Birthday Fun...




It's been such a nice birthday. Today we celebrated with mine & Nathan's parents, Laura, and the kids at our house. Since we couldn't be with my parents tomorrow for Easter, we also had a Easter Egg hunt for the kids here at the house. They have become quite skilled hunters - even Emory knows how to open eggs. She found a peep in one and was forever on the hunt for another one after that! My dad had put money in some of the eggs - only Kaleigh appreciated that. The others threw it on the ground, in pursuit of more jelly beans. They'll learn...








I got some nice gifts - mainly one big one that Nathan, my grandparents and parents are helping with. A groupon the other day was for laser hair removal here in Benton and it was such a great price I couldn't resist. I've looked into it before but would never pay the regular price. This was an amazing deal and I will love not having to worry about shaving my legs! I also got a Starbucks gift card, a pedicure gift card w babysitting from my mother in law, a purse and some useful items from my parents.

Last night, we went out to IHOP with my parents and my sister & her new boyfriend. April was kids eat free month and we wanted to take advantage - HA! They may change it after experiencing our family!

Kelly gave me this poem for my birthday. I had to share. I loved it. Don't read too much into it, parts were just for dramatic effect.

ODE TO THE SHELLSTER
There once was a girl named Shelly
Who loved deeply her beautiful sister named Kelly.
Growing up they would chase each other with knives (!?)
but eventually went on to do bigger things with their lives.

Shelly met her husband during her late days of college,
While they were both pretending to be in pursuit of more knowledge.
They have a history of going on peculiar dates together,
Which made it obvious they were in this for forever.

She was the 1st of the children to be wed,
Many tears her father did shed,
Realizing before the other two settled down he'd surely be dead. {HA!, love it!}

She has many interests you see,
besides being a baby factory, :)
Dumpster diving, garage sales, and finding good deals,
Reading, dirty dancing, and late night eating are some of her appeals.
I've seen her dress like a burn victim for Halloween,
And if anyone got in the way of her puzzle working she can be quite mean.

I am thankful to call her BIG sister of mine,
And that we were able to share the same bloodline.
I hope her 32nd birthday is filled with many good memories,
And she goes on to have many more Emorys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What I'm reading...

When I saw that Kelly's Korner was linking up to your reading list, I had to participate! With 4 little ones, I have to sneak in reading wherever I can but I somehow manage to...

Right now I'm reading more nonfiction than usual. Beauty in words, this book is changing my life,
One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp













Also Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman. This one is also wonderful. She is the wife of Steven Curtis Chapman and just so real and honest.












I just finished Matched by Ally Condie. It is the first book in a trilogy and the other two aren't written yet, so I recommend just waiting to read these until Nov 2012. I hate waiting for a sequel to be written!

I'm about to start Francine Rivers new series, Her Mother's Hope. This one has at least 2 books written so I can deal with that. :) I think I've read everything that Francine Rivers has ever written and always like her books. If you haven't read the Mark of the Lion series, go read them right now!

One of my recent faves was The Hunger Games series. This one is better than Twilight, people! It's not about vampires but it is a young adult fantasy series so the comparisons are inevitable. I know most of my friends have read it and loved, loved it. And they are making a movie, yay!







And probably my other favorite recent read was The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It took a little time to get into it, but it is so worth sticking with, I promise. Hope you enjoy.

Twins "Burp" Video

I also posted this on facebook, but wanted to share this video of the twins. They were supposed to be singing, which is also funny, but what we got was even better! This age is so challenging right now. They are either fighting or having fun and giggling together. Or up to no good... No matter what - they are always together. The good times make the bad soooo worth it. And it's so sweet and mysterious, this bond that twins have.

Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

My mom turned 60 on Wednesday and we celebrated on Friday night. It also happened that my grandparents were coming to visit from Alabama so that added to the celebration. It was a crazy week (more on that in a sec) so I didn't get to do as much as I had hoped, but I still thought it was a nice time. The kids really enjoyed visiting with their Great-Grandparents and I think the feeling was mutual. We also had a good time with them. I'm blessed to have such healthy, loving Grandparents.

For my mom's "party" we didn't do much cause she's not a person who likes a lot of fuss, but I did a 1951 theme from the year she was born and we had a little quiz and some decor. I made a poster with some old pictures and had the family write notes to her. I'll try to compile it into a book sometime before her 70th birthday :).

It's so easy to think of nice things to say about my mom. She has many wonderful qualities. One thing that kept coming up was how much a servant she is. God definitely gave her that gift. Even during her party she kept trying to work and I had to get her out of the kitchen. She does so much for us and restores my sanity every time she & my Dad come to visit. She's also a great listener and gives wise Christian counsel. I'm so blessed to have her for a mom!

As I said before, it was a crazy week. We were still trying to finish the bathroom, then we all ended up with the stomach bug. The kids had it so quick I was convinced we wouldn't get it or at one point I thought we already had gotten it. Boy was I wrong. We were feeling okay pretty quickly afterward, just not good and very worn out. So in all, it was a wild week with some ups and definitely some downs!