Just Taking A Minute...

To tell you about my weekend at Time Out For Women. It was probably one of the most AMAZING weekends I have had in a long time. Do I accredit it to the fact I was sans children? NO! But it was nice to have a little "grown up" time with my friend Dana and her family. I'll be honest with you and tell you that at first I was super apprehensive about going. I was worried that Kevin couldn't handle the kids, it was my dad's birthday on Saturday, and I didn't really feel like going. Well not to much of my surprise... Kevin CAN handle the kids on his own for a night and most of a day. Some times I have too little faith in my husbands skills... but we can save that for another day. Anyways, the weekend started off how most of my days do... with me running late. Our game plan was to leave around 1 pm so we could do a little shopping before the event started. I didn't get home until after 1 and I was not packed. It was okay though  because I packed quickly, we (Dana, Rachel, and I) loaded up my carseat free car and were headed towards Memphis. The drive to Memphis was super quick... well it seemed that way because we chatted and danced and did fun things that you do while on "road trips." We found our hotel, after little bit of trial and error, and then headed to downtown Memphis. The Convention Center was easy to find but parking... not our favorite thing. By the time we had driven around the area and found parking the event was starting so no shopping. I was a little bummed but we had to save seats and the event was about to begin!

Friday night we listened to amazing music by Jenny Oaks Baker that just put me in a state of awe and wonder. She is so amazing! Plus, I found the stories that she told us so inspiring. What a wonderful way for her to share her talent with the world! Sheri Dew was suppose to be there to give a talk but had an amazing opportunity to go and deliver books to children in an impoverished country. So, she did a video presentation talk. It was my first time listening to her speak and again I was touched. I didn't have a note book so I didn't take notes over her talk, but I did take away from it that I should turn the TV off more. It seems like something so small...  but I can tell you it has already made a difference! The second speaker was John Bytheway (yes that is his real last name). I really liked his style and that he was funny. He talked a lot about marriage and making it work as a team. One of my favorite points by him was "Appreciate/Expect/Demand." You should always appreciate the things that your spouse does for you. If they do things over a long period of time we come to expect it. Then if it stops, we demand it from them. We should never get past the point of appreciation... but I know that there are instances in my own life that I have "demanded" of Kevin to do things that he does just to be nice. Another great point I thought that John Bytheway made was to ask yourself "What is it like to be married to me?" Would you want to be married to yourself? I can tell you I wouldn't want to be. But that just makes me love and appreciate Kevin even more because he can put up with me and my ways.  After it was said and done for the night we (Dana, Rachel, Alessa, Tracy, and I) all went back to our hotel. We sat and talked about what we liked and just chatted away. Somehow in our conversation we started talking about friendships and their importance... I don't even know how. But, out of that conversation came a startling revelation that I had never thought about: "We need to focus on our relationships with the people we are taking into eternity" which pretty much means our family. Oh haiii... something else I need to focus on in my life.

Saturday began early. Earlier than I ever wake up at my house... and that says a lot.  The musical guest for the day was Hilary Weeks who I found funny, charming, and amazing! She even played a new song that she was inspirited to write from TOFW's theme of Hope. It was beautiful and through her stories she really inspired me to be better at not gossiping. It is so easy to do these days and it so pointless... The first speaker was Emily Watts. Let me just tell you that I love lady! She talked about so many things and was so relatable as a mom that it was incredible! My favorite quote from her was "If we have hope we wait with patience." What incredible words! I sat and  thought about how impatient I have been in my life and how in those times I didn't have hope. I found her so inspiring that I bought a book and want to by another one! If you have hard days as a mother and are looking for some comfort and inspiration, I would highly suggest reading one of her books. S. Michael Wilcox was the next speaker and I was inspired by him and how the journey stories in the Bible are there to help us on our journey through life. The third speaker was Mariama Kallon who has an amazing story to share with the world! Her testimony of finding the gospel and hope was so touching. I don't know if I would have the strength that she had when faced with such vast adversaries in Sierra Leone. I don't think that there was a dry eye in the place by the end of her segment. I strongly suggest that you take a moment to read about her life and how amazing of a story she has. The fourth speaker was Amanda Dickson who was really funny... but I missed her talk because I was sitting in the lobby with someone discussing something else... However, my friend Dana did tell me her talk was really good and explained that you are the best mother for your children and that you the best wife for your husband. So that made me feel good :) The closing speaker was Mary Ellen Edmunds who is really funny and super inspiring. She talked about resilience and how when people tell you you can't, you should believe in the part that you can. She really helped me to realize more about myself and believing in me because others do.

All together, all I can say is that it was such an amazing experience for me this past weekend. I was spiritually uplifted, I laughed, I cried, I had insight, I changed. I would strongly suggest to any woman to see if you can attend one in your area. It is not a church thing and all religions are welcomed to come. It is a place for women to go and to feel all of the amazing things that I did.

