Loving Life
Do What You Love…
Flashback Friday: Happy 3rd Birthday!
Happy 3rd Birthday Girls!
Today’s Flashback Friday goes back to 2008 for the girls 3rd birthday! We did a Garden & Bug theme for this birthday party. It was neat seeing them getting excited as we decorated for the birthday party. They had a blast! It is amazing how quickly they are growing up.
The family is ready to celebrate at their 3rd birthday party! WooHoo!
Grandma Kay made the delicious birthday cakes for the girls. Brina had a bumble bee, Karlie had a ladybug, and the big cake was a flower garden. They looked adorable! Jake’s Mom makes some amazing cakes!
Brina and Karlie with Grandma Kay right before the birthday party!
Watching the candles as the guests sing Happy Birthday! So excited!
Checking out the candles and their cakes!
Karlie eating little bits while Brina digs right now!
Brina’s ready for clean up…I think it’s Jake turn to hose her down, ha!
Karlie eating her cake and enjoying the fun!
Snacking on their yummy party food!
When they were little we pulled the cooler up the counter so they could stand on it and “help” us cook. Food is ready now the party can begin!
Opening their birthday gifts!
Beautiful SC Sunrise
Gorgeous Sunrise!
The kids and I enjoyed this beautiful sunrise earlier this week. It’s not every day we see these great sunrises in South Carolina. Our drive to school was perfectly timed with the sunrise on this special morning.
Thankful for a chance to share this with my kids. All of us were glad that we got stopped at the stoplight that morning so we could soak in the beauty around us. It’s the little treasures throughout each day such as a beautiful sunrise that remind us of the many blessings in our lives.
What a great way to start a new day!
Happy 10th Birthday Brina & Karlie! We Love You!
Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!
Wishing our two beautiful daughters a very special 10th birthday! Today is a bitter sweet day. They now in the double digits which feels like such a big step in them growing up. We are so excited to be celebrating our twin daughters 10th birthday, but at the same time we are in shock that they could be turning 10 already. The time has gone by way too fast and our babies are growing up!
Thankful for these two amazing blessings in our life. There is not a day that goes by that we do not thank God for giving us these two precious gifts. God has richly blessed our lives with these sweethearts.
Brina and Karlie both fill our home with excitement, laughter, and a lot of fun activity. While they were born on the same day they could not be more different. Thankful for the gifts and talents God has given each one. Brina has a big heart for animals and Karlie has dreams of one day blasting off into space! We are proud of them and look forward to watching them grow up into beautiful young ladies.
Praying that God will continue to work in their hearts and lives this year as well as give us wisdom as parents in raising them. Wishing them a year packed for awesome memories, growth, good health, and so much more! Happy 1oth Birthday Brina and Karlie! We LOVE you more than you can imagine!!! Hope your birthday is truly OUT OF THIS WORLD!
We LOVE you!!!
Love It – Elenco Snap Circuit Set
Building with the Snap Circuit set
The girls have enjoyed their Elenco Snap Circuit set. They can build a variety of projects with it. The set they have allows them to do over 300 different variations. They received the Elenco Snap Circuits SC-300 Physics Kit and it has been a huge hit with them!
Karlie has spent a lot of time working through the various projects. One of her favorite tasks that she did at the beginning was building a working radio. She was very excited to be able to tune into a real local radio station and hear it over her newly built radio. Love seeing them building items and learning how to put together various projects on their own!
Working on a different project!
Close up of one of the Snap Circuit items she put together! If you have a child who loves to build, create, and/or a budding engineer who loves to explore a variety of technology items this is a wonderful educational toy they will love! Also, you can by additional kits to add onto the sets to expand the number of projects you can do.
You can learn more about Elenco’s Snap Circuit Toys or read reviews by going to the Elenco Snap Circuit website or on Amazon. There are several different Snap Circuits you may enjoy trying, here are just a couple that they carry:
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
Thankful for a fun time with my parents and brothers family last weekend. The weekend went by quickly, but we packed in a lot of fun. We celebrated the girls birthday, played games, read books, went on adventures, ate good food, and so much more. Grateful for my parents and their willingness to come visit so they can spend time with our family. The girls were thrilled to have some time with their grandparents. Quality time together means so much to kids and memories are precious treasures during their growing up years! Here are my goals for this week:
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
- Finish reading Ashleigh’s Dream (Thoroughbred Series #5) by Joanna Campbell to the kids – didn’t read as much of the chapter book with all the extra activities this past week
Plan one special activity with the family– spent several days with Grandparents and Brother’s family, even made a trip to downtown GreenvillePlay a Game with the Kids– played a couple old and new games with the kids this week! Grandpa Russell taught them a simple version of 7 up & 7 down. Grandpa & Grandma played their new “Herd Your Houses” game with them!- Prepare for Upcoming Winter Events – some preparation items were put on hold briefly while my parents were visiting
Spend time Monday – Thursday helping the kids with HomeworkAttend After School ActivitiesLunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night beforePlan a Fun Birthday Activity for the Kids– had a birthday party Friday night with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Lee, Aunt Becky, and the boys!Confirm my parents plans and activities for their upcoming visitCelebrate Valentine’s Day– glad to spend time with my parents, we packed a lot of fun into the day!Spend Extra Time with Extended Family– we split out time with our house and my brother’s house so it was nice to have some time together. The kids enjoyed a lot of extra play time together too.
