Love That Man

I love my husband.

I love spending time with him.

I love that his job allows us to be together a lot... usually.

I love that we don't get sick of each other.

I love that he loves having coffee with me.

I love our life together.

I love that if ever there was a perfect marriage, it's ours.

I love that he would much rather I ignore house work when he's around.

I love that he changes my facebook status every chance he gets to say cute things about me 

(it's embarrassing and endearing all at the same time).

I love that he loves our little boy.

I love the look in his eyes when he watches Jimmy accomplish something new.

I love the way they play together.

I love his random gestures of sweetness.

I love that he thinks I'm beautiful.

I love that he loves me.

I am so blessed. 

This post was originally composed in my head to explain how I love mornings like this... Calm, beautiful, quiet... The baby is still sleeping, the man is hunting. My phone is buzzing off the hook, as they say, with text messages about the 10-pointer my sister got... An eagle is soaring over the lake... The house is clean, my coffee brewed with pumpkin spices is tasty... So to preface my thoughts on such pleasantries due-to-the-man-being-gone this early morning, I was going to make sure everyone understood how I adore him. And then, I couldn't stop. And at the end of it, I am missing him... Here's to hoping he gets a 12-point monster or bigger. 

EDITED TO ADD: within 45 minutes of Hannah shooting her buck, Andy got himself a large 9-pointer. Not quite as big as Hannah's, but the rack was wider and if you're like me and have no idea what that has to do with coolness, just trust me. I think that makes it close to being almost as cool as Hannah's. Though, Hannah's still has his beat by approximately 10 inches in the scoring. If you don't know what that means, don't feel bad. I didn't either until recently. I just may put a photo up of the two of them later....

Thinking About It

My house smells like baking pumpkins and a dirty oven. Ahh... So cozy and Autumn-ish. But I think I am going to need to quit putting off cleaning that oven since I am really tired of setting off that darn fire alarm. The last of the six loads of laundry is in the process of being folded and making me feel virtuous and on top of things (although, if you think about it, SIX loads of laundry for a family of three attributes to a great supply of procrastination around these parts).

If we're being honest here (which clearly we are considering I just admitted my faults which include dirty, dirty ovens and Mount Washmore as they say--among a host of other things I didn't mention, but that would cost me all day and possibly an appointment with a therapist at the end of it), I would have to say that the thought does frequently cross my mind in what this blog is really all about. Is it just me, or does it flounder?

It flounders, don't even lie.

I happen to believe that the things we do should have a purpose to them. God created us with a purpose in mind, and it is up to us to live to the hilt what He wants us to be. And there I go preaching a sermon as a big fat hypocrite. But really, as in life we frequently wonder, what is our purpose? What are we here to do? How do we better the lives of our future generation? Thus I wonder about my blogging. Is there a purpose for it? If so, what? ...Should I keep it as a neglected online journal of-sorts, documenting the life and times of our little family? BOOORing. ...Should I use it for recipes, crafts, DIY projects? Um, me? the expert of NOTHING??? ...Should I give it up? Yep. I just asked that. I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW! What do you think?

You see, part of my hang-up with the whole thing is that I have changed so much in the last several years, as anyone who has known me for any length of time can attest to. That's what happens when truth meets grace and you know freedom. But what's more, I still am changing. The metamorphosis stage has been a long one for me. Therefore I'm uncertain with the outflow of my heart and mind. Folks, I'm still getting to know me.... And that's what happens when you don't know how to grab on to grace.

And then on the more practical side of things, somehow now that I'm a mom on top of being an aspiring photographer, homemaker (maybe I should put 'aspiring' in front of that word too. Haha.), and most of all wife, my free time for pleasantries such as blogging is so minimal. Nap times only last so long!

So this is me being real and candid with you. I'm not sure if blogging is supposed to be my thing. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't me, I wouldn't even follow my blog. I'm so open to suggestions. How do I set this blog apart from other blogs? What makes me unique? 

While you think about, it let me move on to lighter topics since I'm in the mood to be random (although, if you're anything like me you would have quit reading a few paragraphs ago since there's not even a photo in this post. Yet.)...

Guess what? JIMMY IS WALKING! Last Saturday he got up from a four hour nap and took a step. Within a couple hours, he was walking all the way across the living room. It was a grand feat, and I was tickled to death for a couple reasons....a.) I'm so happy for him.You can just see it in his eyes, he loves this new mode of transportation. b.) Andy and I had bet back rubs about this topic the weekend before--I said he would be walking by the end of that week, and Andy said he would be walking by the end of the next week.With mere hours left on the clock for my bet, I was sure I had lost. But my boy came through for me! Ha.

