His dad was a very hard worker and he wanted to show him how much he appreciated him.

 After the ceremony we headed back home where we had a bounce house, a taco guy, and a backyard FULL of kids, friends and family!

Danny, I love you so much and I am SO proud of you!! Thank you for all that you do! xo

March Madness

Wow March was a busy month!! First up, we got to celebrate this girl's 8th birthday. We took her and a few friends to Mountasia for some mini-golf and arcade games then back to our house for some pizza and clown cones. Can't believe it was 8 years ago that at the ripe age of 22 I was awaken with "poop cramps" 32 weeks pregnant. Went to the hospital to get this "pain" to stop only to find out I was 9 cm dialted and was rushed in to have a c-section and delivered this beautiful little peanut. I never in a million years would have guessed how much joy this girl would bring me. I am beyond blessed to be her mom. She makes me want to be a better person...daily. It has been so much fun watching her blossom this past year. She has gained such a confidence in herself that makes me smile. Danny and I pray all the time that our girls will be confident in themselves and not look to others for acceptance and to be there own person. I have loved watching her grow in her relationship with the Lord and it has also helped me in mine. Love this girl to pieces!

Four days after Taylor's birthday we get to celebrate THIS guy who is officially 1!! Oh Maverick...I just love this little guy. I don't get a single thing done with you around and I don't mind a bit. You are SO busy, the only way to get you to sit still for a few minutes is to give you your tool set and you will sit there with your screwdriver and try to figure out the screws. You already are so much like your daddy and that excites me! You ADORE your sisters and are spoiled by all the attention you get. You aren't walking yet, def taking your time with that one and that's fine by me. The rougher the better. You are all things BOY! Love you MR!

 

March has been an interesting month. It's been hard because it has been filled with SO many blessings for our family, yet has been filled with SO much heartache and struggles for SO many close people around us. Even in the hurt, God is good. It has been amazing seeing God work in the lives of those around us going through trials. It has humbled us more than ever and reminds us not to take things for granted. One of our biggest blessings this month was Danny being promoted. He went through the long yet short, VERY stressful testing process for captain and he got it. I am SO proud of him!! That will be another post later this month as we have his badge pinning ceremony on the 26th. That's about it for now!! 

New Life

Wow, I am full of so many raw emotions at the moment. Tonight was a very special night. It actually started off pretty rough, the girls were both in big trouble, but through the bad it got us to a point with Taylor where she decided she was ready to admit that she was a sinner and was ready to give her life to Christ. What an amazing experience. It has been in the works for quite some time. I have had many conversations with her, she has asked questions, but was never quite ready. I could tell she took this very seriously and wanted to understand what it really meant before she prayed "the prayer". Tonight she was ready. Danny explained it to her really well and left her with "whenever you're ready". She got ready for bed and came into the bathroom with me where I was actually washing her hands and feet from playing in the dirt and she told me she was ready. She prayed the cutest prayer and immediately was filled with joy! It was such a special moment and I wanted to be sure to write it down so I never forget it. She called my mom and dad to tell them "the good news" and they obviously were thrilled. A little while later my mom texted me to thank me for sharing "the news" with them and she told me to go read www.prayfordaisy.com and read what Daisy's mom wrote. For those of you that don't know, Daisy is a little 8 year old girl that just lost her battle with cancer. It all hit a little too close to home as Taylor will be 8 in a few weeks. This could be a whole other blog post, but I've been working on spending less time worrying about my messy house, to stop and play with my kids. What Daisy's mom wrote reinforced this importance:

"My final request to all who read this blog: love. Love your babies, your husbands, mothers, sisters. Love each day like it’s your last. All you mamas out there, you have been entrusted with the precious gift of a human life who depends on you. Enjoy your gift. Breathe in the scent of your child’s hair, breath. Let them cook with you and make a mess of the kitchen. Play hide and seek with them, build sand castles with them, take them on picnics, read to them! Listen to them, value and respect them, never shame them. Your words they will carry with them their whole life and you have the power to give them wings or stunt their growth. Motherhood can be tough but it’s worth it. It can be exhausting, boring, tedious, but never for long. You blink and they’re grown. It has been my honor and privilege to love Daisy these last 8 years. I’m thankful for every minute; the joyful and the terrible alike."

So let the laundry pile up, leave those dirty dishes in the sink and enjoy your precious gifts...

AND I'm 30!!!

Is it weird to say that I'm excited to be 30? My 20's were great and all, but 30's excite me for some reason. I'm sure I would maybe have a different opinion if I hadn't accomplished all that I have. All my dreams have literally come true. Growing up, my mom would always say how she can't wait for God to come back to earth and take us all home to heaven and I always thought(in my highschool years) I just wanted to get married, have sex(haha sorry TMI) and have kids...then God could come. ;) But what a surreal feeling to have all my dreams come true. All the glory goes to God...I feel so blessed. To be able to not only have children, which I don't take for granted, and to be able to stay home and take care of them full time, especially these days, I am SO thankful for. All this to say, I am looking forward to what the next 10 years will hold.

As for my birthday celebrations, they couldn't have been better. The weekend before Christmas my good good friends Kim and Molly suprised me and took me away to Ojai for the night. We went shopping at the Camarillo Outlets on the way there, got massages, had a nice dinner, and a yummy brunch before we headed home. I think that was my first "girls" trip away since I've been married and I enjoyed every second of it.  

Closer to my actualy birthday Danny organized a nice dinner out with a couple of our close friends and we went bowling after. It was perfect! We all had such a great time. One of the more special moments was when Danny surprised me with upgrading the diamond from my wedding ring. This picture doesn't do it justice.

You know you are getting older when all you want for your birthday is a Vitamix...which I got thanks to all my family and friends who got me giftcards towards it for my birthday. So thank you!!