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Saturday, December 20, 2014

True friends

I am so grateful for my girlfriends! 

I have met some amazing new friends and have kept some of my amazing old friends. And I have learned so much from them all. 


Source


Source

The Bible talks about characteristics of good friends in the Bible:

Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
-I want to have wise friends


Romans 12:10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Out do one another in showing honor.
-I want to love my girlfriends as sisters and them to love me as a sister, too. 


Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
-I want a mutually sweet friendship.



 Proverbs 22:24-25 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered,  or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.

-I want an even tempered friend who is slow to become angry.


I've been making a list of all the reasons my friends are my true friends. Some are more serious than others. If you have some of these qualities in a friend, you've found a gem of a friend :). 

1.) They encourage you to be a better person.

2.) They like your Instagram photos even if they aren't that great.

3.) They'll call you to see if you are ok because they haven't heard from you for awhile.

4.) They send you cards in the mail.

5.) They take a day off on their work weekend to get together because it is your weekend off.

6.) They tell you they'll be praying for you.

7.) They love you no matter what.

8.) They love your kids like their very own.

9.) They feel your pain when you are hurting.

10.) They grow in their relationship with God along with you.

11.)They love you even though you get flushed from drinking a half glass of wine.

12.) They call you because they've been thinking of you.

13.) They invite you over for coffee.

14.) They don't get upset if you have to cancel plans.

15.) They don't care if you aren't wearing make up and are in your pj's.

16.) They, too, get excited when reading a powerful Bible passage.

18.) They encourage you to be more of a loving, grateful, respectful and supportive wife.

19.) They send you funny texts. 

20.) They give you good advise.

21.) They aren't judgemental.

22.) They help watch out for your kiddos if you are at the beach or somewhere.

23.) They love their families and your family.

24.) They will tell you if you are in the wrong.

25.) They will tell you about a sale.

26.) They pray aloud for you.

27.) They will give you a gift just because.

28.) Their number 1 priority is to live a Godly life.

29.) They tell you funny stories.

30.) Even if you haven't talked in awhile, you haven't missed a beat.

31.) They invite you over for a play date and make lunch out of the goodness of their heart.

32.) They give you great book recommendations.

33.) They enjoy worshipping God together.

34.) They are so grateful for your friendship and tell you.

35.) If something good is going on for you, they are genuinely happy for you,

Friends are the best! I'm praying this encourages you/

Jamie :)

Friday, December 12, 2014

Friday Favorite Moments

Niiice weather today and through the weekend. Think above 35 degrees and up to 45 degrees! That is awesome!! I hope you're having a wave of nice weather, too!

I just love linking up with these ladies:


Momfessionals

 Last Friday evening we had a fun girls Christmas party with a few of my FAVORITE friends!

We laughed, ate a delicious meal, laughed some more, exchanged cookies, swapped cute scarves and a fun white elephant gift. Honestly, the white elephant gift exchange was absolutely hilarious. So, if you're having a party...include it! It's free and a blast!


We took probably 100 photos to get this one below :)!


Here are some more fun photos from our girl's party.


And some of my FAVORITE moments have been with dog sitting this sweet little pug. Troy loves her and she is such a great dog!! He makes forts for her all over the house, takes care of her, helps feed her and brings her out to go potty. And the other kiddos have been amazing with her, too. 


One of the forts :). 


And one of my FAVORITE crafts from this past week has been making these snowflakes below. I found them on Making Home Base. Click HERE for the directions and original snowflakes. 

Here mine are before I spray painted them gold.


Here they are on my wall. I love them! They are so pretty and simple. Such a great craft to do. I would've done a hundred if I hadn't ran out of popsicle sticks :).


Have a splendid day!! 

Jamie


Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Tuesday Top 5: Family Fun

Today I'm talking about some fun things we've been up to as a family

Top 5 here we go...

