Winter Hibernation Survival

We have almost successfully survived another Winter!!! :) That is, in our eyes, a very big achievement when you have a toddler in the household. And here is how we did it (meet our newest addictions)...

Blake:
Cars - Disney Pixar Cars and Cars2 to be specific. He now has both movies on DVR and all of the little cars that go along with the movies. Oh yeah, and Cars PJ's, books, sunglasses, table, plate, and more!!! And thankfully Disney just announced that Cars 3 is in the making, so I guess this obsession can stick around a little longer.
Toy Story - Probably a second close in movies. We he has a huge Buzz Lightyear toy.

Sarah:
Frozen - Mommy has to have a Disney obsession too, right?!?! :)
Divergent Series - Reading the third book now.
Selection Series - waiting for the third book to be released in May. Waiting very impatiently might I add.

Ryan:
Video Games - when he gets the free time, which sadly isn't as often as he would like.
COPS Reruns - a good guilty pleasure
Divergent Movie - Yes, Ryan took me to see the Divergent movie premier and I think he liked it!!

All of these favorites have kept us very busy over the past few months, but we ready to set them aside for a little sunshine! Spring is officially here and we are ready to some outside adventures!! :)

Our Family Yearbook {2013}

It came in!!! We now have our 2013 family yearbook on our bookshelf! :) You see... we have our family blog that we write about and share fun events during the month/year. At the end of each year we get our blog posts for that year turned into a book. The pictures even transfer over so its basically like a yearbook. :)

We started turning our family blog into yearbooks about 3 years ago. Luckily it was perfect timing with the start of our family, specifically when Ryan proposed. Now, thanks to blogging several times a month, we have 3 years worth of "family record". It is so neat to go back and look at everything we have experienced as a family. We have our engagement and wedding documented. We have my pregnancy with Blake documented. We have Blake's first two years documented! Vacations, random stuff, and more! LOVE IT!!!

Although we only have 3 right now, it is our hope that one day we will have a bookshelf  FULL of family yearbooks! It will be a huge collection of our favorite memories. Even better, we hope that one day our kids and future grandkids will be able to go and look at those books anytime they want to read about our family adventures. :)

Lone Survivor

Ryan and I read the book Lone Survivor together. It is about a 4 man SEAL team mission that went terribly wrong. As the title suggests, there is only one survivor and this is his story.They turned this incredible story into a movie. Obviously actors played the parts, but the actual surviving SEAL played a small role in the movie, which was an awesome surprise. It was incredibly moving, tragic, and also heroic. Some parts of the book and movie really hit home with Ryan, for obvious military reasons. As a military family we were reminded of the difficulty of serving a deployment in high combat areas. It was also interesting to see people who have no military background watching the movie. At the end of the movie there was a round of applause and then the theater was silent while people were filling out. It was almost just this quiet respect as people realized what it was like for soldiers who are fighting for our Country. There are tons of stories such as this where soldiers have lost their lives fighting for our freedom. Huge reality check!! Be grateful!

Christmas Card 2013

Here are the pictures from our Christmas Card for 2013. We wanted to to be a little humorous this year. :)

 

 Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!!

Today in church they talked about parenting and family.  Normally I don't say much when it comes to parenting. I am very aware that there are many different opinions and each family has their own style. To be honest, I am almost scared to say anything about parenting methods because I don't know how Blake will be. I am sure at any given point he will kick and scream in the middle of Target or repeat something embarrassing to his kindergarten teacher. However, this poem that was shared struck me in a special way. No matter what, I hope to be encouraging to my children and not put them down or focus on their flaws. Bottom line, children learn by example and I really really hope that Ryan and I can be a good example to our children.

Parenting Poems
Which Parent Will I Be?

~Author Unknown~

"I got two A's," the small boy cried.
His voice was filled with glee.
His father very bluntly asked,
"Why didn't you get three?"

"Mom, I've got the dishes done,"
The girl called from the door.
Her mother very calmly said,
"Did you sweep the floor?"

"I've mowed the grass," the tall boy said,
"And put the mower away."
His father asked him, with a shrug,
"Did you clean off the clay?"

The children in the house next door
seem happy and content.
The same thing happened over there,
And this is how it went:

"I got two A's,"
the small boy cried,
His voice was filled with glee.
His father very proudly said,
"That's great, I'm glad you belong to me."

"Mom, I've got the dishes done,"
The girl called from the door.
Her mother smiled and softly said,
"Each day I love you more."

"I've mowed the grass," the tall boy said,
"And put the mower away."
His father answered with much joy,
"You've made my day happy."

Children deserve a little praise
For tasks they're asked to do.
If they're to lead a happy life,
So much depends on you.

Move It Like Madagascar

One of the new kids movies coming out is Madagascar 3. It's a movie series about zoo animals that have escaped from the zoo and go on all kinds of silly adventures. The movie really became famous for it's redention of the song "Move It".

Blake has his eyes glued on the TV everytime the movie preview comes on. He also likes to watch the little "Move It" video on Youtube. It's always a quick fix if he is fussy for no reason. So, I guess we will be getting all 3 Madagascar movies ASAP! :)

Click here for the link to the music video. Maybe you will get a kick out of it like Blake does. Haha.

Nerdy Obsessions

Ryan and I often enjoy similar movies, games, and books (well..I tell Ryan about the book), however, we also enjoy our own individual 'bookshelf' obsessions too!

Currently I am trying to read Gone With the Wind...again. It has been one of those books that I have started a thousand times but have never been able to finish. Since I have a Kindle now and I stay up late with Blake, I figured that this would be the best time to try again. It's like my life goal to complete this book! I love the setting and the characters of the book but I guess the length of it makes me give up. I have a short attention span with books sometimes. All I can say is that now the sassy Scarlett is making my late night feeding shifts that much more enjoyable! :)

Ryan's newest obsession is Diablo 3. Let me just say that I won't give this game justice because I don't know anything about it. All I know is that it is a computer game that Ryan (and most other guys around here) are drooling over. But there is a tragic part to this obsession. He pre-ordered this game with so much excitement! When it was released he was so happy to come home and break it open. ....Then he realized that his computer does not have an updated enough graphics card to play the game :( It has been torcher for him to hear about all of his friends playing the game while Ryan just sits there and looks at the box. So, of course Ryan just orders a new laptop (with all the right goodies) to fix the problem. He is proud to say that his new gift will be delivered next week and he will then quickly be playing catch-up to his friends...with a smile on his face.

What can we say? I guess we are just nerds deep down inside. We love our books and computer games!

Closer To Christ

I read while I am up at night feeding Blake. So lets just say I get some good reading time in these days! :) I am currently reading the book 21 Days Closer To Christ.  It is an amazing book and I highly recommend it.

One of the stories from this book is about keeping family records and journaling. It describes how all the women from one family join together at the beginning of each year to study their grandmothers journal. She was a hospital nurse and a very faithful lady. Many of her entries explain how she listened to the Spirit while treating her patients. In some cases she felt as though answers to her individual prayers helped her know how to better help those people she was serving, maybe even save lives.

How wonderful it is that that this woman is able to teach her family lessons even after she has passed away. Her journal entries serve as spiritual anchors for her loved ones.

 I told this story to Ryan. We proudly print our blog at the end of each year to serve as a family yearbook, if you will. Now we want to start writing in a spiritual journal. Yes, old fashion pen and paper. :) We want our children and future generations to grow spiritually from reading our real life "faith builders". We tend to write our testimonies, times of answered prayers, and accounts where the Spirit has guided us as a family. Maybe one day our grandchildren will get together and study it too!

The journal is being shipped to our house now and we are eagerly waiting to write stories in it!! :)