Another School Year Comes to a Close...

Another school year has come to a close and summer has officially begun at our household (we are ignoring the fact that the weather is not cooperating with our whole "summer" philosophy today...it's COLD here)!  Anyway, yesterday was Eva's last day of school and this is how we rolled...



This is the second year I've decorated my car to pick her up on the last day and I loooove the smile on her face when she sees me rollin' in!  Priceless.  I figured I'm probably only going to get away with this little "tradition" for a few more years (before she will be absolutely horrified that I would even think of picking her up in a decorated vehicle) so for now I'm soaking it in for all it's worth!

Then last night we celebrated a very very special night for Eva....her Kindergarten Graduation.





What an absolutely beautiful evening, and one I will never ever forget.  The songs, the stories, the recited Bible verses, the prayers....but most of all the amazing teachers and children who celebrated the end of a very special year (the picture above includes Eva's teacher, Mrs. Yoder). 

Our little girl even had a surprise for us....she had a speaking part at the beginning of the ceremony and never told us!!  I loved her face when she walked down, took the microphone, and then looked over at us....she was so proud of her special moment she had been keeping a secret!!  Love that little girl.

My hope and prayer is that Eva continues to embrace her education the way she has the past two years.  God has so many beautiful things planned for her and I am anxious to see the plans He has made unfolding! 

We love you Eva!!!!!

"Wherever you go...go with all your heart."

--Confucius

Picture Perfect....

As always, Mother Nature provides the most beautiful backgrounds for pictures...



"I think it ticks God off if you walk past the color yellow in a field somewhere and don't notice it...people think pleasing God is all God cares about, but any fool in the world can see He is always trying to please us back".

--Modified from the movie The Color Purple



It's been a rough few days...

I've always wanted to be a mom...always.

But I never knew exactly how tough it would be at times.  The past few days have been one of  "those times" for me.  I've been struggling with a few things...wondering if I'm doing the best job I can at this thing called Motherhood.

Jackie Kennedy once said, "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."

I love that quote.

God entrusted me with these two precious little beings.  It's an amazing responsibility.

The only problem is that, unfortunately,  they don't come with instruction manuals!!

Some days I feel like I've got it all figured out...and then there are days like the last few.  Days where I end up in tears at night because I'm certain I'm doing a fairly good job of screwing them up.

The doubts creep in...

Am I being too hard on them?  Am I being hard enough?  Am I spending enough quality time with each one of them?  Am I teaching them social graces and manners?  Am I getting angry too much?  Am I showing them how to just let loose and have fun?  Am I spoiling them?  Am I making them work hard enough?  Am I teaching them enough?  Am I modeling behaviors I want them to have? 

Honestly, my list could go on and on.  I am my own worst critic, and I can be pretty hard on myself.  This is all compounded when one of my little angels seems to be a bit "off"....showing a side to his or herself that I find unappealing or even hurtful.

Who would have thought a small child can hurt your feelings...but they do.  And it hurts you deep to your core because they are an extension of you.

So what is a mom to do? 

Tonight I sat in bed and snuggled one of them until they fell asleep in my arms.  I sat there and watched them sleeping..and silently prayed over and over that God would continue to fill the void where I fall short, because I know I do.

I have to trust Him. 

That can be hard for a control nut like myself....but I'm workin' on it.



"You will turn over many a futile new leaf until you learn we must all write on scratched out pages."

--Mignon McLaughlin

A Little Story About the Golden Arches....

Our family does not eat at McDonald's.   There are a lot of reasons why, but most of them have to do with health reasons.

Now I can add another reason to my list of reason I'm not a fan of McDonald's ....

Some of you may have read a recent post I did on Jaden's special day.  A day that was spent in Chicago...with a special treat of McDonald's at the end of the day.  You may have read how Jaden didn't even want to eat anything (yea!) but just wanted to play on the playplace.

(You may not have known that I was secretly doing my happy dance at that point.  I was so glad that my little guy wasn't going to eat anything there)!

You may have read how we spent time playing in the playplace and even though I had on a dress I hiked it up and climbed up there with him. 

What you did NOT read is what happened next...

While climbing through the grease filled nasty playplace I showed Jaden how I could go down the slide.  I slid down and at the bottom I put my hand in something I thought was mustard.

Then I took a closer look....

And a little sniff....

Would you like to guess what I put my hand in?

Poop.

Yep, you read that correctly.  So now I have TWO reasons I'm not a fan of McDonald's...crap in the food and crap on the slide!

New look...and a new blog for you to check out!

