Content

Content. That's my word for 2015 and I know it will shape our year. We are beginning the year with a "spend-very-little" month. Not quite "spend zero", but we want to hunker down, budget better, and just be content with what we have. Happy New Year, friends!

JOY: looking back on 2014

What a year of joy it has been, indeed. 

We have watched our kids grow (too quickly), grown together in our marriage, and spent our time investing in our friends. I can think of no other way I'd rather this year have gone. 

As a family, we have began the tradition of Friday Night Meatballs. It has been such a fun time to wind down at the end of the week with the people who mean the most in our lives. We are getting our feet wet at Westover Church and looking to join early next year. This change didn't come easily, as we left our church home at Gift Community, but we feel confident that God was calling us to make this change. 

Jeff has changed jobs - he is now a Sherpa (as in Cloud Sherpas) and is loving his new role as Engagement Manager. It has meant much more travel, but otherwise has brought a breath of fresh air to his work.  There hasn't really been a lot of time for him to do fun stuff, but hopefully that will change in 2015.

Not much new for me. I still love scrapbooking, and have been regularly attending crops at the Scrapbook Studio. I have enjoyed hosting Friday Night Meatballs. It's been an unusually stress-free event in our house, and I'm proud that I have figured out how we can open our home to our friends.

Cole is into building things! Legos, K'Nex, or a toy and random piece of ribbon. LOL. He loves to make things that look like nothing to us, but he'll tell us exactly what they are. He's smart and loves to learn. He is learning the bones of the body and is constantly questioning how, why, or what is this. We love his kind-heart and gentle spirit. 

Ava is a spirited not-quite-two-going-on-twelve. It's been a lot of fun this year learning her personality. She is fun, loud, strong-willed, and super sweet. She loves her baby dolls and anything that brother loves (specifically, the exact thing that's in his hand at any given moment). 

We are reminded often that life is short and we can't count on tomorrow, but we don't always live that way. I hope that in 2015, we can find ways to be content with what we have, and to enjoy life together more than we already do.

Happy New Year :)

Purging...

I used to cringe when I read about people ‘purging’ facebook friends. Now I get it. I want my facebook friends to be my real friends. I don’t want to spend hours sucked into reading about someone else’s life – someone who I haven’t seen or talked to in months – or 10 years. By purging my facebook-only friends, I hope I can be more committed to deeper friendships.

My facebook "friend" list is continually evolving (and recently reducing). I'm not always a great friend at keeping in touch (even with technology!), but I want to be a real friend and have real friends in my life and online. So, friends, I'm thankful for you and even thankful for facebook to help keep us connected 

The heat is on...

Literally, the heat is on. It's supposed to be a cold Winter and we are already feeling the cold temps the first week of October. I'm a little afraid to run in the morning! We {the kids and I} might freeze our tails off!

Jeff left tonight for 3 days away. Again. We are really missing him when he's gone.

After we dropped him off at the airport, I took Cole and Ava to the Food Truck Festival to meet up with a friend and her two kiddos. I am always anxious to take the kids out alone at dinner time. You just never know who will melt-down, or better said, how big the melt-down will be. To my surprise, they were both AMAZING. We had dinner, mostly sitting down, then the kids played for a while. With the promise of ice cream, we were able to head away from the games. After our ice cream, we came home peacefully.

Side note: Ava has take to saying momMY about 1000 times per day. It is so adorable, especially the way she stresses the last syllable, but man, it can get to me. From the back seat of the van, she will say it the whole car ride. "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy...." I want to savor the sweetness of her voice, and am trying to remember there will be a day I wish she would talk to me more :)

Once Ava was in bed, Cole and I counted and rolled the change from his piggy bank, a job that's been months overdue. We are taking the money to deposit into his account tomorrow. He was very patient and helpful sorting the change tonight, so hopefully he'll be just as good of a listener inside the bank (well, credit union). It is fun to do one-on-one things with him, teaching him about things without really teaching. He's such a smart kid.

Cole and I read the final three chapters of the first Magic Treehouse book. It was so good. I had envisioned a sci-fi-esque book, but this was just a fun tale of kids on an adventure. Much better than the Arthur series we had started. I'm glad I jumped ship and began to read this series to him. He really loves all books, and seems to like having us read to him. We talk about the new chapters, what happened in what we read, and what he thinks will happen next. Such a fun new reading adventure.

I am thankful for our family. Thankful that Jeff is willing to work hard to provide for us. Thankful for two {perfect} children who are a blessing to me each day.

Catching my breath (and losing it some!)

This last week has been about catching my breath.

MOPS has begun and the beautiful centerpieces, nametags, and placemats are finished. Whew! The first meeting went off {mostly} without a hitch. We had our first purple table playdate today and had a wonderful time getting to know our table!

BackPack Beginnings, my Junior League Committee, is underway. Successfully. We made our first delivery last week and gameplans are in place for the next 3 months! Woohoo!

Kids Community training is Saturday. We have filled our volunteer slots (for now!) and are ready to train our teams. I don't think many will show up Saturday, but it will be time to build up our leaders and get to know those who are committed to KC.

The house is still a bit upside down (don't look at my desk or the mail "area" in the dining room). Jeff has rocked laundry and dishes, so that's been caught up. Little by little, the house is getting back to normal!

And Jeff and I have been running. RUNNING. Woah. I never thought I would write that. I'm not running fast, but I'm moving. 3-4 times a week. And boy does it leave me out of breath! But I want to be healthier and I need to keep moving to get there.

This week, we are praying for where God wants us to be.  And thankful for each breath.

Fading Summer

I had so many visions of things I would accomplish this summer, but the summer is fading fast, and my list has not dwindled down as I had hoped. I am thankful for all the things we did, but still feel guilty for not getting it all (ok, well, any of it) done.

Time is flying by so fast. I don't want to miss a thing, but I don't know how to slow down! They are both growing so quickly and each moment is gone in the blink of an eye.

I am trying to get healthier so that I'm around for them. And for me. Running is NOT my thing. But I'm doing the Couch 2 5K program. It's going ok. Maybe the problem is more that mornings are not my thing either. At least not until I'm out of bed, and that takes a lot of willpower.

Today I'm thankful for:

a good friend to run with
a husband who loves me for me, the way I am
kids who are healthy, and smart, and funny
cooler weather ;)

4 years ago...

4 years ago, we were sitting in a hospital room, with our newborn baby boy (eating Feeney's!) enjoying the fresh smell of new baby. Little did we know how rich you would make our lives. You make us smile every day, keep us laughing, and push our buttons. You are smart, funny, kind, loving, gentle (most of the time), and so much more. You loves books, movies, and fruit snacks. Oh, and your sister, too :) You stole our hearts then, and melt our hearts daily. What an amazing little boy you are. We are so blessed to have you as our son, Ava to have you as her big brother, and all that know you to share in your sweet spirit. We love you <3

Happy Birthday, sweet Cole!