Wryder – Page 2 – The Bless Your Heart Blog

Random Rambles

We officially started school today!

Sandhills Sonrise Christian School had it’s inaugural day and it was a success! Sawyer is such a good student and loves to learn, so teaching her is quite fun. I’m sure there will be harder days down the road but today? Today was a good day.

Also, just so we get it out there, Wrex totally laughed at me for getting her a first day of school outfit but I couldn’t resist!

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After Sawyer’s baptism last week, Wrex’s Grandma (and the kids’ GooGoo) stayed with us for a whole week! She hasn’t gotten to do that in more than a year so it was such a special treat for us!

I know I’ve talked about her several times before, but she really is a magnificent lady. She is leaving a legacy of the fear of the Lord and a legacy of familial love with all of us, and we can’t thank her enough for that.

The kids adore her and she spent more time playing with them than anyone I know! She even got in and out of Wryder’s little playroom multiple times a day, despite her being “not as spry as she once was!”

They read every book on the bookshelf and watched a few fun cartoons and ate snacks and did hair and played farm and sale barn and Paw Patrol and Barbies and Uno until she was just plain tuckered out! She even slept with one of the kids almost every night, which they loved.

Lots of time in her lap... — Lots of time in her lap…

My favorite moments where some of the quiet ones where I could hear her talking to them about being kind or using manners or how to show respect to someone or how to include someone that was lonely. Wrex has always attributed a lot of his kindness and manners to her and I love seeing her pass a piece of that on to the next generation.

We took her to North Platte on Saturday so she could start her journey home and when it was time to say goodbye, there wasn’t a dry eye in the car…except for Wryder because he had just gotten a toy train from RaRa and that seemed to assuage his heartache. *ahem*

We sure love our GooGoo and all that she does to pour into our lives and our kids’ lives… Come back soon, Grandma!

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While we were in North Platte, we had to make a stop at Cody Park! The kids rode rides with RaRa AND GooGoo!

I’m telling you, she’s the coolest!

We also checked out the Fort…

Love these people... — Love these people…

Here comes Sayble, riding on a pony... — Here comes Sayble, riding on a pony…

and the kids loved the wooden display in the back.

Sawyer was so inspired, that she came home and made a paper version!

Calf by a pond with water, complete with a boat and a DUCK!

I love that girl’s creativity and drive!

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Wryder got a special gift on Saturday, too! The grands were going to wait until Christmas but decided he was gonna be too big if they waited any longer and let him have them now.

He got PaPa’s chaps from when HE was a little boy! His mom had them custom made and he wore them and then Wrex wore them and now Wryder will wear them.

In case you can’t tell, he was FIRED. UP.

He’ll wear them proud, PaPa!

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While I bought groceries, the kids played at the park with daddy. Sayble had a BALL!

Seriously, she's darn cute! — Seriously, she’s darn cute!

Wrex and I were talking the other day about how her adventures and discoveries and her new tasks and words are still just as exciting as they were with the other two. It never gets old…

I’ve said it a million times – and I’ll say it again – these ARE the best years of our life!

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This week marks the beginning of the busy fall season for us. Sawyer starts dance next week, Awana starts this week (Cubbies next), Wrexy’s sales start getting longer and of course, school. All of these are such good and fun and wonderful things but they can leave us scrambling to get from one place or event or thing to the next. I’m such a lover of peace…I’m trying not to spread myself too thin. I want my the Lord and family to come first and to truly come first…not just get lip action.

As I was shutting off the lights in the school room last night, I was uttering little thoughts to the Lord about our school adventure and my heart shouted, “Lord, I just want to be pleasing to you.” It caught me off guard, yet settled my soul. Though I care about what she learns this year, more than that, I just want us to be a family that pleases Him. Let it be so, Lord…

Home Tour Wrap-Up

You all have been so kind regarding our sweet little home – thank you! All of your comments have brightened my day, no doubt!

We’ll finish up today so we can move on to bucket calves tomorrow. The kids are showing at the county fair and – oh my word – are they cute!

So off of the kitchen is the great, big living room/den/family room – whatever you prefer to call it. This room has a LOT of wood going on but it’s quite pretty!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this room or not but it turns out, I do! It’s just a big, cozy space for the fam to hang out and play games and wrestle around… We’re dying to host our first pitch party/game night!

We replaced the cowhide with something a little brighter against all the wood!

And in these built ins, we put a pretty paper on the backside to give a little pop of fun…

More pretty windows…

Across from the living room is the laundry room and a half bath/mudroom bathroom.