Helllllllooooo Love-ah....(sorry, just me talking to my new blog design)....soooo excited to have something to spruce it up a little!  It's like a little breath of fresh air!

On top of that giddy good news I have MORE good news...I'm guest posting today at Milestones and Memories!!!  It is always such an honor to be asked to guest post, and my heartfelt thank you to Andi for asking little ol' moi! 

Are you wondering what the topic is???  Mmmmmmmm....one of my passions my friends...photography.  If any of you want some pointers on taking some good pics of those little munchkins you have running around your house head on over to her blog and link up to her Photo Fridays!  My topic today is on photographing children!   You can check it out HERE!

Speaking of photography and children....here's a little sneak peek of some pics I took of my kiddos the other day...

More to come....soon.

Have a beautiful Friday my friends....

A day JUST for HIM...

Those of you that have been reading my blog for awhile now may remember last summer when Eva and I had a special day JUST for HER.  It was a day spent with some dear friends of mine from high school and their little girls in Chicago.  Just the girls.  It was such a special day (click HERE if you want to read about it). 

Anyway, my friends and I decided that the boys needed their own special day too.  Soooo this past week Jaden had HIS special day with Mommy in Chicago along with Jill, Stacey, and their munchkins!

As Eva did with her special day, Jaden counted down the days.  He literally could not wait.  The part that made me smile is that he was excited to go to Chicago, but our family travels to Chicago quite often...the part he was MOST excited about was RIDING THE TRAIN!  Our little man was beside himself!! 

So, our trip started off boarding the much anticipated train...




Alllllllll Aboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a chilly day in Chicago, but still beautiful!  Luckily we planned for some indoor fun at the Shedd Aquarium!  

It's so fun to spend one-on-one time with each of my children.  Their personalities are both very different and it allows me to really soak in who they are.  Here's me and my special little date for the day...

 We had a little walk to get to the Shedd Aquarium.  Here's my little guy standing in front of the beautiful building...



Once inside we literally spent the entire day exploring.  The kiddos loooooved it, and I really think the adults did too!  Here are some of our favorite exhibits...



 Jaden and I both loved the dolphin exhibit.  This picture of Jaden is one of my favorites...he just sat there in awe.


 Jaden loved the sting ray exhibit (above) and also the shark exhibit (although he walked into the shark exhibit with his hands over his eyes...I had to convince him the sharks wouldn't hurt him).  He also loved that there was a scuba diver in one of the exhibits.  He said, "Mommy, I wish I could pet the scuba diver!!"

We watched a 4D Dora and Diego movie.  Oh. My. Word.  I may have loved it even more than the kiddos did.  I didn't know what "4D" really was....now and do and it is AWESOME.  Not only is the actual movie in 3D, but it involves all your senses.  When Boots the Monkey peeled a banana you could smell it.  When they were blowing bubbles there were actually bubbles in the theater.  When Dora was driving a plane your seat shook like you were riding with her.  Honestly, I know it was for kids but I was completely in love with the whole thing.

Another one of my favorites?  Look who I got a little snuggle time with during the trip...

Ahh...love her.  This is my friend Jill's new little pumpkin, Anika.  Isn't she precious.  Don't you think she would have liked to come home with me??  I do.  I thought about seeing if she would fit in my purse.  She is just too darn sweet.



Our time at the Aquarium literally took all day...so afterwards we walked towards the city, looked at all of the pretty sights, and just enjoyed our time together! 

 Gotta love these handsome boys!  We ended up walking 15 blocks and they didn't complain!  Love them!

 The boys found some flowers that had fallen off a few trees.  They had SO MUCH fun throwing them up in the air and pretending it was snow!!!!!  It had all of us giggling!

Jaden in front of the the waterfalls in Millennium Park.  Last year the girls ran barefoot through the water....but it was much too chilly for the boys to do that! 



This was such a fun day...and one I will always remember.  I loved watching Jaden soak in the city, as well as some special one-on-one time with Mommy.  As with my special time with Eva, I made sure today was a "YES" day...

"Can I have a cookie?"  YES!!!
"Can we go to the special movie?"  ABSOLUTELY!!!

One of my favorite moments was right before we boarded the train to come home we went to Subway to pick up some dinner (eating on the train is always a special treat)!  Jaden walked over to the rack of chips and waited for me to show him which ones he was allowed to have.  I smiled and said, "Buddy, you can have ANY chips you want today...it's YOUR special day!"

Funny how something so simple made his jaw literally drop.  He was so excited and after much thought decided on a bag of Cheetos.