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day – didn’t keep up with it a couple days this past week and pretty sure I was low a couple days
Continue my YouVersion plan(s)Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – took more than 1 day
Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week- Use up food items in our pantry and freezer – working through some of the items that need used
Clean House (Focus – Overall House Cleaning)– it wasn’t completely done, but thankful for Jake and the girls pitching in to help. It wasn’t perfect, but nobody seemed to mind.Organize Chaos (Focus – Game Closet)– got it cleaned out!Yard Cleanup (Focus – Yard Clean Up)– we got some things cleaned up than had another wind storm over the weekend now have more branches and other items blown into the yard that need to be picked up nowPet Care (Focus – Pick Up Salt Block for Goats)– we have a mineral bucket for them
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog postsRespond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention – have some extra “catch-up” work to do this week
Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, medical, and other debt) – working on it, made a small extra payment on it last week
Pay Bills & File Paperwork- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget – went to more than 1 store and went over budget this week (really need to work on this one)
Sale Items no longer using or do not need on Facebook / Craigslist / Ebay– sold a couple items which we applied towards an extra payment on our debt
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Finish reading Ashleigh’s Dream (Thoroughbred Series #5) by Joanna Campbell to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Play a Game with the Kids
- Prepare for Upcoming Winter Events
- Spend time Monday – Friday helping the kids with Homework
- Attend After School Activities
- Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
- Plan a Fun Birthday Activity for the Kids
- Celebrate Kid’s Birthday
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Use up food items in our pantry and freezer
- Clean House (Focus – Laundry Room)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Linens Cabinet)
- Yard Cleanup (Focus – Pick Up Down Sticks)
- Pet Care (Focus – Pick Up Hay for Goats)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, medical, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
- Sale Items no longer using or do not need on Facebook / Craigslist / Ebay
I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true. When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals. Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick). Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.
Why Share My Goals?
- To keep me accountable
- To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
- To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
- Create healthy habits in my life
- To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn
How did you do this week on your goals? Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.
The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.
No Eye Has Seen…
When I Tell You “I Love You”….
Flashback Friday: Let’s Have a Ball – 2nd Birthday Party
Having a “ball” in the swimming pool ball pit!
Today’s Flashback Friday is about Brina and Karlie’s 2nd “Having A Ball” Birthday Party! In case you haven’t noticed for this month my flashback posts have primarily been about the girls early birthday parties. We had balls every where in the house! The kids loved it!!!
It is really cool to look back at the pictures and see how much they have grown. It has been a lot of fun seeing some of the great activities from the past. Thankful for the blessings of these two treasures in my life. They make me smile!
Look out here comes Brina, watch your toes!
Balls emptied out of the pool and filled with books. The girls are having a grand time.
Brina all smiles!
Karlie very concerned about her cake being on fire while Brina is digging in regardless of the candles.
Eating their birthday cakes – Karlie eventually ate her cake once the candles were removed.
Grandma Kay made two delicious birthday cakes for the rest of the group celebrating – a baseball one and beach ball!
What happened to our front door!?
Karlie having a grand time!
Our cousin Sam! So adorable!
Playing in the pool ball pit with Jack!
The only picture we shot of all four of us at this birthday party. Guess we got busy with the celebrations!
Loving their musical birthday cards from Grandpa Russell and Grandma Penny. They listened to them over and over again!
Jake looks like he is up to mischief…..wonder what he is planning to do with that big purple ball?!
Grateful for family and friends who joined us in celebrating the girls 2nd birthday!
Creative Play – Karlie’s Fun Shop
Karlie’s Fun Shop!
I love it when my kids get creative during their play time! When they use their imagination it also stimulates creative thinking, analyzing, organization, math skills, and uses a variety of other great educational skills. One of the activities they enjoy doing is creating a store complete with products, cash register, hours, and more.
Setting up a store takes time and planning. They really have fun pretending to sell us various goodies. The store names change and products change from time to time, however, I have noticed that they are becoming more efficient and organized at setting up and running a store.
These activities allow them to practice some wonderful entrepreneurial skills which will be beneficial for them later in life! Sometimes only one of the kids runs the store and other times it is a joint adventure. On this particular day Karlie was the one who decided to “set up shop”! She took time in selecting her merchandise, setting it up, creating a name, advertising her products and hours, and selling her inventory to her customers (aka family members).
Some items displayed in Karlie’s Fun Shop that will appeal to a variety of people!
She has all her products neatly displayed for her customers to see and purchase (looks like she has some great educational items for sale)!