Wrexy built me a sliding barn door for the laundry room and I love it! I wasn’t sure I wanted because it seems EVERYONE has one these days, but it’s really functional and it fits the house well.

The previous laundry room door wanted to whack the washer. If we moved the washer to where it didn’t hit, then I had no room to fold clothes and with as much laundry as we do around here, I NEEEEEEDED a place to fold clothes!

The appearance of the mudroom bathroom was one of the biggest changes in the house. It was wall-papered, but yellowing and peeling. Would you believe I don’t have a single picture of it before?!

Alas, we painted it (and LOVED the texture the wall paper gave), put in a utility sink (so Wrex could make messes here as he mixed milk or whatever instead of the kitchen sink), and gave it an updated, clean look!

This bathroom comes right off the garage door and is so nice for washing dirty little hands when they come in from outside. 😉

We didn’t do much work in the basement except for some touch up paint. We just used what we could to make it feel a little more homey for guests.

And, yes, we took down that HUGE mirror!

We turned the small room in the basement into the perfect sleeping galley for kid visitors! (This is the kids’ favorite room in the house – ha!)

There’s also a really good sized storage room that we chocked full of party supplies, winter coats and what not. I LOVE having a basement in case of severe weather – tornadoes and I are not friends – and this one is quite cozy should we ever have to hang out here for a while.

In case I haven’t said it before, we truly do love this home. We feel so grateful to live here and hope to use every square inch for His glory!

Thanks for humoring my little home tour – it’s been fun!

Updates and Upstairs

Oh, sweet friends! Were you wondering if I’d ever return?! Life has been crazy and GOOD – crazy good!

To catch you up in one, ~~simple~~ run-on sentence, we had the opportunity to sell our house, rent an upgraded (read: bigger, newer, central air having, more-than-one-bathroom-and-an-actual-dining-room) home that answered all of our prayers…so we packed our things and cleaned out barns and buildings and took way longer than we ever imagined to move in because apparently we have a lot of stuff and like things just so…BUT we are in and feeling settled and LOVING. IT. HERE. The Lord blessed our socks off and we feel this is exactly where we are supposed to be for the here and now – not much better than that!

And? Apparently, I have some of the sweetest, most encouraging friends on the planet who want to see pictures of the place so what better day than today to get me back in the saddle of blogging. I’ve missed it so!

Moving had been on our minds for a while for lots of reasons, one being that we had bought our home on what we had called a five-year plan. It suited us well and we loved that sweet, little 100 year old farm house but with the addition of two other children, things started to feel a little tight. (And, I know, that is definitely a first world problem. We have never felt anything but blessed to live there – remember that awesome story!? – but we felt the Lord prompting us towards something different and we were ready to go!)

We had heard about the house from friends from church. They told us where it was so we drove by just to see if it was even something was an option for us. Whoa. Nelly. It was like dream-home material!

A month or so later, we took a tour, prayed our faces off, sold our home and moved in here! We LOVE IT. I’m afraid, no other home will ever compare – truly! Obviously, there are things we might change if we owned the place but for now? It’s perfect for us! The Lord answered all of our requests and desires and then some!

From the moment I walked in, I could SEE us making memories here. I could see myself in the kitchen, cooking with Sayble while looking out the window at the other 2 playing outside. I could see Bible studies and card parties in the big ole family room and loud family dinners in the dining room. I could see kids playing for hours in their big kid rooms and looking out over the pastures from their windows – I could just see us here!

Some people probably think we’re crazy for renting but for us, this was the best option for now, for several reasons. (And just so you know, I don’t feel the NEED to explain myself, but if you don’t know that I’m an open book by now…)

1) We had reached a point with our old home that we felt we had maxed out or profit potential without doing something drastic…and we weren’t up for drastic. 2) Moving is always on the table when you work for a company 3 states away. While we love this area and home we never have to, it’s always an option. 3) Building costs mega $$ these days! I don’t know if we built what we’d like and then had to move, if we’d ever get our money out of the place. 4) There aren’t very many farmsteads in the area that AREN’T either a modular or a 100 year old farmhouse and we’ve been there done that. 5) It was the Lord. All Him. I won’t argue.

So, to recap…moving with 3 small children is hard. Moving with livestock is harder. Moving 112 chickens is hardest. We love our new home and can’t imagine life anywhere else!

Here are some pics of the new digs!

