Snow Day Fun!

Today was the 1st snow day I've gotten to go out with all 3 kiddos. Normally I get the 4-wheeler and pull the kids behind the tube, but with L.J., this year I've adapted what I can do. I bundled her up and decided I couldn't stand it any longer. I wanted to play outside in the snow with them. (or at least snap some shots of them!) So, here we are!

I love this pic of my sweet, sweet boys!!!! Momma and Bryson havin' a blast!
Bryson

Brennan

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

My SMILEY girl!

She cracked me up, I sat her down in the snow and she just laid back!:)

All bundled up together! (Poor Lolee can barely move, let alone see, but she kept smilin') ha!

I love how she's peeking over her big honkin' coat!:)

Snow Princess

God is good!!!!

'This is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118:24

(School is called off tomorrow already...yippee!!!)

Baby boy...7 years old!!!!!!!

You will always be my baby boy!!!

Bryson Quinn,

What a treasure you are. You are such an amazing little boy. You are the BEST LITTLE AND BIG BROTHER EVER! You would fight to the death for your brother, even if he's done something to you...you still don't want him to get into trouble! You will do ANYTHING for your sister, carrying her all over the house. Making silly faces at her. Making her laugh when no one else could. You are just plain funny!! The clown of the family!You are so athletic; so good at basketball and baseball. You are so kind and compassionate. You are extremely creative and talented. You are my artist. You are so determined. You're so smart. We ARE SO BLESSED and honored to have you in our family, sweet boy!

Love you,

Mommy and Daddy

So.... we braved our 1st friend party for Bryson.

He invited 10 of his best buds to play laser tag. #1 on his list???? HIS BIG BROTHER!!!!!

How sweet is that??

Check out this crew!!!

They were pumped and ready to rock n roll!
Here are their best silly faces!

Right before they headed into the arena I snapped this shot!

BTW, the Dad's are WAY more into this than the kids~ lol!!!

MMM! Pizza, Cupcakes, and ice-cream!!
Sophie Belle joined us later for a cupcake! Sweetie!

We made it home safe and sound. (We weren't sure if we would even be able to have the party since we had a couple of inches of snow!) Bryson had 2 friends spend the night. Here's Bren jumping in front of the camera last second before I snapped a shot of the boys in their sleeping bags! What a ham!!!

A little after 11:00 the boys finally came to camp out in the great room.

They turned on Pirates of the Carribean and were asleep by midnight.

It was a ton of fun watching Bryson enjoy his friends!

Good times!

Today Bryson requested tacos for his birthday lunch. (He's easy!):)

Here he is opening his UK outfit. He loves him some UK WILDCATS!!!!!

In the afternoon he played with his best bud, Cole and Brennan.

Bryson, hope all your wishes come true!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!"

Jeremiah 29:11

December in Review (I am SOO behind!)

In the beginning of December, we made our annual trip to downtown Cincy. We enjoy our special traditions of seeing the trains at the Duke Energy Center, going to the Conservatory, ice-skating at Fountain Square, and much, much more. This is what memories are made of. I will always treasure these precious times.
Our 1st Family of 5 pic at Fountain Square!:)

Daddy and Bryson still standing..for now.
Daddy and His Boys

Momma and her boys

(Sweet little Lolee was snoozing, so we took turns taking these pics.

I sat in a warm tent with her while Daddy and the boys skated!:)

Here the boys watched the ice being resurfaced.

The night couldn't have ended any better. We saw Santa, Reindeer, and elves repel from the top of a sky scraper...and went out with the bang of Fireworks. PERFECT!
Lola was pointed to her favorite thing....a HUGE Christmas tree in a hotel in downtown.

PRECIOUS!
My three blessings!

The boys got these new shirts on Christmas morning.

It was one of their favorite gifts.

They are easy to please!

Do you think Lola Joy liked her new horsie???

Here are two sweet friends in matching pj's!!!

One night our friends, Heather and Corey came over to see L.J. crawl.

We all got silly by the end of the night. Here's everyone's best silly face!

