happy.birthday.josh

Today is Josh's birthday. This man is one of the most talented people I know. He builds stuff. He paints stuff. He grows stuff. He cleans stuff (when I ask him to). He fills our freezer with tons of meat and cooks it, too! And he does it all so well!! (He's a perfectionist, and thankfully, he knows it!)

I love him so much, and I'm so grateful to be married to him.

I love you, babe! Happy Birthday! Mwah!

7.years

How did we go from this....

to this...

to this....(I remember thinking how old she seemed in this picture!)...

to Trident model....

to this....

Our Claire is 7. Seven sounds so old, doesn't it? Claire is turning into a little lady. She talks like us. She laughs at (most of!) our jokes. She's becoming extremely aware of the world around her.

Currently, she asks more questions than I can answer about electricity and the atmosphere and space travel. Thankfully, we're learning together! :) She asks so many questions that I have to answer with the words, "I don't know, but we'll find out!"

This girl loves to learn. Her helpfulness is evident on a daily basis. She loves it when I read to her. Her "throat starts to hurt" and she gets teary-eyed when she watches the sad parts of Charlotte's Web. A girl after my own heart! :)

Claire loves being the biggest sister. She's an excellent order-giver (even though she's not supposed to hand them out to her sisters) and on track to be a great contributor in this world. Her mother-hen skills are unmatched. Amelia loves her SO much that sometimes she prefers Claire over me. It's so sweet.

Claire, we are truly blessed to have you as our daughter. You are a beautiful girl filled with so much determination. We can't wait to see where you use your talents. It is so much fun to watch you learn and grow. We love you so much!!

question.of.the.day

"Mom, do all tornadoes have tomatoes?"

I think we've read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs one too many times.

new.bike

Look who got a new bike! Her other one broke, so we gave her an early birthday present a couple of weeks ago.  Her favorite part?  The kickstand.

The bike is a bit big for her, but she got the hang of it so quickly! She rides up and down the driveway (just the part near our house) all the time! She is turning into such a big girl.

Who told Claire she could grow up?!!

poor.fletcher

Poor little Fletcher got kicked out of his own bed at the lake! Unfortunately, Claire's a bit big for his bed.

he.loves.me

My husband loves me. Do you know how I know? Cause he writes it in the food that I cook. My favorite part about these onions? He says, "Did you see the onions?" I said, "Yep...thanks for cutting them up." He says, "Did you look at them?" Me, "I see them from over here." I was trying to figure out what was so stinkin' special about the onions!!

...and I love him too....because then I have fun blog posts. :)

happy.mother's.day

This is my mom. She's pretty much one of the best moms ever, and everyone that knows her will agree.  I love you, Mom.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms who read my blog! Keep up the good mom-work ladies! We're all in this together.

"Train {your children} up to be people that may one day lead nations." I can't remember who said this, but it inspires me to be a good mom! :)