We’ll start upstairs. The stairs come up out of the dining room, up to the kids’ floor. All three of their bedrooms and their bathroom is up here, which is so nice! They’re all together and it’s REALLY quiet for them…which means good sleep for them, so good sleep for mom and dad!

Don’t knock the paneling – ha! We weren’t gonna mess with that!

Top of the stairs — Upstairs after; top of the stairs

Now, why did I start with that picture?! The bookshelf. Sigh. I have visions of it being artfully arranged…but then I remember that I have 3 small children who I want to LOVE to read so I’ve given up the fight on the perfect bookshelf and have gone with the “we use it all the dang time so it’s always disheveled look.” You should try it, too!

My brother-~~in-law~~ got me that dreamy pew last year and I was so happy to have a place for it in our new home! I started out like this:

and after a good sanding and a fun color, it’s one of my favorite things in the house!

The kids’ bathroom isn’t huge but I think it’s perfect for them! I’ve been so impressed with how clean they have kept it!

Kids' bathroom before — Kids’ bathroom before

Since then, they’ve gotten a new faucet, as this one bit the dust about 2 weeks in, but it’s just a fun, sweet little bathroom – I love it! (It was the first room that was completely finished in the whole house! Gotta love small rooms that didn’t need paint – ha!)

Wryder’s room DEFINITELY needed paint. It’s hard to see in the pictures but the walls were in pretty bad shape as far as scratches and dings.

Wryder's room before — Wryder’s room before

We painted it a pretty, neutral grey and I love how it turned out!

Wryder's room after paint — Wryder’s room after paint

Wryder's room after — Wryder’s room after

Wryder's big closet! — Wryder’s big closet!

Sayble’s room is the smallest, but it suits her needs just fine for now! I love how it turned out…so sweet and cute – like her!

Sawyer got the biggest room. It was an easy choice for us as far as layout goes…and? The girl’s got a lot of stuff. There’s a hoarder gene on the Phipps side and by golly, the girl’s got it!

Part of why she needed the big room was for this:

There’s just something about a cute farm house with two twin beds in a room! I bought those headboards at an auction one day for $5 each. They are vintage 20’s and just cute as a button and I’ve been storing them for this room!

Headboard after paint - Sweet Caroline, to be exact! — Headboard after paint – Sweet Caroline, to be exact!

Her room is so sweet and so totally her. She loves her double beds; she loves the little table for tea parties and such and she loves using the toybox as her desk/office. And? She has a huge closet – a must for a girl with a penchant for cute things!

Sawyer's room and a few of her fun things! — Sawyer’s room and a few of her fun things!

And, yes…that is exactly what you think it is! She has a “secret room” behind the bookshelf in her closet! We turned it into a toy room for her and all of us love spending time in there.

I wish I had taken before and after pictures of it because we did the works in there! New carpet, new lighting, boarded the walls…

Sawyer's toy room after — Sawyer’s toy room after

It is so fun and the perfect place to store all of her Barbies and babies and doll house things. And? Wryder has one, too. How did we luck out like that?!

Wryder's playroom before — Wryder’s playroom before

Wryder's playroom after — Wryder’s toy room after

We put in new carpet, painted everything and put in new lighting. I LOVE this space and he does, too! I love having the toys out of sight, too, I won’t lie!

Wryder's toy room after — Wryder’s toy room after

And? Sayble has a little crawl space in her room that we can turn into a playroom for her one day. But we’re tired. And she’s still a baby. So we’ll wait.

Thank you for humoring my little house tour with my awful iPhone pictures. 😉 We’ll hit downstairs tomorrow. Maybe, all of my pictures will have uploaded by then. Oh, how we miss our good internet service!

Random Rambles

The weather was SO nice last week so we tried to be outside as much as possible – always a good thing for small children with lots of energy.

This girl LOVED riding the little car... — This girl LOVED riding the little car…

Forgive the two-toned fence in the picture above. We replaced the boards earlier this spring after Wrex left his pickup in reverse when I waved him back to the house. Apparently, he thought there was a sincere emergency (I just had a a letter that I needed him to drop in the mail) and came running in without shifting into park. Thankfully, there’s a small hill in the pasture behind it and it stopped it – on this flat farm ground, who knows how far it would’ve traveled!

We had a cheeseburger picnic one day last week after an impromptu trip to town.

They played at the park, ran their hearts out and tried to sneak up on a little robin.

It flew off, but it was worth a shot.

