Kids Updates

Haylie is growing smarter and smarter each day.  She is in the home stretch for finishing up Sonshine School and we will have her enrolled in Pre-K in the next month or so.  She is READY!  She loves school, can't wait to get there to see her teachers and her friends.  Am I ready??  Not so much and yes at the same time.  I'm ready for her to learn more and more but I'm also ready to be able to spend more one on one time with her (on the days Brother is in SSS).  Apparently, after she graduates from High School, she wants to be a::

but at least she will still follow Jesus!! Phew. 

I think she was on a kick from when we got some snow a few weeks ago.  She couldn't wait to get outside and shovel the drive.  I love that she is so excited about that...now.  It probably won't last until her teen years!  Jace just wants to be pulled (or to actually pull himself) the wagon.  Rain, shine, snow...whatever.  He loves this thing.  And his most often phrase now is, "I do it!!!" Mr. Independent for sure.

But they love each other.  And that's why I consider myself so blessed.  I know it won't always be this way but Jace wakes up asking for "Haydee" and wants to be where she is.  She comes in and immediately has a calming effect on him and is very helpful in getting vitamins and chocolate milk for the both of them!

The other day I had Jace's car seat in the house to be put back in the van and Haylie was lounging in it.  J went and got a chair and pulled it up right next to her to sit.  Seriously, adorable.

And of course, Monster's Inc wearing of the mask...

 

Haylie has been expressing her bossy gene quite often lately, but is still a very sweet girl at heart.  She is helpful and sets the table almost every night, helps Jace when he is throwing some sort of tantrum, and is silly and loving life.  We had our friend Brixton come over last week and she dressed up quite crazy.  Hippy girl!

And Jace wants to have his picture taken if Haylie does.

Jace gets into EVERYTHING.  Including cabinets with sprinkles.  But he can open most doors and LOCKS and we often have to seriously lock ourselves into our home so he doesn't escape!  He is obsessed still with fans, lights, shoes on/off, helicopters, opening the garage, stools (as in things you stand on) and saying, "I do it!!"  He is working really hard on actually putting sentences together and it's pretty cute to hear what he pieces together.

Lastly, Justin ordered these rings for me for my birthday - but they just came in the mail two days ago!  I love them!!!  Now my babies will be with me always and my heart is so full!!!

Meet the Deacons + Awkward Family Photo = A Sunday to Remember

We had a super fun, yet super busy weekend!  It all started with Justin's family coming into town for a special reason for Sunday.  But before we get to that, we got to enjoy some family time, I spoke at my sister's church retreat (blah, it could have gone better - nerves!), shopping at a consignment sale, scouting out a craft fair, enjoying a night out for a friend's birthday and finally...the big day on Sunday.

Sunday, my hubby, became a deacon in our church.  And while that means he will continue being the servant he is, it also means that he is recognized for his service and will be called on with these other men for needs in the church.

I am one proud wife.

That also meant we had to go on stage...and lemmetellya, we don't go to a small church - so the nerves kicked in again with sitting in THE FRONT ROW.  I'm just glad I didn't fall or kick over chairs.

After, we got to enjoy a delicious lunch provided by Zio's - yum!!  And of course, take awkward family photos.

Weight Loss??

A few weeks ago, my Facebook feed started blowing up with something called "the pink drink." It boasted to suppress appetite and increase weight loss and would burn fat and not muscle.  I checked into this and the price was a LOT more than I wanted to pay.  Plus, I'm always a little leery of "fads" that are going around, so I couldn't justify jumping on the band wagon.  But I did remember a video and product that my hubby told me about awhile ago and I just blew it off.  So, since this "pink drink" got me thinking, I recalled the video that he had sent me and sat down to watch.

I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of Dr. Oz, but I don't think he would promote a product without doing a lot of research.  I mean, his reputation is on the line, right?!  So, I watched his series on Garcinia Cambogia and decided to give it a go.

So far, I'm only a week or so in it.  I feel like I'm not eating as much and trying to make better choices.  I'm also craving water, when as before I would do nothing but want to drink a 44 oz. soda.  I have yet to lose any weight (but I mean, I'm not reallllllly expecting to) but can tell I have extra energy and the thought of trying to go for a run doesn't exhaust me at first thought.

Anyway, who can really know what the reason is and if these all-natural pills are working. But hey, so far I have had zero bad side effects AND the price is much more reasonable...so I'm going to keep on keepin' on!!

Let me know if you've heard anything about it - good OR bad!

Oscars 2014

I normally never sit down to watch the entire length of these award shows.  But I guess once you get sucked in, well, you get sucked in.  Plus, with our entire city shut down again due to frigid temps and bad weather, what else was I going to do?

So here are my thoughts that I know you are all just DYING to read about the Oscars 2014.

I love Ellen DeGeneres' humor.  Making fun of Jared Leto's hair, laughing at Jennifer Lawrence falling again (I love that she just blows it off.) Ordering pizza and seriously having it delivered.  Breaking Twitter with the most retweets ever of her selfie pic with tons of amazing stars.  The hubby and I literally laughed out loud at several of her jokes - when I normally sit stone faced while watching whoever it is try to make us laugh.  Best host ever.

Cate Blanchett's acceptance speech.  "hashtag suck it Julia!"  Thankfully Julia Roberts was laughing hysterically at this so I'm hopeful that was an inside joke...that literally no one else got.

Let It Go.  Apparently this was a huge ordeal for this song.  I have yet to see Frozen, the movie, and I thought the song was...nice...but not quite living up to it's fame.  I guess I'll need to borrow my sister's soundtrack so I can hear the edited version.  And one day, I'll probably see the movie too and it will make me fall in love with it.

The acceptance speech for Let It Go was pretty awesome.  Loved how they did it together, with the rhyming names, and dedicating the song to their sweet girls.  To which my husband said, "are they married?"  Well, I hope so!

Best dressed. I thought Jada Pinkett Smith, Anna Kendrick and Kerry Washington had great taste!

The lesson I learn every year about the Oscars is that there are 9 movies that I have yet to see and it helps me figure out which ones I should actually waste my time on.  I swore I would never see Gravity but for Pete's sake!  How many awards did it get?

Alright, I'm off my Oscar soapbox now.  It was a fun show and I'm glad I watched.

What did you think??