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The Best Mother’s Day Gift

May 13, 2019

Nothing brings me more joy than seeing my kids try to bring joy to others.

This is the first year Cullen has really seemed to understand Mother’s Day.

He came home from school on Friday with a plan but would only tell Corey about it. He tried all afternoon to whisper it to him and was finally able to around 8:00 at night. I heard them whispering as they went from room to room. After much hushed discussions, Cullen very coyly asked me if we had ingredients to make a cake.

“It would have to be from scratch,” I told him.

More whispering.

He came back to ask how to make a cake from scratch.

I told him he’d need a recipe.

“Just curious,” he said. “Where is your cookbook. And what page is the cake recipe on?”

“What kind of cake are you looking for?”

“Um, what is your favorite kind of cake?”

I pulled out my Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book and showed him the recipe for Angel Food Cake on page 182. He looked over it like he was genuinely asking out of pure curiosity. Nothing else was said about it for a while.

When I was putting him in bed, he asked if I would go to sleep right after he did. He said I deserved to go to bed early because I worked hard. And then he started fake snoring.

I asked Corey about it and apparently Cullen was planning to sneak out of bed after I was asleep and work with Corey to make my favorite cake as my Mother’s Day gift. I explained how difficult and time consuming an Angel Food Cake can be and Corey quickly reached out to my mom for help. In the end, Corey took Cullen and Colette to my parents’ house the next day and she walked them through making the cake. And it was delicious!

Cullen was so excited to be able to “surprise” me with my favorite cake. It was the most thoughtful gift I have ever received. He came up with the idea all on his own and did all that he could to make sure that I got it. And he tried so hard to keep it a secret. (He still doesn’t know that I figured out the surprise beforehand and I hope he never does.)

As delicious as that cake was (and they did a really good job for two guys who had never made a cake before), the real gift was watching Cullen as he pulled the whole thing together. He has such a big and loving heart and was overjoyed to be able to do something special for me.

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First Day of School

September 22, 2017
A couple of weeks ago, Cullen started K-4. He has been waiting for the first day of K-4 since the last day of K-3. All summer long he asked “Do I go to school tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?” He is still just as excited every school day.

 

 

The preschool is at our church, and he has the same teacher that he had last year and just loves being in her class! They work on letters and numbers, have snack, play outside, and have music class. They have holiday parties and even a few field trips this year. Some days he comes home and wants to tell me all about it. Other days all I get is “I’m too tired. I don’t want to talk about school right now.” Preparing me for the teen years I guess.
I love that he is having so much fun learning and playing with new friends, but Colette and I certainly miss him during those few hours. As soon as we drop him off, she starts saying “I miss Cullen” in the saddest little voice. And our whole car line conversation consists of “I need Cullen! Where is Cullen?” louder and louder until the van door opens.
While a part of me is a little sad at the start of a new school year (how is he this big?), I am mostly looking forward to all of the memories he will make and the things he will learn!
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We Moved!

September 5, 2017

I mentioned that we had some exciting things happening this summer. Probably the most exciting is our move! For the last seven years we have lived about thirty minutes away from church, Cullen’s preschool, and Corey’s office. We have been hoping to move closer to where we spend most of our time for a few years now. We were actually under contract on another house when I was pregnant with Colette, but it didn’t work out. We kind of adopted the attitude that if we found the right house then we would move, but we didn’t have a realtor and weren’t actively looking.
At the end of March, someone that Corey knew through work mentioned that he was thinking about selling his house and was willing to give us the first look. After one walk through I was in love. It took Corey a little longer to see the potential, but by the middle of May we were under contract and were getting our house ready to sell.
We didn’t use a realtor to buy this new house, but we did use a realtor to sell our house. We listed Friday afternoon and by lunch on Monday, we had a contract over our asking price. We closed on our first house on June 30th, stayed with my parents for the weekend, and closed on our new house on July 3rd.
This whole process seemed to move so quickly, and was a little unexpected. We have been here for two months now, and it is really starting to feel like home. I can’t wait to share more about our new home and all of the plans that we have for it!
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A Blogging Break

July 11, 2017

Thanksgiving was the last time I really even thought about the blog. That was not intentional. Life got busy. Work was crazy. There is a whole list of excuses. But I’m back! We have some exciting things happening this summer and quite a few things to catch up on!

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A Long Weekend and A Saturday Market

September 7, 2016

It is rare that we have more than just an afternoon with the whole family at home, so we spent most of our long weekend working on house projects. Roughly ninety-three loads of laundry, refinishing furniture for Cullen’s room, and cleaning up the one room in our house that has been the junk room for far too long.

We did manage to make some time Saturday morning for a little family adventure to the local farmer’s market. We ate the best ice pops, checked out all of the booths and even came home with some locally grown (and locally ground) grits, fresh pasta, and veggies. As the market started to close down, we stuck around a little longer for the kids to explore main street.

This market runs through the end of October, so I’m hoping we can make it back a few more times. Even if we don’t bring that much home, its a fun outing that the whole family enjoyed!

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Cullen: Three and A Half

August 25, 2016
Every day with a three and a half year old is challenging, exhausting, and so much fun!
He is still growing like a weed. I don’t know how (he certainly doesn’t get it from me or Corey), but he is already wearing some 5T clothes. Apparently a diet of applesauce and peanut butter toast is the perfect recipe for a growing boy.

