Friday Favorites!

It's Friday Favorites time!

 So I'm linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci! 

1.)
One of my favorites this week has been the weather. I'm so grateful that we had some extra beautiful days outside. Pretty surprising for November and so lovely!

2.)

It was so nice outside that the youngest and I were able to take a walk. Running, walking, running, giggling, walking, running....

3.)

We also were able to play outside on the grass barefoot....and loving it! 

70 degrees will do that to you :). We played football, airplane, played in the woods and I took some sweet pictures. Such fun!

4.)

Sometimes you just have to create your happy place by making pumpkin bread while sipping on a whipped cream topped pumpkin spice coffee while watching Dawson's Creek. :) Pumpkin bread is my fave to make in the fall. It's so easy and delicious!

5.)

This came in the mail. Christmas is in the air :). I just adore paging through the "Pottery Barn Kids" magazine. Everything is just so cute!

6.)

And this isn't necessarily a "favorite" picture but what it symbolizes is a favorite of mine. 

-2 backpacks (meaning the boys are home from school)

-Groceries (meaning we have food to eat)

-A mess on the stairs (meaning I have a family :) )

Because this is my everyday beautiful messy life and I wouldn't change it for the world!

7.) Some of my favorite new bars here. These Clif bars are scrumptious! "Iced Gingerbread" and "Spiced Pumpkin Pie." Hello yummy!

8.) This week I had paint class with some sweet gals! Painting is so relaxing and fun! I've never went to one of these classes but I am so thankful I did. A night to remember! :)

Happy Friday to you, 

Jamie 

When all seems right in the world again...

On tough days it is amazing what a simple thing can do to lighten your feelings. 

My cute 4 year old was busy playing with toys in his "fort" as he loves to do. He wanted me to close my eyes because he had something for me. I did so and he was very adamant that I don't open them until he said so. 

So, I waited and waited. 

Then I felt his sweet and warm hands touching my finger wiggling something on there. When I was allowed to open my eyes, I see that he placed this big plastic ring with a bow on my finger. 

Then he ran away excitedly. 

Awe! My heart melted into a puddle and I gave him the biggest hug (and may have shed a tear).

 Such a sweet surprise! His heart is so kind!

....And all is right in the world again :). 

And then he gives me a fake shot in my arm and takes some of my blood and tells me I'm brave. That little charmer has my heart forever and ever. 

Here we are after he put the ring on my finger :). The picture is blurry and perfect at the same time! I've come to realize that it is hard sometimes to get a "still" picture. And I will accept that because in this season of life, that's how it is with playful kids. I will cherish the blurry pictures because they are so special.

Like this sweet friend of mine who took a 2 hour walk with me on a beautiful fall day. She's such a blessing in my life! Her kindness shines for all to see and I love her so much. Spending time with friends is so precious!

And the perfect timing for a specific devotion from "Our Daily Bread."

"Time spent in prayer is always time well spent." I love that! We will never regret praying and praying. 

I am so very thankful for these special moments to treasure. They seem to turn up while being intentional about watching and listening for. 

Blessings to you, Jamie

Thank you...

Have you ever had one of those days where your eyes are opened to so much thankfulness your heart could just burst?! 

This one day my 2 littles and I headed out for some errand running fun. It was a long drive to the stores we needed to go to and it ended up being a long morning.  

And I met so many sweethearts that day who just made my day :)!

Thank you to the kind hearted man that drew smilies on my Costco receipt to give my kids a smile. You have no idea how much that meant to us. 

Thank you to the business man who told me he would push my cart back after I unloaded all my groceries into my car and buckled my kids up. He said he'd been there before with the kids and gave me a big smile. ❤️ I practically teared up at his generous act. I told him "Thank you" probably 5+ times. This simple act of kindness I have never encountered before. And it made me think that I need to do this for others. 

