thankful (11)

Natalee Renee

Her name means full of joy and if you have met her, 

you know that she is happy by nature! She loves to have fun

and play. She is full of happiness and enjoys life:)

She is getting so big and it is hard to believe that it has already been 

7 years! 

Natalee loves....

*animals-since she was little she has loved pretty much any kind of animal

*her friends- she started making friends when she was 1 year old and still has

some of the same friends today. She is always thinking about her friends and

making cards for them. She loves her friendships! 

*to be creative- she likes to make up her own art projects 

*to play- She can play for hours with just two little stuffed animals and she 

loves to go outside!

These things are true about her

N- not a morning person. she loves her sleep and does not like to be woken up:)

A- active all the time. loves to play sports!

T- thankful for her family- loves to make cards for everyone all the time.

A- able to easily make friends..very social:)

L- leader and likable- she initiates things and is liked by her friends.

E- eager to discover new things...likes to know "why"

E- excellent swimmer and loves the water! 

She was so excited about her first day of "joy school"

9 months old at the zoo

11weeks old

So thankful for Natalee Renee!

thankful (10)

I'm thankful for cards from my kids and husband! This is one of the many things

that Natalee has given me. Almost every day she makes me something artistic

that says "I love you mom." Today she gave me a leaf necklace with "I love you." 

Nathan came home the other day with this card "just because."

I absolutely loved it! I felt so special and appreciated....and he 

did it for no special occasion. It has given me motivation the past

few days to give 100% at doing my "job" of being a wife and mom!

thankful (9)

One of the things that we have a lot of in our house is "Laughter." 

Almost every night we have to tell the girls to stop laughing so much

so that they can go to sleep. Whenever Natalee and Lydia get in a giggly

mood, it is hard to get them out of it. It is a good thing except when we are

trying to put them to bed:) I am thankful for laughter!

 I have to remind myself to just laugh about things sometimes instead 

of stressing. Like, when we are on the way home 

from church and 3 out of 4 of the girls are crying, each having their own individual

reason as to why they are crying...and the one that is not crying is complaining 

about the noise. The last time this happened I just looked at Nathan

and started laughing. It helped!...I knew that there was nothing I could say

that was going to change the situation so we just laughed. It was good! 

thankful for laughter!

thankful (8)

Last night I looked something like this in bed....after Nathan got up for

work early in the morning. Usually one of the girls will come

in our room at some point during the night whether it is to go 

potty or because they had a bad dream or just because they want to 

get in our bed cause it is "warmer" then their bed. 

Julianna is famous for getting in our bed without us even 

noticing. The other night I felt a little foot next to my head

 and saw that Nathan was about to fall off the side 

of the bed. Last night though, we didn't have any interruptions

 or any of the girls come climb in bed during the night and it was

 won.der.ful!

When I was living at home, the last two years I got my own room. 

I didn't have to share a room with any of my sisters and most 

of all, I didn't have to share a bed. I loved getting in bed at the end of 

the day and having all the space to myself. Now that I am married

I don't mind sharing a bed since it is with my husband:) I do love

those rare times though that I can just lay in bed with no children and

no husband and soak up the uninterrupted sleep! 

feeling thankful today even for a bed to sleep on and when it 

is uninterrupted sleep I am even more thankful!

thankful (7)

Dark chocolate is an obsession love that I have! 

I am thankful for the days that Nathan brings me home one 

of these bars and says, "here honey, this is for later, I thought

you might need this." I feel like I "need" some dark chocolate

every day but it is not always around so I am thankful for the times 

that I get to enjoy it! 

It is a good thing that I don't have chocolate in the house 

all the time or else I would eat it for breakfast and all throughout the day.

It's crazy how much I love it but I do:)

a look at a snowflake and us..

                                                                     “Perfectly Imperfect"
                                                                       

We have all heard that no two snowflakes are alike. 

Each snowflake takes the perfect form for the maximum efficiency 

and effectiveness for its journey.

 And while the universal force of gravity gives them a shared destination, 

the expansive space in the air gives each snowflake

 the opportunity to take their own path. 

They are on the same journey, but each takes a different path. 

Along this gravity-driven journey, some snowflakes collide and damage each other, 

some collide and join together, some are influenced by wind... 

there are so many transitions and changes that take place along the journey of the snowflake. 

But, no matter what the transition,

 the snowflake always finds itself perfectly shaped for its journey. 

 We are all individuals taking different journeys and along our journey, 

we sometimes bump into each other, we cross paths,

 we become altered... we take different physical forms. 

But at all times we too are 100% perfectly imperfect. 

At every given moment we are absolutely perfect for what is required for our journey. 

I’m not perfect for your journey and you’re not perfect for my journey,

 but I’m perfect for my journey and you’re perfect for your journey. 

We’re taking different routes, but we’re both exactly perfect the way we are. 

 How strong our relationships would be if we could see and respect 

that we are all perfectly imperfect for our journey.” 

thoughts taken from...

― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

thankful (6)

The running trail

When I was in middle/high school I ran track and cross country.

I developed a love for running but now I am even more

appreciative of the times that I get to go running. I love going to 

the trail in Smithfield for a run through the woods. It is such a stress

reliever for me to go drop the girls off at the ymca then go run by myself 

or sometimes with a friend. I put my music on and zone out for a few miles! 

I like to set goals and challenge myself! With running, I can do this.

I love the feeling after a run when I know that I 

have accomplished my goal. It is such a great feeling!

It is not always easy getting into a run but once I get past 

that point where it hurts then I am in the zone:) 

Whenever Nathan sees me reaching my level of stress capacity,

he tells me "you need to go run." He knows that I will 

come back in a much better mood afterwards:)