InstaFebruary

Here are some phone pics from this month.

Completely random.

You guys can find me on instagram @redbirdblue

The boys posing for a silly selfie while Mark pumps gas. 

Encouragement from Romans 8. 

Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who is against us?" 

I'm thankful we can have confidence in God.

Yep, they are pretty darn cute!

Shouldn't have up-sized to the bigger cone.  Look at the photo below.

I've been a slacker with working out.  I've also been terrible about my eating.  I started My Fitness Pal again and I'm working out.  Gotta get ready for summer.

We took the boys to see The Lego Movie and they loved it.  No big surprise.  They love all things Lego.  

Everything is awesome...

That song is my jam! (see the movie and you'll understand)

The first thing they do in the morning and the last thing they do at night--

Play.

Will learned all about Japan this week.  We love 1st grade!

Ben and I took a photo before school one morning.  He wanted his beloved Bear in the photo, too.

Two things I love:

#1

Earl Grey Tea 

(English Breakfast is a close second)

#2

The Avett Brothers

Emotionalism is my favorite album.

I recommend buying it on iTunes so you can get the two bonus songs.  Definitely worth it.

The Best Kind of People

Who are the people in your life that bring out your best?

I know who they are in mine.  The best kind of people are the ones who are genuine, encouraging, supportive, and they challenge me to be a better person.

God's definitely blessed me with good friends who are living examples of the best kind of people.  

Here are the qualities I appreciate the most from these dear friends.

The best kind of people...

are loyal

are optimistic and reassuring when you feel like giving up

have faith in you

have a genuine smile 

show hospitality

offer an uplifting word 

offer comfort when you are down

are there for you when you need to confide in someone 

give wise advice

give you a sincere compliment

are straightforward when you need an honest opinion

make you laugh

take joy in your success

you enjoy spending time together

are considerate and understanding

give generously

choose to be your friend despite your imperfections

More than anything the best kind of people bring out those qualities in you.  

I want to be that kind of person. 

Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Hebrews 10:24

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Those Bible verses are such good reminders of how we should treat others.  


Here a just a few of those dear friends.  Some are near, others are far away.  I don't see some of them as often as I'd like.  Other dear friends aren't in the collage because I don't have a photo of them, but I value their friendship, too.

February is Fun

February was full of fun birthday parties.

Will and Ben are lucky to be invited to such cool celebrations.

The first party of the month was a video game truck.  This was a first for the boys.  It was the quietest birthday party I'd ever been to.  The kids stayed in the truck/trailer for 2 hours and gamed their little hearts out.  The moms and dads got to hang out and talk.  A good time was had by all!

And, can y'all please check out the awesome Minecraft decorations!

The next birthday party was Disney Cars.  I love that my friend's daughter chose this theme.  Rachael is the cutest tomboy I know.  I had fun shopping for her gift.  We covered all the bases in the toy section--we bought her some cars and a Barbie.  Rachael's mom, Terri, is one of my BFFs from college.  She is a stay at home mom now but she was an elementary teacher before that.  When it comes to her children's parties she channels all of her elementary teacher creativeness into fun games and crafts.  My boys always love going to their house.

Look at that cake!  The boys won a "Piston Cup", played Plinko and raced cars on a ramp.  I told you she was creative.

They decorated wooden cars and stuffed their faces with cake and ice cream.  Ben was worn out by the time we got home from partying.  He fell asleep in the car on the way home.

This weekend Will went to a birthday party at a gym.  This was a first, too.  It was perfect for kids his age.  They all had their own trampoline to jump on.  They played games like tag.  They jumped from the rope swing into the foam pits and some even played around on the uneven bars, all while supervised by the gym staff.  The moms got to hang out in the stands and chat.  Birthday parties have become my main form of socialization on the weekends.  Fun for my kids and me.

Valentine's 2014

We celebrated Valentine's 2014 all week long.

Tuesday we bought a new couch and loveseat.  We weren't planning on purchasing it, but we're really happy that we did.  Mark and I don't give each other big gifts for holidays or birthdays.  Since we made that purchase near Valentines we just called it our gift to each other.  Romantic, right?  

