Sawyer went to the sale barn with daddy today so I got some good one-on-one time with Wryder. (Well, as one-on-one as you can get around these parts). Sayble is pretty easy going and doesn’t have too much to say in conversations so it was nice to be able to give him a lot of undivided attention.
The weather was so nice here today – until about one o’clock when the wind rolled in AGAIN – so we set off for the back pasture to explore a bit.
Badger hole?!Poop examinations…Fixing fenceWild and free
Today, I learned…
Life is better if you run…
Daddy can fix anything…
Fences can “hot wire” you…
Doritos taste better when dipped in apple sauce…
Jumping really high on the trampoline makes you giggle uncontrollably…
Jumping on the trampoline with bricks is unwise…
Badgers should be trapped and caught and fed corn…
Toy chainsaws can be used to cut anything and everything, including baby sisters…
Woofy momma cows don’t really scare two year old boys standing outside the pen…
Everything should be touched and examined, even poop…
Even the wildest of boys have soft spots for their mommies…
I seriously had a really great day with my little buddy. Let’s do it again soon, shall we?
Sawyer had fun with daddy, too. She was already awake when I went to rouse her up at 6:45 this morning. She hung out with all her sale barn buddies, helped daddy load some calves and sweet-talked her way into mexican food for lunch – a girl after my own heart.
Have a little salsa, babe…
I think we’re all a little tired tonight after a busy Monday and a busy weekend. We got our fence put back up that the last major wind storm blew over.
Blew it flat over…Ouch.
We reset 8 posts and reattached the boards and the kids helped clean up all the old wood.
Yes, Wryder is pantless. At least he has on shoes, right?!
Sawyer is so strong for her age. She carried posts like it was no big deal.
There’s a lot going on this picture and I belly laugh every time I see it…
Little worker bee…
Wrex needs new jeans, Sawyer is doing all the work, Wryder is playing with a milk carton, pantless (what the what?!) and they’re loading posts on the pony cart. Yeah, that’s life at the Phippses!
Sayble enjoyed the afternoon from Wrex and I’s backs.
Look at that smile…
We toted her around in this thing for quite a while and she thought it was fantastic!
Sweet girl!
Pretty sure I might have a small bald spot from all the fun she had with my hair…
It’s FRIDAY! Do I really need to say anything else?!
****************
I love to see the gifts in my children become glaringly obvious. Sweet Sawyer is such a little administrator. It takes one to know one, perhaps.
Wryder has a crush on a cute little high school girl and the minute he saw her last fall, he’s been telling her (and everyone else) that he was gonna marry her. He and Sawyer have made plans for him to live in the playhouse with his new wife, with a sled for a bed. Sawyer has been busy planning his wedding for months and this week, she got their wedding clothes done.
She made notes and designs in her notebook and would check off each piece as she completed it.
Her designs…
Her main construction materials were paper towels and washi tape and they look surprisingly good!
The dress and “gail”Wryder’s tuxedo shirt. Note the red rose and the bow tie…
I feel like we’ve fought their obsession with this project for quite some time. I do love that they love the concept of marriage and how joyful it truly is. We must be doing a little something right…
****************
Sawyer has her first 4-H meeting this weekend. We are so excited for her and she is so excited for herself! Wrex and I’ve done a lot of talking this week about the joys and advantages of a slower pace of life.
Everything that he is today – from follower of Christ, to husband, to father, to cattle buyer – all of the things and people that influenced him most, took place before he was 15 years old. It wasn’t high school…it wasn’t college…it was the things he got to try and experience during his most formative years that shaped his being.
I am so grateful that I get to be a stay-at-home mom…that I get the opportunity to spend more time with them than anyone else…that we get to encourage them and teach them and train them and provide them with opportunities and experiences that will translate into their futures.
We were watching Duck Dynasty the other night and one of the older kids was pursuing his dreams as a musician and just watching his mom’s reaction made me sappy, of course. There are times when it feels like those days are so far down the road, but we all know they’re not; they’ll be here in the blink of an eye, just like everything else.
It made us wonder what our kids would be doing and pursuing…and we pray with all of our might that at the heart of whatever it is, that it’s Jesus.
****************
The neighbors didn’t have school on Monday so we loaded up for a midday play date. Sawyer got to ride in the go-cart and thought that was pretty fun stuff!
Bye, mom!
Wryder went over, looked at it, tried the helmet on and then settled for the porch.