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The impromptu trip to town was to get a little chicken house we found. It. Is. ADORABLE. We wanted it to put close to the house for some of our momma’s and babies. So far, it’s just housed cats and dogs…

A new breed of chicken.... — A new breed of chicken…

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We went to town on Friday to buy groceries and someone wasn’t too thrilled with his attire.

Doesn't he look handsome? — Doesn’t he look handsome?

He swore this was a girl’s shirt. It’s not. I made him wear it.

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Saturday we strayed from our red meat diet and had some roasted chicken. This was Wryder’s first experience with a chicken leg and he was a HUGE fan!

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We also had some fun visitors last week! Our sweet friend, Diane and our NEW sweet friend, Katherine stopped by!

The kids adored them and Wryder wanted them to stay to tuck him in bed. They doted on the kids and took a tour of the Phipps farm and ate cookies and punch with us! They even brought the kids supplies to do a fun craft which Sawyer did this weekend.

Ms. Diana brought her a bunch of torn up tissue paper and some mod podge and Sawyer made a box for a baby shower gift for our neighbor.

Cute - both of them! — Cute – both of them!

It turned out so cute!

You ladies come back ANY time!

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Saturday was equally beautiful and we took the kids to walk around the little fishing pond in town.

We saw 1 goose, 4 ducks but no fish or turtles. They had a ball exploring and running and checking out the water…and we had a ball being with them.

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This little dandy showed up on Facebook this morning:

5 years ago...Sawyer and Uncle Blake — 5 years ago…Sawyer and Uncle Blake

Be still my heart. Sweet girl has grown a little since then, yes?! (Blake is just as dashingly handsome, just FYI.) I love seeing all these clothes in Sayble’s closet now. We put her in some of Sawyer’s old jammies yesterday and it just made her even cuddlier!

That Sayble…she is just pure joy, I tell ya!

She hams it up for the camera, that girl!

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Today, we got to shower our sweet neighbor who is expecting a sweet baby girl in about a month! Sawyer got to see two of her favorite girls (and fellow flower girls from Gillian’s wedding) and they had a ball together!

They’ve grown a little…

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Gillian has some of the sweetest family members a girl could ask for. Two of her aunts (and ladies I’m proud to call friends) were there today and were just so encouraging to me regarding motherhood.

One of them told me that if the Lord would give her any day to do again, she’d choose one when her kids were around the age of mine because they are just so fun. And it’s true. This right here:

This is the closest to heaven I’ll get on this earth. I love them with every ounce of my being…

I love the way Sayble NEEDS me right now and needs me with ferocity! I love to hear her little jabbers and her sweet smiles. I love the way she pats me when I pick her up and the way she only wants to be where I am.

I love the way Wryder is all boy. I love how he wants to mow and shoot guns and eat dirt and poop outside. I love how he helps pick up after meals and how much he loves his sisters. I love how he always hollers, “love you!” one more time as I close his door after tucking him in.

I love the way Sawyer has entered a self-sufficiency of sorts. I love that she and I can go anywhere and she’s fine and I’m fine and we can go and do without a lot of planning (or extra bags)! I love that she loves so many of the same things I like. I love that she loves to talk to me and is, truly, one of my best friends.

Tomorrow is Monday and before I know it, Friday will be here again. Another week done and gone. It happens so fast… Lean in and love it, momma…

PAW Patrol Party

Little Wryder Roo turned 3 last week – a monumental occasion for him! He has been SO excited about his birthday (because birthdays are AWESOME) and has been asking for a Paw Patrol party since last year sometime. We had a busy weekend (that got attacked by every child having the nasty cold/upper respiratory infection we’ve all been passing back and forth) so we didn’t plan him a big party, but we still pulled out all of the Paw Patrol garb I got on sale at Party City.

We set it all up on Thursday evening so that when he came downstairs on Friday, he’d have a good start to his day. Sweet boy was so excited!

We made a quick trip to the clinic on Friday and then went to birthday lunch. Originally, I had told him he could choose anywhere he wanted for lunch and, lo and behold, he chose McDonalds. Now, I’m not one of those haters that just absolutely can’t stand the place because it’s non-ogranic or they serve GMOs or whatever…I just don’t like it because I don’t think it’s very good. Except their fries. Enough salt and grease makes ANYTHING good.

Thankfully, our sweet friend Traci got to talking about Mexican food and he decided he’d rather go there instead – hallelujah!

He made a good choice!

On the way to town, he opened the birthday card he got from GooGoo and inside was a ten dollar bill! He was so excited and so we went shopping after lunch and he bought the one pup he was missing – Rocky!

