Snow

It has been so cold lately!

We have had a late start to school several days lately and have had to stay indoors so much because of how cold it has been. 

They were predicting snow/ice for several days before and Fulton could barely stand it. Tuesday night we snuggled up before bed and talked about how we might get to play in it the next day. 

School was even cancelled in anticipation of it. 

Well, we waited all day and only saw rain... until about 8:00pm. We were about to put Fulton to bed and looked outside one more time and the flakes were coming down. I am so glad we made the decision to just head out in our PJ's and postpone bedtime. The sweet awing look on his face was worth it. 

We even had enough to scrape up a few snowballs. 

It started coming down pretty good and Fulton just couldn't believe it. 

The great snow of 2015. Our friends in North Alabama got way more than we did, but we were thankful for what we saw. 

Our sweet neighbors came over to play in it with us. The kids had a ball making snowballs and throwing them at each other. We were finally frozen and decided to call it a night. Special memories were made and it was worth it to forgo the bedtime routine for a night. 

Visitors

I have some catching up to do from the last two weeks. 

We have had lots of visitors at school lately because it's Community Helpers month. Two weeks ago the dentist came to speak. Here's Fulton and his best friend from school, Elijah. They loved it!! It was actually Fulton's dentist that came, so he thought that was pretty cool. They even got to take home some toothpaste and a new toothbrush. 

Later that night we went by KK and Pops to visit the family and have dinner with them. Fulton looks sad in this picture, but he just loves getting his snuggles. 

Last Friday Matt went out of town for a Deacon's retreat. But he left this sweet note on the mirror for me that morning. His love language is words of affirmation, so he is always 

giving that to me to fill me up. What a great way to wake up in the morning. 

Friday morning we spent some time playing with our best friends. These three are so silly when they are together, but I pray they can by lifelong friends like their mommy and I are. We headed to Chick-fil-A for lunch after a fun morning of playing together. 

Now, let's get to Friday night. I thought it might be "fun" to let him sleep with me. Hah! That was a joke. Fulton has never and I repeat never slept in our bed and I am so thankful we never started this. And it's apparent he doesn't enjoy any bed as much as his own. We made it until about 9:15 and little buddy just couldn't do it. He was flip flopping around like a fish and I finally took him to his room and he didn't object one bit. He loves his space and so do we!

Saturday morning we went to story time at the library and then we were heading to get a haircut. A much needed one. Our girl wasn't working, so we had to wait a few more days. Daddy came home that afternoon and we were so excited to see him! 

Monday we had Fulton's friend Andrew over to play. I snapped this picture of the monitor while they were playing in his room. I heard Fulton say--I locked the door. They were giggling. It was too cute!

Tuesday was a big day. The school bus came to visit. Fulton loved this!! He is constantly talking about how--when I get big, I can ride the school bus. So he was pumped to actually get on one for the first time. 

Later that morning we went to the kitchen and made muffins. This guy was a pro. I let him help in the kitchen a lot, so he was pretty comfortable with stirring the batter. 

Playing with some of his buddies at school... still needing that haircut. 

Thursday night we decided to have our dinner in front of the fire because it was so cold! 

Valentine's Love

Fulton's school Valentine's Party was today. They had to postpone it from last week because so many kids in his class were sick. 

His sweet little class. They are still missing one that wasn't feeling well. 

Chick-fil-A kids meals for lunch. Can't beat that. 

And Daddy got to come! Yay! Fulton was so excited to have him there. 

This afternoon after he woke up from his nap, we let him go through all his goodies from his friends. 

He was so proud to open them and kept asking who they were from. 

He quickly found the m&m's! We had a fun day celebrating with him!

Meeting My Man

Today I am linking up with  Andrea at Momfessionals blog to talk about Meeting My Mate!

So, here's a little background on how I met my hubby. 

 First, I will share this little gem with you from my 11th birthday party where I had a "Wedding" at my party. Guess who was the bride? Me!! Good thing my mom didn't make me wear this dress. 

Let's get started. Matt and I met our Sophomore year in college at Jacksonville State University (January 2002). We actually had a math class together our first semester of Freshman year, but didn't even acknowledge each other then. Back to Sophomore year... we had a Geography class together and I was actually dating someone at the time (but that didn't last much longer). We had class and lab together and I had an old lab book (with answers-eek!) from one of my sorority sisters and he decided to start chatting with me because... well, let's face it, he just wanted the answers. 

So we started hanging out after class and had a little "study group" going which usually ended with us going mud riding in someone's jeep, and not really studying much. So after weeks of this, cutie finally asked me out on a real date. I pretty much knew by this point that I was going to marry this man. So our first date consisted of dinner at a little diner called Cecil's Place and a drive in movie. I should tell you here that Matt was about to go off on Summer Beach Project with Campus Outreach and his disciple mentors highly discouraged him from getting into a relationship. So, he followed their lead and told me we couldn't date, but maybe when he got back from project. Thankfully he just couldn't stay away from me and quickly decided he couldn't wait that long. Insert me saying hooray~~ This is a picture of us during May term when we made a little day trip over to Six Flags. 