****************
This cute little booger is just joy in every way!
🙂
She was a little fussy for the babysitter on Tuesday night and has had a few bouts of that with us lately so we assumed she must be getting a tooth. Yesterday, Wrex was playing with her and saw the monster coming in on the top.
Lately, she’s really been pursing her mouth and that must be why. Not sure what explains all the nose crinkling but I LOVE it.
Cute toot!
Seriously, she’s the cutest thing E.V.E.R.
****************
We’re hoping hoping HOPING that the guys get our barn and shop finished this weekend. They’ve been working weekends and the wind hasn’t helped their cause much….or the fact that they don’t ever get here until 10 am. *ahem*
They have the shop all done but are still working on the barn. I promise to post pics when they are done. I know it’s going to look so nice but there’s something I’ll miss about the chippy old barn…
A few winters ago…
****************
Wrex is still sporting the mutton chops.
Yeeeeaaaahhh…
Extroverts are so funny. I spend most of my days not wanting to be seen and he’s putting himself out there front and center, with radical facial hair no less. Cracks me up. Here’s to hoping they’re gone by Monday…sure hope that razor doesn’t zip up his face in the night! 😉
****************
It’s Fun Friday around here and today is errand day. We’re gonna run to town and take some checks to the bank for daddy and get some cash for our Dave Ramsey envelopes and take a cupcake to a special birthday lady and get some birthday cards to send to some other special people (PaPa and RaRa!) and if the wind stops howling, we may stop at the park to burn a little energy (them) and calories (me).
Whatever you find yourself doing today, I pray that you choose and find joy in all of it.
Our church turned 30 years old yesterday! Their very first church service was on March 2, 1986 so we celebrated with an 80s theme party – totally rad!
Wrex and I got to come up with a photo booth for the event and since we had a 3 piece backdrop system, we decided to do three different backdrops for people to choose from.
Didn’t they turn out cute?!
We, of course, had to do a splatter paint background. I didn’t know how easy it would be to do but let me tell ya – it was easy. We didn’t even end up using brushes, we just kinda dabbled our paint containers and it worked out so well!
Cutest little 80’s girl I know!
The other easier one we did was the one with bright colored lines. We just used neon duct tape and went to town laying down strips of color. I really liked how it turned out, especially for the photo booth.
Simple and fun!
The favorite of the night was the PacMan backdrop! It is pretty cool, isn’t it?! I dyed the sheet black (and got it grey -ha!) and then my mathematician husband took the photo I found online and scaled it and we got to work. We used duct tape for the game board and then I just used cardstock for all of the characters and circles. It really turned out great for not a lot of cost, just time.
Pacman!
We wanted a few bigger props so we made a giant rubix cube using a cardboard box, poster board and a LOT of black tape…
Awesomeness…
a giant Etch-a-Sketch out of an old red frame we had…
Oh man, he’s cute!
and no 80’s party is complete without a boombox, courtesy of a Pampers box, some duct tape and some cardstock!
Boom.
We blew up some pictures at Staples and did our faux canvas work and hung those up for everyone to giggle at…
Back in the day…
A fellow church goer decorated the fellowship hall and turned it into a totally bodacious space!
Fun!
There was cake and live music – just a lot of fun!
Yum!
It was just a REALLY fun night! It was easy and laid back and people totally got into the 80s spirit…it was just a really nice night to fellowship and be thankful for such a wonderful church family.
My crew got all dressed up for the event, of course.
It’s 80s night!
Sawyer looked so cute, she could be in style no matter what the decade…
So cute!
Same for Sayble…
🙂
and Wryder, too! His outfit was hard for me to come up with…but then I remembered that I had some of Wrex’s clothes FROM 1986ish and so Wryder wore Wrex’s old shirt and jacket and looked CUTE.AS.A.BUTTON!
Oh man, he’s cute!
I was the last to get dressed of course and did the best I could! I’m pretty sure the 80s color palette is not my favorite, but I worked it!
One of every color…
The winner…hands down…was Wrex!
He’s all mine, ladies….
I found this windsuit at the local thrift for $3!!! The tag said it had been there since September. THANKFULLY, I snatched it just in time!
His beard had been bothering him for a while now but we all really like it. He decided last night was a good night to shave it off…and leave mutton chops. *ahem*
Yeeeeaaaahhh…
I’m pretty sure some people will never be the same after seeing all that…
Oh. My. Goodness.
