Like most of the US we have been experiencing an amazing spring! This winter was wonderful here in Fort Collins. Although I hear it's not always this easy/nice. But this year to welcome us here - it was a beautiful winter. And spring has been so wonderful. I've seen on FB that all across the nation are good warm temps and Fort Collins has been no exception - Absolutely AMAZING!

So we've been heading outside literally the entire day the boys are awake. Even though we don't have a back yard, we find a way. Which that also means no housework gets done, but who cares about that. If we're outside more the inside won't need as much cleaning anyways. 

Look at how grown up he is! I can't believe it!!!!

 I have been amazing lately at how OLD Carson is looking! He is not a toddler anymore but a little boy! He has such a sweet spirit about him. (read this post and see why I'm so thankful we've turned a corner) He is imagining so many things now and plays so well. He plays with his trucks or his cars and thinks up scenarios on his own. He's very agile and coordinated and being outside more I've noticed that even more. He is very active.

 Landon too is no baby anymore. :( This makes my mommy heart so sad! But it's inevitable. He is improving leaps and bounds with his speech and even using gestures too! he is as smart as can be. But he also knows he can have a choice about what he does. He seems to be more persistent with disobeying than his brother ever was! But he still loves to cuddle and will always be held by "momma". :)

 Landon imitates/copies everything his brother does! It's very cute to see and Carson hasn't caught on yet! But they are quite the pair!!!!

I've realized that if we have lunch and snack outside - there is way less cleanup!!!!!! So out we go for everything. No wiping of the booster/highchairs or vacuuming the floor - just pure dirt under the fingernails and crumbs for the ants!

Weekend Musings

One word to describe our Weekend and really the last week or so is

OUTSIDE

or
SUNSHINE

both of which make this mommy

very very happy!

Once again - sorry if I offend anyone who is appalled I would write about this - but it's oh so funny to me!
Carson has no idea!!!! This picture is so funny to me!

Playing in the last little pile of snow left in our parking lot!

Poor guy tripped/fell over a stick and got a bad scratch!

This is what our Sunday afternoon consisted of - naps. For some reason i feel exhuasted lately (and no, I'm no preggers). I think it's staying up late watching "lost" and running early in the morning a lot more miles than I'm used to. Anyways - Landon's napping has been a mess for a long time now (like months). I'm not quite sure what to do to remedy it and I feel like I've tried everything. This Sunday - it seemed right just to enjoy the snuggles and that we did - and it worked, we still all got naps. 

10 Random Facts Friday

1. Spring just might be here in Northern Colorado - The next 5 or 6 days have only sun in the forecast and warm days!!!!! And we have enjoyed being outside as much as we can, at parks or in our parking lot/tennis courts

2. After a few conversations with women this week I think I'm officially starting to have real friends. :) And that makes me really happy

3. I made this (see pic below) for dinner a few times. (I need to specify - not necessarily a few times this week but over the course of a month or so) It's bread with spaghetti inside (thank you very much pintrest). Totally amazing! and boys eat is so good. They love bread and pasta with red sauce so what's not to love about this! Surprisingly better than I thought. And looks cool too!

 4. My kids don't often have lollipops but they ask for them all the time. I gave in b/c I had a hankering for a tostie pop and we all know that mom can't have treats unless she gives them to her kids too :)

5. Sorry for any men who might read this and are embarrassed or for anyone that is appalled that I put this pic on here! (see pic below) But it was so funny. Let's face it - it's a part of life. And these boys have no clue yet :) They had a blast

Sorry for the scarry eyed landon!

 6. I am so amazed at how happy Landon looks in this picture b/c normally  he doesn't care about tv - but in this picture he looks genuinely intrigued by it!

 

7. Yes, there are some mornings PBS is on for a long time while we go about our morning.

8. Landon always walks around with something on his neck. His blanket, a wool sock, a scarf. It's kinda cute! instead of sucking his thumb he wraps something around his neck. ha

9. I will be very happy when this race is over b/c the stress of getting enough miles in is annoying, and I fear I'm getting burnt out. It's still 6 weeks away. I can't believe how hard it's been to get my long runs in on the weekend!!! Who would'a thought that when I signed up for this race our Saturdays would get filled up so much! UGH! YIKES! I need to be revived - but I know when I'm finished with it I will be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy I did it!!!

