Day 59

Little Boy Toes

I can't believe that one of these days these cute little feet will fill a grown mans shoe.  But no matter how big these little toes gets, I hope he always walks in the way of our Lord.

Day 58

Cheese

Someone please tell me that I am not the only one who finds slices of cheese stuck to the side of their cabinets!  Anyone???  Ahhh, the life of living with toddlers!  :)

Day 57

"Baby Sick"

My youngest, Lakelyn, has to take a baby doll with her everywhere.  Seriously, we rarely leave our house without one.  Usually it's Bitty, Molly or Lucy, but today she attached herself to a different baby, which she told me later she was naming Avery. I am sure her big sister is so proud to have a baby doll named after her!  :)  Anyhow, Lakelyn had a yucky looking eye so my mom took her to the doctor and it turned out that she had pink eye.  Of course she took her baby into the office with her and once Dr. Ball was done checking Lakelyn out, she informed her that her baby was sick too.  A big thanks to our wonderful doctor who took the time to examine Lakelyn's baby doll as well.  Lake has talked about it for days!  She had told everyone that "Dr. Ballgame said my baby has pink eye." 

Day 56

Strawberry

So I guess we are on a fruit kick around here!  LOL!  I seriously had no idea what to take a picture of today so I just grabbed a Strawberry and went with it.  Not exactly what I was going for, but I thought it was kind of neat.

Day 55

There is nothing like a good smelling candle to fill your home with a yummy scent!

Day 54

Vintage

Some of our good friends are renovating an old home and we went for a visit on Saturday to check on the progress.  This is the old porch fan that was still hanging.

They also have a fireman's pole to slide down from the porch.  The kids thought this was greatest thing and are ready to put one in at our house!  I just had to share since it's not everyday you see a home with one of these!

Day 53

Friday...

It's finally Friday and it's been a long week!  I just love that you can write on our walls at work!

Day 52

Blueberries

Lakelyn loves her blueberries!

Day 51

Cuties

One of our most favorite snacks around here.

Day 50

Grilling

It was beautiful warmer day today so we decided it was time to clean the grill up and put it to good use.  As much as I wanted some snow this winter, this warmer weather is sure making me ready for spring!

Day 49

These boots are made for walking!

I am so far behind on posting my pictures, but I promise I have been taking them.  Last week was one of those weeks where I just never had the time to sit down at the computer.  I found some old boots of Avery's last weekend and Lakelyn has fallen in love with them.  She wants to wear them everywhere, just like Avery did!  She was standing in the kitchen with nothing on but her panties and boots eating a cracker when I took this picture.  You can even see the crumbs from her cracker falling around her boots.  These boots have sure seen a lot of miles!

Day 48

Sunday Afternoons

I kept hearing all this uncontrollable laughter coming from my bedroom so I grabbed my camera and peeked around the corner and this is what I found.  Avery, her friend Mallory, Oaks, & Lakelyn were watching funny videos on the laptop.  I love having laughter echo though my house! 

Day 47

Country Sunsets

It was so beautiful driving home last night from my parents house.  I just had to pull over on the side of the road and take a picture. 

Day 46

Another late night getting home & a camera phone shot.

Day 45

Dream Big

"When you laugh be sure to laugh out loud
'Cause it will carry all your cares away
And when you see, see the beauty all around and in yourself
And it'll help you feel okay
And when you pray, pray for strength
To help you carry on
When the troubles come your way
And when you dream, dream big"

Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Day 44

Valentines are ready for their parties!

Day 43

Impress them on your children.

This week I started a new Beth Moore Bible study, the Law of Love.  This verse really spoke to me.  If I do nothing else as I parent, I pray that my children with know the love of our Lord.

Day 42

We are getting ready for Valentines Day around here!

Day 41

 

Heart

On the way to church this morning I noticed this tree in the shape of a heart.  We pass by here every Sunday morning and I have never noticed it before.  Maybe it's of all the time I have spent this weekend helping Avery make her Valentines Day Box that has me seeing hearts everywhere!  Of course I didn't have my good camera on me so I apologize for the crummy quality.  Next phone I get I will make sure it has a good camera!! (Note to self, it's also a good idea to take your camera with you everywhere while doing a 365!)