It was a ton of fun, despite the facial hair madness that he STILL hasn’t fixed yet.
Yesterday was also a special guy’s birthday! One of our favorite friends and pastors had a birthday yesterday and Sawyer wanted to make him a cake, so we did! She did 98% of the work herself! He wanted chocolate cake so we turned Grandma’s delicious chocolate sheet cake into a layer cake…
Making the batter…Letting them cool…
She REALLY to do sprinkles and candy hearts so we tried to limit them to just a few 🙂 and then she made a birthday banner for the birthday boy and delivered it with balloons, to boot!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Bill!
Today, we’re all recuperating. I did the math and Sayble’s about 6 hours of sleep behind schedule – ha! Don’t call us between 1-4…we’ll all be napping!
I know I’ve mentioned it before – I’m a sucker for Valentine’s Day! Hate all you want; I think setting aside a day to really go out of our way to show someone we love them is a fine way to spend our time. Who doesn’t love that?!
For Fun Friday, the kids helped make cupcakes!
Lining the panGetting hers done, too!My mixer
Decorating them is obviously the best part…and I always feel like SUCH a good mom afterwards because it really pushes me outside of my comfort zone. I’m not the biggest fan of messes or 501 little, round sprinkles all over the place but I do it because I love them. And it’s fun.
IntensityYep, those are the ones…They turned out REALLY cute!
And, of course, Wryder had to be rewarded for his efforts…
YUM!
Our sweet friend/mail lady, Pam, brought goodies to the house in the form of chocolate bars (which Wryder inhaled!) and mail from friends. We sent her home with a cupcake, too!
On Saturday, I woke up to this gorgeousness…
Swoon.
I LOVE getting flowers! I vow not to be the woman who thinks they’re a waste of money because all they do is die. They are life and they bring life – I’m a big fan. 🙂
I loved the balloon, too! I remember when I was growing up that I always, always wanted a helium, mylar balloon, though I don’t know that I ever asked for one. It was either my tenth or twelfth birthday, my parents got me several and I was over the moon! I kept them deflated and pinned to my bulletin board until I left for college. I kinda wish I still had them…
Wrexy knew my love for them and surprised me with a huge one! Wryder and Sawyer though we should practice letting the cat jump through the center. I vetoed that. *ahem*
We were saving our steak dinner for Valentine’s day so I decided to make heart hamburgers (with bacon, of course) for lunch.
Nothing says love like beef…and bacon!
The kids LOVED this! Especially the bacon part – a treat around here!
YUM!
Sawyer, of course, dressed for the occasion – heels and all!
Oh, this girl…
Sunday, we went to church and ate a little chinese food for lunch…
Those sweet smiles!!!Handsome!
We found out Sayble REALLY likes ice cream like her PaPa!
Get that spoon over here!Oh yeah…that’s more like it!
Then we came home to check on the gentlemen working on our shop and barn. The shabby chic will soon be no more as we’re getting tin put on. The shop is almost done and then they’ll throw the sides of the barn on.
The shop, minus the trim and doorsI’m afraid I may miss this guy’s worn, weathered look…
We have scrimped and saved and my hubby has worked his tail off so we could do this little project; we are so excited that it’s getting closer to done! It’s gonna look pretty fancy around here…or at least a little less shabby.
It was a good weekend! I posted this on Facebook but I’ll post it here, too.
In the midst of all of our Valentine shenanigans, Sawyer made a crown and hung it on the wall at our dinner table.
King of Kings
She said it was so we would remember that Jesus loves us.
My heart delights that she knows this already and I pray she takes Him at His word. He LOVES us…without condition or premise…and despite our past (or even our present) situations!
He IS the lover of our souls; the lead role in the greatest love story ever told. We can’t outrun His love, friends – it will always find us… Let him…
The snow is finally starting to melt a bit around here. There’s no telling how long I’ll be dealing with mud instead. I’m not sure which is worse when it comes to keeping kids and shoes and floors and cars clean…
It’s everywhere!
I’d say we had about a foot of snow but some of the craziest drifts we’ve ever had. In our almost five years here, we’ve never had to have the neighbors rescue us but we had to call in the big dogs this time.
Thankful for such wonderful neighbors!
The high winds have blown even more snow around and our road has blown shut at least four times. Needless to say, we finally got out today to buy groceries and run a few errands.