10. These are really boring. sorry - that's been our week i guess. 

naptime thoughts

There's just something about having my little baby fall sleep in my lap that will always melt my heart. Landon is still adjusting to a nap schedule that mom is happy with and some days it just doesn't work. I read a great article HERE that really has convicted me and challenged me. 

 I hope you went and read that article! Because if you didn't - go click on it and then come back and finish mine! I don't know who that lady is - but God gave that article to me right when I needed it! I find myself feeling more selfish of my time and my rest and my space. Maybe it's because I've let sin creep in, maybe it's because believe it or not as my kids get a little bit older they get more demanding of time and attention. who knows! All I know is that this article reallly just made me realize - God is in control of my kid's lives and my life. He is always giving me what I need and it doesn't matter if that is what I think I "need/want" or what I feel like I need/want - God is providing me with rest, and time and love for these boys. I have to trust Him that he loves me and cares for me even in the midst of what I feel like is utter chaos in my home some days.

These children are a true gift from the Lord! And I need to treat them like they are a gift and thank God daily for each minute I get to sit with them and ENJOY them. even if it is the literally hundredth time I said the word apple after Landon points at it while he just stares at me blankly. Or building a cool train track for Carson only to have them fighting about it 2 seconds afterwards. They are a gift!!!! I CHOOSE to ENJOY these days! So I will CHOOSE JOY! I will CHOOSE to live believing I have a God who loves me and my children and is giving us the very best he has! And way more than we deserve!

And I truly hope that I will show my boys this reality! I want them to believe in a God who loves them b/c they saw their parents modeling true JOY and SATISFACTION and FAITH in a God who died for them, cares for them and provides for them!

Besides that  - they have a very awesome father who loves to spend time with them and pass on his love for golf :)

And then amidst all the chaos of every day life, amidst all the screaming/fighting and nose blowing and butt wiping and tiredness of every day -

A moment like THIS

happens! And it all goes away!

Pure peaceful emotion

overwhelms your heart. 

Seriously everytime I see this picture below I think

"How is this picture real, and how did we catch it on camera, and Can it please

happen again" :)

10 Random Facts Friday!

1. Boys have been sick most of the week with bad colds and coughs, I hope yesterday was the peak b/c today they seem slightly better

2. I made cream cheese filled snickerdoodles yesterday - way more steps and way more complicated than easy fast snickerdoodles, but they were a hit

3. I have the ability to drink an entire pot of coffee by myself - I need to get a grip and focus on "cutting back" that's a little extreme and i don't even realize I'm doing it. (I don't even drink it for the caffeine - just b/c I"m cold and enjoy it) (btw - it's not every day - just days that Richard meets with his small group early in the am and drinks his own at the coffee shop and for some reason still makes a whole pot here)
4. Last night I dreamt something about a bed I was getting onto and then realized it was literally infested with Cockroaches!!!! Talk about bad dream!
5. Now that Richard has a Kindle Fire with Amazon Prime we just started watching The Lost series - boy are we behind the time and also - it really draws you in and keeps you coming back. Also probably had somethign to do with why i dreamt so weird last night
6. the group that I'm running with is doing a 14 mile run tomorrow. I will be jumping from 8.5 or 9 to 14. I hope I can make it and I hope I survive. i don't know if I will still be alive for this half marathon. Did I tell you yet how nervous I am about it. And it's been harder than I was anticipating getting in the long runs.
7. I have a friend that is teaching me how to knit and I think I like it! Making my first hat now!

8. Landon has passed from sweet and innocent and so easy going to a MONSTER. No just kidding sorta - but he is challenging me more than Carson did. I guess that's just how it goes with your kids. You think you're first one is so hard, then you have more kids!
9. It's almost 10:30 am  here and we are all still in our pj's. I hope that's not a bad thing! I feel like I write about that a lot in the winter
10. Modern Family this week was soooooo funny!!!!

Colorado Residents

Well it's been 6 months almost exactly since we pulled into the Mission Hills Condominium in Fort Collins Colorado with our big over-sized Penske truck and our two tired boys.
I can't believe it!


