favorite moments.

I've of been feeling sluggish the last few days. But there have been a few moments that just make my whole heart smile and keeps me going. It's like my gas gauge almost gets to empty and bam, I'm filled again with an abundance of cuteness. I decided I needed to write these cherished moments down so I don't forget them.

Yesterday Naomi wasn't feeling well. Audrey took it upon herself to make her a picture, get her a bowl in case she needed to get sick, ask her if she wanted a blanket, and put her hair up out of her face so it wouldn't get yucky if she did get sick. She also offered to watch Dora, since it is one of Naomi's favorite. Audrey is such a little mama, I love the way she cares for her siblings.

I asked Naomi what movie she wanted to watch--Brave or Sound of Music? She chose Sound of Music, I was definitely happy about that choice! I'd say her top favorite movie is Annie though.

I took a shower with Lincoln and he was so so snuggly, he even fell asleep on me in the shower. I'm pretty sure he was thinking "Ma, this is like where I was a year ago- in your belly, take me back, take me back!" Ha!

Here's a favorite moment from a few weeks ago:

While I was making dinner one evening the girls were outside, spending forever just sitting in this area moving nature pieces around and chatting. I was watching from the window so I came outside to check it out. They were making a whole world--their imagination never ceases to amaze me. 

I don't ever want to take for granted this blessed role God gave me--to be each of my children's mama. It can be so tough and challenging, but I wouldn't change it for anything. 

family fun night. {and an easy recipe}

The day begins with us asking the kiddos "Do you know what day it is?!" And by now, they know. The chant begins "family fun night! family fun night!" And I may or may not do a little jig while singing it. So the anticipation goes all day. Family fun night is our homemade calzones, plus root beer floats, plus family movie snuggled on the couch. Simple. But full of love.

This tradition began sometime in January for us. It happened one Friday night and it stuck. Every Friday around 4:30pm we begin making the calzones. I use the easiest recipe in the world that I found on Pinterest.

Here it is:

For the dough:
2 1/2-3 cups of flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 package of yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 cup of very warm water

Combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Add the warm water and oil-mix. Stir in remaining flour slowly until dough is soft but not sticky. Knead until smooth. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes before making the calzone.

(In this 30 minute period turn on "Sound of Music" station in Pandora. Really loud. And dance.)

Preheat oven to 375. While preheating, roll dough out. You can either make one gigantic one or three small ones. Or whatever size you prefer. We do three small ones. (One for me, one for Andrew, and the girls share one, and Linc eats off of ours) Roll dough so it makes a rectangle shape. Put pizza sauce down middle. Then cheese on top and whatever else you prefer. We have done sweet red onions, black olives, artichokes, mushrooms, turkey pepperoni, green peppers. Then make cuts along each side of the dough about 3/4 inch in. Then wrap it by criss-crossing each cut over the center. The girls really love doing this part. We place all three on a large cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes at 375.

It's a tradition that I'm sure will evolve with time as the kids grow and we want to change it up a bit. We already have plans to set up movie nights outside on a big sheet during the summer. But what I'm loving right now is that something so simple can bring us all together. Not to mention, I love not having to think about a Friday night dinner. Give it a few more weeks and the girls may be able to make calzones entirely themselves. I mean, that's really my motivation, right? To teach them so they will eventually make all the meals. [Insert evil laugh.] 

My hope is these little traditions we are instilling in our children will keep us together like holding hands. One day they may do the same tradition with their children or come back home to visit and ask to make calzones together like the old days. When they sip a root beer float memories with flood in of snuggling up on the couch watching classic movies. Some of our Friday night movies have included Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Peter Pan the Musical and Wizard of Oz.

Here I am trying to capture us in the moment, and instead I catch Naomi pinching her sister. Which is about the funniest thing ever and pretty much sums up her personality. Also, you can see Audrey could care less. Haha. 

family vacay. {disney bound.}

[Totally back-tracking on here, by oh, almost two months. But it's my blog, I do what a want. Ha!]