Veteran's Day was a special day. I'm so proud to be married to an American hero. Seriously. You have no idea. Said-hero took this girl out on the town that day. A day-long DATE with Mr. Sexy Handsome! Yessss! A pair of Vietnam vets at Applebee's apparently took a liking to us and paid our bill. How sweet is that?

Deer hunting gun season is nearly here. That means there will be lots of just Jimmy and me time... And some girl time with my sister in-law Anna and baby niece Kailyn... And perhaps some extra blogging time. I don't know. It will hopefully be fun and not too lonely.

With every bit of that said, me thinks it is time to wrap this up. I am pretty sure the batteries in the fire alarm need to be changed. It should have gone off long ago....

Our One Year-Old

11::11::11

I will never forget the day Andy left for Iraq. I was heartbroken. 

And then I saw all the heart-broken children around me, begging their daddies not to leave. It made my insides hurt.

SAYING GOODBYE

The day Andy came home I was beyond euphoric. 

And then I saw all the excited children. My heart melted. I was so happy for them. Their daddies made it home. Safe. And they threw their arms around their daddies' necks and kissed them and cried on their shoulders with joy. 

DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!

Today I remember our veterans. I'm grateful for them. I think of their families... their sweethearts, their children.

I also remember the fallen. I pray for their sweethearts and their children. My heart aches for them.

I don't forget. I will never forget.

Pinterested

Shortly after my discovery and addiction to Pinterest, I promptly told you about all of its awesomeness. The trap with Pinterest, however, is you could literally spend hours pinning all sorts of wonderful things and ideas to store away for a future time, but those ideas never come into fruition. 

 Sad. 

Because, then all those hours you spend on Pinterest end up being a waste. You have to take some of those ideas and do something with them! And yes, that probably means cutting into the time you spend on Pinterest. But that's a good thing. If you don't, the simple truth of the matter is pinterest is a bad idea for your life. 

I did something about it though.

 Pinned.

Created.
(and, out of the leftover yarn, the boy got a scarf out of the deal too.)

The Makings of a Monkey Party

Once upon a time, it was apparent that the little monkey was about to have a birthday. Because this monkey was well-loved and, well, had to be so stinking cute, the day could not go by without a monkey-sort of celebration. After all, what monkey doesn't like to party? So while the little monkey and his daddy playfully stayed out of Mommy's way, the festivities were set in motion.

To start out with, it was important that all his favorite peeps would be in attendance. A rough sketch of a monkey face was traced all over cute scrap book paper. They were cut out and made into invitations to send to all the little monkey's relatives in the near-province.

The little monkey had hairs on his head that needed some trimming before the big day. Not very many, mind you, just enough to be un-even.


And then food was made. The little monkey had an aunt that came over and cooked and baked up a storm with his mommy. Bite-sized meatballs, tortilla roll-ups, s'mores on a pretzel, pumpkin cakes and cupcakes... plus his loving grandmas were bringing taco dip and chips, vegetable pizza and yummy, yummy finger jello.

Grandm D came over and decorated monkey cakes. Did they ever turn out cute!

Painstaking, loving work.

Finally! The big fabulous day for the little monkey arrived! Oh the fun!

To show just how much little monkeys can grow in a year... His first outfits...

His first hat and pair of booties.

The little monkey's mommy decided that she needed to start him young on the wondrous delights of chocolate by creating a hot cocoa bar.

 Oh the sweet, sweet, sweetness.

And then it was time for the presents.

He almost got lost in them.  

 "All Done!"

(Opening presents is a big job!)

  

His favorite::: ONE WHOLE MONKEY CAKE to destroy, obliterate, smash, consume and go bananas over!

Our little monkey gave us one whole happy year, it was the least we could do to give him an entire day to celebrate his wonderful little self.

S'mores on a Pretzel

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon shortening
coarse graham cracker crumbs
pretzel sticks
large marshmallows

• place chocolate chips and shortening in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. 
• Pierce marshmallows with pretzel sticks. Dip top in chocolate and then in graham cracker crumbs. Place chocolate-side down on wax paper-lined sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, or until set. 
• Store in air-tight container as pretzels and marshmallows can become stale. 

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 18.25 oz. Yellow Cake mix
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
1 cup 100% Pure Pumpkin (canned or pureed)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup water

• Preheat oven to 350*f. Grease or paper muffin pan.
• Sift together cake mix and pumpkin spice. Add pumpkin, eggs and water. Mix until smooth. 
• Pour batter into muffin pan, filling cups 2/3rds full. 
• Bake at 350*f 20-25 minutes, or until done.
• Let cool. Frost with butter cream frosting.

So simple, so yummolicious!

Linked to:

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam -- Tasty Tuesday