The kids have sure had a ball playing on the big mounds daddy made, though!
King and queen of the mountain!
We also took time to make some snow ice cream! We made a picture scavenger hunt for the kids using our cell phones. We’d text them a picture of something in the house like this:
??
and they’d have to figure out where exactly it was. There, they’d find an ingredient needed to make snow ice cream!
YUM!Making memoriesShe LOVED it!
****************
You know those friends who don’t feel like friends at all? The ones that feel like you’re long lost sisters or, at the very least, sisters of the heart? Yeah. Those. I’m quite fortunate to have a few of those in my life and it saddens me that none of them live close to me. My head and heart have yet to reconcile how the Lord can so lovingly plop someone in your life and then makes you live so far from each other…..
My friend Emily is one of those friends. I met her at a trade show when we were in Denver and there was just that instant connection. She is so kind and spunky, a marketing maven and an event planner extraordinaire…and she has red hair! (Just a wee bit jealous, I am!) She has the sweetest husband and parents and kids! Oh, and if you wanna build a house and have it decorated to the hilt, call this girl!
We had the privilege to attend a Super Bowl party in their new digs – SO. MUCH. FUN. Their house is BEAUTIFUL and so warm and inviting and she IS the hostess with the mostest.
She had a photo booth and games for the kids…
CUTIES!Wryder giving it a try…Sawyer’s turn!
We had food out the wazoo and everything was sooooo goooood! I made a few of these guys…
Be still my sweet tooth
The kids LOVED Emily and her family!
Two of the sweetest girls I know!
Wryder took a special liking to Papa. They shared bowls and bowls and bowls of caramel corn and stories on the couch.
SO sweet!
The night only got better with that Bronco win! These guys had a ball and looked cute doing it!
Not sure she REALLY knew what was going on…But this guy did!As did this little fan!
THANK YOU, Justin and Emily for such a wonderful night! I’m voting with the kids that we just move on down to Wild Horse, too…
****************
Someone has joined the thumb-sucker ranks around here.
EEP!
We fought the battle hard with Wryder and thankfully he just sucks his thumb as he goes to sleep; not ideal, but at least it’s not all day, every day.
Sayble has surprised us. She’s a closet thumb sucker……but it’s so. darn. cute.
Tell me that’s not cute?!
****************
Sawyer was looking so cute in a little outfit the other night and I wanted to snap a quick pic of her. Of course, she pulled out all of her poses…. Good grief, I love this girl!
****************
Wrex and I have been teaching a Financial Peace University class at the local community college on Tuesday nights and it has been SO cool! Dave Ramsey’s directives helped us get out debt and we wanted to share the wealth of knowledge we’ve amassed and give others some HOPE for their financial situations, too!
I firmly believe the Lord had us teach this so that we could further our journey to even more financial freedom, wealth building and extravagant giving. We feel so renewed and reinvigorated regarding our finances. Bring it on, 2016!
****************
For my “midnight” snack last night, I had some almonds and a fruit and veggie smoothie. I’ll be the first to admit that it didn’t LOOK very appetizing.
Hmmmmm
I used spinach, kale, blackberries, chia seeds and a little unsweetened almond milk. Even though it didn’t look very tasty, it really was!
Wrex humored me and took a little taste. He choked it down but swore it wasn’t as good as the frosty he had at lunch. Oh, to be able to eat 8,000 calories a day and still be at my fighting weight….
****************
Sawyer’s been wanting to sew lately, so we got out her little sewing machine yesterday and she went to town! She made these shorts for Wryder.
🙂
They ended up a little small but her decorative elements made up for it, don’t ya think?!
****************
This family of mine is just the bees knees. Days with them are the best days……
We got to see Santa and a couple of real live reindeer…
Petting the reindeerAnd again….Telling Santa he wants a Paw PatrollerHoping for a Barbie Pop-Up Camper
We ate a few chicken nuggets, went to the doctor for the FIFTH TIME IN 2 WEEKS and then came on home.
****************
Sweet Sayble is finally feeling a bit better. She got croup just like brother but had two infected ears on top of it and now has a cold. We did a lot of this around here…and I haven’t minded a bit to be honest…
Sweetest little (bald) thing…
****************
One of my FAVORITE things to bake is pumpkin bread and banana bread. I’m not a fan of thick, dense, heavy bread and these two are moist and light and heavenly, if I do say so myself.