Bryson

Brennan

Sophie's "monster Grinch" face

Cole

This pic makes me laugh so hard! Heather and Sophie look just alike!

Love you girls!

We got to eat dinner at our favorite restaurant with Doug's sister and the crew.

It was a blast! Here are the kiddos goofing around at dinner!


I never realized how much alike Darci and Deana look. Beautiful girls!

I LOVE this candid shot of Deana and Darryl. So in love!
After dinner we went to see Alvin and The Chipmunks...even Lolee!!!! (It was late...changed her into her jammies!! I took her out and put her to sleep a little ways into the movie.

Thanks for a great night of fun guys!

One night I went into Lola Joy's room to check on her and found her sleeping like this!!! I ran and got Doug and we just laughed. She is so funny! Love this little girl!!!!

Love that little booty in the air!

The kids so enjoyed the few days we had off from school.

Here's Brennan, Cole and Bryson

The 3 Musketeers!

Sophie was too busy making a princess castle to pose with the boys! Sweet!

The boys enjoyed playing army in the woods!

Sorry it's taken me so long. It's busy taking care of 2 active boys and a baby girl on the move! Lola Joy started crawling RIGHT after Christmas. Now she is everywhere and into everything.

Blessings!

Julie

Prayers for Haiti!!!!

The best Christmas presents don't come under the tree..okay..maybe one did!

(This is LONG, but please read it, I think you'll be blessed...

and there's a sweet surpise at the end!)

"Open your mouth for the speechless...and plead the cause of the poor and needy."

Proverbs 31:8,9

After school begins a whirlwind of events for our family. Today was unlike any other day with many events on the to-do list. The responsibilities of being a teacher was first on the to-do list after school let out; I had car duty, one of my favorite things! (NOT!) I get my boys going on their homework, leave them a snack and a note that says, "I love you...DO YOUR HOMEWORK!" and its off to get the students safely in their warm cars. I rush back to the classroom to check homework, sign planners, and make sure all bases are covered to have them prepared for the next day. Next, we're off to get Lola Joy from her Momaw's. Normally we have a moment to say hello and visit, but today the boys stayed in the car as I rushed in grabbed Lolee, a couple of kisses and it was in the car seat and off to home. (Poor little thing!) In the van I am giving the boys the game plan for when we get to the house to be sure not a minute is wasted as we didn't have any extra time! The boys run in the house, literally drop their things, change for Brennan's basketball game which will be held about 30 minutes away, and we still haven't eaten anything! I run in the house, put Lola in the walker and run around trying to make sure the boys have what they need, make Lola a bottle, and gather the various supplies needed to take a baby anywhere! Today of all days Brennan can't find his uniform. I run upstairs and start pulling things out of his laundry basket. Nothing. Brennan is doing the same thing to Bryson's laundry basket. Nothing. I do a quick scan in the closet. Nothing. This same pattern proceeds. I call Doug frantic and ask if he has any idea where it could be, and of course he doesn't, but I was desperate! After what seems like HOURS of searching and re-searching closets, cars, bags, etc., I look in the laundry room one last time and hanging crisp and clean was Brennan's uniform! AHHH! Finally! Brennan scrambled to get it on as we were finally out the door, off to McD's to scarf dinner in the car, ( I know a nice way to have a family meal), pick up Doug, and GO TO THE GAME! Shew! We arrive at the game on time, actually early as Doug thinks we need to arrive a 1/2 hour in advance only to discover that the other team is forfeiting the game. What???!!! After all that? Oh well, our to-do list wasn't nearly complete, so there wasn't time to complain. We went to Wal-Mart to get gifts for the kids' parties and some other items, visited the Family Christian Stores, and topped off the evening with DUNKIN' DOUGHNUTS! Finally our vehicle was headed home! We got home and hurried the tired boys off to the showers, one upstairs, and one downstairs. It was Doug's night to put Lola Joy to bed, I had boy duty. As I went upstairs and walked into the bathroom, I found Brennan crying. I went into Mommy mode asking what was wrong and giving and playing the guessing game as to what was wrong. "Brennan, are you worried," I asked? "No Mom!" (more crying). "Did you do something wrong?" "No Mom!" I continued with many other guesses. Finally, He said he couldn't tell me. He said he could tell Daddy, but not me. I told him Daddy was putting Lola Joy to bed and that he just needed to tell me. The crying and chin quivering carried on for quite sometime. My heart was breaking and I just wanted to "fix" him and make it all better. I wanted to take away my son's pain. What could it be that could be causing him to cry in this manner? I finally discovered the brokenness and heartbreak my son was experiencing wasn't something a mother can "fix". He painfully let it out. "I'm crying because I feel sorry for people who don't have anything, but I didn't wanna tell you cause I knew you would cry!" (GULP!) With a HUGE FROG in my throat and tears already welling up in my eyes, I said, "I'm not going to cry!" He said, "you already are!" As Brennan and I embraced, we sobbed. Sobbed for the needy, the hungry, the least of these. I told Brennan that during my lunchtime today I was finishing my "Healthy Choice" orange chicken and rice bowl. As I looked at the few grains of rice that were left, I was reminded of the "grains of rice" the boys had been earning playing online games for those to help solve world hunger. I wept. I prayed to God, and wrestled with God, wondering why people have to suffer. Why people have to be hungry while my belly is full. I told Brennan that what he was feeling was COMPASSION. We talked about what we could do for those in need and how God is amongst the needy, and how we could reach out to them. I walked out of the room to let Bryson come in and, of course, Bryson was concerned about why Brenn and and I were crying. At first Brennan was hesitant about telling him, but finally agreed to let me share with Bryson. Well, he immediately began to flow the crocodile tears as well and said, "ME TOO!" He said, "I want to give them all of my money!" Brennan and I cried some more with Bryson. It was a beautiful moment of raw emotion and brokenness. Choking back the tears, we prayed. This was the BEST Christmas present any mother could pray for, and IT DIDN'T cost a thing!!! In the Matthew, God is clear. He states that "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me!" It is our responsibility to step out of our comfort zones and go! Although today was busy, chaotic, and started out as an ordinary day in our home, it was far from ordinary. In fact, it was extraordinary, and was a day filled with lessons and memories I will carry with me all the days of my life! This was the BEST Christmas present ever and you can't find it under a tree or put a price on it!

