Happy Birthday Henry!

Today was your fifth Birthday. Zoe was sick so we couldn't do all the things I wanted to. Daddy took you to Chick-fil-a for breakfast then took you to Wal-mart and bought you a Thor sword and shield. It was a rainy day because tropical storm Lee was coming through our area.

Henry, A Snapshot of you now!

Your favorite thing to do is play "Castle Crashers" on the X-box 360 which you call "the knight game". You also like to play on PBS Kids website, Starfall and Poisson rouge.

You are a good big brother to Zoe. You play with her and make her laugh. You and Zoe love to play "moms and dads" where you take your babies shopping and to places like Disney World. You and Zoe have named your "children" Jaja and Goey and talk about them like they are real people. You always tell Zoe that she looks like a pretty princess when she gets dressed up. You let Zoe sit with you when you play the computer.

You still love animals, dinosaurs, bugs and sea creatures. You want to be a Colossal squid for Halloween (I am still trying to figure out how I'm going to make that...) Your favorite food is pork chops and egg noodles, with cream of mushroom soup gravy. You like your pizza with no sauce. Your favorite topping is mushrooms.

I love you so much and I'm so proud of you!

List update, I crossed off a BIG ONE!!

I wanted to share some exciting news about my list. I just went through and crossed off 8 more items:

#18 Make homemade chicken soup. I just made some the other night. I'm getting pretty good at it. Henry had 4 helpings!! Let me know if you want me to post my recipe. It's pretty easy.

#25 Paint a picture worth framing. I have done a few paintings already. While I haven't actually framed any of them, they are hanging up in my kids rooms and other kids rooms. People have actually paid me to paint pictures for them. Here are some of my favorites:







#42- take the kids to the Zoo. We went to Riverbanks zoo in Columbia on Tuesday. The kids had a great time. Zoe's favorite was feeding the giraffes and Henry loved the Snakes and Fish.

#93 Plant flowers in the spring. Did it!

Now drumroll for the big one! Those of you who are my Facebook friends already know this news. I got a tattoo!! #7 on the list. Actually, I technically got two tattoos! I went with my cousin Matt to watch him get a tattoo.We went to Shiny New Tattoo in Shelby, NC. My friend Tabitha has several tattoos and always goes there so they came highly recommended from her.

Matt urged me to go ahead and get one. I was hesitant to because I didn't want to be in pain this weekend. I have 4 photo shoots! He convinced me that it wasn't that painful. I figured I might as well do it since I was there anyway. Bo (or Larkus) did my tattoo. For those of you who have never had a tattoo and are curious about the pain factor, it was pretty painful while the needle was in my skin, but as soon as the needle came up the pain was gone. On the pain scale I would give it about a 5. The worst was when it was on my Achilles tendon ouch! I just kind of went to my happy place and tried not to focus on the pain too much. After it was done, it felt like I had rug burn or a sunburn on the back of my ankles.

So without further a do (whatever that means) here they are:

I love them. I think they are so cute. I think they look great when I wear my converse or high heels. I hardly ever wear high heels. I might need to start wearing them more often! Please no negative comments about my tattoos. They are permanent and there is nothing I can do about them. Negative comments will only hurt my feelings.

Zoe turned 3 today

I know I wrote a little about Zoe in my Mother's day post yesterday but since it's her birthday, I figured I'd write a little something else and share some then and now pictures of my sweet girl. Lately I have been catching Zoe with an opened jar of peanut butter and a spoon, having a little snack. She loves to go to the refrigerator and get slices of cheese. She is a dare-devil and loves to jump from high places. She doesn't like to wear clothes very much and I have caught her playing outside in only her underwear on a few occasions. Right now she loves Dora the Explorer, Strawberry Shortcake, and Care Bears. Her and Henry love to play super heroes and "people" when they play Superheroes, she is either windville (who blows a windy wind) or gooey squash (who gooey's people) When they play people, she is "mom" and Henry is "dad" and they have a "kid" named "jaja".

