Thursday, April 28, 2011

Momma In Focus

This week's prompt was Easter.  I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get really creative shots of me and Daisy with her cute Easter basket or just something more Eastery and festive but, it just didn't work out unfortunately.  We stopped by this random little rundown building on our way home from church on Sunday and snapped these pictures.  Daisy looked so cute in her bright dress but, she was so frustrated in it because it got caught under her knees when she tried to crawl.  She was not a happy camper so the dress came off as soon as we got home from church.  Love the first picture of our feet because it captures how small she really is as I so often only see how big she is now!  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your loved ones! Now grab the button and link up for the fun!

Next week's prompt: black and white 

One Day At A Time


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PS due to link up sites now charging for picture link ups I have to go the cheapo route and do the pictureless link ups...so sorry!! I know these are not nearly as fun. If anyone knows a free host for thumbnail link ups lemme know! Thanks;0

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Hubby Thursdays (y'all should link up)

I am linking up this week with Olga from Our Extraordinary Life the beautiful momma of 2 equally beautiful girls and with another on the way!  I am not good at weekly link ups...I barely remember to get my own hosted link up going each week but, I think Olga is amazing (visit her blog) and I think her link up is a very special one because it gives the hub's the recognition that they deserve in our blog world. As moms and women in the blog world we put a lot of emphasis on ourselves, on our needs and our wants and I think that is fantastic.  The beauty of the blog world is that it is a creative outlet for so many people to express themselves.  Being that my blog is about not just me but, my family I think it is important that I give my hubby the recognition that he deserves.  That being said, as often as I can I will link up with Olga and I encourage the rest of you to do the same if you ever want to brag about your awesome hubby.  Share a picture of you and your love (the one you loved before the kiddos came along and distracted the heck out of you. lol) 
Joey is AN AMAZING husband.  Yes, he is fighting the good fight with depression and anxiety right now but, even in the midst of all this he is still my prince.  Our seven year anniversary is SUNDAY!! We have been together for 11.5 years and married for 7 now!! Joey is such a hard worker, does ANYTHING I want him to do and bends over backwards to make me happy.  He loves me to pieces and that is one thing I have NEVER, ever doubted.  Here's to 70 more years baby!
(thanks to my sweet friend Elissa for snapping this really quick for us when we visited her last weekend!)




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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Backyard Landscape Progress

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Daisy was a little champ in the car for WAY too long while we picked up plants from the nursery which is a good drive from our house especially coming home with 450 pounds of plants loading the truck down.
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Since we bought a new home in a new development they cut ALL trees down.  So sad.  So, we had nothing but a dirt lot when we moved in.  The first year Joey and I (mostly Joey) built our own fence (saves a lot of money but, dear goodness I NEVER want to do it again....so much work!!!).  The second fall we put in our own sod and now in our third year we are working on the plants.  We brought in (by ourselves) two 20 foot tall maples (400 pounds each) don't even ask how hard it was to get them from Joey's truck out front to the backyard....ridiculously heavy trees!!, two 400 pound holly trees that broke our $130 brand new wheelbarrow instantly...not fun and over 30 other plants to go around the trees. Here I was experimenting with the layout possibilities.  Daisy loved hanging out with the plants.  Seriously, loved it.  So cute to see her sitting so small amongst all the bushes.
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one hour to dig a massive hole, 45 minutes to get the monster maple tree into the backyard and whalah...tree is in!
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just 3 weeks later the tree has a bunch of leaves, the hubby tore out our sod, dug a million holes for the bushes and then we put 11 bags of mulch down on both the back left side of our yard and the back right.
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Again, this is our BIG first step towards improving our backyard but, please know that we are not done (clearly by the looks of plants still in containers).  I want to plant flowers everywhere to add punches of color but, I am also going to plant a few hydrangea bushes in our backyard when we get around to it  The nursery that we go to is SO cheap (like 75% cheaper than a Lowe's or Home Depot!!) so we were able to enjoy the fruits of our labor a little this year in spite of all the set backs.  Stay tuned for phase 3 in the future;0.  OH and our grass is seasonal so it is brown late fall to late spring.  Almost green and boy am I ready to see it move on from the dead brown color!!  I have to give ALL credit to my hubby for 99% of the work that went into our backyard.  He worked his hiney off for hours and hours on end without complaining.  I could never have accomplished this without him.  I design and he does it all.  So thankful for him!
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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Just For Fun

Ashley Sisk from Ramblings and Photos and I were scheduled to meet up with about 18 other local photographers for a fun photography session but, unfortunately it was canceled at the last minute due to weather.  Boo. We were both bummed but, being the troopers that we are we took advantage of the open window to get together on our own.  Aside from a few little sprinkles the weather was perfect and we took pictures of each other for fun.  It really was non-stop laughs! Ashley is a crack up and also a sister in the faith with a big kind heart!  I have lots of silly pictures to post eventually but, I wanted to post my three favorites tonight of beautiful Ashley! Thanks for a great evening Ashley!

