Christmas filled with "candy-cans" and "no-men"

Now I know that this may be officially the lamest of all Christmas Cards that you recieve this year, and I also know that this is the 3rd year in a row that I have been this lame.  But... I promise next year, real tangable Christmas cards for your mantel (unless I am pregnant or have a new baby, which has been my excuse the last 3 years, and yes I still count 7 months as new especially since she still doesn't sleep through the night :-)

NOW, onto the year...

Last Christmas Asher took his first real steps and now he is a full blown running (actually he gallops wherever he goes which is much much cuter than running), talking, climbing, toy stealing, 2-year-old whose cheeks I cannot kiss enough!  This year DJ turned 3, and is now 3 1/2, and with every day that goes by I watch him mature and grow.  I no longer think that if someone is crying on the playground it was probably DJ who hurt them, if I leave the room it is now Asher that does the troublemaking, and DJ who puts a stop to it.  His favorite movie right now is "How to Train Your Dragon" and we are all viking/knight Dragon Fighters here, all the time!  Sweet Izzy joined our merry band in May and has captured our hearts in a way that before was unimaginable.  Her sweet little smile turns us all into mush and she has us eating out of the palm of her hand.  J turned 30 this year and we celebrated by surprising him with his whole family in Altus for the weekend.  J also completed his masters degree this year which means more family time, and way less stress in our house...to celebrate this, I got him a new video game for Christma,s and that is what you can find him doing now whenever our kids are in bed.  As for me, my life still pretty much consists of babies, and the Air Force, amazing new friends, and friends that I have had to say goodbye to.  I started my own business making Bible and nature inspired baby clothes, and I am thinking about expanding into women's as well, but for now I'm just trying to breath deep and take it all in because the time is already flying by much too fast!

From Our Family to Yours I want to wish you the Merriest of Christmas'

May you always remember that the reason we celebrate this and every Christmas is because on that day nearly 2000 years ago God gave the world the greatest gift of all, His Son, so that we may come to know Him and be saved with life eternal in Heaven.  Thank you God for the amazing gift that not only saves and forgives me, but saves all of us who know you.  May my children spend every Christmas celebrating You in Your Son Jesus Christ.

6 month photo shoot

Thanksgiving

only 2 days late, I am getting better...
This year I was looking around the house at the Thanksgiving aftermath and patting myself on the back for a job so well done; this was the first year that I have ever hosted a Thanksgiving dinner (I even baked pies!!!); and I began to think about all of the Thanksgivings that J and I have spent together.  When we got married in 2005 we decided that we would not go home (home being CO) for the holidays.  It was/is just too complicated with 3 different families all living at least an hour from one another.  The holidays would more than likely be spent mostly in a car and even then people would probably have hurt feelings.  So every holiday for the past 5 years have been spent with the amazing people that God has blessed us with on this journey we have in the military.  And that is what I am thankful for this year, the military and the incredible places it has brought us and the wonderful people we have had the opportunity to welcome into our family.

Being a military wife is like nothing on earth, the families and people that you come to love and know and depend on for your survival touches me to my very soul.  It is so wonderful to know that wherever I go there will be people ready and willing to take care of my family if the need is there.  We are welcome to anyones table for dinner any night of the week.  If my child falls down at the playground there is a mom there to pick him up if I am far away. If my child is acting like a bully, and I don't see, I know there is a mom who will gently correct his behavior.  If I am sick there are women lining up at the door to take my kids so that I can rest, or bringing food so I don't have to cook.  Every month there are spouse socials to raise money for charities, there is wine club, and book club, and bible studies.  Women to go to the gym with, run marathons with, grab a drink with.  I am so blessed to live this life and so amazed at the families that I get to meet and the friends that I have met and will keep in my heart forever.  And I haven't even mentioned the incredible churches that we have been a part of and the delightful families and support that we have experienced with them.  Thankful for Seacoast Church in Mt. Pleasent SC and Family Life Church here in Altus OK.

SO here is to... The Kinney's, The Pamily, The Stuckey's, The Phillips, The Sober's, The Fisher's, The Shaffer's, The Taliaferro's, The Knizevski's, The Oden's, The Pullen's, The Schopmeyer's, The Clausen's, The Karas's, The Werner's, The Carpenter's, The Warnaar's, The Inscoe's, The Arbore's, and the many other families that have made all holidays from Birthday Parties to Christmas, Easter to Halloween, so incredibly special for us.  You all are amazing, and we are thankful for you!

Listen to freshberrys Playlist

How About Mommy?

Seriously, could he be any cuter?

Asher just turned 2 yesterday...

His favorite bedtime story is "Good Day"

He loves his blankie and bite

He cries and blames his brother even if they aren't in the same room

He loves all animals, but especially cows

His favorite color is green

He loves waffles and cereal for breakfast and yells "yummy!"  when he eats something delicious

He loves hot dogs

He loves Go Diego Go or "GO GO" as he calls it and repeats all the words in Spanish

He likes to play with monster trucks and balls
His favorite song is "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman
and most of all

He LOVES hugs and kisses

and whenever he gives ANYone else a kiss he always says, "What about Mommy?" and has to find me and give me a kiss too.

My Son.



Lunch This Afternoon

My kids find the strangest things amusing... this afternoon at lunch I yelped when I hurt myself and they all 3 cracked up like I was "insert funny comic's name here"  so I kept doing it and they kept laughing their pretty little heads off.  I then decided to get my camera so I could blog about this funny little experience and of course they got a little camera shy and distracted but I think you will get the general idea...

Who knew lunch time could be so funny?

Happy Halloween

"Trick or Treat" sounds its sweetest out of the mouths of two-year-olds.  I am convinced that is how my sons came home with literally their weight in candy after only an hour of trick or treating.  That, and the fact they are the CUTEST stinkin kids EVER!!!  This year's Halloween was the greatest of my 29 years here on earth, the weather was beautiful, we were with great friends and their fun kids, and trick or treating on base is so nice and safe and carefree.  We decided this year (well DJ decided for us) that we would all be marvel super heroes...
DJ was the Hulk
Asher was Captain America
J was Wolverine
I was Spider man
and Iz was the spider that bit me

We had so much fun!!!  DJ led the way up every driveway to every bowl of candy, Asher kept yelling "Mommy, Mommy, watch!" and he would leap (it's a leap for him anyway) off the curb and onto the street.  I stood with a grin on my face, trying to be humble as the people around me gasped and gushed about the adorableness of my kids.  Thank you GOD for the gift of this family and the fun memories that we get to share with one another!