She loves to laugh, play and sing. I love her too much!

Here is Zoe as a newborn

1 year old

2 years old

and now

Happy Birthday to sweet Zoe!!

Happy Mother's Day

There are days when I love being a mother and there are other days. As I write this, Henry is in the backyard playing in the sandbox, pretending he is some sort of super hero or magical being that can change into any creature imaginable. Zoe is taking her afternoon nap on the day before her 3rd birthday. Matt is at work and I am trying to have a relaxing mother's day.

All day today, I have told the kids "stop fighting, it's mother's day" or " be good, it's mother's day" seems to be working so far. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow too. :)

Henry, my first born is my biggest challenge as a mother. Unless he is sleeping, he is never still. First thing every morning he comes and snuggles in bed while kicking me. When I can't stand it anymore I get up. He is seemingly always hungry and always needing something from me. No one else on earth can make me as happy and as angry as Henry can. He knows how to push my buttons and he knows how to make my heart melt. He is so smart and I sometimes worry that I am not doing a good job raising him. Henry is completely tenacious and if he wants something he doesn't relent until he is satisfied. I know that this personality trait can be a great thing when he is an adult if I can teach him how to use it beneficially. I'm so scared sometimes that he will just be a brat though. I don't want my children to be brats. I just pray about it a lot. I ask God to please give me wisdom in raising him. I just have a feeling of peace about it that God has big plans for Henry. He is a leader, he is smart and he has an incredible imagination.

Zoe, my sweet, sweet Zoe. What can I say about her. She is beautiful both inside and out. She has a fragile spirit and wants to be a good girl. You can just see the hurt and disappointment on her face if she gets into trouble. She is Henry's "right hand man" and loves playing with him, looking for bugs and getting into mischief with him. She stands up to her brother too. She doesn't let him push her around. When she meets someone new she'll say, "I'm Zoe, this is my friend Henry" She loves music, she learns the lyrics to songs quickly and sings along. She is always singing, dancing and laughing. She gives the best hugs, the kind of hug that just feels like she is melting into you.

Matt is a wonderful husband and father. I am completely head over heels for him. He helps me to get through the days that being a mom is not easy. I love it when he steps in on days that I can't take the whining and crying anymore. Thanks Matt for always having my back.

My Heroes

This is Henry. My beautiful, smart, rambunctious 4 year old son.

I can't help but think that this could have been the last photo taken of my sweet boy. I am ever so grateful to these two:

Last night Henry, Zoe and Charlie were playing in the backyard at my parents' house and I was just inside the door. All of a sudden I hear Zoe screaming and crying. When I looked out the door she was standing at the door banging on the window. As I opened the door to see what was wrong with her she pointed to the pool where I see Charlie attempting to pull a crying, soaking wet Henry out of the pool. I jerked him up out of the pool and all was fine. I am beyond impressed with how Zoe (2) and Charlie (barely 3) thought fast to come to the rescue of their brother / Cousin / friend Henry. I always say that they look like they could be twins and wonder twins they were to Henry last night.

Fun with the kids.

This week the kids and I dyed Easter Eggs then I dressed them up and hid eggs in the front yard. It was our Easter Egg hunt done on Wednesday! Here are some pics of the day.

My new favorite

I have gained weight( :( boo!) and I want to spend more time with the kids. The last 2 nights I have decided to go for a walk with the kids after dinner. It's so nice that they are old enough to go for walks with me now without worrying about pushing a stroller or them getting too tired. I (of course) brought my camera along too and thought I'd share some from the past 2 nights. Tonight I was trying out a new lens that isn't really great on focusing I'm discovering so of course, I get really cute pics of the kids and they are all out of focus. I don't care, I'm keeping them anyway! I just know now not to use this lens with a client!

they love to run around the street. Luckily I live in a pretty quiet neighborhood and we don't have too many cars to get out of the way of.