Day 40

Eight Balloons for my 8 year old!  (Really wish I hadn't cut her hand off in this picture.)

We finally got around to taking Avery's birthday pictures today!  We had so much fun and she is such a little model!  She is really starting to enjoy my photo shoots and I think she has as much fun helping me plan them as I do!  She is becoming quite my little sidekick.

And here is the knot dress I made for her.  I really love how it turned out and can't wait to make Lakelyn one!  You can find the pattern I used here.  pinkpoodlebows does a great job with their patterns and they are so easy to follow!!  I LOVE the step by step directions you get with your pattern.  For novices like me, I really need those!

Day 39

Little Lakelyn Lou Who

Love Friday nights hanging with my girls!  Avery decided we should give each other crazy hair.  She did mine, while Lakelyn helped and them I did both of theirs.  Avery took hers down before I could get a picture, but Lakelyn wouldn't let us touch hers.  She even slept with it fixed like that!

Day 38

Sunny Day

It was a beautiful, sunny, 60 degree day here.  Oaks and I took full advantage of it and enjoyed a walk around our farm.  It was also nice to have some one on one time with my little man!  

Day 37

Tangled!

This is what little bits hair looks like every morning!  It is awful to comb out and she usually ends up in tears.  I lather on the conditioner when I wash her hair and use spray in conditioner every morning, but nothing really seems to help.  If anyone out there knows the secret to curly hair not getting tangled while sleeping, please let me know!!  Lakelyn and I will both thank you!!

Day 36

Running

We had a beautiful afternoon today.  It was in the mid 50's and I decided to take a quick walk outside.  As soon as Avery figured it out she came racing to catch up with me.

Day 35

So God Made a Farmer

Two commercial during the Super Bowl last night really touched my heart.  The first one being the Jeep/USO commercial.  God Bless America and our troops who protect us!  The other one was one that really hit home to me, Dodge Rams, So God Made a Farmer.  My husband is a farmer, my father-in law is a farmer, both grandfather in-laws are farmers, and my grandfather is a farmer.  I grew up on a farm, learning a deep respect for home grown foods and the importance of respecting our land.  I have been around farming my whole life in one way or the other, but it is my husband that taught me the deep respect that I have for those that work from sun-up til sun-down.  He has a love for the land like no one else I know.  His roots run deep though our soil and river banks.  He spends many hours in the field bailing hay, cutting, topping, or setting tobacco, or helping a heifer bring new life into this world.  I have seen him covered in dirt from head to toe, I have seen his arm (an I am NOT exaggerating when I say arm) go places that many would never have the nerve to go, all to save the life of a new baby calf.   My children are growing up understanding life and death, how important our land is, and what it means to have put in a long, hard days work.  They spend Saturday mornings with their Daddy and Papaw feeding cattle, they spend afternoons in the tobacco patch, they help drive the tractor, they have helped feed and nurse a newborn calf back to health, they see the sweat, they see the hard, grueling work, but they also see the reward of putting your heart into something.  It's not always easy and sometimes it can be down right heartbreaking.  Sometimes, during busy seasons, it feels like my husband is only home long enough sleep.  When it doesn't rain for months on end and you watch your husbands hard work wilt away, knowing that part of your lively hood, your income is wilting away too, I will be honest...it is hard.  But when he comes home in the evening, and smells of the earth and his callused hands hold you to him and you know he does it all out of love, love for the land and love for his family, you know you wouldn't choose any other life.  When your children come home excited to tell you about the baby calf they just watched being born and you see the love and respect they have in their eyes, you know you wouldn't choose any other life.  So thank you God for farmers.  Thank you for my farmer.     

And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.

God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board."  So God made a farmer.

"I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it." So God made a farmer.

God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain'n from 'tractor back,' put in another seventy-two hours." So God made a farmer.

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer.

God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church.
"Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a farmer.

~Paul Harvy

Day 34

Snow Angels!!

And they finally got to play in some!  To bad it all melted by lunchtime today, but hey, we will take it!!

Day 33

Saturdays!

While Avery and Oaks helped Daddy feed the cattle, Lakelyn, Bitty and I spent the morning dressing up! 

Day 32

Pink!

After I put the kids to bed, I spent my Friday night relaxing on the couch, watching a good ol' Hallmark movie and painting my toes.  Ahhh, the weekend!