1.) Movie night 
We went to "Big Hero 6." To be honest when we were going to see it I didn't know what to expect. But we ALL loved it! We all laughed. And I teared up a bit. It was a really great movie with a good message. Baymax, the robot below, was so funny. He had a radar when someone got hurt and would go to them and try to help them feel better. He would ask something like "On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your pain?" As a Nurse I ask that question all the time at work. I feel very robotic like Baymax when I ask it so frequently. It made me chuckle a bit. 

My 3 handsome camo men.


I definitely would recommend this movie!! 



2.) Sledding
Last Saturday I took the kiddos sledding in town. We had such a fun time. It was warmer (20 degrees or so) and it was a perfect n' quiet day at the sledding hill. I even went down a couple times and enjoyed it. There was a big bump at the end and Austin would purposely try to position himself to go for it. Such a daring little boy! 



And this happened below! Some friends of ours were going sledding also and we met up. Austin was being such a gentleman. Little friend in pink didn't want to carry her sled up so guess who did?? My big sweet boy! He was looking so big doing that act of kindness. Love it!



3.) Homemade Play dough
I had never made homemade play dough before now. It was simple and wonderful. It was very warm after it was all mixed but once it cooled off a tiny bit it was actually kind of comforting feeling the warm dough. Troy loved it! He has always played with play dough but enjoyed this stuff since I made it. And because it was a large chunk. I didn't add any coloring to it. Do you have any recommendations on that?

I got the recipe from Rachel Cruze on Instagram. By the way, you should follow her! She's Dave Ramsey's daughter and has amazing advice!


4.) Christmas decorations up
It was so much fun decorating this year! More than any other year. A + T were awesome helpers. Austin actually put up most of the ornaments. At one point he told me to help him. Haha! :) THe ornaments are mostly on one side and grouped together. And it's absolutely perfect!!


5.) Buddy the Elf has arrived
 He comes on December 1st every year. He brought a yummy breakfast and the kids devoured it. Austin read the entire letter he wrote our family. It was so precious listening to his sweet voice read it. Such a fun family tradition. 



Have a joyful Tuesday!!!

Jamie :)




Monday, December 1, 2014

Let them crack the eggs...

I need to be honest with you...

My kids always want to crack the eggs when we are baking/cooking together. 
I have several excuses I use but usually say "Mommy will just do it real quick" or "You can help mix instead."

Secretly I say no because I don't want to deal with the possible mess. Raw eggs all over. Eeek!

Does that sound mean???

Ummmm ya, it kinda does!

Over the years we've done lots of chocolate chip cookie baking. And have had lots of fun not cracking the eggs. Lots of Mixing and taste testing :)!






When we decided to make cookies last week, Austin said "Please, Mom, Can I crack the eggs?!" I felt led to let him crack the eggs. He was so excited!

While he was trying to crack the egg on the edge of the bowl I was practically closing my eyes in fear that the yolk was going to go everywhere and make a big yucky mess. He had to bang it against the side of the bowl like 7 or 8 times because he was being so careful.
 :) 
My heart just melted when I watched him being extra careful.
He probably already knew that I was afraid it was going to be a fail.

As a Mom, I should be his biggest cheerleader. I know this is a simple 'cracking the egg' example but in life I need to let him do more things on his own. He is getting to be more and more grown up. I need to let him do more grown up things so that when that time comes for him to go off to college...he's ready & not scared. Which I will add, won't be for 12 years :). 

And by the way, he cracked both of those eggs with little to no mess. Just a little got on his jeans and we laughed. He did such a great job. And even if there was a big mess...big deal.

 I'll definitely be letting him do more. He's started cleaning more in the kitchen and he does an excellent job!

My kid's cheerleader,
Jamie :)




Monday, November 24, 2014

Here are some of my favorite things!


Happy Monday to you!

Today I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for their "Favorite Things Party!"

And I hope you will, too! I love scoring something amazing for under $10!

1.) Up first are these earrings. They come in other colors, too. They are on clearance for $7.80. I got them months ago and love them. They're so pretty. They are the "LC Lauren Conrad" collection from Kohl's

Get them HERE.
2.) This lip balm is the best. I love the shape of it and the fact that it is organic. It's $2.99. It'd be a great stocking stuffer!