After getting back from Chicago and saying goodbye to our friends I decided I had one more special treat up my sleeve for my little guy.  Our family does not eat at McDonald's, but Jaden had been asking for weeks to play on the playplace.  I decided since it was his day we would do just that.  When we pulled into McDonald's Jaden was ecstatic.  I asked him what he wanted to eat (an ice cream cone perhaps?) and he said, "Mommy, I don't even want anything to eat...I just want to play on that slide!"

Love him.

So our evening ended with us playing at McDonald's.  He was too nervous to go down the slide, but we both had fun climbing through the playplace (in case you noticed, yes, I did have a dress on...and yes, I did hike it up so I could climb through the playplace with him)...it was alll worth it.

Such a special day....and memories I will forever hold in my heart. 

Love you little man.

A Recent Conversation...

HRecently Eva, Jaden, and I were outside enjoying the amazing weather and playing with sidewalk chalk (have I ever mentioned how obsessed I am with playing with sidewalk chalk??  Honestly, I play with it even when the kids aren't...but that's a whole different story)...

Anyway....

Something came up about Eva being very special.  Jaden responded to this by saying "Well I'M special TOO...even more special than Eva, right Mom?!!!"

I said,  "No, you are both equally special to me...and to God."

Eva responded using the most "DUH!" voice she could muster and said, "YA JADEN!!!!  WE ARE HIS SHEEP AND HE IS OUR SHEPHERD!!!!!!"

Priceless. 

(and as much as I loved it, I still get the giggles just thinking about her tone of voice while saying it).

"If we are going to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against wars, we shall have to begin with the children"

--Ghandi

Makeover Time!!

Alright blog friends...it's time for this Happy Housewife to give her little blog a makeover.

It's looking rather...uh...dull.  (ok, ok, ok...very dull...bear with me).

Sooooo...my question is, exactly how do I go about it?!  I'm very old school...I started this blog three years ago and haven't really done anything to make it "pop" (as in templates, headers, etc.).  If I'm totally honest I'm a little overwhelmed by the whole process and need some help!

How do you go about in giving your blog a makeover? 
Do I need to have someone design something? 
Do I purchase a premade template? 
Do I have to spend an arm and a leg?

Will I lose everything I've done?  (honestly, just writing that sentence makes me a little short of breath because this little baby is printed into a book each year and I'm a bit behind on that process)!

HELP PLEASE!!!! 

Hugs...
Jamie

PS.  I went on a posting spree and posted three times today....you can just call me an overachiever.  Except that I'm sitting here on the couch in the wee hours of the morning on my computer...so that technically makes me a bit of a loser huh!?!

Finally....



We finally had some warm weather in our neck of the woods and the little ones and I took FULL advantage of it...lunch outside, planting flowers, fun on the slip-n-slide, and we they topped it off with a dip in the pool!  We have not turned the heater on yet so it was freezing cold, but as you can tell from their smiles it didn't deter them....or maybe it was those two shiny quarters I promised them if they actually took the plunge and jumped in.  Whatever it was, we had fun!

"Today fill your cup of life with sunshine and laughter"

--Dodinsky

Without QUestion....it was QUite the ceremony!

The kindergarten at Eva's school recently celebrated the most joyous occasion....

The Marriage of the letters "Q" and "U"

Yep, you read that right...the letters Q and U tied the knot.

Why these letters you may ask?  Well, well, well...if you think about it Q and U are really never apart!  They are QUite the couple and decided it was time to make this QUantum leap in their relationship!

The marriage ceremony was without QUestion a momentous occasion.  Guests were asked to wear their "Sunday Best" and the song "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" by Elvis was played before the letters gracefully walked down the aisle.  The schools administrator, Dr. Dogherty, performed the ceremony which was filled with funny QUotations that the children erupting into fits of giggles.

And then came....the hug. 

Yes, at the end of the ceremony the officiant reQUested that the letter embrace in a "nice little hug" which resulted in the little boy holding Q and the little girl holding U looking at eachother in pure horror. 

But they pulled through and sealed the deal by making the two letter give eachother a quick hug touch.

Afterwards we celebrated with no less than a wedding cake complete with Q and U cake toppers! 

It was without QUestion one of the most beautiful ceremonies I've ever attended....the Royal Wedding had nothing on this ceremony!!  Especially when I'm there as the guest of this cutie patootie...



"I like nonsense...it wakes up the brain cells!"

--Dr. Suess

I had the best days with you....

As many of you know my little girl has turned me into quite the Taylor Swift fan.  One of my favorite songs of hers is called "The Best Days" and she wrote it about her mom.  Every time I listen to it I get all teary eyed and it brings back such amazing memories of my childhood and my mom.  So in honor of Mother's Day I thought I'd share a few pictures with you of those growing up years along with the lyrics to that amazing song.  This one's for you Mom...

