"Oh no. I'm so sad."

Last weekend, when Maddman was here, a storm came through. We had 70+ mph winds with tornadoes nearby. Needless to say, we were all up in the middle of the night listening to all the debris slam against the house. Maddox was so afraid, but not for himself. He just wanted Dakota up in bed with us so he would be safe. So R, Maddox, Dakota, and I were all piled into the bed. (It was short-lived though, Dakota knows better and jumped down as soon as Maddox would let him.)

We were blessed to only have minimal damage. Our porch was rearranged. The neighbor's trampoline found a new spot. Part of our sideboard blew off. (Thankfully Gabe had recently fixed our siding!) But the bean bags forgotten in the yard from yard games were left untouched. (Oh, and someone cashed in on the bag of cans out in the street.)

When Maddox looked out the window in the morning, he said, "Oh no. I'm so sad." I suppose it was the thought of the neighbor kids not having their trampoline though because on the way to church when we saw huge trees down, roots ripped out of the ground, trees on houses, and on broken power lines his response was, "Whoah!"

Last I heard on the news tonight there were just a couple houses left without power.

Makes me so thankful for the AC and the power that runs it this time of year.

Family Bike Ride

It's our Anniversary. And I'm blogging. But I can do that because he's outside working on stuff. Right? :)

We went for a family bike ride tonight. Dakota ran 4 miles. We were impressed with him.

I documented it. Without stopping. In a skirt.

You can decide whats more impressive.

Happy 3rd Anniversary, R!

It doesn't seem like a year ago that I posted this post on our 2nd anniversary.

Since then, we've grown together a lot in our marriage. We've grown in our faith. We've grown in our commitment to each other.

I've learned a lot since them. I've learned a lot about life and love. And I've learned a lot from R. He's a great teacher when it comes to teaching me (especially about patience!). And who knew that the sugar goes on the cereal after the milk? (I sure didn't!)

Three years ago we laughed together at the altar. Three years ago we ate key lime cheesecake. Three years ago we held hands while walking around the casino at 2am not wanting the night to end. Three years ago we said 'I do.' Three years ago we made a forever promise. We became one.

Thanks for taking this journey with me, R. Happy Anniversary!!

Maddman

I'll post some pictures from Mo's birthday party as soon as I get them uploaded but this gem was mixed in with my photos from Zane's session and I had to post it. He's a pretty special little guy. He likes to play 'ice road truckers' on the dining room table. He loves "The Stinky Cheese Man" and he eats garlic toast for breakfast. Yes, breakfast. In a pinch, when he really wants to spend the night unannounced, he can make size 6-9 month pajamas found in our basement work as capris. And he makes them look cool. He rarely sits still to let me get a picture of him. In fact, you can probably tell by his face that he didn't know I had the camera out. Once he realized it, he quickly went back to his food. I said, "Hey, Maddox, turn around and smile." So he, of course, turns his head the other way and says cheese. And I got a nice snapshot of the back of his head. I'm sure the smile that I couldn't see was amazing.

Gotta love him.

choices

"The people that matter, the people that care about you, the people that know your heart; they aren't going to judge you. And the people that don't, well they'll forget about it in 6 weeks anyway."

Summer Snacking.

I tend to snack in the summer. Okay. Fine. I tend to snack all the time. It's just easier in the summer. And when this magazine came in the mail today, I was inspired to grab a healthy snack out of the fridge. I even looked up a recipe for the perfect hard boiled egg. It was too many words so I skipped the recipe and just boiled the egg using mom's 12 minute, or is it 18 minute?, method. Thanks Blue for inspiring me to be a health nut. At least for today. What? Health nuts don't eat peaches n' cream doused in sugar? Well I guess it's better than a nutty bar.

Happy 5th Birthday, Morgan!

Yikes. Didn't I just post this post the other day?!?!

How is she already FIVE?

Dear Morgan,

Happy 5th Birthday! I can't believe it was FIVE years ago that you were born. Five years ago I was working for I-JAG and came to the hospital after work to await your arrival. Five years ago I excitedly brought your baby pictures to work to show Rusty. Five years ago I became an aunt for the first time. Five years ago I saw your teeny tiny little face and I loved you right away. Just because you are you.

I try to tell you to stop growing so fast, but it isn't working. Every time I see you, you have grown up more and more.

You are a people pleaser. Whenever you come to our house you are a big helper. You love Dakota. We rarely have a conversation that you don't ask about him. You follow me around and want to do what I'm doing. You LOVE taking pictures. You don't know it yet, but at your birthday party Friday you'll get a present from Rusty, Dakota and me that will help with that. :) You like Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana (still) and are quite the little rockstar. While I'm not sure I knew what a computer was when I was your age, you are quite savvy on it. You love your cousin Maddox. You swim like a fish. You requested a Taylor Swift birthday party with pink and purple balloons and chocolate cake. This year you graduated from pre-school and gave yourself a haircut. It was scary at first but you rock it pretty well. You pose perfectly for pictures, but I have to be quick, because when you are ready to be finished times up. You have an extraordinary fashion sense. I like your style. I like your smile. I love you.

Happy FITH Birthday!

Love you soooo much!

-R, H, & Dakota