Loving This Monday

We are out of school today and the weather couldn't be any better. But first, a 

quick recap of our weekend. 

These two had a little daddy son breakfast outing Saturday morning. I went with the girls to a clothing sale and all of us came home happy campers. 

The rest of the day was spent indoors because it was so chilly. Matt and I are officially on the Biscuit Ministry Team now and it was our Sunday to make the biscuits. We had 72 biscuits to make and have at the church by 6:30 am Sunday morning. The youth then took them downtown and gave them out to the homeless. Such an amazing ministry to these men and women. 

This little ladies man was up and ready for church, waiting patiently for his momma, 

who was running late. 

We had a great service at church, continuing the Seven Deadly Sins series. We enjoyed naps and a walk in the neighborhood. I had a craving for chili and we headed to Wendy's for a big bowl. Kind of random huh?! What other fast food place serves chili... don't think there is one. It was delish. 

So, here we are at Monday. The weather has been in the 60's, sun is shining, and nothing on our calendar but enjoying the day together. 

We went to the park where we ran, slid, jumped, and even fed the geese. 

Kiki and Pete came to see us too. 

We brought a picnic lunch to enjoy. By the way this is Kiki and Pete's first official picnic together. Glad we could be there to witness it. Kiki sure does bring some good stuff to her picnics. She can come back anytime. 

This little stinker had a first today. What do you do when a potty training toddler says they need to go to the potty and the restroom is absolutely disgusting and making me gag to even walk in it?? Well, good thing we have a boy. We enjoyed our first sprinkling of the leaves today and this 

guy performed like a champ. 

My boys are snoozing wonderfully right now and I couldn't be more blessed. 

Thank you Lord for this day!

Keeping It Straight

Fulton has had a little obsession for a couple of months...he lines everything up. 

This is how his bed is found every morning when we get him up. 

And not just one side, but the other too. And then he looks at you so proud and says, "Line up, line up." 

Not just stuffed animals, but the magnets on the fridge too.

This is probably his favorite. He has a box full of cars that he loves to put in a straight line. 

Is this normal? Maybe he comes by it honestly. I like things a little straight myself. He is a pretty neat and tidy little fella and loves to clean like his momma. Warms my heart. So, maybe this skill will come in handy one day or maybe he will just have a happy wife because he likes to organize. 

Celebrations

It was a weekend full of celebrations. 

Before we get to those...it was just me and this little guy Friday night. Daddy had a retreat to be at,

 so we were flying solo. 

Matt wasn't home until Saturday afternoon, so Fulton and I spent the morning with mom and dad. It was Uncle Pete's birthday weekend and they were out of town, so we broke in their house 

and did a little decorating. 

From there we ran around to a few places and did a quick stop by the library so Fulton could introduce KK and Pops to some of his animal friends. 

Daddy made it home early afternoon and we had this sweet family over for dinner to celebrate Claire's birthday. These two are a mess together. 

Sunday was a big day for Matt. He was ordained as a Deacon at our church. It is a huge honor and I am so proud of him and the spiritual leader he is for our family. It was really cool that he was ordained with one of his good friends, Drew. They are both officially the youngest Deacons in our church. 

Even better is that all ordained Deacons came on stage to lay hands on the new men and my dad got to come up and pray over Matt. It was such a special day. 

These two were twinkies for church Sunday. 

Fulton boycotted a nap (probably because he knew what an absolutely beautiful day in January it was), so we met up with friends to walk. We stopped at another friend's house and she let us all jump on the bounce house. The kids had a ball. 

But we had to wrap it up and head to mom and dad's for a birthday celebration for Pete. He turned 22. Such a young buck. 

Happy Birthday Uncle Pete! We loved celebrating with you and thanks for sharing your cake with us!!

It's Been a Week

It's been a week since I last blogged and nothing too exciting is happening around here. With December as packed as it was, January has been pretty slow and uneventful.  

