Snuggles

Last night Joelie didn't go to sleep very early. She had a late nap so her schedule was thrown off a bit. I ended up letting her come to bed with us for a little while. She got right in the middle of us and talked and talked and talked. Despite being exhausted I loved listening to her. What's really cute is she repeats whatever Casey tells her to say. It cracks me up because he has her say some of the craziest things! Plus toddler language is just adorable!
I ended up taking her back to bed about 2am. It's very hard sleeping with a toddler kicking you every few minutes.
This morning I woke up at 5:30 to Chase asking me to change his TV to Nick Jr. On the way in there he asked me if it was early morning or late at night! :) About 30 minutes later he was back in our room wanting to get in bed with us. So I let him.
He's my snuggle bug. He was in our room every single night sleeping at the foot of our bed well after Joelie was born. It took a lot to get him into his room and we are glad that he's in there... but I enjoyed every moment I had with him snuggling with me. He's my baby boy!
Of course I couldn't go back to sleep so I just looked at Chase while he was sleeping. I thought about how much he and Joelie look alike and how in a few months I'd lose my baby to kindergarten. I also noticed that he was snoring in unison with Casey!! They sounded exactly the same!

Its moments like this that make being a mom and wife well worth all the stress of maintaining a busy household. No matter how little sleep, no matter how exhausted or stressed out I get...  I cherish these moments more than anything. I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful husband and amazing kids! 

The Love of a Family is Life's Greatest Blessing

I often find myself questioning what family means...
To me it is my husband and our kids. It's making sure that our kids know that we will always be here to love and support them. It's watching them grow up and making decisions together to raise them to be the best adults they can be. It's spending quality time together and enjoying every moment of it. It's planning for our futures and preparing for the next steps in life. My family is everything to me. 


So I will never understand how a father can pay child support for his children but never make an effort to see them or call them. Or how a father can claim children as his flesh and blood but never send a birthday card or a Christmas gift or be there for sporting events and graduations.

I'll also never understand how a mother can lose custody of her children and not fight with every ounce of her being to get them back and if she can't, decide not to be a part of their lives anyway missing out on all the important milestones in their lives all while blaming someone else for her actions. 

Cabins and Lakes

We took a trip this weekend to Lake Murray in Oklahoma. The ride up wasn't as bad as I expected. The kids were really good. When we turned onto the street with the cabins I was a little freaked out, it looked scary. I didn't feel any better when I went to grab the keys and check in. When I opened the door I was greeted by the smell of something old and wooden. It reminded me of the way my grandmas moth ball filled closet smelled. The surrounding lake area was beautiful.
I was pleasantly surprised when we opened the door to our cabin. It was cute, updated with a flat steen tv, and it was clean!
After we got all of our stuff unloaded we went to the beach area and rented a boat. Casey took turns taking the kids for rides while the others stayed behind and played in the water. There was a cute little water park set up with trampolines and slides but I couldn't bring myself to pay $10 per hour, per kid seemed like a waste. When we got done we headed back into town for dinner and ice cream at Braums. Yum!
We spent the rest of the afternoon out in the lake enjoying a break from the heat! What I loved about this lake is that they net off the swimming area so there were no fish, which I'm afraid of. Something else I really liked was how clear the water was. You could see all the way to the bottom.
I enjoyed being able to sit outside in the dark with Casey and Joelie listening to the bugs. So peaceful!
Later that night when we were all snuggled in bed we were scared shitless when the smoke detector went off! Apparently the air conditioner overheated. It made for a hot night with just one wall unit trying to keep the whole cabin cool but it sure beat sleeping outside in a tent!
This morning when we got up to get ready to leave we were reminded that we were in the middle of nowhere by all the bugs that camped out with us. They were everywhere!!
Overall we had a good time. I'm sure we will do it again one day.

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Last week Casey and I got to escape to northern California for an adult weekend. We had such an amazing time. It was so nice to be able to go and do whatever we wanted without having to worry about kids or getting the sitter home at a decent hour. We had time to go and see two newly released movies in an actually movie theater! That never happens at home! We even planned a Memorial Day BBQ with some of my mommy friends and their families. (I wish that Joelie could have been there for it but we still had a wonderful time.) We drove out to Alice's restaurant up in the mountains for breakfast and walked the paths at Muir Woods followed by a drive down the coast. It was just a perfect vacation!

You know... I'm a Texas girl to the bone. Born and raised. I've never lived anywhere else and I have never wanted to live anywhere else... until I went to northern California. I love it there. The mountains and ocean are stunning. Maybe one day we will make it happen?