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Monday, April 25, 2011

A Good Friend Is A Priceless Treasure

Are you ready for A LOT of pictures...I mean...a lot?  This is me catching up on two back to back weekends spent with our dear friends, the Morris' from Virginia.  The first weekend my sweet friend Elissa offered to come down and keep me company when my hubby was gone for the week.  She has a two week old, a two year old, a four year old and two dogs.  Crazy momma!! I told her of course I would LOVE her to visit but, no, she was crazy and that was far too much for her to take on by herself.  Her hubby was working that weekend so she would be doing it all on her own..a 3.5 hour drive with 5 animals and children in the car.  But, she said she REALLY wanted to be there for me so how could I refuse?  So down to NC she drove bringing her brand new baby with her and her joy and friendship blessed my weekend immensely.  Not to mention her hubby ended up getting his weekend job canceled and was able to come down and join us also.  They were such a blessing to me that weekend!  The next weekend we had prior plans to go visit them to see their new baby (before their support visit to see me) and for Joey and Mike to go to a men's retreat together.  We still wanted to go so we got to see them twice in two weeks.  That is a BIG deal as we often go months without getting together and it made me happy;0. I wish they lived next door!  I got to take a few pictures of new baby Everette sleeping around which is what he does 90% of the time and some pics for momma with her boys. These friends are priceless to us! They have blessed our lives with so much love and laughter.  They are the kinds of friends that we can all get in jammies together, watch The Office and crack jokes until well past our bed time (we are exhausted by 10 now).  The kinds of friends that have seen us in the good the bad and the ugly and still love us and support us and somehow still think we are pretty cool. We love em!

Forgive me for these smaller than usual pictures.  I have a load of issues going on over here with Flickr (I'm locked out of my account and have been waiting over a week for a support response!), my photo blog got redesigned which is great but, it messed up the code on my personal blog and changed the format for uploading pics so now I don't know how to make them large as the HTML code is different now.  Sigh.  Drama.  Hope Flickr gets me back in the game soon!! For now...smaller is better.  After all, this is a MONSTER post! 



Everette is such a GOOD angel baby!

my cute little bath queen.  She loves bath time though they have gotten much shorter because she knows how to climb out of the tub now! Below: Daisy hangs on my legs ALL DAY LONG...either yelling at me or crying for me to pick her up.  I thought this picture captured her perfectly !lol








Life with 3 boys! Elissa is an amazing mommy and does an amazing job of juggling life with 3 little ones!

love this sweet picture of momma with her newest little guy.  Doesn't she look fantastic by the way!






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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Walking - Video

Daisy is walking 10x more today than yesterday when this video was filmed so I'll be sure to upload a better video very soon.  Every time I turn around she is walking across the living room and she is trying really hard to figure out how to stand up on her own without pulling up on anything.  Currently she gets stuck in a hand stand position which is uber adorable to watch.  She is actually getting frustrated by crawling now that she is walking so much better.  I'd say we have a week at most and our kid will be all about walking and the crawling days will be over. Sigh.  Kinda bittersweet but, awesome of course!  There is something SO precious about watching a child learn to balance and walk.  Watching them sway with every step and see them try so hard to stay upright.  Turning the page into a whole new world of exploration and meanwhile closing yet another chapter on the baby phase that I adore so much. So proud of you Daisy bean!


And this video just cracks me up! Daisy loves to shut every single door in our house if given the opportunity. The problem is that she shuts herself in rooms and then wants out immediately thereafter. Silly girl! It sure is fun to take the extra moments to play with her though. Put the laundry down, stop washing the dishes, forget about the to do list and just hang out with my little one. I never regret these moments!