He was so excited to pay for it and get his bag, all by himself!

He had a few dollars left and he used it to buy a root beer float! Can you have too much sugar on your birthday?! Nah. Not when you’re three. 🙂

Fridays are usually long days so we waited until Saturday to open presents. He is SO much fun to buy things for 1) because he has certain things he just REALLY, REALLY like and 2) he’s so expressive, it’s just flat fun to see how excited he gets!

The pickup and trailer he's been wanting! — The pickup and trailer he’s been wanting!

He loved the Air Patroller too but he was blurry with excitement so the pictures wouldn’t mean much to anyone but his parents. 🙂

PaPa and RaRa sent him one of his other favorite presents…

He used it all day today. Pretty sure we’re gonna have dirt EVERYWHERE around this place…

Sayble was quite fond of the wrapping paper.

Pretty sure her first birthday is gonna be a ball, too!

We had his “party” Saturday at lunch. I always let the kids make their menus and he went back and forth between steak and hot dogs (quite the spectrum, I know) but finally settled on hot dogs, which worked well for the dog theme. 😉

PAW Patrol on a roll - get it?! — PAW Patrol on a roll – get it?!

He also wanted french fries, fruit (very specific about what berries), punch and pumpkin bread. I turned the pumpkin bread into dog chow, so it worked out.

and decided to eat his pupcake like a dog...of course. — and decided to eat his pupcake like a dog…of course.

I think he had a really good couple of days. As he was eating one last cupcake on Saturday night, he said, “Mom? Thank you so much for my party!” Melt my heart. Anytime, kiddo. You are why I do what I do….

Later that afternoon, our sweet neighbor got married. Despite the icky colds, we couldn’t say no to watching such a Godly couple vow their forevers to each other. It’s so nice to attend a wedding where the couple really gets it, ya know?

The rain was relentless that afternoon and Sawyer didn’t want to mess up her cute hair so we did this:

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... — A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…

And yes, I need to do laundry. 😉 I’m working on it, ok!?!

Wrexy had a pretty cute wedding date!

We came home and called it an early night.

I keep saying that I think three is his year! Just today, he’s put on socks and pants by himself AND pooped somewhere other than his pants! (It was outside on the sidewalk but it WASN’T in his pants!) Seriously, I think it’s gonna be a good one…

Worth 1,000 Words: Easter Edition

I’m behind. I know. But we had a SPECTACULARLY MARVELOUS Easter!

We stuffed 100 eggs to take to the cousin egg hunt down in Oklahoma…

We took communion together and remembered all the Lord has done for us…

He spilled his juice LITERALLY as Wrex was saying, “This is my blood poured out…” It was perfect timing…

We colored Easter eggs. We tried the fake ones this year as the others never really get eaten. Not a fan. The real ones are better.

I made cookies for all the cousins (and the RaRa) for their Easter baskets I took down…

We gave the kids their little goodies before we left…

This cute girl…I just love her to pieces!

We headed south, loaded for bear!

Uncle Waco and Aunt Amber surprised us and came to Aunt Tootsie’s too! We all had such a good weekend! The kids went on a MASSIVE egg hunt!

All the grands in one place - love. — All the grands in one place – love.

The girls looking through their loot... — The girls looking through their loot…

Sunday morning was a typical Sunday morning. I got one good picture!

Surely, WD will take this good of pics when he's 5, right?! — Surely, WD will take this good of pics when he’s 5, right?!

Most of his looked like this:

Sayble wasn’t much better…

She was good DURING church, though…

She loves GooGoo just like everyone else!

Sawyer snuck in a little snuggle time with Uncle Waco…

And we got to see GooGoo’s new house and try the picture thing one more time!

This was the closest we got…

We got to see Uncle Waco’s new house that they’re building! Sayble took the tour with him…

and his little girl took the tour with Wrex…

It was so much fun, I’m not sure any of us were ready to come home…especially those of us who had to unpack and do the laundry. 😉 I’d do it all again tomorrow if it meant we were all together though…

WD is Three!

Wryder Douglas is THREE today!

As I logged on, I was thinking that it took my sweet boy to get me back on the blog (we’ve had a litttttttttle bit going on lately)…but as I had that thought, it was exactly right. THEY are why I do this. They are my legacy and my reward and why I keep this written history of His goodness in our lives. And Wry Wry? He IS good.

You came bounding into the world a little past 5 in the morning – momma’s quickest labor by a landslide – and you’ve been running circles around the rest of us since!

