my favorite girl

I would like to tell you about a girl I know.

She is beautiful.

She is funny. a complete goober, actually.

She is thoughtful.

She is sooo smart.

She loves her mama, daddy, and brother.

She turned three yesterday.

She has stolen my heart.

She is ClaireBell.

She is my daughter.

She is my favorite girl in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

ClaireBell,

 

I have loved you since the day I knew you existed. The day you were born, you changed my life forever. You taught me how to love like I never had before. You taught me about responsibility. You teach me every day how to be a good mother.

 

You were my first baby, which means you have to endure my first-time-mama mistakes. Thank you for loving me no matter how much I mess up. Thank you for forgiving me when I just can't seem to figure it out. Thank you for your constant hugs and kisses. You don't know how much it means when you say, "I love you, mama." 

 

I have enjoyed these past three years with you. They have been the best in my life. I can't wait to spend many many more with you, my sweet girl. Living. Learning. Arguing. Laughing. We've made it through the passy times, through potty training....whew...and now we are on to homeschooling.

 

I pray God gives me the strength, patience and grace to be the mother you need. I pray I can somehow be a Proverbs 31 woman. One you can trust and look up to. I love you ClaireBell Joy. More than you know. Happy Birthday sweet girl. 

 

 

We spent a wonderful day at the beach last weekend with family in celebration of both ClaireBell and Ryder's birthdays!! We had a great time. Here are a few pics.

 

 

Sorry for the lengthiness of this post......just couldn't skip out on letting you see some of these pics!

 

And tomorrow brings more excitement! Our little Ryder is turning ONE!!!

 

Fun, but crazy having their birthdays two days apart.

 

Happy Thursday friends! Thanks for stopping by.



15 min workout for busy moms

I've been so discouraged this week with my workout plan..or lack thereof. I'm still doing P90X when I can. Love the program. Love the results. But its sooooooo time consuming. Each video is at least an hour! Sometimes it works out great. Ryder will be taking his nap and Clairsy occupying herself with toys and I'll have time. But it definitely doesn't happen every day.

Then I just get discouraged, feeling like I'll never have time. What a drama queen, right? I mean, my kids won't be babies forever! Can you relate?

Sooo..with that said, I have come to the conclusion that a little sweat is better than none. A 15 minute workout is better than none at all. And most important, a positive attitude, a joyful heart and discipline to be consistently pursuing a goal is always a good thing, always. No matter how little the steps may seem.

My new plan is to do this mini workout every morning. If I get another one in during the day (e.g. P90X video, a run, time in the gym) then great!! But if the day gets too busy, if the babies aren't happy, or maybe I just don't feel like it, at least I got something done. Burned some calories, sped up my metabolism and strengthened my muscles.

Alright, enough talk. Here's the workout.

30 jumping jacks

5 push ups

10 crunches

10 squats

30 butt kicks

5 push ups

10 crunches

30 jumping jacks

1 minute wall sit

10 crunches

repeat 2x (total of 3 times)

NO BREAKS!

Here are the totals.....

180 jumping jacks

30 push ups

90 crunches

30 squats

90 butt kicks

3 min. wall sit

Doable, right?? You have no excuses. And if you have kids, do it with them! They will love it.

No equipment needed. But a mat does make it nice for the crunches.

So strap on your tenni's and get to it!!

*WARNING*

YOU WILL SWEAT! SO BE PREPARED FOR A SHOWER ;)

do you date your spouse??

Me and my better half have had the priveledge of weekly(ish) dates this summer! It has been lots of fun and I've soooo enjoyed some time alone with him.

All too often we (us married with children folks) forget the importance of continuing to "date" our spouse. We get comfortable, we get busy, and we put our children first. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of times, especially with babies, when they just have to be top priority! But thankfully, my man has put me above them and more importantly put Christ above ALL and has stolen my heart all over again.

We have had some nice dinners at our favorite restaraunts, gone ice skating, shopping, and have had some nice evenings at home playing scrabble and watching movies.

Our most recent date was to the Jacksonville Sun's baseball game!

If you know us at all, or read this blog at all, you know we are a baseball lovin' family! Last summer (when we lived two exits from the stadium) we attended quite a few Atlanta Braves games! When we found out the Suns were playing the Braves...both Minor League teams, if you haven't picked that up yet....we knew that was the game for us!

So we dressed, well Dakota dressed in his Brave-wear and rooted for our team! I think we may have been one of the only Atl fans there...lol.

We had a great time! Spent too much money on giant Bubba burgers and giant Cokes, took some goofy pictures, and more than anything else enjoyed the company of a best friend.

Excuse the shiny face and my bangs plastered to my head.....what can I say? It's FL in July people!

At the end of the game, which we won by the way! there was an awesome fireworks show! Seriously the loudest show ever! haha.

I hope this encourages you to "date" your spouse again! And for those of you who haven't stopped, I applaud you.

I love Dakota with all my heart and am so thankful God made him just for me :)

Happy Friday, friends.

