Incredible Pizza Daddy Date

Daddy took Madison and Jonah to Incredible Pizza the night Mackenzie and I were at the GA Sleepover. I wondered how he would handle being outnumbered at Incredible Pizza, but apparently he did just fine. He did admit to me later that he let Madison go up to the buffet line by herself once, which I wasn't thrilled about. After a fun time at Incredible Pizza, they headed home to meet Jamie. He was in Tulsa for a wedding so he spent the night at our house. This was just an all around busy, fun weekend for us all!

I have never seen a kid love mac-n-cheese more than this girl!

Such a good big sister!

GA Sleepover

On Friday night we had the GA Sleepover at the church. This was Mackenzie's second year to do this and she was more than a little excited! Madison wasn't at all happy about not getting to go, so Daddy took her to Incredible Pizza to make up for it. It was a very fun evening of eating pizza, watching girls be...well, girls, doing an alphabetical scavenger hunt around the church, and then ending the night watching Frozen and trying to get nearly 30 little girls to settle down and go to sleep! I was just glad Connie was there with me! To say that I had a rough nights sleep is an understatement! I was very tired the next day but I didn't have time to rest...I had to get ready for Mackenzie's birthday party at our house that evening. Regardless, I had a great time with my little GA!

It takes a lot of stuff for a sleepover, even if it's just for one night.

Silly selfies...

We took all kinds of fun pictures on one of the churches iPads and I meant to get copies of them, but never did. Oh well...fun memories anyway!

Mackenzie just had to bring her Build-a-bear Pony with roller skates!

Kim Hayes is the GA coordinator and she does an amazing job! She ordered these cute donuts for the girls to have Saturday morning before going home. It was hard to choose which one to pick, they were all so cute!

Despite getting very little sleep, they were all smiles the next morning!

Grandma Jean

I came across this card from my Grandma Jean when I was unpacking things. It made me happy and sad at the same time. This was right after we moved to Idabel and I had bronchitis and was terribly homesick. I love that she reminded me to use Vicks on my nose & throat. I showed this card to Poppa and we had a good laugh about that! My Grandma Jean was such a special lady and I miss her dearly! She would love Mackenzie, Madison & Jonah so much. And, they would adore her! She would love our new home and would definitely be helping me with curtains. I know she would be proud of me and that makes me smile!

I also found this recipe for her Broccoli & Rice Casserole in the cookbook she gave me when we got married. I have had this cookbook for 13 years now and for whatever reason, I didn't realize this was in there. (Apparently I should cook more!) This is always a "must-have" for the holidays. How special that I have it in her beautiful handwriting! I am so thankful for the memories & all of the wonderful years I had with my Grandma Jean. She left an imprint on my heart that will never be forgotten! 

Family Devotion Fun

I want to preface this post by saying that we are not that perfect spiritual family who has in-depth devotions with their kids every night. In fact, there are many nights that we say a 2 sentence prayer, kiss them on the head, and say "PLEASE go to sleep! (and on the inside we're thinking, "I may go crazy if you aren't asleep in the next 3 minutes!") We do try to spend a few minutes before bed reading a Bible story or singing to the Lord. Sometimes we just act silly and that's okay too! These pictures of Jonah playing the guitar with Brian just melt my heart. I am so thankful that my little boy has such an amazing, Godly daddy to teach him how to be a man! Brian is the spiritual leader in our home and I have such honor and respect for him because of that. We are way, WAY far from perfect, but we do pray that God would help us every day to lead our children to know and follow Him.

And then sometimes, this happens...not really sure what to say about it! Haha!

2 Year Old Big Boy

Two  years old is such a fun age! Jonah brings such joy and laughter to our lives every day! He is quite the little golfer. These video's completely crack me up! This is the rocking horse I played on when I was a little girl. How special that my kids have been able to play on it also!

 

He was just too cute in these Nike's and gym shorts!

Somebody is very ticklish!

Jonah recently learned how to say "bubble" which is the cutest thing ever!

Oh how this makes me laugh! Brian had to bring Jonah home from school one day and he didn't have the car seat, so he had to improvise with Jonah's sleeping mat and the seatbelt! Thankfully we don't live too far away! The look on Jonah's face is hysterical...it's like "Really, Dad?"

Carver Marion Shaw

 My sweet little nephew, Carver Marion Shaw was born on September 19th just after midnight. Brian and I were in Dallas for a conference when he was born and I was so sad to not be here. I kept in touch with G-Ma though and I was so excited when I woke up around 1:00 a.m. with a text from Clint with his picture and name! We are so happy to have another little boy in our family to love on! He and Jonah will be good buddies in a year or two. He is absolutely adorable! It will be fun to watch my brother as a Daddy...he will do great!

I took dinner and went to meet him on Tuesday evening once they were at home. He was so tiny! It's hard to remember my babies being that little, but they were.

I think he likes me...

Here are a few more pic's that Clint & Abigail shared from the hospital.

D6

Brian and I went to the D6 conference in Dallas this weekend. How fun to have a two night get-away! I sure do love this man of mine! He puts God first, treats me like a Queen, and is an incredible father. He is truly one of the most selfless, patient, & loving people I know. I am so blessed that he is mine!

 

D6 is a family ministry conference that focuses on Deuteronomy chapter 6. The family truly is one of God's greatest masterpieces! We had a fun time just being together and I think we both came away from the weekend feeling encouraged and ready to pour even more love into our kids. Grandma Baldwin stayed at our house with the kids and they loved that! Something that I was really challenged and convicted by was the use of my cell phone when I am in the van with the kids. I am going to try to do better about that...less phone/DVD player & more time talking to them! Every time I go to something like this, I am struck by how quickly they are growing up and I'm reminded that each day we have is a gift.

 

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

We went shopping at the Galleria and stopped in the American Girl doll store to buy Mackenzie's birthday present. I "forgot" to tell Brian how much this doll would cost until we were checking out! =0)