Check it out HERE.


EOS .25OZ    LIP BALM POM RAZ CHCKL

3.) Oh yum! This yogurt is delicious! It's dessert in a cup. 

If you go HERE you can get a downloadable coupon.

*Score!

My favorite flavor is the "Strawberry Rhubarb." It's so much better than other greek yogurts. I love it so much. I got mine at Target. They are over $2/each but so worth it!


Yoghurt

Jamie :)





Friday, November 21, 2014

Some Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday to you!

Today, I'm linking up with these ladies...


For Friday Favorites!
Momfessionals

I've got some random goodness for ya'll!
 And I hope you like it :)!

1.)
I love a good flashback on Friday. Don't you? 

Here are some fun photos of my young family in November 2011 at Thanksgiving.

 Grayson and Troy: Cousins 6 months apart. Wow, time flies! Just look at their cute cheeks!!


My big hunter Austin at Troy's age now!


November 2012


Our happy family walking into the woods. :)


And 2/3 of my sweet boys!



2.)
 Troy had fun plowing all the snow we've got with Daddy! One of my favorite photos.


3.)
 I had a wonderful time with Austin on his field trip. I'm so very very proud of the big little man he is becoming. A favorite time with Austin.


4.) 
I did not know it was "World Adoption Day" on November 9th. It hits close to home for me and my family. It is definitely dear to my heart!! :) And Jason Kennedy is giving a shout out for it. That's awesome! 


5.)
I don't know if it's just me but I feel like hunting season lasts forever. I pray (hard) that my hubby would get a big buck and be done. Because I just want to have him all to ourselves...not to those deer. I was at our local grocery store and saw this sign "Deer hunting season is here: Remember your "dear"
with flowers" I took a photo of it and sent it to my hubby ::wink::wink::hubby:: but no flowers....yet. 


6.) 
This Pumpkin Spice tea is absolutely delicious!! I don't normally drink a lot of tea but when I saw it was "pumpkin spice" I couldn't throw it into my cart fast enough. I got it from the 'natural foods section' at our grocery store. 


7.)
Have you heard of the "Happy Mommy Box?" It's fabulous! It's a monthly box subscription with awesome items for Mommies. I have really enjoyed getting my monthly box. And I've also loved sharing it with friends. I've given many items as gifts to others for Birthdays and "just because." Check it out HERE.


8.)
Psalm 23.
 One of my favorite + most comforting chapters in the Bible. Especially for my family this past week. I love the last part "...and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." What a beautiful verse to always remember. 


Have a great day!

Jamie :)




Wednesday, November 19, 2014

It's a Battle Field...

So yesterday we were getting ready to have an awesome play date with a friend and her kiddos. I didn't want to be late. Troy would not get his shirt on. He fussed and ran away from me. I tried the "We're not going to play with our friends, then. We'll stay home if you can't get your shirt on."
Still wouldn't. So I just put it on against his will. Then he was really not happy. He didn't like the plain old shirt I picked out. 
So I gave up. I said "fine, then just go put on any shirt you want." 
He went into his room while I was continuing to get ready. He was in there several minutes. And he comes out smiling and said "Jesus Saves, Bro!" while wearing that shirt.
Seriously? That just melted my entire heart! Out of all the shirts he could've chose he picked out that one. 
The cutest + sweetest one with the best meaning. 
I was so frustrated and finally just let that 3.5 year old pick out his own shirt and he was happy. 


Because you and I both know if a kid doesn't want to do something...they aren't going to do it! :)


That's where some major battles need to be chosen. I will fight until the end for my child to sit in their car seat buckled in and to wear appropriately warm clothing for the freezing winter weather. But sometimes, if they want to wear a different shirt or pants that don't match. Does it really matter that much? Nope. 



Choose the battles...you'll be happy you did! :)


Jamie :)