Thank you to the cute Grandma who commented on how good my kids are which made me very thankful! She was absolutely darling and my kiddos were being really great. This allowed me to give the littles some praise as well because hearing it from someone else means so much.

Thank you to the pretty lady at Once upon a child who gave my kids stickers to keep them busy while I was paying. She kept chatting with them while ringing up my purchases. And she paid attention to them. Kids love to be noticed and loved on. And she did just that. 

And last but not least....Thank you to the adorable Grandpa who gave me a laugh telling me the kids clothes I was purchasing wouldn't fit me. He was so cute I could've given him a hug. 

Thankfully, Jamie

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 :)

Family Fun Time in Florida

We feel so fortunate to have went to Florida during Austin's MEA break. It was so much fun!

Here we are waiting at the airport to board our plane. We were very excited to join the rest of the family in Florida. I absolutely love my family. Family are forever friends and it is an honor to spend time together. 

Sidenote: If you look closely at my neck you can see my poison ivy rash. It was also on my face but it's not very obvious in this photo. The boys and I were playing catch and the ball went into our woods that are full of poison ivy. I got the ball and must have touched my face afterwards. To be honest, I didn't think that I touched any poison ivy. But I did indeed and was so very itchy-itchy. I had a hard time not itching it and I can only imagine how hard it is for kiddos to not itch it. It was a bummer but fortunately my husband encouraged me to see the Doctor the day before leaving. I got a prescription for Prednisone which helped very quickly. Praise God :)!

We spent almost every day at the beach. The weather was so beautiful in the 80's and the ocean water was pretty warm.

Troy loved the sand the most. He was afraid of the big waves, he told me. He enjoyed feeding pretzels to the birds and making sand castles.

He also liked standing on the boogie board in the shallow water.

This big boy was loving the waves. He rode those waves over and over. 

Me and my boys :)!

Here's my Mom and Austin playing in the waves. 

My fun and fearless Uncle also brought this huge tube. It was so much fun riding the waves on it. 

We swam in a couple different pools, too. Here's Grayson, Troy and Taylor. Good buddies/cousins!

Taylor was "the wife" and Troy was "the husband." They are so cute together!

We got some yummy and healthy smoothies at this shop. Funny story is that I didn't know if Austin would like some of the fruity flavors or the green healthy smoothie. He said he didn't. He wanted a pop (which I don't let him drink). Therefore, I got him a peanut butter + chocolate smoothie. He didn't like it BUT he liked mine. And the smoothie I got for myself was... a healthy berry/kale/spinach smoothie. He wanted it and I was happy he was getting the healthy nutrients! :)

Austin and Grayson! 

Bike ride with my big boy enjoying the beautiful weather.

The super kind backyard neighbor has 2 of these pretty birds. We enjoyed watching the birds. 

The tree below is covered with these gorgeous white birds. Every evening at around the same time they would cover this tree and in the morning they would leave. They were so white and fluffy. We enjoyed watching them. The kids would run to the window to see them :).

On our way home driving through the historic down town. 

This kid was absolutely exhausted and he fell asleep like this on the way home. 

Troy + Tay at the airport together. :)

We had an awesome time and it was SO great to get home to be back with Daddy again. 

Happy Day to you!
Jamie :)

Girl time

A couple of weeks ago I attended our "Women's Connect Rally" at Church.

It was amazing and such a fun time! 

My sweet parents and my Aunt and Uncle came to be with the kiddos for the day so I could go to it. My Mom came for part of the rally, too. 

The beautiful decorations were all over. Although the rally was at the Church I attend, I felt like I was somewhere else. The decorations were so pretty and feminine! 

And there was a "Photo booth" area where you could "Snap a Selfie." I loved it! How clever and cute!!

There were different frames to hold up. Cutest idea ever. 

These gorgeous rustic doors were on the top of the original Church's doors. I mean, how pretty is that? A friend told me "I want to get married here!" That's how pretty it was!

This is a photo of my sweet friend, Rose, and my Mom. 