And for the OTHER BEST PRESENT that WAS UNDER MY TREE tonight...well....

We got the biggest kick out of her "exploring" the "bee".

(That's what Lola calls the tree!)Humbled to be called, "mom"!

Blessings,

Julie

On the mend...I hope!

It's been a long time! My entire family was sick...one after another! We've been through the ringer, but we're hopefully, FINALLY on the mend! Shew! God is good! Between ballgames, school, sickness, and a baby in the house, I rarely have time to do anything especially check blogs and update mine! Sorry! But I am going to try to post when I can! Little Lola Joy is 8 months and 3 weeks old. She is still doing so amazingly well. She is still bringing so much JOY to everyone she meets. She is now waving and waves and says "HEY" to everyone she meets...with a HUGE smile on her face, of course. If you say, "How big is Lola?" We say, " THIS BIG" and she puts her hands up over her head. She says "Mama" finally!!! She has pulled up on her toy basket as well as in her bed. She is a little dancer! Anytime she hears music she is movin' her little body to the beat! She loves ALL foods and would give up her bottle if we'd let her! She goes NUTS when she sees her bubba's after school. We race out of my vehicle into the house, wash our hands, and RUN to see our sweetie pie. We push and shove to see who can get to her first and by the time she hears us she is squealing with delight!! We are so blessed with three INCREDIBLE children! God is so good!!! So here are some pics!

Here are the kiddos at the Apple Barn in Gatlinburg!

I loved this fun pic of Daddy and his little monkeys!

How blessed am I???

Lola Joy had her first sucker!

I thought this was the funniest pic! I look in my rear view mirror and this is what I find!

Gotta love boys!!!!!!

Take care and have a blessed Thanksgiving!

We have sooo much to be thankful for!!!