I love my husband...

Trav and I have been together for 11 years now and just when I think I couldn't love him anymore, he goes and does something else to prove me wrong. He just makes my heart melt and it helps that he simply adores me! I think everyone has "rough patches" in their marriages, (heaven knows we'vwe had ours)but Trav and I have been doing WONDERFUL for a long time now. It feels so refreshing, and great to just have an awesome relationship. He is so much more intune with my needs and feelings and I feel more valued and loved as a person (not just a wife & mother). I love our time together when the kids are asleep- to just be together, to snuggle, to talk, to eat ice cream & watch our favorite movies. I love watching him rock-a-by the girls before bed (Grace LOVES to be rocked and sung to at night, and she always says,"Daddy, will you rock-a-by me?) SO CUTE. So there is my tall handsome man, rocking our girls while singing # 1- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star # 2- Love One Another # 3- I Am A Child Of God # 4- ABC's. I love that he is so helpful and willing to help others. Yesterday, on his only day off- he went to the church at 9:30 AM with the 3 girls and set up tables and chairs for our church activity- then, he did yard work for hours, then he went on a walk with the kids & I, then he volenteerd to watch all the kids that came to the church activity that evening. He is a good, good man. I just love him.

Trying to get 1 good picture takes a lot of work...

Trav and I were doing A TON of yard work yesterday, and the girls were playing outside while we worked. They looked really cute on the trampoline, but it was impossible to get a picture where they were all looking half way normal.

Sleeping Beauty...

Here's Willow the last couple of days taking her naps. She's such a cutie!

Willow's first rice cereal...

On Sunday, Willow had her first batch of rice cereal. She did pretty well, but as you can see by the picture with her Daddy, she was a little upset before the whole thing even began.

God answers yard sale prayers...

So, if you don't know by now- God leads me to good deals. Seriously. I love yard sales about as much as I love my children (just so you know) and I started saying prayers that I would find things that I was really in need of- like canning jars, jeans for Tristin, cute baby stuff etc... but it got kind of hard to do as I was driving, so I started having Daisy pray for me (so I could keep my eyes open and my hands on the wheel!) and as God would have it, he started answering her prayers too! It was almost magical how it happened. Daisy would pray and within the next yard sale or 2, we would find exactly what she had prayed for!!! AMAZING right? So, it kind of turned into our little joke: If you need something, have Daisy pray for it. Well, Angie, Lisa & I went out yard saling yesterday morning and found 1 or 2 sales, but as I was running errands later in the day, I stumbbled into one and guess what I found??? You guessed it... jeans for Daisy and size 12 shoes!!! Just what she had prayed for earlier!!! (No joke) Awesome or kinda freaky, you pick, but God hears our yard sale prayers! (jeans were .25 each, the shoes were .10- love it! They have small holes, but thats better than short jeans in my book!) Total spent= $ 2.80

A very sad day...

About 2 hours ago I took a look in the fish bowl to discover Daisy's goldfish, Gyspy, had died. Oh. My. Gosh. She sobbed FOREVER. And I mean forever. We've called Daisy our "Tender Heart Bear" because she has always been really sensitive. I could hardly take her tears, so we did a quick burial and ran to get a "replacement." So, here is our very sad day documented. ( I knew flushing it down the toilet would cause some MAJOR issues, hence the ground burial.)

My brother: Eli Arthur...

I've been encouraging my younger brother Eli, to get his photography out in the world for a long time now, and a few days ago he called to tell me- HE DID!!! I'm so prund of him and his incredible talent. His work is AMAZING and he has some of it for sale in downtown Seattle! If you are looking for amazing art to have in your home, head over to his new website to see just how fabulous he is!
www.wix.com\eliarthur\photography

I agree that we are powerful beyond measure and we are scared sometimes to step out and show the world who we are and what we have to offer. I think that our talents sometimes scare us into beliving we really aren't that great, and so we shrink to avoid being exposed. The truth is, we all have amazing talents that are just waiting for their chance to shine. I am proud of Eli for taking that step, for believing in his work enough to honor it in such a way. We have so much to share, no matter how small we sometimes feel. The only way to get it out- is to share it with the world- boldly and with confidence. There is nothing wrong with saying: "I am incredible. I do have a gift. My talents were meant to be shared. "
I am proud of you Eli...

Daisy Mae...

Here's Daisy on her new bike she got for her birthday! She's loving it so far, and now that it's warming up a little bit, she's riding a lot more. She looks so adorable peddling down the street with her pink helmet on. I just stand and watch her thinking what I do with all my babies: How did they grow up so fast?
She drew a picture of the family yesterday that I thought was priceless...

A happy baby...

Oh, there's nothing better than a happy baby!

A brother to play with...

After having a baby, it's seems to be free game to ask the person if they plan on having more kids.
# 1- DON'T ask someone who JUST had a baby if she wants to go through 10 weeks of vomiting, unsightly weight gain, back pain to make a grown man weap, sleepless nights caused by the "wiggling alien", cravings that turn you into a wild woman, dangerous hormones that have been known to cause divorce, weird strangers coming up to you in the grocery store and rubbing their dirty hands all over your belly, or cause old ladies to stare in horror at your tight belly shirt,the sicking toilet paper shortage, enduring the man who thinks he has the right to talk about child birth,and then the delivery... I can promise that if you ask that question, in that moment- the answer will be "Are you insain?"
# 2- It's just too soon to ask, wait until the hormones settle down first, or until you can see that the showers, hair & make up and "real clothes" have resumed.

So... will we have another child? We.do.not.know.
Will Tristin ever have a brother? We. do.not. know.
Are we even thinking about it? Not right now.We're just enjoying these little monkeys.

So, yesterday when I went into the girls room and saw Tristin playing with them (Pet Shops of all things, so cute!) I just stood there and asked that question. "Will he ever have a brother? The answer came, We do not know. Will he grow up with a bunch of sisters? Well, that is certain, so I guess his Pet Shop days are here to stay! (For those who don't know, Pet Shops are these small plastic animals with little bobble heads.)