The Best Days
By Taylor Swift

I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on.

I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you,

I run and run...

Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides...

The sky is gold.

I hug your leg and fall asleep on the way home.

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall,

but I know your not scared of anything at all.

Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away,

but I know I had the best day...with you....today.

I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends can be so mean.

I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys,

we drive and drive until we find a town far enough away,

we talk and window shop till I forgot all their names.

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school,

I know I'm laughing in the car ride home with you.

Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel OK,

but I know I had the best day...with you...today.

I have an excellent father,

his strength is making me stronger.

God smiles on my little sister,

inside and out she's better than I am.

I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run,

and I had...the best days...with you.

There is a video I found from back when I was three,

you set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me.

It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs.

Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world.

Now I know why all the trees change in the fall,

I know you were on my side even when I was wrong.

And I love you for giving me your eyes,

standing back and watching me shine.

I didn't know if you knew, so I'm taking this chance to say,

that I had the best day...with you...today.

I love you mom!!!



"Mother's hold their children's hands for a short while...but their hearts forever."

--Unknown.

Traveling with children....a few pointers.



Jaden in the Florida Airport

I have traveled by plane many places with my little ones...and many times on my own.  I traveled across country on my own with both of them when Eva was 4 and Jaden was 1.  After this many trips I feel I have some useful tips that I could pass on to others that may be traveling with little ones!   If this information is useful to you - super!  If not, go ahead a skip this post!!  Ha!

1.  Give children as much "prior warning" as possible when traveling.  I'm a HUGE believer in the idea that the more kids know...the better off you are!  Explain to them exactly what is going to happen wellllll before it ever happens.  For example, before going through security checks explain to your children exactly what it is going to be like.  Explain that they are going to have to take their shoes off.  Explain that they are going to have to walk though the security scanner and what that will be like (be careful to mention that it won't hurt).  Explain to them what the plane will look like, what it will sound like, even what it feels like to sit on it.  I've found the more you talk with your children before hand the less they are likely to be scared of things.

2.  On top of explaining what is going to happen, also explain what you expect from them.  Especially when I'm traveling alone with Eva and Jaden I often sit both of them down and explain what kind of behavior/help/etc. I expect from them.  If you word it in a positive way ("Your MISSION for this trip is to help me with the baby stroller in the security line and to do your best not to sit on the nasty airport floor!!!!!  Do you accept this mission??!!") it goes over as a fun and positive thing!

3.  Go to the bathroom right before you get on the plane and make your kids do the same (even if they say they don't have to go).  Poor kids don't get a choice....if we are going to board they must first sit on the Porcelain Lord!  Ha!

4.  Pack snacks.  I'm not a mom that let's my kids snack a lot....but sometimes while traveling it's a good idea to have them on hand.

5.  Pack gum (or a pacifier for a baby) to help with pressure in their ears during take off.  Again, as children get older you can talk to them about this...explain to them what causes that feeling and how it will soon pass.  My sister told me that if you put a damp napkin inside of a cup and place it over a child's ears it also helps relieve the pressure.  I haven't had to do this (the pressure doesn't bother either of mine) but if you anticipate problems or have had problems in the past I'd try it!

6.  I always pack a SURPRISE BAG that is not allowed to be open until we are SITTING ON THE PLANE.  Now that my children are older they each of their own backpacks that I pack full of goodies (they are their carry-on luggage).  The items I put in these bags is nothing expensive...coloring books, new crayons, a small toy, a small snack, etc.  These bags entertain the little ones for the whole flight and the excitment leading up to the time that they can open them is SO fun for everyone!!!!  On top of that Matt and I rarely pack toys to take with us on trips - the backpacks have goodies in them and that works!

7.  Pack hand sanitizer....enough said.

8.  Make sure you try to plan your flight so that your children eat as close to normal times as possible.  If you are unable to do that pack a special lunch for them on the plane.  In our home a hungry child means a grumpy child...and that's no fun when you are traveling! 

9.  Pack as light as possible for your own carry-on...especially if you are traveling alone with children.

Last but not least.....

10.  ENJOY IT!!!!!!!  I've heard people complain about traveling with children and I just don't get it....traveling with children can be an absolutely beautiful thing because children still see the wonder and amazement in small things!!!!  I love watching my little ones faces as they take in all the sights of the airport.  I love their excitement as the plane starts to move and take off.  It's all in your perspective.  Sooo...my most important piece of advice is to relax and enjoy it!!

"The world is as many times new as there are children in our lives"

--Robert Brault