On Thursday, we went to eat at one of our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants to avoid the Valentine's crowd on Friday.  Mark decided that he wanted to go out anyway on Friday night so we ended up eating BBQ at Rudy's.  We love BBQ so how perfect to have that on Valentines.  

BBQ is our love language. ;)

We made a stop by Whole Food super late, but we decided it would be okay since it was the weekend.

I thought the boys would sleep late on Saturday morning, but they were up before 7AM because they wanted to put together their new Lego Chima set that they got for Valentine's Day.

When I was cleaning house this weekend, I ended up finding the Valentine's cards I'd bought for Valentine's Day.  Oops!  I'd lost them so I couldn't give them to Mark and my nieces.  I guess I'll put those away and give them next year. 

Meet Minted

If you are a blogger reading this blog, then Minted is not new to you.  You've probably purchased or received holiday cards from there.  To some people, though, this might be your first introduction to Minted.  Let me introduce you.  I'm sure you'll hit it off.

Like I mentioned above, their cards are amazing, but what I wanted to make sure you check out is their collection of wall art.  If you're like me, it's a little intimidating when trying to select something to hang in your home.  You want it to be special and reflect your personality, but sometimes finding something original is a challenge.  I spent some time looking through all of the wall art prints, and I realized that there are a lot to choose from.  My friends all have very different decorating styles (traditional, rustic, quirky/eclectic, modern), but since there are so many prints it would be easy to find something well-suited for each of their homes. 

If you want to know about the quality of the prints, here's the word from Minted...

Brighten your walls with wall art prints created by our global community of independent artists. All of our art prints are printed in limited edition and are available on museum-quality cotton rag archival paper with archival ink. Minted's wall art is available in a range of colorways and styles and is available framed or unframed. Each art print comes with an artist’s card containing the artist’s statement and certificate of authenticity and is shipped in an acid-free and lignin-free sleeve to ensure your print will stand the test of time.

Sounds good, right?  I thought so. I'd be happy to have one (or maybe 10) in my home.

Before I go, I wanted to introduce you to one more new thing. 

Julep

Julep is Minted's blog.  Be forewarned that you'll be there a while taking in all the eye candy. 

Creative and cute for all of you needing a DIY and design fix!

Just take a look at the Valentine Present Topper below.  They even share the printable for free and give instructions (for someone like me!). 

For sharing this information with you, Minted has given me a shop credit to their site.

Legos, Boy Mom, Love

Our house is full of hundreds (more like thousands) of pieces of Legos.  The Danes were on to something when they created these little blocks of happiness.  

Will and Ben both enjoy playing with them.  We've finally moved on from Duplo to the smaller pieces.  I'm amazed at the patience they have when assembling all the little parts.  I've learned to appreciate Legos since I'm a boy mom, but Mark is way better at following the directions and putting them together.  Yep, I'm thankful that he's a good daddy who does Lego-duty.

The boys still like Disney Pixar Cars, but now when we go to the store we have to look at Lego sets instead of Cars.  Will likes Lego City, Super Heroes, and Chima.  Honestly, he's happy with anything.  Ben is all about Chima.  Look at the last photo where he's holding a Lego Chima box that's almost as big as he is!  They've been begging for one of the BIG boxes and we've told them it will be a while since they got so many toys at Christmas.  In the meantime, they can have fun putting together the sets they have.

Note to self: clear the floor of the misc pieces that clutter the floor because at night it's a pain like no other when you step on one.  Isn't there a funny ecard wishing that on your worst enemy? Ha!

02-02-02

Groundhog Day is one of the most romantic days of the year.  It's not for you?  That's understandable.  It only holds a special place in my heart because that's the day that Mark and I got engaged 12 years ago.  He said, "Will you marry me?" and of course, I said, "YES!!!!!!!"

You guys know the rest.  Happily ever after!

I still love my oval engagement ring.  Oval diamonds and yellow gold weren't in style then, but I didn't care.  It just proves that you should get what you like and not worry about what others think. 

Our engagement photo that was printed in the local, small town newspapers.

We look so young!

Happy Groundhog Day and Happy Engagement Day for us.