Teacher Appreciation and School Program

Last week at Macie's school (Advent Pres) it was Teacher Appreciation Week. Being a former teacher, I know how nice it is to feel appreciated, even if it is in the simplest ways! So we baked her sweet teachers some Poppy Seed Bread Mini Loafs and made cards to say THANK YOU! I personally appreciate these women because they have taken such GREAT care of my baby girl this year and taught her SO much!! They are truly wonderful women!

YUMMY bread!!! Check out my food blog for the recipe!

She was SO proud of her cards she painted!

Not only was it Teacher Appreciation week, but Macie's class also put on a special Circle Time program for the parents. CUTE! Macie did a great job! They sang songs, said their pledge, showed their parents how they take roll each day, and the kids even made the moms Mother's Day cards and gave us flowers at the end of the program *tear*.......I am so proud of the little girl Macie is becoming:-)

My big girl (3 years old)!

Circle Time

Macie's Teacher, Ms. Susan and Ms. Dianne ( we LOVE them!!)

So proud of her!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 127:3

What a blessing it is to be called a MOM!! There is no greater gift (outside of salvation) than becoming a Mother! I am SO grateful for the 2 babies the Lord has given me to love and care for! I am truly blessed and honored to be their Mommy!

And, not only are they SWEET, but they give some GREAT gifts (with the help of their amazing daddy)!! I felt so special and appreciated:-)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!!! Of course it was personalized with my information.
Macie, Caleb, Jason, and 11.21.2003 (our anniversary)....and the best part is if we ever decide to have a 3rd child, I can send it back and Lisa will add another personalized charm for baby #3
Lisa Leonard Designs

And if the necklace wasn't enough, I was surprised with this CUTE Jessica Simpson clutch!
I *heart* pink AND purses!!! LOVE it!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Little Mr. Independance!

With the age of 1 came a new independent personality that we had not seen! He has begun the battle of "likes and dislikes" when it comes to food, rather than just eating whatever we put in his mouth...he also HAS to have something to "self-feed" on his tray at each meal, or he is NOT a happy eater!! So, as a result, meal time clean-up has become a FULL-TIME job!! He is one CUTE MESS!!!

GOING......

AND GOING......

AND GONE!!!

Doing our part for planet Earth......

As silly as it may seem, I have known for a while that we were throwing out way to much "trash"...I'm talking AT LEAST one bag a day!! That is a LOT of trash people!! ....and I knew most of this "trash" was actually items that could be recycled, I was honestly just to lazy to put it in the recycle bin and put it on the street every Tuesday....but I finally decided it was time we start doing our part to help out planet Earth....so we now are recycling! Jason laughs at me (a lot) because I have become quite the "recycle queen" and I survey everything that we put in the trash as to whether it can be recycled or not.....I have even gotten Macie into asking...."mom can this be recycled?" And of course she loves being the "big helper" and taking the items out to the bin. I feel good about teaching our family how to do our part to help save the planet......are you doing your part?!?!

Some calm after the storms....

After the craziness of the weekend "storm-a-thon" our kids could use some MUCH NEEDED calm. So after dinner last night we let the kids play outside! They were SO EXCITED! Seriously, it was like letting wild animals out of their cages:-) They definitely needed the fresh air. Small (stir crazy) children trapped inside for 24 hours + constant tornado sirens= ONE CRAZY MAMA!!

Nakedness+outside=One HAPPY baby boy!

Singing in her playhouse....this girl is ALWAYS singing (making up songs) these days:-)

She LOVES her rainboots!

It's a wonderful site this morning to see the sun shining....now I'm just trying to get motivated after having such a lazy, cooped up weekend at home!:-) I don't know what it is about the weekends when the hubby is home, but my cleaning motivation levels DROP OUT!! Does that happen to anyone else?!?! So this is what I have to look forward to today:

MOUNTAINS of laundry awaiting me! That's 7 loads of laundry people! Happy Monday!

Just say NO to Peanut Butter!

This is my sweet baby boy......

This is my sweet baby boy on Peanut Butter:-(

*These photos were taken 2 hours AFTER he had been given meds to reduce swelling/hives:-( It was already so much better at this point!

Heartbreaking! I know! One of the scariest nights EVER! Needless to say he won't be sampling peanut butter again. We have an appointment with an allergist in a couple of weeks and will hopefully have a little more information about his allergy to peanuts and any other allergies he might have, but for now we are staying VERY FAR AWAY from peanuts/peanut butter!!!! We are thankful the Lord protected him and his reaction did not become anaphylactic this time. I am now armed with LOTS of Benadryl, EpiPens, and Allergy Alert Tags!

168 Days and Counting...........

Well, it's official and the countdown is on......Only 24 more weeks and our family will be........ headed on vacation to the BEACH!!!! Destin, Florida HERE WE COME! I am so excited! This year we will be taking our beach vacation with Jason's extended family! There will be a total of 13 of us, so there will be LOTS of fun to be had:-)

Our 1st Floor Penthouse is booked at Silver Beach Towers!

Our family already has a beach photographer (GwyneMark Photography) lined up!


Jason and I have already started dreaming of visiting a few of our favorite food spots....

The Back Porch in Destin

Fat Daddy's Pizza in Rosemary Beach (BEST pizza we have EVER had!!!)

Dunkin Donuts in Destin (oh who can resist a freshly baked, warm donut)

The Donut Hole Bakery in Destin (I can taste the key lime pie already!!)


And who can resist some good shopping!!!

Silver Sands Factory Outlet Mall in Destin

Destin Commons




Now.......we wait......HURRY UP OCTOBER!!!!