In the sanctuary and in other areas of the Church there were beautiful speakers to listen to and worship music for us. There was delicious meals for us women and even dessert at the end of the night. It was so lovely.

 I smiled, laughed and cried.::Joyfully cried:: It was amazing and just what I needed. Have you been to a Women's rally or to Women of Faith? I went to Women of Faith a couple years ago and I think this was like that. I loved every minute of it.

Romans 12:2 was on the side wall of the sanctuary. I Love that verse!

And I was so grateful to have went and feel so refreshed! 

Jamie :)

Top 3 from the past weekend

Tuesday's Top 3

1.) Friday was the "Bye Bye Blanket" party! 

Last week while I was looking at my son's sweet & beloved "Blanks" (blanket), I thought to myself that I need to pack it away so it doesn't get any more worn down. I mean, that blanket has been with him since birth! It makes me kinda teary thinking about it. I want to save it so he can have it when he's older....or I can cuddle with it when he goes off to college. More tears. He brought that blanket everywhere! Everywhere. To Church because he would have a total breakdown when we'd bring him to Sunday School because he just wanted to be with Mommy & Daddy. The Sunday School teachers were so kind and compassionate when we'd have to leave him and let him cry a little...with his blanket. Blanket went to the Adventure Park and he actually layed down with it on one of the mats to take a pretend nap. That thing went on a Carribean cruise to see the ocean and to South Dakota. Grocery stores, Walmart, Target, friend's houses, Grandparent's houses, everywhere. You name it, that blanket was there :). 

He especially loved the monkey corner, which is why now that corner is almost non-existent.

He let Troy have a corner of it when he visited his new baby brother in the hospital.

Hiding in the drawer with the blanket.

So onto the par-tay!

I went simple. He wanted gifts but I said no. Haha! I put some decorations up, we made some, I made white cupcakes with sprinkles & cocoa powder, the boys blew out candles, we ordered pizza from our favorite pizza restaurant and spent time as a fam. Perfect!

"B" was the theme :)

This monkey has gotten a LOT of love. And probably 2 years ago my precious Mom brought his blanket to her very talented seamstress to get it fixed up. You can tell by the stitching on the monkey's left arm. A loves his Nanny! 

You've mighta already noticed this but...T boy likes to be "Hulk" and wear no shirt and usually no pants, too. We are working on potty training (it's going well) so the no pants is actually kinda easy ;)

I choose my battles wisely. No clothes at home--fine, but clothes outside of home--yessss!

These cupcakes were very scrumptious with homemade cream cheese frosting! 

One last cuddle with the blanket. 

But to be totally honest...if he wants to have it for a night or just to see it, I will say "yes." 

And we played Skylanders with the figurines. I was the girl dragon :). Fun!

Celebrate the "Little things" which in the future were actually the BIG things ;)!

2.) Saturday was the Women's Connect Rally at Church. It was absolutely fantastic!! I went with one of my amazing friends, Abriel. We had the best time...Worshipping God, praying,  listening to a wonderful woman give her testimony and eatting at the "candy bar" (think gummy bears, skittles, tootsie rolls, Mike n' Ike's, kit kat bars--Yummy). We also attended a Connect session on "Who Do You See in the Mirror?" By: Marytina Lawrence and after had dessert. And this dessert was Strawberry cheesecake, it was one of the best I've ever had...I may have had 2 :). 

Abriel & I

I felt so grateful after I left. Grateful that God has trusted my husband and I to raise these wonderful children. Inspired to continue to teach them every single day of God's great love! Because in the end that is all that really matters. And I left feeling beautiful in and out because God created us beautiful. When He looks at us, He sees perfection. God is so good.

3.) Spending time with family on Sunday. My Mom & Dad are amazing!! I just adore them. We got the chance to visit some loved ones. And in the evening A & T went to a movie at the theatre with them. They had a blast! Family time rocks my world!

God Bless you,

Jamie :)