Weekly Highlight

What fun times we are having this summer! The Olympics have stolen our attention these past two weeks and I must say, we are enjoying every second of it! There have also been visits to Amelia, Ocala, the beach, pool, park, and baseball field!

My Hubs and me spent last weekend looking at houses...TO BUY!..prayerfully! We are very excited to be on this journey of home ownership. We are learning so much through this process and having a blast spending some extra time together :)

A tip for you this week:

Get the desired crunchy on the outside, moist in the inside chicken every time!
I have been making these whole chickens a lot lately. They only cost .99 cents/lb. and aren't AS processed as the frozen chicken breasts we all love so much! (This works best if you plan to chop or shred the meat.)

So here's what you do:
Coat the chicken with a little oil of your choice, and seasonings (I use pepper, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder). Then just add about an inch of water to the bottom of your roasting pan.

I know all the cook books will tell you to place breasts up, but put them down in the water and have dry chicken breasts no more!

Bake uncovered at 450 for 15 minutes then just turn the temp down to 325 for the remainder of the time. (20 min. for every pound). No need to remove in between or cover.

Then just cut however you so desire and enjoy! Use for chicken tacos, enchiladas, salads, pastas.....pretty much endless options.

*note, skin will only be crunchy on top, so make sure to cut thighs, drumsticks and wings off before turning over!

Project Mommy was the only thing accomplished these past few weeks...no regrets :)

Delicious recipe this week:



I love guacamole...like, a lot! And have been searching for the perfect recipe. This may not be perfect, but its the best I've had! Can't wait to try it again!

Avocados, peeled and coarsely mashed

Grape tomatoes, halved

Sweet onions, finely chopped

Cilantro, coarsely chopped

Fresh lime juice

Salt

Cayenne pepper, just a pinch

garlic powder

Serve with homemade tortilla chips

*for best results, refrigerate for a couple hours before serving to let the flavors really mix.

Photos this week go to my three favy's:



I'll leave you with that face!! hah.

Smoothie Love

With all of the fresh fruits available right now, we have been enjoying some delicious smoothies! We have tried many varieties and combinations of fruits, yogurts, juices, and such...I think I found a winner this morning!

Ingredients:

1 medium banana, peeled
6 medium strawberries, cleaned and cut
handful of cherries, remember to remove seeds!
1 4oz container of Mott's Blueberry Flavored Applesauce
1/2c. Dannon's Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt
2tbsp. ground flaxseed meal
1c. ice

Throw it all in the blender and blend on high until smooth!! Filling enough to drink as a meal replacement, and oh-so-refreshing.  

Enjoy :)

*makes enough for 2 large smoothie's! ClaireBell always enjoys drinking them with me.

*178 calories, 2.5g. fat, 5g. protein. -Per serving  

Sweet Firsts

Lately it seems there have been so many firsts. As I watch my babies growing in both age and maturity, every day is an adventure. I feel the urge to take pictures of everything, wishing I had the time to write it all down too. I even pulled Clairsy's baby book out the other day, writing down funny things she says, things I don't want to forget.

I hear parents say all the time, "I'm so sad they're growing up!" or, "they're growing too fast!"....and don't get me wrong, I get it! And I've even said those things before! But more than anything else, I'm excited! It's sad they'll never be "babies" anymore, but they will continue to be babies in something for a long time. The next few years hold so many baby steps, reading, writing, learning about Jesus, singing, sports.

So I tell you, I am enjoying these sweet firsts, sweet baby steps...quite literally for my BABY Ryder :) And I look forward to the coming months, years.

As I write this, I look out into the family room and see Ryder letting go of the table, taking those few wobbly steps til' he falls to the ground. And you know what he does?? He gets back up, smile on his face and tries again. I also see ClaireBell, playing a hooked-on-phonics game, finding the letters that are spoken and pressing the buttons. And when she gets one wrong, she takes the next clue....ie...the letter A is purple...until she gets it! With a big smile on her face, she punches that button and says, "I did it!" So proud, I tell you.

If only I were as motivated as them. If only I had the patience of a child. If only I could learn so quickly that when you fall or get something wrong, you don't give up! You try again. You try until you get it right. And then, you don't stop there! You keep learning, you keep failing. So I am trying, I am falling. I am taking those baby steps right along with my babies. Looking forward to what God will teach me next.

Clairebell's firsts this month have been:

writing her name

coloring inside the lines...or trying to

praying all by herself

using water wings

being brave enough to go "deep" into the waves at the beach

building a sandcastle by herself

using the potty during the day! *big hooray for this one*

holding a live crab

Some of her favorites are:

the beach

the pool

drawing

"reading"

hide and seek

pop-ice

Ryder's firsts this month have been:

TEETH! he has 4 now

walking

dancing to music

clapping his hands

throwing a ball

Some of his favorites are:

food...of all kinds

stuffed animals

pillows

balls

splashing in the bath, ocean, or pool

What a blessing it is to have children! What amazing gifts God has given us. I learn so much from them every day.

Baby Steps. Sweet Firsts. Its how we all learn.