I Feel Pretty

To Kate this  little ensemble that she put together all by herself this morning is "pretty." She told Carson that she couldn't play ball with him today because she was "feeling pretty." I tried to tell her that she could "feel pretty" and play ball with her brother but she just couldn't understand that logic.

A Beautiful Day

A sleeping shot. Because it seems like these days he never sleeps. I have asked daycare to please stop letting him take a nap. Needless to say that was not a popular request.

He completely dressed himself today. He was so proud.

I'm enrolling her in ballet in February at her school. They have let her try out some classes in the meantime.

Can't you tell???:)

I had to get this picture because sometimes it seems like all they do is run around in circles.

We inherited this wagon from a friend. Today was our first day to use it. It was 70 outside and beautiful. We had just gone to the library so the kids brought their books with them. Kate, ever the teacher was reading to Carson.

Can someone please get me a frame? One of my favorites of all time.

If you want to guage how much your kids have grown, keep taking them to the same park. I remember balancing  Kate by holding her little bottom up this little climbing wall. Being nervous with each little slip. Now I can watch from far away as she manuevers it with no problem.

My confident,beautiful ALMOST 5 year old!

This kid will be FOUR in about 10 days. How in the world did that happen??

Some action shots. He loves me to take pictures of him jumping. When he saw this one he said, "Mommy that is a BERRY cool picture!"

Also berry cool.

I love everything about this picture. I love our cheesy smiles and I love how her little hands are holding onto my arms.

Sweet boy. Never been to good with that darn sun! He's a squinter:)

Looking Forward

I had no problem taking down my Christmas decorations this year. Carson asked me "Mommy why are you taking down the Christmas tree?" I simply told him "Son, Christmas is over." In years past  I would get sappy and sentimental and wonder how long I could keep up the Christmas tree with out looking like one of "those people." But not this year. Definitely not this year. It probably had something to do with saying good bye to 2012. It was a mean year for me in so many ways. Some day I will write about it but for now I will just say that it was painful beyond what I could ever imagine. But look at me. I'm still alive! Loving my kids, smiling, working, and starting to enjoy living in the moment again. So hello 2013!! I already love you. This will be MY year...and while I have no idea what the heck that looks like or even means  right now I am quite sure of it.:)

Some happenings already from beautiful 2013....

You can take all of the holidays but this is MY favorite time of year. The 2 best people in my  life turn another year older in January and February. I had the greatest joy buying these candles in anticipation. Carso and I are planning his Pirate Party even as I write this. He is very involved which makes it a complete blast.

I honestly may never make cake pops again. These marshmellow pops were so incredibly easy and turned out so cute.

This is a picture that truly means 1000 words to me. Gratefulness, thankfulness, a better future..It deserves its own blog post coming soon....I LOVE this picture and what it means for me and my babies. For the record I am going with the 4th color, "Betsy Ross House Blue"

I made this diaper motorcycle for my friend Gracie's shower. I love my Gracie! She is due to have her 2nd boy Tyson in about 2 weeks. This  was incredibly easy to make. I got the detailed step by step instructions from THIS BLOG

These are pacifiers made out of chocolate covered cookies, jelly beans, and peppermint lifesavers. Kate thought they were rings:)

Seriously cute.

Carson had this new pose for me this morning. He told Kate to pose this way. Wonder where he got that from? He was on his way to watch his Daddy's team play in the play offs.

My sister in law Stacey gave us this little Texas Tech cheer leading outfit and now it is a shirt! Kate felt left out when Carson put his jersey on so we had to find something for her to wear. As you can tell she wasn't too excited about having her picture taken.

She just wanted me to take a picture of her spinning.

My friend Jodi brought her son Easton  to the shower. He is the cutest little boy. He thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate covered cookies. Love that face.

My beautiful friend. This is a great picture to capture her true personality. She is always laughing and has the greatest laugh.

Gorgeous mama!

These are my closest girl friends, Jodi, Gracie and Hope. They have all in one way or another saved my life this past year. They are irreplaceable to me.