Easter

He is Risen...Happy Easter!

Bluebonnets

We hopped a fence, skipped cow patties, dodged prickly pears, got run off by a Momma Cow protecting her calf...and this is all we got...it is bluebonnet season in Texas and this is my circus.

How are you this big?

 

How are you already this big?

  I love you to the moon and back Rustin Walker.  Congratulations on your very first T-Ball Game!

 You backed up first base...

You pretended that Baseball was Poison Ivy's Head and knocked her out...

...And you got on base.  I'd say that was a pretty awesome first game buddy! 

Grounded

You are a boy.  I have to remind myself of that.  I have to remind myself that boys are much different than girls.  You're bold.  You do things I would've never dreamed of doing at 6-years old and nothing seems to embarrass you.  But then again that's why you're a boy and I am not.

As your parents, it is our job to mold you and guide you in the right direction.  I pray every day that God gives us that direction.  Today...you told me that you asked God to help you work towards having better days at school.  I can't tell you the joy it brings me to know that you are already turning to Him....even if it is over small things in the grand scheme of boyhood...like throwing froot-loops at the lunch table.  May you always turn to Him for He will help you now and always my bear.


And even though you melted my heart all afternoon...you're still grounded.

All my love...

Spring Break

 This Spring Break we hung out at the Baseball fields. 

We lunched with friends.

 We spent a lot of time with our Anna...and pampered ourselves a little. 

 Anna got a new sister and I got a new niece.  This isn't her.  I got the honors of cuddling a Bitty-Baby Doll.

 This is the real thing.  Miss Audrey Claire with Ryder.

 We all loved her.

 We were in the car a lot!

We were in Dallas nearly every day.

 We had to work even though it was break.

 We went to the park and found this cool old tree that has been carved into different animals.

 

We drank lots of slurpees.  

We were together.   We were with family.   We were feeling blessed to have this time.

Oh...and if you didn't notice before...this flat little guy was with us the whole time.  Our Flat Stanley Adventures were a success...we never lost him...that is a win for sure!

Lent- Being Better Smith's

Another month down and I'm not exactly sure where it went.  It was full of school, swim lessons, travel and baseball for the first time.  Last month, our house was just a place we all came together to sleep in. Everyone tells me it only gets worse the older they get...and then its gone.  They leave...off to live their very own grown up lives.

I'm not sure exactly what I'll do when that day comes...I'll probably despise the silence which is ironic because most days I despise the very loud noise that comes out of these two little boys.  I'll probably look at my husband and try to remember the details and what it was like to be just the two of us...what it was like the first time God placed us in each others paths...before we began building this life that we are blessed to live.  I pray that the people we are when that day comes are so much bigger than the people we were when we first met...so much bigger than we are this very day and so much bigger than who we will be five years from now.  God made us imperfect people and we need Him to make us better...its a life-long work and I feel sure we will never see a perfect self but He sees it in us..its buried inside and every day we can shovel off the dirt.  We can work on bringing that buried, inner beauty to the surface.

At our house, we say almost every day...."Smith's don't quit.  Smith's never give up.  You are a Smith and Smith's don't give up."  We say these words to our boys, BUT I need to say this to myself more often.  Never give up on myself, never give up on who I want to be, on who I know God wants me to be. 

In explaining the season of Lent to our boys,  it was hard for us to tell them to "Give something up" when we work so hard on not giving up every day.  So this Lenten season...the forty days leading up to Easter...I am challenging our little family to not "give up" but to give...to give our whole selves to Him and to those around us.  I am challenging us to be the best Smith's we can be and to not compare ourselves to anyone except the unique person God made us to be. I am challenging us to be a better wife, husband,  mother, father, daughter, son, sister, brother and friend.

I introduced this idea to them this morning and as an incentive to be the best we can all be, I showed them this jar.  

I told them we will add coins (or dollars depending on the crime) from each of our savings  anytime we aren't the best people we can be. I can assure you we will be adding coins every, single day.  The jar will be a physical representation of how we are all a work in progress.   On Easter we'll give everything in the jar as an offering and we will hopefully have gained many, many steps towards being a better "Smith".

Out Numbered

I am the only girl in this house.  I don't mind it and most days I don't even notice it.  

Today it is obvious I am the only girl.  Super Bowl pre-game festivities are on the TV in one room and Batman Lego video games are being played in the other room.  I wouldn't trade it for all of the world.  Love you more than you love a Costco Churro and that is a lot of loving!