Since we had a little downtime with all the sickies, I cooked up 22 loaves for some of our sweet friends…
YUM-MO
We ate two and took two the Phipps family Christmas and the kids were asking for some this morning. Guess I shoulda made more…
****************
We always get the kids Christmas jammies as an early gift. They got to open them before we went Christmas light looking and hot cocoa drinking last week.
We get to open a present?!
They got changed immediately and looked ADORABLE!
SistersHe looks so protective in this one…
We cruised around Holyoke and then came home for some popcorn and a little Apple Dumpling Gang watching! This was one of Wrexy’s FAVORITE movies as a kid and our kids have fallen in love with it as well.
Popcorn!
It was a REALLY good day…
****************
Sigh…
My home is truly a place of refuge for me. The other evening we had the lights off and the Christmas tree was glowing and the candles were filling the air with sweet scents…the kids were playing joyfully in the other room and Sayble was cooing at an angel from the nativity scene…daddy was on his way home and supper was in the oven and I was just so at ease. There is truly no place I’d rather be than HOME.
****************
Our sweet neighbors invited us over to have supper and have a little Christmas celebration. The kids had a ball (per usual) and were bouncing off the walls in excitement. (Pretty sure the Krueger house was a LOT quieter after we left!)
Mr. Rick built the kids a barn for all of their farm animals and toys and it. is. gorgeous! The hay mow flips open and the barn doors slide; there’s glass in the windows and ‘Phipps’ is engraved in the side. Seriously, you guys, it’s one of the kindest, most thoughtful gifts we’ve ever received. The kids have played with it CONSTANTLY since then!
Twins – Mr. Rick and SaybleTHE barnWith his Charolais bullSawyer posing and Wryder over-smiling…you know, the norm!
Wryder didn’t fully understand that the barn was ours to take home. When it was time to go, he immediately started melting down and said, “Can I please come back and play with it sometime?” Ms. Kristi jumped in and saved the day and helped him realize he got to take it home. He stopped, dried his eyes and started jumping up and down with joy! It was pretty cute.
Mr. Logan and sweet Sara got the kids an EQUALLY awesome gift – a membership to Adventures in Odyssey! For the year, we can listen to any and every episode that we can! With our living in the boonies and driving 30 miles+ to get anywhere, this is a GREAT gift! The kids (and us!) love it!
With Logan and sweet Sara
We are blessed with some of the best friends, I tell ya…
****************
On Christmas Eve, we spent the day getting ready to head to Nebraska. We still had laundry to do and suitcases to pack and a few last minute gifts to wrap.
We ate a yummy lunch of steak and potatoes – everybody’s favorite – and took communion as a family. We are so thankful that Jesus was born! We took time to thank Him for the ultimate sacrifice He made for us with His death and took time to remember the faithfulness He’s shown us in 2015. We are a blessed people….
We went to Christmas Eve services at church and the kids got to get fancy!
Gorgeous!My heart
****************
Sawyer and Wryder left Santa some cookies and milk and they left carrots for the reindeer. 🙂 Santa showed up and the kids didn’t even get up until 8:00 to check out their goods!
For Santa and friends
Barbie car for SawyerMicrophone for WD and a push toy for Sayble
Wrexy snacked on the carrots and then threw them in the yard as if the reindeer ate them. The kids found them this morning and were SO excited!
Ick.
****************
They have been so kind and gracious and grateful this year…makes a momma’s heart happy. They’ve wrapped “gifts” they’ve taken from their rooms and made gifts and then wrapped them all with whatever they could find.
Wrex was looking for his shoes to go to the barn the other day and Wryder had taken those, too! We found them wrapped in tissues under the tree. Their generosity and desire to bless blesses us…
Earrings Sawyer made me…her creativity is ASTOUNDING!
****************
We headed to Nebraska on Christmas day to be with the Phipps family. We had a WONDERFUL time being together. The kids had so much fun playing with all of their cousins and we had fun with their cousins’ parents. 🙂
With RaRa and PaPa
The boys got pajama pants and we took the mandatory modeling picture. If you don’t hear from me for a while, it means one of these guys has killed me for posting this. 😉
A handsome crew!Urkel style, just for fun
All of us grandkids got to give Grandma Rusk a very special gift this year. We wanted to make it the grand finale – the last gift to be opened – but we were all so excited we did it pretty much first thing!