You are still in love with dirt and rocks and sticks and tractors and cannot be outside without coming in absolutely filthy. (Today, you got into spray paint and painted your face and hands!) You are constantly showing mom and dad where our attempts at safety have fallen short. 😉

You love all things PAW Patrol and Marshall is your favorite! Colors are no longer just green or blue…it’s Rocky green and Chase blue, etc. You’ve been dreaming of an Air Patroller for weeks and I can’t wait to see your face tomorrow when you get your very own.

You have grown SO MUCH this winter! You’re no longer a toddler, but a little boy – or so it seems. I am constantly having to remind myself that you’re just 2…because sometimes you seem much older.

You are still highly emotional – in good ways and bad. 😉 Your face is so expressive and I love when you ask questions that you’ve really been thinking about or stretch your mouth into an O when you’re excited. I never have to wonder what kind of mood you’re in because it’s written all over your face.

You have stretched me and tested me and pushed my buttons and made me cling to Jesus more than just about anything in my life. I really thought I had this parenting thing figured out until you came and walloped me. I feel like I’m still learning how to navigate our lives – please don’t give up on me!

More than anything this birthday, I want you to know that you are oh so loved. Truly. All of our lives are better because you are in them. And? Jesus loves you, kiddo. Unconditionally. No matter how many times you go to time out or how many times you have to be corrected or how many times you take your shoes and socks off outside, He still loves you. Perfectly. Better than we ever could.

You are a gift to us on your birthday (kind of backwards, isn’t it?!) and as much I don’t want you to grow up, I’m excited to see the man you become. I’m proud of ya, kiddo. I truly believe three just might be your best year yet…

Here’s to PAW Patrol cupcakes, wedding dancing and miles on your knees with your new birthday surprises!

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Random Rambles

The chicks are alive and well and getting lots of attention. Sawyer named hers Dot and Penguin Cindi. Wryder named his Corny and Wheater. If that boy doesn’t farm or sell tractors one day, I’ll be shocked.

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Sayble has mastered pulling herself up – watch out world!

How we found her this morning in her crib

She has been pulling up on the dishwasher, the coffee table, any chair she kind find, the back of my legs – honestly, anything! She got herself into quite a pickle the other day when she did this:

She was so proud of herself but then had no idea how to get down! That’s been the biggest problem lately. After she went to bed tonight, she started screeching 20 minutes later. I went in to check on her and she was standing up in her bed but didn’t know how to let herself back down. This could be fun for a while…

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We talked a lot about Palm Sunday yesterday and what exactly this week means for us as followers of Christ. During supper, we were reviewing with dad all we learned and Wryder excitedly exclaimed, “Saywer! Jesus is our King!” I melt.

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It was such a lovely day on Sunday that the kids just had to ride horses. Sawyer has gotten really good at riding and understanding general horsemanship and, of course, Wryder thinks he has. 🙂

He really likes to say, “Ho” or “Whoa.” The only problem is that he likes to say it all the time. That makes going anywhere a little difficult. Regardless? He looked darn cute.

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Today was one of those days where we didn’t do anything really over the top – we were just together – but it was one of those days I’d do 100 times over. We played Barbie Pop-Up Camper and learned more about Easter and read stories and did school and explored the back pasture and searched for pine cones and played with chickens and did chores and sang songs…

We have some friends – several friends – who are in the trenches…fighting for answers and fighting for life. We are so thankful and humbly grateful for our whole, healthy family.

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Sawyer wanted to color and create this morning so she got busy with her crayons and made this beauty.

In case you can’t tell…that’s Jesus riding on a donkey while someone waves their palm branches. Be still my heart…

Today I Learned…

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.

Poop examinations... — Poop examinations…

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... — 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... — Blew it flat over…

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... — 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... — Look at that smile…

We toted her around in this thing for quite a while and she thought it was fantastic!

Pretty sure I might have a small bald spot from all the fun she had with my hair…

I’m thinking we’re all gonna sleep good tonight…

Random Rambles

It’s FRIDAY! Do I really need to say anything else?!

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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 main construction materials were paper towels and washi tape and they look surprisingly good!

The dress and "gail" — The dress and “gail”

Wryder's tuxedo shirt. Note the red rose and the bow tie... — 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…

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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.

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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!

Wryder went over, looked at it, tried the helmet on and then settled for the porch.

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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.

Seriously, she’s the cutest thing E.V.E.R.

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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... — A few winters ago…

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Wrex is still sporting the mutton chops.

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! 😉

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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.