eight years old.

I sat across from him on the bus yesterday.
His first time.

I just stared at him, watching as he talked to his buddy and acted like a goof.

He would look over at me and smile.

It was the last day he would be seven.

We had just spent the day together at the zoo.
He taught me everything he knew about snakes... his current fascination.

He even let me hug on him without getting embarrassed.

Will that change now that he is eight?
I hope not.

 He declares he will never marry or have kids.

So will he ever know how much I truly love him?
How my heart aches with pride when I see him grow in confidence
 and accomplish things he didn't think he was capable of accomplishing?
How I can't imagine life without him in my world?

There have been recent stories about him chasing girls on the playground.
That's new.
Maybe there's still hope. :)

 Wishing my big boy a very Happy Birthday.
May you feel extra special and loved every single minute on your special day.
Everyday.

And may today be filled with more legos than you know what to do with.

 Love you, Hayes.
xoxo

game face.

seattle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

much-needed getaway.

just the two of us getting to explore.

many laughs and memories made.

mucho coffee and seafood consumed.

thanks minnie and papaw for taking care of our sweets.

xoxoxo

sickie poo

we've spent some quality time together lately.

quiet, stay-at-home, recovering from the flu time.

there was a lot of this...

 and this...

and this...

 more of this...

occassionally some of this...

unfortunately this...

maybe a little bit too much of this...

lots of this...

 and finally this...

it was tough seeing them feel so bad.

but there was just this quiet peace of being home together.

nothing to do but focus on making them as comfortable as possible

and watching god work through prayer.

will you be my valentine?

I think it is safe to say that all five of us look foward

to this special night with our valentines each year.

The boys wanted to dine at Cosi like we did last year, while Daddy and Ellie chose Carrabba's.

We met up for some book browsing at Barnes & Noble afterwards.

i choose peace.

no christmas cards this year.

avoided the frustration of attempting to make my kids all smile happily

at the same time for the camera.

eliminating stress where i can.

choosing to focus on christ.

oh come let us adore him.

no santa this year.

kyle and i told santa we've got it covered and want to focus on jesus' birthday.

multiple times a day, people ask my kids if they are excited about santa.

we kindly reply that we are having a birthday party for jesus instead.

most look confused. that's okay. well, not really.

i'll always remember embry's response to the first question.

a lady asked him what santa was bringing him for christmas

and he proudly said, "santa's not coming to our house because his presents

(my ears heard presence) will be a distraction to us." 

eliminating the competition.

for he alone is worthy.

our gifts are different this year.

i could not do one more year of running around to find things...

just to buy them... just to check them off my list... just because that's what you do.

it completely distracts me from where i want to be. there is so much more to this.

even though others may not get it, it's where we are. where we are supposed to be.

we give you all the glory.

christ the lord.

praying that this will be the most meaningful christmas yet.

that we can take the time from the busyness swirling around us 

and truly adore the gift that has been given to us.

merry christmas!