A merry Christmas for a special lady…
It worked out well because the kids were all quiet and there weren’t a lot of other distractions. This lady is something else and so deserving of every good thing.
We took time for everyone tell the family a big thing they felt like the Lord was doing or something they really needed prayer about in the new year. During that time, Granny said that she’s gotten the same word two different times that the Lord has a mission for her in Stillwater. She was saying she didn’t really have a clue as to what it might be or have any preconceived notion what it was but she was ready to get there and get going! Lord I hope to be here and be that ready to serve the Kingdom at 80 years old…
We love this lady
****************
We finished up Christmas here today. This year has been especially fun with the kids older and fully able to soak up the joy of the season.
Wryder with the Paw Patroller and LookoutSawyer with her new doll
We are so fortunate to have daddy home with us the rest of the week for Christmas vacation. We plan to soak him up and watch fun shows and eat fun food and play games and enjoy being together…our favorite thing!
We traveled to Nebraska yesterday to visit Wrex’s paternal grandparents, or Grandad and Lalice if you ask the kids.
So excited!
We met Grandma at Perkins for brunch then headed on behind her to see Grandad. He hasn’t felt too spiffy the last month or two and that’s sure hard to see but it was good to be with family.
Wryder Douglas is named after Willard Douglas (Grandad) and William Douglas (Papa) AND he’s the elder WD’s first great grandson…in other words, he can do no wrong. 🙂
WD and WDSpecial bondI love this oneSweetiesSnuggling Aunt Deb
We grabbed some Burger King to eat on the way home and the kids had to get a crown (so cute!) and make silly faces and do silly things – you know, kid stuff!
Silly facesWhere’d they go??
****************
We got a new kitty last week, appropriately named Kitty. She’s a sweet little thing and the kids adore her. She’s gotten a little attention since she’s been here…
Kitty tucked in bed
Sawyer used a dollar she got in the mail and bought Kitty a toy, which she loves!
Yes, that’s a shirt…
Kitty has even made nice with Booey…
How sweet…
And the cat scratch/bed/stand? Well, I should’ve known WD would use it more than the cat….
Boys will be boys
****************
We’ve worn lots of cute clothes this week…
Cuties
and painted pumpkins…
and made some Halloween pretties…
Sawyer and her bat
and dressed up in all sorts of costumes to practice trick-or-treating…
Oh. My.
They are ready!
****************
Sawyer’s reading is getting better everyday and she read to Sayble the other day…it was the sweetest.
Swoon
I love how much they love their little sister…
****************
Now, I’m just finishing up our Halloween costumes. They wanted to be the PAW Patrol this year so I’ve been getting my hot glue on…
I can’t WAIT to get everything done and them on them!!! And, of course, I’ll post pics. 🙂
Dusk is when I fell in love with our little place on the prairie and dusk here still takes my breath away. My flowers this year have been troopers and have over-performed despite the sub-par care they’ve received.
As we were out doing chores tonight, I just couldn’t help but make sure and snap a few pictures so I can look back come winter and remind myself that spring will come…
My hubby has toiled and toiled and whipped our grass into shape. When we first moved in, there was just a bunch of dirt and a LOT of weeds. We sodded the front yard last year and my hardworking hubby re-seeded the property this spring and has watered and sprayed and babied our poor yard. It’s been worth it.
I put Sawyer in charge of Wrex turning 33 and the girl came out swinging!! She decided we needed to throw him an orange birthday party since orange is his favorite color. 🙂 I sat down with her last week and she made a menu and helped me shop for orange everything!
Orange EVERYTHING!
Orange pop, orange slices, Reese’s, orange plates and cups and napkins and straws and silverware and flowers – girl covered it all!
We even found a bright orange cupcake mix!
That’s a lot of orange…
For his birthday supper, she created the menu all by herself! Steaks with sweet potato fries, cantaloupe, cheese and carrots!
YUMMO!
This weekend, we let him decide everything on the agenda so it turned into Phipps Family work day(s)! We washed and detailed the car and got it ready to sell…
Cute helpers!They had fun!
We mowed and mowed and mowed some more… We got air conditioners running and closets full of summer clothes and winter ones put away… We got daddy’s trailer door fixed and the battery charged in the Power Wheels… We even had time for a midday cookout!
Love these guys!
Both kids were a tick under the weather all weekend so we tried our hardest to sleep in on Sunday. I snapped this pic before I got up…melt my heart.