We built a fire for the first time in two years. Matt loves to build fires...a little pyro in him deep down. We finally felt like Fulton wouldn't mess with it and it has been so cold, it helped to 

warm the house up a bit. 

Matt went back to work last Friday and we headed out to his school to take him lunch. Little 

Mr. Howard thought he was big stuff sitting at daddy's desk. 

We spent the rest of the day playing and trying to stay warm. 

Friday night we had some sweet friends over for dinner. Fulton and Laylee had a little dinner date. Aren't they so cute together. Did I mention that everyday when we are leaving Mrs. Vin's house they kiss each other...on the lips. 

No dinner is complete without dessert too. A rare treat for this sugar deprived child. 

Saturday morning daddy made some french toast, we spent time with KK, Pops, and Aunt 

Keri, and enjoyed the morning. 

We had to wrap up our little family visit because we had a birthday party to attend. Our little friend Andrew turned 3 and we celebrated with him at Gymboree. This was our first time and we enjoyed it. 

Monday it was back to school where this little guy slept on his nap mat for the first time. 

Such a big boy. 

We have almost survived our first week back at school. I am proud of myself... I have cooked 5 out of the last 7 nights. It sure is easier to go out to eat, but we are trying to do less of that and more of eating in. Let's hope it continues. 

2013 Has Come to an End

2013 has been good to us. Let's take a look back at the last year. 

January- we helped KK and Pops move into their new house. I was sad to see them say goodbye to the old house, but like my dad always says, you should never get too attached to anything. 

February- we went to our first petting zoo. We enjoyed seeing all the animals and 

dodging where we walked. 

March- it was a big month. We had our very first (long overdue) hair cut. We started losing our curls with this first cut, but we needed to get rid of the mullet we were starting to acquire. We went to the McWane Center for the first time and Fulton had a blast. 

April- we enjoyed celebrating Easter and even went to our very first egg hunt. Even though he took the eggs back out of the bucket, we still had fun with friends. 

May- this was a big month and we had lots of celebrations. We had Mother's Day, KK's surprise birthday, and our very first trip to the zoo. We were excited because summer was quickly approaching. 

June- summer is here and that meant many trips to the lake. We celebrated Father's day, daddy's birthday, mommy's birthday, and Fulton even stayed a weekend with KK and Pops while mommy and daddy went out of town for their anniversary. 

July- what a fun month. Matt and I celebrated 9 years of marriage, had a family trip to the beach, and many days spent at the pool. 

August- summer was starting to end, but that didn't stop our fun. We even had one last trip to the beach.

September- Fulton celebrated his 2nd birthday with a circus party!! What a fun and special day it was. His friends and family came to wish him a Happy Birthday and eat a hot

dog. Later in the month, we took our first camping trip. Many more of those to come. 

October- was filled with many football games and fun times with friends and family. Aunt Keri even got Fulton his first AL jersey with daddy's number on it. 

November- we took a day off work and made a long weekend to Gatlinburg with KK and Pops. Fulton was on top of the world with a visit to Dollywood, playing at a kiddie park, and sneaking in a little sweet treat every now and then. We also had a week trip to the beach for Thanksgiving.

December- it is the freshest on our minds and was filled with bundled up days and trying to stay warm. We visited the nursing home, went to the Zoolight Safari, and had lots of time with family. 

What a great year it was!! I pray in 2014 we can be servants to others and show them the love of Christ. Our lives are truly nothing without him and we realize every blessing is from Him and Him alone. 

Ringing in the New Year

Happy New Year!! 2014 is here. 

We rang in the New Year with some of our sweet neighbor friends. 

Happy New Year from the Howards. 

We had lots of little ones to play with. 

The guys did what guys do... whatever that is. 

They actually posed for a picture. The adults enjoyed a round of Apples to Apples while the kids destroyed Fulton's room. We put Alayna in charge since she was the oldest....four qualifies you to be in charge, right?

It was a fun New Years complete with horns and crowns for everyone!!