Photo Shoot

I attempted to get some photos of my handsome little guy this morning. He is quite the wiggle worm so it makes getting a good picture near impossible.

Gotta run, Mom! Picture session is over! :-)

The Big 3-0

Just wanted to wish a Happy 30th Birthday to my very special and dear husband. Thank you for always putting our family first! Cole and I are so blessed to have you. We love you more than you know and hope you have a great birthday!

Visit with Grandmommy

Cole's Grandmommy (my mom) has been here the last few days visiting. She has to leave tomorrow and the time sure has gone by fast! We have so enjoyed her visit though and hope to see her again soon!

Here a few pictures before we headed out to church.

Three generations

Being a wild man for Grandmommy :-)

We love you Grandmommy and are so glad you came to visit!

Service Project

This past Sunday our small group did a service project for our church that involved some deep cleaning. The kitchen was in need of some TLC so we all put on our gloves and got to work. Our small group really has a heart for service and we have been looking for ways to help, particularly in our community. We even have a name for our service projects, RAK. It stands for Random Acts of Kindness. So far most our projects have been within the church, but we have also had the opportunity to send money to Africa to help fund a child's schooling for one year.

Here are some action shots of everyone hard at work.

Jonathan hard at work on the oven.

Now if only I could get him to clean our oven at home and look this happy while doing it:

I was on project refrigeration. I'm thinking Jonathan probably wishes I would wear clothes like this and smile real big too while I am cleaning. :-)

After all of our hard work cleaning we had lunch together in the fellowship hall. I didn't want Cole to ruin his shirt and he refuses to wear a bib, so that explains his shirtlessness (is that even a word?).

Eating with one hand and holding a ball with the other!

We had a great time serving together with our small group. Have I mentioned Sunday is my favorite day of the week?? :-)

Montserrat

I went to the winery Friday night with several girls for my friend Chanie's birthday. I didn't take very many pictures and I am going to blame the reason why on the fact that it was windy and cool. We all had to bust out our winter coats to make sitting outside bearable. It was a fun night with alot of laughing and yummy cake made by Katie.

The birthday girl Chanie and Katie with the cake

Dani and I

Not much documentation, but a good time was had by all. :-)

Mess

The "I'm a mess" face!

Let me start by saying Cole is a mess! Both, literally and figuratively. At almost two, that boy still likes to get into my stuff. I buy him toys galore, but apparently my things are so much more fun to play with! Case in point: my makeup. I was trying to get ready last night to head out for a girl's night and Cole decided he needed to get ready too for his date with daddy! :-)

The new style: eyeliner for lip liner

He is very resourceful too. He empties my laundry basket and then uses it for a stool.

Some days I am certain I won't make it another day in the toddler phase and wish we could just fast forward a few years. It is those good days when he is all sweet and innocent that surely help pull me through the bad ones! That and the fact that I serve an awesome God who I know will never give me more than I can handle!

Custard's

Our neighbors (who also happen to be good friends of ours) own a little ice cream shop in town called Custard's. Like most people I haven't met an ice cream I didn't like. :-)

Their Blue Bell birthday cake ice cream is my favorite, but they also have some yummy concretes that they make using their homemade custard. The weather was great on Sunday afternoon so we packed up and headed over. We had Matthew with us and we also took Bryce and Kaitlyn (their parents own it). We are one big happy family. :-)

Cole saying "cheese" while eating his ice cream

Digging in

The clan. Apparently Jonathan was too busy talking to smile. :-)

Bryce and Matthew playing checkers

Yum! It might be a Custard's day today! :-)

Spaghetti Face

We went to Tony's Market Friday night and got some of their fresh, homemade spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Italian is my absolute most favorite food so it warms my heart that Cole likes it as much as I do. :-)

Here he is eating it up.

Eating his salad like a good boy!

Clean Plate!

This little guy sure does like to eat and we love watching him enjoy his food!

Quiet

As the mother of a toddler and a crazy, barking dog my house is usually full of noise. So, when I do experience one of those rare quiet moments during Cole's waking hours it is usually because the boy is up to something like this:

Or this:


Or perhaps this:


Or this:

But maybe, just maybe, on a really good day he may actually be quiet and not be in to mischief:

This little guy sure does keep me on my toes, but I love him all the more for it! :-)

Oh Happy Day

We sang a song at church on Easter Sunday called Oh Happy Day. It is one my favorites and the lyrics are so upbeat. If you haven't heard it I encourage you to check it out.

We had a great Easter weekend that began with egg dying. I think Cole was still a little young to really enjoy this and Jonathan and I don't know how to boil eggs, but alas we did end up with a few colored eggs to display.

The Easter bunny even came to see Cole too.

Mr. (or was it Mrs.?) Bunny went a little overboard this year, but I hear she was trying to stimulate the economy so it was for a good cause. :-)

Going for the eggs first!

Slam dunk!

Our Easter service was great, but then again I LOVE our church so every service is great to me. Sunday is my favorite day of the week because I get to spend the entire morning in fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Here we are before heading out to church.

After church we had some great friends (who happen to be neighbors) over for lunch and quality time just hanging out. It was great to be able to spend the day with some of my favorite people.

All of the ladies:

Cole with Bryce and Kaitlyn

Playing with his buddy Kaden

So thankful for all these wonderful people God has put into my life!