-We no longer "just moved into the area"
-I know where most everything is and definitely know our way around the city!
-we've tried tons of the local restaurants
-Richard has a great job (although still as inconsistent as his old job as far as work or time frame goes) but it's a job that provides none the less
-Richard is thriving at his job and doing a great job helping the owner grow the new company.
-We have met several new families that are newer to the area than us
-We have Colorado licence, and licence plates
-we have many friends that we are growing closer to each week
-We have a bed that is off the ground (instead of on the floor due to bed bugs in our last apartment that forced us to get rid of our beautiful sleigh bed)
-I got rid of the treadmill in our doorway so now we can walk in super easy! That was a glorious day!
-Richard is leading a small group "Life Group" at our church
-I'm in charge of the Children's ministry at our church. (although I would venture to say I'm very inadequate and would take any advice or help available. Feel way out of my league!)
-Our boys don't really remember living anywhere else. That makes me sad and I'm constantly trying to remind them of the family and friends we have in PA
-I cannot express enough how happy we are to be living in Colorado again. The first 3 months we said it almost every day, the last 3 months at least once a week! (although we enjoyed thoroughly our time in Pa, you can't take the Colorado of a Colorado man!)

God has blessed us beyond measure! We are so thankful that He led us here to Fort Collins. And we are so amazed by His grace that He pours out on our family day to day as we have "adjusted" to this new area and new church, and as our boys transitioned. The trainsition has gone as smoothly as i could have hoped for. Although there were hard times of loneliness or sadness, overall We have been so blessed by our move here. We've seen God provide for us. We've been challenged in our daily walk with God. We've been challenged to reach out to the community around us more than ever and we've seen friendships spur from that. We've grown in the area of being a Community in the church that loves each other and in turn reaches out to the unsaved and loves them with Christ's love.

I am just amazed over and over at God's guiding and provision in our lives! And I hope our story gives you guys hope and faith in God for your future as well.

It's been a while

 Wow - have I fallen off the wagon of not blogging or really doing anything that requires a lot of typing. And the reason for that is two-fold. 1. I have been away from my home and not at my own computer. 2. I got a new fancy phone so it's really easy for me to check things fast or read things, but then to type out longer things like an email to my mom or a blog post,  I actually need to turn my computer on. ha. So I've gotten a little lazy in this area. But I'm back at home and itching to write on my blog again.

Let's start by how Beautiful it truly is to live in Colorado. The next two pics are from my trip back home over the mountains. I just spent about 5 days at Richard's parents house in Grand Junction with Carson and Landon. We had great family time and really enjoyed ourselves and got spoiled with very little cooking and cleaning and lots of Reeses peanut butter cereal and chocolate milk. :) The BOYS were in HEAVEN!

 This is the "bookcliff's" they call them right outside of Grand Junction! Absolutely beautiful Glorified Sand Dunes. They might be boring to some, but I always think it looks so amazing!

While at The Gardners I missed Richard. But getting to sleep with this little boy made up for it a little bit! He was so cuddly and I cherished those precious nights that we slept together.! he is not a "mover or kicker" so sleeping with him was so enjoyable.

the boys spent a lot of time "getting piano lessions" with Aunt Nikki. (she lives in HI with her 4 kids, but was fortunate to take a trip out here with her two youngest kids) and boy did those cousins have fun together. she was so patient with these kiddos on the piano. :)

 We were also spoiled in getting to do a Ferris wheel in a mall b/c Grandma and Grandpa wanted them to get to ride it. Look at how happy they were to ride it!

 4 (one of them not pictured) out of the 6 sisters were together. WE all got to meet "baby Ty" (front and center) for the first time. He is so cute! beautiful long dark eyelashes and so much fun to have a baby around again.  (he is the youngest of 14 grandkids, and one of 12 boys :) )

We got home Saturday afternoon. We were so happy to be home with Daddy again. he had the house all cleaned up for us. Below is a picture of the boys walking through Old town Fort Collins where we went for Supper Saturday night when I got home. what special moments when Carson took Landon's hand to walk him through the parking lot! Precious Moments that are fleeting by!

Here's to another week of "normalcy" in our house and maybe some more blogging. FYI - I have kept up with reading all my favorite blogs b/c of my handy dandy google reader app, so i haven't missed a beat of your lives, not here is a quick update of mine. :)
Can't wait to restart the blogging train!!!!!!