Snoozing…
We went out for Mexican food on Sunday night and the lovely staff just insisted on singing to daddy…in a sombrero…
Thrilled.
Then, after they were done singing, they whopped him in the face with whipped cream! WHAT THE HECK!?! All in good fun, but we were all a little shocked!
What in the world?!
All in all, I think it was a pretty good birthday weekend!
I’m so proud of this curly haired beauty and how much thought and effort she put into blessing her daddy.
Happy birthday, Wryder Roo! You’re two! TWO! Even though when we ask you these days, you tell us you’re six…ahem.
The birthday boy!
You are all boy – from the tip of your head to the bottoms of your feet. They stink. Really, they do. You have the stinkiest, sweatiest feet of anyone I know and I think it’s adorable. I must be your mother, huh? It just reminds me of just how all boy you really are.
🙂
Anything that makes noise or has wheels or involves mud or rocks or sticks or jumping off of something – you are all about it! You are very dexterous like your daddy and almost always have something in your hand. You love to put rocks in your “pot-tet” or carry around a stick or throw dirt…we’re still working on that one, aren’t we?
Farm boy
You love ANYTHING tractor (especially the green ones). Thankfully, the guys across the road are going to be planting alfalfa soon and have had to do a lot ground work in preparation for that. You’ve stood on the porch and watched them for hours already…you just wait til they start swathing and baling – I might never get you inside!
Watching intently as the neighbors work ground
You LOVE to eat. Even just the mention of the word snack or supper gets you to drop what you’re holding and run to your seat in the kitchen. We haven’t found too many things you won’t eat…in fact, I’m not sure I can think of a single one. You are definitely your “father’s son” (as Sawyer says) and you love meat and potatoes…and any sweet that gets put in front of you.
A birthday treat from our waitress yesterday…
You seem to love the ladies, ahem, which we’re ok with. Daddy does a great job (and will continue to, no doubt) show you how to treat a woman according to Christ. Your extroversion serves you well in this department…as does your general charm and the ease at which you throw around your “I wuv yous.” Just do us a favor and be kind to ALL the girls, not just the young, tall, dark haired ones, ok??
With Gillian, one of his faves
Despite all that masculinity you have coursing through your veins, you are so good at showing love…
You love your family fiercely, which I adore. Your sissy is your best friend and daddy ranks a close second. I suppose I’m not really ever gone enough to test your allegiance, but I’m ok with that. 😉
Lunchtime hugs
Every time I hear your little voice say, “Momma hug. Momma kiss,” I just melt. I shall give you all the hugs and kisses you shall ever want…and probably quite a few you’d not.
Oh, I love him so…
Your laugh and zeal are SO contagious! You are easily excited by the things in your world that are so important to you…tractors and baby calves and monkeys and Booey and sissy and Bandit the cat and going to town and cowboy hats and birthdays and semi trucks and cookies…and it makes us excited, too!
On the run!
You’re an emotional little guy. Change, especially abrupt change, is hard for you. We have to take our time to tell things “bye” or prepare for whatever comes next. I suppose you get that from your type A, anal retentive mother. Ahem.
You’re very persistent when it comes to…just about everything. We’ve discovered that the “just ignore him and he will stop asking/repeating/whining” thing doesn’t really work with you. It works best to nip it in the bud and attempt to move on. I have no doubts that this will serve you well in some (or many) arenas in your adult life one day.
Cheeeeese
Your whole existence has been a big change for me! You and Sawyer aren’t just a ton alike and that’s taken some getting used to. (See above paragraph regarding change. Ahem.) I feel like I’m finally getting in my boy groove…and it. is. good. You have added an element to our family that I didn’t even know was missing and man-oh-man, it has been so rewarding and fun…for all of us. We are better because of you, it’s true!
Ride a little pony…
On your second birthday, we bless you in the name of Jesus! We bless your hands – that they would do the work of the Lord. We bless your feet – that they would carry you far from mischief. We speak to your future and call it blessed and we pray that the deep persistence that abides in you will be used to stand firm for the Lord as you further His kingdom. We pray that as you hunger and thirst in life, that your greatest ones will be for more of Him and His word and His presence. We bless you with a life that nurtures your boyish heart; one of adventure and excitement as you follow the Lord!
We love you so much, handsome! The Lord redeemed “tax day” when you were born!
****************