I don’t think there is a timid bone in his body. He always has something to say. And if he runs out of words, he makes up new ones. He will talk to anyone and greets everyone we pass with a friendly “Hey! Good Morning!” on the way into church every Sunday.
And his negotiating skills are something to be admired! Every time I ask him to do something, or tell him what we are doing over the next few minutes (eating, getting ready for bed, whatever), I immediately hear “Well, how about instead we…” It’s exhausting and hilarious at the same time.
Most of his days are spent playing with cars or blocks. Anything that as an engine or he can build with. He also still loves to cook, either helping me in the kitchen or playing in his toy kitchen. And of course, being outside always beats out everything else.
Cullen tries to dance as much as possible. From jumping around the living room to head banging in the back seat. And he likes to get everyone else in on the dancing too!
He loves to make others laugh. So silly faces and googly eyes are a regular occurrence around here. Corey says he’s a future front man. I’m preparing myself for frequent calls from the principal’s office. Only time will tell, but for now, we are fully encouraging his joyful attitude.
Cullen can also be the sweetest boy! (And he almost always is.) I can’t even count the number of hugs and kisses I get every day. He is so loving and caring with his sister. His greatest gift seems to be the gift of encouragement. He complements me on everything; from how I cook (even the food that he doesn’t eat) to how a particular room looks, to how well I read a book. He doesn’t hesitate to encourage others as well.

We love you Cullen! These past three-and-a-half years have been wonderful and more fun than I could have ever imagined!
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2016 So Far

July 26, 2016

For the past several years, instead of setting resolutions at the first of the year, I have picked one word to be my focus for the year. I did the same this year, and even starting writing a post about it, but never hit publish. I’m not sure why, maybe because in the past few years, I’ve not had much success in actually following through in keeping my focus on my word for the year. Here is what I wrote back in January:

I have been thinking about the new year for a few weeks now. what I want the year to look like for us, what my goals are, both big picture and specific. Honestly, my ideas were all over the place.

Then I started a new Bible Study and decided on my word for 2016: Breathe. We started this Priscilla Shirer study at the most perfect time. Isn’t it amazing how God knows exactly what we need and how to speak to us?

So for 2016, I am going to learn to Breathe. I am not 100% sure on what that will look like exactly, but I know it will include simplifying the things in our home, the things we choose o bring into our home, how I choose to spend my time, and learning to spend less of my time ‘doing’ and spending more of my time truly being in God’s presence.

For 2016, I am going to truly learn to breathe.

We are now over halfway through the year, and I think this change of mind is actually going to stick. We still have a ways to go, but we have made great progress in cleaning and purging things from our home. We have taken at least a handful of car loads to Miracle Hill. We have one more room to tackle (our to-be playroom) and I really feel like we will be able to take a deep breath. Our house feels more open and relaxed already.

I am also trying to be conscious about how we are spending our time. Taking time out of the busyness of life to take a breath. Sometimes that means not stressing if I don’t get to everything on my to-do list for the day. Sometimes that means not even making a to-do list and just tackling what we can as it comes up. I am a planner by nature, but I have found that I actually get more done if I don’t worry about a list. We are spending less time in front of the TV and more time outside. We are eating more of our meals at the kitchen table instead of on the couch.

I am excited to see how my perspective continues to change as I continue to seek what God intended as our Sabbath and how that translates to the rest of my family.

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Finger Painting Nursery Art

April 13, 2015
To help Cullen get excited about his little sister that will be here any day now and to help him feel like he is a part of all of the excitement, I thought it would be wonderful to have him paint something to hang in the nursery. 
We gathered our supplies (canvas panel, acrylic paint, paper plates, wipes) and headed outside to let Cullen get a little creative. We just put a little of each color on a paper plate and let Cullen finger paint until he was happy with his finished work of art. (Baby wipes were great for getting the paint off of his fingers between colors.)

 

 

He had so much fun with this little craft! I can’t wait to hang it in the new nursery and see his face beam with pride when he sees it framed!

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Cullen’s First Haircut

January 23, 2015
Yesterday, at just over two years old, Cullen got his first haircut. I pushed it off as long as possible. I didn’t want to cut those sweet little curls, but at this point, he basically had a mullet. His bangs were constantly in his eyes, and I couldn’t put it off any longer. I feel like this was the last step in turning him into a little boy. Having not had a haircut yet, it still felt like he was my little baby. Now he seems so grown up.

Cullen truly had the best time. He let the stylist shampoo his hair, was all smiles the whole time she was cutting his hair, and cheesed it up for a mid-cut mohawk. I think he would have stayed there all night if he could just keep playing in the car and flirting with the stylists.

For being so wonderful, he got to take home a balloon and some jelly beans. And I think he is pretty proud of his new look. I am pretty proud of this handsome little boy too!
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Cullen’s Birthday Weekend

January 23, 2015
Since we aren’t having Cullen’s party until this weekend, we decided to do as much as possible to make his birthday weekend extra special. 
Saturday, his actual birthday, was a pretty low-key day. Cullen and I hung around the house (and played outside) while Corey worked. Then when Corey got home, we ran out to target to get an Icee. I may have needed to pick up a few things too, but Cullen didn’t mind since he got to slurp on an Icee (my secret for making Target runs as smooth as possible.)

After church on Sunday, we spent a few hours playing at the park. Cullen loved the swings and slide, but he was beyond thrilled to just run around the wide open fields and try to pet all of the dogs.

This was one of the best weekends we have had together as a family. No stress, no worries, just us having a great time together doing what we love. Happy Birthday to my little boy. I hope you had as much fun celebrating as we did!