I just got finished watching a lot of Jeff Allen videos on you tube while I was waiting for these videos to upload. Not even sure how I found him as I have never heard of him before. I was looking searching for videos on depression online and depression in marriages because I was curious how much information and encouragement is out there for other people going through what we are. There doesn't appear to much for married folks on youtube so I'm going to change that! I am not sure when the right time will be but, I think Joey and I both feel equally called to minister in this area both in this season and when we are through it. Any way we can bring light and encouragement to others struggling then praise God! Anyways, Jeff Allen has a SUPER powerful testimony on youtube. If you are ever really bored you should watch them! Here is the link to part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GefXjCaNEB0 
Boy do I love when people are not ashamed to share their story!  Hope you all had a blessed Easter!! I have LOTS of pictures to share this week")
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Friday, April 22, 2011

Dance Your Shoes Off

Today is good Friday! The day that millions of Christians all over the world are remembering and rejoicing because our reason for living, our Lord and Savior, the Son of God; Jesus, was brutally beaten, nailed to a cross and willingly bled and died for my sins and for yours.  And Sunday is the day we celebrate his ressurection from the dead!! Normally I am so pumped up about this celebration! I like watching the Passion of the Christ because it is such a great depiction of what it might have been like were I around in Jesus's time. I love reading Daisy her picture story bible and when we get to the page with Jesus rising from the dead, we cheer together and raise our hands up and say with lots of excitement, :"He's Alive!!"  She claps her hands and I join her.  It's special! 

This year is funky though.  I am spiritually a bit blah lately because of all that has been going on with my sweet husband.  My hub's is closer to the Lord than ever and we are both pressing in more now than ever in prayer for healing and victory for my hub's and studying scriptures to search out God's promises and to build us up with truth and hope but, I feel so weary and run down most of the time.  Don't get me wrong.  I can chug along, simile, encourage, take care of myself and my daughter and my husband, clean our house, hang out with friends and genuinely have fun too, but there is no escaping this season.  I apologized to the Lord this week for being so out of sorts.  I apologized for not feeling closer to Him.  Nothing seems to penetrate the fortress I have evidently built around my heart to protect it from falling.  Then this morning the most upbeat, colorful, passionate video did something unexpected in me; in breached my walls!  I felt a tear trickle down my cheek as I watched two thousands believers gathered together to dance, rejoice and praise the name of Jesus in a public place.  I don't know why this video hit me the way it did.  I think I felt tremendously encouraged to see so many people who love Jesus as much as I do shining for all to see.  To see so many different kinds of people united for one thing...the King of Kings.  To see their faces of sheer joy, peace and passion as they danced and praised just flooded my spirit with a hug from Heaven.  It was as if Jesus was hugging me and saying, "See, you are never alone my sweet daughter. I am with you always.  You felt distant from me and you have been trying so hard to feel my presence, so here I am.  I love you.  I am alive and all is well.  Do not fear."  And then I proceeded to watch it over and over again all day long and sing it out from the top of my lungs with Daisy as we danced around the house praising Jesus.  Now, it's starting to feel a lot more like Easter weekend around here!! Happy Celebration to you all!! Be blessed and hope you too feel the presence of Jesus mightily in your life! xoxo   So, please take a quick moment to watch for yourselves. Perhaps this is a little glimpse of Heaven...unity, joy and nothing but a big celebration!! Sign me up!!
A big thanks to Jhen Stark : From Here to Eternity for sharing this video on her Facebook page this morning.  I bet she had no idea it might encourage another sister in Christ as much as it did. So thank you friend! xoxo



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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Momma In Focus

One Day At A Time

Hi all! It's another week of Momma In Focus and another chance to capture a special memory with your kiddos.  This week was a freebie week without a prompt so Daisy and I decided to sit outside and soak up our newly landscaped (still a work in progress but SO much nicer!) backyard.  Daisy is so close to taking off and walking it's crazy!  She stands all the time without holding on to anything and she takes steps all day long but, only a few at a time.  She could totally walk but, she is afraid of this new mobility as it is so foreign to her.  I understand.  I am in no hurry to rush her progress.  I soak it all up.  I soak it up as she learns to take a simple step. I encourage her and applaud her every effort.  I will relish in every tiny little victory that my daughter makes all the days of her life.  Quite simply, I adore her and according to my husband who so kindly took these pictures for me...she's pretty fond of me too.  She loves to imitate everything I do now and if I get silly with her she gets silly right back.  I am a blessed momma to have such a precious little friend in such a small package! 

Looking forward to your captures this week!  
Next week's prompt: Easter  So many great opportunities to get in a festive picture with your kids.  Good luck!


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