There were quite a few months this past year that were a blur to me, one of which was October. [Which is probably why I'm craving a much slower pace now.] Because, frankly, it was filled with a lot of fun. Crazy, blessed, fun.

We were given the opportunity to stay {for free} in an absolutely beautiful resort in Orlando, Florida, which included three bedrooms, a full kitchen and living room and balcony. And two jetted tubs! When an offer like that is on the table, who can refuse?!  So, back in June we had a family vacation planned to visit Disney World at the end of October. Audrey watched Disney World YouTube videos for four months straight. Not even kidding.

Now here is where I insert the word adventure instead of vacation. You guys, going on a trip with a 4, 2, and 6 month old is so.much.work. Well worth it, but whoa. About three days before we were leaving, we got smart and recruited my younger sister to go with us for another set of helping hands. There were many times during the trip that we thought how would have we done this without bringing help?

We were that mini-van full to the brim (hello, we had to take a double stroller) AND with a car-top carrier on. Which actually came in handy, you could spot our van from a mile away in any parking lot. To get us through the 20+ hour drive (that included stops), I wrapped inexpensive gifts for the girls to open every few hours---crayons, coloring books, magnetic dolls, books, markers, etc. This way, every time they started to feel ready to explode, I could give them something new to have fun with. On the way there we decided to try driving through the night, which worked ok until about 3am when Naomi was over being in her carseat. On the way home we broke the trip in half and stayed in a hotel, which worked well until Naomi was ready to be home at 3am. Notice a trend? Yeah, Naomi was a tough traveler. She wanted the endurance of her sister, but wasn't quite there. Still needed naps and lots of sleep, but didn't get it. Lincoln, however wins the best traveler award. He practically slept in the Ergo carrier the entire time. Nursed and just hung out. It was wonderful. Audrey did pretty well too.

In the week we were there, we hit up Downtown Disney one day, Sea World one day, Disney World Magic Kingdom one day, and even drove an extra few hours to visit the ocean. We had two "down days" at the resort, enjoying the pools.

My favorite moments include watching Naomi in absolute awe of Mickey Mouse when we met him. When Audrey saw the Disney castle it was truly magical. And when Lincoln rode his first ride--a little train, sitting next to me.

Here is where i overload you with a TON of pictures. Mainly from my iPhone, because it was easy and quick access when you have a baby strapped to you.

Hanging out at the resort:

Downtown Disney:

Best part of Downtown Disney was definitely the Lego sculptures! 

Sea World:

Audrey loved getting her face painted, she picked the "mermaid" one. 

Naomi, however, enjoyed watching but didn't want the man touching her. Ha!

Train ride with my buster!

I call this one "super-dad." He took all the kids for a short nap-car ride while my sister 

and I got to ride a few roller coasters!

Disney World:

That's my sister holding Naomi, but it looks like me!

 Spinning on the tea cups!

Watching the parade!

Riding the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom

The ocean:

We definitely made some wonderful memories. I went home and made a vacation book up from my Instagram photos using Blurb. It's fun because the girls love looking through the book almost daily and no I did not get paid to share about Blurb, I just really like my book I bought. 

It truly was the perfect way to spend my last week in my 20's. 

Now we've decided the next vacation we go on will be just for the parents. Ha!

family pictures & video.

October was such a crazy, busy, fun month for us. It included three birthday celebrations, one of which a certain someone turned 30, our family pictures, family vacation to Disney World, and Halloween. In some ways, I'm so happy to welcome November and {hopefully} a slower pace. Although can we really do slow with holidays? I hope so! I have so much I want to share on here. But for now, I'm most anxious to share our family pictures.

For the last three years, my friend, Liz Russell (whom I met through a blog friend...seriously this internet stuff is crazy and sometimes creates long lasting friendships!) has come to take our family pictures and an amazing video. This year she traveled about 10 hours (there and back) to do this for us. Not even kidding. If you live around the Nashville area, you should get in contact with her for photography!

Here is this year's video.

And here are a few many of my favorite pictures.

How will I ever choose for our Christmas card?!

Check out our first year video here {2010}, and last year's video here {2011}