So we spent the rest of the month of May hanging out everyday. We would go bike riding, have picnics, cook dinner, and just truly enjoyed each other's company. During that month he came home with me one weekend to meet my family. They were pretty much hooked from the get go too. He came to the lake with our family for Memorial Day weekend and this was our last weekend together before he left for project for two months. Boo hoo!

We wrote letters, called, and sent care packages and finally my family went down mid July and we got to see him. We headed home from the beach and he only had a few weeks left before he would head back to school. Hooray!

 We spent August enjoying each other's company and many fun 

weekends at the lake with my family. 

Our Junior year was fun and we enjoyed having time just being together. 

Matt quickly became the fifth member of our family and enjoyed all our family vacations. It was on this beach trip that I later found out that he asked my dad if could marry me. This was July 2003.

This was one of our engagement photos. Precious right. We got engaged in September 2003. It was a regular Saturday night and he cooked dinner for us at my apartment. Later he suggested we go get ice cream and then we drove up to the top of this mountain in Jacksonville where you can see the whole city. Lots of sweet words, fond memories and talk about the future and it was proposal time. With one rose for each verse, he handed them to me as he read 1 Corinthians 13 out of his Bible. With that he was on one knee and asked me to marry him. Yes, yes and yes!

My family and his were so happy for us. I had not always dated the best men and I was so thankful that the Lord was so gracious to me and allowed my husband to be such a Godly man that would lead our family to serve, love, and know the Lord better. 

So we spent the rest of our Senior year enjoying our engagement and planning our wedding. I graduated in April 2004 and Matt still had one semester to go. 

We were married July 10, 2004 (just a few days after we both turned 22). We were just babies! But we knew we couldn't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. 

The next day we were off on a plane to a romantic resort in Jamaica where we spent the week. 

Here we are a couple months later for our first Christmas as a married couple. 

And now, we are coming up on our 11th wedding anniversary and I couldn't be more in love with this man. I truly can say that I grow more and more in love with him each day. He is patient, kind, selfless, humble, and gospel driven. Thank you Lord for this marriage you have allowed us to have!

Good Times

It's been a fun few days and a great weekend. 

One night last week I decided to do a workout video and these two wanted in on the action. I didn't last long as I am obviously taking this picture from the couch. Here's to hoping maybe next time will be better. 

Wednesday we met friends at the library for story time. It was a beautiful day so I brought our lunch along. We found a fun little playground, laid out our blanket and enjoyed our sandwiches. Love spending my days with this little guy. Now if only daddy could be home with us everyday, but I guess someone needs to work?!

Back in the Fall we decided to make Wednesday night church a priority for our family. I am so glad we did. It is part of our routine now and we enjoy rich Bible studies, good dinners, and sweet fellowship with friends. Luke and Fulton have quickly become buddies. 

Friday we enjoyed a playdate lunch with some sweet friends and then Friday night the cold started. We sported our Valentine pj's and were ready for the big day on Saturday. This little guy said--I think Valentine's Day is going to be great! And he was right. 

Daddy built a fire and we enjoyed a night at home with each other. By the way, I made some homemade potato soup and it was hearty and filling. 

Saturday morning we got up and were feeling all lovey dovey for the big day of Love. We headed to Chick-fil-A for some heart shaped biscuits before meeting up with the fam. 

We spent the next few hours at the Home and Garden Show with the family. I know it sounds random, but we had such a good time. Fulton's favorites were the lawn mowers and the hot tubs. 

Earlier that morning Kiki and KK showered this little guy with Valentine happies and he was enjoying playing with them. They are always so good to him. 

We put Fulton to bed and Matt made us a delicious dinner for Valentines. 

Daddy was off school today--YAY!! We woke up to a dreary, rainy and cold day. We decided to let Fulton have a first and took him to the movies. We saw "Penguins of Madagascar." He did great! He got a little restless about halfway through and ended up sitting in my lap for the rest of the time. I was so proud of him. We enjoyed a great weekend together with each other!

A Great Weekend

I cannot believe it is already mid February and the 

temperatures were fabulous this weekend. 

KK and Pop asked if Fulton could spend the night Friday night and he was so excited. He loves a good spend the night party. That meant we got to have a date night. Whoop whoop!! Thankful for great family that loves to spend time with our little buddy and allows us to refresh our marriage too. Both are so important. 

Saturday we ran a few errands and enjoyed the morning together before picking up this cutie. He had a blast at their house, as always. He usually doesn't want to leave. Saturday night we made a homemade pizza. Like the dough was from scratch and everything. This was the first time and it actually turned out really good. And made a ton. It made like four pizzas, 

so we will be eating it for a while. Fulton loves to help in the kitchen. 

Sunday afternoon I hosted a baby shower for a sweet girl in our small group. Natalie was having a girl and it was a fun time to get together and celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby Ellie. 

We kept it simple because it was not too long after lunch, but we still had some yummy 

snacks and a delicious cake. 

 I know I say it all the time, but I love these ladies. We have such a wonderful small group and I am thankful to do life with them. 

While the girls were enjoying the afternoon together, the boys had to be out of the house. They headed to the park. They had a blast!

And today the weather has been a little warmer again and we are enjoying it while it lasts. We spent the morning visiting Grandma and then brought a picnic lunch to the playground in our neighborhood. 

Somebody got in a little driving time before nap time.