{Twenty Nine}

Simple Phone Calls:

Today my friend Andrea called me out of the blue. We talk sometimes at church in passing but we both have little ones and callings that take up a lot of time. She wanted to catch up and get some lunch. Of course I couldn't leave work today but am looking forward to the day that we can sit and chat while our little ones probably terrorize one another, but in a loving way I assure you. I find her so inspiring. She is a mother of four and does the most amazing projects I have ever seen! Almost everything she does is on a budget and she always finds awesome deals at thrift stores and antique shops. Some days I envy her. I wish that I could be as put together as she is and a home as beautifully decorated as hers. But, then I realize that she is just like me. She find the time to be thankful for the little things and to still be a great person. She was one of my first friends when we moved to Arkansas and I am so grateful for her warm welcoming. It is people like Andrea who help me to see the good in myself. And that is a good thing :)

Go to Andrea's blog: jandaandco.blogspot.com

Look at how amazing she is at making things out of stuff around your home and send her some love!

Photo Shoot

I TOTALLY forgot about these darling pictures of my kids that my friend Kara took for their 1st birthday! She is AMAZING and I love when she takes their picture because they turn out way better than anything that I could ever do! She only sent me a couple because she wasn't very pleased with the way they turned out {she didn't feel well the day she took them} but you can obviously see how great they turned out!

Aiden is waving and Cooper is contemplating something?

I can't remember who's bum is whose, but I loved this picture!

She wanted to enter it into a Hallmark Card contest, I think it would totally win!

{Twenty One}

Good Food and Friends! I was so excited when our friends Kara and Dave invited us over for dinner a week ago. Its always such a treat when we get to hang out with other adults. Is that lame to say? Oh well, its nice. Anyways we got to go over to their house for amazing Aussie Chicken (I looked for the recipe but couldn't find it.) It was a yummy bacon covered chicken with a honey mustard sauce. YUMMY! Even the boys liked it. They stood diligently next to my chair like little birdies waiting to be fed. It was cute. I'm so thankful that we have had the opportunity to make friends here. That is one of the things that I was very fearful of moving away from home. Its so wonderful that we have people that we can spend time with that are our age and that are fun! Seriously, I thought that I would make no friends and be stuck with only Kevin's family to talk to, which isn't bad but when you see people everyday it gets stagnant. Anyways, Dinner and conversation is always fun, plus the babies had a fun time exploring their house. The only bad thing is that they are super curious and all they wanted to do was get into the chemicals under the sink. But, Kara and I chased them down. I think the babies favorite part was watching their dogs through their back window. You could tell the puppies wanted to play with the babies, but our babies aren't quite ready for big dogs. As soon as they can stand on their own good and figure out their balance issues they will be ready. Until then, they just watch them through the window. I wish I would have taken pictures but we were busy talking. Maybe next time?

{Day Ten}

YAY! I have finally caught up and from this point forward I am hoping to be able to blog everyday. Speaking of my crazy goal that I set for myself... I have inspired someone else. That person is my friend Krystal. She is living an amazing life! She has 3 little ones, a set of twins (boy & girl) and a little man, plus she is a surrogate for a family who is unable to conceive. While talking to her today she told me that she was inspired from my blog to post something every day on hers about her journey as a surrogate. What an amazing adventure to live! I don't know if I could be a surrogate for the simple fact I love babies too much and probably wouldn't want to give it up. But, she is doing such an amazing job and the family that she is the surrogate for is so deserving. To read more about this journey check out her blog "Your Bun in My Oven."
Krystal with the family of the precious baby girl in her tummy.

call me a theif...

So, I have decided that I need to look at the bightside of things as compared to all the pandemonium that has become my life. To do so I am stealing an idea from two of my friends, Michelle and Andrea to make my own unique thing. I have decided to try to blog everyday for a year about something I am grateful for. So later tonight I will begin my 365 days of gratitude. Maybe I can inspire someone like these lovely ladies have inspired me :)

Photo Shoot

On Halloween my friend Kara came over and took some pictures of the boys. They turned out really good and I can't wait till she comes over to do it again. Hopefully they will be more cooperative next time but we got some good shots. Enjoy!

Halloween

Our 1st HALLOWEEN!!

Cooper did pretty good on this photo shoot. Aiden is the one who is upset on the right. :(

I know this is almost a week late but... I figure it's better late then never!

For Halloween Linda bought the boy's little onsies. Aiden was a pumpkin and Cooper was a ghost. They were so adorable!



Our friend Frankie also bought some little mask's for the kiddos. Aiden was the monster and Cooper was a puppy. They were big so they can grow into them which will be AWESOME!



Halloween night we went over to Bud & Linda's to help hand out candy and show of our cute little pumkin and ghost. I also made a pumpkin pie for Jimmy since it is his one and only favorite desert. We also made rice crispy treats with Coco Pebbles and melted butterscotch on top. They were YUMMY!!! I strongly suggest you try it sometime.

I cannot believe how fast the babies are getting big. I was just looking at pictures of when we first brought them home and just to show everyone a comparison I have posted them below.

The boy's at 10 days... you can see their ribs and they have little heads and hands and feet.

The boy's at 6 1/2 weeks. They have bigger heads and their bellys are big and their legs are chunking up. Its just amazing to me how fast little babies grow up. But I do think they look more like little old men now. And they are loosing their hair... so keep on the look out for some blonde headed babies coming soon!